014
After comforting the elderly Gu couple, Tian Jing’s family drove away. Zou Rui was driving, Zou Fan was already asleep leaning against the back of the seat, and Lu Tian was looking at her phone. Tian Jing glanced at her profile, a little puzzled why the person who was most angry at first was now the calmest, while she was the one feeling resentful.
Lu Tian sensed her gaze but pretended not to notice; it was too much trouble to explain.
Back home, Zou Rui carried his son upstairs. Tian Jing called Lu Tian over, asking her to stay in the car to chat for a while. Lu Tian inexplicably felt the anxiety that her former friend had described, the feeling of a boss calling you in for a talk.
“What do you think about the Gu family’s matter?”
Lu Tian touched her nose and looked directly into Tian Jing’s serious eyes: “The Gu family cares about face and has a lot to consider. If Gu Yalan hadn’t done anything wrong, they wouldn’t have abandoned her directly.”
“Get to the point! What are you thinking? Before, when you revealed the truth, was this all you wanted?” Tian Jing still remembered when she asked Lu Tian what she wanted to gain from this matter. At that time, she was an outsider, but now, being involved, it was difficult to analyze rationally.
“At that time, I exposed it because I was angry and jealous of Yu Ningxuan. But after seeing the Gu family, it’s no longer just jealousy. I can’t control the thoughts of the Gu family members, and I can’t guarantee that compensating the Gu family and cutting off Gu Yalan’s losses will work. The Yu family didn’t do anything wrong, and the baby swap wasn’t done by Gu Yalan; only Old Mrs. Tian is at fault. The Yu family doesn’t want to lose face, so they want to keep quiet, and the Gu family also wants to keep quiet because they think they can compensate you privately. But the Gu family’s interests can’t be lost. Even if Old Master Gu is willing to give them up, his sons and grandsons are unwilling to lose the strong family alliance with the Yu family.”
Ultimately, it boils down to one sentence: Tian Jing and Lu Tian weren’t important enough to make them sacrifice some interests. Conversely, if they hadn’t deliberately pursued the matter, Tian Jing didn’t care so much about the affection the Gu family gave her. She didn’t receive it when she needed it most, so any compensation is just icing on the cake.
Tian Jing’s gaze gradually changed; she no longer saw Lu Tian as an immature girl but as a calm and rational adult, and she was puzzled: “How did you figure this out?”
Lu Tian remained impassive: “Haven’t I been trying to make money lately? I’ve been studying the grievances and hatreds of several major families and watching a lot of business war dramas. I’ve learned a little bit.”
“But, I’m still not reconciled to being just dismissed like this. I’m the biological daughter, why should I be so aggrieved…”
“That’s right, so you can appropriately maintain contact with them, build a relationship. With a blood relationship, and their sense of guilt, they won’t treat you worse than Gu Yalan, right?” But Tian Jing was never one to bend; if they clashed with the Gu family, they would be at a disadvantage, and Tian Jing wouldn’t want to be pitied, would she?
Tian Jing remained silent.
“Mom, don’t worry, I’m talking about the worst-case scenario. You are the legitimate daughter of the Gu family. Even if you fight with Gu Yalan, you are in the right; you don’t need to worry too much about her.” Lu Tian didn’t want Tian Jing to dwell on it and become too sad. Moreover, many things have changed now, and no one can tell what the future will hold. She can stay out of it because she is not the real Lu Tian. She never expected any affection from the Gu family; she just needs to be in an equal position to get what she needs.
“What am I fighting her for? It’s not worth it!” Tian Jing said this, and suddenly thought that if the Lu family came to recognize Lu Tian, how would Lu Tian cope? In an instant, she began to feel心疼 (xīn téng – heartache, pain) and fear again, afraid that Lu Tian would know the truth and blame her for leaving the Lu family with her.
“Lu Tian, I want to ask you something.”
Lu Tian was looking for yogurt in the car refrigerator, and absentmindedly responded, waiting for Tian Jing to ask.
“What if your father comes looking for you?”
“Him? Isn’t he dead already?” Lu Tian said lightly. This was the original owner’s usual excuse. Although Tian Jing retold the truth after she was fifteen—she and her father simply separated peacefully—the original owner only deepened her resentment and even resented Tian Jing in her heart for not giving her a complete family.
Tian Jing couldn’t help but rub her temples, feeling very headache-y: “Don’t talk nonsense.”
Lu Tian found the yogurt, carefree, and took a happy sip.
The properties and shops given by the Gu family were to be transferred to Lu Tian and Tian Jing separately, and the money from the Yu family was transferred to a personal account. Lu Tian asked half-believingly, “Mom, are you really okay with giving all of this to me?”
“Relax, you can do whatever you want with it. I’ll take some time to sort out the accounts, and the dividends and equity that should be yours will be transferred to your name. At least you studied finance, so learn to manage your finances yourself and don’t get scammed.” Tian Jing said seemingly easily.
Lu Tian had no psychological burden and accepted them. After careful consideration, she understood Tian Jing’s intention—to broaden her horizons in advance. If one day she met the Lu family again, she wouldn’t be confused by money and go down the wrong path, allowing others to look down on her.
In the original story, the original owner caused so many troubles mainly because of her personality, or rather, the character created by the author. She was simply a villain, used to advance the plot. But when she became the original owner, every move would change the plot, creating a butterfly effect. It might accelerate the plot development or lead her to live her own life away from the plot.
