Gu Yuanhui had no money.
Jiang Huijun gave the kids still in school a fixed weekly allowance. Compared to children from ordinary families, their allowance wasn’t that little.
But Gu Yuanhui spent money recklessly, so the allowance never lasted. Besides, earlier, to buy a birthday gift for Gu Yuanxiang, he had not only spent all his money but also borrowed some from classmates and friends.
Now that Gu Xi wanted Gu Yuanhui to compensate her, he had nothing to give— not a single cent.
Even if he had money, he didn’t want to pay. It was just a few lousy books, how much could they be worth? Was compensation really necessary?
What made it worse was that she was demanding twenty yuan from him.
On top of that, she wanted him to compensate with some kind of tickets or vouchers. Why didn’t she just go rob someone?
Though he thought this, he didn’t dare say it out loud. He muttered quietly, “You broke my radio too.”
That radio was a birthday gift from his second brother last year. He could listen to broadcasts in his own room, and he loved it dearly. He’d kept it carefully, never letting anyone touch it.
Gu Xi just looked at him and said, “You want me to pay for that?”
Meeting those emotionless eyes, Gu Yuanhui shivered, quickly shook his head, fearing that if he hesitated any longer, she might hit him.
Because he had no money, Gu Yuanhui ended up borrowing from Gu Yuanxiang.
He was afraid that if he didn’t pay back soon, she would really hit someone.
When Gu Xi took the money back to her room and closed the door, Gu Yuanxiang finally let out a sigh of relief.
Having witnessed Gu Xi losing her temper and smashing things, she was genuinely scared of her now — scared she would hit someone and afraid she might continue smashing the house without restraint.
The only room untouched was their parents’ bedroom. If Gu Xi really started on that room, she didn’t even want to imagine how angry their parents would be when they came home from work.
Gu Yuanxiang’s emotions were complicated. She glanced at Gu Yuanhui and saw his swollen, bruised face. She couldn’t help but sigh.
It had taken so long for his face to heal, and not even a day had passed before he was beaten up again. He’d probably need some time off without leaving the house.
“I’ll clean your wounds first.”
Gu Yuanxiang pulled Gu Yuanhui along to treat his injuries.
Although Gu Yuanhui looked badly beaten, as long as he wasn’t unconscious or vomiting blood, there was no need to rush him to the hospital.
But when Gu Yuanhui took off his clothes, revealing bruises all over his body, Gu Yuanxiang felt both heartbroken and relieved that Gu Xi hadn’t turned on her.
She was certain she wouldn’t have survived a single punch from Gu Xi.
After finishing the treatment, Gu Yuanxiang hurried to tidy up the room.
Thinking about her room being smashed up made her feel terrible. When Gu Xi was breaking things just now, she hadn’t held back and had destroyed a lot of items — all of which Gu Yuanxiang liked.
“Yuanhui, let’s go. We’ll clean up the room first.”
Gu Yuanhui usually listened to her, and when he heard this, he followed behind, occasionally letting out a sharp hiss from the pain in his injuries.
The two of them worked hard cleaning up, but since the room had so many things, tidying it was much more troublesome than Gu Xi’s room.
Especially the heavy wardrobe that Gu Xi had overturned — they simply couldn’t lift it back up.
Mainly because Gu Yuanhui was aching all over and had no strength, and Gu Yuanxiang wasn’t that strong either.
The large wardrobe in Gu Yuanxiang’s room had been custom-made by a carpenter years ago, specially commissioned by Jiang Huijun, using high-quality wood.
Even after more than a decade, its quality was excellent and exceptionally sturdy.
Such wardrobes were known for being incredibly heavy and not easy to move. Most people couldn’t lift them alone; it took two strong men working together.
Gu Yuanxiang used all her strength but still couldn’t lift the wardrobe off the floor. She was so exhausted that she was panting heavily.
She couldn’t help but wonder: just how strong was Gu Xi? Watching her smash things, she flipped over the wardrobe easily, looking quite relaxed.
No wonder when Gu Xi hit Gu Yuanhui, he couldn’t fight back and could only curl up, protecting his head as he took the blows.
Gu Yuanxiang gave up trying to set the wardrobe upright and said to Gu Yuanhui, “Yuanhui, don’t make her angry again.”
Gu Yuanhui’s face twitched but he said nothing.
His whole body ached terribly. This was the first time he had been beaten so badly. Even their parents hadn’t hit him like this.
Saying he didn’t hate her was impossible, but he was genuinely scared of Gu Xi — a mixture of fear, hatred, and resentment.
Before they could finish tidying the room, Gu Xi showed up again.
Hearing the knock on the door, the two who were cleaning were startled.
Seeing Gu Xi standing at the door, the shock was no less than encountering a murderer on a dark night, their hearts nearly jumping out.
“I’m hungry. I’m going to cook,” Gu Xi said.
Gu Yuanxiang hurriedly responded, leaving the half-cleaned room obediently to wash her hands and start cooking.
While cooking in the kitchen, Gu Yuanxiang felt a little puzzled.
Something was off. Normally, cooking was always Gu Xi’s responsibility.
Whenever Gu Xi was home, she would cook all three meals, wash everyone’s clothes, and clean the house.
She would get up early before everyone else woke up to prepare breakfast.
But in recent days, with Gu Xi not at home and Jiang Huijun at work, only Gu Yuanxiang, who was on break from school, was doing the cooking, laundry, and cleaning.
After doing this for several days in a row, she had gotten used to it.
Those days when she could just sit down and eat were gone, never to return.
