Chapter 114 Doubts
Gu Ningwei looked at He Guoliang with a smile, rather shyly: "I'm really sorry that we, the younger generation, have caused Grandpa He to worry about our affairs. It's really my fault."
He Guoliang smiled slightly, lowered his head to drink tea, but did not answer.
He Yongqiang lost his temper. He frowned and asked, "Gu Ningwei, you say that so lightly. You keep going back on your words like this, making the world laugh at our He family."
Gu Ningwei quickly bowed slightly to He Yongqiang with a look of shame on his face. "Uncle He, I'm sorry for causing you trouble. I apologize to Grandpa He, you, and He Lian."
As he said this, he stood up and bowed deeply.
He Yongqiang snorted: "Who wants your apology?"
He Guoliang waved his hand, frowned, and said to He Yongqiang, "Hey, Yongqiang, don't be like this. Mr. Gu came all the way to apologize to us, and he apologized sincerely. You should at least let him finish what he said."
As he said this, he secretly winked at him, signaling him to be patient.
He Yongqiang snorted and sat down on a chair nearby.
"Have some tea, have some tea." He Guoliang said, then noticed that Gu Ningwei didn't have a teacup at hand. He frowned and said to Yang Zhen, "Hey, Old Yang, you're confused now. Why don't you serve tea to guests?"
Yang Zhen glanced at He Yongqiang and hurried forward, "Hey, it's all my fault. I'm getting old and confused. I'll go make some tea for Mr. Gu." Then he turned and left the living room.
He Guoliang shook his head and said to Gu Ningwei somewhat helplessly, "Hey, Mr. Gu, I'm not afraid of you young people laughing at me. We are all old now, and many things are no longer up to date. Our words are becoming less and less effective."
Gu Ningwei knew there was something else in his words, so he took the opportunity to criticize him. He smiled calmly and said to He Guoliang, "Grandpa He is still strong and healthy. How could no one listen to him? We young people are reckless and don't know how to act properly. We need guidance from an elder like you."
He Guoliang laughed heartily, his expression softening.
As they were talking, Yang Zhen came in with a teacup and placed it next to Gu Ningwei's hand. "Mr. Gu, please have some tea."
Gu Ningwei tapped his fingers in thanks. He sipped the tea, feeling its sweetness that lingered on the palate. Looking at the clear tea soup and the upright buds, he couldn't help but sigh, "This is truly excellent tea. Drinking this on a hot day is more refreshing than anything else."
He Guoliang nodded in agreement: "It seems that Mr. Gu's hobbies are a bit like us old people. He likes drinking tea and looking at ancient paintings. He is so young, but he has seen a lot."
Gu Ningwei smiled modestly, "Grandpa He, you're too kind. I learned a little from my mother. She likes these things and taught me a little bit when I was little."
He Guoliang pondered for a moment, then recalled, "I did meet your mother once before, when your parents were still together. She was indeed a beautiful and intelligent person."
Gu Ningwei nodded.
He Guoliang sighed: "What a pity... He's gone at such a young age..."
Gu Ningwei remained silent, his expression slightly heavy.
After a while, he pondered and said, "Actually, the reason why He Lian and I are close is entirely because of one person, who was also my good friend. Although he is no longer in this world, I still cannot accept it in my heart."
He Guoliang knew who he was going to mention and frowned.
He Yongqiang had already stood up and said to Gu Ningwei in a stern tone, "Gu Ningwei, please don't mention this person in front of us. He Lian has been hurt enough by him, and you still bring him up."
He Guoliang waved his hand, interrupting him. He turned to stare at Gu Ningwei and asked, "You don't want to marry Lian'er. Is it because of him?"
Gu Ningwei nodded and whispered, "He Jun is my best friend. I cannot accept this marriage."
He Guoliang said "Oh" and thought for a moment.
"Didn't you agree to it before?" He Yongqiang snorted. "Since you can't accept it, you should have refused from the beginning, but you didn't. You kept saying it, and now it's almost time to announce the marriage, and you're suddenly trying to be naughty again. You think our He family wouldn't dare touch you, right?"
Gu Ningwei lowered his eyes, his face full of guilt.
He Guoliang frowned and said slowly, "Yes, then if you can't accept it, why didn't you refuse from the beginning? Your uncle and I just thought that you and He Lian have known each other since childhood and have a deep relationship, so we wanted to help you both. Since you don't want to, why don't you just say it earlier? Is there any need to go through so many detours?"
Gu Ningwei pondered for a moment and said, "This is where I have to apologize to all the elders. Before He Jun committed suicide, he sent me an email asking me to take good care of He Lian. I originally thought that by marrying He Lian, I could fulfill my promise to my friend and take care of her for the rest of my life. But then I thought about it and felt something was wrong. He Lian liked He Jun, so how could I go against my friend's advice and do such a thing? So after thinking it over, I decided not to marry her."
He Guoliang suddenly asked, "Are you saying that Lian'er's boyfriend sent you an email before he died?"
Gu Ningwei nodded.
He sighed: "It's my fault that I was busy at that time. If I had seen that email earlier and rushed over to persuade him, He Jun might not have committed suicide, and He Lian wouldn't have..."
He paused, glanced at He Yongqiang, and said nothing more. He just lowered his head and sighed.
He Guoliang turned around and looked at He Yongqiang for a few seconds with a serious expression.
After a while, He Guoliang slowly spoke again: "Hey, Ning Wei, I understand what you mean. Since you don't want to marry Lian'er, we can't force you."
