Chapter 386 May I ask, what makes you think you can do that?
"I gave him a starting point and resources that ordinary people can't even begin to reach! Without the Gu family, without the foundation I laid, would Dingsheng be where it is today? Would he be where he is today?!"
"Everything he has is built on the family's interests! If he enjoys the benefits, he should bear the corresponding responsibilities! This is only natural!"
"Benefits? Responsibilities?"
Mu Nanyan almost laughed out loud, and that laugh was filled with grief, anger, and ridicule.
"What did he enjoy? Did he enjoy his mother's departure during his childhood? Did he enjoy his father's indifference during his youth, leaving him to struggle and grow up like a weed?"
"After enjoying the experience of having to fight for your life as an adult to take back everything that belongs to you from the greedy illegitimate child?!"
"You call this a benefit? Your so-called responsibility is to let him repeat your tragedy, marry a woman he doesn't love, and continue to maintain your hypocritical and ridiculous family dignity that is only a hollow shell?!"
"Shut up!"
Gu Rushuang was completely enraged. She pointed her well-maintained finger at the door, trembling slightly with anger.
"It's not the place for a woman of your status to tell my son what to do! You've been so deliberate in getting close to him, isn't it just because you're attracted to the Lu family's wealth and status? Pretending to be affectionate and fighting for him is disgusting!"
"I'm attracted by his wealth and status?"
Mu Nanyan faced her finger without retreating a single step, her eyes as sharp as a knife, piercing the other person's heart.
"I'm attracted to the Lu Yiran who, despite being hurt all over by you, still managed to reach the top on his own! I'm attracted to the Lu Yiran who will give all his tenderness to Chenchen and me! Not the cold heir to the Dingsheng Group that you're talking about!"
She took a deep breath, used all her strength, and declared loudly:
"Listen, Ms. Gu. I love him and will never leave him because of a few words from you. On the contrary, because I know how lonely he grew up, I will only feel more sorry for him and will never let go!"
These words were like the heaviest slap in the face, slapping Gu Rushuang hard.
"Where were you when he needed his parents' love, guidance, and protection the most? Now that he's grown up, independent, and strong enough to no longer need you, you're here again as parents, interfering in his life and arranging his future—"
Mu Nanyan's voice trembled slightly with excitement, her eyes flashing with the deep injustice and heart-wrenching pain she felt for Lu Yiran. She spoke each word with a resounding voice:
"Excuse me, on what grounds do you have?"
This question was like a thunderclap, striking hard against Gu Rushuang's forced composure.
Her face turned pale in an instant, and the mask of arrogance that she had carefully maintained finally cracked. Her lips moved a few times, but she found that she could not find any strong words to refute.
"Why?"
Mu Nanyan pressed on step by step, her eyes as sharp as torches, almost pinning her to the spot.
"Because you gave birth to him but didn't raise him? Because you were absent every time he fell, every time he needed support? Or because of your current wealth and status, you can naturally erase everything in the past and arrange his life like chess pieces?!"
Her voice grew louder and louder, and her pent-up emotions poured out like a flood, attracting the attention of the other customers in the cafe, but she ignored them all.
"You keep talking about family interests and business empires. They sound so high-sounding! But what's behind all this? It's your compromise and numbness towards your failed marriage! You want to make up for the regrets and emptiness in your own life by controlling your son! You're not doing this for his own good, you're satisfying your own desire for control and your pathetic, pathetic vanity!"
Gu Rushuang was forced to stagger back a step by the barrage of accusations that pierced her heart, and she had to put her hands on the cold table to steady herself.
Her breathing was rapid, her chest rising and falling violently, and she tried to re-arm herself with her usual coldness and authority:
"You...you're talking nonsense! You don't understand anything at all!"
"I don't understand!"
Mu Nanyan did not give in, and even tears of extreme anger appeared in her eyes, but she stubbornly refused to let it fall.
"I don't understand how a mother can be so cruel to her own child! But I understand Lu Yiran! I understand the loneliness hidden beneath his strong exterior, and the desires he never expressed! I will never let you hurt him a second time in the name of 'for his own good'!"
