Chapter 380 Familiar Face

In the other bedroom, a warm yellow lamp cast a cozy glow.

Gu Weimin held his daughter in his arms, sitting on the edge of the bed, and patiently coaxed her: "Sweetie, how about Mom keeps all the red envelopes for you? You can keep one under your pillow as a New Year's gift, and you can decide for yourself what snacks you want to buy tomorrow."

The little girl was very well-behaved. She took out several red envelopes from her arms and stuffed them into her mother Wang Juan's hands, saying, "Mom, please keep them safe for me, don't lose them."

Wang Juan took it, smiling as she pinched her daughter's cheek: "Don't worry, Mom will save it all for you. In the future, we'll save it for our little girl's dowry."

Gu Weimin was displeased upon hearing this.

"Why talk to the child about this? What dowry? Our little girl is still so young, Daddy can't bear to let her get married. Sweetie, we won't get married, Mommy and Daddy will take care of you for the rest of your life!"

Wang Juan glanced at her husband sideways and teased him deliberately, "Oh, so you know how to dote on your daughter now? Aren't you afraid Zhao Zhigang will say you don't have a son and the family line will end?"

Gu Weimin quickly covered Nannan's ears and glared at his wife, "Keep your voice down! Why do you have to say everything in front of the child!"

"I am a son myself, how could I not know what it means to raise a son?"

Our little girl is so young yet already knows how to care for others, so filial and sensible. Look at Zhao Zhigang, by the time his precious son grows up, he'll be in his sixties or seventies, how many days of happiness will he have left for his son? He's so clueless! He even made my third sister work so hard..."

He and Wang Juan had no plans to have any more children after their daughter was born.

Firstly, Gu Weimin himself did not have a strong desire for a son, and felt that a daughter would be more considerate and adorable;

Secondly, he pursued Wang Juan because she was a star performer in the performing arts troupe and very beautiful. He couldn't bear to let his wife go through the pain of childbirth again and become a haggard housewife who was always busy with cooking and children.

When Wang Juan heard him mention his third sister, her tone softened: "So you still know how to care about your third sister?"

"Of course! When I was little, Dad... couldn't take care of us, so my third sister raised me..."

Gu Weimin looked down and saw that the little girl in his arms was already asleep.

He then lowered his voice even further, saying disdainfully, "That bastard Zhao Zhigang is just obsessed with saving face! He tries to climb the social ladder by currying favor with those in power, and he insists on having a son to maintain appearances in his family. My third sister has suffered so much..."

Wang Juan rarely saw her husband, who always prided himself on being refined, swearing. Seeing him getting more and more agitated, she patted his arm and said, "Alright, alright, keep your voice down. Walls have ears, don't let anyone hear you."

Gu Weimin reluctantly fell silent.

Wang Juan then took out the red envelope she had just put away and carefully counted the money inside. "Huh, Gu Yan is still the most generous. This amount is only a little less than what Dad gave. It seems he's really making a lot of money in the south."

Gu Weimin gently laid his sleeping daughter down, covered her with the blanket, and said, "That's right. I've heard that many people working in the system are getting restless these days, thinking about going into business, because they're attracted by the quick money..."

Before he could finish speaking, Wang Juan slammed the red envelope lightly on the table, interrupting him, "I don't care what other people think! Our family is fine as it is now! You just got promoted, your future is bright, don't cause me any trouble!"

“I know I’m not cut out for that. Let’s just be honest and work our way up step by step, make sure our family has enough to eat and drink, and raise our daughter well. That’s more important than anything else.”

"Just so you know, we may not have the same position as Gu Xiao, nor the same wealth as Gu Yan, but being safe and sound is good enough..."

Wang Juan's words suddenly left Gu Weimin with mixed feelings.

When his father was sick before, he and his wife worried for nothing.

They secretly lent money to the second brother, thinking that the fifth brother would make a scene. Unexpectedly, the fifth brother ignored them completely and continued as before, without stopping him from getting promoted... I wonder if the fifth brother simply didn't care whether he got promoted or not, given his minor official position?

Wang Juan locked the red envelope in the drawer, then suddenly remembered something and asked, "I heard my eldest brother talking to my fifth brother about going to pay New Year's visits tomorrow. In previous years, it was usually our families who went most of the time, and my fifth brother would at most go with Dad once or twice just to make a formality, right? Why is his whole family going this year too?"

Gu Weimin speculated, “Things are different now. Since Dad fell ill, many old acquaintances have been visiting each other more frequently. Fifth Brother’s position is different now. When he personally goes to pay New Year’s visits, it carries a lot of weight. He is representing Dad and the Gu family now and in the future. Eldest Brother brought them along because he wanted Gu Yong and Gu Meng to show more face in front of Fifth Brother, so that their future paths would be easier.”

He could see clearly that his elder brother, Gu Weiguo, had some ulterior motives in this matter.

Wang Juan glanced at her watch. "Alright, stop thinking about it. It's so late, hurry up and turn off the lights and go to sleep. We have to get up early tomorrow to visit relatives and friends for the New Year."

"good."

Gu Weimin leaned over and snapped the light off.

Downstairs in Gu Weiguo's bedroom, Li Xiuqin was asking the same question: "What time are we going out to pay New Year's visits tomorrow? And whose houses are we going to?"

Gu Weiguo had already lain down and replied with his eyes closed, "Let's go after breakfast. Lao Wu's family is going too. Perfect, I'll bring Gu Yong and Gu Meng along. We can get to know more people and become familiar with them."

Li Xiuqin was very satisfied with the arrangement. She never expected that her usually somewhat rigid husband would be so shrewd in his dealings with people.

She turned to look at her two sons on the cot next to her, exchanging red envelopes, and said coldly, "Gu Yong, Gu Meng, listen to me. You can keep the red envelopes, but if I find out you're wasting money, buying useless things and squandering them, you won't get a single penny of pocket money anymore, understand?"

The two brothers quickly assured each other, "We know, Mom! We definitely won't waste the money!"

The lights in the Gu family's small building went out one by one, the noise subsided, and they quietly awaited the first dawn of the new year.

Although Commander Gu had told everyone to sleep as they pleased the night before, those with family matters to attend to still got up early the next day.

Gu Yan was the only one at home, and he truly slept until the sun was high in the sky.

With his messy, unkempt hair and wrinkled pajamas, he shuffled off downstairs.

Then I heard my father, Commander Gu, talking and laughing with guests in the living room downstairs, and I could vaguely hear unfamiliar voices.

Gu Yan shrank his neck and turned around, intending to tiptoe back upstairs. He couldn't possibly entertain guests in his current state.

Unfortunately, the people downstairs had already heard his footsteps coming down the stairs.

Commander Gu's strong voice came through: "Gu Yan! Come down here when you're awake, don't be lazy! Come and meet your Uncle Xu and Aunt Chen."

Gu Yan inwardly groaned; how could he possibly face anyone looking like this?

He quickly grabbed the stair railing, leaned halfway out, and called down, "Dad, Uncle! Aunt! I... I'm going back inside to get something, I'll be right down!"

After saying that, he quickly rushed back to his room, washed up as fast as he could, found a set of decent dark clothes to change into, and roughly scratched his hair in front of the mirror to make himself look presentable before going downstairs again.