So even though she still looked haggard and disheveled, she was already confident of victory.
Zhang Ma planned to use a strategy of retreat to advance, first playing the victim, and then, as usual, bringing up Miss Gu to say some sarcastic things to provoke Gu Shaocheng, making him realize how outrageous his behavior was today.
She would be very generous and loving to let the matter pass, allowing the remorse to remain. As for the illegitimate male bride, no matter how much he was favored, it would only last for a day or two. She could easily deal with even the nanny who raised Gu Shaocheng from childhood, let alone Yu Yuan.
She waited for a long time, but Gu Shaocheng didn’t take the initiative to apologize. Zhang Ma took a deep breath and planned to apologize while crying. But as soon as she opened her mouth, the bodyguard standing at the door of the study walked in: “Sir, Uncle Lin has arrived.”
Zhang Ma paused, looked up and saw the person’s face clearly, her expression hardening as she immediately realized that things were not going in the right direction.
Mr. and Mrs. Lin were also elderly people who had worked for the Gu family their whole lives. Uncle Lin was the Gu family’s driver, and his wife, Aunt Lin, was the nanny who took care of Gu Shaocheng since he was a child.
Aunt Lin’s feelings for Gu Shaocheng were no less than those for Zhang Ma, so when Zhang Ma was assigned to the villa to take care of Gu Shaocheng, the two, one being closer and the other more senior, constantly engaged in subtle exchanges.
It wasn’t until Aunt Lin was pushed down the spiral staircase by Gu Shaocheng during a fit of illness, flying out and smashing the coffee table, leaving her paralyzed from the start, that Zhang Ma officially became the villa’s undisputed housekeeper.
After Uncle Lin entered the study, he only glanced at Gu Shaocheng before turning his head away. Although he was only in his forties, his hair was almost completely white, and his sallow cheeks were slightly sunken, making him look older than Zhang Ma.
His attitude towards Gu Shaocheng was very complicated. He and his wife had no children. Although he knew that Gu Shaocheng was the eldest son of the Gu family, they had developed a special bond over the years. Aunt Lin treated Gu Shaocheng as her own son and took great care of him.
But everything came to an abrupt end after Gu Shaocheng went mad and brutally attacked his wife. Looking at his wife, who was paralyzed, he couldn’t help but hate Gu Shaocheng.
But he knew that Gu Shaocheng not only had an illness that allowed him to do whatever he wanted, but the Gu family would also suppress everything, so there was nothing he could do but accept his fate.
Once everyone had arrived, Gu Shaocheng gave his bodyguard a look, and the bodyguard immediately signaled for anyone not involved to leave.
Yu Yuan, who had been huddled in the gap between the wooden frame and the wall since entering, also wanted to leave upon seeing this. Although he was also curious about the connection between the man called Uncle Lin and Zhang Ma, and what made Zhang Ma’s face grow increasingly ashen, there were too many people and he preferred to give up the opportunity to gossip.
Gu Shaocheng stopped him. Yu Yuan was confused and, seeing that Gu Shaocheng didn’t seem inclined to explain, retreated back into the corner.
Although there were only five people left in the study, it was still too many for Yu Yuan. He huddled in the corner, holding his breath and barely managing to watch the show.
Gu Shaocheng glanced at Yu Yuan out of the corner of his eye, thinking that if he was already so terrified, wouldn’t he faint from fright later? But he had given him a chance, so he would stay with him no matter how scared he was.
The man pressed the play button with his long, slender index finger, and a blurry image was projected onto the screen in front of him. Back then, pinhole cameras couldn’t match the high-definition quality of today, but even in the blur, it was enough to make out that the person who pushed Aunt Lin downstairs was not Gu Shaocheng but Zhang Ma.
Because Zhang Ma had been taking care of Miss Gu, who was also ill, her understanding of the illness far surpassed that of Aunt Lin. After coming to Gu Shaocheng’s side, she directly took charge of his medication and treatment plan.
On the day Aunt Lin had her accident, Gu Shaocheng was having an attack. Delusions, hallucinations, and auditory hallucinations made him extremely confused amidst the pain. In the first half of his remaining consciousness, he remembered smashing many things, and he felt like a wild beast was about to be released from its cage.
So when he woke up in the hospital and learned that he had pushed Aunt Lin down the stairs, he was both incredulous and filled with remorse. During that time, he took a lot of medicine and was in a daze. As a result, when a reporter in disguise asked him about it, he broke down instantly and almost attacked the reporter. His madness and violence were recorded in this way.
Even though Old Master Gu ordered people to deal with it immediately, the news caused a huge uproar once it was leaked, and Gu Shaocheng’s reputation became infamous.
From then on, his medication dosage increased day by day, and his condition deteriorated. He never dared to see Aunt Lin again until his death…
Gu Shaocheng closed his eyes, suppressing the crimson surging in them. He looked at Uncle Lin, whose whole body was flushed red and veins were bulging with anger, and said meaningfully, “Zhang Ma is devoted to offering incense. After kneeling for a long time, her legs become weak and she often misses her footing when going upstairs.”
His voice was soft and indifferent, yet it made Zhang Ma, whose face was ashen, widen her eyes in shock: “Young Master! You can’t treat me like this!!”
”I was confused back then. Please, please forgive me for all these years, even if I haven’t done anything particularly meritorious… I beg you to forgive me for the sake of Miss Gu!” The old woman had completely lost the arrogance she had shown when she was trying to establish her authority in front of Yu Yuan, and her head was still banging loudly against the carpet.
