Chapter 243: Chapter 232: Confusion Chapter 243: Chapter 232: Confusion Lu Jiaxin wasn’t worried about Lu Hongjun. Over the years, he had taken great care of Lu Jiaguang and Lu Jiajie, so if anything happened, both of them would step in to help. As for her, still being a student, neither of them would expect her to take charge.
After the Lantern Festival, Gu Xiuxiu and Guh Haifan were still at the Guh Residence and hadn’t come back. Lu Jiaxin made a phone call there, and it was Gu Xiuxiu who answered. She said she was doing well at the old house and wanted to stay a few more days.
Upon hearing this, Lu Jiaxin didn’t intervene further.
Upon returning to school after the holiday, Cui Zhihui saw her and asked, “Did you spend the New Year at the He family mansion? I made several calls but no one answered, and someone who did answer on the sixth day was evasive.”
Lu Jiaxin shook her head and said, “No, I have a conflict with the He family’s fortunes; it’s not suitable for me to enter their home. I went to Hawaii for vacation during the rare holiday and only came back on the ninth day.”
After resting on the tenth day of the first lunar month, she started tutoring classes on the eleventh. She had declared her intent to get into Hong Kong University Business School, so she definitely had to make it happen; otherwise, she didn’t know how many people would laugh at her!
Cui Zhihui was incredibly envious; she had spent the New Year in a cram school. Now that the relationship between the two sisters had improved, she followed Cui Lili’s advice and took up tutoring.
Lu Jiaxin reassured her, “Don’t be envious. Once you start working and have money, you can go anywhere.”
After the exams, she was planning to go on a vacation, but the destination was not yet decided; she would see how things went. In any case, before graduating, she would travel at least twice a year.
On the twentieth day of the first lunar month, after school, Lu Jiaxin received a phone call from Guh Haifan, who said he and Gu Xiuxiu had moved back to the Guh Residence, “Cousin, Aunt Gu and I miss you so much. When can you come over to see us?”
Hearing the urgency in his voice, Lu Jiaxin thought there might be something important, “I’ll come over right now; wait for me.”
Lu Jiaxin went home to change her clothes, and by that time, the tutor had already arrived. She explained the situation to the tutor and hurried over to the Guh Residence.
Upon arriving at the Guh Residence, Gu Xiuxiu was indeed in the garden, having just picked a basket of flowers to trim. Seeing Lu Jiaxin, she looked somewhat puzzled, but it was Aunt Mei who whispered in her ear before she smiled and said, “Jiaxin, what brings you here?”
Seeing her healthy complexion and spirited demeanor, Lu Jiaxin thought there was no issue. As for Haifan having some urgent matter, that seemed unlikely since the kid was still a student and hadn’t entered society yet.
Lu Jiaxin didn’t mention Guh Haifan and just smiled, “I haven’t seen you for almost a month, Aunt Gu. I really missed you and came over as soon as I knew you were back.”
Gu Xiuxiu looked at her, smiling, and said, “Have you had dinner? If not, I’ll have the kitchen prepare a couple more dishes.”
Lu Jiaxin laughed and said she hadn’t eaten yet since she came straight after school and it was still early for dinner, “Aunt Gu, where’s Haifan? Hasn’t he come back from school yet?”
Gu Xiuxiu pointed upstairs, smiling as she spoke, “Uncle He is preparing for his transfer to an international school, so he has been reviewing his lessons these past few days, and he’s upstairs reading right now!”
“Go ahead, go ahead!”
Lu Jiaxin went up to the third floor, knocked on Guh Haifan’s room door, and upon receiving permission, she entered. Concerned about someone barging in, she locked the door behind her.
When Guh Haifan saw her, he looked as if he had seen a savior, “Cousin, Uncle He said he wants me to transfer to an international school, and Aunt Gu agreed. Cousin, it took me a whole semester to catch up, and if I go to a new school, I’ll have to start all over again.”
Lu Jiaxin also did not approve of his transfer to a new school, as getting used to a new environment again would not be good for him: “If you don’t want to go, why didn’t you tell Aunt?”
