Chapter 341: No Betrayal
nd their family the food in your mouth"If you can't do it, don't jump out and pretend to be a good person! It just makes her seem heartless, bah!Every member of the Lao Xu family welcomed Lao San and...In their past life, they had the ability to open a bookstore, but at that time, the market no longer had space for bookstores. Everyone was used to reading e-books, and the sales of physical books were very limited. Opening a bookstore would not even cover the rent.
Only those who don't mind spending money can afford to indulge in sentimentality.
Gu Huanyi once had a dream, which was to own her own bookstore. The decoration would definitely be tasteful, allowing those who walked in to calm down, find a book they liked, and find a quiet corner to read amazing words, leisurely spending a beautiful time.
Even after stepping out, if one is immediately caught up in the worldly distractions and forced to rush through life for the sake of their future, at least the time spent in a bookstore is slow, lingering, a sanctuary. It offers a place of solace when weary, easing the pressure.
Unfortunately, the dream didn't come true. She was limited by her abilities and couldn't just live on feelings without considering the necessities of life.
Fortunately, she finally saw the dawn in this life. She no longer had to be burdened by money and could freely pursue her dream world.
The next day, after Xu Huaiyi went to the academy, Gu Huanxi stayed at home, pondering over the design of the bookstore, its positioning and operation. She sketched dozens of designs, revising them again and again, all to achieve the effect she desired: elegant and tasteful, quiet and refined, able to capture the hearts of every reader who entered, making them genuinely love this place and reluctant to leave.
She also thought of many names for the bookstore, this one was good, that one wasn't bad either, each had its own meaning, but she just couldn't decide.
A few days passed.
Over these past few days, Xu Huaiyi took some time to meet with Master Huisin and they finalized the arrangements for holding an opening ceremony for the village temple. They also chose an auspicious date, which happened to coincide with his vacation time.
He also bought about ten people from intermediaries, fearing that he didn't know the ins and outs of this matter and might make a wrong judgment. He even brought his former classmates to help him keep an eye on things.
Especially Su Zhe, he gave quite a few suggestions. The buyers are all reliable people. There's a caretaker, some strong women for housework, drivers, and servants. There are also a few honest maidservants. What's peculiar is that the male servants all have shaved heads and handsome faces, while the female maidservants are all unattractive, even somewhat plain and ugly.
Big households wouldn't buy maids like this, even if they were capable. They would find her appearance too rough and embarrassing to show off, fearing ridicule.
That kind of person is especially undesirable in the market. A human trafficker fears most of all ruining their own business. Who would have thought today they'd get a strange customer, who specifically wants these kinds of people They won't even consider anyone who is slightly more presentable.
What's wrong with this
The human trafficker doesn't understand, and doesn't dare to ask.
Su Zhe didn't understand and knew Xu Huaiyi disliked beating around the bush. So he asked directly.
Others are also quite curious.
Xu Huaiyi said matter-of-factly, "People who are good-looking are easily restless. What if they develop feelings for me and plot against me behind my back"
Su Zhe, "…"
His reason was so powerful that he was speechless.
In a wealthy household, such things happen all the time. Beautiful maids climbing into their master's bed is nothing unusual. If the master takes a fancy to a particular maid, he might even take her as his concubine willingly. It’s all commonplace, so there’s no need to worry about being remembered. Just sleep with them and that’s it, after all, men never lose out in such situations.
All men, Zhao San's thoughts were similar. He was straightforward and couldn't help but say it like this: if you've been tricked, just keep her in the backyard, right Anyway, there's no shortage of food, so whether she's kept anywhere doesn't matter. If you don't want to give her a formal name, just treat her as a mistress for fun.
As indigenous people, their thoughts weren't wrong, but Xu Huaiyi was different. Even just hearing it, he felt sorry for his daughter-in-law. He immediately retorted, "I have a wife, and in this lifetime I will only let her touch me. Other women, even if they were fairies, wouldn't do."
"What" Zhao San was stunned. "Only one woman in a lifetime"
Xu Huaiyi stressed the point, “I will be loyal to my wife and never betray her.”
Zhao San was so surprised that he lost his words. It was him! Although his household didn't have concubines, when the wife wasn't available to attend to him, they would always arrange a maidservant. He took it for granted and had never considered whether she was loyal or not.
Is it not appropriate for women to be loyal
Su Zhe was also surprised, but after the surprise, he felt it was both unexpected and reasonable. Xu Huaiyi was a special person, wasn't he Otherwise, he wouldn't be so fond of associating with him. However, he was still curious, so he asked vaguely, "What about the woman after she gets pregnant"
Xu Huaiyi said matter-of-factly, "Just bear with it, it's only a few months, you can still get through it"
Su Zhe's eyes flickered, "Don't you feel wronged"
Xu Huaiyi chuckled, "What's there to feel wronged about Just think about how your wife is bearing the pain of pregnancy and risking her life to give birth to children for you. At that time, there wouldn't be any room for other thoughts. When you touch other women, it's like stabbing your wife in the heart. Any man who loves his wife wouldn't do such a thing."
