Chapter 283: Bad Women Get Everything

Ji Lao had already awakened; this time he did not hear his granddaughter's loud shouting and commotion, but instead a faint, threadlike call. Learning that she had been kneeling at the door of his hospital room for two days, he furrowed his brow.

His daughter-in-law, peeling an apple nearby, said, "Her? This kneeling of hers is half sincere and half fake. When you, old man, sent her abroad and paved the way for her, she was living it up overseas—how come she didn't think then about betraying your cultivation of her? She was just relying on your status, thinking she could effortlessly rise all the way up."

Ji Lao stayed silent without speaking.

His daughter-in-law had never been able to stand Lin Shutong and continued, "If she truly had this filial devotion, she should go face Dr. Jiang herself, instead of letting her parents swallow their pride and go groveling. Professor Lin and our Professor Ji are both people of principle, and technically they're Dr. Jiang's elders, yet now they go bowing and scraping before her."

His son beside them nudged his wife's elbow, and only then did she stop, saying no more.

His son asked him, "Shutong can't just keep kneeling like this. Would you like to call her in?"

He said nothing.

His son said again, "Then I'll go call her in."

He still said nothing.

Before long, Lin Shutong walked in, her face deathly pale and her figure gaunt. Ji Lao on the bed took one look and still felt somewhat pained at heart, but the moment he recalled every scene he had seen in court and every word he had heard, all that remained in his heart was anger.

"Grandpa..." Lin Shutong came to the bedside with tear-filled eyes, took Ji Lao's hand and knelt beside the bed, repeating over and over: "I was wrong, I was really wrong. Grandpa, don't be angry anymore. Anger is bad for your health. Every fault is my fault. I don't ask you to forgive me, but please don't ruin your health with anger."

Her voice was hoarse; at first listen, she truly sounded like a filial granddaughter.

But the woman beside them gave a cold, mocking smile: "If you truly had filial devotion, you'd show up less in front of your grandpa. Go quickly and clean up all this mess of yours—transfer what should be transferred, return what should be returned—and then think about how to turn over a new leaf, how to walk the road ahead in a way worthy of your grandpa's years of careful cultivation. Crying and kneeling are meaningless."

"Auntie, I'm just worried about Grandpa." Lin Shutong acted as though she couldn't understand plain speech.

The woman rolled her eyes again: "Fine, then be filial to your grandpa. Being filial doesn't mean holding your hand out for money—it means actively giving money, got it?"

Lin Shutong bit the tip of her tongue to make her tears flow even more fiercely, lowered her eyes, and said, "I know."

The woman stood up: "Good as long as you know."

She then pulled her husband out, quickly urging him: "Keep a close eye on the safe and the valuables at home during this time! Especially Dad's things."

The man frowned: "Is that necessary? She wouldn't go so far as to steal from her own family."

The woman: "Pah! If your niece had even a shred of decency, she wouldn't have ended up where she is. Come on, let's go back. We'll come back later to deliver dinner."

The two spoke at a volume neither loud nor soft, as if deliberately letting Lin Shutong hear. Lin Shutong was filled with shame and indignation, yet could only keep her head down, looking as though she had no complaints whatsoever.

Over the next two days, Lin Shutong indeed did not bring up the matter of money at all. She simply devoted herself to caring for Ji Lao—fetching medicine, giving him water, wiping his body—without the slightest hesitation. It was just that her whole person had become terribly haggard, making one's heart ache a little to see.

The silent Ji Lao finally could not bear it and spoke his first words to her: "It's not as if there are no caregivers."

Lin Shutong's nose stung with emotion.

This time the tears were truly genuine. She had grown up by her grandpa's side since childhood. The person who treated her best was her grandpa, and the person she was closest to in feeling was also her grandpa.

Her grandpa had never once ignored her; even when very angry, he would at least scold her a few words. But lately he hadn't said a single word, and her heart was both pained and panicked.

"Grandpa, you're finally willing to talk to me."

"I'm sorry, Grandpa. I failed your trust and your cultivation. I'm the one who made you so angry it harmed your health. It's all my fault. You can hit me or scold me, whatever you like—just don't truly ignore me, Grandpa. You're the only grandpa I have. I grew up by your side. You're the person closest to me, the very closest."

Every word and every sentence was deeply sincere.

Ji Lao's eyes showed some emotion, but he still did not relent, not bringing up a single word about the trial's outcome.

Lin Shutong lowered her eyes and likewise said nothing.

During the interval when she went to the bathroom to wash her hands, Gu Zhiyan sent her a message saying his father wanted to see her.

The Gu clan's President Gu wanted to see her?

Could it be that he also wanted to humiliate her?

No—the specific proceedings of the trial couldn't be looked up, and Gu Yinxue was still her ally, so he probably wouldn't know everything, right?

But even just singling out the fact of Shen Xun's affair with her and the requirement to return all shared marital property was enough to make an elder despise her.

She knew all too well how in powerful, influential families, the elders looked down on everyone from on high.

This was also the main reason she hadn't dared to pursue Gu Zhiyan back then, focusing instead on clinging to Shen Xun, who had been a hot commodity.

At this juncture, Lin Shutong did not want to go.

Or rather, she didn't dare to go.

Before her reputation was ruined, she would have dressed up elegantly and gone without hesitation.

Just as she was about to refuse, Gu Zhiyan said: 【Don't be afraid. My father is stern only with me; he's very kind to most people. Only by meeting my father in person can I make a move to help you—otherwise I can't explain my fund flows to him.】

Gu Zhiyan was going to give her money!

Lin Shutong's eyes brightened slightly. At that moment, Gu Yinxue also sent a message saying she would be there too.

Her disheartened self rekindled a small glimmer of hope.

Lin Shutong went before Ji Lao and said, "Grandpa, I might not be able to have dinner with you this evening. Zhi Yan said he has business and wants to take me out."

"The Eldest Son of the Gu Family invited you?" Ji Lao's first reaction was not happiness but puzzlement, not knowing what Gu Zhiyan's intentions were. But seeing Lin Shutong's slightly excited manner, the two didn't seem to be in any dispute.

"The Eldest Son of the Gu Family didn't ask about your trial?"

Lin Shutong's face went deathly pale. So Grandpa already looked down on her, feeling that because of those things at the trial, she no longer deserved the favor of a wealthy young master like Gu Zhiyan.

Except—she had exactly that ability.

They say bad women get everything.

She could get what she wanted.

"Grandpa, after I see Zhi Yan, I might also need to go to Yuan Shu Technology." Lin Shutong knew her grandpa had seen the photo of her and Lu Hongyuan in court, but it was just a photo, not a bed photo—and Lu Hongyuan would never let his own bed photos leak out.

She wanted to prove to her grandpa that Gu Zhiyan still liked her and that Yuan Shu Technology had not fired her.

Lin Shutong walked out with her head held high, but upon arriving at the restaurant of the hotel where the Gu family was staying, her whole being felt somewhat intimidated again.

If Gu Zhiyan's father genuinely wanted to see her, why would he choose the restaurant of the hotel he was staying at instead of picking a proper venue elsewhere?

While she was feeling anxious, Gu Yinxue walked over and said in a relaxed tone, "Shutong, over here."

Lin Shutong's state of mind upon seeing Gu Yinxue now was different from before. Gu Yinxue had witnessed all her ugliness in court, yet she still chose to help her—because of a common enemy, Jiang Lai—which showed that Gu Yinxue was no innocent, kind-hearted sort.

She needed to stay on guard.

And she needed to stay in her good graces.