Guh Haifan expressed his confusion, saying he did speak up: “Aunt Gu agreed at the time, saying she wouldn’t let me go to that international school, but then she changed her mind and said that going to an international school would be good. Cousin, I asked my classmates, and they said international schools are filled with children of wealthy people or government officials. I, I wouldn’t fit in there.”
Just hearing about the backgrounds of the students at the international school made him feel timid. With the precedent set by He Yanyan, he had become fearful of the children from wealthy families.
Lu Jiaxin asked, “Didn’t you tell the He family about this?”
Initially, Gu Xiuxiu planned to send Guh Haifan to a prestigious school, but it was Lu Jiaxin who had changed her mind. Guh Haifan was currently attending a public elementary school with parents who were working class, and in six months, he had made a few friends he got along with.
Guh Haifan said with his head lowered: “I did, but they all say an international school is better. I told them several times that I like my current school, but it’s as if they didn’t hear me. He Yanyan even scolded me, calling me a bumpkin who can’t appear in public and doesn’t know what’s good for him.”
“Did you tell Aunt about all this?”
Guh Haifan said he did, but to no avail; Gu Xiuxiu told him to listen to the He family.
Lu Jiaxin felt something was not right; Gu Xiuxiu did not like the He family, so why would she let Guh Haifan follow the He family’s arrangements? She thought for a moment and asked, “Why have you been staying at the He family mansion for so long?”
Guh Haifan said dejectedly, “Aunt didn’t want to go to the He family for the New Year. It was Uncle He and Aunt He who came to invite us. They agreed that we’d return on the sixth day, but Uncle He and Aunt He wouldn’t let us leave, and Aunt Gu didn’t object either. On the afternoon of the eighth, Aunt Gu told me to pack up, saying we would go back the next morning. But when I asked her the next day, she claimed she never said that.”
“Sigh, Aunt was fine before, but these past few days she forgets things she just said earlier. I asked both Aunt Mei and Aunt Gu, and they said it’s normal at her age. Cousin, growing old is really scary.”
Yet, in Lu Jiaxin’s heart, there was a sudden twinge. This did not seem like mere forgetfulness; it rather seemed like Alzheimer’s disease. If she were actually diagnosed with the disease, that would be a serious matter. The guardianship rights over Haifan and herself were still in Aunt’s hands. If Aunt were confirmed to have Alzheimer’s disease, then He Zhuliang would become their guardian. Of course, she felt confident since she would turn seventeen soon and the He family couldn’t make decisions for her. But Haifan would be in trouble, and if they got his guardianship rights, there was no telling how much He Yanyan might bully him.
Taking a deep breath, Lu Jiaxin thought it best not to overreact. Perhaps it really was just her memory getting worse with age. She comforted Guh Haifan, saying, “When people get older, it’s natural for their memory to worsen; it’s not something that can be changed by human effort.”
Guh Haifan knew that as people aged their memory could decline, as many elderly people in his hometown were the same, but none were as bad as Aunt Gu: “Cousin, I don’t want to transfer schools.”
Lu Jiaxin nodded and said, “If you don’t want to transfer schools, then you won’t. Tomorrow you will go to school as usual, and I’ll speak to the He family.”
Guh Haifan immediately felt relieved: “Thank you, Cousin.”
“Go read your book; I’ll go and have a talk with Aunt.”
When she went downstairs, Gu Xiuxiu smiled and said, “So it was Haifan who called you. I was wondering why you suddenly came back.”
Not showing any signs of Alzheimer’s in her words, Lu Jiaxin decided not to question her due to the presence of other people: “Yes, Haifan told me he doesn’t want to transfer schools. Aunt, Haifan has just gotten used to his current school, and he’s due to start middle school this year. Transferring schools at this juncture would not be good for his development or his studies.”
Gu Xiuxiu thought for a moment and then said, “Okay, I’ll call Zhuliang tomorrow.”
With Haifan’s situation, Lu Jiaxin could not take the chance of waiting until the next day: “Aunt, please call him now; Haifan needs to go to school tomorrow.”