Regarding Gu Xia showing up pregnant at their doorstep, the Lu Family Matriarch certainly did not want to spread the word.
After all, this matter was not honorable.
The more it was talked about, the more it would spread, which would not be good for the Lu family’s reputation.
However, Lu Ye was quick-tongued and spilled the beans to his eldest aunt, Lu Xiaojing.
“This Gu Xia, who knows who she fooled around with outside, is deliberately pinning it on my uncle. Everyone knows my uncle has zero interest in women.”
“How could my uncle possibly take a liking to Gu Xia?”
Even Lu Ye himself couldn’t stand her.
He refused to believe his uncle would fancy her?
Apart from being pretty, what else did Gu Xia have going for her?
Gu Xia was the most useless one in the Gu family.
Her father was a university professor, her mother a dancer, yet she couldn’t even dance well and hadn’t even passed the university entrance exams.
Lu Ye thought Gu Xia was nothing but a useless, empty vase—good only for decoration.
Lu Xiaojing sat on the sofa, eating fruit sliced by the maid.
A hint of malicious amusement flickered in her eyes.
“Little Xia from the Gu family is indeed quite pretty. Maybe your uncle really did take a liking to her.”
“But no matter how much he likes her, he can’t marry a daughter from the Gu family. The Gu family has been sent down to the northwest. Getting involved with them would not only bring bad luck but might even implicate us. Do you expect our whole family to follow them to the northwest and live on nothing but air?”
The Lu Family Old Master glared at the woman and his grandson, who were making sarcastic remarks, and scolded, “Enough! There should be a limit to joking about a young girl’s reputation.”
“The Gu family really is unlucky in this matter.”
Just as Gu Xia and Lu Shaoting were coming down from the second floor,
they happened to overhear Lu Xiaojing’s sarcastic remarks.
Before, Gu Xia had always thought Lu Xiaojing’s harshness stemmed from her unhappy marriage.
Now, she realized that her pettiness and spite were ingrained in her very bones.
Gu Xia looked coldly at Lu Xiaojing.
“Don’t worry, Aunt Lu. Even if the Lu family gets implicated, it won’t affect you. After all, you’re married off—do you even count as a member of the Lu family anymore? Only those who marry into the Lu family are considered part of it, right?”
Lu Xiaojing was deeply displeased by Gu Xia’s words.
As a teacher, she hated being lectured the most.
Whether at school or at home, she was always the one lecturing others.
Immediately annoyed, she snapped, “Gu Xia, shut your mouth! This is the Lu family. When is it your turn to comment?”
“No wonder your Gu family was sent down to the rural northwest. You brought it upon yourselves. Serves you right.”
Gu Xia instinctively wanted to retort.
But Lu Shaoting, who had been cold and harsh toward Gu Xia upstairs just moments ago, glanced at Lu Xiaojing.
“Eldest sister, know when to stop.”
Lu Xiaojing, however, looked at Lu Shaoting with a strange smirk.
“What’s wrong with you, Fourth Brother? Don’t tell me you’ve actually taken a liking to Gu Xia? A young girl like her—who knows if she fooled around with someone in the countryside and got knocked up by some villager, and now she’s trying to pin it on you? Are you really willing to be the fool?”
Lu Shaoting disliked this eldest sister the most—she always loved stirring up trouble.
Many of the family’s conflicts and the discord among siblings had a lot to do with this eldest sister.
“Eldest sister, less gossip would do you no harm. Haven’t you cleaned up the mess in your own home yet? Coming here to meddle in my affairs?”
Hearing Lu Shaoting’s sharp remarks about her family troubles, Lu Xiaojing’s face darkened instantly.
As for this younger brother, now was not the time to offend him and break ties.
Lu Xiaojing casually remarked.
“As your elder sister, I’m afraid you might end up raising someone else’s child. How long has Gu Xia been in the countryside? She suddenly comes back, pregnant, and claims it’s yours—do you really believe it’s yours?”
Gu Xia straightforwardly responded to Lu Xiaojing’s words.
“Whether Lu Shaoting did it or not, he knows it in his heart. Aunt Lu, you’d better shut up and say less.”
At this moment, the Lu Family Old Master, listening to the family commotion, slapped the table.
“All of you, shut up.”
After speaking, the Lu Family Old Master glanced at Lu Shaoting. As an old-generation soldier, he carried an air of seriousness that could not be ignored.
“Shaoting, is the child Gu Xia is carrying really yours? If so, tell me, what do you plan to do next?”
Gu Xia’s goal was not to give birth to his child, but to use Lu Shaoting to secure jobs for her parents and sister.
This way, she could smoothly leave the rural countryside in the northwest.
And avoid the fate of being bullied by local villains.
That was what Gu Xia thought. Her goal was clear—she wanted to change her family’s destiny.
Similarly, Lu Shaoting did not want this child either.
The key point was, he had never imagined that Gu Xia would one day come to him with a pregnant belly.
He had speculated about the possible consequences after that incident.
After that night, Gu Xia suddenly ran away, and he had to return due to work obligations.
He had even sent someone to look for Gu Xia at her parents’ place, only to learn that she had never gone home.
Lu Shaoting didn’t have time to wait for Gu Xia and ask her for clarification.
After leaving the northwest military camp, he returned to Beicheng and first dealt with work matters.
Two busy weeks passed.
Later, when he had time, he carefully considered the reasons behind Gu Xia’s actions.
He thought that perhaps Gu Xia, like a young girl experiencing her first crush, found men in military uniforms handsome and imposing.
Or perhaps she intended to seduce him and, once successful, start making demands, asking him to help the Gu family overcome their hardships in the northwest countryside.
He truly hadn’t expected that this Gu Xia would be so cunning and scheming.
Despicably, she came to his doorstep with ‘evidence’ to threaten him.
What was infuriating was that he had indeed been threatened by Gu Xia.
Lu Shaoting looked at his father and said in a deep voice, “I will handle this matter properly. There’s no need for you to intervene.”
Before the Old Master could finish speaking, the formidable Mrs. Shen, Zhang Yue, aggressively questioned:
“How do you plan to handle it? Shaoting, you’re not young anymore. If you want to date, get married, and have children, I won’t interfere. But are you sure about Gu Xia? Think about your status.”
In front of Gu Xia, Zhang Yue’s words were still somewhat tactful.
Zhang Yue absolutely did not want Gu Xia to marry Lu Shaoting.
First, the age gap was too large.
Second, Gu Xia was a junior—she had called Lu Shaoting ‘uncle’ since childhood.
Most importantly, Gu Xia was suspected of having capitalist family ties.
It was even rumored that her grandfather in Shanghai had already fled overseas.
Marrying a woman with such a background would only be a burden to her son, Lu Shaoting.
The Lu family had two sons in total. The eldest was a university professor, engaged in scholarly pursuits.
Lu Shaoting, on the other hand, was in the military. Having worked hard to this point, he was young and promising, achieving the rank of deputy division commander at a young age.
For such a son with a future as a military leader, Zhang Yue naturally wanted to find him a well-matched partner.
Her son’s other half should come from a family either in the military or in politics.
It absolutely could not be the daughter of an intellectual who had been sent down to the countryside.
Lu Shaoting looked at his mother, with whom he had always had a distant relationship.
His tone was cool and stubborn. “I said I’ll handle this matter myself. It’s my personal affair. Even if I get married in the future, who I marry is none of your business.”
Lu Shaoting turned to leave, while Gu Xia remained standing in place.
Lu Shaoting glanced back at Gu Xia, his voice cold.
“What are you still standing here for? Come with me.”