Chapter 83. Keep me company.
Shang Shu couldn't think of any other stronger reason to do this, except to be true to her conscience, since Shang Shiqing was the number one beneficiary.
Shang Shiqing lowered her head and gave a bitter smile: "She almost ruined you and has already destroyed Zhiyi. I can't let her continue like this. How can I have peace of mind with something obtained in this way? I've been cowardly for over twenty years. It's time for me to be brave for once, for you and Zhiyi, and for myself."
After hearing these words, Shang Shu suddenly found it hard to describe her feelings at this moment. She was surprised, moved, and perhaps a little sad. She was surprised that Shang Shiqing could have such a huge change, moved that Feng Yuan had not led her astray all these years, and saddened by the reason for her belated assertiveness.
At first, she suspected that this might be some kind of self-inflicted injury ploy, but now it seems that it might not be.
"You said you ruined Shang Zhiyi, what do you mean?" Shang Shu crossed her arms, remembering that she had just said she would take Shang Zhiyi to see a psychologist.
Shang Shiqing frowned and shook her head: "Because of what happened last time, she bypassed Zhiyi and used people from the Chen family, causing Zhiyi to be beaten by Chen Yu. In fact, Chen Yu had already fought with Zhiyi once before. Zhiyi has been thinking about breaking off the engagement, but she refused to agree no matter what, only telling Zhiyi to endure it a little longer."
Shang Shu had a clue. This must have been the time when Gu Sui and the Chen family canceled their cooperation.
"Fortunately, the Chen family took the initiative to annul the engagement. Although the process wasn't very pleasant, it saved Zhiyi's life. I should thank you, and..." and the Gu family too.
Shang Shiqing glanced at Shang Shu, but still didn't say it outright: "She blamed this whole thing for ruining her plans and hurting Zhiyi, but she just wouldn't admit her mistake. Later, I had to scold her and tell her that the one who hurt Zhiyi was never anyone else, but herself. Only then did she repent and ask me to take Zhiyi to see a doctor properly."
Shang Shu tucked her lips into her mouth. Feng Yuan had planned everything perfectly, but she hadn't expected Gu Sui to be such a variable. Not only did Gu Sui disrupt everything, but she also caused Shang Zhiyi to suffer.
"Sister, I'm so sorry I was too cowardly when I was little. I couldn't stand up for you, and I couldn't stop her from instilling those bad ideas in Zhiyi. I know she's really let you down all these years, and she's also let your mother down—"
"No need to say anything else." Shang Shu interrupted sharply, pressing the heel of her hand against the edge of the table. She tried to control her breathing, but her chest was still heaving violently. She didn't think Shang Shiqing was qualified to mention He Landai.
Seeing this, Gu Sui, who was not far away, stood up and, disregarding everything else, went straight to Shang Shu's side, put his arm around her shoulder, and asked softly, "Shu, are you alright?"
Shang Shu shook her head, placed her hand on Gu Sui's hand, and then turned back to Shang Shiqing and said, "I have received your apology today, but that does not mean I will forgive the two of them. As for what you said earlier, I hope she can do it."
The debts from childhood to adulthood, hers and He Landai's, how could they be settled with just a few apologies?
"Yes, I understand, don't worry, sister." Shang Shiqing nodded, then glanced quickly at Gu Sui before looking away, somewhat intimidated by her aura.
"Is there anything else?" Seeing that Shang Shiqing had no intention of leaving, Shang Shu took a couple of breaths and asked.
Shang Shiqing seemed a little embarrassed. She bit her lip and finally spoke: "Dad's condition is very bad. When he was lucid last time, he kept saying that he was sorry to you. He really wanted to see you again."
Shang Shu's breath twitched slightly, and she lifted one corner of her lips: "The message has been delivered, you can leave now."
She neither agreed nor refused; this was a matter between Shang Wei and her, and had nothing to do with anyone else.
Shang Shiqing knew his own limitations and didn't intend to persuade anyone. He simply greeted Shang Shu politely and left in a hurry.
