Chapter 417
- “Let him worry about that. Let’s head home.” (2)
Huo Sishen was looking nonchalant but his thin lips curved a little when he heard the second part of her sentence.
As though he would very much enjoy seeing that outcome.
Zhang Sheng raised his brows.
He had witnessed the entire interaction between the two.
If he only cared a little about his niece before and mostly because he felt a sense of moral obligation and also partly because of his little sister, then his fondness for his niece had just gone up.
She knew how to take care of those around her and also how to be coquettish subtly.
It was apparently that this child was a better people person than his third sister.
He couldn't help but looked over at his wife with a smile on him.
When they were young, his wife was the one who actively pursued him and cared for him.
Now, he was what his son would refer to as a henpecked husband and also a man who’d spoil his wife rotten in the eyes of his employees.
His third sister, on the other hand, had been a spoiled brat ever since she was a kid and had always been coddled and needed others to bend over backward for her.
In the end, she did not have a good marriage. Gu Jiangxin left her with no hesitation.
That ought to show the importance of a woman’s emotional quotient, personality, and temperament.
Zhang Sheng had a lot of mixed emotions over that.
“Shishi, meeting you today made me realize how different you are from how I had imagined.
“Before our meeting, I worry about the pain that might have been brought onto you by your free-willed mother. Not only would you be alone in facing your everyday life but also developed resentful toward your mother and the Gu family that would prevent you from living a happy life.
“Part of the reason that I wanted to meet is hoping that I can talk to you some and make you feel better.
“Now, it didn’t look like you needed help of that sort.”
Chen Yunping squeezed Zhang Sheng’s hand a little.
She knew what was going through her husband’s mind.
From his perspective, there were two reasons that he wanted to help out Gu Shishi. One was because she was, after all, his sister’s child; as long as it was within his power, he would not let his own niece suffer. His second reason was that he had hoped that this kid could hate her mother a little less, be forgiving toward her mother, and still maintain somewhat of a relationship with her mother.
After this meeting, he had no idea how to approach her on any one of those.
“She’s living a happy life. You can stop worrying now!”
Chen Yunping stopped him from his nagging.
“Eat your pancake! Your doctor had told you to limit your sugar intake. I am only letting you have this because you are happy that you are meeting your niece today. I am going to have the server take it away if you are not going to eat it!”
Zhang Sheng smiled bitterly. “I haven’t even had a bite yet and you have already ate half of it. How can you be on my case?”
Chen Yunping gave him a stare before she pushed the plate over to him.
Gu Shishi find that somewhat amusing.
She only started talking after she saw Zhang Sheng started working on his scone.
“I appreciate you worrying about me.
“But I don’t hate anyone and my life is very fulfilling every day.”
“We are glad to hear that,” replied Chen Yunping for her husband.
“Your uncle and I can return to the capital worry-free then.
“We are getting up there in age and had started transitioning business matters to our son but, if you ever run into any troubles, know that we are family and feel free to reach out to us.”
Zhang Sheng, who had just poured the syrup onto his pancake, quickly handed his cellphone over.
“Add your uncle onto your WeChat, and your aunt’s as well.”
Having said that, he smiled bitterly.
“Your grandpa likes your mother the most but, he’s old and had a stroke twice. We haven’t dare told him about matters of you and your mother yet.”
Chapter 418
“Let him worry about that. Let’s head home.” (3)
That her precious child that she had raised for 20 years was switched at birth.
And that Gu Jiangxin had sent their real child away just a few days after they had found her.
They were too far in distance that it was already too late to put a stop to it by the time they had found out about it.
And they definitely did not dare tell Old Mr. Zhang all the events that took place after that.
Zhang Sheng shook his head. “This is the year that you needed your family the most but your uncles were not there for you neither were any of your brothers. Your days must have been tough.
“Nothing we can say or do now to change that. Part of the reason that I want to meet you today is also to let you know that the Zhang family will always be there for you. At least now you know that you have a second home.
