Chapter 227: A Frightened Bird
Gu Xueying didn’t have any particular place she wanted to go—she just desperately wanted to escape from Gu Yujing in front of her.
“Nanjing is fine… your assistant can accompany me…” Gu Xueying said.
Gu Yujing shook his head. “I plan to go with you myself. How about it? Aren’t you happy?”
Gu Xueying wasn’t even a little bit happy. Ever since her third brother resolved the family crisis—after losing the Red Dragon King and finding their father an even better supporter—he had gained even more authority at home.
He casually found an excuse to take Gu Xueying away from the Gu family villa and hid her in this secluded private villa, keeping a close watch over her every day, not allowing her a moment of freedom.
The Gu family did have their suspicions, but Gu Yujing brushed them off by saying Gu Xueying had gone abroad for further studies.
Their father and the other two brothers were busy with their own matters and didn’t think much of it. As for their mother, seeing the family crisis resolved, she didn’t doubt her always well-behaved youngest son. In fact, she even privately complained about Gu Xueying a few times, blaming her for being careless and not staying at home.
These past days had been extremely hard for Gu Xueying.
Even though she had known that this brother had been obsessed with her, living like a prisoner without a moment’s peace truly terrified her.
She even began to regret: if she hadn’t stopped Xu Youyou from returning to the family back then, maybe she wouldn’t be suffering like this now.
Suddenly, Gu Yujing reached out and wiped the tears from her face.
Because he often held a paintbrush, his hands were covered with thick calluses, making his touch feel rough and uncomfortable.
Gu Xueying’s skin was extremely delicate—just a light touch would leave red marks. After being touched, faint red marks immediately appeared on her face, making her look extremely pitiful.
The more pitiful she looked, the harder it was to resist the urge to torment her.
“I… I want to go by myself…” Gu Xueying said.
Gu Yujing frowned slightly. “For something this important, of course I have to go with you.”
“What important thing?” Gu Xueying didn’t understand.
“To meet your biological mother, of course,” Gu Yujing said lightly, dropping a bomb.
Gu Xueying’s face changed drastically. She wasn’t prepared at all to meet her birth mother. After all, seeing how Xu Youyou had grown up in an orphanage, it was clear her biological parents probably lived in poor conditions.
“I don’t want to go to Nanjing anymore!” Gu Xueying said urgently.
Gu Yujing cupped her pale, fragile face in his hands and said lightly, “She’s your real mother. How can you not meet her? That wouldn’t be what a good girl does.”
Gu Xueying was on the verge of breaking down. She couldn’t help but lose her temper: “If anyone finds out about our relationship now, everyone will say the Gu family failed in their upbringing! Even if we’re not related by blood, people will still point fingers and say we’re committing incest! Wake up already!”
But Gu Yujing remained calm despite her outburst. Instead, he gently patted her head and said, “Alright, alright, it’s not such a big deal. Calm down.”
Gu Xueying couldn’t calm down at all.
Everything Gu Yujing had done had completely destroyed her original life plans.
She had wanted to use the Gu family’s influence to find a wealthy, well-matched husband and secure a proper marriage—not live like a rat hiding in the shadows, doing shameful things!
“I can’t calm down! You ruined my life!” Gu Xueying shouted.
Gu Yujing simply stared at her calmly, waiting until she was done before speaking: “Wasn’t this all part of your plan from the beginning?”
Gu Xueying froze.
Gu Yujing leaned close to her ear, speaking in a low, chilling voice: “You spent all those years seducing us—wasn’t it all so you could make the three of us go crazy over you?”
Gu Xueying’s face showed pure horror as she stumbled backward several steps.
“What’s wrong? You don’t look very happy that I saw through you,” Gu Yujing said.
Since she was young, Gu Xueying had repeatedly had the same dream:
In the dream, Xu Youyou returned home. Although their parents didn’t like her much, the three brothers all doted on their real sister. Meanwhile, as the fake daughter, Gu Xueying was treated like a servant.
When she came of age, her father casually arranged a marriage for her. Not long after, her husband’s family went bankrupt. She had no one to turn to and, when she returned home seeking help, the Gu family simply watched coldly.
Eventually, she moved from the most luxurious villa in Shanghai to a slum. The daily hardships and constant penny-pinching turned her once delicate hands rough and made her face look mean and calculating.
Even just dreaming about such a life left her terrified. Every time she woke from these nightmares, she desperately thought of ways to change her fate.
The key was getting support from the three brothers, and marrying into a wealthy, stable family was equally important.
Most of the dream was blurry—she didn’t even remember what her original husband looked like—so she simply set her sights directly on the top elite of Shanghai: Lu Jingyao.
Yet, all her efforts to win Lu Jingyao had completely failed.
On the other hand, getting closer to her brothers under the guise of sibling affection went extremely smoothly.
Only, she had pushed too hard—and ended up changing the nature of their relationship.
“I still remember ten years ago, during a thunderstorm, you said you were scared and crawled into my bed at night. You kept calling me ‘brother’—but do you know what I was thinking?” Gu Yujing asked.
Gu Xueying shook her head vigorously.
Back then, she hadn’t really been scared. She had overheard her mother mentioning that Gu Yujing had been terrified of thunderstorms when he was little. She used her “fear” as an excuse, trying to use shared experiences to get closer to him.
“You crawled into the bed of a teenage boy—you should’ve known what would happen,” Gu Yujing said coldly.
“Would a normal man have thoughts like that about his sister?” Gu Xueying asked angrily.
Gu Yujing showed no shame at all. Instead, he replied, “A normal sister wouldn’t act like you did. You crossed the line first.”
Gu Xueying’s face turned deathly pale, and she muttered repeatedly, “Madman, you’re a madman.”
Gu Yujing, instead of getting angry, laughed and said, “Welcome to the madman’s world.”
Nanjing and Shanghai weren’t far apart, so Xu Youyou and Lu Jingyao chose to take the high-speed train.
However, just as they entered the VIP lounge, they immediately saw two extremely unpleasant faces.
Gu Xueying and Gu Yujing were sitting right by the entrance on a leather sofa. Gu Yujing looked relaxed, while Gu Xueying looked like a frightened bird.
