Chapter 578 - 497: Settling Scores
Chapter 578: Chapter 497: Settling Scores
On the way home, Gu Qiyuan was too busy reading documents to pay Tian Xueqin any mind. Once they returned to their house in the military district, he decided it was time to settle the score. He sent the staff and the nanny away before confronting Tian Xueqin about the "rotten things from the Tang family" and the incident with the spoiled dried fish. A war erupted between the couple.
The guard on duty outside the door trembled, but he didn’t dare leave to get help.
In Xiao Zhong’s mind, they were one of the most loving couples he knew. He’d never seen them have a true fight before. They might bicker now and then, creating a bit of unpleasantness, but it always passed quickly. Dean Tian was an understanding, beautiful woman who always wore a gentle and kind smile, as if she didn’t have a care in the world. Every time she presented a cup of tea with a soft giggle, even if it only earned her a glare, it meant the couple had reconciled completely.
’But this time seems different. No, it’s completely different!’
Through the door, he first heard the man’s deep-voiced questions and the woman’s shrill retorts. Though the man’s voice was laced with anger, it remained fairly steady and composed. The woman, however, sounded far more agitated. Her piercing voice repeatedly cut him off, trying to drown him out. The man had to raise his voice, and hers immediately soared even higher. Their voices merged into a furious argument. Then came the man’s roar of rage, followed by a thunderous SLAM as he struck the table. Not to be outdone, the woman shrieked as a teacup shattered on the floor... After that, all Xiao Zhong could hear was utter chaos from inside, as if every breakable object in the living room was being smashed to pieces.
When the smashing stopped, silence fell. Xiao Zhong let out a quiet breath. ’The war must be over,’ he thought. ’They should be making up now, right?’ He quickly straightened his posture, puffing out his chest and sucking in his stomach.
But the scene inside was not the peaceful reconciliation Xiao Zhong had imagined. The living room was in shambles. Gu Qiyuan stood at the window with his hands clasped behind him, trying to calm his rage. Tian Xueqin sat on the sofa, wiping away a constant stream of tears and sobbing softly.
She didn’t dare to cry any louder, afraid of provoking an even greater backlash from Gu Qiyuan.
She had thrown the first teacup, smashing it on the floor. That had triggered Gu Qiyuan’s fury, and his reaction had been faster and more vicious than hers. In the blink of an eye, he had smashed not only the glassware and porcelain on the table, but also the picture frames on the wall and the ornaments on the shelves.
Once the shock wore off, Tian Xueqin covered her face and broke down in tears.
Gu Qiyuan turned to face her. "Are you satisfied? Want to smash some more? Everything I say is just wind in your ears. You don’t listen, you don’t care, you don’t take me seriously. In your mind, is Gu Qiyuan that insignificant? Is the Gu family not even half as important as the Tian family, is that it? You don’t like having a good, peaceful life. You insist on stirring up trouble and messing everything up before you’re satisfied. That’s something I won’t allow... Let’s get a divorce. Now. Go live your carefree life."
"I won’t get a divorce! I absolutely refuse!" Tian Xueqin couldn’t stop herself from sobbing aloud. "I have children! I gave the Gu family two wonderful children!"
Gu Qiyuan sneered. "So giving birth to children makes you a hero of the Gu family? It means you can rest on your laurels and do as you please? I thought you knew perfectly well what happened with the Tang family and how Wu Xiaowen was thrown out."
Tian Xueqin’s face flushed crimson, as if she’d been deeply insulted. "Don’t you dare compare me to Wu Xiaowen! That woman shamelessly fooled around with other men behind Tang Qingyun’s back. I’m not like that!"
"If you were that kind of person, do you think I would have tolerated you this long?"
Gu Qiyuan continued, "If I decided to seriously look into your other mistakes, and mentioned just one of them to my mother, you’d end up just like Wu Xiaowen. Of her three daughters-in-law, my mother is least satisfied with you. Don’t you get it?"
"What mistakes? What terrible crime have I committed? Go on, announce it! Let me hear it!"
"Tian Xueqin, you’re truly forgetful! Fine. Let’s not talk about the distant past. Let’s just talk about one recent incident. You were introduced to a man named Liu and accepted two smuggled cars from him. Then you had the gall to give one to your second brother and one to your third. If I hadn’t found out in time, what do you think would have happened?"
Tian Xueqin froze. ’How could I have forgotten that?’
She grit her teeth and yanked away the handkerchief covering her face, revealing red, swollen eyes. Throwing all caution to the wind, she hissed, "Yes, this is who I am! If the Gu family is so dissatisfied, then why did you marry me in the first place? You didn’t have to marry me!"
Gu Qiyuan sneered. "Don’t you think it’s ridiculous to say that now? I don’t deny how wonderful you were back then. We got married because we truly loved each other. I know people change, but I was too confident. I thought that if I cherished and took care of our marriage, you would stay the same person you were at the start. But I never expected you to go in the completely opposite direction, right under my nose. You’ve become more and more of a stranger. That woman, as pure as a dewdrop and as warm as the morning sun, is gone! After more than twenty years of this marriage, I’m tired. Tian Xueqin, be honest for once: have I ever made you suffer or live in poverty since we married? My salary, the assets the Gu family distributes to each household annually—I gave it all to you. Our children should have been raised by us, but you said it would be better for them to live in the old family estate in Beijing with their grandparents, so I granted your wish. We’ve always lived a quiet, comfortable life, free to do as we pleased. Whenever I had a spare moment, I spent it with you. And your family—your father and brothers were all blue-collar workers. At first, I didn’t think your requests to help them were unreasonable. We gradually improved their circumstances. Now, your two brothers are a factory director and a workshop supervisor. Your other brother and two brothers-in-law are older and less educated, so the best we could do was move them to easier jobs with good pay... Why are you still not satisfied? And now you’re blaming me for insisting on marrying you? Fine. My mistake. What compensation do you want? Just name it. If it’s in my power, I’ll do it."
Tian Xueqin grit her teeth and squeezed her eyes shut, shaking her head frantically as tears streamed down her face like water from a broken dam.
Gu Qiyuan couldn’t bear to watch her cry any longer and started up the stairs. Tian Xueqin wailed after him, "I won’t get a divorce! Gu Qiyuan, if you dare, I’ll kill myself!"
"Fine, we don’t have to divorce. But we’ll live separately. You can have the upstairs or the downstairs. Or I’ll move out."
"No!"
"Then it’s better if we just get divorced."
"I... I’ll take the downstairs."
Gu Qiyuan paused on the stairs. "Your apology to Aunt Tang was completely insincere, and you didn’t say a word to Manman. In the next two days, you are to call the Tang family and tell Aunt Tang the whole truth—that the dried fish was first delivered to that house you bought, and your family swapped the fresh batch with spoiled ones. That’s why Shaoling got sick!"