Rebirth Counterattack with Space
Chapter 100 Aunt

Chapter 100: Chapter 100 Aunt

If you really look at it from a legal perspective, grandparents have no chance against mothers in a custody battle over a child; the law simply does not support them.

Not to mention that the Su Family had once done such despicable and heinous things to Lu Yun. If things really turned sour, and Xia Yuan decided to go to the police station to report them, they could not hope to come out on top.

In the end, both Lu Aiguo and Lu Yun wanted to avoid the Su Family not because they feared them, but because they were concerned about Xia Yuan’s emotions.

As long as they had a few months in Haicheng to buffer, allowing Xia Yuan to step out of that shadow, by the time they returned to Yushu Village for the New Year, they would be completely fearless.

As for Lu Yun’s name change, they certainly wouldn’t be foolish enough to reveal it just yet. They wouldn’t say a thing, and since their household registration had already been moved to Haicheng, where would the Su Family get their information? Even if they wanted to make a fuss, they would have to have the ability to run to Haicheng first!

By the time Lu Yun grew up, and Lu Aiguo and Xia Yuan were thriving even more, would the Su Family’s fuss be of any use? Just like in Lu Yun’s past life, didn’t she eventually change her surname brazenly?

The Su Family and Chen Juxiang had thought about making trouble to extort benefits, but in the end, Lu Yun didn’t give them a single thing, and they were helpless, weren’t they?

Upon reaching the town, Uncle Lu brought two pounds of boar meat and a pack of pastries to thank the person he had entrusted. He then sent an urgent telegram to Haicheng.

Lu Aiguo, Xia Yuan, Shitou, and Lu Yun’s party took the bus from the countryside to the town directly. There was only one early bus every day from the countryside to the town, which is why the family had to start their journey early the day before.

In the town, with the letter of introduction, the family booked two rooms at the guesthouse, and then Lu Aiguo, following the address given by Uncle Lu, found the person who had helped them with the tickets and retrieved them. He also brought two cans of fruit and a pack of pastries as a thank-you.

After staying a night at the guesthouse, the group headed to the train station early the next day and finally breathed a sigh of relief when they boarded the train bound for Haicheng.

The "clunk-clunk" of the green-skinned train moved at a pace that was incomparable to the bullet trains of the future, but it felt very familiar and pleasing to Lu Yun.

Sitting by the window, she stared at the rapidly receding landscape. The thought of arriving in Haicheng soon and seeing her young aunt, uncle, and her two little cousins made her smile uncontrollably, full of anticipation.

Aunt Xia Na was a textile factory worker, and Uncle Gu Tianming was a maintenance worker at the waterworks. Her two cousins, Gu Feng and Gu Meng, were nine and eight years old respectively, not much different in age from her. In her previous life, they were schoolmates at the same school, though in different grades.

Although she didn’t interact much with them normally and couldn’t play with them, her cousins always took good care of her. If it weren’t for their private protection at school, given her solitary nature back then, she would probably have been bullied to death.

Remembering her past life, the memory that stood out to Lu Yun was of Aunt Xia Na’s perpetually cold face and her stiff tone of voice when she spoke to her.

As a child, she was frightened of her aunt, and even though she grew to understand her aunt better as an adult and knew her aunt cared for her despite not showing affection, the fear in her heart towards her aunt never dissipated. She longed to be close to her yet feared getting closer.

Thinking about her unloved past life, Lu Yun couldn’t help but give a bitter smile.

In Lu Yun’s mind, her aunt was the epitome of a tough exterior with a warm heart.

Even though she might have had a million reasons to dislike her, whenever there was something tasty at home, she never forgot about her. Every time, whether it was the eldest cousin or the second cousin, as soon as they peeked outside her classroom during break, nine out of ten times they were on a mission to bring her some food.

Each time she came out, both cousins would hurriedly stuff the food into her hands, then, without even a word of explanation, blink and they’d be off, running away, always with a look that seemed to resent her for coming out too slowly and delaying their playtime.

When they were older and chatting at a gathering, both cousins admitted somewhat sheepishly that back then, they considered the task of delivering food to her a real chore.

Because, aside from resisting the temptation of the food, delivering it to her also ate into their precious playtime during break. But owing to their mother’s stern authority, they dared not refuse, let alone sneak a bite. So, whenever it came time to decide who would do the delivery, the brothers would engage in their little battles of wits and courage.

At that time, after Lu Yun had laughed off the story, of course she wouldn’t admit that what she actually looked forward to the most was each time they peeked outside her classroom.

She craved not just the food they brought, which might be a plain boiled egg one time; a piece of meat-stuffed pancake wrapped in oiled paper another; or sometimes a couple of fish balls filled with meat filling...

Back then, as she ate the food, she cherished each bite, chewing and chewing again, even if the food had long since cooled and lost some of its flavor, she still always felt she could taste the rich warmth of her mother’s love in it.

Beyond bringing food, Auntie would also regularly take her to the Su Family house once a month to play. Although "play" really meant going there to eat meat, because whenever she went, the table would be piled with meat and various dishes she liked.

That day each month became the day she looked forward to most in her childhood. Aside from that, every year her aunt would make an effort to sew her one or two new pieces of clothing, and add some daily necessities and stationary.

In those years when times were tight for her aunt’s household, she knew her aunt was trying hard to treat her well.

And as the days grew better, the things her aunt gave her became more and more...

She always knew that her aunt really did all she could for her.

Compared to her aunt’s stern exterior and warm heart, she also liked her uncle’s kindness and ease. Uncle was a rare gem of a man with a good temper who often got scolded by Auntie, yet he never got angry.

Uncle would often speak with a helpless tone to soothe her with good words about her aunt.

"You’ll understand after a while. Your aunt actually likes you a lot. It’s just that she always acts that way, but in reality, she’s always talking about you and thinking of you behind your back. I’ve told her so many times, but she just can’t change. It truly makes people anxious to see it. You mustn’t think she doesn’t like you."

"You mentioned before that you liked the braised duck from He Ji’s Restaurant because it sells out if you go too late. Look, today you were coming over, so your aunt went early in the morning and stood in line for maybe an hour. She came back holding the food as if she’d found some treasure, clearly looking forward to your visit, yet on her face, she insisted on acting as if she couldn’t care less about you."

"Doesn’t this skirt look nice? Your aunt saw the daughter of one of her factory colleagues wearing it and liked it, so she went out of her way to have someone replicate the design. It turned out pretty good, right?"

...

Bits and pieces of the past surged into her heart, and recalling them still made Lu Yun feel the urge to cry.