"Let's go home, okay?" Gu Sui looked at the little girl sitting still in the chair, squatted down, and asked softly as he took her hand from the table and placed it in his palm, gently stroking the red marks left by the pressure.
"Mmm," Shang Shu responded softly, offering her a reassuring smile.
On the way back, Shang Shu was somewhat silent. She leaned her head against the window frame, gazing absently at the receding street scene.
Before coming, she had imagined many things, but she never expected that the feud between her and Feng Yuan would end in such an unusually calm way, without the satisfying plot of killing her stepmother or the chaotic arguments and fights.
Shang Shu sometimes reflects on whether she is too weak. Although she is not so submissive, she has never thought of fighting for anything. Should she take the initiative to fight for the group? Should she demand an explanation for He Landai? If she were born with a fiery personality, turning the business upside down at the drop of a hat and making sure no one has an easy time, wouldn't that be more satisfying?
Unfortunately, she wasn't one, and no one taught her how to face both open and hidden attacks. Whether it was a period or an end, she didn't know. Let's just say it was; she didn't want to be so tired anymore.
As for Shang Wei, she didn't want to put on a show of forgiveness and forgiveness at his sickbed. He owed her and He Landai far more than Feng Yuan did.
Back home, Shang Shu became more talkative, and Gu Sui didn't ask her anything. They ate dinner normally, just like usual, and Shang Shu even ate an extra half bowl of rice.
But when night fell, Shang Shu still couldn't sleep. She hadn't been able to sleep in the afternoon either. She was actually quite sleepy. It wasn't that Shang Shiqing's words had much of an impact, since she had long since stopped caring about them. But she just couldn't fall asleep. She couldn't sleep peacefully. Her mind was racing, with many of Shang's past events playing out in her head.
Having said goodnight to Gu Sui early in the morning, and now that the person beside her was breathing evenly, Shang Shu got up quietly and went to sit on the swing chair on the balcony and swayed back and forth.
February nights weren't so cold anymore. Shang Shu looked down at the garden, her eyes tracing the path she and Gu Sui used to walk hand in hand.
"Can't sleep?" After some time, the balcony door opened, and Gu Sui walked over, draping a thin shawl over Shang Shu's shoulders.
Shang Shu smiled faintly and reached out to gather her hands: "It seems like you asked me the same question when I first came to live by the waterfront."
Gu Sui didn't sit down, but instead half-squatted down and gently took Shang Shu's hand and stroked it: "Would you like to be by yourself for a while?"
As night fell, Shang Shu used the dim light from the garden downstairs to see Gu Sui's face clearly. His features were still as aloof as ever, but his face carried a trace of emptiness, as if he had just emerged from sleep and hadn't had time to shake off his drowsiness.
"Stay with me," she said softly, hooking her finger around Gu Sui's.
The swing swayed gently. Gu Sui sat down beside her, put his arm around her, and Shang Shu leaned on his shoulder, smelling his fragrance. The two of them just held each other quietly, without saying a word.
"Gu Sui," Shang Shu called softly after a long while, "would you like to hear my mother's story?"
Those stories I was most reluctant to tell you, and which I never did.
"good."
As the soft, gentle syllables landed in her ears, Shang Shu felt even the passing breeze slow down.
“My mother was born into an artistic family in Portugal. They started out in shipping and transitioned from 'commerce' to 'culture' over three generations.”
The first generation focused on survival and expansion, the second generation began to emphasize taste, and the third generation completed the transformation of social perception, making art the core of the family identity.
"She is very good at painting and also loves jewelry design. She met Shang Wei at a jewelry exhibition. Perhaps they felt compatible, or perhaps it was for other reasons, but she insisted on marrying him. As a result, she had a very bad relationship with my maternal family and almost cut off all contact with them after marrying him and moving to Macau."
"At first, they were probably very much in love. My mother used the dowry that my grandmother secretly gave her to support Shang Wei, and then used a portion of it to establish 'Mingzhu'. Not long after, I was born."
Shang Shu paused, then used her teeth to nibble on the soft flesh inside her lower lip.
