Chapter 3

Yuan Wangyue knelt before her father and brothers, looking sweet and obedient. Tears fell from her eyes like pearls from a broken string.   “Father, Second Brother, I’m so happy that I can finally return to your side. From now on, I will be a filial daughter, respect my brothers, and listen to Father and my brothers.”   “Good!” Yuan Meiliang wept tears of joy. “If your mother were still alive and saw how sensible you've become, she could finally rest in peace.”   Yuan Shijun waved his fan, speaking excitedly. “As expected of a daughter of the Yuan family. Obedient, sensible, and well-behaved. She hasn't spent a single day with us, yet she already has such a deep bond with us! That other girl is simply an ungrateful wretch. We treated her so well, yet she left without a second thought.”   Yuan Meiliang nodded in agreement. “Blood ties are blood ties.”   Yuan Shijun smiled and snapped his fan shut. “Luckily, we've found our biological sister. Father, I'll go inform Big Brother and Third Brother right now. Let them come home tonight so we can welcome our sister properly. We must have a good celebration tonight.”   “Of course we'll celebrate!” Yuan Meiliang patted Yuan Wangyue on the shoulder, visibly excited. “Wangyue, what would you like to eat?”   Yuan Wangyue replied thoughtfully, “As long as I'm eating with Father and my brothers, I'll be happy with anything. I'm not picky.”   “Good girl. You suffered enough before. Now that you've returned to your own family, you don't have to deny yourself anymore.” Yuan Meiliang thought for a moment before saying, “Shijun, go reserve a table at Wangjiang Restaurant. We'll have a family reunion dinner.”   Yuan Shijun's eyes lit up.   Yuan Wangyue's eyes lit up as well.   Wangjiang Restaurant.   It was the most luxurious and expensive restaurant in Dexing County.   Ever since the fake Yuan Wangyue had taken over the household more than a year ago, she had immediately banned eating at restaurants. Everyone was required to eat at home, with only one meat dish, one vegetable dish, and one soup per person.   Their mouths had practically gone bland from it.   But now, things were different.   Their father was going to manage the household finances, so they would no longer have to live so frugally.   “Father, I'll go inform Big Brother and Third Brother right away. Sister, I'll see you at Wangjiang Restaurant tonight.”   At the entrance of the Yuan residence stood two boys of similar height and age. Both were fifteen years old.   One of them was very tall, with a slender oval-shaped face, round grape-like eyes, a straight, prominent nose, and bright red lips. Though he was dressed in a coarse padded jacket, it did nothing to diminish his elegant appearance.   At that moment, he was crying like a pear blossom in the rain.   “Second Brother, does Aruo really not want us anymore?”   The other boy had a firm, determined face. Though he was grieving as well, he stubbornly held back his tears. His somewhat thick, phoenix-shaped eyebrows swept toward his temples, and his eyes were sharp.   Compared with the first boy, he was slightly less handsome, but considerably more shrewd.   “Third Brother, don't cry. Aruo must be trying to fool us. She always likes to say things she doesn't mean when she's angry with us.”   Gu Er patted Gu San on the shoulder and comforted him.   Yet he himself didn't believe it.   His eyes remained fixed on the tightly closed gates of the Yuan residence.   Just moments ago, Aruo had entered through those very gates.   She had even said that she was a member of the Yuan family, not the Gu family, and that she was going back to find her biological father and brothers.   She was clearly the little sister they had watched being born, the one they had cherished and raised in the palms of their hands.   How had she suddenly become someone else's sister?   “Creak.”   The Yuan family's gates finally opened.   Gu Er immediately looked over. Gu San forgot all about crying and quickly wiped away his tears, staring toward the entrance.   But when they saw an unfamiliar girl around the same age as Yuan Wangyue emerge alone, and the gates slowly close behind her without anyone else coming out, the two of them looked visibly deflated.   Their disappointment was obvious.   But when Gu Qingluo reached them, they both forced themselves to cheer up.   Gu Er suppressed the sorrow in his heart and squeezed out a smile.   “You're Gu Qingluo?”   Gu Qingluo nodded. “I am.”   “I'm Gu Xingchu, your second brother.”   The second son of the Gu family—the one who became entangled with gamblers and was eventually beheaded by the imperial court.   “I'm Gu Yunqi, your third brother.”   Gu Qingluo glanced at Gu Yunqi.   Sure enough, he had the kind of face that could make even women want to commit a crime.   In the novel, he was noticed by the spoiled daughter of a wealthy family, who forced him to marry into her family.   Unfortunately, the young lady had a volatile personality and twisted tastes. She frightened Gu San so badly that he became impotent.   That wicked young lady then spread rumors everywhere that he was neither fully man nor woman and was incapable of being intimate with a woman.   She even openly cheated on him, and Gu San eventually threw himself into a lake and died.   “Aruo…”   Thinking about the little sister he had cherished for more than ten years, Gu Er still looked hopefully toward the Yuan family's gates.   Gu San did the same, staring at the gates as tears silently streamed down his face. His heart ached terribly.   Gu Qingluo sighed.   These people from the Gu family were far too sentimental.   Yuan Wangyue was the one who had abandoned them, yet now that the father and daughter, brothers and sister were inside happily exchanging affectionate words and laughter, these two were still standing outside sighing and lamenting.   “Can I go back to the Gu family?” Gu Qingluo asked calmly.   She had only just arrived in this world. She had no feelings for the Yuan family, and even less for the Gu family.   It was simply that these people from the Gu family were too pitiful.   Since she already knew how their lives would end, she could help one person if she could, save one person if she could.   At least then, she wouldn't have wasted the fate that had brought her together with the Gu family.   “Yes, yes, of course you can! Come on, Second Brother will take you back. Back… home.”   Gu Er and Gu San brought Gu Qingluo back to the Gu residence across the street.   