Chapter 801 - 803: Gu Yuanlei Extra 2
Chapter 801: Chapter 803: Gu Yuanlei Extra 2
Under the strict instructions of the Lan Family, Gu Yuanlei and Lan Ping’an hired an ox cart and arrived at Gaoling Village.
Seeing the spacious and clean village roads, as well as the row upon row of brick and tile houses inside, Gu Yuanlei felt even more bitter in his heart. He used to be one of them, but now he was excluded. At this moment, he no longer had his previous pride and confidence.
Standing at the village entrance with Ping’an, he looked at the guards stationed ahead. With his heart in his throat, he offered an apologetic smile and said, "I am Mr. Gu’s younger brother, and this is his biological nephew. We want to enter the village."
The guard glanced at them and asked someone beside him to go back and report. "Please wait a moment." He wondered, "Aren’t all of Mr. Gu’s brothers living in the village? These are probably cousins or something."
Gu Yuanlei still couldn’t enter the village. Instead, he waited until his brother, Yuanshui, came out.
Seeing Gu Yuanshui dressed as a wealthy gentleman, Gu Yuanlei felt even more miserable.
Gu Yuanshui looked at his aged younger brother, his tone no longer as harsh as before. "Why are you here? How did you end up looking like a ghost? Did the Lan Family starve you?"
Lan Ping’an couldn’t stand hearing others speak ill of the Lan Family. Regardless of who was in front of him, he blurted out, "If our Lan Family didn’t feed him, did your Gu Family feed him?"
"And this is...?" Gu Yuanshui asked casually, assuming it was a child from the Lan Family.
"This is my son, Ping’an. Ping’an, quickly greet Uncle Yuanshui."
Gu Yuanshui paused. "...Lan Ping’an?"
"Yes," Lan Ping’an answered preemptively before Gu Yuanlei could even open his mouth.
Gu Yuanshui felt a ball of fire burning in his chest, frustrated by his younger brother’s failure to live up to expectations. "Didn’t you mention when you came back before that you and the Lan Family had changed the marriage certificate at the government office? That you were taking a wife, not marrying into their family as a live-in son-in-law?
"What is going on with this child now? Shouldn’t he take your surname, Gu?"
Gu Yuanlei was speechless.
"Surname Gu? Wasn’t my father crossed out from your genealogy book? Which Gu would I be?"
Gu Yuanshui looked Lan Ping’an up and down and suddenly laughed. "Truly a member of the Lan Family. What you said makes some sense.
"I suppose you’ve been thoroughly raised by the Lan Family and won’t be able to separate from them in this lifetime. Then what are you doing here?"
"You’re all living good lives here, but you left my father out. That’s a bit unreasonable, isn’t it?"
Gu Yuanshui looked at the father and son with a smile. "Back then, your father abandoned the Gu family first. To be with your mother, he was even willing to marry into her family as a live-in son-in-law, and the Gu family has no live-in sons-in-law.
"However, Yuanlei, don’t say that I, as your older brother, am unreasonable. I’ll give you a chance to turn over a new leaf now. As long as you make a clean break with everyone in the Lan Family and get a divorce, the doors of the Gu family will still be open to you.
"Not to mention anything else, we brothers can pool some money together to buy you a property and find you a wife who can bear children. It will be much better than working like a horse for the Lan Family."
"You have ill intentions!" Lan Ping’an threw off Gu Yuanlei’s hand that was holding him and roared, "My father could never abandon us!"
Gu Yuanshui didn’t care about his attitude at all. "Back then, he could abandon the parents who raised him and his own brothers to marry into the Lan Family. Now, it would just be doing it again. What’s so impossible about that?"
Gu Yuanlei complained bitterly in his heart. His son’s explosive temper was just like his when he was young. As soon as he opened his mouth, he fell right into Yuanshui’s trap. How could they possibly mend their relationship now?
Gu Yuanshui knew why this father and son had come. Over the years, they hadn’t completely ignored Gu Yuanlei. Knowing that he lived a hard life and was bullied in the Lan Family, they thought he deserved it, but they also felt some heartache for him.
There were many things they didn’t even dare to mention to their parents. Now, seeing what Yuanlei’s son was like, they could imagine that he wouldn’t be reliable in the future either. What he just said wasn’t a trap for the boy to jump into; he genuinely wanted to give Yuanlei a chance.
In the early years, the Lan Family had been using their status as in-laws of the Gu family to do business throughout the Prefecture City. Later, when the Gu brothers found out, they went around clarifying the truth, which finally put a stop to it.
Gu Yuanlei wasn’t involved in their business. He probably didn’t know about it—or perhaps he did—which was why he hadn’t succeeded in returning to his roots and acknowledging his ancestors all these years.
Gu Yuanlei didn’t think that far ahead. He only felt that his son had ruined his plan. If he let him stay any longer, their relationship would only become more strained. He dragged his son away without another word.
Seeing that his youngest brother hadn’t understood his intentions, Gu Yuanshui looked at the receding figures of the father and son and let out a sigh.
After Gu Yuanlei took his son back home, Lan Ping’an started complaining before he even had a chance to speak.
"Those people from the Gu Family harbor malicious intentions. They brought up the past as soon as we met.
"They even asked my father to divorce my mother, abandon our family, and go back to enjoy a good life.
"Father, you didn’t say anything earlier. Were you actually considering it?"
Gu Yuanlei was left speechless.
Lan Ying flew into a rage as soon as she heard her son’s words. "So that’s what the Gu family is plotting! It’s one thing to look down on our Lan Family, but now they even look down on my son.
"Let me tell you, Gu Yuanlei, if you dare to abandon us and go back alone, then none of us will live!"
"...I..." Gu Yuanlei stammered.
"Your Gu Family is pushing things too far! I gave birth to this fine grandson for them, on what grounds do they refuse to acknowledge him?"
"Mother, my surname is Lan..."
Lan Ying fell silent. She thought, "This silly boy, having the surname Gu is much better than having the surname Lan."
Gu Yuanlei was speechless. He seemed to understand why things had been messed up again this time.
Not long after, Lan Ying’s father and brothers came over. Hearing that he had returned in failure once again, their expressions turned extremely ugly. They wouldn’t blame everything on their grandson. Instead, all their vicious words were directed at Gu Yuanlei.
Gu Yuanlei had long been accustomed to such verbal abuse and remained silent, just as he always did. Only in the dead of night would he helplessly wonder if his fate would have been completely different had he listened to his parents back then and not risked everything for love on a momentary impulse.
His personality grew increasingly withdrawn, and sometimes he wouldn’t speak a single word for days on end. Lan Ying continued to call the shots for matters big and small in the household. By the time their son got married, even the daughter-in-law they brought in didn’t take him seriously.
When he was old and could no longer walk, Lan Ying, along with their son and daughter-in-law, drove him out of the house. It was only then that the Gu Family received the news and took him back.
His older brothers in the Gu family did not settle him in Gaoling Village, as it was no longer appropriate for him to return there given the circumstances. They bought a small courtyard in the city and assigned two old maidservants and two male servants to attend to him, but no one from the Gu Family ever came to visit.
Upon hearing the news, Lan Ying and her family wanted to come over and mend their relationship. However, Gu Yuanlei’s heart had already gone cold. No matter how much of a fuss they made, he refused to see them again.
As Lan Ping’an grew older, he gradually learned to distinguish right from wrong, but by then, it was too late for words.
It wasn’t until he was on his deathbed that he seemed to see his older brothers rushing over. Gu Yuanlei felt as if he had returned to his childhood. He squeezed out a smile but couldn’t even call out to his brothers before his hand dropped limply to his side.