Zhao San felt uneasy and touched his nose.
Wang Qiusheng was candid about it. It's just that when his daughter-in-law gave birth, she couldn't make it through and left him with only a son. At least there was some consolation.
But he prided himself on his deep love for his wife, yet he couldn't speak with the same certainty as Xu Huaiyi, who swore never to touch other women. Even when he didn't want to take concubines, there were times when he had no choice. Not to mention, once he entered officialdom, there would be many social engagements, and avoiding such situations would be impossible.
He thought so, and said so.
Hsu Huai-yi remained calm, but his tone was incredibly firm. "I won't be involved in those things. I can attend social gatherings, but I won't have anything to do with women. Of course, if others choose to, I won't say anything. That's their freedom."
What if the other party insists on giving it to you If you refuse, it would be considered unsociable and disrespectful, causing the event to end abruptly. You would offend people and even potentially have a falling out with them. What would you do then Would you still refuse
Xu Huaiyi nodded without hesitation, "No matter who it is, they can't make me betray my daughter-in-law."
"...".
This statement was too absolute, leaving everyone else with a jolt of surprise.
After a moment of silence, Su Zhe asked dazedly, “Is it worth it”
Just one woman, and she has that much influence
Xu Huaiyi said, "Worth it."
Even if it ruins your future
"Well, even if it ruins my future and I end up penniless, I won't betray her."
Su Zhe had no doubt about the truth of his words, he just found it hard to accept.
Just like others, Meng Ping, despite coming from a poor background, also dreamed of a future where he would pass the imperial examinations, become an official, and have a harmonious family with wives and concubines and many children.
Only Li Yun Ting remained calm, even agreeing with a statement, "I think Huai Yi's idea is good, especially wise. I will follow suit in the future."
"What" Zhao SanYOU looked at him in disbelief. "Why"
This is too much. To hold two people at the same time isn't wrong, even the censor who always picks on officials wouldn't impeach someone for this.
Li Yun Ting said faintly, “Because there's only one woman in the backyard, there wouldn't be so much strife. There wouldn't be any scheming or plotting, and men would be able to focus their minds more on their careers.”
Zhao Sanshou instinctively said, "But there's only one child. Having many children to carry on the family line will be very troublesome. More children, more blessings, who wouldn't want their children to be numerous and bring them joy"
Li Yunting said meaningfully, "Is it really true that many children bring good fortune Not necessarily. Take the Dingyuan Houfu as an example, with eight children between legitimate and illegitimate births. Each person has their own calculations, thinking about how to pull benefits into their own house. For those benefits, they scheme against each other, engage in petty squabbles, and calculate ways to harm each other, treating each other like deadly enemies, with no brotherhood at all. Is that called many children bringing good fortune Rather, it's many children bringing disaster!"
Zhao Sanyou was choked and speechless, unable to retort for a moment.
Li Yunting continued, “Eight survived. Many directly turned into puddles of blood. Aren’t those lives Aren’t they the children of Dingyuan Houfu But they all became victims of the struggle. Like me, I don't know how many plots I've dodged. If it weren't for my good luck and my master protecting me, I would have died long ago.”
"Don't even talk about places like the Dingyuan Hou Mansion. In big families, there's always competition and strife. The more women in the back yard, the more chaos and trouble they create. Of course, there are some that get along well, but those are extremely rare."
"At its root, it's because women provoke too much. Being legitimate or concubine-born, they are natural enemies by nature. Those who hope for brotherhood and harmony among siblings, hmph, they're just deceiving themselves and being wishful. Those who hope for peace and harmony between wives and concubines are even more naive."
He was always taciturn and cold, rarely speaking so much at once, it was as if he never spoke until he had something earth-shattering to say.
Xu Huaiyi took the lead and said, "That's well said. We should look at the essence of things. The facts are clear: having only one wife ensures a clean backyard. Moreover, children born from the same parents share closer familial bonds. Even if there are occasional conflicts of interest, they are easier to resolve."
Su Ze asked, "What if the wife's body is not well and it hinders childbirth Would you not take a concubine"
Xu Huaiyi said, “Anyway, I don’t care about this. My daughter-in-law just gave birth to a girl, and I like it very much. I'm content with only having this one daughter for my whole life.”
Su Zhe widened his eyes, "Not even your own son"
Xu Huaiyi said, "Well, that's feasible. Actually, I don't want to have another child, neither a son nor a daughter."
