Blackening starts from the golden years

Gu Moli's parents' house.

"mom."

"Don't call me mom. I'm not your mom. The cause of this is that your parents don't have basic trust in Jasmine. The key is you. You didn't stand on Jasmine's side to help her. Jasmine is very disappointed in you, and so am I."

"Mom, I was so confused at the time. Forget it. I won't explain it to myself."

Looking at Mother Gu, Zhu Jincao asked:
"Mom, how are you injured?"

"how is it going?"

Mother Gu sat on the sofa in the living room. She lifted her skirt to show Zhu Jincao her left calf with gauze wrapped around it and said:

"That's it. See?"

After saying that, she put down her skirt and looked at Zhu Jincao standing in front of her and said:

"I just want to ask you, if it was Jasmine or Coco who was hurt, would you be heartbroken?"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Jincao said hurriedly:
"I'm definitely heartbroken, so I really want to apologize to Jasmine in person."

"You guys have done all this, do you think I will let her go back with you if you apologize to her in person?"

Looking at the angry Mother Gu, Zhu Jincao said weakly:

"Mom, what do you think we should do? I'll do whatever you say."

Hearing what Zhu Jincao said, Mother Gu couldn't help but straighten her sitting posture and looked at him and said:

"Your parents, and you, should sincerely apologize to Jasmine, me, and Jasmine's father in person, and promise that such a thing will never happen again."

After saying this, Mother Gu said proudly:

"I'll see how sincere you are before I decide whether to let my daughter go home with you. Otherwise, Jasmine's father and I would rather raise our daughter for the rest of her life than let her go home with you and suffer."

Zhu Jincao simply couldn't do what Mama Gu said. He could only beg humbly:
"Mom, can you please not make this matter so complicated? You know my dad's temper and personality. In fact, they already know in their hearts that they have wrongly blamed Jasmine."

"So you don't want to apologize? It's reasonable to be wrong, right?"

Looking at Zhu Jincao, Mother Gu said directly:

"If you have this attitude, just go away, go away, go away."

Seeing that he couldn't persuade Mother Gu, Zhu Jincao hesitated for a moment and said:
"Mom, I'm going back first."

Mother Gu didn't answer him. After taking a last look at Mother Gu, Zhu Jincao could only turn around and prepare to leave dejectedly. Just then, Gu Moli came back. She opened the door and walked into the living room. Seeing Zhu Jincao, who was about to leave with his head down, she was stunned for a moment.

Seeing Gu Moli, Zhu Jincao was also stunned for a moment. Before he could speak, Gu Moli handed him the ringing phone in her hand and said:

"It just so happens that your mother keeps calling me. I don't want to communicate with her right now. You answer the phone."

Zhu Jincao was stunned for a moment, then answered the phone and said helplessly:
"Mom, what's wrong?"

Mother Zhu said loudly on the phone:
"Tell Gu Moli that I have verified that the bag is fake. I am in the store now. Ask her to come over and confront me face to face!"

"fake?"

Zhu Jincao opened his eyes slightly and looked at Gu Moli beside him. He was confused now and didn't know who to trust.

"Impossible, that bag is real, I bought it at the counter, how could it be fake?"

Gu Moli said with her eyes slightly widened.

……

Gu Moli and Zhu Jincao rushed to the bag store.

Looking at Gu Moli, the clerk took the bag that Zhu's mother asked to be appraised and explained to her:

"Ms. Gu, look, the stitching on the surface is relatively smooth, but the stitching on the inner pocket is not parallel at all. Also, the printing of the trademark is done with our brand's unique hot stamping process. Yours is obviously fake at first glance."

After the clerk finished speaking, Mother Zhu looked like she had won a battle. She looked at Gu Moli next to her and said:

"Look, look, look carefully, am I, the mother-in-law, wronging you, the daughter-in-law?"

After looking at Mother Zhu, Gu Moli said nothing. She took out two invoices from her bag and said to the clerk:

"I accept your appraisal results, but can you also explain to me what is going on with these two invoices?"