"I'm sorry, Grandpa He. I didn't expect it to cause so much trouble. Fortunately, the matter hasn't been announced to the public yet, so it hasn't caused any more serious consequences..."
Gu Ningwei lowered his head as he spoke, his face full of sincerity and guilt.
"That doesn't matter." He Guoliang chuckled. "Those media are just paid to do things. They'll say whatever you ask them to say. There's nothing to worry about. But..."
He paused slightly, looked at Gu Ningwei and smiled meaningfully, "I still need to discuss this with your uncle. Some things are different from what we agreed on before. What do you think, right?"
Gu Ningwei nodded: "I understand, I understand."
"I understand." He Guoliang said as he picked up the tea bowl and blew away the foam in it. Seeing this, Gu Ningwei stood up and said, "Grandpa He, Uncle He, I won't bother you anymore. I'll go back first. I brought you some local specialties that I just gave to Uncle Yang. It's a token of my respect."
"Hey, it's good that you can come to visit us, why do you bring things with you?" He Guoliang said a few polite words and told Yang Zhen to send Gu Ningwei out.
After Gu Ningwei left, he said to He Yongqiang with a gloomy face, "Back then, I asked the people you assigned to do a thorough job. Didn't they check everything?"
He Yongqiang frowned and said, "We've checked everything, there's no way there's a problem."
He Guoliang asked again: "Then how did Gu Ningwei receive the email?"
He Yongqiang didn't answer, with cold sweat slightly on his forehead.
He Guoliang glared at him fiercely and scolded him, "Why don't you send someone to check and see what this kid has in his hands?"
On a weekend evening, Han woke up from his nap, still feeling lazy, leaning on the sofa in the living room and browsing his phone.
She had no appetite, so Aunt Zhao went to the market to buy some wonton wrappers and meat filling, saying that she wanted to change Han Que's appetite. She also asked Gu Ningwei if he wanted to come back for dinner together in the evening.
Han knew that Gu Ningwei had been busy recently and didn't know how to answer for a moment. Aunt Zhao said, "Then forget about him. Let's make some wontons. If he wants to come back to eat, he can eat them. If he doesn't want to eat, he can eat takeout. Now we just need to take care of your appetite."
Han was touched when she heard this. Aunt Zhao really cared about her. She took the initiative to help Aunt Zhao wash the vegetables, but was pushed into the living room. "Why do you have to do it? Just sit here and wait for dinner."
Han knew that she was afraid of causing trouble for him, so he didn't hesitate and lay down on the sofa in the living room, turning on his laptop, opening the company's OA office system, replying to emails, and approving applications. He was busy for a long time.
Aunt Zhao was cooking dinner in the kitchen, humming a Jiangnan tune in the soft Wu dialect, which was melodious and graceful.
"I have a story I want to sing for you all. Please calm down, everyone. Let me sing a scene from Wuxi, and I'll sing it in detail for you all to hear. From Pangu to the present day, the small city of Wuxi has four gates in the east, south, west, and north..."
Aunt Zhao's Wuxi dialect pronunciation is standard and soft and charming.
Han put down the mouse, listened attentively for a while, and felt strangely familiar. She stood up and walked to the kitchen door, smiling and said, "Aunt Zhao, my mother can sing this song too. When I was a child, she often sang it to coax me to sleep. She even hummed a few lines to me."
Aunt Zhao was wrapping wontons while smiling and saying, "So your mother is from Wuxi too? Which part of Wuxi is she from? I am from Wuxi, maybe we are from the same hometown."
Han was stunned, hesitated for a moment, and whispered, "Actually, I don't know where my mother's hometown is. She never talked about her childhood, and she never took me back to visit my grandparents. But one night I saw her crying alone in the yard. Later, my father secretly told me that it was my uncle who wrote to tell her that my grandmother had passed away... So I don't know where my mother's hometown is either."
Aunt Zhao felt sympathetic when she heard this, but she smiled and said, "However, as soon as I saw your pretty face, I knew you were a beauty from our Jiangnan region. Jiangnan has always produced beautiful women, so you are indeed a good one."
Then he asked her if she looked like her mother or her father.
Han smiled slightly, tilted his head and recalled, "Well, I think I look more like my dad."
Aunt Zhao looked up and looked at her carefully, saying, "Then your parents are both very beautiful, so you are really blessed."
"Am I still blessed?" Han Que sighed: "I think my life is quite hard. My father died at such a young age. As soon as he died, my mother's health collapsed. She is still living in a rehabilitation center now..." Han Que's voice gradually became lower and he sighed slightly.
"Ah..." Aunt Zhao sighed, "You've had a hard time these past few years, kid. You've been going through so much at such a young age." After a pause, she smiled and consoled him, "Look, you're getting better soon. Ah Wei loves you so much, and you'll have more good things in store for you."
Han smiled and said nothing.
She knew that Aunt Zhao grew up watching Gu Ningwei, and she thought everything about Gu Ningwei was good, even his hair was good.
"You, really don't disbelieve it. I've watched him grow up since he was a child. I know exactly what kind of person he is," Aunt Zhao said with certainty. "Awei is like his mother, kind-hearted. Oh, you don't know Awei's mother, right? His mother is also a great beauty. She is from Suzhou. She speaks softly and is polite to everyone. She is really smart and kind. Awei was well educated by her since he was a child. He has good grades and is polite. Alas, it's a pity that his mother is also..."
Aunt Zhao shook her head regretfully. "I'm not saying bad things about the Gu family behind their backs. Her illness was partly caused by Wei's father."
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