newbobooks Chapter 583 Those eyes look so much like Wei Qiming's.
Chapter 583 Those eyes look so much like Wei Qiming's.
Back at the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion, Gu Qingchen kept muttering his own explanations, but Chu Ruohan didn't listen to a word he said.
"Qingchen, go back to your room first. I have something to ask you," Chu Ruohan said with a stern face.
Gu Qingchen pouted and obediently followed her mother into the inner room.
As soon as she sat down, Chu Ruohan went straight to the point and asked, "Do you know whose child Lin Jiayou is?"
"I know, the teacher said he's the son of the Princess of Yong's Mansion," Gu Qingchen replied matter-of-factly.
Chu Ruohan took a deep breath: "Do you know who his mother is?"
"Princess, Mother, didn't you just hear that?" Gu Qingchen asked, looking puzzled.
“His mother is Lin Xingyao,” Chu Ruohan said, enunciating each word clearly, her gaze fixed on her daughter’s face.
Gu Qingchen blinked: "Who is Lin Xingyao? That's a nice-sounding name."
Despite looking at her daughter's innocent and naive appearance, Chu Ruohan's vigilance did not diminish in the slightest.
The child is still young and doesn't understand the grudges between adults, but that's precisely why he's more easily taken advantage of.
"In short, stay away from Lin Jiayou from now on." Chu Ruohan's tone became stern. "He is not someone you should associate with."
"Why?" Gu Qingchen stood up defiantly. "Lin Jiayou is a very good person! If he hadn't stopped me today, I would have climbed onto the roof long ago. He only went up with me to protect me!"
"Protect you?" Chu Ruohan sneered. "Qingchen, you are too young to understand the wickedness of people. Some people are nice to you on the surface, but they have ulterior motives."
"Mother, how could you say that about him!" Gu Qingchen exclaimed, her face flushed red. "Lin Jiayou is not that kind of person! He rarely speaks, and he doesn't even fight back when bullied. How could he possibly have any bad intentions!"
“It’s precisely because he doesn’t resist that people are more suspicious.” Chu Ruohan stood up and walked to her daughter. “Qingchen, I’m not targeting him, I just think you two aren’t suitable to be friends.”
"Inappropriate?" Gu Qingchen's eyes widened. "Mother, what you're saying is exactly the same as those people who bullied Lin Jiayou! It's all because of his background!"
Chu Ruohan was shocked; her daughter's words struck her heart like a heavy hammer.
"That's not what I meant," Chu Ruohan tried to explain. "I was just worried about you."
"What are you worried about?" Gu Qingchen asked, tears welling in his eyes. "Are you worried that I'll bring shame to the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion by being friends with a 'bastard'?"
"Gu Qingchen!" Chu Ruohan shouted sternly, "Don't say such things!"
"Then why won't Mother let me be friends with him?" Gu Qingchen asked, crying. "He hasn't done anything bad, but just because others say he has a bad background, Mother wants me to stay away from him?"
Looking at her daughter's aggrieved and confused face, Chu Ruohan felt a mix of emotions.
She knew her thoughts were too complicated for a seven-year-old, but she couldn't explain the reasons in detail.
"Qingchen, there are some things you don't understand yet," Chu Ruohan's tone softened. "You'll understand when you grow up."
"I don't want to grow up and then understand!" Gu Qingchen stubbornly shook her head. "I already know that Mother is wrong! Lin Jiayou is a good person, but Mother looks at him that way. That's not fair!"
Chu Ruohan sighed helplessly, turned around and walked to the window, her back to her daughter.
As night deepened, Gu Junze returned from outside and heard arguing coming from inside the house as soon as he entered the courtyard.
He frowned and quickened his pace as he went inside.
"What's wrong?" Gu Junze looked at his daughter, who was crying her eyes out, and then at his wife, who looked exhausted.
"Father!" Gu Qingchen rushed over to his father as soon as he saw him. "Mother won't let me be friends with Lin Jiayou!"
Gu Junze caught his daughter and looked at Chu Ruohan: "Why?"
Chu Ruohan turned around, her eyes filled with worry: "Do you know whose child Lin Jiayou is?"
Gu Junze nodded. "Lin Xingyao's son."
"Then why are you asking why?" Chu Ruohan's voice was somewhat impatient. "That woman Lin Xingyao is cunning and scheming. How could her son be any kind of good person?"
"Han'er," Gu Junze called her name softly, "He's just a child."
"So what if he's a child?" Chu Ruohan walked up to him. "A viper's cub will still be a viper when it grows up!"
As Gu Qingchen listened to her mother's words about Lin Jiayou while nestled in her father's arms, her tears flowed even more fiercely.
"Father, Mother said Lin Jiayou is a poisonous snake, but he is clearly a good person!" Gu Qingchen said, sobbing.
Gu Junze gently patted his daughter's back and said to Chu Ruohan, "Han'er, I know what you're worried about, but Qingchen is right, he's just a child. We can't be prejudiced against an innocent child because of the grudges of adults."
"Innocent?" Chu Ruohan sneered. "Do you really think there are such coincidences in this world? It just so happens that he is Lin Xingyao's son, and he just so happens to be in the same private school as Qingchen?"
Gu Junze frowned slightly: "You mean, this was premeditated?"
“I always felt there was something wrong with that child’s eyes.” Chu Ruohan walked to her husband’s side and said in a low voice, “Those eyes look so much like Wei Qiming’s.”
"Han'er, are you overthinking this?" Gu Junze tried to comfort his wife.
Gu Qingchen listened to her parents' conversation while nestled in her father's arms. Although she didn't fully understand what they were saying, she knew they were talking badly about Lin Jiayou.
"Father, Mother, you are both good people, why do you say such things about Lin Jiayou?" Gu Qingchen raised his head, his eyes full of confusion. "He really hasn't done anything bad, why does everyone bully him?"
Looking into his daughter's clear eyes, Gu Junze felt a pang of guilt.
Indeed, they were using adult thinking when discussing a child, which is too cruel for a seven-year-old daughter.
"Qingchen, I assure you, we are not bullying him," Gu Junze said gently. "We are just worried about you."
"What are you worried about?" Gu Qingchen asked, puzzled.
Gu Junze and Chu Ruohan exchanged a glance, and finally Gu Junze spoke up: "Qingchen, some things are complicated. When you're older, Daddy will explain them to you slowly, okay?"
"No!" Gu Qingchen shook his head. "I need to know now! Why is everyone targeting Lin Jiayou? What did he do wrong?"
Looking at her daughter's stubborn appearance, Chu Ruohan felt both annoyed and helpless.
This child's temperament is just like her father's; once she's made up her mind, nothing can change it.
Chu Ruohan sighed, "How about this, Qingchen will still go to the private school tomorrow, but you have to promise me that you won't get too close to that Lin Jiayou anymore."
Gu Qingchen's eyes lit up: "Can I really go to a private school?"
"But there's a condition." Chu Ruohan looked at her daughter seriously, "You have to promise your mother that you won't be alone with Lin Jiayou."
Gu Qingchen frowned: "Why do this?"
"Because your mother is worried about you." Chu Ruohan squatted down to be at eye level with her daughter. "Qingchen, promise your mother, okay?"
Gu Qingchen looked at his mother, then at his father, and finally nodded: "Alright, I promise, Mother."
Chu Ruohan breathed a sigh of relief, at least temporarily calming down this stubborn little mule.