Chapter 346 - 344: Comfort

Chapter 346: Chapter 344: Comfort

"That’s what you call having spirit."

Zhang Damei shot Gu Nuan Nuan an approving glance, then lamented, "The more I look at this kid, the more I think her personality is the spitting image of one of us Zhangs. I’m telling you, back when Minzhen brought her home, you shouldn’t have let her keep the Gu surname. It would have been so much better if we’d changed her name to Zhang and added her to our family register."

"You think I didn’t want to? But on the Gu Family’s side, while the others aren’t much to speak of, her own grandfather is truly good to her." Zhang Dazhuang sighed with regret before turning to Gu Nuan Nuan. "When you make more Hundred Herbs Rejuvenating Ointment, don’t forget to send some to your grandpa."

"Don’t worry. I won’t forget." Gu Nuan Nuan smiled and nodded. "I’ll also secretly give some to Cousin Laidi then."

"That’s good too." Zhang Dazhuang nodded but didn’t mention Zhang Tianci at all. Even Wen Xiu subconsciously ignored him, so naturally, no one else would spare him a thought.

"Heh heh." Zhang Damei let out a dry chuckle and suddenly asked Gu Nuan Nuan, "Can you handle getting a message to that little girl Laidi tonight? Or should I go?"

"No need. Grand-uncle, have you forgotten? I learned alongside my two cousins when you were teaching them the Kung Fu for climbing cliffs and scaling walls," Gu Nuan Nuan said, shaking her head. "I know which floor and which room Cousin Laidi lives in. It won’t be difficult to sneak in quietly. If you go, I’m afraid Cousin Laidi is so timid that the sight of you would make her scream and cry before you could even speak, bringing Third Uncle and the others running."

"Hehe, that’s actually possible. You never know with that timid little thing." Zhang Damei’s eyes widened for a moment, then he burst out laughing. "Since you can handle it, you go. I’ll focus on dealing with Xu Banxian."

Of course, the fact that Zhang Su and Zhang Kai were learning Internal Cultivation Methods couldn’t be hidden from Zhang Damei. In fact, he had started practicing them too. Although his age meant the effects weren’t as pronounced as they would be for a younger person, he knew from personal experience that it was something good. He figured Gu Nuan Nuan wouldn’t have missed out on such Internal Cultivation Methods either.

At this point, he no longer had any doubts about why his fourth brother and sister-in-law dared to let this girl go up the mountain alone.

Besides, he recalled that the little girl’s aptitude was clearly higher than those two rascals, which gave him a good idea of the situation. ’Her skills are probably quite good, maybe even better than Zhang Su’s and Zhang Kai’s.’ With that, he nodded with a smile. "Then you go. If we don’t put that girl Laidi’s mind at ease, I’m worried something might happen to her from the fright."

Gu Nuan Nuan fell silent.

’Something *did* happen in her past life.’

She forced a smile. "It probably won’t happen this time."

--

Some things were best done in the dead of night.

After dinner at Zhang Da’an’s house, they discussed everything thoroughly. It wasn’t until past nine o’clock, after they had even come to a rough consensus on what kind of new wife Zhang Weimin should get in the future, that everyone finally dispersed.

Past nine wasn’t truly late, but that depended on where you were. Most people in Zhang Family Village were used to sleeping and waking early, so this was about time to call it a night. On the way back, Gu Nuan Nuan simply told her grandparents she was going. It took her no effort to reach the outer wall of her third uncle’s villa. There was no one around. She observed for a moment and saw a faint light in Cousin Laidi’s room. Using her Divine Sense, she checked that there was no one else in the room, then wasted no more time and quietly snuck inside.

Zhang Laodi’s room was on the third floor.

Since the villa had many rooms and Zhang Weimin and Guo Xiuying had few children, they hadn’t skimped on Zhang Laodi’s living quarters. Her room was an en suite with a large balcony and its own bathroom. In those days, families hadn’t yet started installing burglar bars on their windows, so it was easy for Gu Nuan Nuan to enter the room from the balcony.

When she entered, she saw Laidi sitting dazedly at the desk by the window, shedding tears. The only light in the room came from the soft glow of the desk lamp.

"Nuannuan?" Suddenly seeing someone enter from the balcony, Laidi shot to her feet, nearly screaming. When she saw clearly that it was Gu Nuan Nuan, she quickly covered her mouth and asked in a surprised whisper, "What are you doing here?"

"Grandpa and Grandma heard what happened. They were worried about you, so they asked me to come and put your mind at ease, so you wouldn’t be scared and let your imagination run wild. They said that with them here, none of your mom’s crazy plans will ever succeed. The day after tomorrow at the latest, this whole thing should be resolved."

Gu Nuan Nuan walked over to Laidi and placed the bag she was carrying on the desk. She opened it to reveal three bottles of milk, as well as bread, cookies, chocolate, and other filling foods. "And this. Grandpa and Grandma asked me to bring it for you."

"Sob... Grandpa and Grandma... H-How did they know? With Mom and Dad acting like that, I thought... I thought they had started to hate me, to dislike me..."

Laidi looked at the food in front of her, then at Gu Nuan Nuan, stifling her sobs with her hand as tears streamed down her face. For the past few years, she had watched her parents cause so much trouble that they had thoroughly angered her eldest uncle, as well as her grandpa and grandma. It had gotten to the point where her family and Second Uncle’s family weren’t allowed to go to the city for the New Year. Even when they returned to their ancestral home, they had to eat their New Year’s Eve dinner separately. Grandpa and Grandma said it was a case of "out of sight, out of mind."

Although her grandparents had never shorted her and her cousins on New Year’s money over the years and had even created scholarship awards, she had secretly felt that they wanted nothing to do with her family and must have started to hate her, too. But she never imagined that wasn’t true at all. The reality was completely different from what she’d thought. When it really mattered, Grandpa and Grandma wouldn’t abandon her—

Her tears flowed even faster. Thinking of her grandpa and grandma, who had always been so good to her even if they didn’t dote on her the most, she felt an overwhelming urge to run into their arms and just cry her heart out.

"Secrets have a way of getting out. You’re Grandpa and Grandma’s own granddaughter. Besides, you’re always so quiet and never cause any trouble, and you do so well in school. They’re very proud of you; how could they possibly hate you? You probably don’t know this, but the main reason Grandpa and Grandma created that scholarship was for you. They know your dad doesn’t care about anything, and your mom is heartless—especially after your little brother was born, she only has eyes for him. Grandpa and Grandma were afraid that even if your family had money, you still wouldn’t be able to stay in school, so they came up with that award. They just never imagined your mom would be even crazier than anyone thought and actually believe that Xu Banxian’s nonsense."

Seeing her cousin cry so sorrowfully made Gu Nuan Nuan’s heart ache. She handed her a handkerchief. "Don’t cry anymore. What if you attract your parents’ attention? Here, have something to eat. Um, dipping the bread in milk is really good. You should try it."