Chapter 10: A Discussion**

◎ I’m getting married. Guess who it’s to? ◎

After returning home, Gu Ying sat quietly in her room working on handicrafts.

Sun Lan kept glancing toward the room, hesitating several times before finally speaking up.

She cleaned the main hall, brought in the clothes drying outside, scraped the dried mud off the threshold, and finally couldn’t hold back anymore. She poked her head into the room and asked, “Xiao Ying, you went to find Zhang Kuo just now, right? Did you congratulate him? What did he say?”

“Oh, I went, but I didn’t see him,” Gu Ying replied without even looking up.

“Really? I see.” Sun Lan immediately felt relieved, like a weight had been lifted from her heart.

Not seeing him was probably for the best—seeing him would’ve just been awkward.

Truthfully, Sun Lan wanted to tell Gu Ying not to bother with Zhang Kuo anymore. But seeing how calm Gu Ying always looked, she never found the words. She didn’t know what Gu Ying was really thinking.

Did she really not care? Or was she holding it in?

Either way, this current state was the best outcome. At least Gu Ying hadn’t collapsed emotionally over Zhang Kuo’s engagement. That was good.

Sun Lan let out a silent sigh and turned to leave.

As she turned, she noticed that the Chinese knot decoration, once prominently hung in the room, was gone.

Her heart skipped a beat. If she remembered correctly, that knot had been a gift from Zhang Kuo.

Did Gu Ying put it away? Or throw it out?

The momentary peace in Sun Lan’s heart was now filled with a creeping unease. Gu Ying’s calmness suddenly felt like the silence before a storm.

Standing in the doorway, Sun Lan hesitated for a long time before asking in as calm a tone as she could, “Xiao Ying, wasn’t there a Chinese knot by your window? What happened to it?”

“Threw it out. Into the coal stove,” Gu Ying replied.

Sun Lan quickly walked to the coal stove and lifted the kettle that had been heating on it. Sure enough, on the glowing red coals was a melted black lump, releasing a pungent, acrid smell.

She put the kettle back and slowly returned to the room entrance, quietly standing there, one hand resting on the doorframe, eyes filled with tenderness as she watched Gu Ying.

Whether Gu Ying noticed or not was unclear. Her head stayed down, busy with her craftwork.

Time slipped by in silence.

Eventually, Sun Lan realized it was time to prepare dinner. She shifted slightly and found her legs had gone numb from standing so long.

She leaned on the doorframe and rubbed some spit on her eyebrows—a folk trick said to quickly relieve numbness.

Just as she was doing this, Gu Ying suddenly called out to her. Sun Lan instinctively looked up and saw Gu Ying still with her head bowed, though her hands had stopped moving.

Gu Ying was kneeling by the window, her hands resting on her knees, eyes lowered and dark.

She spoke, “Mom, can I ask you a question?”

Sun Lan responded instinctively, “What is it?”

Gu Ying lifted her head. Her dull eyes stared unblinkingly at Sun Lan. Her tone was extremely serious: “Mom, do you think I’m a burden?”

Sun Lan’s softened expression instantly tightened. Her heart felt like it had been stabbed, and she was momentarily speechless.

Gu Ying went on, listing everything calmly: “I’ve been weak and sickly since I was a child. Especially in winter—I had to drink Chinese medicine almost every day. Our family wasn’t well off, and I was a financial burden.”

“I’d cough in the middle of the night, couldn’t sleep. You couldn’t sleep either. I didn’t have to go to work the next day, but you did. Later, you even stopped working and only did odd jobs.”

“Every year when winter was getting too hard to endure, you’d send me to Grandma’s place in the countryside. Sometimes I wonder, did you also think I wasn’t going to make it, so you sent me far away?”

“And every time…”

“That’s enough!” Sun Lan sharply interrupted her.

Her trembling body suddenly lunged forward and wrapped Gu Ying in a tight embrace, tears streaming uncontrollably from her eyes.

“Don’t say anymore. Our family’s situation wasn’t good, but it wasn’t your medicine that dragged us down. Your dad’s cigarette and alcohol money every month was enough to cover your medication.”

“I stopped working and switched to doing odd jobs because of your dad. It had nothing to do with you. Back then, your dad’s status hadn’t been restored, so I couldn’t hold onto any proper job. I could only do menial work.”

“As for sending you to your grandma’s every winter, it was because we couldn’t afford to burn coal for heat 24/7 in the city. At your grandma’s, they could burn firewood in the stove all day. Sending you there was so you could make it through the winter.”

Sun Lan’s voice trembled as she recalled those old memories, her tone revealing a panic even she didn’t realize.

After she finished, she briskly wiped the tears from her face and looked solemnly at Gu Ying: “Don’t overthink things. You are not a burden to this family. So you have to promise me—don’t say foolish things again, and definitely don’t do anything foolish.”

Buried in Sun Lan’s arms, Gu Ying poked out her head and stared straight at the woman before her. Her bright eyes held a hint of mischief: “Mom, who said I was going to do anything foolish?”

“Then why were you saying all those weird things just now?” Sun Lan was so scared by Gu Ying’s earlier words that she nearly had a heart attack.

Gu Ying sneaked a glance at Sun Lan’s reddened eyes, feeling both guilty and a little distressed.

She hugged Sun Lan tightly, burying her head in the crook of her mother’s arm, and mumbled, “Turns out only family doesn’t find me a bother.”

Hearing the rare trace of grievance in her daughter’s voice, Sun Lan immediately understood what was going on. She patted Gu Ying’s back gently, coaxing her like a child: “Your brother saved you some meat slices yesterday. I’ll go heat them up for you, okay?”

The coal in the stove burned brightly. The meat slices were tossed into the pan and stir-fried a few times, quickly giving off an enticing aroma.

