flstandardbreds Chapter 440 The Playboy's Divorced Woman 36
Chapter 440 The Playboy's Divorced Woman 36
My mother-in-law said she would advise him, but I don't know what he's really thinking.
This line of text was marked on the storybook.
Only then did Gu Shenbai have time to glance at the contents of the storybook. It seemed to be a story about a down-on-his-luck scholar who married the girl next door. In the story, the scholar didn't initially like this uncultured woman.
Although there were no similarities, looking at the annotations above, he seemed to be able to understand what Xie Qingyu was feeling when she wrote those annotations.
She was probably a little uneasy after marrying into the Gu family. There was no one she knew here, only him who didn't like her.
She might be sitting on this tatami mat one afternoon, reading a storybook, and reflecting on her own fate.
At that time, Xie Qingyu probably still had aspirations.
Just like the annotations in the storybook.
"I heard he's really good at polo. It seems he just got back from playing polo today. I caught a glimpse of him from afar when he came back from my mother's. He does look a bit taller than my second brother-in-law."
Gu Shenbai tried hard to recall when he last played polo.
It seems like it was only a short time after they got married, but he was unwilling to face the fact that he was married, so he simply spent all his time playing outside.
I played that polo match with Cai Kun.
After he finished playing, he was summoned by the First Madam.
But he didn't remember seeing Xie Qingyu at that time. So she saw him too?
There are some annotations at the end.
Grandma said he loves to play, but now that he's married, she asked me to persuade him to settle down. However, he doesn't come to my yard anymore; he probably dislikes me.
There are no annotations for several pages after this sentence.
Gu Shenbai was flipping through the pages rather hastily.
He had never known that his grandmother had said such things to Xie Qingyu, nor did he know what Xie Qingyu's feelings were at the time.
'It's raining today. At home, my grandmother doesn't let me go out on rainy days, but here I'm allowed to go out for a walk even in the rain... He didn't even use an umbrella in the rain, isn't he afraid of getting sick?'
It's raining. The only time it's rained in central Beijing was two months ago.
The rain came suddenly and heavily. It started raining heavily when Gu Shenbai came back from the street outside, and because he didn't bring an umbrella, he didn't arrive.
After returning to the manor, realizing that he was completely soaked, he went directly to the First Madam's place without an umbrella.
Was Xie Qingyu there at that time, or was she outside in the rain?
The Xie family has always had overly strict rules, so much so that they don't even have the freedom to get wet in the rain.
But Gu Shenbai seemed to suddenly remember that he had heard the news that Xie Qingyu was sick a few days after the rain.
At the time, he didn't take it to heart, and even secretly thought that a young lady like Xie Qingyu was frail and prone to illness.
It turns out that she secretly got caught in the rain back then, just for a little bit of excitement.
If he had known earlier, he would never have let her get soaked in the rain; even if he was excited, he should have prioritized her health.
Judging from her annotations, she probably didn't expect that he wasn't sick, but that she was the one who fell ill.
Looking at the words above, Gu Shenbai could imagine the doubt Xie Qingyu had when she wrote them. If Xie Qingyu were standing in front of him now, he would definitely laugh and say, "Let's see who gets sick from getting rained on."
After falling ill, Xie Qingyu actually had more time, and she made more annotations.
When she sees the place where the female lead delivers food to the male lead, she'll make a note: 'It seems like he doesn't eat all three meals at home. Would it be inappropriate to find out before delivering it?'
When the female lead sees the male lead going out, and asks him to bring her something, she comments, "How can I let him bring something we've never met? Never mind, it's more convenient to have a maid go out and buy it."
He came back from outside today and brought my mother-in-law some newly-released pastries from the market; I really liked them.
Gu Shenbai didn't bring back many things from outside; most of the time, he would bring back any delicious new things for the First Madam to try.
I don't know which time Xie Qingyu wrote this time, but if we follow the timeline, it should be hawthorn cake.
So this is the kind of flavor she likes?
Yes, sometimes she likes sweet and sour things when she eats. I didn't know she liked them so much.
He also found the hawthorn cake quite good; I wonder how much Xie Qingyu ate back then...
Gu Shenbai suddenly regretted not bringing some for Xie Qingyu back then.
'My mother-in-law couldn't persuade him; he probably dislikes me too. I heard recently that he's long been unhappy about me marrying into the family.'
This sentence isn't a comment; it was probably something I suddenly thought of and wrote down.
But even that short line of text caused Gu Shenbai's heart to ache.
She should have heard about it; back then, he didn't seem to hide his displeasure at all, even though he himself doesn't understand why he was so dissatisfied.
I just wonder how upset Xie Qingyu must have been when she heard these rumors, especially since she was initially planning how to get along with me.
'My mother-in-law said today that she wants to hand over the management of the household affairs to me, probably to give me support and prevent the servants from looking down on me when he's not home. My mother-in-law is indeed easy to get along with. If my mother were still alive, she would probably be the same way.'
He knew that the First Madam had entrusted the management of the household affairs to Xie Qingyu, but he hadn't expected it to have such a purpose.
That's true. She's been married before, but her husband didn't like her. If she doesn't have much power, the servants in the mansion might neglect her. Her mother has made good plans for her.
Xie Qingyu... She only had a stepmother at home, and her stepmother's younger sister was only two years younger than her, so she probably had never experienced any mother-daughter relationship.
In such a difficult situation at the Gu family residence, did it also remind her of her mother?
Gu Shenbai couldn't bear to read any further.
He instinctively felt he desperately wanted to see what was below.