"Damn it!" Da Zhuang kicked Gu En directly, but Gu En dodged it.
"You haven't told your grandfather yet, have you? But there's no way to change the fact that you're getting a divorce. I know you're very upset, but this matter needs to be clarified, right? I'm here to bring you something on behalf of Brother Zheng."
Gu En said everything directly this time, leaving Xia Ran frozen in place, while Grandpa Xia looked on with a puzzled expression.
"What did you just say? Divorce? Who got divorced?"
Xia Ran: "Grandpa, I..."
"Don't speak!" Grandpa Xia interrupted Xia Ran directly, his face already looking rather grim.
"Grandpa, don't listen to what this person is saying. He's a madman. You and Xia Ran go inside first. I'll handle things here."
Dazhuang also said something to Grandpa Xia, afraid that Grandpa Xia would continue to ask questions.
But Grandpa Xia didn't listen to him at all. Instead, he looked at Gu En and said,
"Tell me, what exactly happened? What do you mean by 'divorced'? Who got divorced?"
Gu En's smile deepened. "You're Xia Ran's grandfather, right? Are you sure you want to say this here? If you're sure you want to say it here, I don't mind."
They're at the entrance right now. There's not much of a person there, but what if someone comes along while they're talking?
Grandpa Xia looked around and said,
"Come in and speak."
"Grandpa," Xia Ran spoke again, "If you want to know anything, just ask me. I can tell you. Don't let just anyone in."
Dazhuang: "That's right, Grandpa, we'll tell you everything we know."
"Shut up!" Grandpa Xia glared at Xia Ran fiercely, his face not only extremely ugly but also full of anger.
"You two tell me? Can you explain it clearly? I'm telling you, I want to know from him right now that neither of you is allowed to say another word."
Xia Ran moved her lips slightly, but in the end, she didn't refute Grandpa Xia. Instead, she looked at Gu En and asked in a cold voice,
"Gu En, are you satisfied with this outcome now?"
Gu En's lips remained curved in a smile, but her tone was utterly innocent.
"What does this have to do with me? I'm just here to deliver something to you on Zheng-ge's orders."
Xia Ran glanced at him, but in the end, she still went into the living room. Since things had already come to this point, she had nothing more to say.
He had been thinking about how to explain things to his grandfather, but now it must be fate.
He never expected that Gu Zheng would still not let him go even at this point. Didn't Gu Zheng know that this would anger his grandfather?
Xia Ran's heart ached terribly. What kind of person had he fallen in love with all these years?
In the end, Gu En followed them inside. Grandpa Xia sat on the sofa with a very unpleasant expression. Xia Ran and Da Zhuang watched from the side, their expressions not much better.
Gu En stood in front of Xia Ran's grandfather, then took out a bunch of keys and a check for 500,000 yuan from his backpack.
"These are the keys Xia Ran left at the Gu family's house. Brother Zheng asked me to deliver them. This check for 500,000 yuan was also sent by Brother Zheng to compensate Xia Ran."
"He said that although he married Xia Ran to use her as a substitute, but..."
"Enough!" Xia Ran stood up abruptly. "Your things have been delivered. Now you can get out, or don't blame me for hitting you!"
He rarely felt this angry, but now he had to interrupt Gu En.
He knew that if Gu En continued talking, Grandpa Xia would definitely get angry.
"Let him speak!" Grandpa Xia's face remained somber.
"Grandpa, can I tell you what you want to know? Just let him go!" Xia Ran said.
"I told you to let him continue, but even now you still don't want to listen to me?"
Grandpa Xia looked at Xia Ran, and the resolute emotion on his face made Xia Ran pause for a moment before finally gritting her teeth and sitting down.
Looking at Xia Ran's expression, Da Zhuang sighed inwardly.
He didn't expect that even after they all came back, Gu Zheng would still let Gu Enlai humiliate Xia Ran. What kind of jerk was Xia Ran who liked before?
Upon hearing Grandpa Xia's words, Gu En could barely suppress the smile on her lips, but her tone remained utterly innocent.
"Brother Zheng told me to say that he married Xia Ran because he used her as a substitute, and now that they are divorced, it is his fault. Xia Ran left in a hurry, and he was too embarrassed to apologize in person, so he sent me over."
He said that no matter what, you have taken care of him for so long, so this 500,000 yuan is a reward for your hard work during this period, and he hopes that you can live a good life in the future.
Xia Ran had to grit his teeth to keep his expression straight as he listened to these words. He never expected that Gu Zheng would insult him like this.
A tip for your trouble? Ha... How ironic.
Grandpa Xia's expression remained unchanged; he simply looked at Gu En and asked,
"A stand-in? A stand-in for what? A stand-in for whom?"
Hearing Grandpa Xia's words, Gu En seemed a little embarrassed.
"Yes... he was my stand-in. We separated due to some circumstances, and Zheng-ge was heartbroken. Then he happened to meet Xia Ran, so..."
Chapter 196 Xia Ran's Hatred for Gu Zheng
"Alright, alright, you've said everything you needed to say. If you have nothing else to say, get out of here. You're an eyesore!"
Da Zhuang couldn't help but speak up. Damn it, if Grandpa hadn't insisted that Gu En speak, he really would have punched this guy.
