I Heard You Liked Me First - Chapter 4
Gu Yue’s cheeks flushed when Gu Nan questioned her. After all, the Gu family was the one who raised her, no matter how terrible they were, wishing them ruin did feel a little cruel.
She lowered her head and asked softly, “Does that make me ungrateful? Like… a white-eyed wolf?”
Her mother often called her that.
She would say Gu Yue was ungrateful that, after everything the family had done to raise her, she only cared about herself, never about the family.
Her mother always said that, in the end, she would have to rely on the family anyway. That giving back to them was the same as planning for her own future.
Gu Nan froze for a second, then her lips curved into a mocking smile. “And what exactly isn’t a white-eyed wolf, then?”
Her eyes narrowed as she looked out at the neon-lit street. The lights flickered in her pupils, casting a strange, almost dangerous glow across her face.
“So if you give up your own life and devote everything to someone else, that makes you a good daughter? You think you won’t be filial just because you don’t live the way she wants you to?”
Gu Yue immediately shook her head. “Of course not. I’ll be good to her. When I start working, I’ll give her money for her retirement, and I’ll take care of her.”
“She’s still my mother, after all.”
Gu Nan started the car again. “Then there you go. So how does that make you ungrateful? Just because you won’t go on blind dates and exchange yourself for resources for that useless cousin of yours?”
She gave a short, cold laugh. “So being a white-eyed wolf is whatever they say it is? If you live by their definition, you’ll be trapped by it your whole life.”
Gu Yue clenched her wrist. Under her sleeve were the marks her mother had left behind, bruises and welts that hadn’t yet faded.
She thought of the shouting, the hitting, the endless words of control. Her body trembled slightly as she whispered, “I’ll never stop being filial to her. I just… don’t want to sacrifice myself for my cousin.”
After a moment, her voice grew even softer. “And I want them to lose everything that never should’ve belonged to them in the first place. That’s what turned them into people like this.”
Gu Nan didn’t respond. She knew Gu Yue needed to say these things out loud to let a little of it escape.
Sometimes, she really wondered what went on inside the Gu family’s heads, what kind of people could even think of trading their daughter away for benefits for their nephew.
Gu Yue was only eighteen.
She was supposed to be in university this year, but her mother had forced her to take leave just to go on blind dates.
The car was quiet for a while before Gu Yue suddenly dropped another bomb.
“Chi An also told me that your mother’s death… had something to do with the Gu family.”
Gu Nan’s hands froze on the steering wheel. Her voice dropped low. “I see.”
She didn’t know what Chi An meant by that.
It had been her mother who dragged her out of that cesspool of a home, who’d turned herself into the “other woman” in her father’s eyes, enduring all the whispers and ridicule that she’d raised an ungrateful daughter.
But it was also that same woman who had helped her and her mother escape the Gu family’s prison.
And now, that woman had sent Gu Yue to convince her to go back to fight for the Gu family’s fortune?
Gu Nan didn’t understand her at all.
After a short drive, they arrived at Gu Nan’s place her grandparents’ home.
It was an old residential complex halfway up the mountain.
The buildings were aged but surrounded by lush greenery, with a well-known city park just next door.
The homes were small townhouses, four stories each. They weren’t as grand as the new luxury apartments downtown, but in the soft glow of streetlamps and window light, the neighborhood looked warm and lived-in.
Gu Nan led Gu Yue through the gate. The moment she opened it, a faint floral fragrance drifted out.
Even though it was early winter, the air smelled like spring.
When the yard lights flicked on, Gu Yue saw clusters of plants, some of them still blooming.
Gu Nan handed her a pair of slippers when they entered the house. “Grandma’s in the hospital, so I didn’t get a chance to prepare new ones for you. Just wear mine for now.”
Gu Yue looked down at the soft pink bunny slippers. Her eyes lit up immediately. They were adorable.
