Chapter 165: In Desperate Need of Money
After Gu Jiaojiao and Su Shuochi finished eating, they took Geng Haoyi and the others to load the rice. They all desperately needed money.
After talking with his dad for several hours, Geng Haoyi was even more desperate to earn money.
With the extra people, it wasn’t practical for Gu Jiaojiao to drive, so they all walked instead.
As they chatted idly on the way, Geng Haoyi started telling Su Shuochi and his wife about his family’s past.
His father’s health was severely compromised and he needed proper nourishment. According to his dad, Su’s family ate chicken soup stewed with ginseng every single day.
Ginseng was so expensive these days, and hard to come by. His father’s body would need a few more years to recover.
He was already eleven when he left his father, so his memories of that time were crystal clear.
His father was a man of strong principles and was very strict with him and his sister. In their father’s presence, neither of them ever dared to misbehave in the slightest.
That was also why his sister had chosen to go with their mother without a second thought, and she had even encouraged him to do the same.
But he was just a boy. How could he have known his mother would remarry so quickly?
Seeing his father again, Geng Haoyi was struck by how gentle he’d become; he’d never seen this side of him before. ’Maybe it’s because he’s gotten older, or maybe it’s the hardships he’s endured...’
His mother, Wang Shuping, was a daughter of the Wang Family, a minor house in the Imperial City. The declining Wang Family had a long history of fawning over the powerful and trampling on the fallen.
Before his grandfather and father fell from grace, the Wang Family was constantly sponging off them.
When the Geng Family’s fortunes turned, the Wang Family was the first to jump out and kick them while they were down. But that was just the beginning.
Crucially, the members of the Wang Family all stabbed them in the back, each one stepping forward to accuse his father.
His father was already disgraced and down on his luck, yet his own in-laws, the Yue Family, turned on him.
And that wasn’t even the worst part. To make matters worse, the woman who shared his bed decided to join in.
His mother and sister frantically leveled numerous accusations against his father, making an already terrible situation even worse for the beleaguered man.
His mother and sister had always seemed like such simple, honest women. They were usually kind to everyone.
But the moment their own interests were on the line, their attitudes changed in an instant, with no regard for the consequences.
Words from seemingly honest people are always more convincing. In this world, there are just too many people who can’t keep their mouths shut.
Besides, in a situation like that, no one could control the filth coming out of people’s mouths.
No one bothered to ask who was right or wrong. Most people just silently accepted it, resigning themselves to their tragic fate.
Gu Jiaojiao sighed and remarked, "When you can give a vain woman a life of luxury..."
"...she’ll love you. Even if you have a thousand flaws, you’ll be perfect in her eyes."
"But the moment your luck runs out, she stops loving you. Then, nothing you say matters. In her eyes, you’re worthless."
Geng Haoyi: ...
’What she said made a lot of sense, but this was his own mother and sister she was talking about.’ So he didn’t know what to say and just continued his story.
His father also felt that they had made the right choice back then. If they had gone to the farm with him...
...it was uncertain if they would have even survived. Now, looking at his handsome, upstanding son, his heart swelled with pride.
Geng Haoyi remembered the sight of his mother’s and sister’s backs as they walked away so resolutely, and how helpless he had felt trailing behind them.
Looking at his aged father, a hint of regret and pain slowly crept into his gentle eyes...
’He never would have imagined his father would look so haggard now.’
Geng Haoyi’s heart was bleeding, but he could only pretend he knew nothing.
He had never resented his mother and sister before; mostly, he just felt guilty toward his father.
But when he heard his father say that he should have been exonerated years ago, but had been deliberately held down by someone...
...Geng Haoyi began to feel a surge of resentment toward his mother and the Wang Family. ’So they knew where his father was all along, and I was the only one in the dark.’
He had been furious at that moment, but Mr. Geng had simply looked up at him and said, "Xiao Zhi, you’re a grown man now. It was your mother who raised you."
There was a hidden meaning in Mr. Geng’s words, and Geng Haoyi understood it.
"Dad, don’t worry. I was too selfish before, and that’s why I hurt you so much. Rest assured, now that I’m back, I’ll make it up to you. You just wait and enjoy a good life."
His father was as happy as a child to hear his words. Looking at the weariness in his father’s eyes, Geng Haoyi’s heart felt like it was being twisted by a knife.
"We’re here, Haoyi. Don’t dwell on it so much. Let the past go. There’s a long future ahead of you."
Su Shuochi saw his friend’s face contorted in anguish and knew how much he was hurting.
"Well, well! Our famous Su Yama actually knows how to comfort people? Do your old subordinates know about this?"
Geng Haoyi’s gloomy mood was instantly lifted, and he teased Su Shuochi with a grin.
"Oh, he doesn’t just comfort people. He’s gotten much gentler. Haven’t you noticed?"
"I honestly didn’t. I just feel like he’s not as frosty as he used to be."
Geng Haoyi gave his friend another careful look and shook his head.
Su Shuochi remained noncommittal. ’He might be a little gentler with others, but his tenderness was reserved for his wife alone. No one else should even dream of it.’
"Holy crap, that’s so much rice! Su, you’re really amazing." Geng Haoyi, who had been looking rather nonchalant...
...but when he saw the rice in the living room, his eyes lit up. ’This has to be worth a fortune!’
He immediately directed Fu Junyuan and Li Yanrong to start loading the truck. One large truck wouldn’t be enough to carry it all.
They’d have to come back for another load after selling this one. After finding his father, he had immediately called his grandfather.
His grandfather couldn’t wait to come to Qing City to see his son and said he would leave today, even though the train ride would take a full day and night.
They would head back to the Imperial City to sell the rice as soon as the truck was loaded. Another reason for the hurry was that he couldn’t bear to see his grandfather’s tear-streaked face.
’By the time I get back to Qing City, Grandpa should have had some time to recover!’
His father had suffered too much and been hurt too many times, and most of that harm had come from his mother and the Wang Family.
In fact, his stepfather hadn’t tried to suppress his father. He was more than capable of providing a good life for his mother and sister.
He wasn’t afraid of them leaving him. His sister had also gotten married, to the scion of another noble family in the Imperial City.
Geng Haoyi knew they had secretly conspired to keep his father down, just so he could never make a comeback.
From his conversation with his father, Geng Haoyi learned that the man didn’t resent them at all.
It was his maternal grandfather’s family who had a guilty conscience. That’s all it was. ’Sigh!’
「At Qing City First Hospital.」
The patriarch of the Xi Family woke up, voiced his regrets, and then fell peacefully back to sleep.
"He Shen Yi, hurry and take a look! Why did my father pass out again?" Chairman Xi asked frantically.
Startled by the shout, He Shen Yi immediately trotted over and took the patient’s pulse. "Mr. Xi has just fallen asleep. It’s nothing serious. Professor Xia, did Divine Doctor Su Gu give Mr. Xi some medicine?"
"Yes, he was given medicine before the surgery. Jiao—er, Divine Doctor Su Gu said that Mr. Xi was conscious at the time."
"Her medicine is truly extraordinary. If only I could create medicine pills that effective."
He Shen Yi said with great envy. This only strengthened his desire to learn how to make medicine pills from Gu Jiaojiao.
Although Xi Gaoguan didn’t understand medicine, he understood the implication of what He Shen Yi and Professor Xia were saying: neither of them could compare to that young woman.