Chapter 416: Chapter 415: The Liu Family Is Here

Gu Kai Zhi led Daya into his dorm room. He closed the door, set down her luggage, and immediately pulled her into a hug.

He buried his nose in the crook of her neck, taking a deep breath.

"Honey, I’ve missed you. I can’t believe you’re here."

Daya wrapped her arms around his waist. "We’ve only been apart for a few days."

"I don’t want to be apart from you for a single day."

"I just submitted the housing application yesterday. I didn’t expect you to arrive today. It’ll probably take a while for the apartment to be approved, so you’ll have to put up with staying in this small dorm with me."

Daya turned to look at the room’s furnishings: a single bed, a washbasin tucked underneath it, a desk and chair set, and a cabinet.

The setup was simple but very clean. Seeing the quilt folded as neatly as a block of tofu made Daya smile.

She remembered the first morning after they got married; Gu Kai Zhi had folded the quilt just like this. She had been so surprised at the time, and when she asked, he explained it was how they were all taught to do it. Later, Daya tried to fold it that way at home, but she could never get it so neat.

"Honey, you still haven’t told me why you came so suddenly."

Daya sighed and slowly walked to the edge of the bed, sitting down.

She looked at Gu Kai Zhi and said, "I’ve never told you about my family situation. It’s not that I was hiding it from you, it’s just... I really didn’t know how to bring it up."

Gu Kai Zhi seemed to understand. He guessed this might be the real reason she had come.

Daya clasped her hands together, her mind a whirl of thoughts, and slowly began to tell Gu Kai Zhi about her past.

"...Two days before our wedding, I ran into my paternal uncle on the street. He recognized me. My maternal uncle told me the Liu Family might be coming to Beijing City to find me soon. He said I should come hide out at your place."

Gu Kai Zhi’s brow furrowed. He squeezed Daya’s hand, his eyes filled with heartache. He had imagined many possibilities for Daya’s background, but he never thought it would be something like this.

"So you’ve been treated so unfairly since you were a child. No wonder you never wanted to talk about it."

Daya said, "I thought coming to Beijing City meant I had finally escaped them, but I didn’t expect they still wouldn’t let me go. The moment I think about having to face them, my heart starts to pound. So I ran. I don’t know if it was right to leave my uncle to deal with them, but I was just so scared."

It was a fear ingrained in her since childhood. Just the mention of the Liu Family made Daya tremble uncontrollably. Her mother’s belittling words, her grandmother’s curses and blows, her aunt’s bossy commands, her father’s sighs—for Daya, each was a hammer blow crushing her spirit.

Gu Kai Zhi could see Daya’s fear. He lifted her onto his lap and comforted her. "Since your uncle told you to come, he must be able to handle it. I’ll give him a call in a few days to check. If things get bad, I’ll take leave and go back myself. I’d like to see what kind of monsters they are, daring to treat you like that. They gave you away, and now they have the nerve to come looking for trouble."

Daya looked at Gu Kai Zhi.

Gu Kai Zhi leaned down and kissed her forehead. "Don’t worry. I’ll protect you from now on."

Leaning against Gu Kai Zhi’s chest, Daya felt a great sense of relief.

Meanwhile, the Liu Family had finally arrived in Beijing City. After a two-day, one-night train ride, their backs were ready to break.

They got off the train and followed the crowd out of the station. Staring at the bustling streets outside, they were completely bewildered, unsure of which way to go.

He Yun clutched Jinbao’s hand tightly, looking around with a timid, constrained air.

Mrs. Liu also looked timidly at Mr. Liu. "Dear, where do we go to find them?"

Mr. Liu forced a calm expression, but inside he was panicking.

"What did Xiao Wei say on the phone?"

Mrs. Liu finally remembered. She fumbled in her pocket and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper.

"Xiao Wei told us to go to this address to find him first. Then he’ll take us to find Daya’s aunt, and we’ll be able to find Daya."

Mrs. Liu asked Mr. Liu, "So how do we get there?"

They didn’t know the bus stops and could easily get on the wrong one. After some hesitation, their only option was to take a taxi.

They hailed a taxi. The driver saw the large group with all their luggage and asked for the address.

He said, "Five yuan."

Mrs. Liu exclaimed in shock, "What? Five yuan? Are you robbing us?"

Seeing her shrewish attitude, the driver didn’t bother arguing. He just turned the wheel and drove off. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

"Hey—"

Mrs. Liu hadn’t expected him to just ignore her when all she wanted to do was haggle a bit.

Mr. Liu said to her with some displeasure, "Watch yourself. This is Beijing City, not our hometown. Don’t give people a reason to laugh at us."

Mrs. Liu gave an awkward twitch of her lips.

They finally managed to hail another taxi.

"Six yuan."

Mrs. Liu’s eyes went wide. "I thought five yuan was too much, and now you dare ask for six?"

The driver just glanced at her. "Are you getting in or not?" he asked, making a move as if to drive away.

Mr. Liu spoke up, "We’ll take it. We’re going."

"But it’s six yuan," Mrs. Liu protested.

Mr. Liu didn’t answer her and got straight into the car.

Mrs. Liu was kicking herself, but the old man was already in the car. Left with no choice, she had to get in too.

The ride was indeed long. It took over an hour to reach the location they had given.

Mrs. Liu had almost fallen asleep.

When they got out of the car and saw the dilapidated factory in front of them, they all froze.

Mrs. Liu muttered, "Did the driver take us to the wrong place? Why would Xiao Wei be living in a place like this?"

Mr. Liu was also confused. He turned to Liu Jian Country and said, "Eldest, go take a look inside."

Liu Jian Country strode over and pushed open the rusty main gate. A mix of strange smells immediately assaulted his nose, and he covered it with his hand. The place was full of people.

He walked deeper inside, looking around, and finally spotted Liu Jianwei playing cards with some co-workers in a crowded area.

"Xiao Wei."

Liu Jianwei was so focused on his hand that he didn’t hear a thing.

"Xiao Wei."

One of the other men nudged Liu Jianwei.

"Hey, I think someone’s looking for you."

Only then did Liu Jianwei look up. His eyes lit up instantly. "Big Brother, you’re here!"

Liu Jian Country stared at him, displeased. "How are you still daring to gamble?"

Back home, Liu Jianwei had racked up huge gambling debts. It was the reason his wife wanted to divorce him, and he had lost all the family’s money at the card table.

Liu Jianwei had come to Beijing City partly to find work, but also to hide from the people he owed money to.

He had sworn up and down that he wouldn’t gamble anymore, yet here he was, at it again.

Liu Jianwei ignored Liu Jian Country’s question. He threw down his cards and asked, "Are Mom and Dad here?"

"Yeah, they’re outside."

Liu Jianwei stood up and walked past Liu Jian Country toward the outside.

When Mrs. Liu saw Liu Jianwei come out, she started wailing, "Oh, my son! It wasn’t easy getting to Beijing City! Your mother’s old back is about to break! And on the way here, those people charged us six yuan! That’s enough for several pounds of pork!"

Liu Jianwei laughed. "Mom, once we find Daya, we’ll have plenty of money. You won’t have to worry about that six yuan."

Mrs. Liu thought about it and figured he was right.