Chapter 199: Death from Illness |
Around dusk, Shen Guoguo brought Jiang Linyuan to a riverside.
A large bridge stretched across the river, while on the opposite bank stood buildings of varying heights—it was unclear whether they were residential areas or office complexes.
"Is this the Yongding River?"
Jiang Linyuan asked casually.
"No idea."
Shen Guoguo ran to the railing, leaned her entire body out, and squinted, first savoring the evening breeze: "Maybe it is."
"Aren't you a local? And you're the one who brought me here to wander around."
Jiang Linyuan walked up.
"Hehe."
"Actually, the places I've taken you to these past few days were all from online guides I checked. I don't even know what river this is myself."
"Then why'd you bring me here?"
Jiang Linyuan said.
"Don't you like it here?"
Shen Guoguo's voice was a little low.
"If I didn't like it, I'd have turned around and left a long time ago."
Jiang Linyuan ruffled her hair, then looked out at the river surface.
A few scattered pieces of ice floated lazily on it.
Guoguo was actually pretty sensitive too, just like the Department Head—except their types were different.
"Here for you..."
As he was thinking, Shen Guoguo's voice rang out again.
"A red envelope. I never gave it to you."
Turning sideways, Shen Guoguo clutched a red envelope in her hand and handed it to Jiang Linyuan.
So she actually meant it—thought she was just joking.
"Guoguo, if the Department Head finds out I accepted this, she's definitely going to chew me out."
Jiang Linyuan smiled but took the envelope anyway.
No point in going back and forth.
"Hmph."
Shen Guoguo put her hands on her hips, striking a dignified pose:
"The red envelope I gave you—what could Sister Wanyu possibly say about it?"
"I recorded that, you know?"
"...Really?"
Seeing Shen Guoguo's bitter melon of a face, convinced it was true, Jiang Linyuan couldn't help but laugh:
"Fake."
Lick Dog Jiang really needed to be put in his place!
Shen Guoguo puffed out her cheeks and said:
"After this, I'm not giving you any more red envelopes."
"That's fine. I'll ask the Department Head for one instead."
"...Then you promise—you have to go ask Sister Wanyu for it."
Shen Guoguo suddenly lifted her head, blinking:
"You can't not go to her. You can't abandon her. Can you promise me that?"
"Of course."
Jiang Linyuan leaned against the railing, gazing at the darkening twilight on the horizon.
"My request might be a bit unreasonable, but if Sister Wanyu ever decides to abandon Brother Jiang one day, could you just not mind it?"
Shen Guoguo snuck a glance at him and added.
Sure enough—that childlike act was all a facade.
"No can do. Then I'd just be a Lick Dog. Besides, the Department Head is all about fair transactions. If she threw me away, she'd have to give me some compensation. But she doesn't have anything left to give me right now."
Jiang Linyuan said.
"I can make it up to you on Sister Wanyu's behalf."
Shen Guoguo said.
"...Guoguo, I'd like to take in a few more views of this beautiful landscape—don't say things like that."
Jiang Linyuan shot Shen Guoguo a helpless look. Kids say the darndest things—he could understand that.
"Besides, even if the Department Head abandoned me, it's not like she'd necessarily end up worse off, right?"
That was a lie—just fishing for information.
After reading his Future Father-in-Law's mind, what was with that thought—"If it weren't for her, the Department Head would have gone back with her Future Mother-in-Law long ago"?
Future Mother-in-Law, ah, Future Mother-in-Law—you're the Department Head's deepest pain, too.
"It's different."
Shen Guoguo shook her head and looked at Jiang Linyuan:
"Sister Wanyu rarely does things for herself. Last time, with that banquet in Shanghai, Sister Wanyu only came because Aunt Xueyun told her to."
Huh? I thought it was because of me.
"Why did Auntie make the Department Head attend that kind of dinner?"
"Well, because she thinks Sister Wanyu is Dad's daughter."
Shen Guoguo said:
"Aunt Xueyun divorced Dad because of Sister Wanyu's identity."
What the hell?
