Chapter 115
Gu Yuanxiang was brought to her breaking point by Xu Yuansheng's words.
Her face was deathly pale, and she swayed precariously. She felt that no matter how she explained, it wouldn't be right. The person in front of her, who was related to her by blood and whom she had once desperately wanted to escape, was now treating her with utter disdain and disgust.
Every word was like a sharp knife, piercing her deeply and exposing her vulnerable side.
Xu Yuansheng still didn't let her off the hook. "I know you despise us, your real relatives by blood." She sneered. "But I can understand, because we are all from the countryside. Poverty, ignorance, backwardness, greed, ugliness... all of these make you feel ashamed and unwilling to accept them."
“We blood relatives are completely different from the respectable, wealthy, and glamorous Gu family. We are not the relatives you want. You even hate us for existing…”
Although she wasn't familiar with Gu Yuanxiang, she could tell what she was thinking just by observing some of her words and actions.
Perhaps it's true that she grew up in the city, and she has many of the "city person's" flaws, a kind of superior arrogance, and a self-righteous sense of nobility. Her biological parents greedily accepted the money sent by the Gu family, which made her feel disgusted with her real relatives, thinking that they were of inferior character and not as noble as the Gu family.
That's ridiculous.
Gu Yuanxiang finally broke down completely, feeling both anxious and angry, and ran away crying.
Xu Yuansheng watched her run away and suddenly felt a little bored.
Where have we even begun?
Is she really that fragile? With such low resilience, what will she do if she encounters something even worse in the future? Now that the Gu family is in trouble, it seems she won't have an easy time in the future. Can she handle it?
**
When Ji Ya got home from get off work, she found that Gu Yuanxiang had been staying in the guest room the whole time.
She placed the food she brought back from the cafeteria on the dining table in the main room and said to her daughter, "Tuantuan, go and call your aunt to come out for dinner."
Gu Tuantuan responded first, then said seriously to her mother, "Mom, we should call her Aunt Yuanxiang. I have so many aunts, we should call them by their names, otherwise it will be easy to get them confused."
Besides her aunt Gu Xi, she also had aunts Yuansheng and Huaisheng.
Ji Ya found it somewhat amusing, noticing that her daughter resembled Gu Xi in some ways, and was quite insistent on certain forms of address.
Just as Gu Xi insisted on not calling Gu Yuanyang "Big Brother," as that title was reserved for Commander Shen, Gu Tuantuan also insisted on not calling Gu Yuanxiang "Auntie," because in her heart, that title belonged to Gu Xi.
"Okay, I got it. Go call them."
Gu Tuantuan then skipped off to call for help.
But she came out quickly and ran to the kitchen, saying to Ji Ya, who was getting bowls and chopsticks, "Mom, Aunt Yuanxiang said she doesn't want to eat."
"Don't you want to eat? What's wrong?" Ji Ya asked, puzzled.
"I don't know, she seemed to be crying, I heard her sniffling." Gu Tuantuan said, sighing like a little adult, "Why does she cry so much? I haven't cried in a long time."
When Gu Yuanxiang came to the army a few days ago, she cried for a long time, which left a deep impression on Gu Tuantuan.
Ji Ya patted her daughter's head to stop her from talking nonsense, then went inside to find Gu Yuanxiang.
After all, she's another sister-in-law, and she can't just leave her unattended. She'd feel bad if she let her go hungry.
When Ji Ya entered the room, she found that the curtains were drawn and the room was dimly lit. Gu Yuanxiang was lying on the bed, silently shedding tears and occasionally sobbing.
Her expression paused. She wondered why the girl was crying again, and why she was crying so sadly and aggrievedly. Was it because of the Gu family?
"Yuanxiang, dinner is ready."
Gu Yuanxiang buried herself in the blankets, sobbing, "I...I have no appetite, I don't want to eat..."
"What's wrong?" Ji Ya asked casually. "Are you feeling unwell? Should I take you to the hospital?"
"No, I'm not feeling unwell..."
Ji Ya has always been emotionally stable and organized. She is used to dealing with all kinds of patients in the hospital.
However, after returning home, she still hoped that her family could be more considerate, sit down and discuss things properly, and speak openly about any conflicts. She didn't want them to lose their temper or cry, because these things don't solve anything and only create more problems.
Ji Ya was silent for a moment, but she couldn't just leave it like that, so she asked a few more questions.
Gu Yuanxiang finally spoke, sobbing, "Sister-in-law, I really don't know why Yuansheng hates me so much. Even if she's been with Xixi for fifteen years and favors her, I'm still her sister, her blood relative. How could she say such things? She's really gone too far..."