It was only three or four hundred meters away, but the two boys looked back three times with every step, taking a full quarter of an hour to make the short journey.   Dexing County was divided into five areas: the central district, east, south, west, and north.   As the old saying went, purple qi comes from the east. East was considered the best direction.   Those who lived there were the powerful and wealthy families of Dexing County.   The north and south came next, while the western district was where the poor lived.   The Yuan family had a reasonably substantial fortune and lived in the northern district.   The Gu family was in the western district, with only one street separating them from the Yuan residence.   The circumstances of the two families were worlds apart.   Gu Qingluo stood at the entrance, silently looking at the home that consisted of only two tiled rooms, a kitchen, and a woodshed.   It was very simple, but it was also neat and orderly.   Thinking she disliked the place, Gu San hurriedly led her into the largest room.   “This was Aruo's room before. It's still yours now.”   The room had been cleaned spotless. Every piece of furniture and furnishing was in place, wiped clean and arranged neatly.   It was even better than the room she had lived in at the Yuan residence.   “Thank you, Third Brother.” Gu Qingluo nodded calmly, expressing her gratitude.   Hearing those words, Gu San froze for a moment before repeatedly waving his hands.   “N-no, you don't have to thank me. You… you rest for a while. I'll go out. I'll call you when it's time to eat.”   “Thank you.”   She said thank you again…   Gu San stumbled out of the room, his extraordinarily handsome face turning bright red with embarrassment.   Gu Er was boiling medicine.   “What happened to you? Why is your face so red?”   Gu San crouched beside him, nervously fiddling with his fingers.   “Second Brother, just now, Little Sister thanked me. She said thank you twice.”   “She thanked you?”   “Yeah. She thanked me. Do you think that means she doesn't consider us family?”   Gu San asked nervously.   “She lived with the Yuan family all this time, and this is the first time she's met us. How could she possibly consider us family right away? A couple of polite words only prove that the Yuan family raised her to be well-mannered.”   “Second Brother is right. Once we've spent more time together, she'll be like Aruo before, and she won't say thank you anymore.”   Little Sister had always said that brothers and sisters should help each other. Saying thank you only made them seem distant.   “Go see if Father is awake. We'll have to tell him about Little Sister sooner or later.”   Gu Er sighed.   Their father's illness was serious. He had been coughing for more than half a year. He took medicine every day, yet his condition hadn't improved in the slightest.   If anything, his coughing had only grown worse.   If he found out that the little sister he had always cherished with all his heart had left them, who knew how devastated he would be?   Gu Qingluo sat quietly in the room for a while before hearing a violent bout of coughing from outside.   “Cough, cough, cough…”   The coughing was so severe it sounded as though his lungs might be coughed up.   That was Gu Changchuan, Gu Qingluo's father.   He suffered from a chronic cough. Later, because he never received effective treatment, his condition worsened and developed into consumption. He died from the illness not long afterward.   This family…   Gu Qingluo sighed, pushed open the door, and looked up.   She saw Gu Er and Gu San supporting a thin but tall and dignified middle-aged man.   Their eyes met.   The middle-aged man's eyes suddenly widened, and he took a step backward.   The two men supporting him, Gu Er and Gu San, were equally shocked. They hurriedly helped Gu Changchuan retreat into the woodshed, as though they were afraid of upsetting Gu Qingluo.   “Cough, cough…”   Gu Changchuan's breathing caught.   The coughing that had just stopped started again, violently and uncontrollably.   His pale face instantly turned bright red, his chest heaving up and down as though he might lose consciousness at any moment.   Gu Qingluo's brows drew tightly together.   She rushed forward.   Gu Er and Gu San reacted as though facing a formidable enemy. They backed away and tried to shut the woodshed door.   Gu Qingluo pushed it open.   “Why are you closing the door? Move.”   She supported Gu Changchuan with one hand, curled her right hand into a hollow fist, found the proper points on his back, and struck firmly.   “Thump, thump, thump…”   Again and again, each strike rhythmic and forceful.   Gu Changchuan's coughing became even more violent.   Gu Er and Gu San stood helplessly to the side, unable to get close.   They could only stare in shock at Gu Qingluo standing pressed closely against their father.   She seemed completely unafraid that the illness might be contagious.   Not only was she standing close to him, she was touching him as well.   Wasn't this delicate young girl afraid of getting dirty?   When Gu Si returned home, he saw an unfamiliar young girl bullying his father.   His eyes went wide.   “Who are you? Why are you hitting my father?! I don't hit girls, so you'd better stop!”   Gu Qingluo gave him a calm glance.   Loud and boisterous, physically strong but simple-minded.   The fourth son of the Gu family, Gu Lingran.   She ignored him and continued patting her father's back to help him expel the phlegm.   One winter, her grandmother had suffered from a severe cough with phlegm stuck in her chest that she couldn't cough up.   Besides taking medicine to loosen the phlegm, she had also needed external assistance.   A doctor had taught Gu Qingluo a technique for patting the back to loosen the thick phlegm so it could gradually be coughed out.   What Gu Qingluo was using now was precisely the technique the doctor had taught her.   But she was using rather a lot of force, and her father's coughing looked frightening.   Gu Si therefore thought she was trying to kill his father.   Seeing that she was still striking him so hard, he rolled up his sleeves and moved forward, putting on a fierce expression.   “You're still doing it? Believe me, I'll really hit you!”   Gu Er and Gu San finally came to their senses and grabbed hold of him together.   “Fourth Brother, calm down, calm down. That's your sister.”   “What sister?” Gu Si shouted. “Whose sister?! Did you two rent out Old Master to someone as a punching bag?”   Good grief!   Had his family really become this poor?!