The Divorced Wife of the Richest Man is Reborn

Chapter 105

Gu Xiao stood frozen in place.

He had been corresponding with Wang Gebi for many years, considering her a kindred spirit.

When he came to visit Wang Gebi this time, he saw a woman not yet sixty, with snow-white hair, skeletal thin, sitting behind iron bars. She looked at him with tears in her eyes, saying she wanted to become a nun and dedicate her life to praying for Su Wen's blessing.

She also mentioned that her elder daughter had unfortunately contracted syphilis, and begged him to take her to Singapore for treatment.

She added that her younger daughter could barely make ends meet, living meal to meal, and pleaded with him to take her to Singapore as well.

Gu Xiao agreed to everything at the time, even promising to help secure Wang Gebi's release from prison so she could manage the temple properties Su Wen had left behind.

He truly believed she was Su Wen's closest friend.

But Yan Zhao's words now completely demolished everything Gu Xiao had believed in just a few sentences.

If Wang Gebi wasn't Su Wen's friend, if what Yan Zhao said was true - that she had even switched Su Wen's medicine - then all his years of effort had not only failed to help Su Wen but may have actually made her living conditions even worse.

Yan Zhao had said too much; Gu Xiao couldn't process it all at once.

He tried to pull away, but Yan Zhao kept holding his hand firmly and continued: "In my mother's later years, after copying Buddhist scriptures for so long, her handwriting lost the sharpness of her youth. If you'd like, I can show you her real will, and what her current handwriting looks like."

Once, when they were young, Yan Zhao was just a child while Gu Xiao was a tall adult.

Now, that child had grown into a man, standing tall and straight, imposing in stature.

The once-vigorous man had become elderly, stooped and thin.

Gu Xiao not only disliked Yan Zhao but harbored a particularly deep prejudice against him.

Twenty years ago, after Yan Xing's death, he was detained by the Revolutionary Committee and hung up and beaten. The guard was Yan Sanye, so Su Wen had begged Yan Sanye to secretly release him, as he had planned to take Su Wen away at that time.

By then, Su Wen's mind was already confused - one moment crying over Yan Xing, the next fearing her husband would kill her, then asking what would happen to Gu Xiao after he escaped. So Gu Xiao described to her the wonderful life in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia, repeatedly promising that he had the means to make money once they escaped, and that with money would come good days ahead. If she went with him, she wouldn't have to worry about being killed by her husband or continue living in such hardship.

He coaxed her all the way to the train station, where a coal train was roaring past. If they could just get on that train, whether she wanted to leave or not, she would have to go with him.

But just as he had climbed onto the train and reached out his hand to pull Su Wen up, Yan Zhao called out "Mother" from behind. Su Wen immediately broke free from his grip, ran back, and held Yan Zhao tightly.

No matter how much Gu Xiao called out to her, she never looked back.

That single cry of "Mother" from Yan Zhao brought Su Wen back, but also sealed her fate for twenty lonely years to come.

How could Gu Xiao possibly feel kindly toward him?

He was a filial son, utterly devoted, but it was precisely this complete filial piety that had ruined Su Wen's life.

Yet he would never understand or comprehend Gu Xiao's feelings. Even now he was saying: "My father misunderstood my mother for twenty years with his subjective assumptions and arbitrary judgments, and I have never forgiven him. Professor Gu, you consider yourself someone who understands my mother, not just superficially but deeply, you think of yourself as a rare confidant in her life - how could you even misidentify her will?"

Turning back, he said to Yan Dongxue: "Dongxue, open the box and take out my mother's things." After a pause, seeing Gu Xiao not only pale but trembling all over, he added, "Take Professor Gu to the provincial hospital, he needs medical attention now."

One of the assistants from Singapore supported Gu Xiao and said to Yan Zhao: "Mr. Yan, please don't worry. I am Professor Gu's personal physician, I will take care of him."

The old gentleman having his own personal physician indeed meant Yan Zhao didn't need to worry.

At this moment, Yan Zhao was being particularly aggressive, reaching his hand out toward Yan Dongxue.

Yan Dongxue, who was indeed afraid of her stern-faced brother, promptly opened the box and handed over several land use certificates and Su Wen's supposed 'will' to Yan Zhao.

Prejudice blinds people, and blindness leads to arrogance.

Since Gu Xiao now knew everything, Yan Zhao said nothing more.

Giving him time to think, now they should examine their mother's belongings.

Watching Xiong Dapao's polished Crown car drive away, Yan Wei eagerly took the land use certificates from Yan Zhao's hands and began examining them.

One was for the Qingliang Temple in the city, another for the Longyuan Temple not far from Yanguan Village, and the third was for the Lotus Temple. On all three land use certificates, Su Wen's name was indeed signed with flourishing calligraphy, identical to Yan Peihen's handwriting.

This was it - these were the assets Su Wen had accumulated throughout her life.

They had no real economic value, as you couldn't charge Buddha for money, and their ultimate destiny would be either self-preservation or donation to the National Religious Affairs Bureau.

They would only be useful if the temples faced demolition or renovation, but they would never be about money.

They were wealth that could never be converted into currency.

But as Yan Wei looked back at the nunnery embraced by the gentle autumn night wind, his heart suddenly felt incredibly warm. In his lifetime, he had finally touched something of his mother - she was like the gentle autumn breeze. He had thought she had left no trace, thought she must hate this unfilial son from heaven above. But now he discovered she was everywhere, enveloping him - lost, heartbroken, and destitute - in this vast world.

So perhaps she had forgiven him after all? Forgiven this destitute, pitiful child of hers who struggled to survive in adversity?

But there was still one question: who had given these to Wang Gebi?

Wang Gebi was in the capital while Su Wen was in Yanguan Village; they had never met. As for the temple properties, even Yan Zhao didn't know about them, so how did Wang Gebi know?

After thinking for a long while, Yan Wei suddenly looked up at Yan Zhao and blurted out: "Big Brother, it must have been First Brother who did it."

First Brother Yan Jun had gone abroad in '82, and he was the only one who had returned to Yanguan Village that year. Looking at the application date on the land certificates, it was exactly 1982.

Could it be that it coincided with the time for certificate renewal, and Su Wen had given her original documents to Yan Jun to exchange them, but Yan Jun took the old certificates and gave the new ones to Wang Gebi?

Seeing Yan Zhao's silence, Yan Wei sighed and said: "First Brother wanted to go abroad, but Father strongly disagreed and wouldn't let him go. It was Wang Gebi who helped him get Commander Tao at the consulate to arrange for his official overseas assignment."

Yan Jun's relationship with Wang Gebi wasn't particularly good, and he was very proud and arrogant, the type who looked down on everyone.

But when it came to going abroad, that was different. The Cultural Revolution had just ended, and people were desperate to go to America. Yan Jun and his wife were especially keen, frantically

He had abundant cash flow, plenty of money, and his coal mines were bringing in fortune daily. Not only was he acquiring small coal mines everywhere, but under Chen Meilan's planning, he was installing safety production and coal washing facilities with each acquisition. The high-quality coal was selling well, not just nationwide, but now he was also an expert with seven or eight qualification certificates in computers, accounting, and business administration.

Upon hearing that the People's Representative Xiong Dapao had developed facial paralysis from his mobile phone.

Yan Xishan visited forty nouveau riche that day, and over a hundred more the next day.

He spread the news far and wide!

It was said that for several consecutive days, his laughter sounded even more terrifying than a donkey's bray.