She gave birth to three daughters in a row, and was kicked out by her mother-in-law who favored boys

Chapter 127 Gu Zhuangzhuang's cleverness

"Mom, let me bring you some hawthorns." Gu Zhuangzhuang felt guilty and didn't dare to look into his elder sister's eyes. All his energy was spent on rolling his eyes.

Gu Qingqing knew something was wrong as soon as she saw his expression. This boy must be hiding something from her.

But she didn't rush to ask, instead she said, "Come with me."

After entering the yard, Wu Fang and the other two who were kneading buns in the kitchen saw Gu Qingqing coming back with a stranger. The man's face looked somewhat like Gu Qingqing.

Zhao Qin smiled and asked, "Qingqing, are there any relatives coming to our house?"

"Well, my younger brother from my mother's side, Gu Zhuangzhuang, came back to visit today." After Gu Qingqing said this, she asked Gu Zhuangzhuang to sit on the bench in front of the small square table in the yard.

"Take it out, let me see what my mother brought me." Gu Qingqing said, pointing at the backpack behind Gu Zhuangzhuang.

Gu Zhuangzhuang lowered his head, took the bamboo basket off his shoulder, and pushed it in front of Gu Qingqing, "Here!"

Gu Qingqing asked, "Besides asking you to deliver the hawthorns, did your mother also tell you that there were other, other... things?"

Gu Qingqing stared at the hawthorns in the bamboo basket that were uneven in size, some round and some deformed. The last "thing" she said sounded very far-fetched.

She looked up at Gu Zhuangzhuang, but when Gu Zhuangzhuang met her gaze, he was so scared that he immediately shook his head, which was an answer to her question.

The evasive look in his eyes shows how guilty he is.

She felt something was wrong outside just now, and now she was very sure that something must be wrong here.

Gu Qingqing stood up, took the basket and poured all the hawthorns into the basket. When she looked at them again, they were completely different from what was delivered last time.

"Zhuangzhuang, are you sure your mother asked you to send these?"

Gu Zhuangzhuang snapped his fingers for a long time before nodding, but what he said was "Mom said you love this."

Gu Qingqing chuckled, "Alright, Gu Zhuangzhuang, you have learned to avoid the subject. What I'm asking is, did mother ask you to send these?"

Gu Zhuangzhuang secretly glanced at Gu Qingqing, dodging his gaze and said, "Ah, Sister, you just asked."

"I have asked before, and I will ask again. Think it over carefully before answering me. If you answer wrong, you will not have any meat to eat." Gu Qingqing threatened directly.

Gu Zhuangzhuang was usually lazy and honest, so he was no match for Gu Qingqing. When he heard that there was no meat to eat, he immediately got anxious, sat up straight, and said in a mosquito-like voice, "I brought it."

Gu Qingqing was so happy that before she could even last a second, she heard Gu Zhuangzhuang say, "Send hawthorns to sister and she will have meat to eat."

The corner of Gu Qingqing's mouth that was raised suddenly froze in mid-air, and she said, it turned out that after Gu Zhuangzhuang had eaten meat at her place last time, he was still thinking about this meal.

There's nothing I can do about it. Today I came to her place under the pretext of giving her some hawthorns for a treat.

Gu Qingqing thought about the whole process and asked him with a smile, "Does your mother know you're coming?"

Gu Zhuangzhuang shook his head.

Then he added, "I have been carrying a lot of firewood home these days, and my mother told me to rest today and not to work."

"So, since your mother told you to rest, you sneaked over to my place?"

"I'm here to bring hawthorns to my sister." Gu Zhuangzhuang said timidly.

Gu Qingqing looked at the hawthorns in the basket and didn't know what to say for a moment.

You say he is smart, but he doesn't look smart.

You say he is not smart, but he actually thought of using the opportunity of sending hawthorns to ask for food from her.

At this moment, Gu Qingqing heard an untimely gurgling sound.

