Chapter 347 - 345: Fleeing in Disarray

Chapter 347: Chapter 345: Fleeing in Disarray

"Mmm—"

Zhang Laodi took the handkerchief Gu Nuan Nuan handed her and finally stopped crying, though she was still sniffling intermittently. "Nuannuan, thank you."

"You’re welcome." Gu Nuan Nuan sighed internally. Steeling herself, she continued, "When the time comes, even if Third Aunt says she’s taking you out, that she’s sending you to Xu Banxian’s place, don’t be scared. Just go with her. Just know what’s happening. You definitely won’t be sent away. Grandpa and Grandma will be outside with people to stop you.

They’ve already decided to take you and your brother to live in the city. This whole thing has to blow up. If it doesn’t, if we keep it under wraps, you know Third Aunt will never admit to anything. In fact, she’s more likely to turn the tables, play the victim, and make everyone think Grandpa, Grandma, and First Uncle are using their money to bully people."

Zhang Laodi’s hand, wiping her tears, froze. "..."

She looked lost for a moment, then bit her lower lip and looked at Gu Nuan Nuan. "Nuannuan, have Grandpa and Grandma decided to make my parents divorce this time?"

"Yes."

Gu Nuan Nuan knew her cousin Laidi was smart; otherwise, she wouldn’t have been able to get the largest share of the family’s internal "scholarship" every year. But she hadn’t expected her to be *this* smart. She had barely let a small hint slip, and Laidi had already guessed the truth.

She stared at Zhang Laodi, gauging her reaction as she asked probingly, "You’re not willing?"

Gu Nuan Nuan admitted to herself that she had indeed planned to tell her cousin Laidi what was going to happen tonight, to give her a chance to "choose."

In her past life, they hadn’t interacted much. Aside from knowing her cousin Laidi was timid, she also knew from her final act of running away and jumping off a cliff that she had a fierce side to her. She didn’t know much else. Recalling how she had misjudged her other cousin, Zhang Tianci, during the day, she decided she needed to test Laidi’s true feelings.

Gu Nuan Nuan really didn’t want her grandparents’ good intentions to be wasted. If they did all this only for it to be a thankless effort in the end—if her cousin Laidi, because of her parents’ divorce, ended up sympathizing with Third Aunt and resenting Grandpa and Grandma instead—then everything they did would be completely worthless.

In that case, she might as well tell her the truth now and let her choose: stand with her parents to defend their marriage and the interests of the mother who was willing to sell her, or stand with Grandpa and Grandma and start a new life.

’Besides, Grandpa and Grandma are already aware of the situation. Xu Banxian’s fate is sealed; he’s going to be ruined. Even if he comes up with more wicked ideas, he’ll have the will but not the power to act on them.’

’But if Cousin Laidi ultimately chooses Third Aunt’s side, Grandpa and Grandma will probably be just as disappointed in her, won’t they?’

The moment Gu Nuan Nuan finished speaking, Zhang Laodi grew anxious and blurted out, "I’m willing."

She lowered her head, her voice filled with sorrow. "Actually, ever since I was little, I’ve been wishing I could grow up faster so I could get away from them sooner."

Tears started falling again. "I’ve always known that Grandpa and Grandma are the ones who treat me best. My parents... they don’t care about me at all, especially after my brother was born. This time... this time... Sometimes I really wonder if I’m even their biological child. In other families, even if they don’t like daughters, it’s usually the father or the paternal grandparents who feel that way. The mother will still protect her own child. But her... even Grandpa and Grandma don’t mind that I’m a girl, so why can’t she stand me? And now she’s done something so cruel..."

She covered her mouth, unable to continue. After a long pause, she wiped her tears and looked at Gu Nuan Nuan. "Nuannuan, you know, I’ve always been so envious of you. You have a good mother, a mother who’s so, so good to you. For the past two days, I’ve been thinking, if they really try to force me, I’ll just die and show them. I really want to see if they’d feel even a little bit of regret if I died."

Watching her cousin Laidi, who was so grief-stricken she couldn’t control herself, Gu Nuan Nuan’s own eyes suddenly stung. She whispered pitifully, "You silly girl."

Zhang Laodi wiped her tears with the handkerchief, but they only came faster. "I am a silly girl. I know in my heart that even if I died, my mom probably wouldn’t feel sad or regretful. She might even curse me for dying an awful death and harming my little brother."

Gu Nuan Nuan: "..." ℯℯ𝑙.

She stared at Zhang Laodi, just stared.

"If you hadn’t come, I might have run away tonight or tomorrow. I really would have gone to die." Zhang Laodi finally wiped her tears away fiercely and said with determination, "It’s good that they’re getting a divorce. Even though she’ll end up miserable and full of regret, I can’t worry about her anymore. She’s too cruel. She says she dotes on my brother, but isn’t it really all for herself? She believes everything Xu Banxian says. Even with my brother, she claims to love him, but doesn’t she just let him go hungry whenever he’s ’supposed’ to?

She’s never gone hungry herself, so she has no idea how awful it feels... She’s just selfish. Just because Xu Banxian said doing this would secure her glory and riches in the next life, she’s willing to ignore everything else. It’s not just me she’s trying to harm; my brother will be ruined by her sooner or later too. No one even likes him anymore when he goes out now. It’s not like she doesn’t know, but she insists on spoiling him like that. She says she loves him, but in reality, she’s destroying him."

"Since you understand all that, why were you thinking of trading your life for a sliver of guilt and regret that they would probably, or rather, definitely never feel?"

Gu Nuan Nuan looked at Zhang Laodi, her expression one of frustration at her lack of fight. "Don’t you know that everyone’s life has value? You can regret almost anything else, but once your life is gone, everything is truly gone. How could you be so foolish as to throw away your life just to spite them? For people who don’t care about you, the best revenge is to live a better life. Only then might they regret not treating you well in the first place."

For a moment, Gu Nuan Nuan had the urge to grab Zhang Laodi and shake her awake. But then, as her cousin sobbed out, "I’m sorry," she herself zoned out for a second.

’What right do I have to lecture Cousin Laidi? In my past life, didn’t I walk the "same" path as her, choosing to use my own life as revenge against others? How am I any better? My luck was just a little better than hers, that’s all.’

After forcing herself to offer a few more words of comfort, she beat a hasty retreat.