After finishing lunch, Gu Yuanxiang obediently went upstairs to call for others.
Only Gu Xi came down. Gu Yuanhui was hiding in his room, afraid to eat with her.
Gu Xi didn’t care and ate by herself, piling all the meat on the table into her bowl.
Though there weren’t many pieces of meat—after all, only the three of them were home for lunch—they usually didn’t cook a lot.
Dinner was when more dishes were prepared after everyone came home.
***
In the evening, Gu Maowen and his wife, along with Gu Yuanzheng, arrived home at the same time.
As they stepped in, they caught the scent of food from the kitchen, knowing Gu Yuanxiang was cooking.
Coming home to a meal made those who had worked all day feel a bit relaxed, lifting their spirits.
But that good mood vanished when they saw Gu Yuanhui.
All three were shocked.
“Yuanhui, what happened to your face?”
Jiang Huijun panicked.
“Who hit you? How bad is it? Does it hurt? Did you go to the hospital for a check-up…”
Gu Maowen and Gu Yuanzheng also looked grim. Anyone would be upset seeing Gu Yuanhui beaten like that.
Today, Gu Yuanhui had been violently beaten by Gu Xi. He was both scared and anxious all day, afraid she would suddenly attack him again.
Now that his parents and elder brother were home and showing concern, the bottled-up grievance exploded.
He couldn’t help but burst into tears, crying out, “Gu Xi hit me! Mom, Dad, she hit me…”
All three were stunned.
Jiang Huijun was surprised.
“Xi Xi hit you? How could that be? She shouldn’t hit anyone.”
Their deep-rooted impression of Gu Xi was that she was submissive. None of them really believed it, even though Gu Xi had hit someone before — but only once before running off.
But Gu Yuanhui was crying so pitifully, swearing it was Gu Xi who did it, forcing them to believe.
Gu Yuanzheng asked, “Is she back?”
Gu Maowen furrowed his brows, face stern.
“Where is she? Bring her here.”
Hearing the commotion from the kitchen, Gu Yuanxiang quickly ran out and saw the three adults.
She felt a moment of joy but quickly suppressed it thinking about everything that had happened.
Having seen Gu Xi’s ruthless temper, she wasn’t sure if their parents could control her.
But it should be fine — no matter how crazy Gu Xi was, she would at least respect their parents.
Children naturally fear their parents’ authority, and while they might fight with siblings, they would never outright defy their parents.
“She’s in her room upstairs,” Gu Yuanxiang said quietly.
Gu Maowen hadn’t expected Gu Xi to come back and beat someone, especially his youngest son like this. He was furious.
In a serious tone, he said, “Yuanzheng, go call her down.”
Gu Yuanzheng replied and went upstairs.
Reaching the first room by the staircase, he widened his eyes at the mess inside.
It was his room.
Why was his room in such chaos?
The wardrobe, desk, window decorations—all were overturned, clothes scattered everywhere, even the bed frame had been lifted.
Gu Yuanzheng was stunned. Had a fight broken out in his room?
His first thought was Gu Xi and Gu Yuanhui. They must have fought today, and judging by Yuanhui’s condition, he was badly beaten.
Though the eldest brother shouldn’t quarrel too much with his siblings, no one would be happy seeing their room destroyed like this.
He held back his anger and coldly knocked on Gu Xi’s door.
“Gu Xi, come out!”
After a while, the door opened from inside, and Gu Xi appeared, wearing pajamas with messy hair sticking up in all directions.
The indentations on her cheeks showed she had been sleeping.
What time was it now, and she was still asleep?
Had she been sleeping since lunch?
When had she gotten so lazy?
Thinking about the bruises on Gu Yuanhui’s face and the mess in her room being related to Gu Xi, Gu Yuanzheng couldn’t keep calm.
Suppressing his anger, he said coldly, “Dad wants you downstairs.”
Gu Xi made a small “oh” sound and slammed the door in his face without even looking at him.
Gu Yuanzheng: “…”
After waiting a while longer, the door opened again, and Gu Xi came out wearing different clothes.
She didn’t look at Gu Yuanzheng standing at the door and walked downstairs.
In the living room, Jiang Huijun was comforting the heartbroken Gu Yuanhui with a gentle hug.
Gu Maowen sat beside them with a dark expression, and the atmosphere was tense.
Seeing Gu Xi, Gu Maowen shouted, “Come here and kneel down!”
Gu Maowen was the typical patriarch of the Gu Family. In the Gu Family, his word was law.
Except for the eldest son, Gu Yuanyang, who was in the military, the other children were somewhat afraid of him.
Whenever he was angry, they were scared into silence and dared not act out in front of him.
Clearly, Gu Maowen was truly furious this time.
The two kids had fought and hurt someone badly — no matter how, this was beyond the limit.
The Gu Family didn’t condone hitting children, but if the kids did something wrong, they were punished, such as being made to kneel until they understood their mistake.
This was also a common form of discipline in that era.
Gu Xi walked over but stopped a few steps before him.
Calmly, she said, “What is it?”
Standing there straight, not kneeling or even flinching, daring to meet the angry Gu Maowen’s gaze, everyone in the family was shocked.
Gu Yuanxiang peered carefully from the kitchen, wondering how Gu Xi could be so bold, unafraid of Dad’s anger.
Gu Yuanhui had originally hoped their father would scold Gu Xi, vent for him, and suppress her arrogance — maybe even hit her a little.
But now, it seemed Gu Xi was even crazier than before, not even fearing their dad.
Thinking of that wild energy she had, Gu Yuanhui shuddered.