Gu Shaocheng turned his gaze to the only remaining bodyguard captain, his voice dark and cold: “Go and help Uncle Lin.”
The burly man with solid muscles immediately nodded, and then lifted Zhang Ma up like a chick.
Zhang Ma was so frightened that she was completely at a loss. She knew better than anyone else what had happened to Aunt Lin back then. This old woman… Gu Shaocheng wanted her dead!
Hearing the bodyguard mention it, he immediately roared without restraint, “The young lady hasn’t wanted to see you for years! If I hadn’t acted as a go-between, do you think she would have wanted to hear anything about this monster?! Every time the young lady has an episode, she wants to strangle you, just like she did back then!”
”You’re treating me like this! The young lady will only hate you more, you monster!!” She knew too well about the past between mother and son, and knew what she could say that would cut to the bone, making Gu Shaocheng lose his composure. Once he went mad, she might still have a chance to escape in the chaos.
The bodyguard originally intended to gag her and drag her away, but when he saw Gu Shaocheng’s sinister and terrifying eyes, he hesitated, which gave Zhang Ma the opportunity to say so much.
Gu Shaocheng stared intently at the insane old woman: “Don’t worry, I will personally call the housekeeper about your injury and have him tell Mother.”
After Zhang Ma was dragged away, Uncle Lin also regained his senses from the blood feud, kowtowed to Gu Shaocheng, and then followed him out.
Gu Shaocheng was sitting right in front of the study door, where he could witness Chen Ma’s karmic retribution.
Although he didn’t want to fall for the old woman’s tricks, his temples inevitably started to ache. Less than 24 hours after his last attack, he felt that familiar pain again.
This means he will have less and less time to be lucid, but that will still be enough for him to drag these people into hell one by one… A near-out-of-control madness surged in Gu Shaocheng’s eyes.
Hearing Zhang Ma’s piercing screams, he reached out and pulled Yu Yuan from behind him into his arms.
Yu Yuan was so shocked by what he saw that he almost forgot his social anxiety. Then, he suddenly sat in the man’s lap, feeling the slightly bitter woody scent emanating from him and the ever-warming embrace. All the blood in Yu Yuan’s body rushed to his brain, and he began to tremble uncontrollably.
Gu Shaocheng, however, refused to let him off so easily. He grabbed Yu Yuan’s cheeks with his large hands, forcing him to look up at an accident that was about to happen in the distance.
With a piercing scream, Zhang Ma lost her footing and tumbled to the ground. Gu Shaocheng felt satisfied as he watched the person in his arms tremble and become helpless.
The man’s thin lips almost touched the skin behind Yu Yuan’s ear, and his sinister, deep voice asked slowly, “Have you seen the consequences of betrayal?”
Unable to get a reply from the person in his arms, Gu Shaocheng’s eyes turned bloodshot. He tightened his grip. Since the person refused to leave, they should pay the price. And this was just the beginning of a bleak situation.
Under Gu Shaocheng’s intimidation, Yu Yuan stammered, “No…”
Ha, is it bravado or just fear of facing reality?
The next moment, Yu Yuan, with a mournful face, mustered his courage and told the truth: “I lost my glasses… I really can’t see clearly…” Not only that, but he was so scared by Gu Shaocheng’s embrace that he was shaking like a leaf, and he didn’t care about Zhang Ma’s condition at all.
Yu Yuan’s answer was completely different from what Gu Shaocheng had thought, and he even mentioned glasses. He subconsciously recalled his past life, and his temples suddenly throbbed with pain, as if steel nails were being driven into and twisted.
Although he had long been accustomed to such pain, he still loathed the feeling of his thoughts being forcibly severed. The more he thought about it, the more painful it became. Apart from Yu Yuan having ulterior motives towards him, all related memories were separated by an unbreakable barrier.
Gu Shaocheng closed his eyes, trying to clear his mind, when he clearly heard a loud rumbling sound from the stomach of the person in his arms: “Gurgle, gurgle—”
Gu Shaocheng was somewhat dazed: “Huh?”
Yu Yuan thought the other person was asking him why his stomach was growling so loudly. His intestinal rumbling was indeed louder than others, and he was always so hungry that it was “common knowledge.” This wasn’t the first time he had been asked this question.
Yu Yuan could blurt out familiar facts without even thinking: “These are intestinal sounds caused by hunger. The hungrier you are, the stronger your stomach contractions will be, and the more obvious the symptoms will be. On the other hand, since you are holding me, the sound will be conducted through the air and then through the solid, so the volume will naturally be stronger.”
After speaking, Yu Yuan trembled again. Without the restraint of the man’s large hand, he lowered his head again, his whole body like a lowercase “c” tucked into the man’s arms. He was shrinking and panting because of his excessive resistance to intimate contact, completely unaware of the complex and unpredictable expression on the man’s cold face.
Gu Shaocheng had a splitting headache. He thought he was hallucinating, otherwise why would this cowardly liar in front of him say he didn’t see anything and talk about bowel sounds…
The first time he heard this strange “auditory hallucination” made him frown and sway slightly. Had his condition become that serious?
A moment later, Gu Shaocheng silently pushed the person away, and in a daze, he rummaged through a drawer and pulled out a bottle of spare medicine.