Has Big Shot Fallen in Love Today?-Chapter 840: Exchanging Secrets

After dinner, Cheng Lichuan and Wang Sisi went for a walk downstairs, while Gu Jiahui leaned against the balcony, looking somewhat thoughtful.

The sky was clear, with a crescent moon rising amidst the scattered stars.

The air was crisp and cold, with not a breath of wind.

Sheng Tang, wearing a coat, walked over and asked Gu Jiahui, "How was your New Year?"

Gu Jiahui, however, took out a cigarette: "Want one?"

Sheng Tang steered clear of any addictive habits. She shook her head and gave Gu Jiahui a warning glance, forbidding him from smoking.

Gu Jiahui put the pack of cigarettes back.

Only then did he seriously answer Sheng Tang’s question: "It was quite good, better than previous years, because I stayed at my aunt’s house the whole time."

"Isn’t your New Year at home good?"

Gu Jiahui chuckled: "Home is never good, at any time."

Sheng Tang: "..."

She hadn’t intended to inquire about anything, but hearing Gu Jiahui’s words, she felt a complex emotion inside.

She vaguely understood that his life wasn’t easy, but she didn’t know exactly how it wasn’t easy.

Perhaps the sadness he revealed in his few words was just his melodramatic whining? 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

Sheng Tang still didn’t fully understand Gu Jiahui.

"And you?"

"I’m quite good," Sheng Tang smiled sincerely, "This year my grandfather came to our home for the New Year. It was the first time, and my dad finally reconciled with him completely;

My teacher called me, asking to reminisce. It shows she’s finally not worried about me anymore, which makes me happy.

This year, Xu Bingzhi didn’t call me anymore, which makes me even happier. Letting go is good for both him and me."

Gu Jiahui listened, completely puzzled.

He knew nothing about the grudge between Sheng Tang’s dad and grandfather, nor did he know who Xu Bingzhi was.

"What’s with your grandfather?" he asked.

Sheng Tang: "There’s nothing unspeakable about it. My grandfather was one of those educated youth sent to the countryside; my family’s social status was bad, and he couldn’t return to the city for the rest of his life. Under the village party secretary’s decision, he married my grandmother.

He was always resentful and didn’t particularly like my grandmother. That marriage was, in his view, a kind of coercion, a means for the village to keep him.

Later, when he could return to the city, he promptly left my grandmother and my dad, who was only six at the time. My grandmother didn’t look for him, she just faced discrimination in the countryside and took my dad to the city to do odd jobs.

After returning to the city, my grandfather soon got married, marrying an old classmate with whom he had some past ambiguous feelings, leveraging the Yue Family’s influence to climb step by step, and later went into business himself.

When my grandmother passed away, my dad had no support, and it was my maternal grandmother who raised him. He couldn’t forgive my grandfather but had to accept his support, or else my maternal grandmother and mom wouldn’t have survived. It was all a muddled situation."

As she talked, she didn’t seem to lean towards any side.

The grandfather was wrong, and so was the village party secretary back then. But later, the grandfather did help her dad and mom.

He did let Sheng Tang’s grandmother down, that’s true; he also didn’t fulfill his responsibilities as a father toward Sheng Tang’s dad.

But he also had his own standpoint.

After all, that marriage wasn’t consensual for him, he was tricked by the village. He was just a young guy in his early twenties, with his fate entirely in others’ hands.

When my maternal grandmother was alive, she recounted this past, saying, "You younger generations don’t understand that history, you haven’t experienced it firsthand, so you can’t judge your grandfather.

This is how I told your dad too. If your dad were in your grandfather’s place, he might not have done better."

Gu Jiahui was surprised after listening: "So, your dad really isn’t the illegitimate child of the Sheng Family at Jiali Garden?"

Outsiders all assumed Sheng Tang’s dad was an illegitimate child.

Sheng Tang shook her head.

"Who is Xu Bingzhi then?"

"In terms of bloodline, he’s my biological father," Sheng Tang said, "Legally and sentimentally, he’s my dad’s senior apprentice brother, a familiar stranger."

Gu Jiahui: "..."