Chapter 226: Decision

Chapter 226: Chapter 226: Decision

The doctor’s words about Lin Dong’s organic disease, and how it would cause functional impairment in the future, echoed in his mind. A sharp pain stabbed at Lin Shunkang’s heart. ’My son will probably never have children of his own again...’ It was an agony he couldn’t share with anyone. He didn’t dare tell his wife. If he told her now, she would surely be unable to bear it.

"What ’what if’ could there possibly be?" Yu Xiuying said, completely dismissive.

Lin Kangshun gave a bitter smile. He couldn’t very well tell her his current plan: ’If Gu Jiabao turns out to be our family’s child, that would be for the best. But even if he isn’t, I plan to just go with the flow and acknowledge him. We’ll let the boy and everyone else believe he’s a Lin... After all, we’ve raised him for over a decade. There’s a strong emotional bond there. And with the Gu family being the way they are, even if the boy one day found out he wasn’t a Lin, he would certainly never want to go back to them.’

’I’ll tell my son the truth,’ he thought. ’In the future, if Gu Jiabao treats my son well, then letting him inherit the family estate is far better than having to pick a distant clansman who has no bond with my son and would never be dutiful to him, right? And if Gu Jiabao mistreats him later on, that’s fine too. We can just pull out the test results and kick him to the curb. I’m sure there are plenty of people in the Lin clan who would be willing to help us do it...’

And so, Lin Shunkang sighed. Suppressing the sorrow in his heart, he tried to console his wife. "They say a person’s words are true when they’re about to die. Even if something like this has never happened before, it doesn’t mean it’s impossible. What if it is true? Could you really bear to let our own flesh-and-blood grandson stay out there, living a life of hardship forever?"

"..." Yu Xiuying fell silent.

"Going to the provincial capital for a test is just for our own peace of mind. It won’t cost much, right?" Lin Kangshun said, pressing his advantage when he saw his wife begin to waver.

"Fine. But if it is true, that Gu Jiayi is not to be brought into our home. Old Lin, you don’t understand. I don’t even have to see her; just thinking about her makes my skin crawl. I have no interest in raising an enemy’s child," Yu Xiuying said hatefully.

"Alright." Lin Kangshun’s heart sank when he heard the phrase "enemy’s child," and the resolution he’d just made wavered. ’After all, Gu Jiabao resembles that Tao Jianren more than Gu Jiayi does. If he’s not our flesh and blood, and I go ahead and acknowledge him anyway... could my wife really handle it if she found out the truth later? Wouldn’t the shock kill her...?’

After thinking for a long time, Lin Kangshun only grew more and more agitated. He finally decided to stop thinking about it. It was better to just wait for the DNA results and then see.

「The Gu Family Home.」

In the entrance courtyard, none of the Gu family were to be seen except for the mother and son, Chen Suxiang and Gu Lihui. It wasn’t that the others were hiding; right now, everyone, including the siblings Gu Jiayi and Gu Jiabao, was waiting in the main hall.

Chen Suxiang and Gu Lihui wanted to enter the main hall too, but Mrs. Tao wouldn’t let them. Whenever they tried to go in, she would block their path, claiming her daughter didn’t want them disturbing her peace and that they had to sort things out in the courtyard first. The truth was, Mrs. Tao wasn’t against them entering the hall; she was afraid that once inside, they’d find an excuse to slip away and hide like cowards.

Before leaving, Tao Junhao had warned the pair not to lay a single finger on Mrs. Tao, and Gu Wu had also told them that talking was fine, but they were absolutely not to push or get physical with her. As a result, the mother and son were truly helpless against Mrs. Tao’s blockade. That was why the three of them were still locked in a stalemate when Tao Junhao returned to the Gu family home.

Tao Junhao walked past the mother and son, ignoring them. He went straight to Mrs. Tao and handed her the vegetable pancakes and eggs his wife had made at home. As he did, he gave a slight nod and murmured, "We’re going tomorrow." Mrs. Tao understood immediately; her son had persuaded the Lin family. A look of relief washed over her as she realized they would definitely be taking the children home tonight. Forgetting the food in her hands, she turned to Chen Suxiang and Gu Lihui. "You’ve already driven my daughter to her death. What, you want to keep my grandson and granddaughter here to hound them to death, too? Whether you like it or not, we are taking both children with us today."

"Your daughter killed herself! What business is that of our Gu family? By what right does your Tao family think you can take away children of the Gu family? There’s no sense in that! No matter how you spin it, even if we were willing, our Gu clan would never agree. You say we drove her to it? Do you have any proof? If you ask me, you’re the ones who drove her to it! She ran back to her parents’ house because she looked down on my son. That conscienceless woman! We served her the best food, never let her lift a finger, treated her like a goddess on a pedestal! And just because of my son’s face, she refused to stay with our Gu family. She didn’t even bother to think about how my son got disfigured in the first place, yet she had the gall to despise him..."

Chen Suxiang rattled on, putting on a show of growing more and more heartbroken, even wiping away fake tears. She demonstrated her supreme talent for twisting the truth, shamelessly turning the accusations back on the mother and son. She even latched onto the conversation she had just overheard between them, practically jumping as she hurled insults back.

"If you hadn’t immediately sent her packing the moment she ran home, instead of trying to keep her there, would she have jumped in the well? You’re too cruel! She was your own daughter! How could you do that to her? And now that she’s dead, you’ve set your sights on her children? Have you already found buyers for them? You said you’re ’going tomorrow’—is that when you’re selling your own grandson and granddaughter? Have you already settled on a price with the buyers?"

"You—you’re spouting absolute nonsense! Do you think everyone is as vicious as you are? Heaven is watching what you do! My daughter is lying dead right in there, aren’t you afraid she’ll climb out and claw your face to shreds?" When it came to verbal sparring, Mrs. Tao was no match for Chen Suxiang. After all, if Chen Suxiang claimed to be second best with her tongue in a hundred-mile radius, no one would dare claim to be the best. This was another primary reason the mother and son had been locked in a stalemate with her for so long.

"Hmph." ’She was so useless when she was alive, the only thing she could do was jump in a well. Now that she’s dead, what can she possibly do to me?’ Chen Suxiang rolled her eyes, completely unfazed.

"My mom is right. Heaven is watching. Don’t think you can get away with your wicked deeds just because you refuse to admit them." Tao Junhao motioned for his mother to step aside and eat, then took a step forward. "You heard my sister’s final words. And I’m not afraid to tell you, I’ve already arranged with the Lin family to take the children for a DNA test tomorrow. But regardless of whether Gu Jiabao is a child of the Lin family or not, we are determined to get custody of both children. It was my sister’s dying wish, after all. If you still refuse, I’ll call the police. You want proof? Fine. We’ll have a doctor examine the injuries on her body. I doubt you’ll be able to claim then that her own family beat her, or that she did it to herself, will you?"