After a male student transmigrated into the body of a widow,

noon.

After helping Zhao's wife pack up the stall, Gu Lin picked up Zheng Hao from Wuliu Academy and brought him to the clinic. Seeing that Zhao Dagen's injuries had not fully healed but he could get out of bed and walk, Gu Lin felt a little relieved.

On the way back to Xiahe Village, because there was an injured person who couldn't squeeze in with the others, Gu Lin and Sister-in-law Zhao decided not to ride in Uncle Zhang's oxcart, but instead hired a donkey cart in the county town to take them back to Xiahe Village.

As soon as the donkey cart arrived at the village entrance, an aunt who lived next to the Zheng family saw the young man on the cart and craned her neck to say, "Brother Lin, your parents are here."

"My parents?" Gu Lin looked at the aunt who was speaking, paused in getting out of the car, and a hint of doubt flashed in his eyes.

Gu Lin was no stranger to this aunt; recently, he had been paying her to help carry firewood and water back to his home.

But Gu Lin was somewhat bewildered by the parents the other party mentioned. Having been in this world for so long, he had no memory of the original owner's parents.

He thought the other person was dead, but he didn't expect them to be alive.

.

"I knew I shouldn't have come. My back is about to break. Are you sure you heard me right, old woman? Lin-ge'er made money in the county town?" Gu's father, who had crossed two mountains to come to Xiahe Village early in the morning, rubbed his back and said.

Although Gu's mother was also exhausted, she still spoke with great momentum: "You old man, your ears are practically useless. Have you forgotten what those people told us when we entered the village? Zheng Hao didn't go to school when the hunter Zheng was around. If it weren't for Lin-ge'er making money in the county town, would Zheng Hao have been able to go to the county school?!"

After saying that, Gu's mother snorted heavily: "What a shameless brat! He's only been married a few years and he's already siding with outsiders. He doesn't even think about his brother when there's something good in the world. Erzhu is his only younger brother! He'd rather spend money on an outsider than help Erzhu. What a treacherous ingrate!"

Father Gu's face was old and his features were deeply lined. He frowned and glanced at Mother Gu, saying, "Don't say this in front of Lin-ge'er later."

Mother Gu raised an eyebrow, a glint of shrewdness flashing in her eyes, and said, "How could I not know? Now that we need his help, we naturally have to coax him."

Seeing that the other party understood his meaning, Gu's father remained silent.

As they approached the Zheng family's residence, Gu Lin saw a man and a woman sitting at the entrance. Just then, Gu's mother turned her head and saw a young man standing not far away.

Her eyes lit up, and she quickly stood up from the ground, patted her bottom, and then greeted him with a smile as bright as a chrysanthemum: "My dear Lin-ge'er, you're finally back."

As he walked along, Gu Lin's memories of the original owner's parents gradually resurfaced in his mind, so he was not fooled by her sweet words when faced with his seemingly kind and amiable mother.

Thinking of how the other party relentlessly exploited the original owner, sucking her blood to nourish Gu Erzhu and fattening him up, Gu Lin couldn't help but sneer, but a joyful smile appeared on his face: "Mother, why are you here? I haven't seen you and Father for so long. Have you eaten? I haven't eaten yet. What delicious food did you and Father bring to see me?"

Hearing the first part of Gu Lin's words, Gu's mother still had a smile on her face. But when she heard the second part, her smile froze, and her eyes involuntarily rolled upwards. However, she quickly regained her composure and said to the boy in front of her with concern, "Your father and I haven't eaten yet. We missed you so much that we rushed over early this morning. We haven't even had breakfast, let alone lunch. But it's so late, why haven't you eaten yet, my child? You must be starving."

Looking at his mother's concerned expression, Gu Lin thought that if it were the original owner of this body, she would probably be so moved that she would have to cut off her own flesh and blood to support the Gu family again.

But he seemed not to understand the meaning behind Gu's mother's words, nor did he show any concern for her and Gu's father: "Fortunately, you and Dad came. Ever since the head of the household passed away, I have been hoping day and night for you and Dad to come, but months have passed and you still haven't come. I almost thought you didn't recognize me as your son anymore."

After he finished speaking, he glanced at Gu's mother with a hint of resentment in his eyes.

With a twitch at the corner of her eye, Gu's mother's expression faltered. She let out a wail, wiping her eyes, and said, "Lin'er, you're tearing your parents' hearts out! Ever since your parents heard about your son-in-law's departure, we've been constantly worried about you, afraid you'd be bullied. Don't blame your parents for not coming when your son-in-law left. We were about to sow the seeds, and you know our family's situation—only your father and brother are the two men. If we delayed planting, we wouldn't have any food to eat for the rest of the year! We wanted to come, but we didn't have the strength!"

