“Kindness? What kindness? Tell me,” the second daughter of the Gu family said bluntly. “A kind person wouldn’t do such a thing!”
Gu Bei was infuriated, but he didn’t know how to counter his sister’s statement.
After a while, he found the words to rebut her, “You are our father’s daughter, after all. You have an obligation to him.”
His sister snorted, “What obligation? Am I obligated to protect someone who doesn’t have a conscience?”
Mrs. Gu slammed her hand down on the table. “How dare you speak in such a rude manner! This is your father we’re talking about!”
The second daughter turned towards her mother and sneered, “Yes, he is my father, but has he shown me any love and care? All these years, I have never experienced any fatherly love from him, nor have I experienced any warmth from my family.”
Mrs. Gu was at a loss for words. Indeed, she and her husband had never really treated her as their daughter. After having a girl as their firstborn, they had wanted a boy as their second child. So when their second born turned out to be a girl again, they gave her away to Mrs. Gu’s brother.
Life as an adopted child wasn’t great for the second daughter.
“I couldn’t be bothered anymore. If you wish to recognize me as your daughter, go ahead. Otherwise, treat me as if you never gave birth to me at all. After all, you have never been involved in raising me,” the second daughter snapped and left in a fit of rage.
As she walked towards the door, she stopped to look at her younger sisters, who were sitting in the living room. “I won’t stop you if you want to get involved. If you wish to acknowledge me as your older sister, address me as sis when we meet. We can still be sisters then. If you do not wish to, then so be it. Consider us strangers who do not know each other. I don’t care anymore.”
“Sis…” one of her younger sisters tried to console her.
“Don’t bother. Even though we’re biological sisters who were conceived in the same womb, we cannot force each other to change our thoughts and actions. I’ve made myself clear. Those who do not recognize me as their sister can treat me as a stranger. We can act as if we don’t know each other when we meet,” the second daughter interrupted the fifth daughter.
Right after that, she walked away with determination.
That very moment, Gu Huixin stood up and said, “Huaihou is well-known in the community for being a righteous man, so I won’t comment much on right or wrong as this involves my father. I know Huaihou definitely won’t get involved in this matter, and I can’t be of much help either.”
“Huixin, do you not care about Dad anymore?” the oldest daughter of the Gu family looked at her in disappointment.
Gu Huixin answered collectedly, “It’s not that I don’t care. I just can’t handle all of this. What do you expect me to do?”
The oldest daughter didn’t know how to respond as Zhou Huaihou was indeed well-known for being a righteous person.
The public would definitely be scrutinizing every move the Gu family makes after the uncovering of this incident. Even the tiniest action might be criticized.
Besides, it was natural for the children who had been raised by their biological parents to act more favorably towards them compared to children who had been given away for adoption.
The oldest daughter wanted to solve this matter as soon as possible, fearing that her father might end up in prison.
“All these years, Huaihou and I have always maintained an upright reputation. We only have one daughter, and he loves both of us to bits. I would never do anything that would put him in a difficult position. I hope you and Mom understand,” Gu Huixin clarified her stance that she wouldn’t throw her husband under the bus for the sake of her father.
“You ungrateful b*tch! You don’t even care for our father’s safety!” Gu Bei flipped the table in front of him.
His sisters stared at him in distress.
“How could you say such a thing?” his fourth sister shouted.
We’re all siblings born from the same womb. How could he curse our sister?
“Huixin has made it clear why she cannot get involved. How could you curse her like this? So what if you’re the only son in our family? Do you not have any morals?” the fourth daughter berated him. She had always held him in disdain as she felt like he did not have any respect for his sisters whatsoever.
If it weren’t for the sake of her father, she would not be sitting here bantering with him.
“Stop arguing, all of you!” Mrs. Gu’s almost blew her top. She was still angry even though she knew why her third daughter did not want to get involved. But after considering Zhou Huaihou’s status in society, she forced herself to calm down.
“Huixin, I’m sure Huaihou will be able to help given his position in society…” Mrs. Gu began courteously.
Gu Huixin interjected, “You know very well that Huaihou won’t get his hands dirty. No matter how hard I beg him, it would be useless. If you wish to see my marriage crumble, I’ll go back and argue with him then. I dare you to challenge me.”
She intentionally challenged her mother as she knew that her mother wouldn’t want to see her marriage fall apart.
Sure enough, Mrs. Gu was rendered speechless.
Among all her children, she had only raised her oldest daughter and youngest son by herself. The others had never really experienced her love and care before.
“If you want to leave, go. We can still save our father without you.” Gu Bei couldn’t bear to see his mother being put in such a difficult position anymore.
Gu Huixin bowed towards her mother, then turned to her sisters and said, “My actions may be wrong, but I hope you all can find the heart forgive me.”
Her sisters replied empathetically, “Just go. We know you’re caught in a difficult dilemma. To be frank, all our families have troubles of our own, but he is still our father. No matter how much we resent him, we cannot turn a blind eye to his predicament. Don’t worry; we’ll find a way to resolve this.”
Her sisters’ remarks made it seem as though Gu Huixin paid no heed to her family’s troubles, but she did not regret her final decision.
Gu Huixin turned and left with a web of tangled emotions in her heart.
She hated what her father did, but she was in no position to reproach him as his daughter.
Along the way home, she calmed down and lightened up. She did not want to bring back negative emotions about her father into her own home.
Upon reaching home, she noticed that her daughter was at home alone. Zhou Huaihou had not returned from work. “Why are you at home alone? Where’s Yinning?” she asked.
“I don’t know. He went out right after receiving a parcel. I’m not sure where he went,” Zhou Chunchun answered. As she finished painting the last stroke in her calligraphy piece, she put down her brush and noticed that her mother was not in a good mood. “What’s wrong, Mom?” she asked.
Gu Huixin shook her head and said, “It’s nothing. I’m going to rest in my bedroom for a while.” Something else crossed her mind soon after, so she added, “Chunchun, when are you going back to Baicheng again?”
She didn’t want her daughter to remain here; she felt that this wasn’t a good place to settle down.
Unfortunate events kept happening one after another.
Zhou Chunchun responded, “Yinning still has a couple of things to attend to here. We’ll go back in a few days.”
Zong Jinghao had avoided him the previous time Bai Yinning wanted to meet him for a collaboration, so they didn’t end up having a meeting.
Even though Bai Yinning was not successful, he did not want to leave so easily; he didn’t want others to view him as a coward. Until now, Gao Yuan was still in the hospital, and though his injuries were not life-threatening, they were still considered rather serious. Bai Yinning could not bring himself to walk away without avenging his assistant.
For the past few days, he had sent men to investigate Gu Bei. He had used Zhou Huaihou to establish connections with several other people of status.
As he was seeking the right moment to strike back at Gu Bei, he suddenly received a parcel.
