Chapter 893: The Shi Family
“Dad, what’s the point of talking about this now? She’s already gone,” Shi Laicai said nonchalantly. “Besides, my stepmother was taken care of by her own daughter and son. If the Gu family really has a problem with it, they can go find them.
“Now that she’s dead, keeping her in the house isn’t a solution. Let’s find a place to bury her quickly, so she doesn’t bring bad luck here.”
Shi Laiyun jumped up and glared at him. “Is that something a human being would say? My mother is dead! No matter what, she was still your elder. Aren’t you afraid of losing your conscience talking like that?”
“Oh, now you want to lecture me about this?” Shi Laicai spat in contempt before continuing, “If you had been willing to give that medicine to your mother back then, she would definitely be alive and kicking right now.
“So don’t pretend to be a filial son in front of me. Take a look in the mirror and see if you even deserve the title!”
“Don’t think I won’t hit you just because Dad is here.” Shi Laiyun clenched his fists. “Why did the family only buy one dose of medicine? Don’t you know the reason yourself?
“Wasn’t it you who gave Dad that terrible idea? You wanted to use this to get the Gu family’s attention, but you ended up costing my mother her life.
“Just you wait! My uncles definitely won’t sit idly by. Let’s see how arrogant you can be then.”
“Oh, I’m so scared,” Shi Laicai sneered, shaking his leg in a relaxed manner. “You’re the one who drank the medicine, and you and your two sisters were the ones taking care of her. I’m only worried the Gu family won’t show up. If they do, we’ll naturally have a way to deal with them.
“It’s you three who should be thinking about how to explain yourselves!”
Shi Laiyun wasn’t stupid and immediately grasped the crux of the matter. “This was all part of your scheme… You guys are truly venomous.”
No wonder ever since he and his mother returned, these people hadn’t lifted a finger to help, nor had they given them a single piece of silver. Otherwise, he and his mother wouldn’t have had to share just one dose of medicine between them.
He wondered what his father had told his mother back then to make her agree to this. She had even endured the pain, all just to wait for her brothers to get the news and soften their stance first.
He had been hoping for it too. A few times, he had even run to Gaoling Village, wanting to go in and beg his grandmother, but he hadn’t expected to be barred from even entering the village entrance.
He looked at his half-sister, Chuncao, who had married his eldest stepbrother. She stood silently to the side, her gaze dull as if none of this concerned her, and a dark resentment swelled in his heart.
No matter how many faults their mother had, she was still the woman who had given birth to and raised Chuncao. How could she remain so indifferent? From the moment their mother drew her last breath, Chuncao hadn’t shed a single tear. It was truly despicable.
“Laiyun, is that how you speak to your older brother?” Shi Dayong looked up at him. “He is your mother’s stepson, so it’s not wrong for him to distance himself a bit from this matter.
“Right now, we need to discuss how to handle this. Should we go and notify your mother’s family?”
Shi Laiyun replied, “Dad, considering the size of this place, do you really think they haven’t heard the news?
“The Gu family has a heart of stone. Didn’t my youngest uncle get kicked out of the family just like that?
“Let alone my mother, a daughter who married into another family. Now it’s over. Everything has come to nothing.”
“Don’t blame us,” Shi Dayong said coldly. “If you want to blame anyone, blame the Gu family for being so ruthless. Your mother was sick for so long, and yet not a single one of them came to ask about her.
“Now that she’s dead and they’ve already severed ties with her, what right do they have to intervene?
“…Unless they are willing to acknowledge us as family again.”
This was Shi Dayong’s true goal. His eldest son had married Chuncao, and his second son was Gu Yuanfeng’s only son. If the Gu brothers still cared about their sibling bond, they would have to look after these children. In this entire ordeal, Shi Dayong hadn’t committed any major wrongs. If the Gu family really wanted to cause trouble, they could only direct it at Gu Yuanfeng’s biological son. This was a brilliant plan he had agonized over for a long time. Now, he only hoped that Laiyun would be smart enough not to mess things up.
Since Shi Dayong had laid it out so plainly, Shi Laiyun finally caught on. He would be the one to shoulder all the blame, while only his father and eldest brother would reap the benefits.
“Dad, I’m your son too…”
“Don’t worry. You’re the only heir your mother left behind. Even if it’s just for the sake of your deceased mother, your uncles won’t be too hard on you.
“But the Shi family is different. We cannot let this relationship be severed.”
“Even so, you shouldn’t have just let my mother die like this! As long as she was alive, if she went to their door and begged a few more times, my grandmother would definitely have softened her heart.
“You kept telling me she was fine, that her injuries weren’t serious. Even I recovered, but this is what you called ‘not serious’…” Shi Laiyun felt his head spin. It was true that he liked to be lazy, act shamelessly, and brag.
But he had never intended to push things to such a fatal extreme. Even if his mother’s family acknowledged them again, he wouldn’t gain any advantage from it. He looked at his callous family members. “You’re oversimplifying things. The Gu family isn’t so easily fooled.”
“I was merely going with the flow,” Shi Dayong said, looking helpless. “If your mother had been more sensible and maintained a better relationship with her brothers, she wouldn’t have ended up like this.
“I only wanted her to use her illness to soften the Gu brothers’ hearts. I didn’t expect her body to be so weak.
“The die is cast. It’s impossible for your mother to come back to life, so we can only move forward. If your mother’s family sends someone over, we’ll have to rely on you.
“Don’t forget—only when the Shi family prospers can everyone prosper.”
Despite his confident instructions, Shi Dayong felt a deep sense of uncertainty in his heart. From the moment Gu Yuanfeng drew her last breath, panic had gripped him. But there was no turning back. He had no other choice.
Shi Laiyun fell silent.
When the news had arrived that all his cousins in the Gu family were now officials, he had been filled with immense regret. If he hadn’t schemed so much, and if his mother had built a good relationship with her family from the start, wouldn’t he also be an official by now? These past few days, he had been wallowing in regret while simultaneously holding a grudge against the Gu family for their callousness. They had refused to offer a helping hand even when they were doing well. If they had, the relationship between the two families wouldn’t have become so strained, and it wouldn’t have cost his mother her life.
Li Chuncao curled her lips in a mocking smile. Gu Yuanfeng had spent her whole life desperate for a son, and this was the outcome. Look at her—she had lost her life, yet her biological son was only scheming about what would benefit him the most. The Shi father and son were no good either. Back then, they had schemed against her, then her sister, and now they had schemed away Gu Yuanfeng’s life. By that measure, the He family’s wickedness was only on the surface, but the Shi family was poisonous all the way down to their bones and blood.
When she was alive, Gu Yuanfeng used to laugh in front of the sisters, saying that the He family had been the wrong path in her life, and that the Shi family was her true sanctuary. Looking back now, it was both laughable and pathetic. However, she wasn’t entirely wrong—this place truly was her final resting place. Even in her final moments, as she endured the agonizing pain and clung to her last breath, she had still believed that Shi Dayong was doing it for her own good and for the good of the family. She had believed that as long as she stayed sick, her brothers would eventually bow their heads, take her back, and properly treat her illness. When that time came, she would once again be the respected married daughter of the Gu family, a presence that everyone envied.
“You stand around like a wooden post all day,” Shi Laicai suddenly sneered, kicking Li Chuncao and snapping her out of her thoughts. “What are you looking at? Look at the time! Aren’t you going to make something to eat? Are you trying to starve Dad and me to death?”