Chapter 29: Filing a Complaint

Fu Chang’an instinctively accepted the duck egg Gu Yuzhu handed to him. It was plump and round, snowy white, even carrying a bit of lingering warmth and a tiny strand of white down feather.

The little girl smiled so brightly her eyes curved into slits. “Brother Fu, you’re going off to school now. My brother and I won’t be able to play with you anymore. Take care, and come visit us again on your next break, okay?”

Fu Chang’an was stunned for a moment. In his pitch-black eyes, a hint of a smile slowly emerged. “Mm, okay.”

Saying that, the pine-like young boy turned and walked away. Of course, he also took with him the culprit—the duck egg.

Han Hui stood there, dumbfounded, watching Fu Chang’an’s departing figure, completely stunned.

Gu Yuzhu glanced at her and scoffed inwardly. Hah! Silly kid. Who can’t play that game?

Sure, Fu Chang’an was good-looking, but Han Hui was only five years old. She didn’t even understand what “handsome” meant. At that age, kids hadn’t even reached the stage of romantic awareness. She was simply stunned—was that all it took?

To be fair, Han Hui had seen that duck egg first—or so she claimed—but her so-called “first” wasn’t exactly that early. Gu Yuzhu had randomly sat down on a rock and casually placed her hand down. Almost the moment her hand touched the egg, Han Hui, who had been standing far off, spotted it with her sharp little eyes.

In reality, that duck egg was white and smooth, nearly the same color as the pebbles along the riverbank. If it hadn’t landed in a patch of grass with a contrasting color, it wouldn’t have been easy to spot at all.

What’s more, people in the village all knew someone raised ducks down at the riverbank. Sometimes there were even wild ducks and pheasants nesting around, so naturally, many people came looking for eggs here. With so many eyes on this patch of land, it wasn’t easy for a kid to “get lucky” and find an egg.

So Gu Yuzhu was quite lucky, actually.

Gu Yuzhu didn’t know if her adoptive father—the old Taoist—had real skills or was just a swindler pretending to be mystical. But truthfully, in any lifetime, she’d never been mistreated. Whatever was hers, the old Taoist had never withheld. He even told her that as a girl, she must never shortchange herself or sell herself just because she was short on money.

In her previous life, after turning eighteen and before graduating from college, the old Taoist had even given her a hefty “dating fund” just so she could maintain her dignity in relationships and never have to suffer a guy pointing fingers at her after a breakup saying, “You used my money, ate my food…”

In this life, it was even better. Yan Fengru treated her like the apple of her eye. So Gu Yuzhu didn’t feel bad about giving away that duck egg.

Duck eggs had a bit of a strong smell, and some people couldn’t handle the flavor. Duck meat was the same—it needed special preparation to taste good. Because of this, not many people raised ducks in the village. Chickens were more common.

Even when saved up and sold at market, duck eggs didn’t fetch as good a price as chicken eggs. In other words, unless your household was so poor you couldn’t even put food on the table, duck eggs weren’t a big deal. But finding one on the riverbank was different.

Han Hui hadn’t initially been determined to pick up a duck egg, but seeing her disliked little aunt find one and then give it to an “outsider” like Fu Chang’an made her feel utterly wronged.

Feeling incredibly aggrieved, Han Hui went straight home and tattled to her mother, Gu Caihe. Now, Han Hui was quite different from her mother. With Gu Caihe’s intelligence level, it was a wonder she gave birth to someone as clever as Han Hui—but she had. Han Hui bit her lip, looking like she was about to cry, speaking in a hesitant, faltering tone. Combined with Gu Changwen’s verbal additions, the story became completely distorted.

To Gu Caihe, it sounded like this: her stepmother’s illegitimate daughter had snatched away the duck egg that rightfully belonged to her own daughter and had even given it to some random outsider—without sparing a thought for her own nephew, Gu Changwen. What a shameless act! Oh, Yan Fengru, what a fine daughter you’ve raised!

Her daughter and her brother’s son were both being bullied. Could this matter be allowed to slide? Absolutely not!

Gu Caihe, fuming with anger, egged her husband Han Zhengqing on. She also called her brother Gu Qingshan and dragged along Han’s two younger brothers. A whole group of them charged toward the Yan household with great momentum.

Gu Dapeng tried everything to stop them. His mouth, already not very eloquent, was practically worn out trying to explain—but it was all useless.

“Caihe, it’s just kids’ stuff. Is it worth making such a big scene? It’s just a duck egg. So what if it was given away? No need to blow this out of proportion.”

If Yan Fengru had been there, she would’ve immediately recognized how familiar Gu Dapeng’s tone and attitude were. So really, it wasn’t that Gu Dapeng particularly cared about the two kids his ex-wife had left behind. He was just used to playing the good guy. Flesh is flesh, after all—both sides were his children. As long as no one was hurt, he didn’t want drama. Last time it was Gu Qingshan and Gu Caihe, now it was Gu Yuzhu and Gu Qingbai—same story.

But Gu Caihe couldn’t understand her father’s goodwill.

“Dad, you call this a small matter? That so-called little sister of mine is supposed to be an adult! How can she fight with Huihui over something? And don’t forget—Huihui went to pick up that duck egg for who? For your precious grandson, Changwen!”

“Changwen is about to leave for school. Huihui couldn’t bear to see him go, so she went to find him an egg. That was her heartfelt gesture. And Gu Yuzhu, as the aunt, how could she do something so shameless?”

“Dad, I know—when there’s a stepmother, there’s always a stepfather too. Ever since that Yan Fengru showed up, our family hasn’t felt like a real family. Now you think I’m in the wrong, don’t you? Well, I’m not letting this go! I, Gu Caihe, am not someone who can be bullied!”

Partly, Gu Caihe did want to stick up for her daughter—but wasn’t she also using this as an excuse?

Just days ago, her family had been split. That woman Yan Fengru had taken all the silver and a large portion of household goods—things that should’ve belonged to her brother Gu Qingshan. Now that woman and her illegitimate children were enjoying the spoils, and still dared to bully her daughter?

Unforgivable!

Gu Dapeng wasn’t good with words. After being scolded by his daughter like that, he couldn’t even get a full sentence out. Meanwhile, Li-shi watched coldly from the side, wondering how much of Gu Caihe and Han Hui’s version of the story was even true. Still, she thought it was sweet of Han Hui to want to find an egg for her son.

Since she was heavily pregnant, she didn’t get involved. But of course, she didn’t stop Gu Caihe from stirring the pot either.

Unable to stop his daughter, son-in-law, and the two Han brothers, Gu Dapeng quickly cut through the small paths toward his wife’s family, hoping to give Yan Fengru a heads-up.

When Gu Yuzhu heard what was happening, she was completely dumbfounded. She had never seen anyone so shameless! She’d clearly picked up that duck egg first, okay?

Even if Han Hui had seen it too—so what? Gu Yuzhu already had it in her hand before Han Hui came over! This was like paying for an item at the store and someone suddenly rushing over to accuse you of stealing it…

It was absolutely ridiculous!