She had never owned anything like that. Her mother always said she needed to be mature, that she was going to marry into a rich family someday, and childish things weren’t allowed.
The slippers were warm and fluffy, and they felt unbelievably comfortable on her feet.
Inside, the living room was a little messy, but cozy.
Gu Nan noticed her own clutter and looked a bit embarrassed. “Sorry, the place is a bit of a mess.”
Gu Yue shook her head, setting down her luggage and instinctively starting to tidy up. “It’s actually nice like this, it feels alive. But I can help you clean up a bit. I’m good at housework.”
Then she looked up again, smiling softly. “Are you hungry? I can make you something to eat.”
Gu Nan hadn’t expected this long-lost cousin of hers to catch her off guard again and again.
Watching her straighten up the coffee table, Gu Nan finally reached out and stopped her.
Gu Yue blinked. “You’re hungry? I’ll go cook then.”
“No.” Gu Nan stopped her again and looked into her eyes seriously. “Are you… a people pleaser?”
Gu Yue froze. She didn’t know how to answer that.
After a few seconds, she stammered, “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have touched your things without asking, I—”
“That’s not what I meant.” Gu Nan interrupted her. “I’m not blaming you. I just want to know—why are you so eager to do all this?”
She glanced around her slightly chaotic home. “I don’t really clean. I can’t cook. Grandma never let me near the stove. It’s messy because she’s been sick, and the housekeeper’s been at the hospital taking care of her. Usually, she handles everything. If you’re hungry, there’s food in the fridge—just heat it in the microwave.”
Gu Yue’s hands tightened in her lap. She bit her lip, looking at Gu Nan with undisguised admiration. “Then what do you usually do? Do you study?”
But Gu Nan had already graduated.
“I paint,” Gu Nan said. “When I’m inspired, I paint. When I’m not, I… just play around.”
Gu Yue didn’t reply.
Gu Nan led her into the kitchen, opened the fridge, and found a few neatly labeled containers. The housekeeper had even written down how long each dish should be microwaved.
“What do you want to eat?” Gu Nan asked.
Gu Yue looked at the labels, her chest tightening painfully. “I’m not hungry. I had something on the plane.”
Gu Nan glanced back at her, then pulled out two puddings. She warmed them slightly, handed one to Gu Yue, and leaned against the counter, spooning a bite of her own. The pudding was silky and sweet, melting on her tongue.
She nodded toward Gu Yue. “Try it. The housekeeper makes these herself.”
Gu Yue took a bite. It was delicious, sweeter and richer than anything she’d made before.
Her mother’s voice echoed in her head: You can’t eat sweets. They’ll make you fat. Men don’t like girls who aren’t in shape.
But as the pudding melted in her mouth, the sugary warmth seemed to wash away the sour ache in her heart.
When they finished, Gu Nan tossed both bowls into the dishwasher without rinsing them. Gu Yue hesitated before saying quietly, “I’m really good at housework. And cooking too. My mom made me learn everything. She never cared about my grades, she said girls don’t need to study, that in the end, we just get married and go back home. So the most important thing is learning how to cook and clean.”
Gu Nan blinked, genuinely surprised.
“Isn’t the Gu family rich? Aren’t you supposed to marry into an even richer one? Shouldn’t you be learning piano and flower arranging, not how to be a housewife?”
She let out a short, amused snort. “Typical nouveau riche logic. I’ll never understand it.”
Gu Yue didn’t take offense. In fact, she liked the way Gu Nan said it with that effortless disdain that made her seem so cool.
Gu Nan reminded her of a motorcycle racing down an empty overpass, swift, wild, and untouchable.
Then Gu Nan reached out, gently pinching her chin. “From now on, stop doing housework. If someone likes it so much, let them do it.”
Gu Yue looked at her with a shy sort of determination. “But… I can’t, not until I get away from the Gu family.”
Gu Nan slowly lowered her hand and looked at Gu Yue without saying a word.