“As for your mother… I am going to bring her with us to the capital. I don’t think she will be returning here before I die.”
Gu Shishi was taken aback a little.
The fruit juice that was sucked half way up the straw went back into the glass.
Mother Gu was leaving?
Zhang Sheng felt that the pancake today was cold and hard and not delicious at all.
Frowning, he tossed down the fork.
“Uncle wanted to ask your forgiveness for your mother before he leaves but now I am too shameful to ask that.
His niece looked like she had a nice personality and temperament but none of those had anything to do with his little sister.
She had never raised her for a day or taught her for a day.
And they now expect her to take care of her in her golden years just because she was her birth mother?
Zhang Sheng smiled bitterly. b
He couldn’t even convince himself of that at the end of the day.
He was a business man who had travelled the world. He might seemed personable but, if any one dare try to take away what was his or take advantage of him, he would not have a moment of hesitation before he faceslap such a shameless person!
And his little sister raised only one daughter, Gu Wushuang, and she had failed to do a good job at it.
The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
It was now time for her to reap what she had sowed.
He couldn’t possibly expect Gu Shishi, who has never had her as a mother, to be familial to her.
“Uncle had nothing else to say. Shishi, do you have any other questions for me? About the Zhang family? About us?”
Now that Zhang Sheng had given up on his initial intention, he experienced what it was like to be an uncle for the first time.
“What could she possibly want to know about an old man like you?”
Chen Yunping took his cellphone away.
“Go make yourself scarce!”
“Shishi, when you visit the capital next time, I will introduce you to some of your [male] cousins. You will have more in common with them. My son is good at nothing except getting into trouble but he knew all the fun places. I’ll have him be your guide when you come visit.
“Oh yeah, add Shishi to our family group chat and have those rug rats send her red envelopes!”
Zhang Sheng nodded immediately.
Gu Shishi shook her hands, “No, there’s no need for that.”
They barely knew each other.
“It’s fine. Your sorry excuse of a mother is not in the group.”
Zhang Sheng gestured at her.
“Collect some red envelopes. Girls should always have their own private stash.”
Gu Shishi, “… …”
“Young Master Huo, please take care of our Shishi. Next time, if you two need anything, just let us know.”
Chen Yunping looked over at Huo Sishen.
Huo Sishen looked cold. He was never one to be friendly toward someone he wasn’t familiar with.
He merely nodded reluctantly.
Chen Yunping did not push the issue.
“We should head out then. Shishi, when you have a child, let your uncle know. He will order a gold locket for you.”
“That goes without saying,” said Zhang Sheng right away.
But he was reluctant to take off right away.
Even though with the convenience of transportation today, they could meet up whenever.
Problem was that Gu Shishi probably didn’t want to have too much to do with them.
There were neither hatred nor affection among family.
Aye.
Zhang Sheng had always been a decisive person.
Now that he had it all figured out, he stopped being hesitant.
He pulled out a card from his pocket and, taking the opportunity when Huo Sishen got up to answer a call, pushed the card in front of Gu Shishi.
“The code is your birthday.
“Don’t turn it down. Your uncle doesn’t have much other than money.
“It’s important for a girl to have dowry. It gives you confidence in front of your husband. Should you get into a fight in the future and you want to get out of there, you can go anywhere you want with money.”
Worried that Gu Shishi would turn down his gift to her, Zhang Sheng quickly took off with Chen Yunping.
Gu Shishi was stupefied again.
She had wanted to turn it down but the word dowry made her stopped midway through her action.
Her master said he was preparing a dowry for her as well. It was a large-scale scenery painting with portraits, flowers and birds.
It spanned 12 meters in length.
He only had 8 meters of it done by the time he passed away.
That was his biggest regret.
With that memory and sadness coming back to her, she missed a beat in turning him down.
She was not able to hand the card back.
She sighed.
When Huo Sishen returned, he raised his brows and said, “Dowry?”
