Love? The Reborn Me Just Wants to Obtain Rewards
Chapter 386 - 179: You Can’t Outplay Gu Tongshu, But You Can Play with His..._2

Chapter 386: Chapter 179: You Can’t Outplay Gu Tongshu, But You Can Play with His..._2

So she asked softly, "Auntie, is your name Wang Yizhi? Which two characters?"

Gu Jiuyue replied gloomily, "Yizhi from standing steadfast, Zhi from Wang Xizhi."

"Ah?" Su Huai was astonished, "You mean it signifies towering and standing proudly?"

"Yes."

Gu Jiuyue nodded her head.

Seeing her lack of enthusiasm, Su Huai had no choice but to rack his brains and think of another approach.

Thankfully he was smart and had reclaimed enough memories from a previous life to find a new angle from a cultural perspective.

"I remember during the Jin Dynasty, the Langya Wang Clan often used the character Zhi in their names. At their peak, seventy to eighty people over several generations had Zhi in their names, including Wang Xizhi and Wang Xianzhi.

During the upheaval at the end of the Western Jin, the Langya Wang Clan moved south from Linyi, resettling their entire clan in Jinling. You now live in Jinling too. Could it be that your maternal grandfather was a branch of the Langya Wang Clan?"

"You know quite a lot."

Gu Jiuyue, her interest piqued, explained carefully.

"It does say on my mother’s family tree that we’re a branch of the Langya Wang Clan, but actually, according to my aunt’s research, it’s more like we forcefully attached ourselves during the Tang Dynasty. It’s not certain that the Wang empress was really of the authentic Langya Wang bloodline. Our branch forcing a connection with Yan Gong is even more far-fetched. Later, during the Yuan Dynasty, the original family tree was lost again. My real ancestors might be the third batch who forced their way in during the Ming Dynasty..."

Su Huai’s mind whirred for a while before he could make sense of it—

The Wang empress was a fake Langya Wang, attached was a fake descendant of the Wang empress, and attaching during the Ming Dynasty was another fake...

Is this tiling work?!

Su Huai shook his head and smiled, musing, "So much for the so-called millennium-old families. Apart from Confucius’s descendants who have never lost their lineage, the rest are basically all pretenders!"

"Right!"

Gu Jiuyue nodded vigorously, making fun of her own family.

"Descendants of Confucius are treated as mascots, kept by rulers of various dynasties, kept away from politics and wealth. That’s why they could pass on their lineage peacefully and securely. Why shouldn’t our Wang family, who blindly seeks death generation after generation, have a broken lineage?"

Su Huai laughed silently. "But it’s not fair to call it seeking death, right? Aspiring to rise above others isn’t wrong..."

"Wealth doesn’t last more than three generations for a reason."

Gu Jiuyue held a unique and insightful view on wealth.

"Why shouldn’t children and grandchildren enjoy the empire built from the hard work of their fathers? Why continue to hone themselves? That’s against human nature. But once one indulges in enjoyment, soon come arrogance, pretense, vanity, and weakness. Having wealth without the power to control it means the higher you climb, the faster you fall."

Ouch?!

You realize this now?

So is this why you’re persisting in taking over the business despite your illness?

Su Huai felt a new sense of admiration for Gu Jiuyue. If only she were a little healthier, she would be the most exceptional partner.

"You’re right, but in modern society, there are no longer practices like the extermination of nine kinships. As long as the second generation has the right mindset, it’s still okay to live as a wealthy scion."

This was a reminder, though probably futile.

Gu Jiuyue wasn’t currently thinking about succession, and when she inevitably had to, she likely wouldn’t avoid it, such was the way character determined fate.

"I can be open-minded about it, unfortunately, I don’t know if the elders can be."

She sighed softly and said wistfully, "Just consider my mother’s name, Wang Yizhi. How much hope must my maternal grandfather have had for her?"

Indeed, Old Man Wang must have been a man of ideals and ambitions once...

As for Gu Jiuyue, she harbored resentment.

Su Huai fell silent for a moment and then decided to probe a little further.

Emotions kept inside needed to be vented. Without expression, they would always be a thorn in one’s side.

"And what about your aunt? What’s her name?"

"Wang Lezhi."

Gu Jiuyue responded gloomily, "My grandmother picked it, saying that it was fine for a girl to be happy and joyful."

Su Huai sensed an issue and asked sharply, "Does your grandmother favor one over the other?"

"Now she favors me."

She didn’t answer directly, but Su Huai understood.

It’s very hard to be completely impartial. If Cheng LiHua can favor Gu Jiuyue now, she might have favored Wang Lezhi before.

That’s normal. The eldest carries the expectations, the youngest grows freely; this is common in many families.

Su Huai thought of Wang Yuqing’s treatment of Gu Tongshu and asked another question, "What kind of son-in-law did your maternal grandfather favor?"

Gu Jiuyue was not sure, "Probably a military man or a scholar? He definitely didn’t like my dad, who is rich but not respectable."

Hey, Gu, look what your daughter thinks of you!

Su Huai laughed, "So he treated me the same as you back then?"

"What’s so funny?" Gu gave him a look, "This is like a dragon slayer becoming a dragon himself!"

"Hahaha!"

Su Huai couldn’t help but laugh; she looked so pretty when she rolled her eyes, but her tone was hilarious.

Gu Jiuyue, already in a bad mood, was really starting to get annoyed now.

"Who are you laughing at?"

Gou Huai immediately backed off—she needed to be treated differently than Chen Nuanhan, their temperaments were too different.

"I’m laughing at our maternal grandfather, no wonder he suddenly became nice to me. Enemies of my enemies are friends?"

Remembering this, Gu Jiuyue couldn’t hold back a smile either.

"Stop being mad at my dad all the time; otherwise, you’ll end up fighting sooner or later... I’ll be mad at him for you!"

Oh, such a filial daughter!

Su Huai knew why but didn’t want to expose her, so he soothed her in another way.

"Our maternal grandfather is actually quite interesting. His expectations for your aunt were high but not in a very utilitarian way. Liking military men and scholars—it’s very pure!"

"Indeed."

Gu Jiuyue’s thought process was instantly diverted, "My maternal grandfather had his reasons for disliking my dad, and he also truly cared for my mother. But... do you still remember what we talked about on the beach?"