As for Gu Xia showing up at their doorstep with a baby, the matriarch of the Lu family certainly didn’t want to talk about it publicly.
After all, it wasn’t something to be proud of.
The more people talked about it, the more rumors would spread, and that wouldn’t reflect well on the Lu family.
But Lu Ye had a loose tongue and blurted it out to her eldest aunt, Lu Xiaojing.
“That Gu Xia—who knows who she’s been sleeping around with—is deliberately clinging to my uncle. Everyone knows my uncle has absolutely no interest in women.”
“How could my uncle possibly be interested in Gu Xia?”
She’s someone even he, Lu Ye, couldn’t stand.
He just didn’t believe his uncle would be interested in her.
Besides being pretty, what does Gu Xia have to offer?
Gu Xia is the most good-for-nothing member of the Gu family.
Her father is a college professor, and her mother is a dancer, yet not only is she a terrible dancer, she didn’t even get into college.
Lu Ye thought Gu Xia was nothing but a worthless “empty vase,” good for nothing but decoration.
Lu Xiaojing sat on the sofa, munching on fruit sliced by the housekeeper.
A hint of a malicious smile played in her eyes.
“Little Xia from the Gu family is indeed quite pretty. Who knows, maybe your uncle really has taken a liking to her.”
“But no matter how much he likes her, he can’t marry a daughter from the Gu family. The Gus have been sent down to the Northwest now. Getting involved with them isn’t just bad luck—what if we get dragged into it? Are you suggesting our whole family should go to the Northwest to starve on the winds?”
The Lu family patriarch looked at the woman and his grandson, who were making snide remarks, and scolded them, “Shut up. There’s a limit to joking about a young girl’s reputation.”
“The Gu family’s situation really is a stroke of bad luck.”
Just as Gu Xia and Lu Shaoting were coming down from the second floor,
they happened to overhear the snide remarks made by Lu Xiaojing, the eldest aunt of the Lu family.
Previously, Gu Xia had always thought that the Lu family’s eldest aunt was so harsh because she was unhappy with the man she’d married.
Now it seemed her sharp tongue and bitterness ran deep in her very bones.
Gu Xia looked at Lu Xiaojing with a cold gaze.
“Don’t worry, Aunt Lu. Even if the Lu family gets dragged into this, it won’t affect you. After all, you’re married out of the family—do you even count as a member of the Lu family anymore? Only those who’ve officially joined the Lu family are considered part of it, right?”
Hearing Gu Xia’s words, Lu Xiaojing felt deeply annoyed.
As a teacher, she couldn’t stand being lectured to.
Whether at school or at home, she was the one who usually lectured others.
In that moment, her irritation boiled over, and she snapped, “Gu Xia, shut your mouth! This is the Lu family’s home—since when is it your place to meddle?”
“No wonder you Gu Xia were sent down to a rural village in the Northwest. You brought it on yourselves—you had it coming.”
Gu Xia instinctively wanted to retort.
Lu Shaoting, who just moments ago had been glaring at Gu Xia with cold, vicious disdain from the second floor, glanced at Lu Xiaojing.
“Big Sister, that’s enough.”
Lu Xiaojing, however, looked at Lu Shaoting with a strange smirk.
“What’s gotten into you, Fourth Brother? Could it be you’ve actually taken a liking to Gu Xia? She’s just a greenhorn—who knows if she’s been fooling around with someone out in the countryside, got knocked up by some country bumpkin, and is now trying to swindle you? Are you really willing to be the sucker here?”
Lu Shaoting hated this eldest sister of his the most—she was always stirring up trouble.
Many of the family’s conflicts and the discord among the siblings were inevitably linked to this eldest sister.
“Big Sis, keep your mouth shut—it won’t do you any harm. Haven’t you cleaned up the mess at home yet? Why are you running over here to meddle in my business?”
Hearing Lu Shaoting’s scathing remarks about her family affairs, Lu Xiaojing’s face darkened instantly.
As for this younger brother, it wasn’t yet time to offend him and burn bridges.
Lu Xiaojing replied casually.
