Upon hearing the name of the hotel, Liu Xiuqin was so overjoyed she nearly jumped for joy.
"Young Master Gao has picked a wonderful venue! I will make sure Xiangyu arrives on time!"
"Good, then it's settled!" Young Master Gao waved his hand and stepped into his silver Bentley. Just before closing the door, he shot a sideways glance at Gu Yuan, a sneer curling his lips.
"Oh, our family has finally climbed the social ladder! From now on, the Lin Family will be a household with status and prestige!" Li Xiuqin was beside herself with joy, her mind already drifting into fantasies of a future life as a high-society lady.
"Mom, what do you mean by this? Xiangyu and I aren't even divorced yet, and you're already handing her over to another man?" Gu Yuan could not suppress his indignation and blurted out the question.
"Shut your mouth, you ex-convict! Who is your mom?" The smile vanished from Li Xiuqin's face instantly as she glared at Gu Yuan with disgust and malice. "You saw what happened just now, so I might as well lay it all out for you."
Li Xiuqin gave her son, Lin Lei, a meaningful look. Lin Lei, catching the hint, quickly walked into the house and returned with a sheet of paper and a pen. Li Xiuqin took them and slapped them heavily onto Gu Yuan.
"This is the divorce agreement between you and our Xiangyu. Sign it immediately and get out of Tiannan City."
The Lin Family was no longer what it used to be. They belonged to the upper crust of Tiannan City, and everyone around them was either wealthy or powerful. Lin Xiangyu, in particular, was one of the Top Ten Outstanding Youths of Tiannan City. Her beauty, status, and ability were each enough to crush Gu Yuan into the dirt. They were no longer people from the same world. There were countless outstanding young men pursuing Lin Xiangyu; any one of them was a hundred times better than Gu Yuan.
Gu Yuan instinctively grabbed the divorce agreement, unable to believe these words were coming from his mother-in-law.
Years ago, when Li Xiuqin had fallen deathly ill, no doctor could diagnose her condition. At that time, the Lin Family was still poor, and Gu Yuan had covered all the medical expenses. Later, an old practitioner of traditional Chinese medicine said her illness was unique and could only be cured by a Longhu Pill from Longhu Mountain. Gu Yuan had traveled to Longhu Mountain and knelt at the entrance for seven days and seven nights. It was the dead of winter; the mountain was covered in deep snow, and the biting wind cut like a knife. Gu Yuan had been covered in snow, freezing until he lost consciousness. Fortunately, his sincerity moved the head of Longhu Mountain, who gifted him a Longhu Pill—which was the only reason Li Xiuqin was alive and kicking today.
Looking at the heartless, vicious, and contemptuous expression on his mother-in-law's face, Gu Yuan felt a profound sense of sorrow. This family consisted of nothing but ingrates!
"Is this divorce your idea, or is it Xiangyu's?"
After so many years of affection, Gu Yuan couldn't just cut ties so easily. If Lin Xiangyu still loved him, he was willing to let bygones be bygones.
"Xiangyu wrote this divorce agreement three years ago," Li Xiuqin said coldly. "You were in prison at the time, and she didn't want you to do something desperate, so she didn't tell you. Now that you're out, hurry up and sign it!"
Written three years ago?!
The last thread of hope in Gu Yuan’s heart collapsed. He even began to suspect that his imprisonment had been a trap set by the Lin Family.
"Sign it quickly! If you don't, I'll beat you until you cough up blood and press your thumbprint in it myself!" Lin Lei threatened from the side.
Li Xiuqin added, "Gu Yuan, you need to have some self-awareness. Go take a piss and look at your reflection. Look at what you look like now—what’s the difference between you and a scavenger? You saw it yourself just now: Gao Shaohua, the son of the biggest real estate tycoon in Tiannan City, came to our house to propose. Compared to Gao Shaohua, you are like a firefly next to the bright moon."
"Mom, stop wasting your breath on him. He’s only refusing to sign because he wants to extort money from our Lin Family!" Lin Lei reminded her.
"He still has the nerve to ask for money? He wasted four or five years of our Xiangyu's youth, not to mention that his identity as an ex-convict has completely disgraced our family. We should be the ones asking him for compensation."
Lin Lei immediately chimed in, "Did you hear that, loser? If you don't sign, I’ll send you right back to prison."
Gu Yuan clenched his fists, his eyes turning bloodshot as he glared at Lin Lei. "I dare you to say that again!"
Lin Lei pointed his finger directly at Gu Yuan’s nose and cursed, "Ex-convict, loser, idiot! Sign the paper for me right now!"
There is a limit to a person's patience. Originally, Gu Yuan had treated their family well because he loved Lin Xiangyu and extended that kindness to them. Now, the whole family was riding roughshod over him, practically defecating on his head. And Lin Xiangyu had been playing him for a fool all along.
Rage burned in Gu Yuan's heart; if he didn't release it, he felt his heart might burst.
"You dare point your finger at me? You think you're something, don't you!"
