How could a person that lived in Shanhe Manor Area be so thin?

Jiang Shuxuan held back the sudden urge to pat her on the head. "Go in first, the sun's quite bright now."

"I'll be going now then." Gu Xiqiao bowed again before waving her hand and walking towards the gates of the manor.

Even though every fiber of her being rejected going back to this place, but she still did. Looking at the two words on the gate, she closed her eyes slowly, not knowing what to think.

Meanwhile, Jiang Shuxuan leaned on the car and watched from a distance.

After she pressed on the doorbell, she continued to stand at the gates in the hot, sweltering sun. It had almost been five minutes and the door had no sign of opening at all. Jiang Shuxuan's gaze darkened as he reached into his car to take out a packet of cigarettes, lighting one up.

May in N City was quite hot and humid, and the afternoon sun was at its highest at two in the afternoon, the heat waves making anyone that dared to stand in their path to feel a blistering pain.

After a while, Jiang Shuxuan threw away his half-smoked cigarette on the ground and stepped on it to snuff it out, before starting to make his way over to the gate with a frosty expression that almost cut through the heat of the sun.

At this moment, the gate finally opened, but he didn't stop his steps. He looked like he was walking slowly, but he appeared at the gates in an instant. He looked up, and two large words were emblazoned in gold.

Gu Residence!

Gu Xiqiao walked from the entrance to the house slowly, and before she arrived at the doorstep she heard laughs and giggles like tinkling bells. She stood there for a while before the devil on her shoulder reminded her that if she went it right now it would definitely destroy the atmosphere in there

Thinking of this, she quickly made her way over to the door and stepped in, and the house was plunged into an abrupt silence.

Perhaps they hadn't expected Gu Xiqiao to appear at this point, and the lively conversation in the living room died down immediately. The smiles of the three people on the sofa slowly disappeared, and the living room was as silent as the grave.

Even the servant could detect the unusual atmosphere in the room, and coldly took out a pair of indoor shoes, throwing them onto the floor with a 'thwack'.

Gu Xiqiao stared at the pair of shoes without saying a word.

The memories in her mind played back like a movie in her mind's eye. The first time she had met her grandfather was at her adoptive mother's grave. The old man was standing in a suit and tie not far from her, and even though his hair was as white as snow, his gaze was quite energetic for his age. He stood there with a bunch of bodyguards in black suits, and said, "I'm your grandfather."

She had thought that she had lost all of her family at that moment, and right then she was taken off guard, and so she agreed to let him bring her to the Gu family.

When she was brought to the Gu family's manor, she was immediately stunned by the extravagant decor. She stood there in her bootleg crocs that were stained with mud, not knowing what to do.

That day, one of the servants threw a pair of new shoes in front of her with a cold, disgusted gaze.

Gu Xiqiao had always been smart, and from the first day she arrived at the Gu family, she could tell that something was wrong with how people treated her and deduced her current situation from the gossip of the servants. Her mother was a mistress that disrupted their relationship and she was an illegitimate daughter, and so she started to hide and lower her presence in the home. Not only did she express multiple times that she would never fight with Gu Xijin for the family property, but she had also helped Gu Xijin multiple times in secret.

As expected, her grandfather had thought that she was irredeemable and lazy, and had given up on her after a while, and Su Wan'er had stopped seeing her as an obstacle for Gu Xijin.

...

Gu Xiqiao closed her eyes and stopped thinking about it, bending to change her shoes.

Gu Xijin who was sitting on the couch was the one that reacted first, and she came over to Gu Xiqiao with a smile and hooking their arms together. "Little Sis, I've been worried about you! Why did you go out like that without saying a word? Where did you go when you don't have friends here, you need to take care of your safety!"

Gu Xiqiao only looked up at her without saying a single word.

That gaze was too clear, bright and sharp, which was a great contrast from her once dim, self-conscious and gloomy. Seeing these pair of eyes, Gu Xijin didn't even know how to react.

Gu Xiqiao retracted her gaze and started walking towards the stairs, replying with a light tone, "My deskmate invited me to her house."

"Why did I hear news that you don't get along well with your classmates" Gu Xijin muttered with a slight furrow of the brow. Gu Xiqiao could be considered an invisible person in the class, since when did she have any friends? She was definitely lying.

"Ah Jin, come here!" Su Wan'er slammed the teacup on the table and commanded with a strict tone.

Fang Ziyi knew what the situation was after seeing this. She had already known that Gu Zuhui had an illegitimate daughter that was accepted into the Gu family by her grandfather. Judging from Su Wan'er's reaction, that girl was definitely the one. As a woman, she knew that Su Wan'er was still angry about her husband cheating on her, so she quickly smiled and tried to change the topic.

"Wan'er, have the roses in your garden bloomed yet?"

Su Wan'er got up, and because she knew it wasn't good to flare up when there were visitors over, she took this chance quickly. "Of course, let me show you."

When they both got into the garden, Fang Ziyi tried to console her. "Don't let this dampen your mood, she's not even worth your time! I have no idea why you let her into your home in the first place and even let her be so close with Xijin? Xijin is a good girl, but are you muddled too? She can't just treat her like her real sister out of the blue like that!"

Su Wan'er brought her to the middle of the garden where a table and chairs were set up, and sat them both down, telling a servant to bring them tea. "Sister Fang, you know I only have one daughter, and so grandfather said to bring the vixen back to make the house merrier. What else could I say? I've already told Ah Jin to not get involved with this, but she didn't listen!"

Fang Ziyi sighed softly and held Su Wan'er's hands. She knew Su Wan'er's bitterness, but she couldn't say anything as an outsider. "Ah Jin has always been a nice girl, you know that better than anyone. She has always been the type to pity stray dogs and cats and bring them in, so don't worry. That little shrimp can't start any waves, just get someone to keep an eye on her and marry her off to some chump when she's old enough! You can help Ah Jin get into high places that way too, I don't think Mr. Gu will mind."

Once she thought of the vixen, Su Wan'er could feel her blood pressure rising. For every moment she saw Gu Xiqiao, she was continuously reminded of Gu Zuhui cheating on her, how could she not be angry?

Thinking of that gloomy and dumb girl, Su Wan'er felt a twisted sense of relief.

'Father better see which daughter is most suited to be his successor!'

"Let's not talk about this, where's Zijun?" Su Wan'er rubbed her forehead and changed the topic.

Xia Zijun was Fang Ziyi's son and the heir to the Xia family with talent and good looks. He had been betrothed to Gu Xijin ever since they were children, and the Gu family had always been satisfied with him. Once the topic changed to him, the two mothers quickly forgot about their troubles.

An illegitimate daughter wasn't much to worry about in the first place, just an eyesore.

At the same time, Gu Xijin was still acting the part of a loving sister in the living room.

"Little Sis, why haven't you been home for the past few days, are you still angry at me?" Gu Xijin asked, her gaze gentle and comforting. Honestly, she had never seen this girl as her sister but only gave this sad illegitimate daughter some pity sometimes. "I'll tell Father tomorrow, so let's make you an even grander party when your birthday comes around, how about that?"

Gu Xijin knew that girls of Gu Xiqiao's age had their fantasies, and she guessed that this girl was jealous of her because of her birthday.

It wasn't difficult for her to think of this because most of her female friends were jealous of what she had too.

Well.

Other than the incident with her dress.

Thinking of this, Gu Xijin's eyes became hazy.