Chapter 85 -85 The Secret of Grandpa’s Study
The master of that family was three years younger than my father, an orphan named Kang Shan. Grandpa Gu, taking pity on him, raised him and then found him a wife to start a family.
Although it wasn’t the grand five-room brick house, he still built Kang Shan a modest abode with two rooms in the front with brick walls and one in the back made of mud bricks.
Grandpa Gu wasn’t wealthy, but he had done all that benevolence and righteousness required.
Yet, he never expected that very family would become the culprit that drove his sister to death.
When their mother fell gravely ill, Gu Qianqian somehow borrowed five thousand yuan in high-interest loans from Kang Shan.
The foolish sister even pressed her thumbprint and signed her name.
...
A week later, their mother, filled with regret, passed away in the county hospital.
So, when she returned, she was greeted not only by two coffins but also by an IOU.
With compounded interest, the debt had already reached over ten thousand.
To Gu Qiaoqiao’s eyes, this amount was astronomical.
And his family, going around the town, cursed her for being a bad omen, claiming misfortune befell anyone involved with her.
Thus, they took over her home.
She didn’t manage to take a single possession with her when dozens of people, armed with wooden sticks and hoes, drove her out of Stone Town.
She took refuge with her grandmother, who suffered a stroke due to the sudden calamity. After her uncle had buried her mother and sister, he went to reason with Kang Shan, only to be beaten and left with a broken leg. Her aunt knelt before her, imploring her to leave quickly.
Gu Qiaoqiao was the harbinger of doom; she mustn’t let her destroy their family.
Her uncle, who was not favored by her father, sold his blood at the hospital to gather enough money for her travel fare, sent her on a train, promising to visit her once he had saved up the fare.
Asking her to take good care of herself.
Those were dark days, the most heart-wrenching memories of Gu Qiaoqiao’s past life.
Once her situation improved, she would secretly send them money.
But she never dared to return to see them.
She felt like she truly was a harbinger of doom, indeed bringing misfortune to anyone she touched!
Gu Qiaoqiao walked into the study.
This was where Grandpa read and carved.
Grandpa didn’t have many savings, and the items in the house were quite simple.
The only valuable thing was a set of carving knives, which she had already taken to the Imperial Capital.
Gu Qiaoqiao sat down; the room was cold, yet her heart couldn’t be calmed at all.
Her hatred was too intense.
So intense that when she was alone, even breathing felt suffocating.
Grandpa had the habit of reading and taking notes.
Gu Qiaoqiao went through them slowly, absorbing his reflections and insights on his readings.
She organized the notebooks, planning to look through them more carefully when she had time.
On the side of the study close to the window stood a stone shelf, topped with a root carving.
Gu Qiaoqiao was intimately familiar with it.
She casually took a seat, eyeing the tidy desk, her hands tapping unconsciously on the surface.
Then suddenly, her fingers paused.
They stopped on a specific part of the desk.
She looked closely, and though nothing seemed amiss, her fingers detected an indescribable oddness when placed upon it.
Knowing her own sensitivity, she refrained from inspecting further and instead focused on feeling deliberately.
Then, a vision suddenly surfaced in her mind: a cloud pattern.
A complicated design.
At the center, there seemed to be something the size of a grain of rice. Her fingers followed the pattern towards this minuscule entity and pressed down.
With a click, a previously smooth segment of the desk slowly rose, revealing a box.
Gu Qiaoqiao was stunned.
Her eyes widened at the scene unfolding before her.
Just as it happened, the slightly ajar door was pushed open, and a clear voice followed, “It’s very cold in here, how long have you been staying…”
What he wanted to say might have been “for a while” or “for a long time.”
In any case, whatever it was, he swallowed it back in shock at the sight before his eyes.
Gu Qiaoqiao turned to look at Qin Yize at the door.