Chapter 455: Gu Sen Wants to Cut Ties with the Gu Family

"The premise is that you won't feel burdened," Ke Zhongyu said.

Jiang Lai asked in return, "Presenting evidence, telling the truth — what burden is there?"

Ke Zhongyu felt gratified, thinking to himself: good.

But truthfully, given Ke Zhongyu's vindictive nature, this method still wasn't enough.

What Gu Yinxue and Song Shiwei cared about were the power and wealth brought by the Gu family, but the premise was that one was Gu Sen's adopted daughter and the other was Gu Sen's wife.

They had always had the name "Gu Sen" hanging over them; as long as Gu Sen's Gu was no longer the Gu family's Gu, none of what followed would have happened.

When Ke Zhongyu heard Gu Zhiyan mention that Gu Sen had asked him to sign an unknown contract, he already had a suspicion in his heart.

Gu Sen's Gu would soon no longer be the Gu family's Gu, and he was more than happy to help push that along.

Ke Zhongyu had already gotten Jiang Lai's stance — Jiang Lai had no objections whatsoever to bringing down Gu Yinxue and Song Shiwei — so what was wrong with the Ke Clan lending a hand to help the Gu clan gain a firm foothold in A City?

That very day, Ke Zhongyu sent a message to Assistant Zhou, signaling that he could use the Ke Clan's name to give the Gu clan a boost.

That same night, Ke Zhongying called and told Jiang Lai and Ke Zhongyu, "Mom and Dad said they went to ask around and already know where Uncle Gu is, but Mom and Dad are only friends with Uncle Gu. The Gu family and the doctors only need to say that non-direct relatives cannot visit to stop them, and forcibly going to visit would cause friction between the two families."

"Brother, you know that Grandpa and Grandma once lived for a time in the presence of the Gu family's old matriarch, and received her care and guidance. As long as Grandpa and Grandma are still around, the relationship between our two families must be kept harmonious."

Ke Zhongying's voice grew quieter and quieter as she spoke.

Ke Zhongyu said it was fine and hung up the phone.

After a long silence, Jiang Lai suddenly said, "That excuse from the doctors and the Gu family can stop others, but it can't stop me."

Ke Zhongyu had wanted to ask Jiang Lai if she was going to find Gu Sen, but some things, once asked, would only add unnecessary trouble.

It was still the same — whatever Jiang Lai wanted to do, he would follow. Why worry about right or wrong, and whose right or wrong it was?

"I'll go with you."

Those three simple words warmed Jiang Lai's heart by another degree.

……

Inside the sanatorium.

Gu Sen stood before the window, gazing out at the artificial lake below, his peripheral vision sweeping over the bodyguards pacing back and forth.

There were five in the courtyard.

Three at his room door.

Cool wind mixed with rain drifted in through the open window, and Gu Sen couldn't help coughing twice.

"It's raining — why are you opening the window?" Song Shiwei's concerned voice came from behind him.

Gu Sen didn't turn around. The next second, the window in front of him was shut. Leaning on his cane, he limped past Song Shiwei and sat down on the sofa.

After kneeling in the ancestral hall for three days, his knees weren't just aching — when he stood up he was dizzy and his vision blurred. He took two steps and fell, fracturing his leg and hitting his head.

What was more wretched was that the old man had disregarded the Gu family's rules, refused to convene a family meeting, and used his physical discomfort and injuries as grounds to forcibly send him here, finding doctors to examine him, apply medicine and bandage him up, feeding him well and taking care of him — while also keeping him under surveillance.

What was even more chilling was that among those watching him was Song Shiwei.

Gu Sen sneered coldly in his heart.

His wife, Song Shiwei.

She personally delivered all three meals a day, and urged him not to do anything reckless — how could he lead their son down a crooked path?

During the first week after being brought in, he had still tried to reason with Song Shiwei. Later he realized that Song Shiwei was trapped in her own logic and couldn't be talked through no matter what, so he saved himself the wasted breath.

"Gu Sen, you're sixty years old this year. Injuries to muscles and bones take a hundred days to heal. Don't keep getting out of bed and hobbling over to the window on that cane."

Gu Sen didn't answer, occasionally eating a little of what Song Shiwei had brought.

The Gu family and Song Shiwei only wanted to trap him; they wouldn't want his life.