This man was always astute in his observation.
Even though he had stepped away, he could still fill in what had happened while he was gone.
Gu Shishi nodded. “Yeah, I’ll find a way to repay them.”
Huo Sishen did not comment on that.
As the two walked down the stairs holding hands, he helped her out nonetheless.
“There are plenty of women in the Zhang family.
“Have Liu Zhichao sent some new products over.”
“Oh?! That’s a good idea!”
With Double-12 coming up, she had been worrying that they would not be able to sell much!
Huo Sishen’s lips curved upward.
Squeezing her hand a little, Huo Sishen said, “Let Liu Zhichao worry about that. Let’s go home.”
“Alright~”
Chapter 419
That sounded like good user experience. (1)
Gu Shishi added her aunt onto her WeChat on her way back home.
She’d at least need their address if she was to send them a set of her products.
It took all one second before she was pulled into the family group chat.
[Listen to the Mad Wife-Lover’s Daily Rambling.]
[Wife of the Mad Wife-Lover: @Everyone, this is your little sister Shishi. Come and greet her.]
[Younger son of the Mad Wife-Lover: Eh? Is that the Shishi that I was thinking of? Welcome.]
[Older son of the Mad Wife-Lover: Hi, cus.]
[Precious daughter of the Mad Wife-Lover: She looks pretty. Welcome~~~]
[Younger son of the Mad Wife-Lover: Y’all are ruining the formation of this group!]
[Mad Wife-Lover: Hush, all of you! Remember to send your cousin red envelopes. She’s not in capital city but you still need to take care of her going forward.]
All of a sudden, a row of red envelopes appeared neatly.
Gu Shishi, “… …”
Should she accept them or accept them or accept them?
[Younger son of the Mad Wife-Lover: Where’s cus?]
Gu Shishi sighed and grabbed a bunch of them.
She then turned and sent out a big one herself.
[Younger son of the Mad Wife-Lover: I like this little sister.]
Gu Shishi felt guilty.
She was just about to toss aside her cellphone when she received a string of friend requests.
Zhang Xiangqin.
Zhang Xiangyang.
Zhang Qiaoqiao.
These three, how neat of them.
Sitting next to her, Huo Sishen glanced over in her direction.
“Zhang Xiangqin is the next in line in the Zhang family.”
“Zhang Qiaoqiao is a top dancer of the National Theatre Ballet.”
“Zhang Xiangyang started his own business. He owns a travel agency.”
He knew everything.
Gu Shishi was extremely impressed.
Did the boss mean to tell her that they were all decent people and it was fine to add them?
She pondered about it some and decided to stop wondering and add them.
She was still working on leveling up in the system.
Collecting fondness from others, especially those in prominent families was still a part of her daily exercise.
[Zhang Xiangyang: Cus, I feel that you are much more pleasing to the eyes than Gu Wushuang. I had been wanting to meet you but I was locked up by my old man. I still am. I’ll strive to come visit you after the new year!]
[Zhang Xiangqin: xxx Street, Suite xxx. That’s the address of our branch office. You can go and ask for Uncle Huang if you need anything.]
[Zhang Qiaoqiao: Daddy said you had gotten married? Congratulations ~ Give me your address. Let me send you a wedding present~]
Gu Shishi looked up, at loss.
With the speed that they were responding, it didn’t feel like they were only nice to her because they were pressured by their father.
Their entire family was always this affectionate?
She would need to send them extra skincare products.
That was the conclusion that Gu Shishi had arrived at quietly.
On the other hand, Zhang Sheng returned to Mother Gu’s place with his wife and was reminded of his niece when he saw Mother Gu. He couldn't help but shook his head.
Mother Gu was at a very fragile state right now.
She could not handle such a disapproving look.
“Big Brother, I’ve told you long ago that you shouldn’t have go and meet up with that child!
“She’s an ungrateful one. All she ever thinks about is what an awful person I am!
