Chapter 69: Chapter 69: Throwing a Tantrum Isn’t That Easy
Li Xuemei lifted the curtain and stepped out, standing next to Gu Ruhai, while Gu Xiaoqing also stood on the other side of Gu Ruhai, holding him firmly.
Because she noticed that Gu Ruhai’s legs were starting to tremble, his whole body was shivering, and his eyes were filled with utter desolation and disappointment.
The back that was once straight now drooped like a frostbitten eggplant.
It was as if Gu Ruhai had aged decades in an instant, his vigor seemingly sapped away.
Gu Xiaoying and Gu Xiaojie sensed something was wrong. The two rushed over and supported Gu Ruhai, helping him to sit on the steps.
Li Xuemei’s eyes were brimming with tears; the father of these children was crushed.
Mr. Gu, Mrs. Gu, and Gu Rushan were all taken aback.
This was all beyond earlier expectations.
Everything had been fine just a moment ago.
How did it turn bad so suddenly?
Gu Rushan, sensing things were amiss, quickly tugged on Mr. Gu’s sleeve and glanced at the door, indicating they should leave promptly.
This isn’t quite right.
If things get noisy now, the whole village might be alarmed.
Gu Rushan was seriously frightened.
Every time he entered Gu Ruhai’s house now, he felt like a thief, always looking left and right.
Mr. Gu too was a bit confused. The eldest son, although not very robust, had never been like this. After just a few words, he turned into this. Is he trying to scare us as parents?
No, Gu Ruhai isn’t the type to scheme like this, and he doesn’t have the knack for faking illness.
If Gu Ruhai had this ability years earlier, he wouldn’t have been under our control for so long.
Nonetheless, Mrs. Gu was clearly not ready to let go. Pointing at Li Xuemei, she started cursing. She had long been displeased with her daughter-in-law, who had no abilities, no good family backing, no money, no power, and didn’t know how to flatter; her tongue was also sharp.
If it weren’t for the fact that the eldest generally behaved, she would have asked him to divorce Li Xuemei long ago.
In Mrs. Gu’s eyes, only the wives of Gu Rushan and Gu Ruhe were good. Even though she couldn’t glean any benefits from Jiang Xiulan and Xiao Xue, the grandeur of their families allowed her sons to benefit, so she never dared to criticize them as she did Li Xuemei.
But Li Xuemei was different. She provided no support to Gu Ruhai. Because of her defiance, even the eldest dared to resist them several times. Isn’t this turning the world upside down?
At this moment, she wished she could devour Li Xuemei. Pointing at her nose, she cursed, "You jinx, it’s all because of you that my son is pretending to be sick to deceive his own parents. You unruly thing, marrying you into the Gu Family brought us misfortune for eight generations.
Get out, tomorrow the eldest should go divorce. We don’t want such an unruly wife; I’ll find someone better than Li Xuemei for him."
This old woman wouldn’t stop until she took things to the extreme.
Gu Xiaoqing looked at her father, whose eyes were filled with an icy coldness, growing darker with deepening indifference and hurt. It was real; Gu Ruhai had been completely hurt this time.
Gu Xiaoqing thought to herself, maybe this is what they mean by something needs to be broken down to be built anew.
Perhaps after this incident, her father would transform into a never-soft-hearted Gu Ruhai.
This was all thanks to the abilities of the old couple of the Gu family.
Li Xuemei raised her teary eyes to look at Mrs. Gu, fiercely saying, "Mother, I call you Mother because you are Gu Ruhai’s biological mother, but considering your age, have you ever asked yourself what you’ve done all these years?
If it’s not forcing Gu Ruhai to support the second and third sons, it’s making us work like oxen and horses. People who don’t know would ask, is this your biological son?
Is there a mother like you, encouraging your son to divorce his wife? You might be the first in Gu Family Village."
Mrs. Gu was about to retort, but Li Xuemei didn’t give her a chance and continued, "So what if we do business? Whose family have we offended that we are so disliked? Saying it’s for our own good, but if it’s for our good, then over the years, what kind of house are we living in, what kind of houses are the second and third brothers living in? How do the children of the second and third brothers’ families look, how do our three children look?
An emotional Li Xuemei pulled Gu Xiaojie over, gesturing with her hand over his head as she questioned, "Our Xiao Jie is five years old, yet he’s still shorter than Gu Xiaofeng. How old is Gu Xiaofeng, how old is Gu Xiaojie? Gu Xiaofeng is even older by half a year! Is this your way and Dad’s way of being good to us?
We really can’t afford to appreciate or accept this kind of goodness from you. With your goodness, we can hardly survive, so if it wasn’t good, how would we end up buried without a trace?"
These words left Mrs. Gu speechless. Mrs. Gu was fierce, but these were facts that didn’t lie; once unraveled, they were undeniable.
Mrs. Gu knew that all these years, it was only because of her suppression of Gu Ruhai, and because Gu Ruhai cherished familial bonds enough not to speak out.
But it didn’t mean these matters didn’t exist, nor that they were justified.
The last face-tearing argument led to the family being talked about in the village for several days, and she couldn’t face sitting with her old friends. Despite claiming Li Xuemei was unfilial, many eyes were watching.
People shouldn’t act against their conscience, and even if they did, they are being watched.
Mrs. Gu was still considering making a scene, having weighed the risks, but she felt it was the best way to handle Li Xuemei and Gu Ruhai. Despite the harsh lesson last time, Mrs. Gu still decided to take the risk.
Mrs. Gu slapped her thigh and sat down on the yellow dirt, rolling around till she was covered in soil. Her hair came loose, and her head was disheveled, her wrinkled face trembling as she shouted loudly.
"Oh heavens, there’s no way to live!"
"Grandma, if you’re not afraid of everyone coming to see, feel free to make a scene. I’ll open the door wide for everyone to see clearly how our family bullies grandpa and grandma, how we bully the second uncle. Shall we invite the team leader to come over and preside over some fairness, so that we don’t cause grandpa and grandma undue stress?"
These were words Gu Xiaoqing dropped.
They directly caught Mrs. Gu in her throat, silencing her cries.
Mrs. Gu didn’t want the team leader to come.
She wanted to control the eldest, not to disgrace herself.
If she couldn’t control them, and they ended up controlling the old couple, wouldn’t that mean her mind was unclear?
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