Gu Yan asked these two questions. The first one, Mrs. Gu could completely ignore; whether or not she treated Gu Yan as human was simply unimportant to her.
However, the second question made her hesitate.
At the time of adoption, Gu Yan was already nine years old, quite old, and she wasn’t adopted from an orphanage, so getting her residence registration required a lot of paperwork, which was a hassle, and also needed money. As soon as Mrs. Gu heard it required money, she opposed it.
She thought, after all, Gu Yan was in their home, and everyone knew and considered her a part of their family, so she stopped bothering with it.
From beginning to end, Gu Yan was never on their household registration.
A trace of unease flashed across Mrs. Gu’s face, and she retorted firmly, "So what! Everyone knows you’re the adopted daughter of the Gu Family; whether you’re registered or not, you must ."
Gu Yan sneered inwardly; she had never seen such people before. Despite calling her ’mom’ for so many years, she felt guilty towards her deceased biological mother.
"Without registration, even if people know you adopted me, so what? Others can see how you treat me, and if I say I won’t support you, they won’t say a bad word about it."
Back then, the neighbors often heard Mrs. Gu yelling and hitting Gu Yan. Sometimes, kind neighbors, unable to stand it, would come over to advise, and when Mrs. Gu wasn’t home, they occasionally slipped Gu Yan some food or gave her clothes their children couldn’t wear anymore.
Everyone knew these things all too well. Even if Gu Yan was registered, as long as she didn’t support them, the neighbors wouldn’t gossip.
She wanted someone to rely on for her old age, but didn’t know how to treat them well, so she could only blame herself for the current situation.
She just needed to take care of Gu Father.
Mrs. Gu was so furious with Gu Yan that her chest heaved continuously, "You beast! Beast!"
She cursed loudly, her voice sharp, and when she couldn’t speak, she looked for something to hit Gu Yan with.
Gu Yan’s heart felt numb; it had been since childhood. Whenever things didn’t go Mrs. Gu’s way, she would hit and scold her.
Mrs. Gu grabbed the broom in the hospital room and swung it at Gu Yan.
Gu Yan instinctively raised her hand to block, habitually lifting her injured right hand. Mrs. Gu forcefully struck her bandaged hand with the broomstick. The pain blanked Gu Yan’s mind for a moment; she staggered back to the wall, supporting herself with her left hand while holding her painful right hand.
It felt like her hand was about to break.
"Stop it!" As Mrs. Gu raised the broomstick to swing at Gu Yan again, Gu’s father was startled awake by the commotion. Seeing this scene, he shouted urgently and angrily.
But this time, Mrs. Gu completely ignored Gu’s father, her heart boiling with countless suppressed rage, almost willing to beat Gu Yan to death.
Her hand holding the broom paused only for a moment before she gritted her teeth and lashed out again!
Gu Yan’s senses were overwhelmed with pain, her eyes moist with tears. Seeing Mrs. Gu’s broom coming down, she gritted her teeth and dodged aside.
Mrs. Gu was furious, "You damned beast dare to dodge; I’ll beat you to death!"
Gu’s father, watching anxiously from the hospital bed, urged, "Gu Yan, run away quickly."
In his agitation, Gu’s father fell from the hospital bed.
Gu Yan was shocked, "Dad!"
Her attention was only on Gu’s father, momentarily neglecting Mrs. Gu, who then struck her hard on her right shoulder with the broomstick, and Gu Yan cried out in pain.
"Gu Yan..." Gu’s father, who fell to the ground, was in great discomfort.