Chapter 9 Shocking News
“Well, with so many books at home, I won’t have time to play even if I wanted to. At worst, I won’t step out of the house again, so I don’t have to worry about being kidnapped.”
“You don’t need to be so restricted. When your sister and I go out in the future, we’ll try to bring you along.”
“Really? Hehehe, brother-in-law, you’re so kind.”
“I just said I’ll try. It’s not certain if I can.”
“…”
After Gu Yu and Gu Qingheng talked for a while, Gu Mengyao also prepared dinner. When it was time to eat, Gu Yu took out the salted duck eggs that had been placed in the bowl earlier.
Salted duck eggs could be eaten after being preserved with special methods for seven days. If they were left for a longer period, they would become even more delicious. For now, it was just a taste test.
At this moment, as soon as Gu Yu placed the salted duck eggs on the dining table, they were immediately met with unanimous praise from Gu Mengyao and her brother.
However, Gu Yu later learned from a conversation with Gu Mengyao that someone had already researched the salted duck eggs, so even if Gu Yu wanted to make money from them, it was unlikely.
Fortunately, Gu Yu didn’t intend to earn this small amount of money. It was better to keep things like salted duck eggs for their own consumption, which would make their lives more comfortable.
“Brother-in-law, did you really sell the recipe for white sugar just like that! A jar of white sugar is two hundred taels, and all the ingredients cost less than fifty taels of silver! If we had continued to produce it ourselves, wouldn’t we have made a fortune! Moreover, that unscrupulous merchant even made you sign a confidentiality agreement, which means that apart from using some white sugar for our own consumption, we are not allowed to disclose the white sugar recipe! Nor are we allowed to buy or sell it! Otherwise, we would have to pay one hundred thousand taels of silver in compensation!”
While eating, Gu Qingheng reached for the sweet and sour pork ribs placed in front of him. After tasting the sweet flavor of the white sugar, he immediately remembered that Gu Yu had sold the white sugar recipe to Chengfeng Shan.
The white sugar recipe was transcribed by Gu Qingheng, and he had also watched the sugar-making process from the side. Although he knew the method was very simple, it was a sugar-making technique that others could not figure out even if they racked their brains. To think that his brother-in-law sold it so cheaply.
Although three thousand taels of silver was not a small amount, compared to the one hundred thousand taels of compensation for violating the confidentiality agreement, the two were not on the same level.
Gu Yu, meanwhile, was reaching for some vegetables. After hearing Gu Qingheng’s question, he first finished the food in his mouth before slowly opening his mouth to explain.
“Qingheng, you’re still thinking too simply. In business, white sugar is suitable for mass production. The price of two hundred taels of silver per jar of white sugar is too high. At first, I only wanted fifty taels, but Chengfeng Shan himself misunderstood it as five hundred taels, so I could only go along with it… However, this price cannot remain stable forever, especially since white sugar is more expensive than salt. Chengfeng Shan will not be able to earn much profit from it. He will definitely be dissatisfied or greedy in the end, and might even do something to our family in secret.”
“Is Chengfeng Shan that insidious?”
“That’s not certain yet, but it’s always good to think more. Moreover, you know that the sugar-making method is simple. To be able to exchange it for a silver note of thirty thousand taels has exceeded my expectations. As for ways to make money, there is more than one. Who knows about the future!”
As Gu Yu spoke, he picked up another dish with his chopsticks. Gu Qingheng, who was a little dejected about the white sugar recipe being sold cheaply, understood the key point after Gu Yu’s explanation and didn’t dwell on it further.
After all, whatever brother-in-law says is right!
“Mengyao, this is bad! Hurry and come with me to see, it’s really too…”
“Xiao Hua, what’s wrong? You look so flustered, what happened?”
“Yang Cao is dead!”
Just as the three members of the Gu family were eating, an anxious voice suddenly came from outside the courtyard gate. When Gu Mengyao got up and walked outside, she then heard her and another woman’s voices, which directly announced a major event.
Yang Cao, dead?
The news of Yang Cao’s sudden death exploded like a bombshell, shocking all three members of the Gu family.
Before, when Wu Changlin and Yang Cao’s father conspired to harm Gu Mengyao, they had asked the unsuspecting Yang Cao to trick Gu Mengyao into coming over to get the money from selling the wild boar, and to do some bad things to Gu Mengyao.
Coincidentally, Gu Yu overheard this clearly.
This time, they didn’t wait for their plan to succeed. Gu Yu directly sent them into the deep mountains and old forests. He originally thought they were all bitten to death, but who knew that Wu Changlin would return gravely injured.
As for Yang Cao’s father, he died on the mountain after encountering a black bear. His corpse couldn’t even be buried in a coffin. Only some of his personal belongings were simply placed in it before he was hurriedly buried.
This outcome made Gu Yu even more fortunate!
Back then, when Yang Cao came to ask Gu Mengyao to go up the mountain, he tried his best to stop her, and Gu Mengyao didn’t soft-heartedly agree. Finally, after Yang Cao looked at them resentfully, she turned and left the Gu family.
