CHAPTER 377: CHAPTER 377: IS SHE PREGNANT?

"Hmph!" Ms. Ni snorted coldly, finally feeling a bit of satisfaction.

Wan Lifang hurriedly pleaded with Ms. Ni, "Mother, your son has an important matter and needs your help."

Ms. Ni glanced at him sidelong: "What is it?"

Wan Lifang chuckled and said, "Gu Dafu’s family has been delaying agreement to the marriage, probably fearing that Gu Yumei will be mistreated by her mother-in-law after marrying into our family. Why not come with me and father to meet Gu Dafu? Seeing how kind and amiable you are, Gu Dafu will surely agree to the marriage right away."

"What? You want your mother to grovel and humbly ask the Gu Family to consent to the marriage?" Ms. Ni’s eyebrows slanted in anger as she rebuked, "I am a scholar’s wife, a noble wife, and you expect me to plead with a common peasant? Absolutely not!"

What’s Gu Dafu but a mere farmer, worth her visit?

Speaking of Gu Dafu, Ms. Ni also remembered that he’s a widower and Gu Yumei is the eldest daughter of a widow, which infuriated her even more: "Since ancient times, the eldest daughter of a widow is not wed. Our family offering to marry Gu Yumei is already granting the Gu Family a great favor. They still want to be demanding? If that’s the case, I don’t care if this marriage doesn’t happen."

"Ms. Ni! Are you going or not?" Scholar Wan became angry. He had given Ms. Ni some face, and she took it for granted: "You’re Brother Fang’s mother. When Brother Fang speaks of marriage, how can you not make an appearance? Which girl gets married without first meeting the mother-in-law?"

Brother Fang is right, Gu Dafu’s family’s hesitation in agreeing to the marriage is surely due to fear of a bad mother-in-law. It’s better to have Ms. Ni meet Gu Dafu.

Ms. Ni remained silent, showing a displeased face, making it clear she was reluctant to plead with Gu Dafu.

Wan Lifang, fearing further delays and the possibility that Brother Dafu might leave town, bit the bullet and whispered something to Ms. Ni.

After listening, Ms. Ni exclaimed in shock, "Brother Fang, is what you say really true?"

Brother Fang had actually told her that Ruiniang might already be carrying his child!

Wan Lifang nodded, "Whether there’s a child or not, I can’t be sure yet, but... my cousin and I have certainly conducted ourselves as husband and wife. Our family needs to marry Gu Yumei quickly, otherwise, if my cousin is indeed with child, the baby will have to be born outside the residence."

Ms. Ni became anxious, "How can that be? That would be our Wan Family’s precious grandchild; of course, they should be born in our residence."

For the sake of her grandchild, Ms. Ni finally agreed to meet Gu Dafu, performing a show of family harmony with Wan Lifang and his father.

Wan Lifang was overjoyed and bowed to Ms. Ni, "My son thanks you, Mother."

Scholar Wan had been confounded all this time and now coming back to his senses, he pointed at Wan Lifang and said, "Brother Fang, you, what did you say? You and the girl Ruiniang, have, you’ve..." You’ve consummated the marriage!

Wan Lifang responded timidly, "Father, it wasn’t my intention."

It was Ni Ruiniang who threw herself at him; unbidden meat delivered to the door, refusing it would be a waste. He truly couldn’t be blamed.

Scholar Wan was so angry his hands trembled, "This is outrageous, engaging in conjugal relations before marriage, it’s absolutely disgraceful!"

Seeing Wan Lifang getting scolded, Ms. Ni discontentedly said, "What disgraceful behavior? If you had agreed to Brother Fang’s marriage proposal to Ruiniang earlier, they would have already been married by now."

She had been saying for years that Brother Fang should marry Ruiniang, but Scholar Wan despised her family’s decline and thought Ruiniang was unworthy of Brother Fang, adamantly refusing to give in.

Wan Lifang then bowed and apologized to Scholar Wan: "Father, I know I was wrong, it was my fault, but now is not the time to talk about it, we must hurry to Gu’s Restaurant, lest Gu Dafu has left, and we would have been busy for nothing."