“Did she tell you how awful I am?”
After the series of setbacks, Mother Gu could neither sleep at night nor eat properly. All she did was space out and cry all day long.
In addition to that, the brother that she had always relied on had on had never comforted her even once but only chastisement since his arrival. She was defensive like a porcupine right now.
Zhang Sheng felt that he was about to have a heart attack!
“I don’t have time for this. Hurry up and pack. We are leaving tomorrow night.”
Mother Gu’s eyes reddened. “What did she say to you? You wanted to take me away as soon as you got home. This is my home. My daughter is here. I am not leaving!”
Zhang Sheng placed his hands behind him. “I don’t have time for this.”
He, too, was a stubborn one when he was annoyed.
Chapter 420
That sounded like good user experience. (2)
Mother Gu was very angry.
Truth was, she wanted to go back to the capital but she also wanted her brother and sister-in-law to back her up and to receive the protection from the Zhang family.
She no longer had a husband. Now Old Mr. Zhang and her brother are the ones that could back her.
She found Zhang Sheng’s strong attitude a difficult pill to swallow.
Her brother doted on her before she had gotten married.
He would go along with whatever she had wanted.
What she didn’t know was that doting her as much as he did was Zhang Sheng’s biggest regret.
He had spoiled her so much that she did not have good judgement on her own and was bad at reading people. She could not stand on her own two legs and she was bitter!
Anyway he looked at it, she was not the girl he had once known.
“Lucky you didn’t raise Shishi. You would not be able to raise anyone other than heart disease and spoiled rotten!”
Mother Gu’s body shook. “Are you really my real brother?”
Looking at Chen Yunping, who was smiling bitterly next to him, Mother Gu was even angrier than she was before!
Were they all laughing at her?
“What did that unfamilial girl say to you today?”
That was the only reason that she could come up with.
Gu Shishi had ratted her out in front of her brother!
Her brother had no idea what was going on; how could he only listened to Gu Shishi’s version of the events?
“It was Gu Jiangxin’s idea to marry her off to Huo Sishen. I tried to visit her later on but Huo Sishen’s butler wouldn’t let me!
“I was going to talk to her at a banquet but Wushuang was sick that day so I had to head to the hospital first.
“I had wanted to invite her to join me in afternoon tea, shopping, and spa but Wushuang said Shishi had to work and is busy even on the weekends!”
Mother Gu was about to start crying.
How did these all became her fault?
“Even, even when I tried to force her to get a divorce, I had my reason to do so. Besides… I… “
How could that child still hate her after all that had happened to her?
Tears streamed down Mother Gu’s cheeks.
Zhang Sheng was still forcing himself to listen to Mother Gu at the beginning. Now he was just stunned speechless.
He had no words!
Chen Yunping, next to him, knew him well.
The angrier he was, the quieter he was.
When he started to talk again, he would be bringing hell down from on high!
Chen Yunping quickly stopped Mother Gu. “Calm down and stop crying. You’ve tried to push Shishi for a divorce and…” Didn’t she just get married?
Whatever had happened? She was utterly baffled.
She, too, was a mother. Never mind about forcing her own child to have a divorce; she had never even heard of that before!
Hearing her words, Mother Gu was even more certain that Gu Shishi had said something to them behind her back.
She blamed her for asking her to get a divorce.
“It wasn’t like she did it!”
She quickly told them the entire story – about how she had listened to a fortuneteller and asked Gu Shishi to temporarily get a divorce for Gu Wushuang’s health but all she got was attitude from Gu Shishi.
Toward the end, she felt that Gu Shishi was too ruthless.
She had already decided to keep this a secret and never spill a word to her brother.
But knowing that Gu Shishi had told on her, now she had no choice but to spill it all.
But she had her reasons for doing what she did, she quickly explained that to her big brother and her sister-in-law.
Then, with a loud SLAM, Zhang Sheng’s palm brushed passed her cheek and landed on the edge of the table.
