Chapter 361 - 359: The Miserable Guo Xiuying

Chapter 361: Chapter 359: The Miserable Guo Xiuying

"That’s right."

Wen Xiu, who was speaking with Gu Nuan Nuan, couldn’t help but sigh. "Guo Xiuying refuses to say who Zhang Tianci’s real father is, so now Zhang Tianci has taken his mother’s surname, Guo. Honestly, she brought it all on herself. Guo Tianci wasn’t even that sick—it was just a fever. If she had just taken him to the village doctor for some medicine, he would have been fine. At most, he might have needed a shot. But for some reason, Guo Xiuying didn’t get him checked out. Instead, she bundled him up in cotton jackets and quilts, which made his fever spike until he passed out. If we hadn’t gotten there in time and made the quick decision to call an ambulance, he probably would have been a goner. The doctors all said it was a shame. The fever lasted too long. They saved his life, but his brain was permanently damaged."

Wen Xiu continued with a hint of regret, "I don’t know if the Guo Family figured something out later, but they used this incident as an excuse to go to Xu Banxian’s place and smash it up. It ended up getting his whole clan involved. But Xu Banxian hasn’t been doing any legitimate work these past few years, just swindling people. So, many of his own clan members who knew him inside and out weren’t very eager to back him up. They don’t think much of him, either. In the end, afraid of losing face if the whole thing blew up, they negotiated with the Guo Family, who walked away with one thousand yuan in compensation."

"One thousand yuan? That sounds like a lot. But I bet the money she’s thrown at him over the years is way more than that," Gu Nuan Nuan said, amused.

"You’re telling me. It was our Zhang family’s money she was spending, and in the end, the Guo Family is the one who benefits," Wen Xiu said indignantly.

"Let it go, Grandma. It’s not worth ruining your health over a little bit of money." Seeing Wen Xiu get angry was a bit amusing to Gu Nuan Nuan, and she couldn’t help but laugh. Wen Xiu glared at her. "A little bit of money is still money! I’d rather feed it to a dog and at least get a wagging tail in return."

"Don’t think of it that way. Just think about how we’ve finally gotten that burden off our hands. We should be setting off firecrackers to celebrate our freedom," Gu Nuan Nuan quickly comforted her.

"You’re right. Isn’t that something worth celebrating? Tomorrow’s the festival, so our family will set off a few extra strings of firecrackers. Let the whole village know how happy we are." Wen Xiu was finally mollified.

"So, did Guo Xiuying get the money in the end?" Gu Nuan Nuan asked curiously.

"In her dreams! Guo Xiuying didn’t get a single cent. I heard they even found all the money she took from here, and she was left with nothing." Wen Xiu was gloating. "Back when she divorced your third uncle, he said she had all the family’s money. But she only pulled out a few dozen yuan in loose change and swore up and down there was nothing left. Your third uncle didn’t believe her and wanted to search her, but we didn’t want to make things that ugly, so we stopped him. But as soon as she got home, her mother and sister-in-law couldn’t find the money in her luggage. So they waited until she was bathing, burst in claiming they wanted to ’help’ with her laundry, and took all the clothes she had set aside. I heard they found several hundred yuan in them. Guo Xiuying raised hell, crying and screaming, but she couldn’t get any of it back. Her family said they were ’keeping it safe’ for her, to stop her from foolishly throwing it all away on that swindler Xu Banxian again."

Gu Nuan Nuan winced, fighting back a laugh. "...Her family is... a little too ruthless, don’t you think? They say they’re keeping it safe, but is she ever going to get it back?"

Wen Xiu gave Gu Nuan Nuan a look that said, ’You know the answer to that,’ and laughed along with her. "And that’s just the start of it. I’ve also heard they’re already asking around to find Guo Xiuying a new husband. The conditions aren’t even that high: as long as the man can offer a one thousand yuan betrothal gift and is willing to take Guo Tianci in as well, it’s a done deal."

Her tone was a mixture of gloating and a sliver of sympathy. "Speaking of which, her family is being too hasty. The gossip is still fresh, and everyone is talking. A family that truly cared for their daughter wouldn’t be in such a rush. If they just waited a year or so, people would stop talking about it, and she might be able to find a decent man to remarry. But right now? The Guo Family is basically just selling their daughter a second time, pushing her straight into another fiery pit."

"Won’t Guo Xiuying fight back?" Gu Nuan Nuan found it utterly ridiculous. "In her situation, she’d be better off moving out on her own. She could make her own decisions instead of being controlled so completely by her family."

"She doesn’t have the guts. She’s probably afraid that if she moves out and completely burns her bridges with her family, they’ll wash their hands of her for good," Wen Xiu said, her face full of scorn. "But she’s not thinking straight. She’s *already* in trouble, right? And look at how her family is treating her now. What ’future’ is she even hoping for with them?"

"Well, it’s better if she gets remarried quickly. At least then she won’t come back to pester Third Uncle."

Gu Nuan Nuan lost interest in hearing any more about Guo Xiuying. ’The woman can’t tell good from bad and seems to have no brain at all. How did the mind that spent all those years scheming in the Zhang family turn to complete mush the second she had to deal with her own relatives? Oh well, everyone has their own way of doing things. It’s none of my business, and I can’t be bothered to care.’

"Speaking of him, your third uncle hates her guts now," Wen Xiu said with a smile. "It’s all been decided. Your third uncle is getting married next month."

"Grandma, what did you just say?" Gu Nuan Nuan was so startled she felt a little dizzy as she looked at Wen Xiu. "How did he find someone so fast?"

"Don’t be fooled by how much we dislike your third uncle. As soon as word got out that he was divorced, plenty of people came knocking on our door wanting to arrange a marriage with our family." Wen Xiu was quite proud as she said this. "Among them were quite a few young, unmarried women. Your third uncle wanted to be picky, but I’ve already made the decision for him. It’s that woman who went to the hospital to help take care of Guo Tianci, Yang Guiying."

"Did something happen during those few days at the hospital? Did Third Uncle hit it off with her?" Gu Nuan Nuan thought, her favorable impression of Yang Guiying diminishing.

"Hit it off? Yeah, right. He got completely played by her during those few days at the hospital and suffered quite a bit. Don’t be fooled by the fact that Yang Guiying is several years younger than your third uncle; she’s got some serious tricks up her sleeve. She managed to whip him into shape completely. When he came back, he didn’t have a single good thing to say about her. He was constantly in front of me, cursing that he’d never met such a shrew in his entire life." Wen Xiu roared with laughter. "When he found out I’d chosen her for him, your third uncle was just dumbfounded. He even cried in front of me and your grandfather. I think he was genuinely heartbroken."

"..."

Gu Nuan Nuan was rendered speechless. She couldn’t imagine what a grown man like her third uncle looked like when he cried. But seeing her grandmother recount the event with such a joyful tone and expression, she silently lit a candle for him in her heart. ’Is there anyone else in the world so disliked by their own mother? Maybe he’s not even her biological son. Maybe he was adopted? Or was there a mix-up at the hospital back in the day?’

At that moment, Gu Nuan Nuan completely forgot that her grandmother had once told her that back in her day, everyone gave birth at home with a midwife, so there was no possibility of a mix-up.