Wang Guihua slumped onto the bed, feeling very regretful, wondering why she had to bring up that matter. Time has passed, even if he had betrayed others for gain back then, which was disgraceful, it was also a forced situation. Besides, he had been feeling guilty all these years and had been doing good deeds to make amends.
Why did I have to mention it? No wonder he was so angry.
But I didn’t want to say all this, it was all Yang Hongying’s doing. If it weren’t for her, would I have quarreled with Old Gu? Would I have said such things in a fit of anger?
It’s all her fault! Wang Guihua was even more annoyed with Yang Hongying.
Yang Hongying knew Wang Guihua didn’t have a good impression of her, so early the next morning, after a simple breakfast, she said her goodbyes, and Jun Tao left together with her.
The atmosphere at home was suffocating, he felt it best to come back less often until his mother could accept Yang Hongying.
Gu Zishan didn’t say much; he couldn’t keep his eldest son, let alone this younger son whom he hadn’t really placed hopes on. Let them be.
"What’s the rush? Juntao, how long are you going to keep sulking? This is your home, where else are you going to go?" Wang Guihua looked at Yang Hongying with some dissatisfaction, thinking, this bitch has stolen my son away!
Yang Hongying, terrified, kept her head down, not daring to meet her mother-in-law’s eyes.
Gu Juntao didn’t like her attitude, and calmly said, "Mom, my work assigned me to be on duty this afternoon. The apartment I rent is closer to my workplace, so it’s more convenient to go back. I’ll come back to see you in a couple of days."
"You’ve found a wife and forgotten your mother, huh! Juntao, you’re only twenty, and you’re neglecting your mom?"
"Mom, I’ll be twenty-three this New Year. I’m not a child anymore. I can live independently, don’t worry."
Wang Guihua wanted to say more, but Gu Zishan gave her a stern look and said to them, "Alright, you two go back. Give me a call if you need anything. Do you have enough money?"
Yang Hongying and Gu Juntao exchanged a glance, not expecting their father to say that.
"It’s enough, Dad. Yang Hongying and I have saved up a bit."
"There’s no need to be polite with us. You two got married without a word, and you probably don’t have much for furniture and such? Go take a thousand yuan for them." Gu Zishan said coldly to Wang Guihua.
Wang Guihua was extremely unwilling: "Where am I supposed to get money at this time of year? The banks are closed, I only have two hundred yuan on me, take it." She’d be willing to give her son ten thousand, but when she thought of that woman, she didn’t want to give even a penny. Why should I spend money on that widow!
Gu Zishan suddenly stood up, seeming about to explode in anger, scaring Wang Guihua so much her shoulders stiffened: "You, what are you doing?"
In the end, Gu Zishan held back his anger: "I told you to take the money, go get it. Isn’t there money in the bottom drawer in the upstairs cabinet?"
Wang Guihua, legs weak from fear at her husband’s gaze, still went upstairs to get the money. Damn it, how does he know where I hide my private stash? And he hasn’t acted in years! Last night’s words really stirred him up.
Yang Hongying was, of course, very embarrassed, declined to accept it, but in the end, Gu Zishan forced it into her hand.
"Take it! You two already compromised by not having a wedding. Buy whatever you need!"
"Okay, thank you, Dad." Yang Hongying choked up.
Gu Zishan nodded, Wang Guihua was filled with hatred yet said nothing, only her eyes were frightening.
The two of them left the Gu Family’s courtyard together, Yang Hongying breathed a sigh of relief, nearly sitting on the ground, and was supported by Gu Juntao.
"Are you alright? You were that scared?"
"I’m fine. It’s just that I think your parents are both... both..."
"Both have bad tempers?" Gu Juntao’s mouth curled up: "Don’t worry, neither of them are bad people; it’s just that they couldn’t accept it at the moment. See, my dad has already accepted you; it’s just my mom left. I know how to coax her. Let’s go watch a movie."
"But you have to work overtime."
"I was lying. How else could we leave? Now that Dad has supported us with so much money, you can return the money we borrowed from Brother Yan Kai."
Yang Hongying nodded: "Yeah. I feel embarrassed too, he’s helped enough already, it’s awkward to borrow money from him."
Finding a place, sorting work, rice, noodles, grain, and oil, Yan Kai helped with all of it. It really feels bad to trouble him any further.
"Let’s go, wife, let’s go watch a movie." Gu Juntao smiled as he wrapped his arm around her waist, she blushed and struggled: "Stop it. People are watching!"
"Who cares? We’re a married couple! Actually, not being in the military is great; we can be as intimate as we want. It’s really nice." Before, when both of them wore uniforms, they didn’t even dare to hold hands. Now they can be so open!
"You..." Yang Hongying struggled but eventually went along with Gu Juntao.
As long as it wasn’t related to the Gu Family’s affairs, the relationship between the two was still good. They watched a movie together, bought some things, and went back home to count. They took out the three hundred-plus yuan they had borrowed from Yan Kai earlier, ready to return it to him.
At this time, Yan Kai was sitting with Gu Junming in a superior’s office, looking very serious.
Yesterday they went out together, and Yan Kai told Gu Junming something, that was about the child trafficking case in the village before. Ding Quan and some others indeed partnered in trafficking children and were rightly arrested. But there was a person in this case, the buyer, whose identity was rather different.
The person was a relative of a well-connected military district leader. After being taken away, he claimed not to know about the child trafficking. He said he just wanted to adopt a child, as the couple had been married for years without having children, and wanted to adopt a smart and young child. Knowing that the countryside had many poor families with many children, they asked for help to find one, and gave some money as a nutritional fee, as it was customary when adopting children from the village, which wasn’t buying and selling.
"He just wanted to give some symbolic money, but the other party thought he was buying a child, which caused this trouble. That person went through several connections and asked me to request you to write a statement, saying this matter has nothing to do with this buyer."
Gu Junming remained silent, seemingly lost in thought.
Sun Chan also said nothing, knowing she was not involved in this matter and it was not her place to comment.
"What do you really think, do you want to let him go, or not?" Yan Kai also didn’t want to get involved, as he wasn’t one to favor backdoor dealings. But this time, the person asking for a favor had a significant background, and he had no choice but to speak up.
"Actually, this matter..." Gu Junming slightly frowned, then said, "If what he said is true, it doesn’t really count as a crime, but I always feel things won’t be that simple."