Chapter 1926 Sweeping Through Three Families

Gao Jinglin was in charge of listening only; many of her views, training methods, and little tricks opened his eyes, and in his heart he became even more determined to stick with Sister Bo.

That old man looks down on him, despises him at every turn—hmph! Once he gets back from this training, he’ll make the old man sit up and take notice.

After they finally fixed the departure time, only then did Gu Yunbo come downstairs carrying things. Meng Fan and Xu Qigang were already gone, and half the people in the living room had cleared out; only another small table still had four people playing mahjong. The earlier tableful of mahjong players had all left, but there was still a good pile of cash lying on the table, looking like a few hundred at least.

"Whose money is this?" Gao Jinglin shouted at the top of his voice.

"Young Chairman won it while helping someone sub in."

"Gu Yunbo’s, right! Her luck’s really something—Young Chairman alone beat all three others and cleaned them out."

Gu Yunbo was overjoyed, and very cheerfully scooped up the money.

"Where’d they go?"

"They had things to do, so they left first."

"It’s getting late, I should head back too." Loaded down with spoils and in a great mood, Gu Yunbo was ready to leave. Gao Jinglin offered to see her home, but she turned him down. Since she was carrying quite a bit, she simply rode off on Gao Jinglin’s bicycle.

In the late 1970s, a bicycle was a symbol of wealth; unless your relationship was very solid or you were very close family, you would never casually lend your bike out.

Gu Yunbo rode with easy, open confidence, waved, and glided away under everyone’s baffled, astonished gaze. It wasn’t that she didn’t know how valuable a bicycle was, or that she didn’t know she’d basically been freeloading off Gao Jinglin all this time. It was that she believed she had the ability to pay him back. Gao Jinglin was her first friend after Rebirth; she valued him, they really hit it off, and on the road ahead they were going to walk side by side for a very long time.

So there was no need to fuss over gains and losses.

And she would also do her utmost to teach him everything she knew.

****

Gu Family

On the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, when the festive mood was still thick in every household, the Gu Family already felt a bit deserted. Because the adults all held important posts, by the third day of the Lunar New Year they were basically back to work, busy again and hardly home morning or night.

Fortunately, Mr. Gu, who had been wintering in the Southern region, had returned, and the whole Gu Family instantly grew lively. The old man, Gu Yuanlou, was seventy-two this year, yet still vigorous, his complexion ruddy. Thanks to good maintenance, even his back and waist were ramrod straight.

In past years he always spent the winter in the Southern region, because he disliked the dry Northern climate. His sudden return now caught everyone a bit off guard.

At noon, the whole family sat around the huge round table eating, and Gu Yuanlou didn’t say a single word. Even the most skilled at coaxing people, Gu Yuehong, kept her head down, practically wishing she could count every grain of rice in her bowl one by one.

When they finally finished eating, Gu Yuehong tried to grease the soles of her feet and slip away, but the table was suddenly slapped with a loud smack. Everyone was jolted, and the auntie who was clearing the dishes gave such a start her hand shook, nearly smashing the plate.

"Stand right there." Gu Yuanlou’s voice was thunderously angry, carrying a vast, oppressive force that scared Gu Yuehong so badly her legs went weak and she dropped straight to her knees. The person she’d always feared most since childhood was her grandfather; when she was little and still didn’t know better, just seeing him was enough to make her burst into tears.

Later, as she grew older and her grandfather aged, he came to the Northern region less and less. On top of that, she was naturally clever and good at putting on a front, so she acted more and more wantonly. But deep down, her fear of Gu Yuanshan had never gone away, and his sudden return today already had her feeling guilty.

Fu Shuzhen saw her daughter scared like that and felt both angry and heartsick; even her expression changed. But with the old man’s authority looming there, she didn’t have the guts to talk back, and could only sit in her seat, face dark.