B5SB -Chapter 280 Driving Her Away

Lu Huailin heard Grandma Gu raise her voice in questioning, and he lifted his eyes to glance at her.

He asked calmly, almost rhetorically: “My wife—what do you see in her besides someone to be used?”

Grandma Gu, shocked that Lu Huailin would question her love for her little granddaughter, widened her eyes and shook her head: “Xiao Lu, you’re deliberately pricking an old woman’s heart! How could I ever use Xiaohan? Among all the grandchildren at home, she’s the one I favor the most!”

Having said that, she quickly took a couple of steps toward Lu Huailin.

She didn’t want him to misunderstand her, keeping her gaze fixed on him without the slightest hesitation.

“If I didn’t care for Xiaohan, I wouldn’t have let Gu Meng threaten me for her!”

“Gu Meng said I was a vagrant, that if Xiaohan took me in, I’d be in trouble!”

“I only went to Gu Meng’s house to take care of her child because I wanted to protect Xiaohan!”

Lu Huailin didn’t wait for her to continue. He raised a hand to interrupt, a trace of mockery curling at the corner of his lips.

He let out a light laugh: “Grandma, are you really doing this for Xiaohan, or for yourself? Deep down, you know the truth better than anyone.”

“You say Gu Meng threatened you because you didn’t have a letter of introduction, but why didn’t you ask me or my wife?”

“Why did you make the decision yourself, say nothing, and just leave?”

“I…I’m not educated, I couldn’t think of so much at the moment!” Grandma Gu suddenly raised her voice, anxious as she tried to defend herself.

Lu Huailin leaned back slightly, lowering his eyelids, without looking at her.

He chuckled lowly: “You were afraid that without the letter of introduction, you’d really be sent back to Gujia Village, weren’t you?”

Upon hearing this, Grandma Gu’s pupils widened, and she instinctively stepped back two paces.

“You didn’t want to go back to Gujia Village to suffer from not knowing where the next meal would come from, so you purposely went to Gu Meng’s house.”

“You counted on my wife’s soft heart, that she wouldn’t want you to suffer, so you deliberately said nothing and went to Gu Meng’s to avoid the uncertainty of not having a letter of introduction!”

Just thinking about how, over the past year, his wife had gone to the supply and marketing cooperative every few days, rain or shine, worried that Grandma Gu would be bullied by Gu Meng or go hungry, Lu Huailin felt a pang of heartache for his wife. All her goodwill and kindness had been fed to an ungrateful wolf.

Lu Huailin narrowed his eyes, glancing at Grandma Gu frozen in place, a flicker of disgust in his gaze.

“Truly, she only goes after the soft spots.”

“It’s not true! It’s not true! I…I’ve always favored Xiaohan! How could I use her?”

“She was the first girl from our village to pass the vocational school exam. Without me, she wouldn’t have gotten out!”

Grandma Gu hurriedly rattled off evidence of her favoritism, desperately trying to justify herself.
She had liked Gu Yihan since she was little—how could she be using her?

Lu Huailin’s eyes remained cold as he stared at Grandma Gu. Seeing her so anxious to defend herself, he felt even more indignant for his wife.

He slowly stood and walked to her side.

“Grandma, you sent my wife to school because you wanted to balance the family’s relationships.”

“Because the eldest son of the first family, Gu Hao, went to school, you couldn’t let the second family’s two children stay at home.”

“You were afraid of family conflict and also feared that the villagers would say you were biased.”

Grandma Gu’s pupils widened. She suddenly stepped forward and grabbed Lu Huailin’s arm.
Shaking her head: “No, it’s not what you think!”

“There are two children in the second family. Why would I let the older one, Xiao Meng, go to school instead of Xiaohan?”

“Doesn’t that prove I favor Xiaohan?”

Lu Huailin tilted his head, thinking about how his wife hadn’t asked the family for money since starting middle school, and even gave Grandma Gu five yuan every month from her own earnings. How could she speak of favoritism?

He shrugged off Grandma Gu’s hand: “You can’t fool my wife, and you can’t fool me either!”

“You sent my wife to school only because you thought she was your own granddaughter, young enough to please you.”

“A few years of elementary school would increase her value when she married.”

“If she hadn’t been capable and worked her way to vocational school without using the family’s money, would you have let her go to school?”

Grandma Gu was completely stunned. She had thought of these possibilities initially, but her thoughts had changed later! And how could Lu Huailin know?

She couldn’t admit it. She suddenly raised her head and changed the subject: “Xiao Lu, no matter what, I’ve always treated Xiaohan like my own granddaughter!”

“Knowing she isn’t your biological granddaughter, haven’t you ever regretted it?”

Lu Huailin’s gaze locked onto hers.

Seeing this, Grandma Gu’s eyes flickered and she dared not meet his gaze. After learning Gu Yihan wasn’t his son’s biological daughter, her greatest regret had been sending her to school.
The little duck she had raised so carefully had flown away. But later, when Gu Yihan didn’t seek out her biological parents, she never regretted it again.

Lu Huailin saw Grandma Gu lowering her head, avoiding his eyes, and a cold smile crossed his mind.

He was a soldier. Even before marriage, his wife’s background had been exposed. Could he not have investigated the attitudes of her foster parents and everyone in the household? If Gu Aidang hadn’t been unfilial to Grandma Gu, how could she have treated his wife sincerely?

After ten minutes, Grandma Gu mustered courage and looked up at Lu Huailin: “Xiao Lu, can you, for the sake of the two years I’ve taken care of Xiaohan, let Gu Meng go?”

Lu Huailin looked at her, disappointment flashing in his eyes. She had spoken the pleading words.

He rejected her coldly: “No.”

“Why not?”

“I’m the victim. I don’t pursue it, so why shouldn’t she be punished?”

Grandma Gu’s face flushed red with urgency. Speaking rapidly, she grabbed Lu Huailin’s clothes tightly and shouted: “People from the countryside can’t go without quarreling or fighting! Tongues fight against teeth, let alone grandchildren a generation apart!”

Before Lu Huailin could respond, He Shengli’s shouting could be heard outside.

“Commander!”

“Commander, are you home?”

Lu Huailin gave Grandma Gu a sidelong glance and then left the living room. “I’m home, Xiao He!”

He Shengli pushed open the gate and grinned at Lu Huailin, showing his teeth. “Commander, Grandma Gu’s train ticket back to Gujia Village has already been purchased!”

Grandma Gu, hearing that Lu Huailin would really send her back to Gujia Village, felt as if struck by lightning. Her steps faltered as she walked out, shouting at He Shengli: “I’m not going! Go cancel the ticket!”

He Shengli was stunned by her shouting. He glanced at the expressionless Lu Huailin, then cautiously approached and whispered: “Commander, should I cancel the ticket?”

Lu Huailin frowned and softly nodded: “Yes.”

He had changed his mind—letting Grandma Gu go back to Gujia Village was already too generous. Unlike his soft-hearted wife, he knew that if she wanted to suffer, she had to suffer fully this time, or she wouldn’t learn her lesson.