Chapter 109 Ah Shu, I Don't Have a Grandma Anymore
On the day her grandmother's funeral ended, it started to snow mixed with snow. The icy snow stung her face, bringing Shen Zhen, who was in a daze, to some clarity.
Her grandmother's grave was in a bamboo grove in the countryside. Shen Zhen followed the procession with a sorrowful expression. Despite having mentally prepared herself many times, despite knowing that this day would come, Shen Zhen still couldn't help but feel sad. It felt as if her heart had been ripped out and thrown into the icy snow, frozen into ice shards.
Gu Yushu held Shen Zhen's hand with one hand and held an umbrella for her with the other. Looking at Shen Zhen's red cheeks from the cold and her lonely, hurt eyes, Gu Yushu felt extremely distressed.
A warm touch came from her palm. Shen Zhen murmured, her eyes red as she looked at Yu Shu, tears welling up in her eyes. In her ears was Chen Lin's wailing voice, expressing her longing for her grandmother and cursing Shen Zhen and Shen Wan in her heart.
Shen Zhen ignored her. Her grandmother was gone, and she had no family left in this small village. She didn't want to argue with Chen Lin in her grandmother's final days.
After the lengthy ceremony, Chen Lin stopped Shen Zhen in front of everyone, her face full of ruthlessness, without a trace of sadness. Because Gu Yushu was standing by, she didn't dare to make any move. "Zhenzhen, Grandma is gone, and Shen Huai is still in jail. Mom begs you for something!"
Shen Zhen's face showed exhaustion. She stared at Chen Lin without blinking and asked in a low voice, "What is it?" Her voice was hoarse from crying.
Chen Lin pulled out a brother and sister in their early twenties from behind her and said with a slightly ingratiating tone, "These are your uncle's two children. I can't count on Shen Huai while he's in jail, and I can't count on you and Shen Wan either. I can only rely on these nephew and niece now."
Shen Zhen looked at Chen Lin calmly, "So?"
Chen Lin looked Gu Yushu up and down and continued, "Now that you're capable, find jobs for your younger brother and sister and take them to City A. When they start earning money, I'll have something to live on in my later years!"
Without a second thought, Shen Zhen refused, saying, "No, I'll give you two thousand yuan every month after you turn fifty. I won't let you starve."
Chen Lin looked at Shen Zhen with a hint of suspicion, waving her hands repeatedly, "Don't talk about those things in the future. I'm your own mother. You're not even willing to do this little thing?"
Shen Zhen didn't want to have anything to do with them anymore. Her mother preferred to believe her nephew and niece rather than her and Shen Wan. How ridiculous was that!
Shen Zhen pressed her lips tightly together, her body swaying precariously, tears streaming down her face, on the verge of collapse. Hadn't she promised herself she wouldn't be sad for her family anymore? How could she still feel so heartbroken at a time like this, as if she wanted to suffocate?
Shen Zhen shook her head and said, slowly and deliberately, "I don't want to."
Shen Zhen rejected Chen Lin one after another, and Chen Lin felt utterly humiliated. Shen Guodong had already spoken with Shen Guozhu about finding jobs for his two children, and that his nephew and niece would take care of them in their old age.
Enraged, Chen Lin stared at Gu Yushu and Shen Zhen's clasped hands and threatened with disgust, "You know how you got your good life, do you really want me to say it in public?"
Shen Zhen pulled Gu Yushu forward without even looking at her, saying, "Whatever." Grandma is gone, what does she still care about?
Seeing them about to leave, Chen Lin grabbed Shen Zhen's sleeve and actually knelt down, anxiously crying out, "Zhenzhen! Zhenzhen! Please help your mother! I beg you! If you don't find jobs for Shen Yang and Shen Meng, your father will beat me to death! You can't just stand by and watch them die!"
The sleet fell heavier and heavier, tears and snow streaming down Chen Lin's face. Her thin body trembled, and her mournful voice continued, "Zhenzhen, I beg you, I have no hope left! Please help me for Grandma's sake!"
Shen Yang and Shen Meng were so frightened that they went to help Chen Lin. They were quite scared. This aunt was cursing and swearing one minute and then acting all humble and subservient the next. She was really crazy.
The two looked timidly at Shen Zhen, "Sister, we...we won't cause you any trouble..."
Shen Zhen's fingers were slightly bent, as if she was using all her strength to maintain that posture. Her lips were bloodless, pale and heartbreaking, but her expression remained unchanged. "City A is there. No one is stopping you from finding work. I don't have the capacity to support other people's lives."
Chen Lin jumped to her feet, screaming in disbelief, "You don't have that ability! Who is Gu Yushu? The entire Gu family is hers! You're saying you don't have the ability?" She became more and more agitated as she spoke, her voice growing increasingly shrill and piercing.
Chen Lin gradually lost control of her emotions, swinging her arm as if to slap Shen Zhen. Gu Yushu reacted quickly, turning around and pulling Shen Zhen firmly into his arms.
Shen Zhen nestled softly in her arms, her disheveled hair casually covering her face. Her hands instinctively wrapped around Yu Shu's waist, and she blinked hard, drawing closer to Yu Shu, wanting to draw warmth from her only source of comfort.
A strange feeling crossed Shen Meng's mind. This aloof and noble older sister seemed unusually close to Shen Zhen. Her aunt had said that this older sister was very capable...
Shen Yang quickly grabbed Chen Lin and said, "Auntie, don't be like this. We don't blame my sister for not wanting to help. Don't get upset." Then he winked at Shen Meng.
Shen Meng walked gently to Gu Yushu's side, just about to speak.
Gu Yushu glanced at them out of the corner of her eye, and the three of them fell silent, not daring to say another word. The ruthlessness in her eyes terrified them. "Get out of the way! If you block my way again, I guarantee you'll never find a job again." After saying that, she put her arm around Shen Zhen and walked past Chen Lin back.
Back home, her grandmother's courtyard was unusually quiet. After working non-stop for many days, and just now being troubled by Chen Lin, Shen Zhen collapsed onto the bed as soon as she got back, hiding herself completely under the covers.
Gu Yushu tiptoed to the bedside, lifted the corner of the quilt, and slipped inside. He stretched out his long arm and pulled the curled-up Shen Zhen into his arms, gently patting her back again and again.
In the darkness, snow began to fall outside the window, and the air was damp.
Shen Zhen shivered, as if trapped in the biting cold of winter. Chen Lin's words were like knives, cutting into her already numb and wounded heart with dull pain. Chen Lin was repeatedly reminding Shen Zhen that she was unloved. Shouldn't she be indifferent? Why did it still hurt so much?
"Baby, I'm here." Gu Yushu hugged Shen Zhen tightly, kissing her pale cheeks again and again, and murmured softly.
The words "I'm here" echoed in her ears and resonated deep within her heart, unleashing a torrent of pent-up frustration and exhaustion. Shen Zhen could no longer hold back; large tears streamed down her face, her soft sobs escalating into loud weeping.
"Ah Shu, I don't have a grandmother anymore."
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