Gu Qingshuang didn’t sleep at all that night. Early the next morning, she washed her face with cold water, changed into a black suit, and pinned a white flower to her lapel before heading downstairs.
Her steps were resolute, as if she were about to perform some world-shaking, tragic deed.
Seeing Gu Xueqiang downstairs, she offered a slight nod of greeting and sat quietly at the table to eat.
Lately, Gu Qingshuang’s appetite had been pitifully small. She had no desire for food; even when she forced herself to eat, she would end up vomiting. It seemed better not to eat at all.
Instead, she downed a cup of bitter black coffee in one go.
Before they left, Gu Xueqiang didn’t offer any specific instructions. Her eyes remained cold and indifferent. Gu Qingshuang was long accustomed to this; whenever it concerned Gu Liufu, Gu Xueqiang never wore a kind expression.
The memorial hall was set up nearby. When Gu Qingshuang arrived, she immediately saw the Liu family.
To be precise, she saw her paternal grandparents, uncles, and aunts—people who were her relatives in name only—along with cousins she had never even met.
A crowd of them swarmed forward, shouting questions. Was Gu Liufu really dead? Why was his death so suspicious? If not for the bodyguards surrounding Gu Xueqiang, they likely would have devoured her alive.
Gu Xueqiang’s expression remained unchanged. With perfect composure, she uttered a single phrase: “My condolences.”
She led everyone to believe that Gu Liufu was truly gone.
“My son worked so hard for your Gu family for how many years? And you set up such a pathetic place for his death? Not even a coffin?” Elder Liu, his hair completely white, shouted harshly. “It’s you, you venomous woman! You dragged your feet and refused to let him get treatment, and now he’s dead because of it!”
“And what if I did?” Gu Xueqiang’s eyes narrowed slightly, her tone freezing.
“Pay up!” Elder Liu went straight to the heart of the matter. “All these years you kept my son trapped, refusing to let him see us. You only called us now that he’s dead! You killed my son! Pay us!”
Gu Xueqiang gave a calm “Oh,” and, surrounded by her bodyguards, took a seat in the most prominent position. She offered no further response.
Gu Qingshuang had been standing by Gu Xueqiang’s side since they entered. Seeing that Gu Xueqiang was an immovable iron wall, Elder Liu shifted his target to Gu Qingshuang, softening his voice. “You must be Shuangshuang, right? I’m your grandfather. Your father brought you to see us before, remember?”
Gu Qingshuang lowered her eyes and slowly shook her head.
“How could you not remember?” Madam Liu added. “You and our Siwang are even best friends.”
Gu Qingshuang remained silent.
Seeing this, the Liu family grew frantic. The conversation jumped back to money. Before the funeral had even officially begun, the memorial hall had devolved into a chaotic mess of arguments.
Gu Qingshuang was grateful for only one thing: Liu Siwang wasn’t here, and neither was Ming Li.
This was truly humiliating.
Yet she couldn’t even afford to feel humiliated; she only felt the noise was deafening.
After a while, once Gu Xueqiang had let them tire themselves out, she spoke up leisurely. “How much do you want?”
“Thirty… no, fifty million!” Elder Liu said, appearing to have made up his mind.
“Not enough!” a man in the crowd shouted. “My brother was in the Gu family for so many years! Think of how much money he made! Fifty million isn’t nearly enough. Give us two hundred million!”
“Hah.” Gu Xueqiang let out a mocking laugh.
“A mere two hundred million is just a drop in the bucket for your Gu family!” the man said righteously. “When Shuangshuang got married, didn’t she pay off four or five hundred million for her wife?”
“Tch,” Gu Xueqiang uttered a simple sound of disdain.
This scene was exactly as Gu Xueqiang had anticipated. Every reaction she gave was calculated to make the Liu family jump in frustration.
Sure enough, the man roared in the next second, “You wicked woman! Letting you off with two hundred million is doing you a favor!”
“What a grand joke.” After saying this, Gu Xueqiang clapped her hands. “Please, let today’s protagonist come out.”
The memorial hall fell silent instantly. No one knew what trick Gu Xueqiang had up her sleeve.
A moment later, a frail Gu Liufu, wearing a loosely fitting suit, emerged from behind the door. His gaze toward the Liu family was utterly cold.
Gu Xueqiang said calmly, “This is your family, Gu Liufu.”
They had never treated him as family, yet he had become like this because of them.
Gu Xueqiang had intentionally orchestrated this play today. She wanted Gu Liufu to feel regret and pain, but most importantly, she wanted his heart to die from utter despair.
She wanted to crush every last drop of hope and expectation he had.
The first step to truly killing a person is to kill their soul. Gu Xueqiang was a master of this craft.
However, Gu Liufu’s reaction surprised her. He didn’t look at the Liu family much; instead, he turned his gaze toward Gu Qingshuang. It was a deeply complex look.
When he looked back at Gu Xueqiang, his eyes were filled with profound disappointment and apology.
The moment he appeared, the hall became noisy again. Some questioned Gu Xueqiang, while others feigned concern for Gu Liufu. Hypocrisy mingled with greed; everyone had their own agenda.
Gu Liufu sat in the place Gu Xueqiang had specially prepared for him and began to read his confession.
Word by word, his pronunciation was clear and resonant.
The listeners were stunned, and then they all directed vicious glares toward Gu Xueqiang.
Gu Xueqiang didn’t care. She was savoring Gu Liufu’s agony. Even if a corner of her own heart was bleeding, she appeared gratified, as if she were delighted to finally see his wretched state.
…
Gu Liufu finished reading the confession. His voice trembled on the final two words. Once he finished, he began to cough—coughing up blood.
He looked around the room, but he didn’t see Liu Siwang. He didn’t know if she hadn’t come or if Gu Xueqiang simply hadn’t invited her.
“Brother! That woman forced you to do this, didn’t she? I’ll expose them right now! I’ll expose the Gu family!”
“Right! Drag the Gu family’s reputation through the mud!”
“How can you hold a funeral for someone who’s still alive?! This is blatant murder!”
Amidst the uproar, Gu Qingshuang spoke calmly. “It was me.”
The entire room seemed to hit the pause button. Everyone’s eyes fell on her simultaneously. Under those scrutinizing and questioning gazes, Gu Qingshuang straightened her back, shielding Gu Xueqiang’s face, and said coldly, “I planned all of this.”
She swept her gaze across every face in the room. “Don’t you all think you should consider why today’s funeral exists in the first place?”
“My father died long ago. He was killed by all of you collectively.”
As soon as Gu Qingshuang spoke, someone roared, “Nonsense!”
“Whether it’s nonsense or not, you all know the truth in your hearts.” Gu Qingshuang pulled out the narrative she had prepared. “You deceived my father into sleeping with another woman, then spent so much effort sending Siwang to my school. Then you used moral kidnapping to force my father to recognize her and bring her back. You all did it for the Gu family fortune, never considering how my father was supposed to live with himself.”
“The moment he brought Siwang back to the Gu Manor, he suffered a social death.”
“Today is my father’s funeral, and it is his only funeral. Now that you have finished paying your respects, you may leave.”
