The tactic of retreating to advance worked after all.
Lu Jiaoyue's curiosity had only just begun to settle, but the phrase "those childhood experiences" instantly stirred it up again. Her large, still slightly red eyes widened, brimming with an urgent question: What happened? Tell me!
"Childhood experiences?" She couldn't help stopping and catching Uncle Sun's sleeve, giving it a gentle tug. Her concern was undisguised. "What experiences do you mean, Uncle Butler? Did Mr. Gu... have a hard time growing up?"
Uncle Sun looked rueful, as though he had accidentally let something slip, but a barely perceptible gleam of triumph flashed in his eyes.
He glanced around as if checking that no one else was nearby, then lowered his voice, arranging his features into just the right blend of sympathy and helplessness.
"Miss Lu, you're a kindhearted girl. I'll tell you, but please don't repeat it to anyone, or mention it in front of him. I wouldn't want you to upset him." After laying that groundwork, he continued in a sorrowful tone. "When he was... very young, both his parents died in an accident. He was only this big back then..."
As he spoke, Uncle Sun even raised his sleeve and theatrically wiped away nonexistent tears, his movements so practiced that he might have rehearsed them countless times.
That slightly theatrical performance lent even greater weight to his words.
"Just think-a child that young, without his parents to protect him. Even in an ordinary household, that would be like the sky falling down. How much worse would it be in a powerful family like the Gu family?" Uncle Sun shook his head, his voice full of pity. "The old master loved his grandson, of course, but he was busy with family affairs back then. He couldn't personally attend to everything.