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Chapter 584: Chapter 584: Return to Jiang City
Gu Hongwei thought about the last incident at his hometown. At that time, he wasn’t able to protect Tong Yao and Guo Jinnian when his aunt brought people to confront them. This time, when it came to accompanying them to put Guo Jinnian’s name on the house deed, he felt he might just be playing a supportive role.
He couldn’t help in a big way.
Gu Hongwei’s straightforward comment made Tong Yao smile. "This is a society ruled by law, problems can’t be solved with fights. Besides, they are Jinnian’s family. It will surely upset Jinnian if either they or we get hurt," she said.
Guo Jinnian swiftly stepped in, "Yaoyao, as long as you guys aren’t hurt, it’s okay if my family get injured. They need to learn some hard lessons."
At these words, Tong Yao laughed even harder. "Jinnian, if your parents heard you say that, they would likely chase you with a stick all the way from Jiang City to Kyoto!"
Guo Jinnian looked at the sky helplessly, looking utterly desolate, "To be honest, even before I go back there, I’ve started feeling a headache."
Guo Jinnian was full of envy. "Yaoyao, you don’t know how much I envy you. If only my parents were as sweet as Uncle Tong and Aunt Wen, I would do anything, even sell all my properties, to move them to Kyoto. Let them see how prosperous Kyoto is. But they don’t care about me, they only want my money."
Though Tong Yao didn’t have such parents, she had experienced Guo Jinnian’s anguish through Lin Fengying’s situation. Reaching out to hug her, she comforted her, "I believe nothing can bring you down. There’s nothing going on in Kyoto right now, so let’s go back tomorrow. We’ll figure out how to get the household register and handle the house deed."
Guo Jinnian nodded, looking devastated. Thinking about Tong Yao’s pregnancy, she suggested, "How about letting Hongwei accompany me, and you stay in Kyoto?"
Tong Yao was pregnant, and she was worried that her parents would cause trouble, making things difficult for Tong Yao. Besides, the environment on the train was awful and it was tiring to travel by train.
Tong Yao shook her head. "It’s okay, anyway, I’m bored when I’m alone at home. Might as well go with you guys and treat it as a trip. Hongwei is too honest, and I doubt he’ll be able to handle it when your family starts causing trouble."
Gu Hongwei was good at doing business, but not at dealing with troublesome people. Plus, Guo Jinnian was injured. The two of them would probably be chewed up and spit out by her family.
Gu Hongwei nodded, somewhat ashamed. "I really don’t know how to argue."
Having heard both of them say this, Guo Jinnian agreed: "Alright, we’ll set off tomorrow and try to get the paperwork done as soon as possible. Aunt Hu will arrive soon, we don’t want to delay the delivery."
The thought of seeing her parents did not make Guo Jinnian happy at all, instead, she felt irritated and was in a bad mood.
The three of them were all proactive. Having decided to go back to Guo Jinnian’s hometown the next day, they went to bed early that night.
The next morning, they bought train tickets to Jiang City. Fortunately, they managed to get sleeping berths. Lucky for them, all three were in the same cabin, thus avoiding the smell of stinky feet.
Tong Yao didn’t like to eat when on a train. Even though there was no stinky feet smell, there were still some strange odors. Since she got pregnant, her sense of smell became more sensitive, and she couldn’t eat whenever there was a strange smell.
The train roared off, and fortunately, they arrived at Jiang City before nightfall. Though she didn’t like going back home, Guo Jinnian still felt happy when she returned to the city that raised her. They had been on the train all day without eating anything and were hungry. Guo Jinnian took Tong Yao and Gu Hongwei to an old restaurant she used to frequent.
Knowing that both Tong Yao and Gu Hongwei were not picky, she didn’t hold back and casually ordered four dishes and one soup. After they had filled their stomachs, she led them home.
All the way, Guo Jinnian spoke nonstop, talking about childhood times. Tong Yao occasionally chimed in and helped to vent about Jinnian’s parents, while Gu Hongwei was the listener all the way. 𝓷ℴ𝓿𝓅𝓊𝒷.𝓬𝓸𝓂
Compared to Guo Jinnian, Gu Hongwei considered himself lucky. Although his father was ill and they were poor, he never lacked for love. His father always saved the best things for him.
Thinking of his father, Gu Hongwei’s throat tightened, his mouth full of bitterness.
The house Guo Jinnian bought was not in the city center, but on the city’s outskirts. It was a house assigned by someone else’s work unit. The house, a two-room apartment of only sixty square meters, was on the second floor and was quite small.
Guo Jinnian knew Tong Yao liked cleanliness, while she herself, used to being rough, didn’t keep much at home. Moreover, the house was in an old community and run-down, and she was somewhat embarrassed to show it.
"It hasn’t been inhabited for a long time, so it’s a little dirty inside. But the bedding is clean, I wrapped it in sheets to prevent dust," she said.
Seeing Guo Jinnian, who usually has a tomboy personality, suddenly becoming finicky made Tong Yao laugh, "When in Rome, do as the Romans do. Even if the environment is poor, it’s better than smelling stinky feet on the train."
On hearing these words, Guo Jinnian suddenly brightened up. It was getting dark and the stairway was dim. The three leisurely ascended to the second floor. Guo Jinnian took out the key to open the door, but after several attempts, she couldn’t insert the key.
Tong Yao wondered, "Did you take the wrong key?"
Guo Jinnian was baffled, "Impossible! I only have two keys, one for your house in Kyoto and the other is this one."
Saying this, she again tried to insert the key into the lock, but it still didn’t work.
Gu Hongwei put the luggage on the ground and took the key from her, "Let me try."
Gu Hongwei prepared to insert the key, but couldn’t either. He looked at the key teeth and then told Guo Jinnian, "If you haven’t mistaken the key, there’s only one possibility - your door lock has been changed."
As for who changed it, it went without saying.
Guo Jinnian was furious. She couldn’t believe that her parents had quietly changed her door lock just because she was away for a month. She banged on the door, but no one came to open it, so it was obvious there was nobody inside.
Struggling to control her emotions, she said, "Hongwei, you take Yaoyao to find a hotel for the night. I need to go back and ask them why they had the nerve to change my door lock without permission."
Tong Yao looked at the sky and gently advised, "It’s getting dark, how are you going to go back? We should first find a way to open the door and deal with them tomorrow!"
Thinking about it, Guo Jinnian agreed. Earlier, she had been a little hot-headed. "But it’s pretty late now, I reckon the locksmith won’t come."
Jiang City is a small county town, and after seven in the evening, the streets are almost empty, and the shops are all closed.
Tong Yao calmly took a thin, black hairpin from her head. "Let me try."
In her previous life, she had watched many lock-picking videos on some platforms. She had never tried it before, and now she could give it a try.
Gu Hongwei and Guo Jinnian were both surprised - since when did Tong Yao start picking locks?