"You didn't have breakfast when you came, did you?" Gu Qingqing asked.

"Well, I'll go pick some hawthorns first, and then come over."

"You," Gu Qingqing was speechless.

He got up and went to the kitchen to get a steamed bun that was half sorghum and half white flour and was still warm from steaming that morning. He also put half a bowl of pig intestines in a small bowl and brought it to him.

"Eat! There's only one hot steamed bun. If it's not enough, eat cold ones. Eat well and work for me. You can have a good meal at noon."

After Gu Zhuangzhuang took the food, he started to eat without waiting for Gu Qingqing to finish her words.

While he was eating, Gu Qingqing had already thought about what she wanted him to do next.

Gu Qingqing took a machete and led the men up the mountain. She selected ten new bamboos of that year and said to Gu Zhuangzhuang, "You cut down these ten bamboos here and drag them to the open space over here. If it is not yet noon when you finish cutting, you should cut all the leaves along the bamboo poles, tie all the leaves together, and carry them back home at noon."

Gu Zhuangzhuang was half full. When he saw his elder sister asking him to chop ten bamboos and also chop leaves, he immediately hung his head.

Gu Qingqing saw this and asked leisurely with her arms folded, "Zhuangzhuang, was the food delicious?"

When Gu Zhuangzhuang heard this, his drooping head immediately straightened up.

"There will be more food for lunch later. It's enough."

Gu Zhuangzhuang didn't even have time to say anything, he immediately ran towards the bamboo that his sister had noted with his machete in hand.

Gu Qingqing shouted at his back, "If you don't cut ten bamboos before noon, you don't have to come back!"

After saying that, she happily went down the mountain, and behind her could be heard the hollow sound of a hatchet chopping on bamboo.

When Gu Qingqing came down the hillside, she saw Wen Wuyan and Zhao Dong circling in the yard, as if they were looking for her.

Wen Wuyan went to meet Gu Qingqing first, and when he couldn't see his brother-in-law in his sight, he asked, "Did Zhuangzhuang go home?"

Gu Qingqing shook her head, pointed at the cracked hawthorns on the small table and said to Wen Wuyan, "No, I asked him to go cut bamboo. Also, your brother-in-law heard from somewhere that you like to eat this, so here, I brought it to you today."

Wen Wuyan picked up one, wiped it on his clothes, and put it into his mouth. He was sour that his facial features were all flying. In the end, he said, "Zhuangzhuang is thoughtful."

Then he invited Zhao Dong to try it. Zhao Dong looked at his squeezed facial features and shook his head hastily. He looked at Gu Qingqing and asked, "Do you have lime powder here?"

Gu Qingqing was delighted when she heard this, knowing that this matter had a chance.

"Do you know the ratio of soil and lime powder?" Gu Qingqing asked.

"I saw them doing this when I was working for a wealthy family in the north. I thought it was strange at the time, so I kept paying attention and observing. The manager probably saw that I was interested in it, so he talked to me a little more. But the price of lime powder is not low. At least I haven't seen anyone using it to build a house in recent years. So after Wuyan told me just now, I followed him here," Zhao Dong explained.

Since Zhao Dong knew about it, Gu Qingqing did not hide it. She raised her hand and pointed in the direction of the kiln, "It's in there."

Zhao Dong was surprised. "Wu Yan said earlier that burning stones can produce lime powder?"

"Yes, let's go. Let's go and take a look." Gu Qingqing said as she led the two of them towards that direction.

Zhao Dong was still a little unconvinced, and asked for confirmation, "When lime powder comes into contact with water, it will start to smoke and burn the skin. If it gets into your eyes by accident, you will go blind."

Gu Qingqing nodded, "Yes, that's what it is. But if it gets into your eyes, don't rub them. Immediately rinse your eyes quickly with oil, maybe you can save your eyes."

Zhao Dong didn't know how to deal with such a thing. When he heard Gu Qingqing say it, his eyes immediately became admiring when he looked at her.