After taking a look at the two invoices that Gu Moli placed on the counter, a clerk explained:

"Ms. Gu, I can only say that you did buy two bags of the same model from us, but this one is undoubtedly a fake."

Gu Moli could not refute the explanation given by the clerk. The invoice could only prove that she had indeed bought two identical bags, but it could not prove that the fake bag that was being identified was bought here.

After taking a look at the silent Gu Moli, Zhu Jincao looked at the clerk and asked:
"Then look at it, could it be that someone has swapped the real bag my wife bought?"

"Then we don't know. If it was switched, it definitely wasn't us. We have surveillance here. You can take a look."

At this time, Zhang Meilan next to him said with some guilt:
"Second sister, I have to go first. My high-speed train is going to be delayed. This ticket was bought for me by Jincao. I am late, and I have to pay to make up for it."

"Alright, alright, go ahead. Go ahead. We haven't finished this matter yet. I won't send you off. Just take a taxi and leave."

"No need to see me off, no need to see me off, I'm leaving now, leaving now."

Perhaps because she had done something wrong and felt a little guilty, before leaving, Zhang Meilan pulled Gu Moli and Zhu Jincao aside and said:
"Moli, Jincao, auntie is leaving first. Look how well you two match each other. Live a good life and stop making trouble."

"Ah."

Zhu Jincao nodded. Zhang Meilan looked at Gu Moli and said:

"Well, Jasmine, I know that you are having a hard time in this family. Your mother has a sharp tongue but a soft heart. You should not take it personally, okay?"

"Isn't your high-speed train going to be delayed? Why aren't you leaving yet?"

Mother Zhu came over and said.

"Let's go, I'm leaving now. I'll come see you guys next time."

"Goodbye, aunt."

"Goodbye."

After watching her sister leave, Mother Zhu looked at Gu Moli beside her and asked:
"Jasmine, there are no outsiders here now, so tell me, am I wrongly accusing you? The salesperson said that this bag is a fake one, but you still insisted that you bought me a real one. Where is the real bag?"

"I don't know and I don't care."

Looking at Mother Zhu, Gu Moli said calmly:
"You may think what you like, but I have a clear conscience."

"You have a clear conscience?!"

Seeing Gu Moli still having this attitude, Mother Zhu couldn't help but raise her voice and said:
"That means I'm wronging you, right?!"

"Mom, stop talking."

Zhu Jincao tried to persuade him. He felt that he had lost all face in public. But Mother Zhu was still unwilling to give in. She pushed Zhu Jincao away and looked at Gu Moli and asked loudly:
"Gu Moli, please explain yourself clearly. How have I wronged you?!"

Looking at Mother Zhu making a noise in the store, Gu Moli turned around and left. She felt it was unnecessary and didn't want to continue arguing with her here.

"Jasmine, Jasmine."

Seeing Gu Moli leave, Zhu Jincao immediately prepared to chase after her. At this time, the clerk in charge of appraisal shouted from behind:
"Sir, who will pay the appraisal fee and cleaning fee of three thousand?"

"What about three thousand? Are you crazy?!"

When she heard that it would cost three thousand yuan, Mother Zhu got anxious and turned around to argue with the store staff:

"You're charging money just to check if it's real?! And you're charging three thousand, that's too expensive, are you trying to rob people?!"

Hearing his mother quarreling in the store, Zhu Jincao had no choice but to give up chasing Gu Moli. He turned back, hugged his mother and begged in a low voice:

"Mom, please, don't say it here, I beg you."

After comforting his mother, Zhu Jincao turned to the store staff and said:
"Sorry, I'll pay."

"Ok."

