Chapter 57: She Is the Key

Gu Wenyan wasn't sure what Gu Mianmian and the Gu Family members had said before she returned, but from their varied expressions she could tell that the emotions they now held toward her were vastly different from before.

It seemed things had returned to the state from the very beginning,

as if all the efforts of recent days had been for nothing.

But Gu Wenyan's expression remained calm; she merely asked lightly, "How are you? Are you alright?"

Ignoring the gazes around her, the pale-faced Gu Mianmian nodded with difficulty: "Thank you for your concern, sister. I—I'm fine, it's nothing serious."

"Mm. As long as you're alright. After all, your body, hair, and skin come from your parents. Although I don't know who your biological parents are, since you're here, you should count as part of the Gu Family. You should think about the elders who treated you so well—you can't let them down too much, right?"

Gu Mianmian's face changed slightly, her lips trembling: "Sister, you don't need to remind me. I know I'll never be Mom and Dad's biological child, nor my brothers' biological sister. I understand it all…"

"Gu Wenyan!" Gu Yeting, whose expression was the coldest of all, rebuked sharply, "Do we need you to say these things? So what if she's not blood-related? In my eyes, Mianmian is still closer to me than you, who share my blood!"

"Brother, please don't say that. Actually, what sister said isn't wrong either. I really did…"

"Enough, both of you say less."

As the eldest brother, Gu Yechen smoothed out the emotions on both sides, then said gently to Gu Mianmian: "You rest well first."

Then he stood up, and as he passed by Gu Wenyan, he also said softly to her: "Let's talk outside."

"Sure."

Gu Wenyan was now certain that she could only learn from her eldest brother what methods Gu Mianmian had been using.

Moreover, just now her second brother had looked at her and said nothing at all—his attitude was completely different from before.

It seemed Gu Mianmian's ploy of playing the victim had worked remarkably well.

"Whatever you want to say, brother, you can just say it directly. I can handle it."

"Mianmian's… condition isn't very stable right now. The doctor says her current psychological state could very likely lead to similar incidents happening again in the future, so—"

Gu Wenyan stated bluntly: "So from now on you'll have to cater to her emotions as much as possible, and that means you have to ignore me as much as possible, you won't care about me as much, right?"

On Gu Yechen's sharp features the emotion was unreadable, but the heaviness suppressed deep in his eyes clearly meant exactly that.

"I understand. It's only right that you pay more attention to her now. After all, no matter what problems I run into, I would never use suicide to threaten my family."

Gu Yechen frowned, not quite agreeing with Gu Wenyan's words: "Mianmian wasn't trying to threaten anyone. It's just that since you came back, many things have affected her psychological state, which led her to—"

"If you want to think of it that way, then think of it that way. It doesn't matter. I've long been used to being invisible in this house anyway."

Gu Wenyan cut him off.

According to the doctor, since Gu Mianmian had been the most pampered child in this family since she was little, the sudden return of Gu Wenyan would steal away that pampering, and her psychological state was therefore affected.

To help her return to normal and no longer have suicidal or self-harming tendencies, they had to maintain the past way of life—still valuing her the most, caring for her the most. As for the others… they could only suffer a little and step aside for her.

Having learned everything from her mother, Gu Wenyan raised the corners of her mouth in a bitter curve: "Since, Mom, you all believe that when necessary you can sacrifice me, I don't want to make things difficult for you. I can accept it."

Ye Yiwen stroked her hair: "I'm sorry. It's us who owe you. You've already suffered so much grievance, and now we still have to let you keep enduring hardship like this."

Gu Wenyan shrugged and shook her head: "Saying these things now probably doesn't matter anymore. You'd better go check on her first."

Her expression cooled.

Ye Yiwen suddenly felt that her relationship with this daughter of hers had grown distant again.

Clearly, just the other day everything had been improving, and now it was back to the state it was in at the very beginning.

But on one side was her own flesh and blood, and on the other was the child she had raised since childhood…

Ye Yiwen couldn't bear to give up either side, and now… under the threat of a life, she could only be forced to make a choice.

Watching Gu Wenyan rise and leave, Ye Yiwen couldn't help feeling heartache, yet was powerless to do anything…

In fact, Gu Wenyan wasn't angry at all; on the contrary, she felt this was a good thing.

It was just the thing to make all the Gu Family members realize that in this house, the conflict between her and Gu Mianmian could not be reconciled, and that ultimately they would have to make a choice between her, the biological one, and Gu Mianmian, the adopted one.

Even though they wouldn't choose her now, nothing was over yet. The real show was still to come.

……

After visiting Gu Mianmian, Gu Yechen returned to the company to continue working. Over the past two days, because of Gu Mianmian's situation, he had postponed many important scheduled engagements. m.

The secretary quickly came to report: "President, Mr. Wang still refuses to give in on his end. This piece of land… may end up falling into Lingtai Group's hands."

Lingtai Group had long been Gu Group's old rival; the two corporations had competed openly and covertly for years, and this time it again involved the development cooperation of an important piece of land.

However, the owner of this piece of land was the boss of another company—Mr. Wang—who was currently inclined to hand the development opportunity for the land over to Lingtai Group.

If it really were handed to Lingtai Group, beyond the sufficient profits Lingtai Group could reap from it, Gu Group would also be put at a disadvantage because of it.

This was not the outcome Gu Group hoped to see.

Gu Group had already been plagued by numerous internal disputes recently over changes in its development direction. If at this moment Lingtai Group were to overtake them and secure the land development plan…

Gu Yechen pinched the bridge of his nose, his tone somewhat irritated: "Why won't Mr. Wang give in no matter what?"

"Yes, his current inclination is very clear."

"Lingtai Group's bid shouldn't be enough to compete with ours; in fact, their current cash flow situation isn't as good as ours either. So why is Mr. Wang still willing to hand this land development project to Lingtai Group?"

After some deliberation, the secretary answered: "I think it's very likely because that young Mr. Tai of Lingtai Group has recently been playing to Mr. Wang's tastes and keeping him very happy."

"Oh? What has he done?"

"That Mr. Wang, like you, has a fondness for growing flowers and plants. Apparently that young Mr. Tai got hold of a very rare flower from somewhere and gave it to Mr. Wang, and also promised there would be more in the future, so Mr. Wang has clearly been leaning toward him…"

Gu Yechen released his hand, his gaze deep: "Go see if we can find better and more precious plants."

"I heard that Mr. Wang really wants a pot of Crystal Orchid right now, but this particular orchid is extremely rare…"