Chapter 105: No Time to Mourn the Passing Seasons

Resting on the kang, Madam Li saw her daughter return and hurriedly propped herself up. She scanned her daughter from head to toe, and upon seeing that she was unharmed, she let out a sigh of relief.

"Little Yao, are you alright? Is anything hurting? I was so worried about you going alone; I should have gone with you."

Lying on the kang, Madam Li felt she had been too trusting of her daughter. No matter how capable she seemed, she was still just a child!

"Don't worry. I have already obtained the divorce papers. Grandfather and Grandmother did not make things difficult for me; I reasoned with them properly."

"Mother, once you press your thumbprint on this, the divorce papers will take effect. After that, Gu Dacai will have no reason to come here again."

"If he dares to show his face, I will have him sent to the magistrate's office. I’ve realized that simply driving him away time and time again is useless. Someone needs to teach him how to behave like a human being."

She couldn't kill him, nor could she simply bury him in a pit. In this place, everyone from commoners to thugs possessed an innate fear of the magistrate's office, and Gu Dacai was no exception.

Madam Li took the divorce papers from her. Although she could not read the dense rows of characters, a sense of relief washed over her.

Pressing the papers against her chest, she felt as if the suffocating tightness that had long plagued her had finally vanished. Even the air she breathed seemed to carry the sweet scent of the forest, and everything before her eyes appeared clearer than ever.

"Little Yao, Mother truly doesn't know how to thank you..."

Madam Li choked back sobs as she held the papers, her brows and lips trembling. She hunched over, weeping softly.

Seeing her mother cry, Gu Xiaoyao felt a pang of sadness in her heart. She sat on the kang, stroking Madam Li’s back to soothe her.

"Sister, you're back! That scoundrel didn't lay a hand on you, did he?"

"Mother, what's wrong? Are you in pain again?"

Seeing his mother crying, Gu Xiaoshu panicked and rushed over, asking anxiously.

"Xiaoshu, don't worry. Mother is fine. I'm just so happy—your sister helped me get the divorce papers."

"From now on, Mother won't have to take you back to the Gu family. You and I are free! We are finally free."

Madam Li lifted her tear-filled eyes, looking at her son with contentment. She felt that she could finally live the rest of her life in happiness.

"Really? You actually got the divorce papers? Sister, you are truly amazing!"

Gu Xiaoshu took the papers and turned them over repeatedly. Though he could only recognize a few words, he was overjoyed.

"We won't have to concern ourselves with Gu Dacai anymore. I suspect that if he tries to come up the mountain now, he’ll have to weigh whether he even has the right to do so."

"Tomorrow, I’m going into town to see what sells well. We need to start making money."

Gu Xiaoshu had earned money in the city before and knew how difficult it was. Especially when people from the mountains brought goods down to sell, merchants would often deliberately drive the prices down.

"Sister, earning money is very hard. How do you plan to do it? I haven't thought of anything yet. Perhaps we should just catch game to sell?"

Wild game was quite rare in the city, and since it was winter and the weather was cold, few people dared to venture deep into these mountains unless they were very familiar with the terrain.

"I’ll go into town first to look around. You just continue digging the fields tomorrow. I will return early and won't stay long."

After all, there was still land to be tilled at home, and if they were short one person, they would likely fall behind the others.