Reborn as the Blissful Wife in the countryside-Chapter 144 Portrait

Besides Aunt Fuya from Third Grandpa and Third Grandma’s family, there’s also the family of her own aunt, Gu Daya.

Elder Gu and Granny Gu wanted to sell Gu Daya off, but she refused and ran away with a peddler. Over the years, she had never returned to her parents’ home, only sending a letter and a tael of silver to Gu Dashan once, saying she was doing well.

Gu Dashan had always been worried and had once wanted to visit Gu Daya’s marital home, but kept getting delayed because of earning a living.

During the drought and flight from famine, upon passing through Mingshan County where Gu Daya had married into, Gu Dashan took the opportunity to inquire about Gu Daya’s family while resting, but unfortunately, found nothing.

Gu Jinli knew that finding his sister was a lingering concern for Gu Dashan; looking at Third Grandpa and Grandma, their lifelong wish was to find their daughter’s family as well. She thought for a moment and asked, "Third Grandpa and Grandma, do you still remember what Aunt Fuya looks like?"

Third Grandpa and Grandma nodded: "Remember, how could we not?"

Fuya was their only child in this lifetime; they would never forget her appearance, even in death.

Gu Jinli said, "How about this? You describe Aunt Fuya’s appearance, and I will draw it. We’ll get her image down on paper, then ask Uncle Shang to help us find someone. Or we can offer a reward ourselves to seek information, and if anyone can provide news of Aunt Fuya’s family or bring them to us, we will give them payment."

Third Grandpa and Grandma were very much moved by the idea. Although they were not wealthy, they were willing to give their all to find their daughter’s family.

But...

"Can this work?" Third Grandma asked worriedly, "We are outsiders, we don’t know many people, even if we’re willing to pay, would others really make an effort to search?"

Gu Jinli pointed to the tofu in the courtyard and said, "Third Grandma forgot, we also have the tofu business. There are many who come to buy tofu from us; we can ask them to help keep an eye out. They carry tofu to sell in other places and travel around a lot; someone might just run into Aunt Fuya."

People who carry tofu to sell are like sparks scattered; as long as they’re spread out, there will come a day when we receive news.

Hearing this, Third Grandpa and Grandma’s eyes reddened with excitement, and Third Grandma said with a choked voice, "Let’s do that. We will describe her, and you and Brother An can draw."

Thinking of Gu Dashan’s sister Gu Daya, Third Grandpa added, "Call your father over, and draw your Aunt Daya’s image too. Look for both families together."

"Yes." Gu Jinli ran to the kitchen and told Gu Dashan and Mrs. Cui about the plan to find their aunts, Gu Fuya and Gu Daya.

Gu Dashan and Mrs. Cui were making tofu curd when they heard the news, and they both froze. Mrs. Cui gave Gu Dashan a nudge and laughed, "Head of the household, Xiao Yu is saying she wants to find her aunt. Why are you standing there in a daze? Hurry up and go outside with the child to get Daya’s image down so we can start searching for people."

Mrs. Cui knew what was on Gu Dashan’s mind; the matter of Daya had been weighing on his heart for so long and had become a knot.

In the past, they had no choice because of the famine, but now that they had settled down and had the tofu business, with daily income coming into the house, it was not a problem to spend some silver to search for Daya’s family.

Gu Dashan was very excited and it took him a while to come to his senses: "Yes, yes, I’ll go right now."

He rushed out of the kitchen and asked Gu Jinli who was standing by the door: "Xiao Yu, can this really work? Can we really find your aunt?"

Before Gu Jinli could speak, Gu Jincheng, who was helping to stoke the fire in the kitchen, chimed in: "Of course, it can! Second Sister is the best."

Gu Jinli smiled upon hearing this and said while walking, "I cannot guarantee that we can definitely find them, but at least there is hope."

Gu Dashan’s eyes brimmed with tears, he nodded and said, "Yes, there is always hope."

The father and daughter arrived in the courtyard where Gu Jin’an had already moved the table out, arranged the ink, brushes, paper, and inkstone, and upon seeing Gu Dashan, he smiled and said, "Dad, please sit down and tell us what Aunt looks like. We will draw her portrait and use it to find her."

None of them younger ones, including Mrs. Cui, had seen Aunt Daya. This aunt only existed in the words of Dad and the elders.

"Alright," Gu Dashan replied and sat down, beginning to reminisce about Gu Daya’s appearance.

Third Grandma had already started speaking: "Your Aunt Fuya was born to me and Third Grandpa eight years after we got married. She is five years younger than your dad, thirty-two this year. Her face is round like mine, with round almond eyes, and her nose resembles your Third Grandpa’s, tall and straight..."

As Third Grandma spoke, Gu Jinli and Gu Jin’an began to sketch.

However, their drawing styles differed; Gu Jin’an drew in the freehand brushwork style of figure painting taught by Scholar Shang, while Gu Jinli’s was a contemporary fine brush pencil sketch. Comparatively, Gu Jin’an’s drawing barely resembled a person, but Gu Jinli’s could reveal the face distinctly.

Gu Jin’an found this surprising but refrained from asking. No matter what he asked, Xiao Yu would always reply with "I learned it from someone on the road during the famine" or "I figured it out on my own."

Gu Jin’an was a smart person, and after a few times, he no longer asked his sister these unanswerable questions but instead helped her cover up these skills.

However, he liked Xiao Yu’s style of painting very much, so he asked Gu Jinli to teach him, and he practiced while learning.

Drawing a human portrait is not a simple task. Even with two similar reference points like Third Grandpa and Third Grandma, it took Gu Jinli nearly half an hour to finish the portrait of Gu Fuya, and after some modifications, she presented the finished drawing to them.

On the paper was a woman with a women’s hair bun, round face and round eyes, high nose bridge, thin and curved lips, and a natural smile. There were wrinkles on her forehead, fine lines at the corners of her eyes, and two rather deep nasolabial folds on her cheeks, giving the appearance of a woman around thirty-five or thirty-six years old.

Gu Jinli had intentionally drawn her to look older.

Although Third Grandma mentioned Gu Fuya was only thirty-two, being a farming family and having endured over half a year of famine, she would likely look a few years older.

Third Grandpa was shocked by the portrait, repeatedly saying, "It’s like her, it really resembles your Aunt Fuya, at least seventy percent."

A seventy percent resemblance was already enough; anyone who had seen this portrait would definitely recognize Fuya upon seeing her again.

Third Grandma looked at the portrait and cried, "Fuya, this is my Fuya."

Third Grandpa thought of his daughter and nearly broke into tears, but he held back and reminded Third Grandma, "Take it easy, this wasn’t easy for Xiao Yu to draw. Don’t let your tears fall onto the painting. If it’s ruined, we won’t be able to find Fuya."

Upon hearing this, Third Grandma quickly held back her tears, placing the portrait back on the table and stood by it, looking at it from a distance with tears streaming down.

Gu Jinli turned to Gu Dashan and asked, "Dad, have you remembered?"

Gu Dashan nodded and added, "Dad and your Aunt Daya have not seen each other for nearly twenty years—I only remember her young appearance..."

Gu Jinli said, "It’s okay, just tell me, and I will draw Aunt Daya to look older."