Chapter 2: What Gu Yunci Left Behind That Night

Qian Shui Wan.

Second floor, master bedroom.

"Young Madam, President Gu has already decided on a divorce, so stop occupying the master bedroom and hurry up and move out!"

Footsteps came from the doorway. Meng Shutang turned her eyes and saw Sister Li leaning against the doorframe, her gaze contemptuous.

By the time Sister Li came over, Meng Shutang was already packing.

She only hesitated in front of that black silk dress with the tags still on—it was bought for her by Gu Yunci, and she had never worn it once.

Now, she was going to throw out everything that belonged here, but this one item alone made her fingertips tighten.

Sister Li saw her hesitate. "You've lived in this room for three years. Besides fiddling with those worthless broken beads, what have you left behind?

Oh no... you've left behind the joke of brothers turning against each other and strife within the family—enough for the Gu family to laugh at for a lifetime."

Sister Li was talking about the rupture between Gu Yunci and his younger brother Gu Jin Xing—that storm which arose because of her and nearly destroyed the Gu family.

She hung the silk slip dress in the wardrobe and slipped the bank card into her wallet.

After marriage, Gu Yunci would give her living expenses every month.

Meng Shutang usually paid with her own card. Her daily spending wasn't high, but every time she went shopping, whenever she saw clothes, shoes, ties, or cufflinks that suited him, she would buy them for him.

But she charged them to this card.

There wasn't much left on the card—just about a million or so, enough for one course of treatment for her mother.

She was going to take it with her.

Sister Li was about to say something else when Auntie Zhang walked lightly past her and reached out to take the rolling suitcase from Meng Shutang's hand.

She didn't look at Sister Li, only lowering her voice to Meng Shutang: "Young Madam, I cleaned the attic on the top floor early this morning. It faces the sun and is nice and bright.

The books and beads you usually look at—I've already moved them up for you in advance."

Sister Li curled her lip. "Auntie Zhang, you're just too soft-hearted. Some people are nothing but home-wreckers..."

"Sister Li," Auntie Zhang said without lifting her head, her tone gentle yet carrying a force that pressed down on the other woman. "President Gu told us to help Young Madam pack, not told you to run your mouth here. There's soup simmering in the kitchen—if you don't go watch it, do you want the soup to burn and get yourself scolded?"

Sister Li choked on her words, shot Meng Shutang a vicious glare, and left in a huff.

Auntie Zhang was warm-hearted and kind, usually quiet and reserved. For some reason, today she had a lot more to say.

"I've been with the Gu family for a long time. The Madam hired me when she was still alive, and I watched President Gu and the Second Young Master grow up.

President Gu... and the Second Young Master never got along since they were little. Some things sat in their hearts too long, the knots couldn't be untied, and slowly... it turned to hatred."

Arriving at the third-floor attic, Auntie Zhang helped Meng Shutang put away the clothes. "About their brotherly matters and the Madam's death, if there's anything you want to know, just come ask me.

Whatever I know, I'll tell you."

After Auntie Zhang left, Meng Shutang sat on the narrow, simple single bed, slowly rubbing the wedding ring on her finger.

She remembered the day of the engagement banquet—Gu Yunci like an asura from hell, dragging her away from Gu Jin Xing's side in front of everyone.

"From today on, you're mine."

He snatched her away not out of love, but purely for revenge.

Now the revenge was enough, and even the master bedroom could no longer accommodate her.

Meng Shutang took out the divorce agreement from her bag and flipped to the last page, about to sign.

But the image of her mother's pale face on the hospital bed and the clause in the agreement stating "treatment fees cease upon divorce" surfaced in her mind, and her hand trembled too much to sign.

She hastily shoved the divorce agreement into the nightstand drawer, threw on her trench coat, grabbed her bag, and went downstairs. Auntie Zhang saw her. "Where are you going, Young Madam?"

Meng Shutang said, "I have to go out for something. You all eat dinner yourselves—don't wait for me."

Jiangcheng Yiyuan.

Inpatient department corridor.

The young nurse said, "Miss Meng, I was just about to contact you. The Gu Clan has transferred the fees for this period, but your grandmother took it upon herself to move your mother to a regular ward. How are we supposed to treat her?"

Meng Shutang clutched the card in her hand, without any hesitation. "Please transfer my mother to the intensive care ward."

The young nurse said, "But the old lady said..."

