Free Web NovelChapter 239: Chapter 239: Cheers and Laughter
Gu’er and the others returned to their city about a week later, after selling all their goods and buying more to take back.
Naturally, it was a fruitful trip.
When she saw Sun Jiaming, she learned that Zhou Mazi and Li Hua had finalized their divorce. All three children were in Zhou Mazi’s custody, and he was not responsible for Li Hua’s surgical expenses.
The Zhou children had no objections to their parents’ divorce. In their eyes, Li Hua was a useless, insignificant person. She had nothing, couldn’t earn money, had spent a fortune on surgery, was now in debt, and needed someone to care for her. They had no desire to live with her whatsoever.
So, no matter how bad Zhou Mazi was, they agreed to stay with him. He was the head of the household, the man of the family—their pillar of support.
Gu’er was quite satisfied after reading the agreement. Since Li Hua was the vulnerable party, she wasn’t required to pay child support. This meant that as long as Li Hua stayed in the city, Gu’er wouldn’t have to worry about the Zhou children coming to bother them.
Gu’er felt a weight lift from her shoulders. Though her adoptive mother had been injured and would need half a year to recover, she was finally free from Zhou Mazi and the Zhou family. All her past suffering would soon be behind her.
Li Hua had been content lately. She was discharged from the hospital and now lived with the Sun Family. Aunt Sun treated her very well, and so did Dingzi’s mother. Sun Jiaming spent time with her every day, comforting her, caring for her, and thoughtfully buying her all sorts of food and nutritional supplements. Aunt Zhao also cooked a variety of meals for her and kept her company with conversation.
Lin Shan and Chen Fengjiao had also visited her a few times. On each visit, Chen Fengjiao would bring her some homemade soup.
Little Lin Zheng was adorable, too. He asked her if she was in pain and gave her some candy, which made her start to cry. Thinking of her own sons brought a pang of heartache.
At the Sun Family’s home, there was no more abuse, no more cold indifference. She no longer had to live on edge, worry about what to do each day, or fear getting on someone’s bad side. ’This is how people are supposed to live,’ she thought. She felt that her bitter days were over and her sweet ones had begun. So even though she was still bedridden, she was content.
Gu’er looked around at the Sun home. Even though Grandma Sun was still half-reclined on the kang bed and Li Hua was also confined to her bed, both needing constant care, this was a home. It had a grandmother, a father, a mother, siblings, and the man she loved. She felt a deep sense of warmth.
Everyone was delighted with the gifts Gu’er brought back. They listened with rapt attention as she described the streets, the houses, and the people of the Soviet Union.
Liu Yuan came over that afternoon. He was pleasantly surprised to see Gu’er was back. He had already gotten in touch with Sun Jiaming and had visited the Sun Family twice, but Gu’er was still in the Soviet Union at the time, so they had missed each other.
"Brother Liu Yuan, perfect timing! This is for you. See if you like it."
Gu’er was delighted to see Liu Yuan and quickly brought out his gift.
Liu Yuan accepted it and thanked her. Seeing Gu’er’s radiant face, a faint bitterness stirred in his heart.
At his insistence, his mother had finally stopped bringing up Huang Mingyu. When Huang Mingyu visited, his mother was lukewarm, and he simply avoided her. Eventually, Huang Mingyu stopped coming. He heard she’d found someone else now, so he no longer had to worry about her.
His mother had also found out about Gu’er. The news had spread all over their village: Gu’er had found her birth parents, her father was a government official, they lived in a big house, and they treated her wonderfully.
Gu’er was also making a lot of money in a business partnership. Every time his maternal aunt visited, she’d bring it up, lamenting why he hadn’t ended up with Gu’er. If he had, they’d be a couple now, and he’d have an official for a father-in-law. Maybe he wouldn’t just be a factory worker, but some kind of director. His parents could have gotten better jobs, and she could have benefited from the connection too.
His aunt even told him to go beg Gu’er, to ask her to talk to her father and see if he could arrange a good city job for his aunt’s son.
Liu Yuan was too ashamed. Why hadn’t things worked out with Gu’er? For one, Gu’er didn’t have feelings for him. And for another, hadn’t his mother and aunt opposed it, badmouthing her and saying she wasn’t good enough?
His mother was full of regret, too. She’d bought gifts for him several times, trying to get him to visit the Lin Family. She’d say the Sun Family’s circumstances weren’t as good as theirs, and that if he just visited a few more times, the Lin Family might take a liking to him and accept him as a son-in-law. He did want to see Gu’er when he had time, but he refused to do it like that. He liked Gu’er for who she was—that youthful, pleasant, and hardworking girl. It had nothing to do with whose daughter she was or how much money she had.
Since Gu’er didn’t like him, all he could do was silently wish for her and Sun Jiaming to have a lifetime of happiness together.
So, no matter what his mother and his aunt said, he never went to the Lin Family’s home. It wasn’t until Sun Jiaming sought him out that he learned the full story and came to visit Grandma Sun and Li Hua. ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com
He visited again after that. He felt much more at ease at the Sun Family’s home than at the Lin Family’s. Grandma Sun, Li Hua, Aunt Zhao—they all made him feel welcome. It wasn’t like being around Chen Fengjiao, who always looked at him with a scrutinizing gaze.
That’s why he preferred the Sun Family, and now he came over whenever he was free. He and Sun Jiaming were getting along quite well these days. frёeωebɳovel.com
Gu’er was happy to hear from Sun Jiaming that Liu Yuan visited often and was no longer in contact with Huang Mingyu. ’I’ve changed his fate of marrying Huang Mingyu in this life,’ she thought, ’so I can definitely change his fate of dying young, too.’
They had dinner at the Sun Family’s home. Li Zhi and Dingzi were there, and Lin Shan came as well. However, the mother-daughter pair of Chen Fengjiao and Lin Sui’er didn’t show up. Lin Sui’er refused to visit the Sun Family, as she looked down on them. She had considered forcing herself to go when she heard Li Zhi would be there, but she backed out upon learning Dingzi was attending too. Chen Fengjiao stayed home to keep her company. Little Lin Zheng, on the other hand, was having a blast.
"We definitely need to get a bigger house, a much bigger one! Otherwise, there’s nowhere to sit for dinner, and we have to eat standing up," Li Zhi yelled as he ate. Only one table had been set up in the room, where the elders and Little Lin Zheng were sitting. The younger ones were all standing, as there weren’t enough stools or space to sit.
"You eat more when you’re standing, and it tastes better," Dingzi shot back, as if he loved to bicker with Li Zhi.
"Exactly! The ones who cooked haven’t even complained, but here you are, the one waiting to be fed, whining about it," Gu’er chimed in. "How about next time, you can have the table to yourself after the rest of us are done?"
"Right, let’s do that," Sun Jiaming added. "I can even get someone to build a special chair just for you, so you can sit comfortably."
"Sounds good to me," Liu Yuan said.
"I agree."
Little Lin Zheng nodded like a tiny adult.
Everyone burst into laughter. Only Li Zhi was left wailing that they weren’t being good buddies and were ganging up on him. For a moment, the room was filled with joyous laughter.
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One more Chapter tonight.
