“I choose to stay with Mother.”
As soon as he finished speaking, a small hand clasped Zhao Wu’s tightly.
She looked up at her son abruptly, tears already welling in her eyes.
She had never expected that, in the end, her son would still choose to stay with her.
Beyond being moved, she felt an uncontrollable rush of joy.
Sensing the change in his mother’s mood, Zhao Xun smiled too.
He had deliberately put on that expression earlier for Gu Yunxiao’s benefit. He wanted to use Gu Yunxiao to dispel his mother’s worries and let her know that he didn’t care about any of this.
Zhao Xun looked at Gu Yunxiao. “It’s true that you’re my biological father, but I don’t want to go with you. Mother worked hard to raise me all these years. I won’t abandon her without gratitude. As for what you said, I may be young, but I understand it already. Whether Mother remarries or not in the future is entirely up to her. If she meets a good man and wants to marry him, I’ll support her. I won’t interfere in the slightest.
“As for how hard Mother works to care for me and earn Silver, you don’t need to tell me. I’ve known that for years. This is a matter between Mother and me. She doesn’t consider me a burden, and I don’t look down on her for being poor.”
Gu Yunxiao and Gu Father and Gu Mother were even more shocked than Zhao Wu. They stared, stunned, at the Mother and Son leaning against each other, and were left speechless for a long while by Shuanzi’s words.
Gu Yunxiao opened his mouth as if to say something, but in the end, he found he had nothing to say.
At last, he tugged at the corner of his mouth and gave a self-mocking smile.
Ultimately, he had been too confident. He’d thought that after saying all that, the boy would understand what he meant.
He was still too young to understand any of this!
It seemed that a gentle approach alone wouldn’t work.
As for those barbed words, he didn’t care about them at all.
Gu Dashan, Wang Shi, and their two daughters were all stunned by what had been said. For a moment, they opened their mouths to speak, but didn’t know what to say.
“Sigh…” Gu Dashan looked despondent. He closed his eyes and sighed.
What a mess!
After hearing those words, Zhao Wu was so moved she could hardly contain herself.
“You heard him. My son doesn’t want to stay with your Gu Family. From now on, please don’t disturb our lives. It’s best if we each go our separate ways.”
“Dashan!? Dashan!?”
Just as Zhao Wu finished speaking, a voice called out from outside the door.
Hearing it, Gu Dashan felt an unusual sense of relief.
He turned to look at Zhao Wu and Shuanzi.
“We’ll talk about this later. As for what happened today, I, this old man, refuse to accept it. Shuanzi is a son of the Old Gu Family—that’s a fact. I can’t let him leave the Gu Family. A Wu, our Gu Family has wronged you. If you’re dissatisfied, take it out on me, this old man.” With that, he walked straight out.
“Eldest Brother, you’re here! Come in and sit!”
Hearing the voices outside, Gu Yunxiao thought his Eldest Uncle had arrived at just the right time.
He looked at Zhao Wu’s cold expression, then at Shuanzi, who remained silent, and spoke gently. “Shuanzi, think carefully about what your father said. What you just did was too rash. Don’t act on impulse. Your father will be staying in Kaoshan Village for three days.”
As soon as he finished speaking, the Village Chief’s voice rang out.
“Hahaha, Dashan! I always said Yunxiao was no ordinary child, even when he was young. Look at him—he went off to join the army, brought such honor to our Old Gu Family, and even became a Great General! Our ancestors must be smiling down on us!”
“Eldest Uncle.”
This was the Village Chief of Kaoshan Village, as well as his father’s own elder brother—Gu Yunxiao’s Eldest Uncle. So Gu Yunxiao treated him with great respect.
Zhao Wu gave Gu Yunxiao a long look, then lowered her head and said to her son, “Shuanzi, let’s go.”
“All right.” At Zhao Xun’s words, he followed his own mother without hesitation.
Gu Yunxiao’s expression was complicated, but he didn’t stop them.
The Mother and Son really did need to take some time to think this over.
“Hey! Shuanzi! Where are you going?” Wang Shi hurried after them, calling out.
“Shuanzi…” Gu Dashan’s face stiffened as he turned to watch Shuanzi and his Daughter-in-law walk out the door without looking back.
“Eldest Younger Sister, Little Sister, hurry and see what your Sister-in-law and Shuanzi are doing!” Gu Dashan called urgently.
“Oh, okay.” Gu Chun.
Gu Xia silently followed her Elder Sister out.
What a ridiculous mess!
Wang Shi wanted to go out too, but Gu Dashan stopped her.
Gu Yunxiao’s expression darkened. He coldly ordered the Personal Guard outside the door, “Go after them. Don’t let them leave Kaoshan Village.”
The Personal Guard: “...Yes.”
He had heard every word spoken in the room. The General had indeed acted unfairly, but when he thought of Madam Wen, he suddenly understood the General’s actions.
After all, on one side was a delicate, stunning beauty and his life-saver; on the other was a coarse village woman with a face like a demon.
Any man would choose Madam Wen.
But the Young Master would probably resent the General from now on. After all, that was the Young Master’s own mother—and the General’s first wife!
The Village Chief had actually been let in just now because he’d arranged for someone to bring him in. Fortunately, he’d arrived in time.
The Village Chief was old, but his eyes were sharp, and he knew how to read the situation.
Something was clearly wrong just now. Zhao Wu usually greeted him politely whenever she saw him, and so did Shuanzi. But today, the two of them had passed right by him without even saying hello.
He glanced sideways at the expressions of Dashan and his wife, and Yunxiao.
The Village Chief wondered to himself: What on earth had happened?
“Dashan, what’s going on? What’s the matter with Yunxiao’s wife and Shuanzi?” As Gu Dashan’s elder brother and Gu Yunxiao’s Eldest Uncle, the Village Chief felt there was nothing wrong with asking.
Gu Dashan looked at the son standing right in front of him, anger surging through him. Unable to hold back, he slapped Gu Yunxiao across the face.
A crisp smack rang out in the room.