A Cold and Aloof Top Student Is Relied Upon - Chapter 33

Chapter 33: An Old Acquaintance

◎Taboo◎

When Gu Zhu pulled her out of the Lin family home, Gu Baozhi was still in a daze. The false accusation seemed to have been resolved, but as a result, she no longer had a job.

After the heavy downpour, a light drizzle still fell. The sky was a pale gray-blue. Wet leaves and dead branches littered the sidewalks. The rain on Gu Zhu’s clothes had not yet dried. As she walked in silence, she looked a little like a stray cat, a far cry from the sharp-tongued and courageous girl who had just stood in front of her to defend her.

Gu Baozhi was a little surprised and flustered by Gu Zhu’s sudden assertiveness. It was like a kite she had been holding in her hand suddenly caught the wind and flew high and fast, as if it were about to escape her grasp.

They walked home in silence. Gu Zhu pushed her into the bathroom, telling her to take a bath and relax. She went into the kitchen herself and brewed a small pot of brown sugar and ginger water. While waiting for the water to boil, she replied to Bai Tan, who had asked about her, and thanked her again for her help today.

A message from an unknown number suddenly appeared at the top of her screen. Gu Zhu paused, then tapped on it. The message contained similar words of concern and comfort, telling her to pay attention to Gu Baozhi and to contact the sender through this number if anything happened.

—I didn’t mean to bother you, but this is urgent. If you really can’t solve things on your own, I hope you’ll reach out to me. Gu Zhu, all I want is to watch you grow up well, that’s all.

It was easy to guess who it was. Of all the people who knew what happened today, only Luo Ning would send her a message like this.

Afraid of being discovered by Gu Baozhi, Gu Zhu still remembered the last time Luo Ning and Gu Baozhi had seen each other. Gu Baozhi had cried hysterically, smashing everything Luo Ning had bought for her onto her, and screaming at her to get out. Without hesitation, she deleted the message.

When the ginger water was ready, Gu Baozhi was also done with her shower. Gu Zhu poured two bowls onto the table to cool down. Hearing the sound, she called out to Gu Baozhi, “Mom, have some ginger water to ward off the cold.”

Gu Baozhi came to the kitchen and sat down at the dining table. She held the steaming bowl of ginger water. Seeing Gu Zhu busy cleaning the stove by the sink, she was silent for a long time, then suddenly said, “You shouldn’t have resigned for me on your own today. Without a job, how am I going to raise you?”

Gu Zhu’s hand froze for a second while wiping the stove, but after a few seconds, she continued. She didn’t turn around or speak, knowing Gu Baozhi had more to say.

“The Lin family was very good to me. They even had me bring you gifts on holidays. If it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t have had so much money to help you with your education. Now, to suddenly quit and make them lose face like that… no one in this neighborhood will want to hire me anymore.”

“Zhu-zi, why did you act like that today? Did someone tell you to? Be honest with me, did she come looking for you?”

Gu Zhu knew who the “she” in Gu Baozhi’s mouth was. Hearing her tone become agitated, she finally turned around and shook her head. “No, we’ve never been in contact. I don’t even know who she is anymore. It’s been too long; I’ve long since forgotten what she looks like. Mom, please don’t overthink this. I just don’t want you to be wronged. I don’t want you to lower yourself in front of others.”

“I can be wronged for your sake. It doesn’t matter. As long as you’re doing well, that’s all that matters. Can you understand your mom’s good intentions?” Gu Baozhi suddenly stood up. The bowl of ginger water on the table was accidentally knocked over. The ceramic bowl shattered on the floor, but Gu Baozhi didn’t seem to notice. Her slippers squelched in the liquid as she reached out. “Give me your phone. Your mom needs to check to make sure no one is leading you down the wrong path.”

Gu Zhu involuntarily clenched her hand. The suffocating feeling of being controlled washed over her, making her take a deep breath. She took the phone out of her pocket and lowered her gaze, letting Gu Baozhi take it and check her contacts and chat apps.

She didn’t find anything. The phone was clean. Aside from a class group chat discussing college applications, there was nothing unusual, including the classmate she had warned last time.

Gu Baozhi’s eyes softened, but she didn’t return the phone to Gu Zhu. Instead, she urged her to go take a bath. “I’ll clean this up. You’re still wet. Hurry and go. I’ll figure out what to do about work. You just focus on your studies, okay?”

Gu Zhu nodded and didn’t argue. She had grown used to Gu Baozhi’s occasional controlling tendencies. She understood that sometimes Gu Baozhi couldn’t control herself. Whenever it came to her, Gu Baozhi would become sensitive and flustered.

Fortunately, her chats with Bai Tan were on a newly registered second account. She had also developed the habit of deleting their chat history in time, so as long as she didn’t log into the second account, Bai Tan’s messages wouldn’t be discovered.

But if she didn’t reply for a long time, the young mistress would complain again.

After her shower, she was told to blow-dry her hair. The doorbell suddenly rang. Gu Zhu put down the hair dryer and walked over to open the door. It was Chang Yuehua, and she was a little surprised. “Auntie, why are you here?”

Chang Yuehua came in, her tone urgent. “I heard about what happened to your mom. How could I not come? Are you guys okay? How can some rich kid be so arrogant? They’d even go so far as to frame someone! That was thirty thousand yuan! What would have happened if she really went to jail?!”