The last sentence, like a poisoned dagger, accurately pierced into the most secret and most unwilling corner of Gu Rushuang's heart.
She seemed to have lost all her strength, and the hand that was pointing at Mu Nanyan dropped weakly. For the first time, her eyes showed emotions other than coldness and anger, a hint of embarrassment, and even a flash of... panic.
The fierce confrontation seemed to be vacuumed away in an instant, leaving only the silent but extremely heavy breathing between the two women.
After Mu Nanyan finished speaking, her chest was still heaving slightly due to her intense emotions.
She looked at Gu Rushuang, whose face was pale and seemed to have lost all her strength in an instant, and felt that there was nothing worth saying to this woman anymore.
She has said everything she should and shouldn't say.
She took a deep breath, trying to calm her turbulent emotions, and finally looked at Gu Rushuang deeply. There was no triumphant pride in her eyes, only a heavy sadness and determination for Lu Yiran.
Then, without hesitation, she turned around, picked up her handbag, and walked towards the entrance of the cafe with firm steps.
The sound of high heels hitting the ground seemed particularly clear in the sudden silence of the space, and every step seemed to draw an end to this brief but extremely fierce confrontation.
She didn't look back.
She resolutely left the warm lights and the aroma of coffee behind her, and was isolated behind the glass door along with the lady who was still standing stiffly in the same place with an unpredictable expression.
Gu Rushuang stood there alone. Mu Nanyan's last words, as sharp as a knife, seemed to still buzz in the air, and every word repeatedly cut through the cold fortress she had carefully built over the years.
She looked at the glass door that was still shaking slightly. Outside the window was Mu Nanyan's figure leaving without any reluctance, and on the window glass was only her own face, which was slightly pale and... a little confused.
The meeting she had carefully planned, with the anticipated pressure and control, ultimately fell apart in such a completely out-of-control way.
The huge cafe seemed empty and cold at the moment. She was the only one left, feeling the unprecedented embarrassment and... perhaps even the subtle shock that she herself was unwilling to admit.
Mu Nanyan's resolute figure disappeared from the entrance of the cafe for a long time. Gu Rushuang remained frozen in place, as if struck by an invisible thunderbolt. Her ears were buzzing, and the young woman's resounding questioning echoed repeatedly.
"Why do you do that?"
Why...
These three words were like a barbed whip, lashing her authority and cognition that had never been questioned.
The coldness and arrogance she had carefully maintained were shattered before those bright eyes burning with anger and heartache.
She staggered and fell back into the soft sofa booth in a daze, her fingertips cold and even trembling slightly.
The waiter cautiously tried to add more water, but she waved him away with an extremely stiff gesture.
The melodious music in the cafe seemed particularly harsh at this moment.
She was experiencing an unprecedented tsunami in her heart.
Shock. Yes, first of all, a huge shock.
She never thought that one day she would be scolded harshly and harshly by a woman who she looked down upon and had no background at all.
She never expected that the past, which she thought had been properly sealed away by reason and interests, would be torn open in such a bloody way and laid out before her.
Then, a more unfamiliar emotion that made her extremely uncomfortable quietly grew - doubt.
Could it be... am I really wrong?
As soon as this thought appeared, it wrapped around her heart like a vine.
Before this, the word "mistake" had never appeared in her life dictionary.
She gave all her choices the most reasonable and efficient explanations: business marriages were to strengthen the alliance and consolidate the family foundation;
Giving birth to Lu Yiran through in vitro fertilization was a fulfillment of the promise made to both families, leaving behind an "heir";
She resolutely left her suffocating, loveless marriage and her philandering husband to pursue her own career overseas in order to break free from constraints and realize her own value...
Every step was taken calmly and precisely, minimizing unnecessary emotional friction.
She always thought that she had given enough for her family and her responsibilities. She just wanted to take back a little bit of control and have a life that belonged to her and defined by herself.
Is there anything wrong with this?
But why are the words of that woman lingering like a curse?
——"Where were you when he needed you most?"
——"You are not worthy of being his parents!"
——"Do you want him to make the same mistake again?"
