The Gu Mansion and the Xu Mansion are neither far nor close, separated by a street, and also a large courtyard where more than a dozen people from three generations live together. Gu Yingying's grandparents are the same age as the two elders in the Xu Mansion. They have three sons and two daughters. One of the two daughters married in the capital, and the other followed her husband to settle in another province after marriage. Gu Yingying's father is the eldest son and he married two wives successively. His first wife is Gu Yingying's biological mother. Gu Yingying originally had a younger brother, who secretly went swimming when he was in his teens and unfortunately drowned. Her mother could not bear the blow and died. Her father remarried her stepmother Jian Rong a few years later and gave birth to two more daughters. The eldest house has three daughters but no boys.

The uncle of the second room is Gu Panpan's father. He also died young, leaving behind a wife and four children, Gu Panpan and two younger siblings. The younger brother is a posthumous child, who is sixteen years old this year. Gu Yingying's father likes this nephew very much and takes him to teach him personally.

The uncle and aunt from the third house took their two young sons to work in other places, leaving a pair of children aged twelve and thirteen to study in the capital. They said that they asked the old lady to help take care of them, but in fact they were all taken care of by Jian Rong, the daughter-in-law of the eldest house.

In addition, there are two children of an aunt from another place who came to live with their grandparents to study and have lived in the Gu Mansion for many years. They are now in junior high school and high school respectively.

It was already past eleven o'clock in the evening, and the lights in the living room of Old Lady Gu in the main courtyard were still on. The younger children had all gone back to their rooms to sleep, while the old lady, her two daughters-in-law, and several older granddaughters were still talking in the hall. Unlike their usual relaxed conversations, there were occasional arguments and cries.

This happened after Xu Hengkai sent Gu Yingying back. The two had a frank and thorough talk outside. After confirming their relationship, they agreed to go home and tell their families that they were dating. Before the elders knew what was going on, Gu Panpan exploded on the spot, crying and making a fuss like crazy, cursing Gu Yingying for being a big sister and being shameless. She knew her younger sister liked Xu Hengkai, but she pretended to help, but secretly seduced her younger sister's crush.

Gu Panpan's 18-year-old sister, Gu Wanwan, also helped her sister to mock and blame Gu Yingying. Gu Panpan's mother, Lu Xia, sat next to Old Lady Gu. Her expression did not change, but she mocked and pressured Gu Yingying's stepmother in her words, blaming her for growing up in vain and being a mother in vain. Look at what kind of daughter she raised? She did all kinds of shameful things, ruined the family reputation, became infamous and could not get married, and finally even wanted to steal her own sister's man.

Gu Yingying tried hard to defend herself at first, but later found it was useless. The main reason was that the Gu family had always believed that Gu Panpan would marry Xu Hengkai in the future, and now it suddenly became that she, Gu Yingying, and Xu Hengkai were dating. The whole family was shocked and couldn't believe it.

The men went to the study to discuss things but had not expressed any opinions yet. After they came to their senses, the women, led by Old Lady Gu, were very dissatisfied. Even Gu Yingying's stepmother and half-sister Gu Fangfang could not accept it. They all thought that it was wrong for her to steal Gu Panpan's partner.

As for whether Xu Hengkai had agreed to date Gu Panpan and whether he liked Gu Panpan, they chose to ignore it and felt it didn't matter. But the most critical and important thing was that Gu Panpan liked him.

Every word Gu Yingying said would lead to attacks from all sides. She was completely isolated and no one stood on her side. In the end, she simply stopped saying anything and sat alone on the chair with a wooden face, facing all the accusations from her family members, wanting to wait for them to calm down before speaking.

Old Mrs. Gu sat on the comfortable sofa, patting and soothing Gu Panpan who was crying in her arms. Gu Wanwan, Gu Fangfang and her cousin Wu Haiyue, who were standing beside her, also comforted Gu Panpan with sympathy on their faces, and took turns rolling their eyes at Gu Yingying, their expressions full of contempt and accusation.

Gu Yingying sneered inwardly: This is the sister she has always tolerated and loved, who is willing to sacrifice her own interests in exchange for their happiness and joy anytime and anywhere!

Whether she came back from Hai City or went out for a trip, she never forgot to bring them gifts. She agreed to their various requests without avoiding difficulties and tried her best to satisfy them. She felt that this was her duty as the eldest sister, and she truly liked and loved her younger sisters.

But it was not until today that she realized that all this was just wishful thinking. Although they called her "big sister", they might not really treat her as a sister.

If she had encountered this situation before today, Gu Yingying might have felt sad, but from the moment she knew she was betrayed by Gu Panpan, her heart had grown cold and gradually hardened. Facing the contempt of her "sisters" at this moment, she looked expressionless, with no waves in her heart, as if nothing mattered to her anymore.

Old Madam Gu coaxed Gu Panpan a few more times, then raised her eyelids and looked at Gu Yingying, and said with a sullen face: "You, get up early tomorrow and take the first train, hurry back to Hai City, and go back when they ask you to during the Chinese New Year. There are people who are interested in you over there, as long as they are from an ordinary cadre family with decent talent, even if they are divorced with a child. I have agreed here, you can get along with them first, so as not to have wild thoughts and become restless. You don't even consider your own reputation. Heng Kai is the eldest grandson of the Xu family, is he something you can dream of?

At most, he feels sorry for you for not being able to find a partner at your age. He is just impulsive and joking because of the love we had when we were young. He will never really marry you. He and Panpan are the right ones. Both families are optimistic about them. The head of the family has already talked about it and wants them to fall in love freely and it will come naturally... You know about this, and you are still messing around. If you ruin this good thing, I will not forgive you."

Gu Yingying: “…”

She tried her best to stay calm, but her face grew paler. With her family's attitude, it was meaningless for her to say anything.

No matter how easy it was to discuss things with Xu Hengkai in the car before, she was too naive after all and overestimated her importance in her family's eyes.

Gu Panpan's mother, Lu Xia, added: "Before you get on the train tomorrow, Yingying, call the Xu residence. Even if it's just a joke, you have to explain it clearly and break up!"

She turned to Jian Rong again, not disguising the contempt in her eyes: "And you, you have to watch Yingying and urge her to call. Yingying was fine when she was little, but it's all your fault as a mother that she has become like this when she grew up. Not only do you have no other abilities, but you can't even raise your daughter well. If Panpan's marriage goes wrong, you will also be held responsible."

Jian Rong: “…”

She was furious, but she endured it and didn't argue with Lu Xia. She knew that no matter whether she was right or wrong, it would always be her fault if they quarreled. It had been like this for many years, and she had learned her lesson long ago.

Lu Xia has an extraordinary status in the Gu family. Because she is a widow with three children, not only the old man and the old lady treat her very well, but even her husband takes good care of her. Moreover, since she cannot give birth to a son himself, her husband directly brings Lu Xia's son to his side and raises him personally. Although he does not say it explicitly, everyone can guess what he means: he is the future heir of the Gu family.

The old lady did it more obviously. It is said that she doted on the second son among her three sons the most, but the second son died early. The old lady was grief-stricken, and from then on she was particularly fond of the second son. She doted on Gu Panpan and granted Lu Xia's every request. Jian Rong did not have the courage to quarrel with Lu Xia in front of the old lady.

(End of this chapter)