"Okay." Gu En nodded and put the key and the other items on the table. "I'll leave those things here for you. I'm leaving now. Xia Ran, Brother Zheng asked me to sincerely apologize to you, since he was in the wrong first."
"Get out!" Xia Ran looked up at Gu En coldly. "I have nothing to do with him anymore. I consider everything before as something I fed to the dogs."
Gu En had already achieved his goal, and he was unwilling to stay any longer, so he nodded and prepared to leave.
Before leaving, she glanced at Grandpa Xia. Why was Grandpa Xia so calm? Shouldn't he be furious?
"Take the check. We don't need this dirty money. Go back and tell him he better not show his face in front of me again, or I'll beat him to death!"
Grandpa Xia spoke, his tone filled with barely suppressed anger.
Gu En raised an eyebrow, said that this was compensation for Xia Ran, and then quickly left.
He used this check to keep Xia Ran at bay; how could he possibly take it away?
After Gu En left, the living room seemed to fall into a suffocating silence.
Dazhuang looked at the grandfather and grandson, then stood up and said,
"I'm going out to buy some things first. Xia Ran, you and Grandpa have a good talk."
At this point, his presence is completely superfluous; it would be better to give the two of them something to talk about.
After Dazhuang left, Xia Ran looked at Grandpa Xia and whispered,
"Grandpa, I'm sorry, I was wrong..."
As he spoke, his nose began to sting with tears. If he had listened to his grandfather back then, things wouldn't be like this now.
But... it's too late now.
Grandpa Xia had been watching Xia Ran the whole time, and upon hearing Xia Ran's words, he suddenly burst into a rage.
"You were wrong? Xia Ran, Xia Ran, do you know where you went wrong? I told you not to get married, not to get married, but you wouldn't believe me and insisted on being with him. Now look what happened, you've just delivered yourself to his doorstep and been humiliated!"
Grandpa Xia's eyes reddened as he said this. He was very angry, but he also felt sorry for Xia Ran.
Unexpectedly, Xia Ran followed in his footsteps...
He felt that Gu En looked familiar when he first saw her, and it turned out that she looked like Xia Ran.
For Xia Ran, being a stand-in was such a painful thing.
But he also knew that Xia Ran had to bear the consequences herself this time, otherwise she would suffer the same loss next time.
Xia Ran had been trying hard to hold back her tears, but after hearing Grandpa Xia's words, she couldn't control them anymore and they kept falling down her cheeks.
"Grandpa, I'm sorry, I was wrong, I was really wrong, I regret it..."
"Regret?" Grandpa Xia stood up and looked at Xia Ran. "What's the use of regret? You went all the way there, only to find out they just saw you as a substitute?"
"Forget it, you're all grown up now, I can't control you anymore. This is your own choice, so you have to bear the consequences!"
After Grandpa Xia finished speaking, he walked towards the room. Xia Ran wondered if it was just his imagination, but he felt that Grandpa Xia's back looked like he had aged several years.
Xia Ran did not follow Grandpa Xia back to his room. Grandpa's reaction was somewhat different from what he had expected, but he could still sense that Grandpa was genuinely upset and angry.
Xia Ran looked at the keys and checks on the table, a sarcastic smile appearing on her face.
"Xia Ran, Xia Ran, Grandpa was right. You went all out to them, but they just saw you as someone who came to buy things..."
Xia Ran clutched her chest, the pain that he had finally managed to suppress surging back up all at once.
Grandpa Xia was much more upset when he returned to his room than when he was in the living room.
Tears streamed down his face as he silently pulled out an old black-and-white photograph and began to talk to himself.
“Mom and Dad, now I finally understand why you were so unwilling to see me back then. Xiao Ran is just like that kid back then. He said he regrets it. I felt something was off about him these past few days, but I never expected it was because of this.”
"But he's in an even worse situation than I was back then. Back then, that person was sincere to me at the beginning, but Xia Ran didn't even have that fleeting sincerity this time. My heart aches for him, but there's nothing I can do..."
Grandpa Xia's tears fell onto the photo, which showed a family of three.
"Cough...cough cough..." Grandpa Xia suddenly coughed a few times, and his face became sickly pale and unsightly.
Da Zhuang went outside for a stroll, hoping to catch Gu En and teach him a lesson, but unfortunately he couldn't find him no matter how hard he looked.
He stayed outside for two hours, then thought it was enough and came back.
When he arrived at the living room, he found it empty. Somewhat puzzled, he went into the kitchen when he heard a noise. He saw Xia Ran cooking, but he didn't see Grandpa Xia.
"Xia Ran, where's Grandpa?" Da Zhuang walked in. "How did your talk go? Is Grandpa angry?"
Xia Ran was cooking, and there seemed to be some slight redness around her eyes.
"He's definitely angry, but Grandpa will calm down in a couple of days."
Seeing Xia Ran's expression, Da Zhuang's lips twitched a few times, but he couldn't help but cautiously ask the question.
"Xia Ran, are you...are you alright?"
Xia Ran paused in her cooking, then spoke as if nothing had happened.
"What could possibly happen to me? Actually, it's good that Grandpa knows, otherwise I don't know when I would have been able to tell him."