"In my memory, she has always been a very gentle person. She would always smile at me, play with me, and teach me to draw. But she would also always cry secretly behind my back. It was only when I was a little older that I heard from the nanny who had taken care of me that Shang Wei started to not come home much after I was born."
“She said it was because of ‘Mingzhu’ that Shang Wei blamed his mother for neglecting the family and tried to persuade her to stay home and take care of the family. His mother refused, so they always argued. At first, I didn’t understand. He clearly didn’t object when ‘Mingzhu’ was established. But later I realized that it wasn’t because of ‘Mingzhu’ at all. It was because he had someone else outside and even had two children.”
Shang Shu's voice trailed off sarcastically. She smiled, but her brows were furrowed. She thought her expression must be terrible, and she had to thank the chaotic night for helping to hide it.
"Unfortunately, Mommy didn't know anything at the time. She really thought it was her fault, so in order to save the relationship, she went home and naively thought that Shang Wei would change his mind."
“It wasn’t until I was six years old that Feng Yuan came to visit with her two daughters. That’s when my mother found out about the existence of these three people. She had no family to rely on and was far away, so she had no choice but to try to find the merchant. But when she got there, she found that the merchant had already taken in these two granddaughters and treated them even better than she did with me.”
Shang Shu's breathing began to tremble. She subconsciously grasped Gu Sui's hand, because what was about to be said was a part she least wanted to recall.
"I know she tried her best to endure it for me, so she still spent my last birthday with me. But this blow was ultimately too much for her to bear, so she..."
She jumped.
“I don’t blame her,” Shang Shu choked up, gripping Gu Sui’s hand tightly, then changed her words, “I don’t blame her anymore.”
The pampered princess embarked on a fleeting, illusory journey, experiencing extreme pain that left her with no capacity to care about other ties. She had gone through it all herself, and she understood.
"A-Shu, A-Shu..." Gu Sui's heart was broken. She hugged Shang Shu tightly, stroking her hair and back again and again.
I shouldn't let her recall those things, but I also don't want her to keep them bottled up inside.
Saying "It's alright" or "It's all over" is so easy and effortless, so she had to use her actions to repeatedly and forcefully tell her that she was here.
"But tell me, do you think she'll blame me?" Shang Shu pressed her forehead against Gu Sui's shoulder, tears streaming down her face, and she was almost speechless by the end.
“I could only watch helplessly as the people who bullied her lived well, and I couldn’t do anything for her. I… I can’t even remember her voice anymore; I can only recall her face through photographs, Gu Sui.”
Shang Shu sobbed uncontrollably, her neck throbbing.
"No, no." Gu Sui felt a heartache so intense it was almost suffocating. Feeling the trembling of the person in his arms, his heart felt like it had been tied to a stone and sunk to the bottom of the sea, unable to rise again.
If only she had known sooner, if only she had met her sooner, then her little girl wouldn't have had to suffer so much, having to live a life of subservience under someone else's thumb.
"She won't blame you, Ah Shu. The thing she wants most is for you to grow up safely and peacefully. You've also run the company so well. How could you say you haven't done anything for her?"
Gu Sui stroked her back and spoke to her earnestly, word by word.
"Mmm, mmm," Shang Shu sobbed, responding intermittently.
“Our A-Shu has been wronged,” Gu Sui frowned, gently patting her to comfort her, “Don’t cry, don’t be sad. If you miss Mommy, we can go see her anytime. I’ll go with you, okay?”
Shang Shu nodded on her shoulder, and it took her a long time to gradually stop sobbing.
She pulled away from Gu Sui's embrace, lowered her head, and hooked her fingers to knead them. After venting her emotions, she felt a little embarrassed.
"Let me see, whose little girl is so beautiful even when she's crying?" Gu Sui wiped away Shang Shu's tears, then gently pinched her chin and smiled as he looked at this pretty little lychee.
Shang Shu lifted her eyelids and glanced at her, then gently pinched her palm before leaning back against her shoulder.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
