Why couldn't they split off from the Gu family? Because…
"The Family Leader refuses." Gu Yunshu lowered his head. When he mentioned the Family Leader, his eyes were red with hatred.
The current patriarch of the Gu family had a personal feud with Father Gu, Gu Dajiang. Therefore, he had to suppress them in everything.
When Gu Dajiang was six years old, he was chosen by the only old scholar in the village. He said that Gu Dajiang had the talent to study. As long as he was nurtured well, his future would be limitless.
Old Gu was a little tempted, but Mrs. Zhao refused. If Gu Dajiang became successful, wouldn't her son be suppressed? In the future, she would have to live according to his wishes.
She kept making a fuss, saying that her family was poor and did not have the money to pay tuition and buy pens and paper. Moreover, Gu Dajiang had to help her family work and was not free to study.
Old Gu quickly compromised. Later, the old patriarch, who was in his eighties, came forward and reprimanded the two of them.
"It would bring so much honor to our ancestors to have a promising scholar in the family. Our ancestors are watching from the sky. How can we let a woman ruin that? In the future, when he takes the examination and become an official, he can even bless the descendants of the Gu family. Just think about how glorious the Gu family will be from then on."
The old patriarch intervened forcefully, and the family produced the brush, ink, paper, and inkstone. The old scholar also did not want Gu Dajiang's tuition, so he accepted Gu Dajiang as his student and did his best to tutor him.
However, the good times did not last long. Gu Dajiang had been studying for five years. Old Xiu had just planned to let him take the student examination when the old patriarch passed away from old age. He had not been in good health either. After two months, he caught a cold and died.
The current patriarch had obtained his position through underhanded means. Back then, he had also wanted the old scholar to take his son as a student, but his son was not cut out for studying, so the old scholar tactfully rejected him.
However, for some reason, this matter was spread like a joke. They even compared his son to Gu Dajiang and said that he was a fool. Because his son could not stand the mockery, he lost his temper at home and bumped into his wife, who had just gotten pregnant, causing the child in her stomach to be lost.
He could not blame his son for this, and he could not find the source of the rumors. He could only push all the blame to Gu Dajiang and the old scholar.
After the old patriarch and the old scholar passed away one after another, Gu Dajiang naturally could not continue studying. The current patriarch did not even let him take the entrance examination. He was trapped at home by Mrs. Zhao to work.
Later on, by chance, the shopkeeper of a restaurant in town took a fancy to him and he used his knowledge of words and numbers to work as a bookkeeper.
Gu Dajiang did not study for nothing. He knew that their family was not doing well at home, so he had been looking for an opportunity to split from the main Gu family.
When Madam Yang gave birth to Gu Yundong back then, she was beaten up by Madam Zhao until she gave birth prematurely. She lost a lot of blood and almost lost her life. It was because of that that Madam Yang's health was poor and she did not have a child for many years. It was only when Gu Yundong was eight years old that Gu Yunshu was born.
It was also that time that Gu Dajiang insisted stubbornly on splitting from the main Gu family.
However, two months later, Old Gu, who had no one to do the work at home, regretted it and refused to acknowledge the separation.
The current patriarch, who was also the village chief, tore up the family separation document on the spot and sent Gu Dajiang back. If Gu Dajiang did not agree, he would expel their family from the Gu family register on the charge of being unfilial.
Expelling from the family!!!
Without a family, he would be like a rootless duckweed. He could not even return to his roots.
This was a very serious matter. He would have to go to the government office to register and this stain would follow him for the rest of his life. Not to mention Gu Dajiang himself, even his children would always be looked down upon and pointed at by others. It would be difficult for them to get married.