Gu Xi carried the package back home.
It was the hottest time of the year, the dog days of summer. Along the way, the heat drenched her in sweat, soaking the back of her clothes.
She felt dizzy and disoriented under the scorching sun, her heart pounding violently, ears ringing.
She put down the package and leaned against the wall to catch her breath, waiting until her vision cleared and her heartbeat slowed. Then she went to the kitchen to pour herself some water.
Just as she was drinking, she glanced up and saw Gu Yuanhui coming from the stairwell.
The moment he spotted her, Gu Yuanhui darted back like a mouse seeing a cat, disappearing around the corner.
Gu Xi ignored him.
After finishing her water, she washed her face in the bathroom, changed into a clean, fresh outfit, then took the package to her room.
She opened the package and first took out a letter.
There were several sheets, densely covered in writing. The handwriting wasn’t very neat—crooked and uneven.
Without access to proper calligraphy training in the countryside, clear handwriting was already considered good. Gu Xi read the words and couldn’t help but smile slightly.
She slowly read the letter. It was written by her two younger sisters together, their handwriting distinctly different.
After so many years, seeing their letter again stirred a complicated feeling in her heart—bitter and bittersweet. She wondered how they had fared after she died in the previous life.
Had they finally escaped that village and their fate?
After finishing the letter, she continued rummaging through the package.
This was the largest package she’d received in recent years. It didn’t contain anything valuable—mostly rural specialties like mountain delicacies, homemade dried fruits, sweet potatoes, bamboo shoots, pickles, melon strips, and wild vegetable dries.
These preserved goods would be useful during winter when vegetables were scarce, enriching their meals.
Besides that, there were two sets of clothes and cloth shoes made by her second sister.
One set was for her, the other for Feng Min, in thanks for Feng Min having once asked the Brigade Leader’s Wife to look after the two sisters.
This time, they sent more items, hoping she would bring some over to Feng Min’s side.
Gu Xi carefully put everything away and decided to deliver it all to the Shen family the next day.
Her sisters often sent her rural specialties, most of which stayed at the Gu Family home to add flavor to their meals.
Whenever this happened, Gu Yuanhui would eat the food while complaining about it having a muddy, earthy taste, saying their family didn’t lack money to buy fresh vegetables and that they didn’t need such gifts from the countryside.
He also said it was better to cut ties with the Xu Family altogether, who sold daughters and were nothing but greedy people who would bring trouble.
Years ago, to keep Gu Yuanxiang in the Gu Family, Gu Maowen and his wife negotiated with the Xu Family, giving them money in exchange for their promise not to interfere again.
Gu Yuanhui despised the Xu Family, calling them daughter-sellers, and hated their greedy faces. He also believed Gu Xi, having been raised by that couple, wasn’t a good person.
Now, looking back, Gu Xi could stay calm.
If they disliked it, then they didn’t have to eat it. She wasn’t foolish anymore to think of them as family and not care too much.
A person has to be discerning.
Recalling the recent bustle in the Gu Family, she decided she would continue to be discerning. Even if she wanted to treat them like strangers, in the eyes of the world she was still their daughter; blood ties couldn’t be broken.
So she might as well handle it her way and let them endure it.
***
The sun was setting as people slowly returned home from work.
Gu Yuanzheng arrived first.
After a day of simmering tension, the cuts on his lips and the bruising on his chin grew more obvious—clear signs he had been beaten.
Everyone who saw Gu Yuanzheng that day asked about the injuries.
The Gu Family was proud, and Gu Yuanzheng was too embarrassed to admit he was beaten by his own sister, so he vaguely said he had accidentally bumped into something. Whether people believed him or not was out of his hands.
When Gu Yuanxiang finished cooking, Gu Maowen and his wife still hadn’t returned.
Usually, everyone would be home by then, ready for dinner.
Gu Yuanxiang asked Gu Yuanzheng, who was setting the table, “Second Brother, why aren’t Mom and Dad back yet?”
“Maybe they went to the hospital,” Gu Yuanzheng guessed.
Gu Yuanxiang looked worried.
“Is Dad’s back okay?”
Then she felt guilty.
“If it weren’t for helping me move the wardrobe, Dad wouldn’t have strained his back.”
Gu Yuanzheng said nothing.
He understood Gu Yuanxiang’s veiled complaint—that if Gu Xi hadn’t gone crazy smashing their room, their father wouldn’t have hurt his back helping move the wardrobe. Gu Xi was the cause of all this.
In the past, he would have been angry at Gu Xi for causing trouble. Though the Gu Family didn’t have the tradition of beating children and he didn’t hit his sister either, he would at least scold her to make her admit her mistake and never repeat it.
For this sister who returned halfway through, he preferred to ignore her as long as she didn’t make trouble.
But after what Gu Xi had done these past days and hearing about her life in the countryside that morning, he suddenly felt confused.
Had they made a mistake?
Though Gu Yuanxiang had been their sister for fifteen years, Gu Xi was still… a sister.
