First Marriage Then Love

She repeated Dr. Zhang"s speech to her parents, and as a family talked it over. Ultimately they decided to continue with the treatment, and first continue with the medications. After all craniotomy is a huge risk, even if the hospital said that there"s a 100% success rate, An Ran and Gu Heng Wen were still worried. After all it is the head that is being cut open, not like the others.

Dr. Zhang was understanding in their decision, since they chose not to do the operation, then it wasn"t necessary to be further hospitalized. The necessary examinations were already complete, so that afternoon they requested for Lin Xiao Fen to be discharged.

Since they wanted to celebrate Lin Xiao Fen"s discharge, father Gu specially went to Nong Fu market to buy food. That evening he wanted to personally make a good meal, and An Ran helped her mother to the house. She puts away the things brought from the hospital, and turns her head, only to see Lin Xiao Fen on the sofa, staring blankly at her. Her expression was quite concentrated, quite serious, so serious that she did not notice that An Ran had turned around to look at her.

An Ran walks over to her, and cautiously calls out, “Mom?”

Lin Xiao Fen then responds, looks at An Ran and smiles awkwardly, concealing her awkwardness, “W-what?”

An Ran shakes her head, and smiles at her, “Nothing. Are you thirsty, I can get you some water.”

“Alright.” Lin Xiao Fen nods at her.

An Ran goes into the kitchen and pours 2 cups of water, one for her mother and one for herself.

Then she sits beside her. Lin Xiao Fen was really odd today, seeming to be watching her constantly, that expression, as if she were afraid, afraid to lose something. An Ran evades her gaze, but doesn"t dare to ask her what was wrong. Recalling what she had heard at the hospital earlier, she didn"t dare ask, because she was afraid that the answer was something she didn"t want.

She sighed silently, and holds onto her mother"s hand. She can see that her face has become thin these past few days, and in distress says, “Mom, don"t work anymore. See this time, how you"ve made us worry.” It was fortunate this time, that day when she received the call, truly frightened her. If something truly did happen… She didn"t want to think about it.

“This time was a mishap, mother is still healthy.” Lin Xiao Fen smiles, and squeezes back. Actually work was not tiring, it only gets busy towards the end of the year. She didn"t want to retire not because of the pay. She had reached retirement age already, and the reason why she did not leave her job, is only because she did not want to be at home all day long doing nothing.

“Besides, what will it do by keeping me at home, your dad will still do his lessons, you are also married, normally no one is at home. I might as well go to work, at least there are friends there to talk with and pa.s.s the time with.”

“If you retire you can grow flowers or raise fish and what not at home. But also I wanted to tell dad, that he is also getting old, he should also retire soon. At that time you two can go out together and roam around. Didn"t you guys always say that you wanted to travel, before the circ.u.mstances didn"t allow it, both of you had to work, but after you guys retire you can go out, that"s not too bad.” An Ran persuaded.

Lin Xiao Fen chuckles. She knew her daughter can be very stubborn at times, if she doesn"t respond positively then there will definitely be some friction until she agrees. She goes along with her and says, “Alright, I"ll talk to your father about it. We will consider it.” Actually there was nothing wrong with retiring, like An Ran had said, she might actually think about traveling.

An Ran only then nods. Seeing her softly pull in her lips, she then realized that her mother has truly grown old. The wrinkles on the corner of her eyes were visible, and even the hair on her head has some white hair.

Looking at it, she couldn"t help but reach out and stroke her mother"s head, An Ran softly whispers, “White hair….”

Lin Xiao Fen smiles, and just sighs, “Mother truly is old ha, who wouldn"t grow white hair when they get old!”

An Ran doesn"t say anything, her hands gently stroke her mother"s hair.

Lin Xiao Fen also looks at her, looking and looking, a bit absent-minded, suddenly mumbling, “Ran Ran, if in the future you find out that mother was deceiving you, will you hate me?”

The hand stroking her mother"s hair suddenly pauses. She felt slightly uneasy, and just softly asks, “Mom, what have you been lying to me about?”

Lin Xiao Fen seemed as if she suddenly returned to her senses, and quickly averts her gaze. She doesn"t look at her, and stiffly shakes her head, “Nothing, nothing, I was just saying nonsense, nonsense.”

An Ran doesn"t probe further, and grabs the cup of water from the coffee table and takes a sip from it. The other hand that was resting on her leg turns cold, she was even having cold sweats. At that moment, she truly was afraid, afraid that she would let it out.