“As your older sister, I’m worried you might become a father by accident. How long has Gu Xia been in the countryside? She suddenly comes back, with a baby in her belly claiming it’s yours—are you really the father?”
Gu Xia cut right to the chase.
“Lu Shaoting knows full well what he has and hasn’t done. Aunt Lu, you’d better keep your mouth shut.”
At that moment, the Lu family patriarch, who had been listening to the commotion, slammed his fist on the table.
“Everyone, shut up.”
After speaking, the patriarch looked at Lu Shaoting. As a veteran of the military, he exuded a sternness that could not be ignored.
“Shaoting, is the child Gu Xia is carrying really yours? Then tell me, what do you plan to do next?”
Gu Xia’s goal wasn’t to give birth to his child, but to use Lu Shaoting to secure jobs for her parents and older sister.
That way, she could smoothly leave the rural countryside of Northwest China.
She could avoid the fate of being bullied and humiliated by local thugs.
That was Gu Xia’s reasoning; her goal was clear—she wanted to change her family’s fate.
Likewise, Lu Shaoting didn’t want this child either.
The key point was that he had never even imagined Gu Xia would one day show up with a pregnant belly.
He had speculated on the possible outcomes after the incident.
After that night, Gu Xia suddenly ran away, while he had to return due to work commitments.
He even sent people to look for her at her parents’ place, only to find out she hadn’t gone home at all.
Lu Shaoting didn’t have time to wait for Gu Xia and get to the bottom of things with her.
After leaving the Northwest military camp, he returned to Beicheng and first took care of his work matters.
Two weeks flew by in the midst of his busy schedule.
Later, when he had some free time, he thought carefully about why Gu Xia had acted this way.
He thought that perhaps Gu Xia was just a young girl experiencing her first stirrings of romance, finding men in military uniforms handsome and imposing.
Or maybe, after successfully seducing him, she’d started making demands—asking him to help the Gu family resolve their financial difficulties in the rural Northwest.
He truly hadn’t expected this Gu Xia to be so calculating.
She’d had the audacity to show up at his doorstep with “evidence” to blackmail him.
What was infuriating was that she’d actually managed to intimidate him.
Lu Shaoting glanced at his father and said in a low voice, “I’ll handle this matter myself. There’s no need for you to get involved.”
Before the old man could finish speaking, the matriarch, Zhang Yuelan, cut in with a forceful rebuke:
“How do you plan to handle it? Shaoting, you’re not a child anymore. If you want to date, get married, and have children, I won’t interfere. But—are you sure you want to be with Gu Xia? Think about your status.”
Speaking in front of Gu Xia, Zhang Yuelan’s words were actually somewhat tactful.
Zhang Yuelan had absolutely no intention of letting Gu Xia marry Lu Shaoting.
First of all, the age gap was far too wide.
Furthermore, Gu Xia was a junior—she had called Lu Shaoting “Uncle” since she was a child.
Most importantly, Gu Xia was suspected of having a capitalist background.
What’s more, she’d heard that Gu Xia’s maternal grandfather in Shanghai had already fled overseas.
Marrying a woman with such a background could only be a burden to her son, Lu Shaoting.
The Lu family had two sons; the eldest was a university professor specializing in the humanities.
Lu Shaoting, on the other hand, was in the military. He’d worked his way up and was a rising star, having risen to the rank of deputy division commander at such a young age.
For the son of such a future military leader, Zhang Yuelan naturally wanted to find a suitable match for her son.
The family of her son’s future spouse would either be in the military or in politics.
It was absolutely out of the question for her to be the daughter of an intellectual who had been sent down to the countryside.
Lu Shaoting looked at his mother, with whom he’d always had a strained relationship.
His tone was cold and stubborn. “I’ve said it before: I’ll handle this myself. It’s my personal matter. Even if I get married in the future, you have no right to tell me who I should marry.”
As Lu Shaoting spoke, he turned to leave, but Gu Xia was still standing there.
Lu Shaoting turned back to look at Gu Xia, his tone cold.
“What are you still standing here for? Come with me.”