This time it was Zhao San'you’s turn, he asked, “Why”
Xu Huaiyi sighed with melancholy. "If I were to have another child, I would have to divide my love for A Li in half. I wouldn't be able to love her as wholeheartedly anymore, and I feel that would do her a disservice."
Zhao San You, “…”
My goodness, to actually hear such rhetoric in my lifetime is quite a rarity!
Su Zhe was also stunned this time, "With only a daughter, how can you carry on all your hard work"
"Here's to my daughter."
"Wouldn't that just benefit outsiders Are you willing to accept that"
"Can I marry a woman into our family"
Su Zhe almost blurted out, "What kind of good person would be willing to go door-to-door as a son-in-law," but when he thought about Xu Huaiyi's identity, he held back. "Your realm is beyond the reach of ordinary people, I admire you!"
Anyway, he can't do that. He will definitely marry a woman from a well-matched family in the future, not for love, but for profit. He wouldn't be willing to keep himself pure for one woman and will definitely choose several other women he fancies to bring into the backyard later on.
Xu Huaiyi smiled and accepted this wave of praise.
After buying the house, all the people were moved into their new home. Xu Huaiyi gave the money to the steward and asked him to temporarily manage the household affairs. He had to clean what needed cleaning, prepare what needed preparing, but he didn't find anyone to start construction on any renovations for now. It was almost Chinese New Year, so it was too busy to make big changes. He would wait until after the new year to do so.
The steward, surnamed Yu, was a man in his thirties. He was taciturn but not unintelligent. He had been selected by Su Zhe. Xu Huaiyi asked him several questions, and he answered them correctly to his satisfaction. He instructed him to do something, and the steward simply agreed, without showing any difficulty or offering excuses.
Xu Huaiyi was pleased, but didn't show it. Being a steward is a special profession, and he needed to investigate further before fully trusting him.
On my way back to school, I encountered a commotion. A group of people were gathered together, blocking the road so that cars had to queue up one by one to get through.
The speed slowed down, Su Zhe waited impatiently and urged the servant who was driving the carriage outside, "Go and see, what's going on"
Yes, young master.
The little servant went away for a short while and then came running back to report, "Young master, someone wants to sell themselves to bury their father."
This is old hat, everyone heard it and found it unremarkable.
"Why are there so many people watching"
Because the woman who was selling herself was extremely beautiful, many people fought over her.
Su Zhe, hearing this, became interested. "So it's about her looks then. How does she compare to the girls at Chun Shui Lou"
The attendant said, "It surpasses all previous instances."
"Really"
"I wouldn't dare lie to Young Master. That woman is not only beautiful, she also has a very, very captivating aura. It's the kind that makes men want to cherish and protect her, willing to buy her anything..."
Everyone was curious after hearing this. Left and right decided to wait, so they got off the car and took a look. At that glance, they knew the servant girl wasn't lying. That face was indeed beautiful, and her bearing was truly eye-catching. She wore a white dress and knelt there, like a lily in the wind, graceful and moving. People couldn't help but feel sympathy for her and wanted to take her home to carefully protect her.
This woman didn't ask for much money, only twenty taels of silver to buy her life. After burying her father, she was willing to serve her master as a slave.
Twenty taels of silver were, naturally, a lot for ordinary people, but for the wealthy, it was insignificant. This was indeed the case, and many rich young masters vied to buy her, with even several influential children expressing their interest.
But the woman didn't nod. Yes, she wouldn't agree to anyone who bid, she had to find someone she liked, only then would she walk with him.
Just like choosing a husband.
Despite her attitude, no one gets angry with her. Who can be mad at someone so beautiful
When it comes to beautiful women, men tend to be more tolerant.
Su Zhe asked Xu Huaiyi in a low voice, "What do you think"
Xu Huaiyi said, "To be beautiful and charming, one needs to dress in filial piety. Indeed!"
Xu Huaiyi raised an eyebrow, just about to say something, when Xu Huaiyi continued, "To package yourself as a swaying white flower in the wind, even so many wealthy and powerful young masters are unwilling to follow them. It seems like their ambitions are not small."
I just don't know who the unlucky person she chose is.
Su Zhe chuckled, "So you feel the same way Then guess who her target is"
Huai-Yi Xu shook his head. Where could he possibly go
Su Zhe said half-jokingly, half-seriously, "You say, could one of us be it"
Huai-Yi Xu was stunned. "Impossible What could possibly make anyone target us Could it be you or Yun-Ting"
Su Zhe glanced at him with a meaningful look, "Most likely it's you." optimistically that perhaps when the Yao family no longer needed Dr. Jiao's medical attention, they would take the initiative to leave them behind. This was quite a possibility, after all, traveling...