Meng Shutang said, "Listen to me."

While the two were processing the paperwork, Meng Shutang asked about the fees.

The young nurse muttered as she busied herself, "They used to transfer it in advance, but these past few months, I don't know what's going on—they only pay after we chase them several times.

By all rights, President Gu shouldn't be short of this money..."

Before she finished speaking, she suddenly realized the person she was complaining to wasn't a colleague but Meng Shutang. She clapped her hand over her mouth, gave Meng Shutang an embarrassed smile, and lowered her head, saying no more.

By the time everything was done, it was already the small hours of the night.

Meng Shutang sat by the hospital bed, looking at Zhou Xingfan, whose face looked ever paler against the white bedding.

Her eyes closed, she lay there quietly, like an ancient bead sealed away by the passage of time.

Ten years ago, Zhou Xingfan was in a car accident and became a vegetative patient.

Three years ago, her condition deteriorated. If Gu Yunci hadn't paid to transfer her to the intensive care ward and sustained her with precious medicines, the grass on her grave would have gone through several cycles of green and yellow by now.

Meng Shutang held Zhou Xingfan's ice-cold hand. A thousand words clogged her throat, and in the end, they condensed into a single sentence: "Mom, you have to wake up."

For the next two days, she stayed in the ward.

Because other than here, she didn't know where else to go.

Go to the studio?

Restoring ancient beads requires patience, care, and focus—none of which she had right now.

Go to her grandmother's?

In her current state, Li Xiuyun would only worry if she saw her.

On the third day, Meng Shutang forced herself to stand up and went to the studio.

She put on a plain-colored jacket, slipped on white gloves as thin as cicada wings, walked to the workbench, and began to work.

In between, her best friend and partner Chen Man called to say this prenatal checkup hadn't gone well—the doctor ordered a month of bed rest, and from now on she should coordinate with the Gu Clan.

She said okay, told her to take good care of her health and not to worry about the studio.

During the conversation, her husband's promotion came up, and Chen Man asked her to thank Gu Yunci on behalf of both her and her husband.

"Honestly, Tangtang, even now the girls from our class still envy you. Your family background was ordinary and your personality was aloof—how did you catch the eye of someone like Gu Yunci, a child of heaven?"

You know he's the helmsman of Gu Group—one stamp of his foot and the whole business world shakes three times."

Meng Shutang said, "We're getting a divorce. He brought it up."

"What? Why?"

"His ex-girlfriend came back."

Chen Man's voice instantly shot up an octave, her admiration for Gu Yunci shattered to pieces. "Is Gu Yunci's brain full of water? He promised to protect you for a lifetime—how could he abandon you halfway?"

She paused. "If that woman is so great, why did they break up three years ago?"

From getting too worked up, she started having Braxton Hicks contractions.

Meng Shutang could tell something was wrong. "Stop being angry—I'm not even angry. Didn't you say there's a group chat? Add me to it. Don't let this affect work.

Get plenty of rest. Don't worry about me."

After hanging up, Chen Man added her to the Gu Clan Cultural Tourism group chat.

She also sent her an urgent memo from the Gu Clan Cultural Tourism Department.

She opened it and read through it once.

"An'an, watch the shop for me. I need to step out."

She went to the Gu Clan and ran into Bai Cixian on the seventh floor.

"Miss Meng, hello. I'm Bai Cixian. We've never formally met, but you know who I am, right?"

"Did you need something, Miss Bai?"

This was the first time Meng Shutang had looked at Bai Cixian from such close range.

Their brows and eyes were very similar, not to mention both had black hair draped loose down to the waist.

Looking at their backs alone, they could have been cast from the same mold.

"Yunci said that in the three years he was married to you, he was never truly happy.

You were always busy with ancient bead restoration—you didn't even know what he liked or disliked.

But I'm different. I know he doesn't like sugar in his coffee, and I know he doesn't like the lights off when he sleeps."

Saying this, she slowly stepped closer. "He also said that marrying you was just a moment of confusion. The person he loves is me."

Meng Shutang's heart twisted in waves of pain, her fingers hanging at her sides curling slightly, but her gaze was faint, as calm as a still lake, as though she were listening to something of no consequence.

Seeing this, Bai Cixian unhurriedly took a tie out of her bag, her slender fingertips pinching the knot, gently stroking the creases on it.

"Yunci left this behind that night. Please pass it to him for me."