It took a while before she finally spoke. “My grandmother is almost seventy now. She’s been going to the hospital more and more these past two years. I can’t take her back and make her deal with all that mess in the Gu family, but I can’t leave her alone here either. I need to stay by her side.”
Gu Yue opened her mouth as if to say something, but no words came out.
Gu Nan continued, “I know what all of you are hoping for. And yes, I’ve thought about it too—about making my grandmother, that shameless old woman who favors sons over daughters, choke on her own anger. But I also know what’s truly important to me right now.”
“So, don’t tell my grandmother that you came here to convince me to go back. I don’t want her to be disturbed by anything else.”
After saying that, Gu Nan averted her gaze, unable to look Gu Yue in the eye. She turned away and said quietly, “Come on, I’ll show you to my room. You can sleep there, alright?”
Gu Yue followed behind her. “Alright.”
When they arrived at Gu Nan’s room, Gu Nan briefly introduced the layout, then said, “I live in the next room. If you need anything, just come find me. There’s no need to get up early tomorrow; sleep as long as you like.”
She hesitated for a moment, then added to ease Gu Yue’s discomfort, “I don’t get up early either. If you get hungry, just grab something from the kitchen. Auntie won’t be back until noon.”
When she finished, Gu Nan closed the door behind her.
Gu Yue stared at the closed door for a while, then glanced around the room. A sour ache welled up in her chest.
She was envious of Gu Nan so envious it hurt.
She didn’t care whether Gu Nan went back to fight for the family inheritance or not. What Gu Nan said just now made her so jealous it bordered on madness. Lying on the bed, surrounded by the faint scent of incense that lingered in Gu Nan’s room, she curled up and hugged herself.
“Gu Nan’s grandmother must really love her… I wish I had someone like that to protect me, too.”
She closed her eyes, thinking she wouldn’t be able to sleep. But surprisingly, in this unfamiliar place, in someone else’s bed, she slept more peacefully than she ever did at home.
Gu Yue had come in a hurry, and with her grandmother in the hospital, no one had been home to clean the guest room. So Gu Nan gave her own room to Gu Yue and moved into her grandmother’s instead.
But Gu Nan couldn’t sleep. She stood by the window, arms wrapped around herself, staring out into the night with a lonely expression.
She wanted to go back to the Gu family, to get revenge, to confront that woman and demand answers.
Her mother had always treated her so well, why did she have to shame her mother? Why did she have to become the other woman?
But Gu Nan couldn’t leave. She had to stay with her grandmother.
Meanwhile, chaos had already erupted back at the Gu household.
Gu Yue’s mother discovered her daughter was missing. After barely managing to deal with the Xiao family and sending them off, she exploded in rage.
“Where is she? Where did she go?! How could no one notice she’s gone? What do I even pay you people for?!”
One of the security guards stepped forward, trembling. “Second Miss… I saw the young miss get into Mrs. Xiao’s car. I thought it was with your permission.”
Gu Yue’s mother instantly went cold, a chill spreading through her heart.
“Mrs. Xiao? What is that woman trying to do? Is she planning to ruin the engagement between our families?”
She took a deep breath and ordered sharply, “Go! Find out immediately where Mrs. Xiao took Gu Yue!”
The guard looked uneasy. “Second Miss, how are we supposed to track Mrs. Xiao’s movements…”
They were just security staff, how could they possibly investigate the wife of the Xiao family?
Gu Yue’s mother clenched her jaw until it hurt.
Because she was a woman, she had no real standing in the Gu family. And in her husband’s house, she was nothing more than a useless woman who couldn’t give birth to a son.
Now that she needed people, there was no one she could rely on she would have to swallow her pride and beg her own mother for help.
Her mother would be furious, of course, furious and disappointed that Gu Yue could act so recklessly.
But if Gu Yue had been born a son… things would have been so different.
She swallowed the pain back down, leaving only bitterness and hate in her heart.
And all that hate would one day fall upon Gu Yue.