……

On the way home, Gu Moli carefully recalled the whole story. She bought a real bag, but what Mother Zhu received was a fake bag. There was only one possibility: the real bag was swapped by someone. Who could that person be?
Thinking carefully, suddenly, Gu Moli thought of Zhu Jincao's aunt, Zhang Meilan. Her attitude today was very strange, and she seemed a little flustered. Moreover, Gu Moli thought of the five-star pendant hanging on her bag just now. Wasn't that a gift when she bought the bag?
Thinking of this, everything became clear. Gu Moli suddenly felt both ridiculous and annoyed. She became even more disappointed with Zhu Jincao's family. What kind of weird relatives were these?

It's fine if he likes to take advantage of others, but he actually steals things? He makes other people's homes miserable, and then runs away?
Gu Moli couldn't help but laugh out loud. Thinking of what Zhang Meilan said to her as an elder before she left, she found it ridiculous and ironic.

After pulling over, Gu Moli called Zhu Jincao directly.

"Hey, Jasmine."

"Go ask your aunt where she got the five-star pendant on her bag."

"What pendant?"

"Didn't your mother want an explanation? Then go ask your aunt, is it appropriate to steal someone else's things, make their house a mess, and then run away?"

After saying that, Gu Moli hung up the phone and drove home.

……

At noon, at Zhu Jincao’s home.

"Mom, this is my aunt's circle of friends."

Zhu Jincao handed the phone to his mother with a heavy face.

"What circle of friends?"

Mother Zhu took the phone and flipped through the photos of her sister and her son Huang Qianniu that they had taken while checking in in Shanghai. She couldn't help but laugh:
"show off."

Suddenly, she found something wrong. The bag her sister was carrying in the photo was exactly the same as the one Gu Moli gave her.

"Her bag..."

Mother Zhu looked at her son in doubt, and Zhu Jincao nodded. Mother Zhu said with some disbelief:

"No, when did she post it on WeChat Moments? Why didn't I see it?"

"She blocked us. Ling Xiao forwarded it to me."

As he spoke, Zhu Jincao enlarged the photo on his phone, fully displaying the bag his aunt was carrying, then looked at his mother and said in a deep voice:

"He was carrying a real bag, and he ran away."

"No, who is she? Why did she take the real bag away? She caused such a big disaster and ran away without saying a word. This..."

Before Mother Zhu could finish her words, Father Zhu came back and looked at her and asked:
"Mumbling again, what a big deal, who ran away?"

"His father, we really wronged Jasmine this time."

Mother Zhu roughly told Father Zhu about the matter. After listening, Father Zhu frowned and said:

"Call her."

"Hey."

Zhu's mother called but no one answered, so Zhu Jincao called again. After waiting for a long time, the call was finally connected. Before he could say anything, his aunt said that the signal was bad and she was going to take the high-speed train, so they didn't have to worry, and then she hung up the phone in a hurry. Although it was not stated explicitly, the truth of the matter was already obvious.

"She said the signal was bad and hung up."

Zhu Jincao said in a low voice. Mother Zhu was a little embarrassed. After all, the person who stole the things was her sister, and she had wrongly accused Gu Moli. Looking at Zhu Jincao, she said:
"Mom called your aunt to complain about her, but as for Jasmine, you really need to explain it to her. This is Mom's fault. It's Mom's fault. I wrongly blamed Jasmine."

"Okay, Mom."

Zhu Jincao nodded and said:

"I told them that my parents would come to apologize in person later."

"Okay, that's it."

"What's the point? No!"

Father Zhu frowned and said:

"It is important to avoid mentioning the names of the respected. No matter how unreasonable your aunt is, she is an elder, right? You can't just stand up for your wife and let them trample on our elders' faces?"

Hearing his father say this, Zhu Jincao angrily retorted:

"Isn't my mother-in-law's face a face? Isn't her dignity a face? Her legs are injured now, and her dignity is gone. Don't you think about it?"

"What am I thinking about?"

Looking at Zhu Jincao, Zhu's father said as a matter of course:

"Gu Moli should be blamed for this. She was the one who wanted to buy a fake bag. Your mother doesn't go out for years, so how would she know whether the bag was real or fake? The key point is that Gu Moli had evil intentions. She brought this upon herself."