“And you! How could you go alone to confront them? Why didn’t you tell your auntie first? Your auntie may not be that capable, but there’s strength in numbers, and after all these years, I have a few connections!”

“What, are you looking down on your auntie?”

After being hit with a machine-gun-like barrage of questions, Gu Zhu rubbed the tip of her nose, turned around, and poured her a glass of water. With Chang Yuehua here to break the slightly silent and tense atmosphere, she felt relieved inside. “We’re okay, Auntie. Thank you for your concern.”

“You child, you’re not old, but you’re so stubborn. Go blow-dry your hair. I’m going to have a talk with your mom first.” Chang Yuehua drank the whole glass of water in one gulp, put the glass down, and went into the kitchen to find Gu Baozhi, who was cooking.

The kitchen fan was very loud, covering their voices. Gu Zhu knew they had things to talk about and didn’t want to disturb them. When she went into her room, her phone was already on her desk.

She didn’t rush to open it. Instead, she took out her pipa and practiced quietly.

The atmosphere in the kitchen wasn’t great. Chang Yuehua had a fiery temper when she was younger. Although she had reined it in with age, it would show its true nature when it came to people and things she cared about. “You should have quit this job a long time ago. I told you to quit back then, but you wouldn’t, saying the pay was good. And now? You’ve gotten into this trouble for no reason. I’m telling you, what Gu Zhu did was right. Quitting is the best outcome!”

“How did you know?” Gu Baozhi put the pork ribs into a clay pot, added water, and put the lid on before turning to look at her sister-in-law. “Did Luo Ning come to find you?”

Chang Yuehua’s long neck stiffened. It was true that Luo Ning had come to her. They were from the same village, so she knew her, and she also knew why Gu Baozhi and Luo Ning had fallen out. But that was a separate matter. She was actually grateful that Luo Ning had come to her to tell her this, otherwise, with the stubborn personalities of this mother and daughter, they would never have told anyone about their suffering.

Although she said that, she still lowered her voice subconsciously. “She did come to me, that’s right, but we didn’t talk about anything else. She hasn’t been in contact with you for so many years, so she’s probably come to terms with it. You shouldn’t always hold on to the past, or you and Gu Zhu will suffer in the end.”

Seeing her firm, unchanging expression, Chang Yuehua knew that Gu Baozhi still hadn’t taken her words to heart. She sighed and turned back to the main topic. “What’s your plan now? Are you still going to be a nanny for people?”

“Besides that, I don’t know how to do anything else. For all these years, I’ve been a nanny for others. I can’t think of what else I can do.” Gu Baozhi also sighed, letting out a long breath as if to exhale all her troubles. “Gu Zhu will have her college entrance exam next year, and then she’ll go to university. Everything costs money when she’s away from home. I don’t want her to have to work part-time like other students. I want her to study hard, and when she graduates, find a relaxed job, get married, and have a family. As long as she can be happy, I’ll be at ease.”

“Then have you ever considered if Gu Zhu even wants what you’re giving her? Do you know why Lin Ye dared to bully Gu Zhu, and why Gu Zhu never told you about the trouble Lin Ye gave her at school? It’s because Lin Ye thinks Gu Zhu is just a nanny’s daughter who has no one to back her up. And Gu Zhu didn’t tell you because she didn’t want you to worry.”

The water in the clay pot boiled, and the lid rattled. Gu Baozhi quickly turned around. Because she was dazed by those words, she forgot to grab a towel and used her bare hands instead. The steam was scalding, and she let go. The lid fell to the floor and shattered into two halves.

Chang Yuehua helped turn down the heat and quickly dragged her scalded hand under the sink. The sound of rushing water filled the air. After a long time, she spoke again. “Sister-in-law, don’t mind me for speaking out of turn, but life has to move forward. If you always suffer like this, not only will I be unable to bear it, but Gu Zhu will also be heartbroken for you.”

“From the day you married my brother, you never had a moment of happiness. You even took on so many debts. Now that you’ve raised Gu Zhu so well, that’s enough. From now on, I’ll be here for Gu Zhu. What are you so afraid of?”

“Do you remember what I told you before? I want to open a small food shop, and I need your cooking skills. Can you help me? Just give me a word.”

The soapy water and running water on her scalded hand made her stop feeling the pain. Gu Baozhi turned off the faucet and dried her hands. She had indeed been awakened by Chang Yuehua’s words. Maybe Gu Zhu wouldn’t look down on herself because her mom was a nanny, but what about others? Others would look down on Gu Zhu because of her identity. The world was always realistic, and there was always a sense of comparison. It was only now that she finally realized it.

“You’re right, Yuehua. I have to think about Gu Zhu’s sake.”

Seeing that she had listened, Chang Yuehua finally let out a sigh of relief. She went out to find Gu Zhu to get some burn cream. She heard her playing the pipa. She walked to her room and saw her sitting sideways on the stool, her side profile focused on playing the instrument.

The girl, who would turn eighteen in half a year, was beginning to blossom. The loose clothes made her look slender and delicate. Her swept-back hair revealed her small ear and the clean lines of her face.

For a moment, Chang Yuehua had an illusion of a familiar old acquaintance. She froze at the door, almost letting that name—which had long become a taboo—slip out.

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