“There’s someone in Dad’s room?”
A middle-aged man’s voice came from outside. Su Nian’an guessed that it was Gu Qingyu’s father, Gu Yaoguo.
“Yes, someone is here. We have a visitor,” Bai Yuyan replied.
“Who came?” Gu Yaoguo couldn’t help looking puzzled.
Ever since something had happened to the Gu family, everyone had been doing their best to stay as far away from them as possible. Yet someone had actually come to their home now?
“It’s the daughter of the Su family. Don’t you remember? Dad arranged a marriage with the old master of the Su family back then.”
After hearing this, Gu Yaoguo didn’t say anything further.
Then Su Nian’an heard footsteps gradually approaching.
The first person to enter was a middle-aged man with sharp, stern features. Gu Qingyu looked somewhat like him.
Su Nian’an hesitated over whether she should greet him.
Actually, winning over elders was very easy for her.
Her experience growing up as a child who was often left behind in the countryside had shaped her former people-pleasing personality.
But she was different now. She only tried to please people with whom she genuinely wanted to build a good relationship.
However, before Su Nian’an could make up her mind, Gu Yaoguo spoke first.
“I’ve met the daughter of the Su family several times. She’s not her.”
The moment Gu Yaoguo said this, the entire room fell silent for several seconds.
Bai Yuyan and Gu Qingyuan, who had followed behind her, instinctively turned their eyes toward Su Nian’an, only to see that there was no trace of panic on her face.
Suddenly, a bout of coughing rang out.
Gu Yaoguo immediately forgot about Su Nian’an and hurried over to Grandpa Gu’s bedside.
“Dad, why are you coughing so badly? Are you feeling unwell?”
Grandpa Gu raised his head and glared fiercely at Gu Yaoguo before saying, “Shut up! Whether An’an is still a daughter of the Su family or not, this child and I simply hit it off. I recognize her as my granddaughter-in-law.”
Those words left Gu Yaoguo completely speechless.
He looked at Su Nian’an before shifting his gaze to Gu Qingyu, who was still leaning against the doorway.
“A-Yu, you tell us.”
Gu Qingyu first glanced at Su Nian’an, then at Grandpa Gu, remaining silent.
His attitude was essentially an implicit agreement.
“You… This is your own marriage, so you’d better think it through carefully. When the Gu and Su families arranged this marriage back then, the person they agreed on wasn’t the woman standing here now.”
Gu Yaoguo was simply furious that the Su family had casually found another daughter to fool their family with.
Back then, Grandpa Gu had gone to considerable lengths to help the Su family.
And when the Gu family had been sent down to the countryside this time, some people had even used the Su family as a pretext to make things worse for them.
Therefore, Gu Yaoguo genuinely despised the Su family’s decision to suddenly send Su Nian’an in as a replacement bride.
“I think this one is better. Yaoguo, everyone has their own dignity. You keep saying that the one who came now isn’t good enough. How is An’an supposed to feel hearing that?” Grandpa Gu said, glancing at Su Nian’an with concern in his eyes.
“I’m fine, Grandpa. Uncle Gu is only thinking about what’s best for the Gu family. I can understand,” Su Nian’an said.
She was lying through her teeth.
Anyone would feel uncomfortable after having someone openly criticize them to their face.
But for the sake of staying by the male protagonist’s side and obtaining the space bracelet, she still had to put on a good show in front of the Gu family.
Grandpa Gu nodded at Su Nian’an. He then tried to turn over and get out of bed, startling Gu Yaoguo into immediately stepping forward to help him through the whole process.
“An’an, let’s go. It’s time to eat.” With Gu Yaoguo supporting him, Grandpa Gu smiled at Su Nian’an.
“Okay. Thank you, Grandpa.”
Su Nian’an didn’t stand on ceremony. She simply followed behind Grandpa Gu and went to the dining room to get herself a meal.
When she passed Gu Qingyu, she didn’t stop for even a moment and headed straight for the dining room to eat.
Gu Qingyu watched her back, deep in thought.
