Chapter 391

Jiang Lai watched Ke Zhongyu leave, then turned around and happened to meet Gu Sen and Gu Hui.

Every time Gu Sen looked at his daughter who had been wandering outside for twenty-eight years, his eyes held hidden guilt and some restraint; he opened his mouth, wanting to speak but stopping himself.

"You really don't want to come home to live?"

"Even one night would do."

Between those two sentences there was a pause; even though he knew his daughter would refuse, he still cautiously hoped she could stay at home for one night.

In Jiang Lai's life, aside from her mentor who was like a father figure, everyone else was like a mother figure; her mentor was strict in profession but kind in daily life, though the latter accounted for less than one-third.

And the person before her who gave her a sense of closeness at first sight was her true father, a kind father, yet also the father who had let her wander outside for twenty-eight years.

Jiang Lai longed for familial affection; otherwise she would not have easily entered marriage with Shen Xun, trying to obtain familial affection through building a family.

Yet she still retained part of her rationality, saying to Gu Sen: "Thank you, no need."

Polite, yet extremely distant.

This is not how a daughter should treat her father.

Gu Sen's heart sank, yet he still maintained respect: "Alright."

As Jiang Lai's body shifted slightly to go inside, Gu Sen spoke again: "Can we leave a way to contact each other?"

The elderly father took out his phone and smiled at her.

Jiang Lai hesitated for a moment, then still took out her phone.

Gu Sen's smile grew larger, even somewhat overly excited; as he handed her his QR code, his fingers trembled slightly.

Jiang Lai saw it, her feelings extremely complex.

Accompanied by a "beep" sound, the scan-and-add was completed; Gu Sen immediately passed through upon seeing the friend message, then fiddled with his phone to send her his phone number.

Jiang Lai turned to look for the old gentleman.

Gu Sen watched his daughter's back, standing still for a long time, his emotions like a roller coaster, rising and falling.

After withdrawing his gaze, he slowly tapped the keyboard, sending two strings of numbers and two sentences.

【This is Dad's phone, call anytime if anything happens】

【This is Hui Shu's phone, if I can't answer, contact him】

Gu Sen never let Jiang Lai call him Dad, nor did he call himself Dad in front of her; he dared not, only when typing on the phone could he do so.

Jiang Lai stared at the two characters "Dad", complex emotions surging again.

She originally didn't want to reply, but eventually replied with just one character: "uh-huh".

"She replied to me." Gu Sen happily told Gu Hui.

Gu Hui is a distant relative of the Gu family, though only in his thirties, he has been with Gu Sen for a long time; he has never seen Gu Sen like this, a single word from his daughter could excite him so.

But then again, the cousin feels guilty in his heart.

This matter has also tormented the cousin for many years.

Gu Hui: "Jiang Lai is a soft-hearted person."

Gu Sen: "Yes, she is soft-hearted, but we cannot take advantage of her softness; we all owe her."

Gu Hui reminded: "She went to the old gentleman's place, probably to ask about twenty-eight years ago; if she knows the truth..."

"She should know." Gu Sen gazed into the distance, "Even if the old gentleman doesn't say it, I will."

Gu Hui: "She will hate you."

Gu Sen: "Hatred is better than no hatred."

Gu Hui sighed, comforting: "Back then you had no choice, you were pushed by circumstances; it's not your fault."

Gu Sen: "Who isn't pushed by circumstances? We all are; if we must investigate to the end, the source lies with me."

Gu Hui: "It's the Gu family."

Afterwards Gu Sen said nothing more, walking toward the ancestral hall, where Gu Zhiyan was still kneeling.

……

The old gentleman lives in the main house.

Jiang Lai was brought by a servant into the study; the old gentleman sat at the desk, holding a brush, writing slowly, a sandalwood cane placed beside the chair, and someone was grinding ink.

"Jiang Lai has come, you may go down." The old gentleman let the servant leave, then lifted his head to look at Jiang Lai, "Do you usually practice calligraphy?"

Jiang Lai stood and said: "We don't call this practicing calligraphy; we call it a calligraphy class, which requires payment to learn."

The old gentleman's body paused, he looked up at her: "I know your days at the orphanage were hard; it's not too late to learn now, I can personally teach you, but I think you won't be willing; you could find Ke Zhongyu, he learned wild cursive script from his maternal grandfather, and refined small regular script from his maternal grandmother."

Having been together this long, Jiang Lai indeed did not know Ke Zhongyu could write with a brush.

"However, his maternal grandparents both learned from our Gu family ancestors; the Nian family's ancestors were military ruffians, while our Gu family are scholars."

As soon as the old gentleman finished speaking, Jiang Lai said: "I know Ke Zhongyu can write calligraphy; now I want to know what happened twenty-eight years ago, you can tell me."

She could see the old gentleman intended to delay, not wanting to bring up the past so quickly.

The old gentleman set down his brush, quietly gazing at the junior standing before him without arrogance or humility; there was no strong hostility in his eyes, yet he was terrifyingly calm.

Her purpose was clear, undisturbed.

"You asked me two questions back then: why you were abandoned, who abandoned you; I now answer you, the one who abandoned you was Song Shiwei, your biological mother Song Shiwei; why you were abandoned only Song Shiwei herself knows; since you have returned, why not go ask her."

This is passing the buck.

Old fox.

Jiang Lai also did not indulge him: "Not enough, what you told me personally was, as long as I return, you will tell me what exactly happened twenty-eight years ago that caused me to wander outside for so many years."

"Please continue."

The old gentleman's eyes sank.

Jiang Lai just silently stared at him for a moment.

The old gentleman then slowly spoke: "This matter should start from when your mother became pregnant; Gu Sen had outstanding achievements in G Province, meaning he needed to spend more time and energy on his career; Song Shiwei was a woman who only cared about love between children, unwilling to be served in the Gu family, even with such a big belly she insisted on going to G Province to accompany Gu Sen; there, Gu Sen's living conditions were average, to the extent that she gave birth to you prematurely."

Gu Sen was held in high esteem, the news of Song Shiwei's childbirth spread, at that time many people came to visit, but back then they didn't see the child, only saw Song Shiwei curled up in the corner of the bed; when Gu Sen realized what had happened, you were already gone outside, everyone in the hospital knew that an official's wife had given birth to a daughter, and everyone was still waiting, so Gu Sen helplessly decided to adopt Gu Yinxue.

Jiang Lai, don't blame your father; he went to look for you then, but your mother couldn't say where she had abandoned you, he couldn't find you, and he made this decision only after considering the Gu family and your mother.

After seeing off the visitors who had come to visit, your father and mother had a big argument, your mother's condition got worse, like she had gone mad." Old Master Gu sighed, "Song Shiwei and your father were never a good match; back then the Gu family shouldn't have agreed to let her in."

After the argument, your father continued to look for you, but he couldn't find you no matter what; that year, the snow in G Province was heavy, and we all thought you might have frozen to death.

Jiang Lai: "If it weren't for Dean Mom, I would indeed have frozen to death on the roadside."

Her voice was cool.

Not icy cold, but cool.

Icy cold is thorny, it is resentment surging outward like thorns; whereas her current coolness has no aggression, no tumultuous emotion, it is a kind of calm numbness, a disappointment in humanity.

"But Dean Mom told me, she once held me while we crouched at the police station for half a month, and no one was looking for the child."