Chapter 78: Chapter 78: Zhong Luoning’s Life

Gu Qinghuan had thought she would first receive a reply from her cousin Luoning, but to her surprise, no letter came for a long time. Instead, it was Lanting’s second letter that arrived.

He wrote that everything was well with him, and even asked why she had suddenly sent him money and things. He kept the items, but returned the money. In his letter, he especially sent his regards to their grandparents and mother.

Gu Qinghuan didn’t tell him about Zhong Zijun’s injury, nor did she mention her own marriage. On one hand, she didn’t want him to worry and add to his sorrow. On the other, she truly didn’t know how to begin explaining it all, so she decided to leave it for now.

For some reason, she always felt that Gu Lanting was hiding something.

—

Xu Family, Beijing.

Zhong Luoning stared at the envelope in her hand, her face dark with anger.

Her mother-in-law had actually hidden her letter.

If she hadn’t been helping tidy up the room today, she would never have accidentally found the letter under the bed. Huanhuan rarely wrote to her, and this time she was asking for help—she had almost missed it.

Thinking of this, Zhong Luoning clenched her teeth. The Xu family was simply too much.

She marched downstairs with the letter and slammed it down on the dining table in a fury.

“Mom! Why did you hide my letter? Do you realize I almost missed some very important news?”

Mother Xu showed not the slightest sign of guilt, instead looking completely justified. “At a time like this, I have to personally check all the mail that comes to this house. Is there a problem with that? Zhong Luoning, you’re only able to scrape by because of our Xu family. You weren’t sent down, and yet you’re still keeping in touch with those stinking intellectuals? If I catch you betraying us again, I’ll have to use the family rules!”

Xu Youran had been sitting at the table eating, but was so frightened by her grandmother’s outburst that she fell off her chair and scrambled to hide behind her mother, eyes brimming with tears.

Zhong Luoning sadly picked up her daughter and hugged her, comforting her as her own heart felt torn to pieces.

“Don’t cry, Youran. Mommy’s here, Mommy’s got you.”

Xu Youran clung tightly to her clothes.

Mother Xu spat in disgust. “Crying, crying, crying! You’ve got the nerve to cry? Such a coward, like a little chick—how embarrassing. Zhong Luoning, after all these years, you’ve only given us a girl, and you won’t let Jianguo find another woman to have a son with. Are you trying to cut off the Xu family line? I’m telling you, if your belly doesn’t give us a son soon, don’t blame me for being ruthless! Our Xu family has only had one son per generation for five generations!”

With that, Mother Xu left the house—she had a mahjong game with some ladies and was running late. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have let Zhong Luoning off so easily.

Xu Youran kept crying, and after comforting her for a while, Zhong Luoning herself began to weep silently.

She hated it all.

She hated her own blindness and misplaced devotion. She hated the unfairness of fate, hated the harshness of the world. She hated the Xu family’s cold hearts, and hated her own weakness and helplessness. There was just so much to hate.

When her parents were wronged and sent down, she had just given birth to Youran and was still in confinement. She’d already lost a lot of blood and was in poor health, and the confinement period hadn’t gone well, leaving her with lingering illnesses.

The true nature of the Xu family gradually revealed itself. Besides verbal humiliation and attacks, there was constant psychological pressure.

She had once been a piano teacher, but after that incident, the school dismissed her. The Xu family, eager to follow the new policies, even let go of their maid, leaving all the household burdens on her shoulders.

She had once been a pampered young lady who never touched housework—her hands were meant for playing the piano, not cooking and cleaning. Yet from her confinement period on, she had to cook, clean, do laundry, and take care of her child—everything fell to her.

At first, she thought the family should stick together through hard times, so she gritted her teeth and endured. She never expected that what she’d get in return was even more humiliation and harm.

Over the years, her health issues left her unable to conceive again. Her in-laws said all sorts of nasty things, and Xu Jianguo started fooling around outside—she knew all about it. She endured it all for Youran’s sake.

Sometimes she asked herself what was the point of such an empty marriage. She couldn’t help her parents, nor could she raise her child well.

Xu Jianguo was a complete scoundrel. The vows he’d made when courting her were long gone—now, all that was left was mutual torment. He would often resort to violence, scaring their child so badly she’d hide under the bed, trembling. At five years old, Youran was as timid as a chick.

Zhong Luoning felt her life had reached its darkest point.

But a mother must be strong. After crying, she pulled herself together and patiently soothed her daughter.

Her cousin had rarely reached out to her, and no matter what, she had to find out the truth for her.

She went straight to the old house where the Zhong family used to live to ask around. Only then did she learn that her younger cousin had already left home some time ago. Apparently, after a big fight with the family over his younger brother, he’d stormed out and stopped going to school.

Her uncle didn’t care about his eldest son anymore, focusing all his attention on the younger one. At the end of last year, he’d just had a big, healthy baby boy.

She could imagine that her uncle in the Gu family was probably just like her in-laws in the Xu family—opportunistic and petty. When they needed you, they’d act all friendly and flattering, but once you fell on hard times, they’d turn on you, even kicking you when you were down.

Last year, when her cousin Huanhuan was sent to the countryside, she already felt something was wrong. She hadn’t expected that not long after, Lanting would also be forced out of the house. It must have something to do with that woman.

Even a tiger won’t eat its own cubs, but her uncle was truly heartless.

No, he was no longer her uncle.

After much effort and asking around, Zhong Luoning finally found Gu Lanting in a communal building. He was working hard to light a coal stove.

He’d been a pampered young master all his life, never having suffered hardship—now he was experiencing it all at once.

“Lanting…”

Gu Lanting looked up, stunned. “Cousin, what are you doing here? Where’s your child?” He stood up and brushed the dust off himself.

“I left her with the neighbors. But I haven’t asked—you… what’s going on?”

Gu Lanting invited her inside. “It’s a bit shabby, don’t mind it. With what I earn now, this is all I can afford.”

Though still young, he seemed mature beyond his years.

Zhong Luoning felt a pang of sadness.

“Why would I mind? But why did you leave school and run away from home? Your sister Qinghuan wrote to me recently, asking me to check on you—she’s very worried. It’s a shame I only just saw her letter; my mother-in-law had hidden it.”

At this, Gu Lanting grew anxious. “Luoning, please don’t tell my sister about my situation. She’s already having a hard time in the countryside—if she knew about me, she’d be heartbroken.”

The two siblings had depended on each other after their mother was sent down, their bond deeper than that of most siblings.

Zhong Luoning sighed. “Then at least tell me honestly—what happened?”"