Chapter 268 - 266: Bamboo Forest

Chapter 268: Chapter 266: Bamboo Forest

Gu Nuan Nuan paused for a moment. "It’s true that every family has its own problems."

"Yeah. That’s why I’m going to help my mom make them proud. I want to show them that girls are in no way worse than boys."

Lin Qiao said with a burst of determination, but then she deflated, her mood sinking. "I also want to make tons and tons of money. When I think about our family’s situation, I get so anxious I can’t wait to grow up. You have no idea—to contract the bamboo forest and build our house before, my mom had to go back to her family to borrow money. Now the bamboo forest isn’t making any money, and we still owe my maternal grandparents, my uncle, and my aunt. It’s hard enough just to pay them back, but my dad is still dead set on making my mom give him a son. I really hope the baby in her belly this time is a boy. Otherwise, they’ll definitely keep trying."

Gu Nuan Nuan: "..."

"Sigh. Sometimes I really don’t know if my dad is a good person or not. I often think he’d be perfect if he just wasn’t so insistent on my mom having a son." Seeming to feel closer to Gu Nuan Nuan, Lin Qiao found she couldn’t stop once she started talking about her family. After venting about her own situation, she wasn’t satisfied and turned to ask Gu Nuan Nuan, "What about your family? Since you’re an only child, are your dad and your paternal relatives like mine?"

"Er..." Gu Nuan Nuan comforted her with a hint of resignation. "My biological father and paternal grandmother are way worse than your dad and your paternal grandparents. Your dad’s actually pretty decent; he just wants a son."

"What’s wrong with your dad and your grandma? Does he side with your grandma instead of you and your mom?" Lin Qiao asked, looking at Gu Nuan Nuan with sympathy. She spoke with a precocious maturity. "Actually, there are a lot of men like that in our village. Some of them have sons, but so what? If the man doesn’t have his priorities straight, he’ll just team up with his own mother to bully his wife and kids." She added with a sigh, "That’s why it’s good for a woman’s family to live nearby. With your mom’s family to back her up, I bet your dad and grandma wouldn’t dare go too far, right?"

"...My biological father and my mom got divorced a few years ago. My current dad is my stepfather. He and my mom just got married not long ago."

Gu Nuan Nuan was quiet for a moment. Although she didn’t like to gossip about her own family, it didn’t mean she was afraid of others knowing the truth. So, when she said this, she seemed perfectly calm. "My mom didn’t live near her family before, either. It’s just that my dad now bought a house near my maternal grandparents and my uncle, so that’s why we’re close by."

"..."

Lin Qiao stared blankly at Gu Nuan Nuan, her mouth hanging open. Then she lowered her head. "I’m sorry. I didn’t know."

"It’s fine, so don’t complain anymore. No one is perfect. Even if your dad has his own convictions that you don’t agree with, he’s still rational about the big picture." Gu Nuan Nuan shook her head nonchalantly. After a moment’s thought, she added a bit more advice. "So you should stop worrying about finding someone from the same village to marry just so you can be close to home. The most important thing in a marriage is to find someone you like and who likes you back. Even more importantly, he needs to have his own opinions. Just being close by is useless. You can’t always think about relying on others. It’s more important to rely on yourself."

"Nuannuan, you’re right." Lin Qiao nodded. After a long pause, she asked cautiously, "Is your stepdad good to you?"

"Of course he is." Gu Nuan Nuan winked and said with a smile, "My mom lives close to her family now—it’s just a short walk to my maternal grandparents’ and my uncle’s place. How could my dad dare treat me badly?"

"Pfft..." Lin Qiao let out a laugh and quickly stifled it, but her tone was already noticeably lighter. "I’m being serious. If your mom has another child in the future, are you worried your current dad and your mom won’t like you anymore?"

"I’m not worried about that at all." Gu Nuan Nuan shook her head. Seeing Lin Qiao’s confused expression, she smiled. "After you write me that indenture contract, you’ll definitely have a chance to find out slowly over time."

Lin Qiao was mortified. "I’ll write it for you as soon as I get back."

Gu Nuan Nuan’s smile grew wider. "...It’s not that I don’t want to tell you now, it’s just that my family’s situation is too complicated to explain in a short time. Plus, I don’t want to bring up those unhappy memories and ruin my mood. My mom is doing great now; she’s very happy. Maybe a lot of people out there think divorce is a bad thing, that divorced women are looked down upon and have hard lives. But none of that is true for my mom. After the divorce, it was like she was reborn. My current dad is genuinely good to her, which is why I’m willing to call him ’Dad.’ As for my biological father... I honestly don’t think he deserves to be called that. Seeing how well my mom is doing now, I can’t even imagine how much he regrets it."

The confidence that radiated from Gu Nuan Nuan, inside and out, left Lin Qiao completely stunned. She stammered, "...Nuannuan, your mom is so brave. She’s amazing..." Looking at Gu Nuan Nuan, Lin Qiao couldn’t help but lower her head and reflect. ’How could I have been so blind before? I thought she was quiet because she was shy and timid.’

In truth, Lin Qiao was completely bewildered by Gu Nuan Nuan’s vague words.

But since Gu Nuan Nuan had said she didn’t want to talk about it, Lin Qiao decided not to press any further. Her mom had always told her to know when to stop. If it’s something someone doesn’t like to talk about and it’s not a big deal, you shouldn’t insist on prying. To be honest, she didn’t look down on divorced women. She had seen people in the village get divorced. It was very, very rare—most women chose to endure—but the ones who did divorce were those who truly couldn’t bear it any longer.

Her mom also said that women who dared to get divorced were brave. So, not only did she not look down on them, she actually felt a sense of sympathy and admiration.

"Heh, that’s right. Fortune favors the brave." Gu Nuan Nuan wasn’t just being watched by Lin Qiao; throughout the conversation, she had been carefully observing Lin Qiao’s expressions. When she saw only confusion and no trace of scorn, she felt even more satisfied.

Before long, they arrived at the bamboo forest. Gu Nuan Nuan was surprised to see it was enclosed by a wall with a locked gate. As Lin Qiao took out a key to open it, she explained sheepishly, "Our bamboo forest didn’t use to have a wall. But then we discovered people were always digging up our bamboo shoots, and some people treated it like their own backyard, just coming to cut down bamboo whenever they wanted. Arguing with them didn’t do any good, so in the end, my parents had no choice but to fence it in and keep a dog here."