Looking at the woman in front of him, who was crying and singing so nimbly, Gu Lin thought that it was no wonder that the original owner of this body would forgive his parents every time, even though he knew they treated him badly. It was because the other party's methods were hard for ordinary people to resist.

“I know you and Father have worked hard, and I don’t blame you.” Facing his mother’s feigned crying, Gu Lin showed no mercy. “However, I’m a little short on money lately. Mother, could you lend me some money to use?”

Upon hearing the first part of the story, a triumphant smile appeared on Gu's mother's lips. How could she not know her own child? Lin Ge'er was the most soft-hearted. As long as she shed a few tears, he wouldn't be able to bear to see her sad.

But upon hearing Gu Lin's next words, Gu's mother immediately lost her composure. She almost jumped up: "Borrow money? Didn't you make a lot of money in the county town? Why do you still need to borrow money from me?"

A dark glint flashed across Gu Lin's light-colored eyes. He had wondered why his parents, who rarely visited during holidays in the original owner's memory, were coming now. It turned out they had heard about his business in the county town.

His smile gradually faded, and his face became gloomy: "Mother, you don't know this, but although I seem to be doing very well in business in the county town, I actually owe people several tens of taels of silver, and I still haven't paid it all off!"

"Several tens of taels?!"

This time, not only Gu's mother, but also Gu's father, who had been silent all along, cried out.

The friendly expressions they had initially put on gradually disappeared.

Looking at their behavior, a hint of sarcasm flashed in Gu Lin's eyes. He could take on the identity of the original owner and support his parents, but if Gu's parents wanted to use him as a blood donation, they could forget about it.

Upon hearing that the other party not only had no money but also owed several dozen taels of silver, Gu's mother could no longer maintain her facade of a kind mother. She glared at Gu Lin, her fierce and mean expression revealed between her brows: "Lin-ge'er, you can't lie to your parents! We are your own mother and son. Are you starting to be wary of even your parents now?"

"What kind of family does the Zheng family have that they could possibly owe others tens of taels of silver? You just don't want to be filial to your parents now that you have money. You used to be so filial, but now you don't even want to take care of your parents."

She absolutely did not believe that the Zheng family owed several dozen taels of silver. She had calculated it carefully and found that the hunter Zheng had saved at least several dozen taels of silver over the years.

Father Gu also spoke up, saying, "Lin-ge'er, you can't be so heartless."

Faced with the seemingly righteous but actually greedy and covetous rebukes of the two men, Gu Lin almost laughed out loud in anger. However, due to the filial piety of this era, he could not break ties with his parents: "Father and Mother, don't you know what kind of person I am? Even if the Zheng family had a lot of wealth, it was all gone after the head of the family was injured. At that time, we even lent out dozens of taels of silver to treat the head of the family, but we didn't expect that it still couldn't save the head of the family's life. Zheng Hao and I were almost unable to survive, so we went to the county town to do business. We worked from dawn to dusk every day, but we only earned enough to cover our daily expenses."

"enough!"

"Father Gu roared."

He tore away the mask of honesty and taciturnity, his aged eyes staring at Gu Lin like a hyena eyeing its prey, greedily and with a drooling look: "When we first entered the village, we heard your villagers say that you sent Zheng Hao to study at the county school, and how much it costs to study. Now you're complaining to us about being poor?"

Gu Lin remained silent, while his mother stood to the side with her hands on her hips and said, "Lin-ge'er, how could you be so foolish? That Zheng boy is an outsider. Why are you spending money on him? Your own brother is suffering at home!"

Gu Lin watched coldly. He had figured it out. The two people opposite him had changed their tactics after realizing that playing the emotional card with him was useless. Gu's father was now playing the bad cop and Gu's mother was playing the good cop.

But Gu Lin wasn't easily intimidated. He looked at his parents with a helpless expression and said, "Father and Mother, you can't say that. Now that I'm married into the Zheng family, I'm a member of the Zheng family. Even if I care about my family, I can only do my best. But right now, I can't even feed myself, so I have no way to be filial to you. Zheng Hao was able to go to the school because the head of the family left him a sum of money specifically for his education. That sum of money was witnessed by the village chief and elders, so I absolutely cannot touch it."

Faced with these bloodsucking parents, Gu Lin didn't even consider reasoning with them; he was even more feudal than they were. As for whether they would go to the village chief to verify, unless they were truly shameless and wanted to be gossiped about by everyone in the surrounding villages, they would never be so shameless as to eat their son-in-law's blood and cause him to die out.

Indeed, Gu Lin guessed correctly. Even though Gu's parents coveted the Zheng family's money and felt bad about spending it on Zheng Hao, they didn't dare to openly take advantage of the Zheng family's ill-gotten gains.

However, he did not expect that Gu's parents would actually believe what he said.

