Chapter 250: Repeating the Same Mistake

Chapter 250: Chapter 250: Repeating the Same Mistake

A relationship sustained by guilt alone was bound to be short-lived.

Although Gu Jiayi’s maternal grandmother and uncle had initially gone to great lengths to take her in, their attitude shifted less than half a year after the Lin Family moved away. Her aunt had become pregnant again, and the two of them felt the mounting financial pressure. They also likely felt they had already done their duty by Gu Jiayi. After all, they had "rescued" her from the Gu Family and supported a ’Gu’ for this long without asking for a thing. Surely that was enough to answer to the deceased Tao Jianren.

’Any debt they might have owed her had been more or less repaid, hadn’t it?’ So, in the end, they couldn’t hold back any longer. They went to the Gu Family to demand child support payments for Gu Jiayi.

The ones who came forward to haggle with the Tao Family were, naturally, Chen Suxiang and Gu Jinhua.

In the Gu Family today, they were probably the only two who truly had Gu Lihui’s best interests at heart.

Chen Suxiang had her brief moments of regret after Tao Jianren died. She was well aware that with Gu Lihui in his current state—a mere ghost of a man—and with his increasingly unbearable temper, the chances of her eldest son remarrying were slim. The public animosity directed at their family over Tao Jianren’s death certainly didn’t help matters.

’That bitch Tao Jianren was a real curse. Causing trouble even in death.’

But despite her ruthlessness, as she faced the Tao Family practically handing Gu Jiayi over, Chen Suxiang thought it over and realized she couldn’t just refuse. Instead, she went to consult Gu Wu first. Gu Wu was indifferent. He casually agreed to contribute a little extra for food expenses each month, telling her she could use it however she pleased. He wouldn’t get involved in anything else, and she shouldn’t bother him with it.

Chen Suxiang was pleasantly surprised that Gu Wu was willing to provide any money at all. Knowing his temperament, how could she dare bother him with anything else or make more demands?

Next, Chen Suxiang went to discuss it with her two sons. She had barely started talking when Gu Lihuang made an excuse and slipped away, making it clear he wanted no part in the matter. Gu Lihui was listless, giving her a sidelong glance as if she were making a fuss over nothing. "She’s just an ungrateful little brat. If you ask me, you don’t need to go to all this trouble. Nuannuan won’t let me starve to death anyway."

"What do you know? That girl, Gu Nuan Nuan, is just as heartless as her mother. She might not let you starve, just to save face, but you can forget about living a comfortable life under her thumb." Chen Suxiang was choked with anger. ’Who was she doing all this for? It was one thing for others to be ungrateful, but for her own eldest son to act so listlessly.’

She couldn’t help but wipe her tears. "Aren’t I doing all this because I’m worried about you? I’m going to get old and die one day. Tell me, who will take care of you then? At most, your sister might come look in on you occasionally. Now Gu Jiayi has been delivered right to our door. Isn’t this perfect? I was thinking we’ll tell the Tao Family that once she turns eighteen, she has to stay with the Gu Family, and we’ll be the ones to arrange her marriage. I have it all planned out. We’ll find her a live-in son-in-law. We absolutely cannot let her get away; we have to keep her firmly in our grasp. For the next few years, I’ll train her, teach her how to wait on you, how to cook your favorite foods. That way, even when I’m gone, I won’t have to worry about you living an uncomfortable life."

"Do whatever you want. I think she’s just as devious as her mother anyway. You, scheme against her? Heh..."

Gu Lihui gave a cold laugh, feeling extremely irritated by his mother’s words, and turned to leave. ’Lately, I’ve been thinking more and more that a first wife is always best. Compared to Tao Jianren, Zhang Minzhen was better by a long shot. What a pity I was so blind back then. I wonder if it’s too late for regrets? Maybe I just need to wait a few more years...’ He walked away without another thought, having zero expectations for Gu Jiayi, the girl who came from Tao Jianren’s womb. On the other hand, there was Gu Nuan Nuan. Even though she ignored him and wouldn’t even call him "Dad" to his face, he had a gut feeling that she was more reliable than Gu Jiayi.

Chen Suxiang stared resentfully at Gu Lihui’s back. In the end, she had no choice but to go to her daughter for ideas.

She couldn’t get cash handouts from her daughter anymore, but Gu Jinhua was still a filial daughter who would occasionally buy her small gifts of food and other necessities on the sly. As expected, when Gu Jinhua heard Chen Suxiang’s idea, she thought about her eldest brother’s situation and agreed that keeping Gu Jiayi and finding her a live-in son-in-law was a good plan. ’In any case,’ she reasoned, ’the eldest branch has a share in the family home. Since they don’t have a son, isn’t it perfectly reasonable to get a live-in son-in-law?’

So, she joined Chen Suxiang to haggle with the Tao Family as if they were bargaining over vegetables at the market. In the end, the two of them, representing the Gu Family, reached an agreement with the Tao mother and son. They wrote it down in black and white and even spent a little money to hire a witness. The agreement stipulated that the Gu Family would provide the Tao Family with a fixed monthly payment for living and school expenses until Gu Jiayi turned eighteen. During this period, Gu Jiayi was also required to spend her weekly days off, as well as her winter and summer breaks and other holidays, at the Gu residence to cultivate a father-daughter bond with the Gu family, especially Gu Lihui.

As for what would happen after she turned eighteen, the agreement also stipulated that Gu Jiayi must move into the Gu home permanently. From then on, any marriage would require the explicit approval of Chen Suxiang and Gu Lihui.

Chen Suxiang and Gu Jinhua were very pleased with their clever scheme. However, they were afraid the Tao Family might cause trouble or sabotage their plans, so they never directly mentioned finding a live-in son-in-law. Instead, they constantly tried to brainwash Gu Jiayi, telling her that girls didn’t need so much education, that it was useless and better to marry, have children, and settle down early, and that she had to be filial to Gu Lihui in the future.

Gu Jiayi had also learned to be clever. From the day she set foot in the Gu home again, she never contradicted anything Chen Suxiang or Gu Jinhua said. In fact, she deliberately acted subservient and tried to curry favor with everyone. But while she was always meekly agreeable to their words, her responses were always vague; she never gave a direct nod or shake of the head.

As for Gu Jiayi, her grandfather Gu Wu was completely indifferent to her. This indifference was even more pronounced than his initial coldness toward Gu Nuan Nuan in her past life. At least back then, he had accepted Gu Nuan Nuan’s gestures of goodwill. But with Gu Jiayi, he refused to even spare her a glance or allow her to remain in his presence for an extra minute.

Gu Nuan Nuan observed all this with silent amusement. In private, she naturally treated this rather "cute" grandfather of hers even better.

One day, with summer vacation drawing to a close, Gu Nuan Nuan thought about her situation. She had successfully passed her exams and been accepted into City No. 1 Middle School. She, her mother, and her maternal grandparents would all be moving to the city for her to attend school. This meant her previous agreement with her grandfather to stay at the Gu residence for four days a month was now more or less void. She decided to make a trip to the Gu Family’s home to personally explain her carefully considered decisions and new arrangements to her grandfather.