Chapter 44
Chapter 44: Back to Gu Manor
The back window of the car rolled down slowly, revealing an old but dignified face that made Gu Xiqiao pause in her steps.
This was the current head of the family, Master Gu, and also the one that brought Gu Xiqiao to the city from the countryside.
What sort of person was Master Gu?
He was the man that had developed the Gu family from a nameless family to one that was respected and considered as successful in N City, so he naturally had the talent and skill to go along with these feats. Even though Gu Zuhui was in charge of the family for now, but he was still referred to when anything big happened.
Gu Xiqiao gripped tightly on the bag in her hand as she looked at the figure of the old man walk slowly into the Gu family in front of her.
Gu Zuhui and Su Wan’er were sitting on the sofas in the living room, and once Master Gu came in, Su Wan’er that had become thin and frail in just a few days stood up and bowed at him. Once she saw Gu Xiqiao, however, her gaze became poisonous and cold, and if looks could kill, Gu Xiqiao would be dead by now.
Master Gu didn’t speak as he made his way to the main seat, while Su Wan’er and Gu Zuhui went over to stand next to him.
Gu Xiqiao looked down at the floor with her lips slightly pursed, feeling their piercing gazes on her.
“Have you been staying over with your classmate lately?” Master Gu accepted a cup of tea from the butler and sipped it slowly before looking up at Gu Xiqiao, his eyes sunken but still bright and piercing.
Gu Xiqiao only replied with silence, as if it were a silent confirmation.
Master Gu evidently wasn’t waiting around for a reply, so he continued, “You’re still young, so you don’t know all of this, but this matter impacted Jin greatly. Stay in the manor for the next few days without stepping out and reflect.”
Gu Xiqiao raised her head suddenly. “I’m about to have my national finals!”
“Finals? This sort of thing happened to your sister, and you’re still thinking of that?” Master Gu’s words were spoken slowly but brought with it an oppressive air. “If you like studying so much, then I’ll have you go abroad to study with Jin after everything blows over.”
“Butler, take her to her room,” Master Gu commanded.
So he was about to put her on house arrest, huh…
Gu Xiqiao closed her eyes, many thoughts running through her head as she processed the information. She had always thought that Master Gu was a fair and just person, but she now realized that she was wrong.
In the eyes of the Gu family, Gu Xiqiao was just a country bumpkin that Master Gu had saved from the backwater countryside and gave her a good life, and what did she do? To them, she was the root of all their problems, and even caused the heiress of the Gu family to be ruined overnight! To them, she was a leech that bit the hand that fed her.
In her past life, she had helped the Gu family more than enough, but she was treated like a pawn and burned to death!
Master Gu brought her here, to which she was grateful for and gave Gu Xijin chance after chance. If she wanted to take revenge, would the Gu family be able to be so peaceful?
Gu Xijin had so many chances, but she still cause all of this to happen, and who could she blame? Did Master Gu bring her back to the Gu family with such pure motives? He just wanted to use her as a stepping stone for Gu Xijin!
The current generation of the Gu family was quite unreliable, with Gu Zuhui not having the guts and foresight while Gu Xijin was just mediocre, so Master Gu had to get all the connections he could.
Gu Xiqiao knew this from the first day he had brought her to the Gu family, and this was also the reason why Su Wan’er didn’t do anything too excessive to her. Gu Xiqiao had even tried to hide all of her talent and skill to not cause any trouble, but even then, Gu Xiqiao still refused to let her go!
Gu Xiqiao walked step by step up the stairs behind the butler with her head held low, her black hair hiding the disdain in her expression.
The butler glanced at her as if he were looking at a dead person, and closed the door after Gu Xiqiao entered, locking it with a key as he did.
“Three, Four, keep an eye on her!” The butler ordered two servants that were close by, before turning towards another servant. “Our Miss hasn’t eaten yet, so go and tell the kitchen to make some Furong Chicken for her so that Lady Su can bring it up for her.”
The servant in question nodded respectfully and left.
Of course, the ‘Miss’ in question was Gu Xijin. In the Gu family, Gu Xiqiao had never been truly recognized by the members of the staff that served them.
Downstairs, Master Gu’s expression immediately darkened after Gu Xiqiao left, smashing his porcelain cup on the floor, making Su Wan’er and Gu Zuhui’s shoulders jump in fright as they broke out in a cold sweat.
“If things didn’t become as bad as they did, were you two planning on hiding this from me forever? In a mere five days, the Gu family’s stocks already hit a trading halt, and those investors all retracted their investments! Aren’t you talented and skilled? Didn’t you want to bid for the National Base? Gu Zuhui, do you only know how to come running to me when you get into trouble, hm?” Master Gu gripped one arm of the sofa as he spoke, breathing deeply as his face became flushed in anger.
It was rare for him to get so angry, so Su Wan’er and Gu Zuhui didn’t know how to react.
After a long while of Master Gu not speaking, Gu Zuhui finally mustered up the courage to speak, “I’ve been trying to investigate on the mastermind behind all of this, and I found that the man from the press conference belonged to a side branch of the Yin family, and had helped them bid for the National Base.”
“So you think that this is all planned by the Yin family?” Master Gu looked up at Gu Zuhui, before lowering his head in thought.
Then, he sighed softly and shook his head in disappointment. “Zuhui, I won’t be able to live for much longer. If you can’t even deal with something like this, how can I hand the Gu family to you? You were in the wrong from the beginning, Ah Jin is your daughter, but isn’t Gu Xiqiao your daughter too? For you to force her to apologize to Ah Jin in front of all of those people would ultimately bring shame onto the Gu family all the same, and even give a chance for others to meddle!”
“I’ll deal with this by myself, so all you have to do is keep an eye on Gu Xiqiao and not let her appear in the eyes of the public for the time being.” Master Gu glanced at Gu Zuhui again in disappointment.
A coward without an opinion and any will or plans… And Ah Jin didn’t seem as if she had any talent either… As for Gu Xiqiao that only knew how to cause trouble…
He regretted bringing her back to the family!