Hearing this, Ji Ya was completely baffled.
What kind of nonsense is this? Xu Yuansheng and Gu Xi grew up together. I heard that Gu Xi has always protected her two younger sisters since they were little. Even after leaving Xujiatun, she couldn't let go of them, sending them money for their education. She even brought the two sisters to the army when Xu Yuansheng encountered difficulties...
Such feelings cannot be compared to mere blood ties.
If Xu Yuansheng doesn't favor Gu Xi, why would he favor a blood relative he's never met? She's not sick.
Just like when Gu Xi returned to the Gu family, everyone in the Gu family sided with Gu Yuanxiang. Isn't this kind of thing easy to understand? What's there to cry about?
Ji Ya finally understood why Gu Xi had left Gu Yuanxiang here and then ran away without even checking on her.
Is Gu Yuanxiang really not mentally ill?
Is it true that everyone in this world has to be biased towards her and revolve around her?
Ji Ya finally understood Gu Xi a little. Why did she have no feelings for the Gu family? If it weren't for the fact that Gu Yuanyang was a decent person and tried his best to be a good older brother and make it up to her, she probably wouldn't even want to acknowledge him as her "brother".
Just by looking at Gu Yuanxiang's personality, you can tell how the other members of the Gu family treated Gu Xi in the past.
If it were her, she probably wouldn't want to acknowledge these so-called relatives either.
Ji Ya felt a little helpless and suddenly thought that Gu Yuanyang should come back as soon as possible and send Gu Yuanxiang away first.
She's really busy with work, and when she gets home she just wants to rest and doesn't want to bother coaxing people anymore.
In the end, Ji Ya still called Gu Yuanxiang out for dinner.
She didn't mention Xu Yuansheng's matter, only saying, "Wait a few more days, and your brother should be able to come back."
Gu Yuanxiang's eyes were red and swollen, and she looked dejected. She ate her meal listlessly, and when she heard this, she could only manage a weak smile.
Suddenly, she asked, "Sister-in-law, has Xixi found a job after she came here with the military? I think everyone in the family compound likes her a lot..."
I heard that there are few job opportunities in the military, and many family members are unemployed and can only stay at home to take care of their husbands and children.
In her view, aren't unemployed women just like parasites, only able to depend on men?
Is Gu Xi like that too?
Moreover, the military base is far from the city; it takes almost three hours to get there by car, and it's inconvenient to buy things. Gu Xi lives in a place that's even worse than the countryside...
Will she be able to get used to living here?
Ji Ya said, "It's normal for everyone to like Xixi. After all, Xixi has a good personality and gets along well with the people in the family compound. After Xixi came here, she started writing articles and sending them to publishing houses. I heard she also draws illustrations for the articles. Each illustration is quite expensive. Now she earns more money each month than I do..."
Gu Yuanxiang's eyes widened. "Writing articles? Drawing illustrations?" She couldn't believe it. "She can actually write articles?"
"Yes, she writes very well. Publishers often commission her to write articles, and her royalties have even increased. I heard that her royalties are now four yuan per thousand words, and they may increase in the future."
Ji Ya was very happy for Gu Xi. She and Lao Gu were relieved that their sister-in-law was doing well.
Gu Yuanxiang sat there blankly, even forgetting to eat.
"What's wrong with you?" Ji Ya turned her head and saw her appearance, somewhat puzzled. Why did she look so unwilling to believe it?
Gu Yuanxiang snapped out of her daze and forced a smile. "It's nothing. I didn't expect Xixi to be so amazing."
“That’s right.” Ji Ya nodded. “She is indeed very smart. She can do anything well. I heard that she graduated from elementary school to high school in just five years. If she can enroll normally, she will definitely have no problem going to university…”
At this moment, Gu Yuanxiang suddenly stood up and said softly, "I'm full, you guys eat slowly."
Then he turned around and went back to his room.
Gu Tuantuan, who was busy eating, looked up in confusion and asked, "Mom, what's wrong with Aunt Yuanxiang again? She hasn't finished her meal yet."
There's so much left, it would be such a waste not to eat it.
Wasting food is forbidden in their household.
Ji Ya calmly replied, "It's alright, save it for her to eat tomorrow."
Since there are leftovers tonight, I don't need to come back to bring her lunch tomorrow.
**
Gu Xi was unaware that Gu Yuanxiang had been pushed to her breaking point by Xu Yuansheng and had even cried her heart out. Xu Yuansheng didn't mention it when he returned.
