Chapter Ninety-Two: Matters Settled

In the house, the Seventh Elder, his two sons, Qi Changwen, and the two brothers of the Gu family all took their seats on the heated brick bed. The Gu brothers sat in chairs, while Madam Li, cowed at last, hurried to boil water and make tea for the elders.

The Seventh Elder sat on the bed and looked sternly at Gu Mingcheng across from him, then at the four Gu brothers on the floor. “By rights, other people ought not to meddle in your family’s affairs. Mingcheng, I am, after all, your grand-uncle of the clan. There are some things I should speak to you about plainly today.”

Gu Mingcheng nodded in haste. “Seventh Grandfather, go ahead, please. I’m listening.” This was the old patriarch of the Gu family; who would dare show him disrespect? The Seventh Elder’s household was thriving too, with children and grandchildren all around him. If Gu Mingcheng said one wrong word, he had better beware of their sons and grandsons coming to his door.

“Chengzhong, the rest of you listen as well. In our village, in our Gu family, there are rules. Only when the brothers and sisters have each established their own homes, and when the parents raise the matter of dividing the household, may the family be split. But right now, there is still one younger brother not yet married and one younger sister not yet sent off to wed. For the moment, the household cannot be divided.” The Seventh Elder fixed the four Gu men with his gaze and spoke slowly.

“Your family is a little unusual as well. Your father took two wives and had eight children by them. The children of both branches have always been tangled together in one household, and with that stepmother besides, everyone knows well enough how life has gone for your three brothers.”

“Since I have come today, I shall take the liberty once more and make the decision for you. The fifth boy is already no longer young, and Mingcheng should hurry to find a match for the child. Wasn’t he also to sit the county-level civil examination this autumn? That is a serious matter, and nothing must delay the fifth boy’s prospects. Before he takes the exam, no one is to speak again of dividing the household.”

“Once the fifth boy returns after passing the prefectural examination, you may make all the arrangements for his marriage at once. After he is wed, then the household may be divided. And before the family is split, there must be no more such uproar in your home. Shuili is on the verge of leaving for marriage, and the house is in an uproar day and night. If word of this gets out, how can the match still be made?” The Seventh Elder was in good spirits and clear of mind, and his words were orderly and precise.

When he had finished, he looked at Gu Chengzhong and the other two. “Well? What say you three? Do you have any objections to what I have said?”

The three Chengzhong brothers shook their heads at once. “None. Whatever the Seventh Elder says, we will do.” In truth, they had never expected the family to be divided now in any case.

The Seventh Elder nodded, then turned to look at Gu Mingcheng. “Mingcheng, tell your woman that from now on, the work of the house must be shared among the daughters-in-law. How can you treat people so harshly? The Zhao family are only good-tempered; if it were anyone else, they would have long since come knocking at your door. Do not think others are easy to bully. If one day you truly provoke them past endurance and they come to fight, I should like to see how you clean up the mess.”

Gu Mingcheng hurriedly nodded in agreement. “Yes, yes, grandson understands. I will speak to her at once.”

“Very well. Then call your wife over, and bring the other four daughters-in-law as well. In front of me, you will settle on a set of rules for the household. Once the rules are fixed today, they will be followed from now on. That will save this house from going into a scene of uproar every few days.” The old man had made up his mind to oversee the matter, and that was why he insisted on deciding it here and now.

Gu Mingcheng hesitated a little. He had meant to agree to whatever was said first, then wait until the old patriarch had left before dealing with it. But he had not expected the old man to be so stubborn today. With no other choice, Gu Mingcheng signaled his sons to bring their wives over.

Not long after, Madam Li and Madam Wu and the others came into the room. Everyone hastily paid their respects to the Seventh Elder and the others, then stood aside.

“Wife of Mingcheng, today this old man will meddle once in other people’s affairs. You shall, in front of me, settle the household matters with the daughters-in-law. Whatever is decided today shall be the way it is done in future. If there is more such daily uproar later on, beware that I summon the ancestral hall; whoever is causing trouble will be brought before the clan rules and dealt with there.”

These words from the Seventh Elder were grave indeed. The Gu family was not a small one in the village, and of course they had their own ancestral hall. Yet the clan shrine of the Gu surname had not, for many years, conducted any judgment over Gu daughters-in-law. If any daughter-in-law were truly confined in the ancestral hall, it would be a humiliation beyond measure.

Madam Li was the very sort who bullied the weak and feared the strong. Hearing the Seventh Elder say this, she was so frightened her legs began to tremble. “Seventh Grandfather, rest assured. This granddaughter-in-law will certainly obey Seventh Grandfather. Whatever Seventh Grandfather says, this granddaughter-in-law will do.”

The Seventh Elder waved a hand. “Good. Then discuss with your daughters-in-law how the household affairs are to be arranged from now on. Once you have it settled, that shall be the rule, and it may never again be altered.”

Madam Li had no choice but to turn and discuss it with the daughters-in-law. In truth, there was hardly anything to discuss. The customs in the village were much the same from one household to another. In families with many daughters-in-law, they generally took turns cooking; and whichever woman’s turn it was that day would also see to the pig and chicken feed without failing.