If they don't divorce, the Department Head isn't Shen Pingyan's daughter anymore? Eat my blade, you jerk of a father-in-law!
What? You're calling me a jerk too? No problem—if I get chopped up one day, I've got no complaints.
"Is this 'identity' about things like custody of the kids?"
Jiang Linyuan probed.
"No, it's about being acknowledged as part of the family line—like being recorded in the genealogy."
Shen Guoguo said very seriously.
Unbelievable. Are people from Yanjing really that traditional?
What, does being on the genealogy mean some ancestor will teach them martial arts techniques in their dreams?
At most, it's just some inheritance rights or perks.
Jiang Linyuan couldn't help but ask:
"Is this stuff really that important?"
"No clue. Dad doesn't care about it either, but Grandpa and the others value it a lot."
Shen Guoguo looked as if she remembered something, with a hint of fear:
"During New Year's, Grandpa came to the door. Dad said that once Grandpa dies, he's going to remarry Aunt Xueyun and divorce my mom."
"That made Grandpa's beard shake with rage."
Wow, Future Father-in-Law—that's intense!
For him to push Future Father-in-Law to this point, who knows what that old man did to his marriage back in the day.
Tsk, that's not good. If Future Father-in-Law is this savage to his own father, what about me, his prospective son-in-law who hasn't even crossed the threshold yet?
Don't think about it, don't think about it. Sure, I'm of two minds, but I'm single-minded about the Department Head.
"Our dad sure is fierce."
Jiang Linyuan sighed.
"Our dad?!"
Shen Guoguo glared at him angrily.
This Guoguo, acting like nothing's wrong—you talk about your parents divorcing as if it's no big deal.
The Shen family really is full of filial children.
"Guoguo, aren't you worried about anything?"
Jiang Linyuan asked again.
"It's better if they divorce anyway. Right now, Mom and Dad only live together during New Year's, walk together at banquets, and the rest of the year, they don't even see each other."
Shen Guoguo said nonchalantly.
"That's not what I meant. I'm asking—what about you, Guoguo?"
"Me?"
She thought for a moment:
"Doesn't matter."
Either way, it's the same everywhere. If she goes with Dad, they barely talk every day. If she goes with Mom, they fight every day.
Jiang Linyuan wanted to reach out and touch Shen Guoguo's head, but she slapped his hand away.
"Stop touching my head."
Shen Guoguo looked at him and said earnestly:
"But this divorce is just Dad's idea. Aunt Xueyun doesn't want to disrupt Dad's stable life now because of her identity, and Sister Wanyu also hates Dad's behavior. In short, it's really contradictory."
"...Guoguo, how do you know so much?"
"When Mom scolds me, she can't help but trash-talk Sister Wanyu and Aunt Xueyun. I pieced it together from the scraps."
Shen Guoguo let out a long sigh.
What to say? Guoguo really has neither a mother's love nor a father's care.
"I'm okay. Sister Wanyu had it worse when she was little."
Shen Guoguo thought of something and said in a low voice:
"Back then, before Dad divorced, Grandpa and Mom both bullied Sister Wanyu and Aunt Xueyun. It was way more miserable than what I'm going through now."
"Actually, given Sister Wanyu's personality, she doesn't want anything to do with Dad. Aunt Xueyun knows that too, so after the divorce, she took Sister Wanyu back to Jinling."
Jiang Linyuan thought for a while and said:
"But now, the Department Head doesn't seem like that."
"You're an idiot. I've said so much, and you still don't get it?"
Shen Guoguo said indignantly.
I get it. But what can I do about it?
The Department Head is consumed by guilt—it's for her Future Mother-in-Law. If not for her, would her Future Mother-in-Law have lived a happier life?
Coming to Yanjing for New Year's, attending the banquet—it's all for that.
Her Future Mother-in-Law does this because she wants to see the Department Head live as Shen Pingyan's daughter.
She knows the Department Head hates Shen Pingyan, yet she still makes her do these things.
Her Future Mother-in-Law loves the Department Head. So what's the reason for doing all this?
Jiang Linyuan suddenly recalled a passage from the future book.
[Shen Wanyu's mother died of illness.]
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