allonlinenovel Chapter 199: A Profit-Seeking Face
Chapter 199: A Profit-Seeking Face
Gu Zhen pushed Xiao Ran's face away.
"Stay away from me, you profit-seeking bastard!"
Not only was Xiao Ran not angry, but he continued to move closer to Gu Zhen with a good temper.
"My dear cousin, just tell me. Did my aunt ask you to bring me something good?"
Gu Zhen stretched out her finger and poked Xiao Ran on the forehead.
"You're smart, kid!"
Xiao Ran rubbed his hands.
"I knew it, my aunt loves me the most! Hehe!"
He asked expectantly, "Tell me quickly, what are you talking about?"
Gu Zhen was amused by Xiao Ran's cheeky look and stopped keeping him in suspense.
"Knowing that you were going to get married, my mother specially prepared a few shops for you in the capital and asked me to hand over all the documents such as the house deeds and land deeds to you."
"Thank you, Auntie and Uncle!"
Xiao Ran's aunt Meng Ruyi married into the wealthy Gu family in the capital.
The couple has a good relationship and runs many businesses. They are very concerned about Xiao Ran who is far away in the north.
When she heard that Xiao Ran had a woman he liked and that Meng Zhengxin was going to preside over Xiao Ran's wedding, she immediately decided to give Xiao Ran some of the best shops in the capital as a gift.
Gu Zhen took out a small box and said, "Here, these are all yours!"
Xiao Ran didn't hesitate and took it with both hands.
"Thank you for your hard work, cousin!"
"Just remember my kindness!"
Then, the three of them began to discuss Xiao Ran's marriage.
They decided to propose marriage three days later.
Meng Zhengxin had already brought a lot of gifts from the capital, and he bought a lot of things in these three days.
Early in the morning on the third day, he went to propose marriage with gifts.
Zhao Wanzhu also agreed to Xiao Ran and Su Xiaoxiao's marriage, and the proposal went very smoothly.
Zhao Wanzhu and Meng Zhengxin started looking through the almanac again to choose a good day for Su Xiaoxiao and Xiao Ran to get married.
After some selection, the wedding date was set for half a month later.
Meng Zhengxin asked Zhao Wanzhu tentatively.
"The wedding banquet will be held at Youfenglai Restaurant. Do you have any objections, my in-laws?"
Zhao Wanzhu waved her hands repeatedly, "I'll follow Mr. Meng's instructions!"
Youfenglai Restaurant is one of the largest restaurants in Changming County. Those who can hold a banquet here are not ordinary people. Zhao Wanzhu has no objection to this.
But she always felt something was wrong.
Shouldn’t Xiao Ran’s wedding be held at the Xiao family?
After seeing Meng Zhengxin off, she asked Su Xiaoxiao in confusion.
Su Xiaoxiao understood what Meng Zhengxin meant.
Xiao Ran and Xiao Wenchang have a bad relationship, and Meng Zhengxin looks down on Xiao Wenchang. Xiao Ran's wedding was organized by Meng Zhengxin, so naturally it cannot be considered a happy event for the Xiao family.
Su Xiaoxiao briefly told Zhao Wanzhu about Xiao Ran's family situation, and Zhao Wanzhu suddenly realized.
"I didn't expect that Xiao Ran is also a poor person!"
……
That day, Xiao Ran came to Su Xiaoxiao and discussed paying tribute to Meng Ruyan and Su Yong before the wedding.
Su Xiaoxiao agreed immediately.
On the second day, they first went to pay tribute to Meng Ruyan, and then returned to Dahe Village to pay tribute to Su Yong.
Early in the morning, Xiao Ran's carriage stopped in front of Su's noodle shop, and Xiao Ran came to pick up Su Xiaoxiao.
When I got on the carriage, Meng Zhengxin and Gu Zhen were also there.
The carriage went all the way out of the city and arrived at Meng Ruyan's grave.
