Chapter 276 - 274: The Truth

Chapter 276: Chapter 274: The Truth

"You’re overthinking it. If your second aunt hadn’t acted back then, you and your sister probably wouldn’t even exist. So, you should be thankful," Gu Nuan Nuan corrected with a smile.

"Oh, you’re right. That’s true." Lin Qiao lightly tapped her head. "But I’m still glad. I would never want my mom to end up like my second aunt. It’s just so pitiful. Even if my second aunt can be... COUGH COUGH... how should I put it? My mom says she’s been selfish and conniving since she was a kid, always two-faced, trying to get ahead of her siblings and fighting for my grandparents’ affection. And my grandparents really were fooled by her. Besides my uncle, she was their favorite child. So my mom never really liked my second aunt, but seeing her end up like this, she can’t help but feel sorry for her."

Lin Qiao shook her head, conflicted. "I feel sorry for my second aunt too, but I also think she’s detestable. She actually regrets it herself, but on top of that, she keeps insisting that she suffered in my mom’s place. She says my mom was the one who was supposed to marry into Liuyun Town, so she should have been the one in the car accident on her way back home..." She was both angry and a little relieved. "My grandma and the others probably agree with what she says, and they’re always telling my mom and us sisters to take good care of my second aunt in the future. So my mom feels really conflicted, too. On one hand, she thinks what she’s saying is true and seems to make some sense, as if my second aunt really did take this blow for her. But on the other hand, she feels like something isn’t quite right."

"Heh. Is your mom the type of person who would choose money over her life, someone who values material possessions more than her own safety?" Gu Nuan Nuan asked, both curious and blunt. ’She’s been so brainwashed she’s starting to doubt herself. Seriously, Yao Hui Zhen and her daughter are shameless enough to spout such twisted logic.’

"My mom is nothing like that! How could material possessions be more important than life?" Lin Qiao’s eyes widened, displeased to hear Gu Nuan Nuan question her mother like that. Even if it was a good friend bad-mouthing her mom, their friendship would be over in a heartbeat.

She glared at her and indignantly gave an example. "I remember when I was little, before my two younger sisters were born, and before the family property was divided. Our kitchen caught on fire, and the flames were getting bigger and bigger, but it was still a ways from our family’s rooms. We were in the old house back then. I remember my mom immediately rushed into our room, grabbed a jacket to wrap me in, and ran out with me in her arms without taking anything else. She put me down outside, told me to stay put, and then ran back to help fight the fire. Meanwhile, my grandma and my aunt were still inside, frantically trying to pack up their valuables."

Lin Qiao said all this in one breath, then paused to catch it before continuing, "Thankfully, the fire was put out. All the villagers nearby who saw the fire ran over to help, and they finally extinguished it. Otherwise, besides my one jacket, our family would have lost everything. Unlike my grandma and my aunt, who scrambled to move everything out, not even sparing the old torn clothes in their rooms."

"Haha—" Gu Nuan Nuan burst out laughing, amused by Lin Qiao’s story.

Lin Qiao’s two younger sisters were off to the side playing Chinese checkers, completely absorbed and enjoying themselves. They probably hadn’t heard a word the two were saying, but at the sound of laughter, they looked up and giggled foolishly along, "Hehe."

Gu Nuan Nuan and Lin Qiao glanced over at them. After laughing, the two little ones paid them no mind and lowered their heads to continue their "game." Gu Nuan Nuan and Lin Qiao took a closer look and saw that the board was covered in red, green, yellow, white, and black glass marbles, scattered everywhere without any rhyme or reason. They had no idea how the two were playing, but they seemed to be taking turns, striking a serious and focused pose. Gu Nuan Nuan and Lin Qiao couldn’t help but look at each other, then simultaneously covered their mouths, their shoulders shaking with suppressed laughter. Afraid of discouraging the little ones, they struggled to hold it in. Gu Nuan Nuan quickly changed the subject to distract them. "Was it really as exaggerated as you said?"

"Of course it was!" Lin Qiao blinked, and then the two of them could finally laugh out loud with a "Haha!" After laughing for a moment, she continued, "Later, my dad asked my mom, ’Why weren’t you in a hurry to move our family’s things out? What if they’d all burned up?’ My mom replied, ’If our things burn, as long as we’re alive, we can earn them back. But if someone gets trapped inside, what’s the use of moving out all those things?’"

"If your mom is that kind of person, then I can guarantee you, even if she had been the one to marry into Liuyun Town, even if she had been in that car accident on the way home, she would never have ended up like your second aunt," Gu Nuan Nuan said to Lin Qiao with certainty. Then, seeing her confused expression, she added, "Because the person who went down the cliff to save them was my eldest uncle. And I was there at the time."

"The person who saved them was your eldest uncle? And you were there?" Lin Qiao’s mouth was wide enough to fit an egg, she was so shocked. "But, but, but didn’t they say..." She hesitated for a long moment, ultimately not finishing her sentence. Her gaze on Gu Nuan Nuan only grew more confused and conflicted.

"Did your second aunt and that Liu Li say something bad about my eldest uncle to you?" Gu Nuan Nuan asked knowingly.

"Er... h-how did you know?" Lin Qiao laughed, embarrassed.

"How could I not know? Your second aunt must have said my eldest uncle intentionally didn’t save her, right?" Gu Nuan Nuan snorted. "The original words were probably much nastier. I’m afraid saying them would dirty my mouth."

"Then what really happened back then?" Lin Qiao thought for a moment and decided to trust Gu Nuan Nuan. Compared to her unreliable second aunt, her intuition told her to believe Gu Nuan Nuan.

"Heh, when it comes to this, I’m really at a loss for words about your second aunt and that Liu Li." Gu Nuan Nuan recounted the events of that day to Lin Qiao in great detail, including how her aunt had slandered her uncle and was then condemned by everyone else. Finally, she looked at Lin Qiao with a cold smile. "She refused to let my uncle save her because of some worthless luggage. In that situation, she was still trying to bargain with her life. Tell me, if you were my uncle in that situation, what would you have done?"

"Of course I wouldn’t have saved her! Is that even a question? That’s just too much! Why should her worthless luggage be more important than your uncle’s life?" Lin Qiao was practically seething with rage. "How could she be like that? And Liu Li! She was our age back then, old enough to know better! But how could she repay kindness with malice, joining her mom in spouting blatant, black-and-white lies? They... they told the same story when they came back, making themselves out to be some kind of virtuous martyrs. And to think my grandma actually said that even if she was, was..."

She looked at Gu Nuan Nuan, embarrassed, and finally said with a flushed face, "My grandparents were misled by them, that’s why they misunderstood your uncle. My grandma even said my second aunt was being foolish and stubborn, that to save her own life, she should have just let your uncle take a small advantage of her. At worst, she could just deny it after being rescued."