They exchanged a glance. Gu's parents felt that Gu Lin probably hadn't lied to them. Although Lin-ge'er didn't seem like a well-behaved person, he was actually timid and lacked his own ideas when faced with problems. Plus, he didn't have any reliable elders around him, so it wasn't impossible for him to be tricked out of his money.

Fortunately, their visit to Xiahe Village to find Gu Lin was not for this matter, but for other purposes.

Gu's mother pointed at Gu Lin with exasperation and said, "Are you stupid?! Even after Hunter Zheng's death, you still want to be a widow for him. The people of Xiahe Village are bullying you like this, and your father and I won't stand for it. I've found you a new marriage in Peach Blossom Village. The family is surnamed Peng. They are big landowners from the next village. They only have one son and have never been married. They heard that you are honest and capable, so they specially asked a matchmaker to come to their door. Your father and I have seen it and we both think this marriage is good. You can become a young mistress right after you marry into the family. You won't have to do any work, and you can eat white flour buns whenever you want!"

Having witnessed the eccentricities of Gu's parents, Gu Lin's first reaction to their sudden marriage proposal wasn't anger, but rather a feeling that a storm was finally brewing.

He wondered why Gu's parents, who were always irritable, had managed to hold back their anger after seeing him, even though they had almost lost their temper several times. It turned out they were waiting for him here.

Seeing that Gu Lin's mother didn't dare to look him in the eye when she talked about the marriage, Gu Lin felt that the marriage was probably not so simple.

Indeed, when faced with the young man's clear and bright eyes, Gu's mother's gaze darted away; the marriage wasn't as good as she had described.

Although the Peng family were wealthy landowners and their son had never married, this did not mean they were particularly upright or that their son was morally upright. Rather, it was because their son was mentally challenged; although he was twenty years old, his mind was like that of a three- or four-year-old child, and he also had a habit of hitting people.

Logically speaking, even if Peng's son was mentally challenged, there should have been plenty of poor women willing to marry him. However, Peng's parents felt that their son was good in every way, and that ordinary farm women were not good enough for him. They were determined to find a woman who was both talented and beautiful for their son.

But women like this are always sought after by many families. Those from wealthier families than the Peng family look down on them, while those from wealthier families are unwilling to marry their daughters to a fool.

As time went on and on, and their son, now in his early twenties, still hadn't found a wife while others his age were already becoming parents, the Peng couple began to get anxious.

At this time, a matchmaker who was on good terms with the Peng family came to their door and told them that the Gu family in Peach Blossom Village had a young man who was eighteen years old, hardworking, capable, tall and fertile, and was a perfect match for the young master of the Peng family.

When the Peng couple heard that the matchmaker had introduced a young man, they were somewhat displeased, but still very happy that their son wouldn't be a lonely bachelor. However, they quickly realized that young women were supposed to marry by the age of fifteen at the latest, and the Gu family's young man was still at home at eighteen. Perhaps he had some hidden illness?

The thought of this made the Peng couple uneasy; they certainly didn't want to marry a good-for-nothing.

Upon seeing this, the matchmaker stammered and explained to the Peng couple that Gu's son was already married, but had recently become a widow.

She patted her chest and guaranteed: "But the Gu family's son is first-rate in both appearance and temperament. His bright red birthmark means he is definitely easy to raise."

After hearing the matchmaker's explanation, the Peng couple were not angry at all that she had introduced their son to a widow.

They knew the matchmaker would never lie to them; this young man from the Gu family was not only good-looking and virtuous but also easy to manipulate. Apart from not being a virgin, he was the perfect daughter-in-law for them.

The next day, they asked a matchmaker to go to the Gu family to make it clear that they were willing to offer a dowry of fifty taels of silver to marry Gu Lin. Gu's parents had spent their whole lives working the land and had never seen so much silver before.

A full fifty taels!

They could never earn fifty taels of silver in their entire lives. With this money, they could finally afford to get their son married and build a new house.

They couldn't sleep all night thinking about this, fearing that the Peng family would change their minds and find someone else, and then their fifty taels would be wasted.

So at daybreak, Mr. and Mrs. Gu opened their bloodshot eyes and climbed two mountains to reach Xiahe Village.

As soon as they entered the village, they asked around about Gu Lin. They thought that Gu Lin would be living a miserable life after Zheng the hunter died, but to their surprise, Gu Lin seemed to be living quite well. He was even able to earn money to send Zheng Hao to school.

In the eyes of Gu's parents, after the death of the hunter Zheng, everything belonging to the Zheng family belonged to them. Upon hearing that Gu Lin had used their money to send Zheng Hao to school, Gu's parents felt a surge of anger. What a worthless boy! If anyone should be sent to school, it should be their own Erzhu. How could they waste money on a mere bastard?