Meng Zhengxin stood aside, looking at the grave covered with a layer of weeds, feeling uncomfortable.
He, who had always been strong-willed, shed two lines of tears.
If he had not been so stubborn in stopping Meng Ruyan and Xiao Wenchang from being together, would Meng Ruyan still be alive? Would she still be around him all day long, calling him "Daddy" as before?
His well-behaved, sensible and lovely little daughter will not become a handful of yellow earth now!
Donglai and others placed the tributes one by one in front of Meng Ruyan's grave.
Just as Xiao Ran was about to kneel down and kowtow, Su Xiaoxiao stopped him.
"Xiao Ran, wait a minute!"
"what happened?"
"Help me up, I should also kowtow to my mother-in-law!"
"But your legs?"
"It's out of the way!"
Seeing that Su Xiaoxiao had made up her mind, Xiao Ran had no choice but to obey Su Xiaoxiao's wishes.
Seeing this, Gu Zhen helped Xiao Ran support Su Xiaoxiao and they knelt in front of Meng Ruyan's grave.
The three of them knelt down, and Gu Zhen looked at the words on the tombstone and couldn't help crying.
She choked up while burning paper money.
"When I was little, my aunt loved me so much! She would always give me something delicious or fun first. Even if Xiao Ran tried to grab something from me, my aunt would grab it from him without hesitation and give it to me! She also repeatedly told Xiao Ran to give in to girls."
Thinking of the happy times of her childhood, the corners of her mouth curled up slightly.
Xiao Ran also recalled the childhood scenes and smiled.
He is the same age as Gu Zhen, who has come to live in their home for long periods of time many times.
They were both young at that time and would always quarrel over something. They would bicker whenever they met, and it started from that time.
Gu Zhen continued, "Aunt, I'm Gu Zhen. I'm here to see you! I haven't seen you in years. Are you doing well over there?"
When these words were spoken, everyone felt a lump in their throat and tears welled up in their eyes.
The paper money burned more and more vigorously, making people's faces hot.
Gu Zhen thought of what happened that year again.
"That year, my aunt was very ill. She said she wanted to see my uncle. Seeing how distressed she was, I felt so bad that I went to look for him in the pouring rain. But he was in his study and refused to see me. Even when I knelt outside the door and kowtowed and begged, he remained unmoved."
"I cried and begged him. I don't know how long I knelt there. Finally, I couldn't hold on any longer and fainted in the heavy rain. It was Shopkeeper Guan who carried me back home. After that, I fell seriously ill and was bedridden all day. I don't know how my aunt managed to get through those difficult days!"
Xiao Ran didn't know about this and looked at Gu Zhen with a little shock.
"There's such a thing? Why didn't anyone tell me?"
When he was sent to the provincial capital to study, he never left his mother who was in poor health. Before leaving home, he repeatedly told his father to take good care of his mother. His father agreed immediately and was very sincere. He thought that his mother would gradually get better under his father's care.
But he never thought that his father would be so cruel when he was not around.
What he didn't know was that at that time, Xiao Wenchang had already gotten together with Dai Zhi.
Gu Zhen explained, "My aunt didn't let me tell you. After I recovered from my illness, I was taken back to the capital. I never saw you again, so the matter was dropped."
Xiao Ran clenched his fists and gritted his teeth.
"What is Xiao Wenchang doing in the study? Why doesn't he go see my mother? If I knew about this, I would never let him off easily!"
"I don't know this either!"
Gu Zhen comforted him, "He's your father after all. Even if you knew, what would happen? Back then, my aunt knew her body couldn't hold on for much longer, and she didn't want your relationship with my uncle to become strained, so she suppressed the matter!"
Xiao Ran felt even more uncomfortable after hearing this.
He looked at Meng Ruyan's name on the tombstone and tears streamed down his face.
Meng Zhengxin, who had been silent all this time, spoke angrily.
"How foolish! Why didn't you tell me this? Am I, your father, just a figurehead?"