Rebirth Counterattack with Space

"It’s all my fault for bringing up that topic," Shitou said, his heart aching as he saw Lu Yun fall silent.

"You can’t blame yourself. By the way, you haven’t mentioned whether you can go to S City to attend Gu Meng’s wedding," Lu Yun said, having calmed down and forcing a smile, causing Shitou to feel even more empathetic.

He nodded without much thought, "I haven’t taken my vacation yet this year, so as long as there’s no emergency, I can go -- it’s been a long time since the three of us have taken a trip together."

"Indeed, I’ve never been to S City in my life; I don’t know if everything is still the same there," Lu Yun said wistfully.

"Then let’s revisit all the old places according to your memories from your past life when we get there," Shitou suggested.

"Okay."

Lu Yun’s voice began to carry hints of laughter.

Time flew by, and before they knew it, the twelfth of the following month arrived. Gu Tianming’s parents, along with his older brother and sister-in-law, younger brother and sister-in-law, his sister and his brother-in-law, as well as nieces, nephews, and grandnieces, all flew to the airport.

"Why are you the only one here to pick us up? Where’s your wife?" Gu’s mother’s face darkened as soon as she deplaned and did not see Xia Na alongside Gu Tianming.

"My sister-in-law and her family are here; she’s with them," Gu Tianming replied while instructing the two drivers who came along to help with the luggage.

"Her sister and family have been to S City before; why is she ignoring us now that her in-laws have arrived?" Gu’s mother complained bitterly, spitting venom as she chastised her son, "You’re a man, the head of the family. Don’t just do whatever your wife says; you need to stand up for yourself."

Gu’s father tugged at her on the side.

"Why are you pulling me? Am I saying anything wrong?" Gu’s mother retorted indignantly, hands on her hips as she shouted at Gu’s father.

The siblings and their families watching nearby all had looks of schadenfreude, especially his sister-in-law and younger sister-in-law, who felt particularly satisfied hearing their sisters-in-law also getting an earful.

Nobody present had not experienced Gu’s mother’s tenacity. Even Gu Tianming’s brother-in-law could not escape the inevitable fate of being scolded and disdained by the old lady at the drop of a hat. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

To the old lady, apart from those she gave birth to, and her biological grandchildren and great-grandchildren, everyone else was fair game for an unprovoked slap, solely because they must have been too unsightly. To her, all other people were plagued with this fault or that.

Over the years, Gu Tianming had prospered, and even though Xia Na was in charge and they lived far away and couldn’t serve her constantly, they never skimped on material and financial support for the elderly couple.

Gu’s father and Gu’s mother lived in a villa, draped in gold and silver, with a car at their disposal along with a driver and bodyguard, and a maid for the house. They also got a handsome sum as pocket money every month.

The elderly couple didn’t have many other interests, their favorite activity being to wear thick, dog-chain-like gold necklaces and occasionally return to their old house to kill time chatting with the old neighbors and, through it all, show off a bit.

The elder couple’s hobby was also the reason Gu Tianming and Xia Yuan provided them with bodyguards. They were too conspicuous, and the couple truly feared they might become the next target for the criminals that might appear.

"Can you speak less? There’s no need to shout and make a spectacle of yourselves outdoors."

Gu father scolded his wife and sneaked a glance at the two drivers brought by his second son, relieved a bit only when he saw they had tactfully kept their distance.

He wasn’t as thoughtless as his wife, who, despite living off others and constantly grumbling in private, endlessly complained about how awful the second son’s wife was.

Would a bad person let them two old folks live in a villa? Would they bring in help to provide them the pampered life of lords and ladies of the bygone era? And were they even willing to let his other two sons and his daughter’s family benefit from their success and move into the villa too? This caused his second son’s family, when they returned to Haicheng, to have no place to stay but a hotel.

Regarding this, Gu father was actually quite dissatisfied. He was rather traditional at heart; the fact that his second son had succeeded was one thing, but why should his married daughter and her family also move back in to take advantage of that success?

But his wife wouldn’t listen; she insisted on complaining to their second son, saying she felt lonely without the couple around and thought it would be best if her caring daughter could stay with her.

In the end, the second son and his wife didn’t say much, and they rather quickly freed up the two rooms they had kept for themselves in the villa. Thus, whenever they visited Haicheng, they had to stay in a hotel.

In Haicheng, they didn’t lack for houses, but aside from the new year, they would hardly visit more than once or twice a year, and maintaining a place would be too much trouble.

Initially, the wife thought there was no need for them to stay in any hotel. She said they could just squeeze in at home because the house was so large— in the past, the whole family had lived crammed in a small room of twenty to thirty square meters and had managed just fine.

Between the lines, she was accusing the second son’s wife of squandering money that could have been used to help her brothers and sister instead.

When the second son’s wife heard this, she just smiled and did not argue in front others, though the second son couldn’t stand it and spoke up for his wife—only to be quieted by her.

Seeing his second daughter-in-law so submissive in front of his old couple, Gu father was quite pleased. Although they ended up staying outside as usual, he thought it was fine because they were wealthy and had no reason to only take care of his siblings while shortchanging themselves.

He thought that would be the end of it, and his wife was quite smug, thinking she could still keep the second daughter-in-law under control. Unexpectedly, as soon as the second son and his wife returned to S City, the two housekeepers in the house came one after another to ask for leave, claiming they each had family issues that required a month off.

Was it a coincidence that both housekeepers had family issues at the same time?

Who would take them for fools? This was clearly an act of retribution from the second son’s wife, and she hadn’t even tried to hide it.

Besides, even if their families really had issues, they couldn’t both ask for leave at the same time. With them gone, who would cook and clean for the large family? Could they expect an ounce of effort from the other two daughters-in-law and the daughter, who had grown lazier by the day?

That was out of the question. Naturally, they refused immediately.

Unfortunately, the two housekeepers didn’t even bother to wait for their agreement; they promptly picked up their packed belongings and walked out.

Even as the wife furiously jumped and shouted that if they left, they shouldn’t bother coming back, no one seemed afraid, and not a single person paused even slightly in their step.