Chapter Twenty-Six: Such a Strong-Willed Woman

Just as Li was hesitating, Gu Xiaoshu returned from gathering firewood on the mountain. Before he even entered the yard, he saw that a crowd had gathered outside their home.

Could it be that Father is beating Mother again? The thought flashed through Gu Xiaoshu’s mind, and he bit his lip, running quickly toward the house.

“Excuse me, please let me through…”

Seeing the villagers clustered in a circle, Gu Xiaoshu called out loudly.

When the villagers saw him return, they hastily made way for him to enter.

He had expected to see his father, Gu Dacai, pinning his mother to the ground and beating her as usual, but instead, he was stunned to find Gu Dacai hanging from a tree.

“Mother, are you all right?” he asked, his voice tinged with panic as he saw Li sitting in the courtyard.

Gu Xiaoshu’s mind struggled to process the scene before him.

“Xiaoshu, you’re back. I’m fine. Your sister has come home,” Li said, her heart still caught in turmoil. When she saw her son return, she managed a gentle smile and beckoned him over.

Still in shock, Gu Xiaoshu looked up at her words and saw Gu Xiaoyao standing nearby.

“Sister, you’re back.”

Gu Xiaoshu’s eyes turned red as he rushed over and threw his arms around Gu Xiaoyao’s waist.

Gu Xiaoyao, caught by surprise, fought the urge to toss him several meters away. After a moment’s hesitation, she reached out and gently patted his head.

“Yes, I’m back. You’ve suffered a lot,” she said softly.

That simple sentence finally broke Gu Xiaoshu’s composure. He began to sob.

Seeing her son cry like this, Li grew flustered. All these days, she hadn’t seen Xiaoshu cry so hard.

After a while, Gu Xiaoshu wiped his tears away with his sleeve, lifting his head a little embarrassed.

“Sis, I’m just so happy to see you.”

Gu Xiaoyao understood. She patted him on the head and waited for him to compose himself before speaking.

“Xiaoshu, I have something to discuss with you. Would you like to live with me? I want to take you and Mother back to Lotus Village. Chu Chengjin has already agreed.”

Beside them, Chu Chengjin, who had been treated as invisible, smiled and nodded in confirmation.

Gu Xiaoshu, still young, didn’t think too far ahead. Hearing his sister’s words, his eyes lit up.

“Really, Sister? You can really take Mother and me with you? But… is that all right?”

“Of course it’s true. I’ve already thought it through. If Mother divorces, I can take you both with me,” Gu Xiaoyao said seriously, her words making Li’s heart waver again.

Seeing her son so happy, Li found it impossible to say she was unwilling.

In truth, she had always wanted to divorce, but for the sake of her children, and her own inability to take that step, she had pushed the thought aside.

“Xiaoyao’s mother, you must think carefully. This isn’t something you can decide on a whim,” Yang, her mother-in-law, protested. She was deeply reluctant for her daughter-in-law to really divorce her son. If her son had been a good man, she would have had more confidence to forbid the divorce. But her son was nothing but trouble, so she could only try to persuade her daughter-in-law in a gentle tone.

“Mother, if we leave here, Xiaoshu and I can have a better life. Once I earn some money, Xiaoshu can even go to school and learn to read and write. Even if he can’t study, I can send him to learn a trade. His future will be nothing you need to worry about,” Gu Xiaoyao said, her words striking precisely at Li’s most vulnerable spot.

Compared to Yang’s appeals to emotion, Gu Xiaoyao understood exactly where Li’s weaknesses lay, and pressed them unerringly.

Watching Gu Xiaoyao’s eloquence move Li time and again, Gu Chengjin found his ‘wife’ utterly intriguing.