Chapter 377: Then Let's Be a Little Better to Her

Jiang Lai walked over, wrapped both arms around Ke Zhongyu's lean, powerful waist, and pressed her ear against his chest.

Ke Zhongyu, as if deliberately sulking, didn't hug her back right away, so Jiang Lai took his hand and wrapped it around herself herself—just like that night when she burrowed into his arms on her own, like a cool, quiet, yet clingy ragdoll cat.

"..." All of Ke Zhongyu's anger evaporated.

He had no way with her.

Ke Zhongyu let out a soft sigh, pulled the person in his arms closer, rested his chin on the top of her head, and told her: "It's fine to go back. I'm here—the Gu family won't dare wrong you."

Jiang Lai: "I don't seek the Gu family's approval, so I haven't given them the right to judge me. There's no question of being wronged or not."

Seeking someone's approval is giving them power.

Ke Zhongyu gave her waist a firm pinch: "That's only subjective. If they make you eat poorly and live poorly, doesn't that count as being wronged?"

"I'm not moving back." Jiang Lai remembered she hadn't yet told him the conditions for returning to the Gu family—now was the perfect time to tell him.

After hearing her conditions—not transferring her household registration, not changing her surname, and not living with the Gu family—Ke Zhongyu was mildly shocked, followed by a flicker of admiration.

This way, not only would the Gu family have no way to wrong Jiang Lai, but Jiang Lai would instead bring turmoil to the Gu family, especially Gu Sen's household.

The Gu family decided to hold a welcome banquet for Jiang Lai, aimed at taking her back in a high-profile manner. The Gu family wanted to borrow the glory on Jiang Lai, which simultaneously meant that Gu Yinxue, who had usurped another's nest, would have to step down from the position of the Gu family's eldest daughter.

If Jiang Lai didn't go back, even if both their identities were exposed—one not going back, the other still living at the Gu family's—who would the outside world guess was more important? And toward whom would public opinion and resources gravitate?

As one waned, the other waxed.

If Jiang Lai waned, Gu Yinxue waxed.

If Gu Yinxue waned, Jiang Lai waxed.

Gu Yinxue had already had it easy for twenty-eight years—did she still get to keep taking that advantage?

That wouldn't do.

"You've made an invisible deal with the Gu family." Ke Zhongyu looked down at her curled lashes, couldn't resist moving his fingertip gently closer, and finally let his finger land on the bridge of her nose, giving it a light scrape. His voice, which had just been gentle, turned deep again. "Still a big idea of your own. Mostly because of me."

Jiang Lai: "It's for myself."

Ke Zhongyu looked at her.

Jiang Lai: "I have to do something for us."

Ke Zhongyu: "What reason is the Gu family using to have you come back?"

Jiang Lai pursed her lips and didn't dare say it directly.

In that brief moment of hesitation, Ke Zhongyu already knew, and threw out a sudden sarcastic remark: "The Gu family's skin is thicker than a city wall. Only you agreed to go back."

"Ah." Jiang Lai parted her lips slightly and made a small sound. "We're having tangyuan tonight. Mo Yi said she made them herself—not the frozen kind from the supermarket."

"Mm."

"How many can you eat?"

"Mm."

"Mo Yi will make extra. Eat as many as you can."

"Mm."

No matter what Jiang Lai said, Ke Zhongyu just gave a faint "Mm," yet his eyes weren't cold—deliberately sulking.

Jiang Lai called out to him: "Ke Zhongyu, don't be unhappy."

Ke Zhongyu first pinched her chin, then his thumb and forefinger pinched the flesh of Jiang Lai's cheeks on either side, making her mouth pucker slightly.

"I'm just afraid you'll be unhappy dealing with them."

"If I'm unhappy, I'll tell you."

"Mm." Ke Zhongyu sensed that Jiang Lai had grown a little dependent on him, and felt quite happy inside. "If they make you unhappy, I'll make them unhappy."

Jiang Lai nodded: "Okay."

She left the office. Secretary Cen and Secretary Guan saw that she looked cheerful and immediately came over to ask if she had managed to soothe him.

Jiang Lai shook her head.

Secretary Guan: "You didn't soothe him?"

Jiang Lai: "I didn't."

Secretary Cen's red lips curved up: "Well then, President Ke soothed himself. Serves him right that President Ke can have a girlfriend."

