Chapter 83: A Sigh of Relief

Chapter 83: Chapter 83: A Sigh of Relief

"Mom, is it really okay to scare a kid like that? Besides, have you forgotten that I’m the one in charge of our money now?" Gu Nuan Nuan couldn’t help but laugh at the way her mother was talking to her, as if she were a little kid.

"I just said you were smart, so why are you being so silly? If you say that, what if your mom has second thoughts and uses it as an excuse to take the money back? What money would you be managing then?" Zhang Wei Qiang freed a hand and gently tapped Gu Nuan Nuan on the head.

Gu Nuan Nuan wasn’t scared at all. She retorted confidently, "She won’t. They say a promise is a promise, and Mom is a grown-up, so she has to set a good example. How could she just go back on her word like that? The power of a role model is strong. If she does that, what’s to stop me from following her lead in the future?"

"Well, I never! Are you threatening me now? Where do you come up with all these arguments? I haven’t even said anything, and you’ve already got a whole speech prepared for me?" Zhang Minzhen’s eyes went wide. She found it both funny and infuriating. "I’ve never seen you act like this before."

"Mom, I’ve actually always been like this. It’s just... back then, I knew Dad and Grandma didn’t like me, and you had to listen to them, so I didn’t dare show my true self. Now that we don’t have to live with them anymore, and I know you love me most, of course I’m not afraid." Gu Nuan Nuan had already thought of an excuse, so her words sounded perfectly natural. It was also a chance to give her mother another preemptive warning. What if, down the road when their lives improved, her scumbag dad tried to come crawling back and her mother went soft on him?

’She had been through it herself, so she knew all too well that matters of the heart were complicated. She needed to remind her mother of the Gu family’s wickedness from time to time. Otherwise, she was genuinely afraid that with the passage of time, her mother would forget how awful her scumbag dad was and fall back into the fiery pit that was the Gu Family.’

"...I’m sorry. It’s all my fault for being so weak before. If... if..." Zhang Minzhen hesitated, then asked cautiously, "I’m just saying, what if your dad and your grandma suddenly changed for the better? Would you be willing to forgive them? Would you want your dad and me to not get a divorce?"

"Mom, you can’t let them fool you! You know what they say: a leopard can’t change its spots. Even if they seem to change for a little while, it definitely won’t be for real." The shock was so great that Gu Nuan Nuan’s voice trembled.

"Don’t panic, I was just asking." Hearing the fear in her daughter’s voice, Zhang Minzhen felt a pang she couldn’t quite describe. ’So that’s why... My daughter only acted close to her father because she was scared? She didn’t even dare show her true personality?’

She secretly breathed a sigh of relief. The faint anxiety she had felt for the past two days suddenly dissipated.

’After she came back from refusing her father-in-law’s offer that day, she had given Nuannuan the Gold and the Jade Bracelet to look after, but she still hadn’t dared to tell her daughter what he had said. Her daughter supported the divorce, yes, but she was still so young. Did she truly understand what she would have to face after her parents split up? She was terrified that one day, her daughter would come home after being treated unfairly and think about how her mother could have prevented it all by not getting a divorce. She was afraid Nuannuan would resent her for it.’

’That’s why she couldn’t help but feel a sense of guilt and an inexplicable unease whenever she faced her daughter. But now, it seemed she could finally rest easy.’

"Mom, please don’t scare me like that again. And you must never, ever be fooled by Dad and Grandma again." Forgetting that her mother and uncle might get suspicious, Gu Nuan Nuan couldn’t help but stress the point one more time.

’She remembered that at this same point in her past life, she had still harbored so many illusions about her scumbag dad. It was only later, after everything she went through and after being tripped up by him several times, that she finally, thoroughly understood. She and her mother meant absolutely nothing to him. And so, in the end, she had given up on him completely.’

"Don’t worry, I won’t." After more than a decade of marriage, Zhang Minzhen was already utterly disappointed in Gu Lihui. If it hadn’t been for her daughter...

Sigh.

She sighed. ’It was all for my daughter’s sake,’ she thought, ’but I still failed to protect her. Otherwise, she wouldn’t feel this way about her own father and grandmother.’

"Ah—"

Zhang Minzhen suddenly remembered something she hadn’t told her daughter: she had promised her father-in-law that Nuannuan would stay at the Gu residence for four days every month. ’Given how much she dislikes the Gu family, will she refuse to go?’ A wave of regret washed over her. ’To think I agreed to that, and just for a little money...’

"Mom, what’s wrong?" Gu Nuan Nuan had sharp ears. They were so close that even if she wasn’t trying to listen, she couldn’t have missed Zhang Minzhen’s soft cry of surprise.

"I promised your grandpa I’d let you go stay at the Gu Family’s house for a few days every month." Zhang Minzhen was frustrated with herself but also felt troubled. ’The rest of the Gu family aren’t great, but my father-in-law isn’t a bad person.’ She knew that even if it hadn’t been for the money, she would have still agreed if he asked Nuannuan to visit a few days each month. "Actually, your grandpa is a good person. Don’t worry, he promised he’d look out for you."

"Is that all? That’s no problem. Grandpa looks stern and can be pretty intimidating sometimes, but once you understand his temperament and figure him out, he’s actually very easy to get along with."

Gu Nuan Nuan smiled to herself. Though she couldn’t see her mother’s face, she could guess she must look terribly frustrated right now. She chuckled. ’She gave me a scare. I thought something else had gone wrong.’ In truth, she hadn’t seen her grandpa since she was reborn, and she actually missed him a little.

’If the Gu family heard her say that, they’d probably cough up blood. But she was already an expert at getting along with her grandpa; it wasn’t difficult for her in the slightest.’

’Thanks to the flap of her little butterfly wings, this life was already vastly different from her last one. In her previous life, Grandpa never gave Mom any Gold or a Jade Bracelet. Where on earth did he hide those things? Last time, he never took them out, not even before he passed away. Later, it seemed her scumbag dad and the others had turned the house upside down and still found nothing. If it weren’t for the fact that someone was always watching her like a hawk whenever she visited, leaving her no chance to be alone with Grandpa, they might have even suspected he’d secretly given her some kind of treasure.’

’But then again, Grandpa was a truly odd man. Seeing the Gold and the Jade Bracelet he’d produced in this life—especially that bracelet, which even a layman could tell was absolutely priceless—it was hard to believe. In her last life, he had insisted on pretending to be poor. He used the same smoking pipe until it was practically falling apart, refusing to replace it. It tricked her into thinking he was in real financial trouble, which was why she’d resorted to that desperate plan in the end. After she grew up, she always made a point of buying him high-end tobacco and liquor.’

’The weirdest part was, in the end, Grandpa never took any of it out to pass on to his descendants...’

’What a willful, eccentric old man. But, ha, she liked it. Especially now, in this life, knowing what the Gu family had missed out on last time around... a feeling of deep satisfaction washed over her. Hahaha...’

*Phew—*

"As long as you’re okay with it, that’s good." Zhang Minzhen’s last wisp of worry finally vanished. "After your dad and I finalize the divorce, you’ll go to your grandparents’ house for two days at the beginning of the month and two days at the end. Your grandpa promised to give you your own room. If your grandma or the others bully you again, just go find him."

"Mhm," Gu Nuan Nuan agreed.