Chapter 776: A Million Times for You (138)
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Knowing that he was a persistent person, An Xiaoning did not want to continue an endless debate with him. “About that video today, I wasn’t saying those things for fun.”
He watched her quietly. “Your mother has gone through a lot of suffering. You and she probably hate my mother a lot and wish for her death. But even if she’s done something wrong, I won’t allow the two of you to kill her. So, let’s make a deal. You keep the video to yourself and I will make sure she won’t ever harm you and your mother. The two of you can’t think of killing her either. You know, she’s still my mother, after all. If you both were to kill her, I won’t stand by and do nothing. Do you agree to this deal?”
“Do you think she’ll actually listen to you?”
“I’ve transferred away anyone that she can use to help her. If a general like her doesn’t have a single soldier, how will she pose a threat to the two of you?”
An Xiaoning did not answer. After keeping silent for a moment, she said, “She’s so fortunate to have the president as her son. Can I possibly refuse to agree to this deal? After all, we’re just ordinary citizens and have no power to go against you.”
“I see you were too hasty today.” His sparkling eyes lit up. “You came barging in here without fear of the consequences. You’re just taking advantage of the tolerance I have toward you.”
“I didn’t take advantage of…”
Knock, knock, knock! Lin s.h.i.+s.h.i.+’s voice sounded from outside the door. “Hubby, it’s me.”
An Xiaoning sprung up abruptly to open the door.
Lin s.h.i.+s.h.i.+ served a plate of fruits as she entered. “I just heard Danxue telling Minxing…”
“Looks like the whole world will know very soon.”
Hearing him say it so nonchalantly, Lin s.h.i.+s.h.i.+ replied, “It’s fine even if they know. Sister Xiaoning is originally my sister and it will still be that way in the future. It’s just that… I heard Danxue saying that you were the one who rescued your mother. How did you get in here?”
An Xiaoning hesitated for a moment before replying, “There’s naturally a way to get in.”
“What way?” she probed.
“s.h.i.+s.h.i.+, I don’t really want to explain this.” An Xiaoning was not in a good mood. “I’ll be going back first.”
“Sister, Minxing and Danxue are going back after lunch as well. Why don’t you go back with them?”
“It’s fine.” Her throat was feeling uncomfortable and her nose seemed to be blocked as well.
The reason that An Xiaoning was unable to return could not be more obvious. It was because Tuoba Rui was extremely efficient in doing things and had immediately applied for divorce. This was the difference between the royalty of S Nation and a commoner.
For a commoner to apply for a divorce, both spouses had to go down personally to the Civil Administration Bureau, and to get married, only one of the parties had to go down with both of their household registers or pa.s.sports.
On the other hand, for a member of royalty to get divorced, only one party needs to initiate it for their marriage to end.
Getting married was even more casual, as only a single party had to bring both of their identification doc.u.ments for them to get married.
Even though being royalty had its privileges, no one dared to treat marriage as a game.
In S Nation, marriage was sacred and an extremely serious affair.
Because of this, women like An Xiaoning who had been married thrice were ridiculed harshly.
After Tuoba Rui had gotten a divorce, he added An Xiaoning’s name into the Tuoba family’s historical records. However, her name remained the same as she was unwilling to change it.
Even though she listened to her mother and had her name added to the family’s records, thereby officially becoming a member of the Tuoba family, it did not mean that she was about to acknowledge her father.
Upon knowing that s.h.i.+ Xiaoyu’s name had been removed from the family’s historical records by Tuoba Rui, she vaguely felt a sense of satisfaction.
This was part of the consequence that s.h.i.+ Xiaoyu deserved. As compared to what she had done, such a consequence was not even worth mentioning.
What made An Xiaoning the most surprised was that Tuoba Rui actually released a piece of news admitting his divorce with s.h.i.+ Xiaoyu and acknowledging the fact that An Xiaoning was his eldest daughter.
This act was akin to telling the whole world about An Xiaoning’s ident.i.ty.
Not only that, the piece of news referred to An Xiaoning’s biological mother when she herself was described as “a child borne by the woman whom he loved before marriage.”
After this piece of news was reported, what followed was the news of An Xiaoning being rescued back.
Some who were slow to react later claimed that the reason that the terrorist organization had kidnapped An Xiaoning was because they knew she was Tuoba Rui’s illegitimate daughter…
Regardless of whether the online comments were positive or negative, she did not read them.
She did not really approve of what Tuoba Rui had done as she felt that such things did not have to be made known to the public. After all, at the same time that she was envied by those strangers, she was also paid closer attention to by other strangers.
With such attention, she had to face both evil and good things from people. There were always those people who did not wish for you to lead a good life and receive all the love in the world. Such people always existed; there was no way to avoid it.
Now, it was too late for her to prevent any of these from happening.
Also, her name being added to the family’s record meant that she had to go through an official ceremony.
After the ceremony ended, she left the Autumn Palace and, throughout, she did not speak a word to her biological father.
When she reached A City, it was already three in the afternoon.
When she reached home, she brought No. 5 and No. 8 to buy some things. There was not much difference in the city during the New Year as most shops were still open for business.
She wanted to prepare her mother’s room beforehand and bought a variety of things she would need.
She arranged the bedroom on the first floor for her mother to live in. Together with the other men, they packed up the room and, by the time it was dark, the room had been decorated and cleaned perfectly.
An Xiaoning nodded in satisfaction. “Everyone has worked hard. Have a meal, and then you should all go and rest. Let me head out.”
“Sister, you should eat before you go.”
“It’s okay, I’m going to the Gu residence to have a reunion dinner.”
In the afternoon, Mrs. Gu had called her to ask her to return for dinner. She had agreed.
No. 5 and No. 8 followed her there as well.
When she reached the Gu residence, she spotted the rare sight of Gu Dongcheng.
This was because the last time Gu Dongcheng was at the Gu residence was when he and Xu Youran were kicked out by Mrs. Gu.
Now, what was he doing here?
Had he made up with Mr. Gu already?
She still had doubts in her heart but obviously would not have asked him directly. She still greeted him out of politeness. “Big Brother.”
Gu Dongcheng’s expression was warm and gentle. “I only heard today that you’re actually the President’s sister. You calling me ‘Big Brother’ makes me fearful.”
“What are you saying, Big Brother? We’re all family. Come in.” She entered the front gate while No. 5 and No. 8 automatically stood by the door to wait.
The whole family sat before the dining table. Because Gu Dongcheng was around, Mrs. Gu’s face looked exceptionally bleak, but she did not say anything in particular either.
“Xiaoning, can Brother ask you for a favor?”
“What favor?”
Gu Dongcheng raised his gla.s.s of beer and took two sips before saying, “Youran has been missing for so long already. I still have no clue as to her whereabouts, and I can’t find her anywhere. Can you take a look at her birth characters and see if she is still alive? I’ve asked other fortune-tellers already, some said she’s dead while others claim she’s still alive. I really don’t know which one of their readings is accurate. You’ve always been accurate with your readings, can you help?”