Chapter 261: Sweeping the Floor and Going Out

Jiang Lai and Xiao Qian also turned back with Ke Zhongying, and in front stood a middle‑aged man in a grey sweater wearing glasses.

Jiang Lai heard Ke Zhongying call him: "Uncle Gu Hui."

It turned out they were members of the Gu family.

But only he was present.

"Chongying, are you and your friends here for a meal?" Gu Hui glanced at the two people beside Ke Zhongying, and the moment he saw Jiang Lai, his gaze suddenly halted.

Jiang Lai realized he was staring at her, and gave a slight nod as a courtesy.

"Yes, we're eating at Mujiang Terrace; a few friends haven't arrived yet, so we'll wait here. Uncle Gu Kuo, are you coming with Uncle Gu Sen?"

"Yes, we're in A City on business. Director Gu has an afternoon tea appointment with your brother at Chengxin Pavilion, so I came by first." Gu Hui said to Ke Zhongying, then his eyes fell again on Jiang Lai's face, "What should I call this lady?"

Ke Zhongying slipped an arm around Jiang Lai: "She's Jiang Lai, my good friend; the other is Xiao Qian, Jiang Lai's sister's junior disciple."

"Miss Jiang Lai, hello." Gu Hui gave a brief greeting, then entered Chengxin Pavilion; as he reached the doorway he turned back to glance at Jiang Lai's back.

He seemed lost in thought.

Jiang Lai sensed someone watching her; when she turned, her eyes met Gu Hui's, and he gave her a faint, very kindly smile.

Why do all the Gu family members like to stare at her for no reason?

First Gu Yinxue, now this one.

Ke Zhongying saw her puzzlement and said, "That was Uncle Gu Hui just now, a distant cousin of Uncle Gu Sen, also the paternal uncle of Gu Zhiyan and Gu Yinxue. He's from a side branch of the Gu family, not a true Gu family member; he works in the Gu family's company, which is why he called Uncle Gu Sen 'Director Gu' just now, not something else."

"Although Uncle Gu Sen is a businessman, he's from the Gu main line; many people want to use his connection to reach other members of the Gu family, so wherever they go they usually need someone to scout ahead."

Jiang Lai: "So he came ahead of them?"

Ke Zhongying nodded: "Yep, probably another hour or two before Uncle Gu Sen and my brother arrive at Chengxin Pavilion."

As soon as the words fell, Chi Ce and Fu Daxiaojie walked over; Zhong Lü and Assistant Zhou also parked their cars and came in, and the group entered the private room of Mujiang Terrace.

Within five minutes of sitting down, dishes began to arrive one after another.

Ke Zhongying intended to open champagne, but Assistant Zhou reminded, "Miss, don't make General Ke worry about you and Miss Jiang."

Ke Zhongying pursed his lips: "Is our alcohol tolerance that low?"

Assistant Zhou smiled without replying.

Jiang Lai couldn't help laughing, and asked her, "What juice would you like?"

Ke Zhongying stopped pursing her lips, smiled and said, "Grape juice."

"Alright." Jiang Lai ordered grape juice for her and passed along the drinks menu.

While others were ordering drinks, Ke Zhongying whispered to Jiang Lai, "My brother specifically arranged Assistant Zhou to keep an eye on us, right?"

Jiang Lai gave her a look: "Ke Zhongyu said that in front of all of us to Assistant Zhou."

Ke Zhongying: "Chi…?"

After the dishes were set, Jiang Lai toasted everyone with juice in place of wine, also toasting herself.

Here the atmosphere was harmonious, while at the hospital the mood was full of complaints.

Ji Lao had already been taken to the hospital twice by Lin Shutong's anger; this time it was worse, on a respirator, still unconscious.

It was the same hospital as before, with the same doctors; the doctor repeatedly warned the crowd that the elderly man could not be easily provoked.

Lin Fu and Lin Mu bowed their heads, unable to straighten their backs, especially Lin Mu, who felt ashamed to face her younger brother and sister‑in‑law.

The younger brother and sister‑in‑law already held grudges against her; now they showed no pretense, giving cold stares, and even after their father showed signs of waking, they wouldn't let her and her husband enter the ward.

The couple could only watch from the ward's doorway.

Until their daughter rushed over.

Lin Mu looked at her daughter, raised her hand and gave her a hard slap; the imprint of the slap quickly rose on her face, displacing her features.

"Lin Shutong, how could you degrade yourself so! How could you do such vile and shameless things!"

Lin Shutong for the first time dared not refute her parents.

She could only endure.

Otherwise who would rescue her from fire and water.

Lin Shutong knelt: "Dad, Mom, it's my fault, I'm an unfilial daughter, I did a messed‑up thing that made you angry, causing Grandfather to fall ill."

"But…" she looked up, eyes red, "I've already been punished: not only removed from the Self-developed Chip Project Team, but also branded a homewrecker, now the child is gone, my body also…"

Lin Shutong choked several times.

This was a result she had never imagined.

The doctor's remark that it would be hard to have another child was no different from a diagnosis of infertility; the doctor simply couldn't state it definitively.

Lin Fu, seeing his daughter weeping, felt both pain and anger: "The Self-developed Chip Project was never for you to join; losing it just returns you to normal. You needn't feel aggrieved about this, the rest…"

He could not finish the sentence.

"Your daughter is the third party that destroys other families, yet she shamelessly uses a married man's money."

"Whether the child was aborted or the body injured, it's a half‑payback."

Lin Fu was heart‑broken, clasped his wife's shoulder, fearing she might faint from anger as well.

"Ask which normal parents could accept their children being so disrespectful of themselves, so lacking self‑love, with such crooked hearts!"

"Dad, Mom, I'm wrong, I'm really wrong!" Lin Shutong knelt forward, looked up at her parents, "Please forgive me, I'm your only daughter!"

Lin Mu, eyes red, "Lin Shutong, I truly… truly…"

The latter half lingered unsaid.

The child was a piece of her heart that fell from her own body, and she could not bear to utter such a cruel sentence.

Lin Mu turned her head away, wiped her tears, and asked, "What was the verdict?"

Lin Shutong lowered her head.

Lin Fu and Lin Mu immediately understood: the court ordered her to return everything in full.

Also, the evidence is solid; being able to win would be the problem.

"Dad, Mom, how is Grandpa doing? Can I go in to see him?" Lin Shutong didn't dare tell her parents that the marital joint property she had to repay was nearly 200 million, more than the amount stated in the lawyer's letter she had received earlier.

Lin Mu snapped: "I can't even go in to see my own father."

Lin Shutong frowned: "Is this Aunt's doing? How could Aunt act like this!"

Lin Mu: "Why couldn't she? She's just looking out for your grandfather, afraid that if we go in we'll aggravate him."

Lin Shutong choked.

The tightness in her chest worsened.

At that moment, the ward door opened.

The person who stepped out was Lin Shutong's uncle, the Ji Family uncle, gazing at his kneeling niece, already seeing the slap mark on her face, he then dealt her another solid slap.

"Lin Shutong, if anything happens to your grandfather, you and your parents will never again dare to set even a foot inside the Ji Family gate."

"Old man, after all his hard work raising you, he's raised such a shameless good-for-nothing; I've heard about what happened in court, I've already had the maid send all your belongings back to your home—don't bother coming over again lightly."

Lin Shutong's pupils shrank; she had grown up in the Ji Family since childhood, her food, lodging, and clothing were better than her male cousin's, her educational and social resources constantly tilted toward her, yet she was actually being thrown out?