The delicious smell of meat drifted with the air, spreading throughout the entire courtyard.

On her way back from taking out the trash, Zhang Dongling caught a whiff of the scent as a breeze blew by. She stood still, sniffed a few times, and couldn’t figure out whose home was cooking such delicious food.

Whoever it was must be a good cook—this smell was even better than when she cooked herself.

Another gust of wind passed, and the aroma vanished. Zhang Dongling walked home reluctantly.

Gui Xiangrong was sitting in the living room reading the newspaper. When he saw her come in, he pointed to the teacup next to him: “It’s empty.”

Zhang Dongling rolled her eyes at him. “If it’s empty, can’t you pour it yourself? Do I owe you a lifetime of servitude?”

Grumbling as she did, Zhang Dongling still picked up the warm water flask at her feet and filled the empty teacup with steaming water.

After pouring the water, she set the flask down and glanced toward the bedroom door. She nudged Gui Xiangrong with her foot and asked, “Has Xiwen not come back yet?”

Gui Xiangrong replied absentmindedly while reading the evening paper, “Mm.”

Zhang Dongling sighed quietly.

Ever since Ming Xue broke off the engagement, Gui Xiwen had been in low spirits. Now that Ming Xue was marrying Zhang Kuo—everyone in the courtyard knew about it. If Xiwen heard the news, he’d surely be devastated.

Thinking of this made Zhang Dongling feel irritable. Seeing Gui Xiangrong calmly reading the paper made her even more annoyed.

She snatched the paper from his hands and suddenly lashed out, “All you care about is reading, reading, reading! Don’t you care about your son at all? He’s still not back—have you even asked once?”

Gui Xiangrong calmly took the newspaper back and replied unhurriedly, “He’s a grown man. Doesn’t he know how to find his way home?”

Zhang Dongling was hot-tempered and always did things in a rush. Unfortunately, Gui Xiangrong was her complete opposite—slow and steady. Every time they talked, she felt like she’d explode from anger.

“This isn’t about knowing the way home! Haven’t you heard that Ming Xue is getting married to Zhang Kuo next month? Xiwen must be feeling awful. And you, as his father, don’t even care a bit.”

Gui Xiangrong adjusted his glasses and said blandly, “You were the one who cared too much and agreed to the Ming family in the first place. I don’t think there’s anything to worry about.”

“You—Gui Xiangrong, are you blaming me now? Saying it’s all my fault for agreeing to the engagement? Don’t you dare! Didn’t you agree back then too? Weren’t you supportive? Now you’re pinning the blame on me?”

Zhang Dongling grabbed the paper again, looking ready for a fight.

Gui Xiangrong looked at her and sighed helplessly. He didn’t try to take the paper back this time, just calmly took a sip from his teacup.

Just as Zhang Dongling was about to continue her tirade, the sound of hurried and familiar footsteps came from outside—Gui Xiwen was back.

Zhang Dongling quickly shoved the paper back into Gui Xiangrong’s hands. Now that her son had returned, she had no energy to spare on her husband. She rushed forward and grabbed Xiwen’s arm, asking anxiously, “Where were you? Why are you getting home later and later? Are you hungry? I saved food for you.”

As she spoke, she was about to get up and prepare the meal, but Gui Xiwen grabbed her hand.

He pressed her into the chair and said calmly, “I want to discuss something with you.”

“D-Discuss what?” Zhang Dongling stammered, a strange nervousness rising in her.

These past days, Gui Xiwen had kept calm—he hadn’t caused trouble for Zhang Kuo, nor confronted Ming Xue. But as his mother, she knew this wasn’t his nature. He was definitely holding something in.

Now that he suddenly said he wanted to discuss something, her heart leapt to her throat—it felt like all her pent-up anxiety was finally reaching a breaking point.

On the side, Gui Xiangrong remained calm as ever, holding the newspaper without saying a word.

Gui Xiwen glanced at him, then leisurely sat down on the chair beside him. “I want to get married.”

Boom—like a sudden clap of thunder crashing into the house.

Zhang Dongling sat frozen in place, her mind in a complete fog, unable to think at all.

It took her a long while to come back to her senses. Her eyes widened in disbelief. “You want to get married? To whom?”

Before Gui Xiwen could answer, a name immediately popped into Zhang Dongling’s mind. She looked certain, as if she had uncovered some great secret. “Is it that college student who came looking for you last time?”

Gui Xiwen was stunned. “What college student?”

Someone had come looking for him at home? Why didn’t he know?

Zhang Dongling told the truth: “Your college classmate. I think her name was Wu Yujing. She said you were classmates and made a special trip to visit, even brought some things with her. It’s a pity you weren’t home at the time. I remember she was quite pretty—fair-skinned, tall, with rosy cheeks. She looked healthy, and she was very well-mannered and polite.”

Gui Xiwen’s face turned a bit dark. “It’s not her. It’s—”

Zhang Dongling quickly interrupted, sounding a bit regretful. “It’s not her? I thought she was a great match. If not her, then it must be that girl from the textile factory, the one who’s a year younger than you?”

Gui Xiwen was confused. “Who’s that now?”

Zhang Dongling went on excitedly, “That girl from the textile factory—you forgot? She came to our compound to ask about you. Said you once helped her and she’s always remembered it. I thought she was quite nice too. Very good-looking, tall and fair-skinned. She didn’t go to college, but she’s articulate and clever—definitely the type who can manage a household.”

Gui Xiwen frowned and thought hard for a while but couldn’t recall anyone like that. He grew a little agitated. “I really don’t remember helping anyone.”

“Oh, oh! I know now, it must be—”

Zhang Dongling spoke confidently this time, but Gui Xiwen cut her off immediately. “Stop guessing. It’s Gu Ying.”