Chapter 227: Loathing

Chapter 227: Chapter 227: Loathing

"You, you..."

Now it was Chen Suxiang’s turn to be flustered. She sputtered "you" for a long moment, wide-eyed and speechless. Finally, her eyes darted as a thought struck her, and she shook her head vigorously. "No, I don’t agree. Her own mother said it—a woman must follow the man she marries, for better or for worse. She’s a daughter-in-law of the Gu family, and that’s true even in death. Having a doctor examine her would be a disgrace! Our family will absolutely not agree to it. And as long as we don’t agree, you can’t do it."

"I only said that to persuade my daughter, for her own good! Have you ever seen a mother who wants to see her own daughter get divorced again and again?" Mrs. Tao glared at Chen Suxiang, her eyes bloodshot, looking as if she could eat the woman alive. "Don’t you dare twist my words and use them against me. I said that because I hadn’t seen you and your son for who you truly are. If I had, why would I have been so afraid of losing face? If I had known this would be the result, so what if I brought my daughter home to support her for the rest of her life? Now my son talks about calling the police, and suddenly you have a guilty conscience? Hah! You’re afraid of disgrace, but I’m not anymore. My daughter is dead! What disgrace do I have left to fear? I’m going to get justice for her. You drove a person to her death, and you still act so arrogantly? I’ll be waiting to see you and your son spend the rest of your lives in prison."

"You—you’re the one who drove her to her death! You’re the one who’ll spend your life in prison!" Chen Suxiang retorted, her hand trembling as she put on a brave face.

"Hmph. We’ll just wait and see, then." Mrs. Tao could clearly see Chen Suxiang’s guilty conscience, and a sense of certainty settled over her. "Son, go call the police. Go right now. I want to see them locked up by tonight." Tao Junhao glanced at the mother and son from the Gu family, sneered, and made a show of turning to leave.

"You can’t go—"

Chen Suxiang lunged forward to block Tao Junhao but was sent flying by a vicious kick. He continued walking. Ignoring the heavy blow she had taken, Chen Suxiang scrambled to get up and lunge at him again, yelling, "Eldest son, hurry and stop him!"

"You only want those two little bastards because you see they’re getting old enough to earn money, right?" Gu Lihui’s face darkened as he stared at Tao Junhao. ’The thought that for the past few months, he and his mother had been treating that little bastard like a precious treasure filled him with resentment. Now, once those two little brats were gone, he wouldn’t even have anyone to vent his anger on.’ But under the circumstances, if he didn’t let them go, the Tao family wouldn’t let this rest.

So he said viciously, "Fine, take them. But you’d better take the other one too, so they don’t dirty our family’s home." The words had barely left his mouth when Tao Junhao strode over, knocked him to the ground with a single punch, and spat in his face. "You have the guts to say that again?"

"You heartless bastard!" Mrs. Tao jumped up, spat a mouthful on Gu Lihui as he lay on the ground, and cursed, "Something happened to my Jianren in your house! When she was alive, you worked her like a pack animal. Now you’ve got it all figured out, haven’t you? She’s dead, and you don’t even want to pay for her funeral?"

"You two god-damned murderers! Help! Someone’s being murdered!" Chen Suxiang threw herself over Gu Lihui to protect him and started wailing dramatically.

"Shut your mouth! Aren’t you embarrassed enough? Do you want to draw all the neighbors over to watch the show again?" The commotion outside was getting out of hand. Gu Wu emerged from the main hall, his face a mask of fury, and snapped at Chen Suxiang.

"..."

Chen Suxiang fell silent, as if her throat had been squeezed shut. She remembered that afternoon, how the family had hired people to dredge the well and had hung up white funeral banners. Everyone knew Tao Jianren had jumped into the well. On the surface, people had come to pay their respects and help with arrangements, but in reality, most of them were just there for the spectacle...

"Mom, let’s stop wasting our breath on them. The most important thing is to take the children home," Tao Junhao murmured to Mrs. Tao. She nodded, then raised her head and spoke to Gu Wu. "I’m sure you heard what your eldest son just said. Our family’s intention is to take my daughter’s two children back with us to raise them ourselves..."

"I agree to you taking the children. But not right now. They should at least wait until after their mother’s funeral is over," Gu Wu replied directly to Mrs. Tao, not even bothering to glance at Gu Lihui.

"You’re a reasonable man. The children should indeed wait until their mother’s affairs are settled before they leave. However, we have to take Jiabao with us tonight. We’ve already arranged with the Lin family to take the boy to the provincial capital first thing tomorrow morning for a... what’s it called... a DNA test. I think it’s better for everyone to get this cleared up sooner rather than later, don’t you? It wasn’t easy to get the Lin family to believe us—"

Hearing Gu Wu’s words, Mrs. Tao suddenly felt she had been dealing with the wrong person all afternoon and evening. ’Why had she been arguing endlessly with that muddle-headed madwoman instead of speaking to the one who was clearly more reasonable, more understanding, and obviously the one in charge?’ A look of regret crossed her face, and her tone became more deliberate. "But don’t worry. We will definitely bring Jiabao back for the funeral the day after tomorrow to see his mother off."

"Fine. In that case, you can take him," Gu Wu said with an indifferent nod. ’Whether Jiabao’s surname was Gu or Lin, he couldn’t care less. He was even indifferent as to whether the boy would make it back to see Tao Jianren off. He was completely fed up with his eldest son’s branch of the family.’

Gu Wu’s personal promise was far more reassuring than Gu Lihui’s words, so Mrs. Tao and Tao Junhao ignored the disdain on his face and breathed a sigh of relief. Without wasting any more words, they went straight into the main hall. Mrs. Tao spoke to the two siblings, who were staring blankly at Tao Jianren’s coffin. "Jiabao, get up. Let’s go. We’ll go back to your room to pack a few things, then you’ll leave with Grandma and Uncle."

"Grandma! Uncle! What about me? Are you not taking me?" Startled, Gu Jiayi jumped to her feet even faster than Gu Jiabao and grabbed Mrs. Tao’s sleeve in terror.

"Who said that? Don’t you just believe anything you hear. After your mother’s funeral is over, both of you will come live with me at my house. It’s for the best that you don’t stay in this Gu family home," Mrs. Tao said resentfully.

"Then why is my brother leaving with you today?" Mrs. Tao’s words eased Gu Jiayi’s heart slightly, but she was afraid her grandmother was just saying it to placate her. She tightened her grip on Mrs. Tao’s sleeve and pleaded, "Grandma, can I go back with you today too? Please?"

"No. If you leave today too, who will keep vigil for your mother?" Mrs. Tao just shook her head at Gu Jiayi. "Be good. There’s a special reason we have to take your brother today."

"Grandma, can I know what it is?" Gu Jiayi grew even more worried, but she didn’t dare make a scene, so she asked in a small voice.