Seeing that Scholar Wan was still very upset, he added, "Father, we are scholars, think about the madmen of the previous dynasty, which one didn’t have some romantic debts? I was merely emulating the sages, truly not a crime."

Wan Lifang truly had no shame, bringing up the sages of the previous dynasty as a justification for his own romantic escapades, seemingly unafraid that the sages would leap from their graves to strangle him.

However, Scholar Wan actually agreed with him, thinking it was normal for scholars and madmen to have a few romantic adventures.

Shuzi had already brought over Scholar Wan’s younger son Wan Lizheng, and after Scholar Wan’s anger subsided, the family of four, together with Shuzi, made a party of five heading to Gu’s Restaurant.

Now was just before noon, perfectly timed for the family of four to pretend to come for a midday meal.

Gu Daya was busy working when she saw the Wan Family arriving. She greeted them with a smile, "Scholar Wan, Young Master Wan, are you having the usual one pound of braised meat, four braised eggs, a serving of Fried Five-Spice Tofu, and two golden bean pancakes today?"

Scholar Wan and his son had recently been coming to the restaurant often, and almost every visit they would order these items.

These items really weren’t much to speak of; the well-off families from the town and Shang Family Village would come to the restaurant and buy several pounds of braised meat at a time, and many would even purchase a whole roast duck. The Wan family, however, preferred more dishes with vegetables.

Gu Daya didn’t know that the Wan Family only presented a façade of wealth—just ordering these few items was already causing them quite some financial pain, let alone splurging on roast duck.

This was Ms. Ni’s first visit, and upon hearing that Scholar Wan and his son would often come here to eat such delicacies, she was so furious she nearly lost her composure.

Well, well, eating so many good dishes, how much silver coin would that cost? Now at home, they could only afford to have meat once every three days, and yet father and son were visiting Gu’s Restaurant every single day.

Wan Lifang secretly tugged at Ms. Ni’s sleeve, signaling her not to get angry, and said to Gu Daya with a face that masked his intentions, "Aunt Gu, we’ve come as a whole family today, more people means we’ll need to order more. My mother loves lamb, so add a portion of braised lamb, and half a roast duck as well since my brother likes it."

Mrs. Chen had just come out to serve the customers their bean dregs cakes. Hearing this, her heart was pleased. This Wan Lifang seemed decent, taking care of his mother and younger brother; a dutiful, good brother like him wouldn’t be a bad match for Sister Mei.

"Aunt Da Gui," called Wan Lifang, who had spotted Mrs. Chen earlier, and his words were deliberately spoken upon seeing her.

"Ah, Brother Fang, you’re here to support our business again," Mrs. Chen said with a smile as she approached, first bowing to Scholar Wan, then turning to Ms. Ni and saying, "This must be the scholar’s wife, looking so noble. Please, come in."

Indeed, Ms. Ni, the mother of Wan Lifang, was also adept at putting on an act. Even though she did not like the Gu Family, at this moment, she revealed a face full of smiles, taking Mrs. Chen’s hand and saying, "You must be Little Sister-in-law Da Gui. Brother Fang often talks about you at home, and today I finally get to meet you."

Seeing Ms. Ni so enthusiastic, Mrs. Chen’s initial anxiety was halved, thinking that this scholar’s wife seemed personable and probably would not mistreat Sister Mei in the future.

Mrs. Chen wanted to marry off Gu Yumei quickly, and Ms. Ni, for the sake of Ni Ruiniang and her unborn grandchild, wanted to take Gu Yumei into their household as soon as possible. With both parties having their own intentions, by the time the Brother Dafu returned to the shop after making their purchases, the two women had already begun addressing each other as sisters, appearing as close as true siblings.

Upon learning that Brother Dafu had returned, Wan Lifang promptly went to greet them: "Uncle Dafu, Uncle Da Gui, Brother Fang pays his respects."

After completing the proper greetings, he smartly took the items from their hands: "It’s hard work for you two uncles. I’m young and strong, let me carry it."