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Chapter 29: Truly Unfilial

Gu Leyou ignored them and walked away with the child in her arms.

Meanwhile, Gu Mingyue led a large group of people to her second uncle and aunt’s house.

When they reached the door, she was about to knock, but Yang Shi stopped her.

Acting all high and mighty, Yang Shi said, “We’re relatives. No need to knock—why be so polite?”

“Then hurry up and have them open the door. Don’t dawdle. I’ve still got things to do when I get home,” said someone from the group.

With the go-ahead, Yang Shi raised her voice and shouted:

“Second brother’s family! Open the door! We need to speak with your daughter!”

“Open up! Don’t hide inside like you’ve done something shady!”

“Come out already! Are you really so guilty of your actions that you’re scared to show your face?”

They kept yelling outside the house.

Some kindhearted neighbors, fed up with the noise, came out and said, “Enough shouting! Stop disturbing my daughter-in-law—she’s in her postpartum confinement. No one’s home at their place right now. Yell all you want, they won’t be back for a while.”

Old Lady Gu was furious. Wasn’t that girl supposed to stay home and behave herself? Why did she run off again? What a worrisome child.

Suppressing her anger, the old lady asked the neighbor, “Sister, can you tell me where our second brother’s girl went? Did she say when she’d be back?”

“She didn’t say. I just saw her run off—must be something urgent. Maybe there’s trouble with the family she’s marrying into?”

The old lady calmed down a bit and scolded her daughter-in-law.

“I told you nothing was wrong! You insisted their family had something big going on. If something does happen to the family she’s marrying into, I won’t let you off the hook!”

After ranting, she turned and left without a backward glance.

Zeng Sibai and Liu Suyu exchanged looks.

Zeng Sibai was about to ask the aunt for help again, but Liu Suyu tugged at his sleeve to stop him.

Gu Mingyue, being clever, suggested to Yang Shi, “Mom, let’s head back for now. Since second uncle and aunt aren’t home, we’ll come back tonight. They’ll surely be home then—they can’t avoid us forever.”

Yang Shi nodded, and the group headed home.

On their way back, they passed by some people returning from the fields who began gossiping about what had just happened at the village entrance.

“Did you hear? That girl from the Gu family’s second branch has no sense of decency. She’s about to get married, yet still runs around all day—and even hangs around with that man’s kid. No shame at all.”

“Exactly! She’s probably holed up at the hunter’s house with the child right now. I don’t know what kind of upbringing the second branch gave her—she’s a disgrace to the whole village.”

Yang Shi overheard them and pulled one of the neighbors aside.

“The girl you’re talking about—is it really Gu Leyou from the second branch? Did you see it with your own eyes?”

“We saw her with our own eyes! She was carrying a child and left—probably looking for the kid’s father. If you head to the hunter’s house, you’ll probably still catch her there.”

Yang Shi was thoughtful. It seemed the second branch was intentionally avoiding them. Someone must’ve warned them; otherwise, how could they have dodged so easily?

So, she turned and headed in another direction.

Gu Mingyue wanted to follow but was stopped by Liu Suyu.

“Why are you stopping me? I want to see where my mom’s going.”

Zeng Sibai replied, “Isn’t it obvious? Your mom’s going after your sister.”

“You two head back first. I want to see what’s going on.”

She was about to follow when Liu Suyu pulled her back again.

“Don’t get involved. Let’s focus on figuring out how to ask your sister for the book. Leave her other business to your mom.”

Gu Mingyue took the advice and didn’t follow.

The three of them returned home.

When they got there, they heard Old Lady Gu’s angry yelling.

“All of you are unfilial! Everything I do is for your own good, yet none of you appreciate it. What is this family coming to? The Gu family must have done something awful in a past life to have such an ungrateful descendant! I told her not to go out, but she went anyway!”

Gu Mingyue stood frozen at the gate, afraid to enter.

She knew her grandmother’s temper. If she went in now, the old lady would surely vent all her anger on her—especially since she was a girl too.

Everyone knew the old lady preferred grandsons. No doubt about it.

Meanwhile, Yang Shi had arrived at the hunter’s house and was yelling at the top of her lungs:

“Gu Leyou, you shameless brat! Get out here! Stop embarrassing yourself! You’re not even married yet, and already running over here every few days! Have you no shame?”

“Get out here now! You know exactly what you’ve done!”

…

She kept shouting at the top of her lungs. Neighbors couldn’t bear to listen anymore and began gathering around to watch.

A kind elderly woman tried to calm things down: “Big daughter-in-law of the Gu family, why don’t you go home? No one’s answering from inside. If no one comes to the door, it means no one’s home. Yelling like this won’t help.”

But Yang Shi didn’t believe her. “Auntie, don’t lie to me. Someone saw our Leyou carrying the hunter’s kid. If she didn’t come here, then where else would she go? They’re definitely hiding inside because they know I came!”

No amount of persuasion could convince Yang Shi. Unless she saw the house empty with her own eyes, she wouldn’t believe a word.

Yang Shi was infamous in the village for being loud and unreasonable.

No one wanted trouble, but letting her continue causing a scene wasn’t an option either.

Just then, the hunter, Lu Yan, returned from hunting.

The neighbors looked at him like he was a savior.

“You’re just in time! Your son ran off with my niece. She’s in your house—open the door and let me bring her back!”

A nearby auntie chimed in, “This morning, your son told me he was going out to play. He hasn’t come back yet. I didn’t see that Gu girl come to your house either. Don’t argue with her anymore—go find your son!”

Upon hearing his son was missing, Lu Yan didn’t waste a second. He dashed off into the distance.

At first, when he saw the crowd around his house, he thought something bad had happened to his son. But now it turned out his son was missing—he had to find the boy quickly before things got worse.

Yang Shi tried to stop him from leaving, immediately blocking his path.

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