*Smack! Smack! Smack!*
Three sharp sounds echoed, and Lin Lei spun around in place like a spinning top. When he finally steadied himself, it was clear that the left side of his face was bruised black and blue!
"Son, what happened to your face? Who hit you?" Li Xiuqin asked anxiously, full of distress. Gu Yuan's speed had been so fast that neither of them had seen the movement.
"Mom, this dog attacked me! I can't feel my face anymore. Is it disfigured?!" Lin Lei clutched his face and wailed in pain.
"You dare hit my son? I’ll tear your dog face apart!" Li Xiuqin reached out to claw at Gu Yuan’s face.
*Smack!*
Gu Yuan backhanded her, and Li Xiuqin was sent reeling in a daze. Both mother and son were terrified.
"I treated you all well for Xiangyu's sake, but I never expected your whole family to treat me like a monkey in a show. Since that's the case, we’re done!"
Gu Yuan wanted to see how far Lin Xiangyu could go without his help.
"Fine, we're done! Just sign the paper before you leave." Li Xiuqin, not daring to get close to Gu Yuan, dragged her son away to a safe distance.
Gu Yuan signed the document, threw the divorce agreement on the ground, and turned to leave. Just then, a car pulled up to the gate of the old residence, and a graceful figure stepped out—it was Lin Xiangyu. She had driven straight here after dropping Wen Hao off at the hospital.
"Daughter, you have to stand up for your mother!" Seeing her daughter arrive, Li Xiuqin pulled her son toward her.
Lin Xiangyu saw that her mother's and brother's faces were swollen like buns, then looked at Gu Yuan standing to the side, cold and emotionless, radiating a violent aura. She didn't need to ask to know what had happened.
"Gu Yuan, stop right there!" Lin Xiangyu shouted sharply at him.
"Is there something you need?" Gu Yuan replied coldly.
"Why did you beat my mother and brother like this?! Three years in prison and you still haven't shed these vile habits? You really are a hopeless scoundrel!" Lin Xiangyu suppressed the anger in her heart. He had hit her lover first, and now her mother and brother. In the past, she might have endured it, but now she was the high-and-mighty General Manager Lin; she had to answer to her family.
"Why don't you ask what your mother and brother said to me?"
"No matter what they said, you shouldn't have resorted to violence! Kneel down and apologize right now, and I might forgive you for this!"
She had known Gu Yuan would return to the old Gu family residence. She had originally intended to return the house to him and have a civilized conversation to part on good terms, but now she felt she had been too kind.
"Make me apologize? Lin Xiangyu, where do you get the nerve? Back then, your brother was gambling online, drowning in usury, and being threatened with having his kidney cut out. Who paid to solve his problem? When your mother was terminally ill, who risked his life to climb Longhu Mountain to beg for a Longhu Pill? And you—I sold my family property to provide your startup capital, and even the money I earned working in prison went to you. And you, Lin Xiangyu, how have you treated me? You wrote the divorce agreement three years ago. You are colder-blooded than a snake!"
Gu Yuan poured out everything he had been bottling up. Even if she had no feelings for him left, there was still the matter of gratitude! Was this how the Lin Family repaid kindness?
Lin Xiangyu felt a twinge of shame, but people climb upward just as water flows downward—it was an immutable truth of the world. Women are drawn to strength and only want to associate with those who are better than them. If only Gu Yuan hadn't been so lazy, the gap between them wouldn't have grown so wide. At that thought, the last trace of guilt in Lin Xiangyu's heart vanished into thin air.
"Who can you blame for that? Did I force you to go to prison? You only have yourself to blame for always trying to solve problems with violence. You are unmotivated, you only have a high school diploma, and you are lazy. It’s all your own incompetence!" She added, "I lived as a widow for you for three years; I have already done right by you."
"You really lived as a widow for me for three years?"
It was truly amazing how a woman could lie without her face turning red or her heart skipping a beat. If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he might have been fooled by her sincere appearance.
"Believe what you want!"
Gu Yuan couldn't be bothered to entangle himself with such a woman any longer. When people are shameless, they are invincible. This entire family valued wealth over character; there was no human warmth to be found.
"I’ve signed the divorce agreement. Are you satisfied now? From here on out, we go our separate ways!" Gu Yuan wanted to say that he wouldn't be secretly helping her company anymore, to see how far she could actually get, but he swallowed the words. In this situation, she wouldn't believe him anyway and would only mock him further.
"Gu Yuan, it’s not that I’m heartless. If you have time tomorrow night, I’ll take you to a business banquet. Only when you see what the upper class is really like will you understand the gap between us. When that happens, you’ll understand my plight. The distance between us is too great; this divorce is to preserve your last bit of dignity."
Gu Yuan shook his head. What a pale and powerless excuse.
Not far from the old Gu family residence, a Rolls-Royce Phantom pulled up alongside Gu Yuan.
"Mr. Gu, please wait!" A white-bearded old man rolled down the window and called out repeatedly.