Seeing that Father Zhu was unwilling to go to Gu Moli's house to apologize, Mother Zhu looked at Zhu Jincao and said:

"Son, I was wrong about this. I'm going to apologize to your parents-in-law. Let's take Jasmine back."

"No, you have a big face?!"

Looking at Mother Zhu, Father Zhu roared:
"Go ahead, go ahead. If you dare to go, I will break your legs. Do you believe it?"

"you……"

Looking at Father Zhu, Mother Zhu said angrily:
"Then what do you say we should do? Should we let Jasmine live in her parents' house forever?"

"She can reply or not, we spoil her!"

Father Zhu said angrily:
"I'm making this clear today. Anyone who dares to apologize will never be allowed to enter my Zhu family again!"

"Why are you like this?"

"How am I?"

After taking a look at his parents, Zhu Jincao, who was already in his thirties, acted like a child who had been wronged. He angrily went back to his room and slammed the door.

"Son, son."

Mother Zhu shouted twice in worry.

……

At the same time, Gu Moli's parents' house.

"Oh my God, there are such things in the world, such bizarre things, and such bizarre things happened to us. We were guests at someone's house and stole their things. They were relatives. Birds of a feather flock together. Old Gu, our precious daughter actually married into such a terrible family."

"Blame it on me, blame it on me. It's all my fault for not keeping a close watch on it."

Father Gu and Mother Gu were talking there like they were performing a crosstalk. At this time, Father Gu looked at Gu Moli and said:
"Moli, we will not compromise this time. You can't go back unless the Zhu family comes to apologize."

"Ok, I know."

Gu Moli forced a smile and said that she was also thinking about whether or not to completely end her relationship with Zhu Jincao. Although Zhu Jincao was a good person and loved her very much, he was too weak and could not protect her at all.

……

The next morning, Bird Gallery.

Gu Moli was startled when she walked into the gallery. She saw everyone standing there in two rows. There were ribbons and balloons hanging in the gallery. She smiled and said:
"What do you mean? The gallery is going to be turned into a nightclub?"

Hearing what Gu Moli said, Mina, who was standing in the first position on the right, immediately glared at her and said:
"Gu Moli, stop talking nonsense and stand still. The new boss will be here soon."

"New boss?"

After taking a look at Mina, Gu Moli stood in the first seat on the left, looked at her and smiled:

"Mina, you are well-informed. The gallery has a new owner. How come I didn't know about this?"

"You are busy with household affairs every day, how can you have time to pay attention to the gallery?"

Mina said sarcastically, but what she said was true. Gu Moli was indeed not as dedicated as Mina in her work at the gallery. She asked for leave every now and then to take care of housework, just as Mina said.

"you……"

Gu Moli was about to say something when Yuan Xudong walked into the gallery. Seeing him, Mina's eyes lit up and she took the lead in shouting:

"Hello, Mr. Yuan."

"Hello, Mr. Yuan."

Except for Gu Moli, everyone followed Mina's shouting.

"Hello everyone."

Yuan Xudong smiled. He first glanced at Gu Moli and Mina on his left and right, then looked at everyone present and said with a smile:

"This welcome ceremony is quite special. Who came up with it?"

"Reporting to Mr. Yuan, it's me."

Mina raised her hand and smiled. Yuan Xudong was her boyfriend and the new owner of the gallery. She glanced at Gu Moli opposite her with some pride.

Seeing her little pride, Yuan Xudong smiled and said:

"Not bad, not bad, it's a good arrangement. Everyone can order whatever you want for lunch today, Mina will pay the bill."

"what?"

"Thank you Mr. Yuan."

Ignoring Mina's pitiful look, Yuan Xudong looked at everyone and said with a smile:
"Let me introduce myself briefly. My last name is Yuan, and my name is Yuan Xudong, which means the rising sun. I used to be a client of Feiniao Gallery, and now I am the owner of Feiniao Gallery. Without further ado, I love art, and I also love you. Starting today, everyone's salary will increase by 10%. If the gallery's performance can go further, this year's year-end bonus will be doubled. Come on, let's work hard together."

