Reborn as the Blissful Wife in the countryside-Chapter 1017: A Bunch of Country Bumpkins

Elder Xu was very pleased and quickly said, "Xu Er, Xu Er’s wife, aren’t you going to hurry and lead the way with the protectors to invite the guests into the shop?"

Before Xu Er and his wife came, they had received Elder Xu’s instructions. Hearing this, Xu Er immediately took the servants to lead the way.

Xu Er’s wife then asked the maids to hold umbrellas, creating a screen with them to block the appearance of the Gu Family’s female relatives. She then led the maids to the mule cart and smiled, "Third Madam Gu, Sister-in-law Gu, I am from the second branch of the Xu Family, and at my father-in-law’s command, I come to invite you to get off the carriage. Please come down quickly, and I’ll take you into the shop to take shelter."

She added with a smile, "The shop has already been cleared once, so there won’t be any servants accidentally bumping into the girls."

Xu Er’s wife always spoke with a smile showing three parts and was very sociable. There was no choice; in this world, lineage was valued, elders loved the younger sons, and their second branch was caught in the middle, having nothing. To live well in the mansion, they had to develop skills to navigate all situations.

Moreover, her daughter was here this time, and her father-in-law had said that any of Xu Family’s granddaughters of suitable age, if chosen and proposed by the Gu Family, could receive a rich dowry, and they would also receive an extra ten percent of the family estate at the time of the separation.

This ten percent of the family estate might be nothing to the first branch, but to the second branch, it could enable the descendants to live another generation in wealth and prosperity.

The Gu Family was excellent too, beyond Gu Jin’an’s limitless prospects, the family also engaged in businesses of tofu, spices, and toothbrushes. Xu Er’s wife knew those spices could earn large money, a business that could be passed down to future generations, just for this business alone, Gu Jin’an would make an ideal son-in-law.

Mrs. Cui and Third Grandma hadn’t spoken yet, when Mrs. Chen was too excited, she was the first to get off the mule cart, rushing over to grab Xu Er’s wife’s hand as if she had seen a long-lost sister, "Oh, this must be Second Sister-in-law Xu. Just look at her, not only beautiful, but there’s an aura about her, you can tell she’s different from us country women, she’s really blessed with good fortune."

If she looks good, her daughter certainly won’t be ugly. Let’s start with networking; if the Xu Family’s eldest daughter’s even better, then we can propose her to Brother Xing as a wife.

Mrs. Chen, in her efforts to find a wife for Gu Dexing, had spared no effort, reviewing hundreds of girls from the prefecture to the county. Unfortunately, the girls from the prefecture were too proud and looked down on their country folk.

But the Xu Family is eager to build connections with them, so Mrs. Chen thought, they must have intentions to form a marriage alliance, so why be polite? Just pick!

Hey, don’t overthink; the Xu Family has intentions for Gu Jin’an, not your Gu Dexing.

Xu Er’s wife was taken aback, who is this...? Oh, by the looks of her outgoing nature and loud voice, she must be from Gu Dagui’s family, named Mrs. Chen.

Since she’s a relative of Gu Jin’an, Xu Er’s wife couldn’t be rude and could only smile, "Sister-in-law Gu, you flatter me."

Mrs. Chen replied, "Flatter or not, how is it flattery, what I said is the truth, I never lie."

Gu Jinli almost burst out laughing, you don’t lie? Come on, you can’t go a day without telling a fib.

Even Xu Er’s wife couldn’t handle Mrs. Chen’s enthusiasm and quickly said, "Sister-in-law Gu, there are too many people here, it’s crowded, let’s hurry inside."

Then she immediately called to the maids, "Quick, help Madam Gu inside."

Madam Gu?

Mrs. Chen was overjoyed; did she just become a madam?

Mrs. Chen was excited, not only were the maids helping her, but there were also maids holding umbrellas behind her. However, the umbrella was held too low for her liking, so she snatched it up saying, "The umbrella should be held like this, holding it so low, are you sheltering the ground from the rain?"