Taking a break, she went to the communications room to call her cousin Jiang Shuyin, who lived with her maternal uncle in Beijing.
After leaving Beijing, in addition to contacting the Shen family, he also kept in touch with his cousin and occasionally sent her things.
Although their contact was infrequent, they did exchange letters.
Gu Xi called the newspaper where Jiang Shuyin worked, and the call was answered quickly. She asked directly, "Cousin, how is my dad doing?"
"Hmm... not good." Jiang Shuyin said tactfully, "My uncle's matter is quite troublesome, and my parents can't do anything about it."
She thought Gu Xi was calling to ask for their help. But their family really couldn't help with this, and they were afraid of dragging their own family members into it. Her aunt, Jiang Huijun, had complained about it, and her father also found it quite annoying.
Gu Xi said, "I see..."
There's definitely no way. Even if the Jiang family has the ability, they won't take the risk for Gu Maowen. Besides, the Jiang family members are quite scattered now. The eldest uncle and aunt in Beijing are conservative and unwilling to put the whole family in danger.
“Actually, Gu Yuanxiang came to the army a few days ago,” Gu Xi said to her. “But my brother isn’t in the army right now and can’t help. I don’t know what’s going on, so I called you to ask.”
Jiang Shuyin didn't know what to say. Her parents had told her about it too, saying that Gu Yuanxiang had gone to the military base to find Gu Yuanyang, hoping he could get Gu Maowen out. However, they all felt that Gu Yuanyang shouldn't get involved; it wasn't worth ruining his future for Gu Maowen.
Since the father has already been implicated, he should avoid any appearance of impropriety in order to protect his son's future.
But clearly, the Gu family didn't think that way.
After chatting with Jiang Shuyin for a while and learning about the situation in Beijing, Gu Xi hung up the phone.
The story was exactly the same as what she had heard in her previous life. It seemed that in her previous life, Gu Yuanxiang must have also come to the army to find Gu Yuanyang, but in the end, Gu Yuanyang didn't show up and do anything.
That put her mind at ease.
**
Ten days later, Gu Yuanyang finally returned.
Gu Yuanxiang waited anxiously every day, almost to the point of despair. Finally, Gu Yuanyang returned, and the moment she saw him, she couldn't help but burst into tears.
Gu Yuanyang had just returned home and hadn't even sat down to have a drink of water and rest when he saw Gu Yuanxiang, who shouldn't be there, appear in his house. She then threw herself into his arms and burst into tears. He was stunned and subconsciously looked at his wife and daughter standing there.
Ji Ya and Gu Tuantuan remained calm in the face of this.
Because Gu Yuanyang hadn't returned, Gu Yuanxiang was extremely anxious every day, and she would always end up crying. After seeing her cry so many times, people had become immune to it.
Although I can understand her anxiety, crying won't help.
"Yuanyang, something happened to Dad." Ji Ya told him about Gu Maowen's situation.
After she finished speaking, Gu Yuanxiang wiped away her tears and said excitedly, "Big brother, you must save Dad! Dad definitely didn't embezzle anything; he was implicated. But nobody believes Dad, and nobody wants to save him..."
Gu Yuanyang's face turned extremely ugly.
Although his heart was in turmoil, he managed to calm himself down. He took a deep breath, supported Gu Yuanxiang, and said, "I understand. I'll call Beijing tomorrow."
It's too late to make a phone call now.
Upon hearing this, Gu Yuanxiang assumed that he would rescue Gu Maowen, and she relaxed completely.
Her eyes were filled with tears. "Big brother, only you can save Dad now! Since Dad's accident, Mom and second brother have asked many people for help, but none of them are willing to step forward. We even went to the military region, hoping to get help from the Shen family, but we couldn't even get into the military region, we couldn't see them at all..."
In the end, a look of resentment appeared on her face, feeling that the Shen family was too cruel.
In front of her reliable older brother, she rarely complained: "The Shen family clearly married the Gu family's daughter, but at a time like this, they won't even show their faces. It's really too much..."
Gu Yuanyang frowned and interrupted her, "It's not convenient for the Shen family to get involved in this matter."
What kind of relationship could the Shen family and the Gu family possibly have?
Don't say that just because the two families are related by marriage, we have to help each other. If it weren't for Gu Xi, the Gu family and the Shen family would never have become related by marriage.
I heard that Gu Xi saved Feng Min back then, and Feng Min loved Gu Xi like her own daughter. However, the Gu family has treated Gu Xi very badly over the years, and the Shen family is probably unhappy about it, so they are unlikely to offer any help.
This is only natural.
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