Mother Gu was taken aback.
Her messy hair was even stirred up by his palm!
Zhang Sheng’s palm never struck her on her cheek, just brushing passed it narrowly, making her ear hurt from that!
“Lao Zhang!”
Chen Yunping quickly turned her attention to her husband and checked on his hand.
Mother Gu was at loss.
“… … You struck me?”
Chapter 421
That sounded like good user experience. (3)
He never struck her when she was young.
Even when their father wanted to strike her, her brother had always been the one stepping in to stop him.
“Don’t even talk to me!”
Zhang Sheng’s eyes were about to get blood-filled!
“I can’t even stand to listen to you right now!”
Recalling how he had referred to himself as the girl’s uncle, he felt that his face flushed!
No wonder Young Master Huo was all “you shouldn’t have” and “Boss Zhang”.
The Zhang family, as the elders, had committed so many shameless acts!
They sent their child to a strange man’s home for an alliance marriage. Now that the two were going in the right direction, they asked her to get a divorce?
He got up and walked away.
Refusing to look at Mother Gu even one more time!
She was impervious to reasons!
Zhang Sheng escorted the crying Mother Gu to the capital with him the very next day.
Before they took off, he didn’t even want to say a word to Gu Wushuang, the person who started all this.
In the end, it was Chen Yunping who said goodbye to Gu Wushuang.
She did not, however, extend her invitation for Gu Wushuang to visit them in the capital.
In fact, they even “forgot” take with them the parting gift from Gu Wushuang and left it in the guest bedroom.
Before they had taken off, Gu Wushuang felt that her uncle was somewhat cold toward her and that her aunty wasn’t as affectionate toward her as she was before.
She didn’t put too much thought into that, however, as Mother Gu had escalated even more before her trip. Not only was she crying and complaining about how awful her life was, she had even taken up smashing things around the house.
Gu Wushuang was so occupied with comforting Mother Gu that she had no energy left to think about her uncle’s attitude toward her.
She figured that her uncle was probably just in a foul mood because Mother Gu’s condition had worsened.
Mother Gu, on the other hand, worried that Zhang Sheng would snap at her again and dared not bring up Gu Shishi at all. She certainly did not want to trigger him.
All she could do was the making fuzzes to let out steam.
As such, Gu Wushuang had no idea that her impression points with Zhang Sheng and his wife had dropped into the negative range after their last conversation with Mother Gu.
Naturally, when she finally found out about it, it was already too late to mend things with them.
Gu Shishi, on the other hand, after her short trip out of the house, had ideas flooding to her in her mind and she was finally able to complete all of the packaging designs for the limited-edition products.
She returned to her normal daily painting life after she had provided the Zhang family’s address to Plant Manager Liu.
She would occasionally listen in on the operation of the company and provide some insight after some crash courses with the boss. She was able to provide some fresh ideas to Plant Manager Liu and the product team.
Gu Shishi never said it out loud but she was happy with that.
Sure enough, learning did pay off!
***
The Zhang family received delivery of three large boxes as Double-12 approached.
Gu Shishi had already given them a heads up that she would be sending them something.
Even so, they were still startled when the boxes arrived.
It was 20 full sets of skincare products.
“Oh, that girl. This is too much.”
Chen Yunping wanted to laugh.
Zhang Sheng walked over with his teapot with goji berries inside and took a look. “Send some to your mother and your sister-in-law then.”
“Sure. What about your Third Sister?” asked Chen Yunping.
Zhang Sheng’s face dropped immediately. “No need. Don’t even mention it to her.”
He grunted dully.
“Okay. We will consume them internally then. Maybe I can give some to a couple of my friends if there are extras.”
Mother Gu stayed in Old Mr. Zhang’s house, not with them.
Chen Yunping would not be sending anything over there at all.
She didn’t want Mother Gu to see that she was the only one who didn’t get anything and start crying all over again.
“Mmm, “ said Zhang Sheng as he went back inside his room.