Unfortunately, realizing a mistake now was useless.
Gu Xi was too resolute; when she struck them, there was no hesitation—as if they were no longer her family. She had completely let go.
Not everything in this world can be mended, like a broken mirror that can’t be perfectly restored. Even if glued back, cracks remain.
As Gu Yuanzheng’s mind churned, Gu Xi came down the stairs.
She went straight to the table, served herself some rice, and sat down to eat.
“Xi Xi,” Gu Yuanxiang said, “Mom and Dad aren’t back yet.”
The Gu Family had many rules—usually no one ate until the parents returned unless it was very late.
It wasn’t late yet; they could wait a bit longer.
Gu Xi ate as she spoke, “I’m hungry. If you want to wait, go ahead. I’m not waiting.”
“Th-this isn’t right, is it?”
Gu Yuanxiang said hesitantly, unwilling to upset her.
“Mom probably took Dad to the hospital to see about his back injury. We don’t know how Dad’s doing. It’s better if we wait for them…”
Gu Xi frowned, looked up at her, and said calmly, “I have stomach disease. If I don’t eat on time, my stomach hurts.”
“Ah?”
Not only did Gu Yuanzheng and Gu Yuanxiang freeze in surprise, but Gu Yuanhui, who had been lingering by the stairwell without daring to come closer, also looked shocked.
Stomach disease?
Gu Yuanzheng asked, “How did you get stomach disease? Is it serious?”
“It’s okay, not fatal,” Gu Xi said casually.
“As long as it’s not fatal, it’s no big deal. If I eat on time, there’s no problem. When I was in the countryside, food was scarce, and being a girl, I couldn’t eat my fill. I was always hungry. After so much hunger, I naturally developed stomach disease.”
She spoke lightly, but Gu Yuanzheng couldn’t just dismiss it.
Suddenly, he recalled many times when they had family matters delaying meals, and Gu Xi’s complexion looked bad; she would hold her stomach sometimes.
Because she never said anything, and they never cared, they had ignored it all along.
No one spoke again.
Gu Yuanzheng sat silently, feeling uneasy.
Gu Xi ignored them, finished eating, tossed the bowl aside, and went straight to her room.
Not long after, Gu Maowen and his wife returned.
They had just come back from the hospital with medicine prescribed by the doctor.
Gu Maowen’s face was worse than when he left that morning. Upon entering, his back bent slightly.
Jiang Huijun scolded him, “Your back is so injured, yet you still try to push yourself. Rest at home tomorrow, no going out.”
Gu Maowen agreed, unwilling to gamble with his health.
He had spent the whole day in meetings, sitting stiffly, unable to focus—making things worse. His back was almost ruined, and he was afraid.
He felt he was still young and could keep fighting but didn’t want chronic back pain forcing him to retire early.
Because of the severe pain, Gu Maowen was in a bad mood.
At dinner, upon learning Gu Xi had already eaten without waiting for them, he thought she was rude and became angry again.
Jiang Huijun warned, “Be careful not to collapse from anger like today. Don’t hurt yourself.”
Gu Maowen: “…” even angrier.
Gu Yuanzheng looked at his angry father and his somewhat displeased mother and said, “Gu Xi has stomach disease. She needs to eat on time, or her stomach hurts.”
Both parents were stunned.
Soon Gu Maowen shrugged it off, “She’s a young woman, not some leader working day and night on National Affairs. Does she really have something so important to cause stomach disease?”
Gu Yuanzheng felt uncomfortable hearing this and said, “I heard it’s because she went hungry in the countryside.”
At that, the couple said nothing more.
***
Night fell quickly.
Gu Xi was feeling unwell and ready to sleep when there was a knock on the door.
She opened it to find Jiang Huijun.
Jiang Huijun forced a smile, holding a cup of malted milk powder, her tone gentle, “Xi Xi, I made you some malted milk powder. We women haven’t talked for a long time, and I want to have a chat with you.”
Gu Xi said, “There’s nothing to say. I’m going to sleep.”
Seeing her about to close the door, Jiang Huijun placed her hand on the doorframe.
“Xi Xi!”
Gu Xi pulled her hand away, determined to shut the door.
Jiang Huijun grew anxious and did something she never usually did—she pushed in, saying, “I heard from Yuanzheng that you have stomach disease. Is it serious? Why didn’t you tell us before?”
There was a hint of complaint in her voice. If she didn’t say it, how would they know?
The child had always been like this—too quiet and silent, not knowing how to please others. No wonder they had overlooked her.
Gu Xi nodded, “It’s true. Before, I was stupid and never thought to tell you, so now I’m telling you.”
Jiang Huijun opened her mouth but didn’t know what to say.
If it were Gu Yuanxiang, she would have been considerate—trying not to worry them, then teasing to make them happy and feel at ease.
The contrast between the two daughters was simply too stark.
The one who knew how to charm was always favored, while the quiet and enduring one was ignored.