…
She always thought that providing Lu Yiran with the best material foundation and the status of heir was fulfilling her mother's responsibility.
She had never thought about how the little child she left behind in the country grew up alone, and what he had experienced to become the strong yet... alienated person he is today.
A sharp, unprecedented stinging sensation suddenly pierced her hard heart.
She seems... really a little selfish.
This word has never been associated with her, Gu Rushuang.
She has always been the epitome of strength, reason, and purpose.
But now, looking back on the choices I made in the first half of my life, there seems to be a hidden thread called "selfishness" behind those high-sounding reasons.
She easily gave up her responsibilities as a mother for the sake of her career and freedom.
In order to maintain superficial decency and the stability of the empire, she acquiesced in and even condoned the disintegration of her family.
Now, she wants to forcibly arrange her son's life for the sake of her own "correctness" and "order", regardless of his true feelings and choices.
Gu Rushuang was sitting alone in a cafe. The sun was shining outside the window, but she felt a biting chill.
For the first time, after walking the path of her life with unwavering determination, she felt a sharp, unignorable wavering and... confusion.
Just as Gu Rushuang was deeply trapped in a vortex of self-doubt, with her cold fingertips pressing against her forehead, a woman in a neat suit and exquisite makeup walked quickly into the cafe and found her seat accurately.
The woman stood in front of her, bowed slightly, and spoke respectfully but with a subtle hint of urgency:
"Mr. Gu, we should leave now. You have an important international video conference in 20 minutes."
However, Gu Rushuang seemed to have not heard her words at all. She still maintained her previous posture, staring blankly at the glass of water in front of her that had already gone cold, without any reaction.
Xu Nanxing was slightly startled and carefully looked at Gu Rushuang's strange expression.
She had never seen this female boss, who was known for her iron fist and calmness, look so... distraught, even bewildered.
What on earth did that woman, Mu Nanyan, say to her that could have caused such a big reaction in her?
Just as Xu Nanxing was secretly speculating, and even a hint of secret pleasure flashed through her heart, Gu Rushuang suddenly raised her head and grabbed her wrist! The strength was so great that Xu Nanxing was surprised.
Gu Rushuang's eyes were no longer as sharp and distant as usual. Instead, they revealed an unprecedented tension and urgency. She stared at Xu Nanxing closely, and her voice even trembled slightly:
"Nanxing! You've been with Yiran for so many years... Tell me, how has he been doing these years?"
That’s right, the woman in front of me is Xu Nanxing.
Ever since she was ruthlessly expelled from her side by Lu Yiran, she had harbored a deep resentment towards Lu Yiran and the suddenly appearing Mu Nanyan.
With her outstanding business skills and rigorous selection process, she eventually became Gu Rushuang's assistant.
She lurked beside Gu Rushuang and planned carefully, just to have the opportunity to discredit Mu Nanyan's image bit by bit in front of this strong mother.
She firmly believed that a woman like Gu Rushuang, who valued family background and had a strong desire for control, would never accept a daughter-in-law like Mu Nanyan.
Even if Lu Yiran insisted, what would happen? Without the blessing of their loved ones, and even facing strong opposition, their relationship was destined to be full of thorns.
This is her revenge.
At this moment, facing Gu Rushuang's sudden questioning about Lu Yiran's past, Xu Nanxing was stunned at first, and then he quickly thought about it.
This is simply a godsend!
Xu Nanxing felt the strength on his wrist and the unusual emotion in Gu Rushuang's eyes, and the secret pleasure in his heart almost overflowed.
She quickly lowered her eyelashes to hide the calculation that flashed across her eyes. When she raised her eyes again, there was only the right amount of heaviness and a hint of reluctance on her face.
She sighed softly, lowering her voice even more, as if she was afraid of disturbing something, and as if she was carefully considering every word:
"Director Gu...Mr. Lu...it's really not going to be easy for him."
She cleverly opens with this word, which is both vague and suggestive.
"During those years, you and Mr. Lu were not around. The internal factions of the group were complicated, and the external competition was even more intense. He had to face so many eager eyes and hidden attacks alone at such a young age..."
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