Chapter 110: Mother-Daughter Night Talk

Chapter 110: Chapter 110: Mother-Daughter Night Talk

"Mom—" Her mother had been sitting on the edge of the bed in a daze ever since she’d entered the room. Gu Nuan Nuan finally couldn’t stand it anymore. She walked over, climbed onto the bed, and sat down beside her.

"Oh, you’re done with your homework?" Zhang Minzhen asked, as if waking from a dream.

"I finished a long time ago. Mom, do you think Grandpa wants to split the family because of you?"

"Isn’t it?" Zhang Minzhen said grimly. "It’s all because of that money I have. If I didn’t have it, or if we hadn’t bought that bicycle, none of this would be happening."

Hah—

Gu Nuan Nuan laughed, exasperated.

’This little bit of money attracts some greedy eyes, and Mom already thinks the money is the problem. What’s she going to do later, when she’s earning real money? Is she just going to give up on making any more, all because of this?’

She looked at her mother, disappointed in her lack of ambition, and said with a pout, "You’re right, Mom. If we didn’t have this money, we wouldn’t have needed to buy a bicycle. I could just stop going to school, and the two of us could grab a broken bowl and go beg on the streets. Wouldn’t that be great? Maybe we’d even run into Dad, Grandma, Great-Aunt, Lin Jiayi, and Lin Jia Bao. They’d probably get a kick out of tossing us some buns, telling us to grovel on the ground and eat them for their amusement."

"What are you talking about?" Zhang Minzhen snapped out of it. Seeing her daughter’s pouting, resentful face, her heart softened. She knew Nuannuan was just trying to provoke her. Her tone gentled as she said, exasperated, "What on earth goes through that little head of yours all day?"

"What are *you* thinking, Mom? They’re just a couple of uncles and aunts who couldn’t care less about us. How could you let them crush your spirit like that?"

"I haven’t," Zhang Minzhen said, feeling a little guilty under her daughter’s knowing gaze. "I just think that if it weren’t for me, maybe they wouldn’t be splitting up the family."

"What’s so bad about splitting up the family?" Gu Nuan Nuan raised an eyebrow.

"You don’t understand." Zhang Minzhen frowned, vexed. "When people get old, they like having their children and grandchildren around. They want a lively, bustling home. It’s my fault your grandparents have lost that kind of family joy."

"Mom, are you really so sure that Second Uncle and Aunt, and Third Uncle and Aunt, would willingly provide Grandpa and Grandma with that ideal, happy family atmosphere?" Gu Nuan Nuan saw her mother open her mouth to argue and gave a cold smile. "Do you really not know what kind of people they are? The fact that things have gotten to the point of splitting up the family isn’t your fault at all. It’s the result of their own greed."

"Nuannuan, they’re your elders, after all." Zhang Minzhen was startled by Gu Nuan Nuan’s words. She quickly got off the bed, ran to the door, pushed it open to peek outside, then shut it firmly and returned. "Don’t you dare say things like that to anyone else," she chided. "They’ll think I’m the one who taught you."

"Mom, I really thought you had changed, but you’re still the same. Deep down, you know what the truth is. Do you really think that if it were just Second Uncle and Third Uncle in this house, given their personalities, they would ever be good to Grandpa and Grandma?" Gu Nuan Nuan was a little disappointed by her mother’s reaction.

"Nuannuan, no matter what, they are still your elders. You can’t be so disrespectful to them." Zhang Minzhen was more exasperated than angry. No, it was more accurate to say that her daughter’s words about her second and third brothers and their wives weren’t enough to ignite any flames of anger. When it came to those two families, she was more disappointed than anyone.

In her heart, she actually agreed with her daughter. She just couldn’t admit it out loud. Nuannuan was the junior, and if word got out that a junior had such an attitude toward her elders, she would be the one to suffer for it. That was why she had been so anxious.

"Mom, stop worrying about whose fault the split is. You should focus your energy on how to make money. If you want Grandpa and Grandma to enjoy that family bliss you were talking about, with all their children and grandchildren around, you need to find a way to earn money. A lot of money. Once you’re dangling a carrot in front of Second Uncle and Aunt and Third Uncle and Aunt, they’ll naturally fall in line."

Gu Nuan Nuan had seriously considered it. If her mother became rich one day, would it be possible to prevent her second and third uncles’ families from getting a piece of the pie?

She had thought it over and over, and her final conclusion was that it was probably impossible.

’I know how things ended in my last life, so I loathe and reject my second and third uncles’ families to my very core. But I also know that since I’m here, I won’t let those things happen again in this life. That means Grandpa, Grandma, First Uncle, and Mom may never get to see the truly vile side of my other uncles.’

’Since they won’t see it, for the sake of their blood ties, it’s inevitable that those two families will get to ride our coattails.’

’Hearing Grandpa say he wanted to split the family today was actually a pleasant surprise. Once they split, the advantages those two families could seize would be very limited. And given their dark, twisted minds, that would inevitably cause them immense pain in the end...’

*Heh heh.* Thinking of this, Gu Nuan Nuan hoped they would act up even more during the family division tomorrow. ’Go on, make a scene,’ she thought. ’The more you act up now, the more you disappoint Grandpa, Grandma, First Uncle, and Mom, the greater your suffering will be later.’

"...Nuannuan, are you really confident that I can make money in the future? A lot of money?" Zhang Minzhen mulled over her daughter’s words and finally had to admit she was right. For people like her second and third brothers, money and self-interest really were the only things that could make them behave.

Her fighting spirit began to burn anew. She silently chided herself. ’How could I let this one setback shake the confidence I’ve been building up all this time?’

"Of course you can! Why not? Mom, do you think making money is hard?" Gu Nuan Nuan asked, blinking and hiding a mischievous smile.

"..." Zhang Minzhen rolled her eyes at her. She suddenly felt so foolish, discussing a topic like this with her ten-year-old daughter. Even though Nuannuan had been acting a bit more mature lately, she was still just a child, wasn’t she?

"Mom, you should make and sell steamed buns. I know how to make the filling taste even better than He Ji’s."

Selling steamed buns was the most suitable livelihood Gu Nuan Nuan could come up with for her mother at the moment. Whether it was pork buns, vegetable buns, bamboo shoot buns, vermicelli buns, or tofu buns... as long as the crucial filling was delicious, she would be able to attract and retain customers. When it came to bun fillings, she had her past life to thank. She had been determined to become a model wife and mother, believing the way to a man’s heart was through his stomach. As a result, she had been relentlessly dedicated to perfecting her culinary skills.

PS: People change through a process. There will be small relapses; it’s impossible to transform completely overnight. So please give Nuannuan’s mom a little time and don’t be impatient!