Chapter 34: Making Him Devoted

Gu Wenyan returned to the Gu Family with her parents and, unsurprisingly, saw the Eldest Young Master of the Gu Family in the living room.

She lowered her eyes and greeted him submissively: "Big Brother."

"Mm, you're back. How is your health?"

Although Gu Yechen remained as cold, detached, and expressionless as ever, that single word of concern already indicated a shift in his heart.

At the very least, at this moment, he had been touched by Gu Wenyan's previous actions.

"I'm fine, Big Brother. I'll head back to my room to rest first... If you have any questions while tending to your flowers, you can come and ask me again."

Gu Jue asked in confusion: "What flowers?"

"... She gave me a pot of Lotus Petal Orchid."

"Lotus Petal Orchid? Haven't you been looking for someone to help you cultivate one for a while, but never managed to cultivate the quality you wanted?"

"Yes. As it happens, Wen Yan has a pot of Lotus Petal Orchid of excellent quality here."

"Such a coincidence?" Gu Jue turned his head to look at his daughter. "I didn't expect you to know how to grow orchids?"

Gu Wenyan said modestly: "I've learned a little bit. Perhaps I was just lucky, so the quality of this Lotus Petal Orchid is quite good."

Gu Jue was truly surprised this time; in his view, the fact that Gu Wenyan could recognize the purple clay teapot in his hand as a fake last time might have just been a coincidence.

Or perhaps, Gu Wenyan just happened to know a little bit, but this time... to have grown a Lotus Petal Orchid that even Gu Yechen considered to be of superb quality, could that still be a coincidence?

This could only mean that Gu Wenyan possessed more talent and knowledge than they had imagined, only they had never understood her before, and thus did not know she had these differences that made them look at her with new eyes.

"Dad, Mom, Big Brother, I'm going back to my room to rest."

Gu Wenyan did not say much, nor did she claim credit for herself; her mother, still worried about her, accompanied her upstairs.

Gu Jue was somewhat impatient: "Hurry and take me to see it. Just how good is this Lotus Petal Orchid you speak so highly of?"

Gu Yechen took his father to the backyard, but as he stood before that pot of Lotus Petal Orchid, his emotions were still caught in the shock brought about by this orchid.

"Dad."

"What is it?" Gu Jue was still looking down, admiring the orchid; although he was not as obsessed or infatuated as his son, he still felt joy at the sight of beautiful things.

"What do you think of... Little Sister?"

The Little Sister he referred to here was very clear.

Gu Jue raised his head and asked deeply: "And you? What do you think?"

"We should all be very clear about the situation when she first returned to the Gu Family."

Back then, when Gu Wenyan was just brought back to the Gu Family, she wore clothes that were incredibly vulgar and unbearable by their aesthetic standards; her manners, her speech, and the temperament she exuded were all completely out of place with the Gu Family.

Originally, the three young masters of the Gu Family were not even aware that they had a sister being raised outside.

Gu Jue and Ye Yiwen had never announced it to the outside world; after all, sending one's own biological daughter away to be raised was not a pleasant story to tell.

Therefore, the Gu Family had always acted discreetly, and it was only when Gu Wenyan was brought back and it could no longer be hidden that rumors gradually began to spread.

It was also at this time that the three young masters learned that, besides Gu Mianmian, the sister with whom they had no blood relation, they also had a biological sister with whom they shared blood.

But the three young masters were already over twenty years old and had mature, complete life experiences; naturally, they did not have much patience, let alone much affection, for a relative who suddenly appeared in their lives.

Even if there had been some anticipation at the beginning, after discovering she was completely different from what they had imagined, and after making comparisons with their sister Gu Mianmian...

Their views on Gu Wenyan naturally became almost entirely negative.

So much so that when the Head of the Family of the Bo Family came to propose marriage to Gu Wenyan, the three brothers did not care at all about how chilling Bo Sihan's reputation was outside.

Whether Gu Wenyan married or not made no difference to them, nor would it change the trajectory of their lives.

Born into such a family, apart from that small bit of concern for family affection, they were mostly indifferent and detached.

Perhaps this was the arrogance and coldness that existed in the bones of the Gu Family members.

"She is your and Mom's biological daughter, and our biological sister; there is a blood connection, but for so many years, neither I nor Gu Yefeng and the others knew of her existence, so when she returned, we didn't care too much."

Gu Jue sighed: "Your mother and I understand this point, so we never demanded that you treat her particularly well."

"But I am thinking now, did we do something wrong?"

Hearing this from his eldest son, Gu Jue was truly quite surprised.

Among the three sons, the one whose personality was most like his was Gu Yechen—serious, cold, and possessing excellent talent in business, but also the most indifferent in his perception of emotions.

Most of the time, Gu Yechen could not perceive the emotions of others, nor could he easily reciprocate.

He also possessed his own arrogance; in his eyes, apart from business and the family members he acknowledged, there was not much that could be taken into his heart.

Perhaps... these orchids counted as one.

Beyond that, it was hard to find anything else.

So it was indeed rare for someone with such arrogance in their bones to reflect on their previous behavior and even think they had done something wrong.

"For the past two years, we have always looked at her through our own prejudices, believing that because she did not conform to our perception of her, we rejected her and even treated her with coldness."

Gu Yechen's gaze gradually became complex: "Yet we never thought about how far away she was from us for the past eighteen years; there was simply no way for her to grow into the person we wanted her to be."

"And she... was an independent individual to begin with, and there was no need for her to become the person we liked."

Gu Yechen was naturally calmer and more rational than his two younger brothers, and he had the awareness to shoulder the responsibilities of this family; all future affairs of the Gu Family would naturally be handed over to him.

Therefore, he would consider things more thoroughly.

The initial coldness was broken by the pot of flowers Gu Wenyan brought, making him realize what he had previously overlooked.

"This sister of yours has indeed not had it easy. In the end, it is your mother and I who owe her; you have not failed her in any way. However, if you are willing in the future... to shoulder your responsibilities as a big brother and treat her better, I would also be very gratified."

Gu Yechen nodded: "I understand."

In fact, there were still many things Gu Yechen did not understand, such as why Gu Wenyan had suddenly become different.

And what he should do in the future... a seed had already been planted in the bottom of his heart, waiting only for the right moment to sprout.

Upstairs, Gu Wenyan stood by the window watching the two people talking in the backyard, discerning the content of their conversation, and the corners of her mouth curled up into a smile.

As expected, sometimes wanting to gain someone's approval is actually very easy...

Big Brother, next, I will make you wholeheartedly acknowledge me as your sister.