Chapter 19
Gu Xi had abandoned her pride and devoted herself to the Gu family for ten long years before she finally began to grasp the hidden truths. Otherwise, she could never understand why Gu Changan borrowed resources from the Gu family to accomplish certain tasks, yet returned far more than he had taken. How could such a man be seen as a threat worthy of being eliminated by the Gu family?
It was only ten years later, when the second master Gu—now a high-ranking official—spoke the truth after a night of drinking, that Gu Xi realized his position should have rightfully belonged to her uncle.
At that moment, Gu Xi struggled to control her overwhelming emotions. She wanted nothing more than to raze this corrupt and filthy Gu family to the ground, to tear apart every last one of them—old and young alike. Gu Tiancheng, Gu Mingzhu, those heartless family members who trampled on their own flesh and blood for their own gain, she vowed to make them pay a hundredfold, a thousandfold.
Under the harsh light, a trace of ferocity flickered across Gu Xi's face.
A soft voice from the doorway startled her. "Xixi, are you feeling alright?"
"Second Aunt?" Gu Xi blinked and returned to herself, turning to smile at the woman at the door. "Why are you here?"
"Your mother went back to cook and asked me to stay with you for a while." Wei Xiangxiu saw that her niece's expression had softened and guessed that Gu Xi must be suffering silently to appear so composed.
"Second Aunt, please sit down." Gu Xi shifted on the bed to make room.
"You rest well. I'll just sit on the stool here." Wei Xiangxiu gently covered Gu Xi with the blanket and smiled. "You've been in the hospital for a few days now. You have to eat well and stop staying up all night playing computer games."
"Second Aunt, I wasn't playing computer games," Gu Xi said with a teasing pout.
"Alright, alright," Wei Xiangxiu chuckled as she adjusted the IV drip, "Xixi didn't play games—it was your cousin's fault."
Gu Xi nodded playfully. "Yes, it's all my cousin's fault."
"You little rascal!" Wei Xiangxiu laughed warmly.
She slowed the drip and raised the air conditioner temperature. Then, carefully covering the infusion tube with her hand to keep Gu Xi's arm warm, she settled in beside her.
Seeing her second aunt care so attentively, Gu Xi's heart ached. In her previous life, to avoid dragging her second aunt into the mess, she had shut herself off coldly, refusing to visit or acknowledge that side of the family for years. Even when she ran into her cousin in Beijing, she clenched her teeth and pretended not to know him.
When her cousin Zhan Mingyuan recognized her despite the heavy makeup, he asked her with distress if she was facing any difficulties. Gu Xi responded coldly, claiming he had mistaken her identity. To drive him away, she shamelessly clung to Ji Feiyang in front of him, flattering him shamelessly.
Zhan Mingyuan stared at her self-abasement with pain and disappointment in his eyes—and a deep anger that she wouldn't fight back. In a hoarse voice, he shouted, "If my uncle were alive, he would never let his precious daughter endure such humiliation! People like you don't deserve to bear the Gu family name!"