But the umbrella really wasn’t for rain or wind protection; it was meant to shield the appearance of the women, to prevent them from being observed.

The servants of the Xu Family were stunned for a moment, astonished by Mrs. Chen’s words, but fortunately, the Xu Family had decent manners and dared not say anything more, so they let Mrs. Chen hold the umbrella and walk on.

The other maids continued to use umbrellas to block outsiders’ gaze, guiding the Gu Family’s women into the shop.

After quite some bustling, Gu Jinli and her group finally reached a wing room in the shop.

The wing room was lively, with five girls from the Xu Family of varying ages, the oldest being Xu Zhong from the second branch, the youngest being Xu Ya from the third branch.

Mrs. Chen’s eyes lit up upon seeing so many girls, looking around, her eyes overwhelmed with choices, she grinned broadly, "Oh, look at these lovely girls, what are your names, how old are you, are you betrothed?"

This must be asked clearly, if they are betrothed, then never mind.

Xu Ling from the main branch of the Xu Family found Mrs. Chen disgusting, really did not understand what her grandfather was thinking, actually wanting to match her with this country family.

Take a look at this group of people, aren’t they like a bunch of bumpkins entering a city, with their eyes glowing green at the sight of people, haven’t they ever seen a lady from a prestigious family?

She showed no cordiality to the Gu Family, sitting still, pretending not to hear.

Seeing this, Xu Er’s wife frowned, her voice a bit stern, "Your Third Grandma from the Gu Family is here with the Gu Family’s ladies, won’t you quickly get up and pay respects?"

Upon hearing her own mother’s words, Xu Zhong got up first to pay respects, "Greetings to Third Grandma Gu and the Gu Family ladies. I am Xu Zhong from the second branch of the Xu Family, this is my sister Xu Xiu, and this is Xu Ling from the main branch, and these are Xu Yu and Xu Ya from the third branch."

The names of the Xu Family’s granddaughters were in the order of Zhong, Liu, Yu, Xiu, and Ya. As the eldest, Xu Zhong rather lost out, though the other four sisters had very pleasant names.

Knowing her daughter’s name wasn’t very appealing, Xu Er’s wife quickly smiled, "My eldest daughter has a nickname, Linglong, meaning refined like jade, you can just call her Linglong."

Then looking at the Xu Family’s granddaughters, she said, "Quickly, stand up and give your greetings to Third Grandma Gu and the Gu Family’s ladies."

The other granddaughters of the Xu Family stood up upon hearing this, paid respects, and greeted the Gu Family people.

Though Xu Ling stood up, her courtesy was quite perfunctory.

Xu Er’s wife saw this and inwardly sneered, go ahead and look down upon the Gu Family, do you really think marrying into the noble families of Jiangnan is so easy?

Do those noble families even look at the Xu Family?

In the eyes of those noble families, the Xu Family is akin to mud-footers, perhaps even less, for some even insulted the Xu Family as lowly merchants. But Xu Ling’s eyes were covered, she only wanted to squeeze into those noble circles.

Although Xu Er’s wife was displeased with Xu Ling’s rudeness, she didn’t reprimand her, instead treating her as if she didn’t exist. If the Gu Family didn’t fancy Xu Ling, then it meant better chances for her own daughters, Xu Zhong and Xu Xiu.

The top scorer of the prefecture, now that is an assured scholar. Brother Ming said with Gu Jin’an’s ability, becoming a scholar would be easy, then he would be Master Scholar.

Xu Er’s wife wasn’t greedy, as long as the future son-in-law became a scholar, and the family had a business that could be passed down, it would be good enough.

Gu Jinli and her group also saw Xu Ling looking down on them, but did they care? They didn’t put Xu Ling in their eyes at all, if she wanted to act superior, let her, they just minded their own business.