The opportunity to relive once is not easy, and Lu Tian was unwilling to be led by the nose. That feeling was simply too awful.
The pleasant weekend ended, and Lu Tian returned to school with a different status than before, spending her days in front of the computer looking at stocks or checking investment projects, almost like she had gone crazy.
Her roommates were very worried about her: “Lu Tian, you have to be rational. Don’t invest all your money.”
They were also afraid that Lu Tian would get involved in unreliable loans or scams.
Lu Tian felt warm inside and raised her hand to assure them: “Don’t worry, I’m only using my pocket money. I’ll treat you to dinner tonight.”
“You made money?” Helian Chen asked in surprise.
“No, my grandfather was happy and gave me a lot of pocket money. Let’s go eat something good?”
Only then did everyone believe her. But when it came to choosing a place to eat, they hesitated, unwilling to spend too much of her money. Lu Tian was happy that her intentions were cherished and waved her hand generously to treat them to a luxurious seafood buffet.
“If you hesitate any longer, I’ll be unhappy!” Lu Tian issued her final ultimatum, leading her roommates into the elevator and heading straight for the seafood buffet.
Peng Yangyang pushed up her glasses that had slipped down her nose and calmly said, “Lu Tian has said so, so let’s eat with peace of mind. We’ll make it up to her when it’s her birthday.”
Jiang Feifei and Helian Chen finally relaxed. A seafood buffet could cost them half a month’s living expenses, so they felt uneasy, but once they started eating, they forgot everything else.
Autumn is the best time to eat crabs, and Lu Tian likes them, so she focused on eating crabs at her seat. But Jiang Feifei came back from getting food and said she saw Yu Ningxuan eating with a man, also in this restaurant.
“Is she dating again? That person isn’t Han Yifan.”
Lu Tian opened her phone map and took a look. There was a five-star hotel nearby. The couple’s suite they offered was famous for being romantic and expensive, and it was near the restaurant. It seemed that the two were very much in love and had already slept together. The original story only briefly mentioned that they were eating nearby, that a boy spilled juice on Yu Ningxuan in the buffet restaurant, and that they had sex again while changing clothes in the room. I wonder what Yu Ningxuan felt when she saw Lu Tian eating her male god, Meng Jingdong, at the banquet that day.
“Let’s eat ours. Why talk about her?” Helian Chen remembered the conflict between Lu Tian and Yu Ningxuan’s backgrounds. If they gossiped and caused them to fight on the spot, it wouldn’t be good.
“Right, right, right.” Jiang Feifei echoed.
Lu Tian smiled without saying anything. It wouldn’t affect her appetite anyway. After this big meal, she would probably have to eat a light diet for a while. The bone marrow matching with Lu Chengyang had been successful, and the next step would be examinations, mobilizing injections, and all sorts of unpleasant things. She didn’t know if Lu Chengyang could survive. In the original story, he was about to die now, the cause of death unknown, but looking at Lu Chengyang’s condition in the hospital, it shouldn’t be a natural death.
Coincidentally, the four of them, indulging in a feast, happened to check out and leave at the same time as the two couples, taking the same elevator.
Yu Ningxuan’s first reaction when she saw Lu Tian was to freeze, subconsciously afraid that Lu Tian would say something unpleasant, slandering her in front of Lu Zhengyang. But the six of them looked at each other for a long time without anyone speaking. It was Lu Zhengyang who first greeted them with a smile: “Hello, we meet again, Meng… Miss Lu.”
Lu Tian rolled her eyes secretly. Wouldn’t he call her Mrs. Meng?
In the original story, Lu Zhengyang was an upright and affectionate middle-aged handsome man, successful in his career and financially secure. He was wholeheartedly devoted to the female protagonist, showering her with affection daily. He didn’t pay attention to other women, but Lu Zhengyang and Meng Jingdong had a friendship, so he was naturally polite to Lu Tian.
“Hello, Mr. Lu.”
Yu Ningxuan didn’t want to pay attention to her. She wouldn’t go out of her way to create trouble, especially since the person with the most powerful golden finger was here; she wasn’t stupid.
The six of them entered the elevator coldly and awkwardly. On their way down from the sixteenth floor, an unfortunate, low-probability incident occurred—they were trapped in the elevator. The elevator hung there, neither going up nor down, a good opportunity for the male and female protagonists to confess their feelings. Unfortunately, the four girls on Lu Tian’s side were all embarrassed.
Lu Zhengyang held Yu Ningxuan in his arms, calmly asking for help through the elevator intercom, and took the time to comfort the four girls: “It’ll be alright. We’ll be out soon.”
Lu Tian could only silently complain in her heart, hoping this wasn’t a butterfly effect she caused, otherwise, it would be terrible.
Fortunately, the mall staff acted quickly, rescuing them in less than half an hour. Stepping back onto the ground, Lu Tian rarely showed a smile and thanked Lu Zhengyang.
The six people parted ways. Lu Tian suggested going to the mall to buy something to get rid of the bad luck and walked straight into the mall, Yu Ningxuan looking back at her several times.
“Lu Tian, have you cut ties with Yu Ningxuan?”
“What relationship do I have with her? I wish she would cut ties with my grandfather.” Lu Tian said casually, and coincidentally, she turned around and met her cousin Gu Yi’s girlfriend, Yu Li.
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