Chapter 283: Chapter 283: Extreme Regret
When Mr. Su saw his daughter-in-law and daughter both looking at him, he wracked his brain for the right words and spoke a bit nervously.
"Your mother is right. That woman looks even older than we do. She has high cheekbones, the hair at her temples is graying, and her complexion is dull and sallow.
Her face is covered in wrinkles, which make her look thoroughly weather-beaten."
Gu Jiaojiao was amused. "Dad, I never realized you were so eloquent."
Mr. Su beamed and said, "I just copied it from TV. I was just stringing a few sentences together based on what that woman looked like."
"But I think what you came up with is even more interesting than the TV show, Dad! You’re so amazing!" Su Qinchun’s eyes sparkled with adoration.
"Of course. Our dad has always been this amazing; he just doesn’t usually say much."
"Hehe..." Hearing the praise from his daughter-in-law and daughter, Mr. Su let out a happy, simple-minded chuckle.
"Dad, does Dong Baozhu’s mom know that her dad is getting married tomorrow?" Su Qinchun asked, affectionately grabbing Mr. Su’s hand and swaying it back and forth.
"You’ll have to ask your mother. It’s not proper for a man like me to be listening to that kind of gossip!"
Su’s mother: ’...If you think it’s not proper, then why were you watching so closely?’
"To be honest, I don’t know if Li Dahua knows her husband is getting married tomorrow. She ducked away as soon as she saw us."
"Baozhu’s mother must be embarrassed. She used to live such a glamorous life in the compound, back when our family was too poor to even afford meat."
Su Qinchun said this thoughtlessly. If she weren’t close with Dong Baozhu, she wouldn’t have any interest in other people’s affairs.
Seeing that his wife didn’t know either, Mr. Su changed the subject. Feeling buoyed by the praise from his daughter and Gu Jiaojiao, he had become much more talkative.
The family continued to eat, chatting idly about everyday things.
Su Shuochi was focused solely on placing food on his wife’s plate and rarely spoke. He only became talkative when he was alone with Gu Jiaojiao.
"Jiaojiao! Jiaojiao! Have you all eaten yet?" Mr. Ren’s voice rang out from the gate to the courtyard.
Su Qinchun immediately stood up to open the gate. "Grandpa Ren, have you eaten?"
"I came right after I put down my bowl. Have you all eaten?" Elder Ren’s voice was booming, easily heard by everyone in the living room.
"We just finished eating. I haven’t even had a chance to do the dishes yet," Su Qinchun said, telling the truth.
"Haha..." Mr. Ren let out an embarrassed laugh.
Gu Jiaojiao washed her hands and took Mr. Ren’s pulse. "Grandpa, you’re recovering very well. We can perform the surgery tomorrow afternoon."
"Okay, I’ll leave everything to Jiaojiao." What Mr. Ren didn’t mention was that his eldest son was coming to Qing City in a couple of days.
After his daughter went to Yun City, she had been calling her two brothers every day, crying and complaining about how terrible Sheng Liangyuan was.
She also complained that her own two sons treated her poorly, and that Gu Jiaojiao, that ungrateful wretch, had repaid kindness with cruelty...
Although his two sons had always been close with their sister, Elder Ren had called them beforehand.
So at first, his sons refused to believe her. But their sister kept crying and pestering them relentlessly.
Especially after learning that Dong Er was getting married, his two sons grew afraid that Sheng Liangyuan would remarry before they had a chance to set their sister straight!
The two sons hid the news of Dong Er’s wedding from their sister and decided to come to Qing City to have a talk with Sheng Liangyuan.
His second son, in particular, had just argued with him on the phone.
He said that no matter what, they couldn’t let their brother-in-law and sister get a divorce. If his sister had done something wrong, they would be the ones to discipline her.
Internally, Mr. Ren was filled with immense regret. He had been so sure that his son-in-law would never remarry.
But with Dong Er setting a precedent, he didn’t dare imagine the consequences!
Gu Jiaojiao could tell something was weighing on Mr. Ren’s mind, but she didn’t bring it up.
She was only treating his chronic leg pain because of how well he had treated this body’s original owner. With that in mind, she focused on carefully inserting the silver needles.
Mr. Ren was lost in his worries.
Su Shuochi sat beside Gu Jiaojiao, watching her with a doting expression and occasionally wiping the fine beads of sweat from her forehead.
Even though none of the three spoke, the atmosphere wasn’t the least bit stifling.
Once Gu Jiaojiao had inserted all the silver needles into the acupressure points, she caught the tenderness in Su Shuochi’s eyes. Her lips curved into a slight smile. "Thank you for constantly wiping my sweat."
With an outsider present, Su Shuochi didn’t speak, but his eyes held a bottomless affection that felt deep enough to drown in.
He reached out to pat his wife’s head, gently stroking her long, soft, black hair.
Gu Jiaojiao was taken aback by his sudden gesture. A blush spread across her cheeks, and she lowered her eyes.
Although Su Shuochi was shamelessly affectionate with her in private, he always maintained a prim and proper facade in front of others.
Watching his wife’s shy, adorable expression, Su Shuochi’s gaze gradually deepened, though his own face remained impassive.
While Grandpa Ren was lost in thought, he furtively reached out and took his wife’s slender, delicate hand, which felt as soft as if it had no bones.
His voice was low and raspy as he asked, "Jiaojiao, are you tired? I can remove the silver needles in a bit."
"Okay, you can remove the needles now. Grandpa, come back for one more session tomorrow morning. I’ll come to your house in the afternoon to perform the surgery."
The couple’s conversation pulled Mr. Ren from his thoughts. "Alright, Grandpa will listen to Jiaojiao. We’ll do the surgery tomorrow.
To be honest, at first I thought that Old Man Xie was just kidding. Who would have thought his chronic leg pain actually healed?
I never expected that Jiaojiao was the one who cured him. So when you offered to perform surgery on me, Grandpa believed you completely.
If anyone else said that chronic leg pain could be cured by surgery, it would be a complete joke.
But coming from you, Jiaojiao, it sounds perfectly normal. Grandpa knows you’ve never been one to do things recklessly."
As Mr. Ren said this, Gu Jiaojiao nearly rolled her eyes into the back of her head.
’I’m not one to do things recklessly? Just how well does Mr. Ren really know me?’
But she remained polite and demurred, "You’re flattering me, Grandpa. I’ve only just learned the basics from Divine Doctor He."
Gu Jiaojiao’s mind was always racing, yet her limpid eyes were like those of a forest fawn—pure and innocent as a child’s, sparkling like a river of stars.
But when she spoke, those eyes would flash with light. Her every glance was full of charm, so dazzlingly radiant that Su Shuochi couldn’t help but praise her.
"My wife has a strong personality. It’s only natural that her ideas are unique.
Her ideas might catch people off guard and seem shocking, but if you really think about them, they aren’t impossible at all."
"Haha... Yet as a child, Jiaojiao was a little girl with no mind of her own."
After saying this, Mr. Ren announced his departure. After a few days of receiving acupuncture, his legs barely hurt at night anymore.
He ate with a good appetite during the day and slept soundly at night.
"Grandpa, do you need a ride home?"
"No need. My two assistants are waiting for me at the gate. Besides, didn’t Jiaojiao tell Grandpa to get more exercise?"
"Haha~ In that case, take care." Gu Jiaojiao walked Grandpa Ren to the courtyard gate, where she indeed saw two strong, powerfully built young men waiting.
「The next day at noon」
Gu Jiaojiao went to the Dong Family’s wedding banquet, pushing Su Shuochi in his wheelchair with Su Qinchun in tow.