If Gu Mengyao had gone at that time, and if she had also encountered a bear… Although she had divine strength, Gu Yu couldn’t bear to think about the fate of Wang Hu and the others when they encountered the bear.
This was all more than a month ago. Now, hearing Yang Cao’s name, memories of her quickly surfaced in Gu Yu’s mind.
He still remembered that later, Wu Changlin lied about the death of Yang Cao’s father… Although Gu Yu used his space to send them into the deep mountains, he claimed that the two of them originally wanted to go up the mountain to hunt for money, but were mauled by a black bear, and Yang Cao’s father was thus described as a self-inflicted death, which led the matter to be dropped.
After all, he couldn’t directly reveal the plan of Wu Changlin and Yang Cao’s father to harm Gu Mengyao, so he could only omit the strange encounter in the deep mountains and make up a reason that others could believe.
However, now hearing the news of Yang Cao’s death, Gu Yu’s heart was filled with doubt. He didn’t know how a perfectly healthy person died?
“Xiao Hua, wait a moment, I need to say a few words to A Yu before I leave.”
“What else is there to say! Just bring your husband along too, so you don’t get besieged by yourself. There are guys in the village who just love to watch the excitement and don’t care about anything else… It’s already known that Yang Cao specifically came to find you for her father before, but was then kicked out.”
“I’m not afraid of them using this matter as a pretext. Justice is in people’s hearts.”
Listening to the conversation outside, Gu Yu shook his head helplessly, then got up from his seat, ready to go and see what was going on.
Now, even Gu Yu himself was not at ease with Gu Mengyao going alone.
With Gu Mengyao’s gentle personality, if she was pushed too hard, she couldn’t directly take action against them, and might even shed tears. Gu Yu didn’t want to see such a situation happen…
Gu Yu had met a few of Gu Mengyao’s friends several times during this period and had a basic understanding of them.
For example, Wang Xiaohua, who came to find Gu Mengyao now, had a more lively and enthusiastic personality, was two years older than Gu Mengyao, and was already married to someone from the same village.
So, when Wang Xiaohua came this time, Gu Yu didn’t say much. He just nodded at her and stood by Gu Mengyao’s side, silently expressing his decision.
Through several interactions, Wang Xiaohua knew that Gu Yu was quite indifferent to others, except for Gu Mengyao and her brother. So, she didn’t pay much attention to it this time, but urged Gu Mengyao and the others to go and see quickly.
Wang Xiaohua came to find Gu Mengyao this time also to prevent anyone from implicating the Gu family in this matter, so she asked them to go to the scene immediately to see the situation.
Now that the Gu family had finally lived a few days of peace, they hoped that no more troublesome things would happen.
“Sister, brother-in-law, I’m going too!”
“What are you going for! Stay at home and read, and look after the house.”
“No! I have to go. Such a big event, if I don’t see it with my own eyes, I will definitely be in a low mood for the next few days and won’t even enjoy my meals.”
Just as a few people were about to leave, Gu Qingheng’s voice sounded urgently. When he ran over, Gu Mengyao frowned and directly told Gu Qingheng to stay at home obediently.
However, Gu Qingheng, who usually wouldn’t miss any gossip, would definitely regret it if he didn’t go to the scene for such a major event as Yang Cao’s death.
It wasn’t that Gu Qingheng didn’t respect the deceased, but it was just his personality. This strong curiosity was actually a double-edged sword, and it was hard to say whether it was good or bad.
“Are you eating sugar? Can’t you feel the sweetness anymore?”
“…”
Seeing Gu Qingheng’s depressed little face, Gu Yu teased him for a moment before not making things difficult for Gu Qingheng anymore. He finally nodded and let him go along.
Now that Yang Cao’s corpse would not be displayed in front of everyone, even if Gu Qingheng went, it would not have any impact on him and would not cause him any psychological harm.
On the contrary, if Gu Qingheng were to stay at home, it could be foreseen that he would have a sullen face for the next few days.
Seeing Gu Yu pampering Gu Qingheng like this, Gu Mengyao shook her head helplessly and didn’t stop him anymore. She just repeatedly instructed Gu Qingheng to absolutely not look at the corpse.
“Xiao Hua, what exactly happened? Why did Yang Cao suddenly die?”
“I’m not too sure about that either. I only know that Yang Cao’s mother finished cooking dinner today and wanted to call Yang Cao to eat in her room. To her surprise, she found her hanged from the beam. It scared Yang Cao’s mother so much that she fainted on the spot. She’s still crying and wailing, which is making my ears go deaf.”
As they walked towards the village, Gu Mengyao took the opportunity to ask Wang Xiaohua for details about Yang Cao’s death while on the way.
Wang Xiaohua did not hide anything at this time and told them everything she knew. When Gu Mengyao and Gu Yu heard Wang Xiaohua’s words, their expressions became somewhat solemn.
Although Gu Yu found Yang Cao to be quite troublesome, judging by the fact that she dared to ask Gu Mengyao to go up the mountain to find her father when he was in an unknown condition on the mountain, and her behavior of wanting to hack Wu Changlin after learning about her father’s death, she was not someone who would just hang herself if she was troubled.
Such a person was very strong and would not take her own life voluntarily.
………
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