Just as everyone had left and Gu Qingyu was about to follow them, he noticed that Gu Qingyuan, who had been standing opposite him, hadn’t left yet.
“Something wrong?” Gu Qingyu asked.
“Congratulations, Brother. You’re finally getting married.” Gu Qingyuan smiled at Gu Qingyu, though it was impossible to tell whether her congratulations were sincere.
Gu Qingyu glanced at Gu Qingyuan before saying, “Smiling doesn’t suit you. It doesn’t look good.”
Gu Qingyuan’s expression changed slightly upon hearing this. She gave a cold snort and turned around to leave.
The siblings actually had rather similar personalities. Both were cold and reserved, taking a long time to warm up to people.
People often said that good relationships required complementary personalities. Since Gu Qingyu and Gu Qingyuan were so similar, they had been somewhat at odds with each other since childhood.
However, this one-sided rivalry mainly came from Gu Qingyuan. As her older brother, Gu Qingyu naturally wasn’t petty enough to take it seriously.
The two siblings actually had a very good relationship. Whenever either of them had something they needed help with and asked the other for assistance, they would inevitably exchange a few verbal jabs first, but in the end, they would always get the other’s request done perfectly.
Gu Qingyuan gave off the impression of a cold beauty. That was Su Nian’an’s first impression of her.
When Su Nian’an saw Gu Qingyuan sitting beside her at the dinner table, she couldn’t help thinking that not a single member of the Gu family was lacking in looks.
However, in the novel, Gu Qingyuan had been portrayed almost like a villain. During the early stages, when the male and female leads still hadn’t gotten together, she was responsible for about half of the obstacles keeping them apart.
“Nian’an, there isn’t much good food in the house to entertain you. You’ve seen our circumstances yourself. If you… if you want to stay, our family would naturally be more than happy to have you.”
Grandpa Gu hadn’t gotten out of bed to eat for several days. Su Nian’an’s arrival seemed to have given him some energy, and he finally looked a little more spirited.
Su Nian’an looked at the plain, watery dishes on the table. At a glance, it was obvious that the meal hadn’t been prepared by someone who normally did much cooking.
Then she recalled the meals from the original owner’s memories and was surprised to discover that they had actually been even worse than what they were eating today.
At the very least, the Gu family still had white rice and steamed buns. They weren’t eating coarse grains.
“I think everything is fine, Grandpa. Tomorrow, I’ll cook something delicious for you myself. I guarantee it’ll make you hungry for more.” Su Nian’an replied with a smile.
The moment she said this, the atmosphere at the table instantly became a little strange.
“Nian’an, there aren’t many ingredients left in the house. But since it’s your first day here, you really should have something good to eat. Tomorrow, I’ll talk to some of the farmers in the nearby villages and see if I can trade for some vegetables. What kind of dishes do you like?” Bai Yuyan, who was sitting opposite Su Nian’an, asked.
Su Nian’an finally understood why the atmosphere had suddenly become so strange.
The Gu family’s circumstances were probably quite difficult at the moment.
But now that their “new daughter-in-law” had come all the way to their door, there was no way the Gu family could fail to give their new family member at least one decent meal.
Thinking about it now, the Gu family really had it hard. After all, going from luxury to poverty was never easy.
Honestly, seeing the entire Gu family still able to sit together so calmly and eat a meal at a time like this, Su Nian’an already felt that they were remarkably strong.
Grandpa Gu, however, was clearly depressed. Even though he had gotten out of bed to eat with everyone, he still looked rather weak and sickly.
“Auntie, there’s no need to go to all that trouble. I’ll just cook whatever vegetables the production brigade distributes. As long as there’s enough to eat, that’s fine,” Su Nian’an said.
“How can that be enough!” the old master beside her suddenly declared.
Everyone immediately turned their heads toward him.
They saw Grandpa Gu’s trembling hand reach inside the lining of his clothes. A moment later, he pulled out a golden pocket watch.
Su Nian’an had no idea what the pocket watch represented, but the moment the other members of the Gu family saw the watch in Grandpa Gu’s hand, their expressions all changed.