Chapter 277 - 275: Warning

Chapter 277: Chapter 275: Warning

Gu Nuan Nuan shook her head. ’When people decide to be vile, there’s truly no bottom to how low they’ll sink.’

She said lightly, "Back then, the story was the talk of the town in our area. A good number of the people who were saved were from your grandmother’s side, so logically, there’s no way they could be completely clueless. The conversation between your second aunt and my uncle spread like wildfire, and all the people who were rescued heard it with their own ears. Otherwise, how could everyone have been so unified afterward, not saying a single bad word about my uncle and blaming your second aunt instead?"

Lin Qiao was a little stunned.

Gu Nuan Nuan continued, her tone flat, as if she were talking about someone else’s business, with a hint of barely perceptible mockery, "It hasn’t even been that long. If your grandmother and the others really wanted to know, they could have always found other survivors to ask about the truth. But some people don’t want the truth. They just want what they choose to believe. Besides, I remember hearing the rumor going around that the reason your second uncle-in-law gave for divorcing your second aunt was a very righteous-sounding one: her ingratitude."

"I have to tell my parents and my grandparents about this. I need to let them know the truth so they don’t keep wrongfully blaming your uncle in their hearts," Lin Qiao said firmly, gritting her teeth.

"It doesn’t matter. The truth finds its own way. So what if your grandparents have it wrong? And so what if they don’t? My uncle is an upright man with a clear conscience; why should he be afraid of some slander?" Gu Nuan Nuan snorted, not really caring. ’In fact, she’d explained it so clearly. If Lin Qiao’s grandparents had really made any effort to ask around, how could they still not know the truth? Didn’t they have any idea what kind of character their own daughter had? But they still chose to believe her. Gu Nuan Nuan had no interest in trying to change the minds of people like that.’

’If they wanted to complain, let them complain. If they wanted to stew in their own resentment and make themselves miserable, so be it. What did their feelings have to do with her or her uncle, anyway?’

"No, I have to tell them," Lin Qiao insisted, oblivious to Gu Nuan Nuan’s thoughts. "Just now, Liu Li clearly recognized you and still acted like that. It’s just too much."

"Suit yourself." Gu Nuan Nuan smiled. ’Lin Qiao was probably in for a disappointment,’ she thought.

"Nuannuan, wait here. I’m going to tell them right now." Lin Qiao couldn’t sit still any longer. She stood up, agitated, with an urgency that couldn’t wait another moment. Finally, she tossed out the sentence and ran off.

"Hey, you really don’t have to be in such a rush..." Gu Nuan Nuan called after her as she saw Lin Qiao run out of the room. ’Geez, how had she never noticed this person was so impatient before?’

"Huh? Why did our big sister just leave?" Lin Long and Lin He looked up from the doorway, puzzled.

"It’s nothing, she had something to do. She’ll be back in a bit. You two keep playing chess." Without waiting for their reply, Gu Nuan Nuan glanced around the room. She spotted a desk by the window with a potted plant and a few books on it. She walked over, sat down, and casually picked up a book to flip through.

She appeared to be reading, but her Divine Sense was actually following Lin Qiao.

She saw Lin Qiao go to the kitchen first. No one was inside, but the back door was open. By the door was a large basin piled high with dishes. A rubber hose ran from the kitchen faucet, gurgling water into the basin. As the water flowed in, it continuously overflowed, spilling everywhere. Four women were squatting around the basin, Lin Qiao’s mother among them. She was in the middle of an enthusiastic conversation with the person next to her. All four were laughing cheerfully as they worked.

"Mom." Lin Qiao walked over, rolled up her sleeves, and squatted down next to her mother. She reached into the basin to grab a bowl to wash, then greeted the others one by one. "Grandma, Third Aunt, Fifth Aunt." The others just smiled in acknowledgment as she called out to them.

The woman Lin Qiao called Fifth Aunt praised her with an envious smile, "Our Qiaoqiao is so sensible now, she even knows to come help with the chores on her own."

"Isn’t that the truth? Not like my eldest, who’s half a year older than Qiaoqiao. A shame I’ve spoiled her rotten. Forget now, she’s probably run off somewhere to play with Xiao Li. Even when she’s at home, she never lifts a finger to help," Lin Qiao’s third aunt said with a laugh, glancing at Lin Qiao.

"Who wouldn’t want to spoil their kids if they could? But with our family’s situation... there are so many of us, and so much work to do. If it was just me and her dad, how could we possibly manage? So we can’t afford to spoil the kids. Forget the eldest—she has to live at the school dorms—even the second one at home often has to lend a hand with the light chores," Lin Qiao’s mother sighed.

"Oh, stop complaining. Once the kids are grown up and earning money, you’ll have everything, won’t you? Qiaoqiao is so promising and does so well in school. What will you have to worry about in the future? These hard times will only last a few more years," Lin Qiao’s fifth aunt said dismissively.

"Hmph. With their family in this state, your father and I lose sleep at night worrying about them." Lin Qiao’s grandmother pursed her lips and said irritably, "Right now, I’m worried about your eldest sister and your second sister. Even though your second sister’s husband is unreliable and she’s in that state, at least her in-laws cared about saving face and not losing his job, so they gave her some money to live on. And they don’t dare skip the monthly child support for Xiao Li. At least your second sister will have Xiao Li to rely on in the future. But your eldest sister, with that mountain of debt she’s in—"

"Mom, the kids are right here, please don’t talk about this in front of them. Don’t worry, I’ll figure out a way to pay back the money you and younger brother lent us soon." Lin Qiao’s mother’s expression soured. In just this short time today, her own mother had brought this up no less than five times, expressing all sorts of disdain for her and her husband. She’d stopped just short of accusing them of coming back to her maternal home to swindle money. Suppressing her anxiety, she made another promise. "Not just the money from you and fourth brother, but we’ll try to pay back third sister and fifth sister early, too."

She sighed internally. ’It was all her fault for imagining that bamboo forest to be something amazing. She’d pinned all her hopes on it, so when she went back to her family to talk about it, she couldn’t help but sound a little too confident. Who would have thought reality would be so cruel? On top of that, they ran into those shameless neighbors who sabotaged them. In the end, not only did her family suffer a huge loss, but they also had to grit their teeth and borrow another large sum of money to build a wall. Now, they didn’t just owe her parents, they’d borrowed from all her siblings except for her second sister, whom she felt she couldn’t ask.’

"So what if the kids know? For all we know, they’ll be the ones to inherit this debt later. It’s easy for you to say you’ll pay it back, but what are you going to pay it back with? The way I see it, you’d be better off returning that bamboo forest to the village, or maybe transferring it to someone else. You might get some of your initial investment back." Lin Qiao’s grandmother, completely ignoring that Lin Qiao was there, practically spat her words at her mother as she offered her rotten advice. "That bamboo forest doesn’t make any money! And back then, you painted such a rosy picture of it that your father and I were momentarily fooled. I don’t know if I’ll even live to see that money come back."

The more Lin Qiao’s grandmother spoke, the more worried she became. She stared at Lin Qiao’s mother and gave her a serious warning: "Don’t you even think about trying to get out of it by waiting for us to die to have the debt canceled. That money—even if something happens to us, you still have to pay it back to your brother."