"Thank you Mr. Yuan."

"Mr. Yuan is generous."

"Okay, everyone please be quiet, I have something else to announce."

Yuan Xudong smiled and pressed his hand. When everyone quieted down again, he looked at Mina next to him and announced with a smile:
"From today on, Mina will be my assistant. When I'm not around, Mina will handle all the gallery matters."

Upon hearing the news suddenly, everyone except Mina was stunned, especially Gu Moli. She looked at Mina and Yuan Xudong with shock, disbelief, loss, etc. In short, it was very complicated. Others also looked at Mina with complicated eyes, some with envy and jealousy, and some with faint disdain. A young and beautiful woman suddenly came to power, and she was promoted by the new boss of the company, a rich and handsome young man. Naturally, everyone would think about the relationship between men and women.

This is indeed the case, but Mina doesn't care much about everyone's strange thoughts, and Yuan Xudong cares even less.

Looking at everyone, Yuan Xudong smiled and said:
"Okay, I've said everything I wanted to say. Does anyone have anything to say, or anything you want to say to me?"

Looking at Yuan Xudong, Gu Moli smiled and said:
"Mr. Yuan, I want to resign."

Everyone was stunned when they heard Gu Moli suddenly say that she wanted to resign. Yuan Xudong smiled and looked at the others and asked:

"Does anyone else want to say anything?"

After waiting for a while and seeing that no one spoke, Yuan Xudong smiled and said:
"Okay, everyone go back to work. Jasmine and I will talk alone."

After everyone left, Yuan Xudong looked at Gu Moli, who had a blank expression on her face, and said with a smile:

"Jasmine, why do I feel like you're being mean to me?"

"Who is quarreling with you?"

Looking at the smiling Yuan Xudong, Gu Moli frowned slightly and said:
"I want to resign. If you have nothing to say, I'll leave first."

"Why do you want to resign?"

Looking at Gu Moli, Yuan Xudong smiled and said:
"Do you dislike Mina, or do you dislike me?"

"I don't like them all, okay?"

Gu Moli glared at Yuan Xudong and replied.

"Okay, this answer is very personal. I like it very much."

Looking at Gu Moli, Yuan Xudong smiled and said:
"follow me."

"where to?"

Gu Moli asked, Yuan Xudong walked in front and said:

"You'll know when it arrives."

"Mysterious."

Muttering softly, Gu Moli followed.

……

The painting studio of Asuka Gallery.

"Why did you bring me here?"

Yuan Xudong did not answer. He lifted the white cloth covering the easel and motioned for Gu Moli to look at it herself.

Looking at the oil painting on the easel, Gu Moli couldn't help but slightly widen her eyes. That was her graduation work. Looking at Yuan Xudong beside her, she couldn't help but ask:
"Where did you get this?"

"This is your graduation project. I bought it from your alma mater."

Yuan Xudong smiled. Looking at him, Gu Moli frowned slightly and said:

"What on earth do you want to do?"

"I have collected all your works from your time in school and as an agent in the gallery. I can see that you have been making progress. I would like to hold an exhibition for you to display your works from different periods and different moods. What do you think?"

As he spoke, Yuan Xudong pointed at the hidden painting behind him and said with a smile:

"It's all here. I've done so much for you silently. Are you particularly touched now?"

Although Gu Moli's heart was indeed somewhat touched, she was far from being moved. She looked at Yuan Xudong and smiled:
"Mr. Yuan, thank you for your kindness, but I know my own limitations. All of my works are failures and are not worthy of you holding an exhibition for me."

"Wrong, absolutely wrong."

Looking at Gu Moli, Yuan Xudong smiled and said:
"Through these works, you see failure, but I see perseverance, progress bit by bit, and a bright and glorious future that can be foreseen. Gu Moli, you are a painter with great potential. Please believe me, okay?"

...(End of chapter)