Jiang Lai gave a light laugh. She had to get busy—leave work on time and go home to celebrate the Lantern Festival and eat tangyuan.

……

After it was confirmed that Jiang Lai would return, aside from Gu Sen who had mixed feelings, not a single one of the others was happy.

Not one of the three dared to face Jiang Lai.

Before the New Year, Song Shiwei pulled strings to meet Jiang Lai, but left in a hurry after barely two sentences, thinking that back in B City, far away, things would be fine. Who knew the old man wanted to bring her back.

If she couldn't even handle a brief meeting, seeing her every day would be unbearable.

Gu Zhiyan actually already believed that Jiang Lai was his real younger sister. He only said he needed a paternity test to acknowledge it, but really, he just didn't dare face the fact that he had once insulted Jiang Lai.

An orphan……

No father, no mother……

How was he supposed to face that?

Gu Yinxue went without saying. Once Jiang Lai returned, her status as a fake daughter would not only be confirmed, but on the day of the welcome banquet, it would be broadcast to everyone.

Jiang Lai, a national researcher.

Associate professor at A Da.

She, Gu Yinxue, might be a renowned photographer with an independent studio and a two-thousand-square-meter photography base in B City, but how could she compare with someone backed by the nation?

There was no comparison.

Furthermore, so many people knew her, which meant just as many people would learn that she was not the Gu family's daughter—that a mistake had been made twenty-eight years ago.

She had taken twenty-eight years of Jiang Lai's prosperous life, enjoyed twenty-eight years of advanced educational resources, and still couldn't match someone who had climbed up barefoot from Fuli Yuan?

Too ironic.

Even more ironic, Father has already begun instructing the servants to clean the rooms on the second floor; the second floor is only where she lives, the master bedroom is hers, and she can use the other rooms however she wishes, but now the two guest rooms have been knocked together, making them larger than her room.

All kinds of daily necessities, clothes and shoes, and a small study has been partitioned off, with monitor, mainframe, keyboard, ergonomic chair, etc., all set up, plus various types of books, pens, notebooks……

The Gu family's servants unpack deliveries every day, sending each item up to the second floor as instructed and placing them properly.

The servants, upon seeing her, address her as: "Second Miss."

Gu Yinxue stood on the spiral staircase, fingers resting on the railing, her lips pale.

Gu Sen saw her, gestured for the servants to continue, and waved to Gu Yinxue: "Yin Xue, come sit here on the sofa."

Gu Yinxue walked down step by step and called out: "Dad……"

Gu Sen responded with a sound, looking at her kindly: "Yin Xue, regarding the mix‑up years ago between Jiang Lai and you, I am sorry."

"Dad, I don't blame you; it was the nurse who mixed things up." Gu Yinxue lowered her head, "Dad, Jiang Lai will be back in a couple of days; I'll still move out."

Gu Sen: "No need, this is also your home; the Gu family can afford to raise several children."

Gu Yinxue kept her head down: "I'm afraid Jiang Lai will see me and feel uncomfortable, after all I've taken twenty‑eight years of her life."

Gu Sen gave no response, only saying: "Then we'll treat her a little better."

Gu Yinxue felt a lump in her throat.

I never expected it to be this sentence.

"I see." She nodded, quickly changing the subject: "How's my brother? He's seemed busy these past two days."

Gu Sen's thoughts lately have been entirely on Jiang Lai's return home; he's happy that his biological daughter has finally come back, but unhappy about the "mix‑up" excuse, leaving him no bandwidth to worry about his son.

"Maybe at the law firm." As Gu Sen's words fell, the servants' cries of "Young Master is back" came from nearby; he turned his head to look outside.

Gu Zhiyan reached out and pulled off his tie, his expression not merely impatient but also tinged with hostility.

"I've left the law firm."

Gu Sen and Gu Yinxue both stared in shock.

Gu Sen asked: "You resigned?"

Gu Zhiyan: "Xiang Lv had me voluntarily resign."

The implication is that he hadn't considered resigning, but the law firm's partner, Xiang Lv, urged him to resign voluntarily; if he didn't, he would be fired.

A lawyer dismissed by the law firm is no different from someone with a criminal record; even if they pass the selection exam, whether they can pass the political review is another matter.