His life was worth money.

Real, hard cash — the money of Gu clan Tourism.

Song Shiwei watched him eat, then prattled on with a few more remarks, just like before, but Gu Sen didn't respond to a single one.

This kind of cold violence had persisted for over ten days.

Song Shiwei could hold back no longer.

"Gu Sen, what exactly do you want? Who are you putting on this act for?"

She stepped in front of Gu Sen, looking down at him from above, and accused him: "Why do you want to leave the Gu family? If we leave the Gu family, what do we have left! What's the use of having only money?"

Twenty or thirty years ago, when Song Shiwei went out as Mrs. Gu, every wealthy lady from every family had to bow and scrape before her — above money was power!

"Without the Gu family, would the Qu Family's second young lady still marry Zhi Yan! I'm doing this for the good of you father and son, for the good of our family — don't you understand?"

Gu Sen slowly raised his head and finally spoke: "If it's so good, you stay. I have no objections."

Song Shiwei's hands trembled: "What nonsense are you talking? We're husband and wife. You leave with your son and let me stay?"

Gu Sen glanced at her.

Song Shiwei's pupils quivered slightly; this time it was her lips that trembled: "What do you mean? Gu Sen, what do you mean? You want to — with me, with me… is that it?"

She couldn't bring herself to say those two words.

"Gu Sen! We're nearly sixty years old. Carrying on like this — aren't you afraid of making a fool of yourself?"

"You'd actually, for the sake of…" Song Shiwei didn't dare even mention the words "biological daughter," and said with agonized grief, "It's not as if we don't have a daughter. Why must you be like this, why must you be like this…"

Saying that, she began covering her face and crying again.

Tears slipped through the gaps between her fingers.

Song Shiwei slumped onto the sofa, looking at the white hairs mixed in among Gu Sen's. She wasn't much better off herself — her skin had sagged, her wrinkles had multiplied, and she was agitated day and night.

She had looked in the mirror once, couldn't believe it was herself, and never dared to look again after that.

"Song Shiwei, have you been taking your medication on time?" Gu Sen genuinely felt that Song Shiwei's condition was off. Before, medication could keep it under control, but now the medicine was better and she still couldn't control it.

A rare kind word, and Song Shiwei twisted it again: "You think I've gone crazy too, don't you? Our son called to ask where you were, and said I was crazy! The phone was right there with the bodyguards — it's not like they stopped you from answering. You didn't take a single call — you just wanted our son to come gouge out my heart, didn't you!"

No.

Gu Sen wasn't answering anyone's calls—he was waiting, waiting for a month's time to pass.

He had already told the old man in advance about a peaceful negotiated exit, taking only the portion that belonged to him.

But the old man refused to agree, because he couldn't find anyone more suitable than him to manage the Gu clan; those in the family with some ability had already gone into official careers, and even if their positions weren't high, they couldn't resign—bring in outsiders?

How could a family business trust outsiders, especially the ever-cautious Gu family.

The old man wouldn't agree, so he had no choice but to legally cash out his equity; he had already had his lawyer send written notice to the old man as the major shareholder—after all, under equal conditions, he had the right of first refusal.

If the old man did not purchase within thirty days, it would be considered a waiver, and he could then sell to outside investors.

Beyond that, he had long since prepared a fallback notarization in advance: if he were continuously unreachable for thirty days, his lawyer would announce his revised will.

On the day the will was announced to take effect, all of his personal movable and immovable property under his name would be transferred free of charge to his two biological children.

And the shares would be fully inherited by his eldest son, Gu Zhiyan, who would enjoy complete, independent shareholder rights.

Once the equity was formally transferred into his son's hands, the entire exit process would form a closed loop.

His son had never participated in the Gu clan's daily operations and management, nor held any position within the company; as for that project team in A City, it had never been in the Gu clan's project portfolio from the start.

Thus Gu Zhiyan, who had not been involved in the Gu clan's operations, could—after inheriting the equity—independently exercise his shareholder rights entirely according to his own wishes, and likewise carry out an equity transfer.

And the old man would have already missed the statutory right-of-first-refusal window, completely losing the qualification to intervene, unable to block the outflow of equity—they could then complete the liquidation and cash-out of all equity in one go.

So now, whether the old man agreed to the split or not, he would complete his separation from the Gu family.