The Gu family’s only special case was Madam Feng. Earlier, Gu Chengyong had said that they were not accustomed to the food in the main house, so they cooked and ate separately. Of course Madam Feng had no desire to continue eating with everyone else, and so she took the initiative to say that the pigs and chickens in the household could be her responsibility from then on.

Madam Li felt that this still let Madam Feng off too lightly and was somewhat unwilling, but in front of everyone there was nothing else she could say. Thus it was decided that Gu Chengyong’s family would continue cooking and eating on their own, while Madam Feng would be responsible for feeding all the pigs and chickens in the household. The remaining three daughters-in-law would cook in rotation. Naturally, during the busy farming season, everyone would also have to go into the fields to work.

With the Seventh Elder present, the matter was settled just like that. He gave a few more admonitions, nothing more than talk of family harmony bringing prosperity and the like. A farce was thus calmed by his intervention. Since the matter had been resolved, the Seventh Elder had his sons help him down from the bed and escort him home.

Gu Mingcheng naturally wanted to keep the Seventh Elder, Qi Changwen, and the others for a meal, but everyone refused, saying only that they would all come to drink wedding wine when Shuili married. Gu Mingcheng led his wife, sons, and daughters-in-law in respectfully seeing the Seventh Elder off, after which the group returned indoors.

“So now you’re all satisfied, are you? A pack of black-hearted, rotten-lunged things, a bunch of ingrates who can never be fed enough. Hmph, I refuse to believe it. Your father and I are both still alive, and you think you can turn the world upside down?” As soon as the Seventh Elder left, Madam Li came back to life at once, her face dark as she opened her mouth again.

“Enough. Stop stirring up trouble here. Beware that the Seventh Elder truly summons the ancestral hall. If you end up in there, I won’t be able to get you out.” Gu Mingcheng was furious. He picked up his long-stemmed pipe and struck it hard several times against the edge of the bed.

“This is how it shall be. Since the rules have been set today, we will follow them from now on. All right, what time is it now? Why are you still not hurrying to eat? After eating, we still have to go out to the fields. At a time like this, if you have any spare energy, you should spend it on work instead.” Gu Mingcheng said loudly.

So the Gu family all busied themselves with their meal. Gu Chengyong and his wife left the eastern courtyard and returned to the western one.

“Ziyu, I’m afraid you will have no peace after this. Feeding the pigs and chickens will all fall to you.” Gu Chengyong felt somewhat guilty, and so he said this at the table.

Madam Feng smiled. “What is that worth? There are only four pigs in the house and a dozen or so chickens. Just mix some wild greens into their swill each day, and it is not much trouble at all. Don’t worry.” Madam Feng had always had a good disposition. She had long since anticipated all this, and with life as it was now, already no small hardship, she cared nothing for that little bit of extra labor.

“Father, don’t worry. We’ll all help Mother. In the mornings, Fourth Brother and I can go gather greens. Haven’t we been doing that these past few days anyway?” Wenping swallowed the rice in his mouth before speaking.

Gu Chengyong reached out and patted his son’s head. “Good. Our fourth and fifth boys are capable indeed. You are all good children, and Father is very pleased.” Then Gu Chengyong looked at the rest of his children. “You all are sensible and considerate, and your mother and I are truly glad. As for how much work there is, let us not quibble over it. We are a family; it is more important that we live together in harmony.”

The children hurriedly nodded. “Mm, Father, don’t worry. We understand.”

Thus, the storm in the Gu household subsided for the time being. Though Madam Li still felt ill at ease, she no longer dared to make a scene. First, the Seventh Elder’s words still carried weight; second, the day for Gu Shuili’s betrothal drew ever nearer. Since there was to be a joyous occasion in the house, they truly could not keep quarreling and raising a racket. It would not look proper.

Especially after Gu Chengren returned home during his leave from office and heard what had happened, he called Madam Li over and gave her a thorough warning as well. In this way, the Gu household at last settled down.

The ultimate beneficiary of the farce ought to have been Gu Chengyi’s family. Madam Zhao no longer had to be ordered about all day long, laboring like an ox or a horse with her head down. The Wenfang sisters also gained a little breathing room; they only needed to help their mother when she cooked, and in daily life they had more time to study sewing and needlework.

If there were any who suffered losses, there was one: Madam Xu. In the past, Madam Xu had done very little work, and whenever it was her turn, she would always find ways to slack off. She had thought that the so-called rules were nothing more than a scare tactic, and when it came her turn to cook, she still deliberately shirked her duties. In the end, Madam Wu and Madam Zhao were not fooled at all, and no one came to cook. Naturally, Madam Xu was then given a severe scolding by Madam Li before she finally, in a flurry of hands and feet, made the meal.

Madam Li had now also come to her senses and no longer showed such partiality toward Madam Xu. After all, the Gu family would sooner or later be divided, and when that happened, the old couple would most certainly live with the fourth and fifth sons. By then, with someone like Madam Xu, would she not starve the old couple to death? So Madam Li turned her attention to Madam Xu and kept pressuring her day after day.