She doesn"t wait for father Gu to return, An Ran excuses herself saying that she had some urgent matters at work that had to be attended to and that she needed to leave first. Hearing her say that, Lin Xiao Fen doesn"t keep her back. She had no idea of the situation at An Ran"s company, only knows that because of her matter these past few days, An Ran has been going back and forth to the hospital, while she had warned repeatedly that she should focus on work, and did not need to worry about this side.

At the neighbourhood gate she happened to b.u.mp into father Gu. Seeing that she was about to leave, although father Gu was slightly disappointed, but he was like Lin Xiao Fen, letting her focus on work, additionally when they have time she should come home with Su Yi Cheng to have dinner.

As she was walking down the streets An Ran was walking aimlessly, somewhat vacant. In reality there was nothing at work, she just did not want to stay in the house anymore. She wasn"t afraid that Lin Xiao Fen would let it out, but afraid that she herself would ask.

She"s constantly had a bad feeling, her mind in disarray. She can"t help but guess around, can"t help but think about it.

Standing on the streets as the cars and people came and went, An Ran suddenly did not know where to go, doesn"t know which direction, and became quite frantic. She really wanted to find someone to speak to, but there wasn"t anyone.

Right now she really wanted to find someone to talk to, she thought and thought about it. Only Lin Li came to mind, so she grabs her cell from her bag, and punched in Lin Li"s number.

The phone rings, but it continued to ring for a while and no one seemed to pick up. She hangs up, and looks at her cell but can"t find another person to call.

She was a mess, and flagged down a pa.s.sing taxi. When the driver asked for the address she was unable to say a word. She doesn"t want to go home, but even more she doesn"t want to go to work. She just asked the driver to drive the car around the streets for a while, when she finally faintly recited an address.

The sun was setting, and left behind beautiful dazzling red clouds, lighting up the sky. It was truly the height of summer, the daytime was getting longer. It was already 6 o"clock, and before it would have been already dark, but now the sky was this bright, it felt as if the night was not coming.

Su Yi Cheng drove his car when he got out of City Hall. When he pa.s.sed through the gate, he was just carelessly pa.s.sing a glance at the figure in front of Hua Tan gate, and stops his car to the side. He gets out of his car, he wrinkles his brows as he frowns.

The gate security guard saw that he got out of the car and was walking towards the woman in front of Hua Tan gate, so he quickly steps out to greet him, “Official Su, that person, I don"t know what"s going on. She has been sitting there for half an hour already but she"s not going in, I asked her if she was looking for someone but she just shook her head.”

Su Yi Cheng doesn"t look at him, and just walks directly towards the figure by the gate.

The sun light hitting on An Ran"s face made her look somewhat misty. The temperature today wasn"t too high, but it wasn"t considered low either. Sitting there for half an hour, her forehead had already formed a thin layer of sweat. An Ran"s eyes were fixed straight ahead, apparently thinking about something. She hadn"t noticed that Su Yi Cheng was slowly making his way towards her.

Su Yi Cheng stops in front of her, obstructing light of the setting sun in front of her. He gently calls out to her, “An Ran.”

An Ran was out of it, then finally reacts. He was against the light, her raising her head to look at him, his face seemed somewhat hazy, and it took a while for her to finally recognize him. The corner of her mouth faintly rises into a smile, “You"re off work.”

Su Yi Cheng nods, looks at her smile, and says, “Why didn"t you call me.” He did not ask her why she was here, only why she didn"t call.

An Ran shakes her head, and just says, “I didn"t want to interrupt your work.” Actually when the taxi stopped here, she then became aware that the address that was on her mind was here. She originally wanted to give him a call, but she decided that since it won"t be too long until he knocked off, she could just sit here and wait, wait until he appeared with his car. Since her emotions were calm now, she needed to think things through again.

Su Yi Cheng reaches out towards her. An Ran watches him, and puts her hand into his large ones. She let him lead her, pull her up on her legs. An Ran gets up, and in pa.s.sing pats the dust off of herself.

Su Yi Cheng reaches out and tidies up her hair that had been messed up by the wind. He smooths out her bangs, then pulls on her hand and leads her towards the parked car.

Meanwhile the gate security guard who was standing on the side was blankly watching the scene. Although Su Yi Cheng was known to be a refined gentleman, but that made him to be somewhat alienated, made people be unable to approach him easily. Even with the madams he was polite, nothing too excessive, even shaking hands, was just a light touch, then he would immediately withdraw his hand. While, with this woman it seemed to be different. The news about Su Yi Cheng"s marriage had spread, but those who had seen Mrs. Su were few, because they did not have a wedding, and Mrs. Su very rarely partic.i.p.ated in the social activities of the munic.i.p.al committee.

Sitting in the car, Su Yi Cheng faintly looks at her, and haphazardly asks, “Did mother"s health report come out yet, there aren"t any issues are there?” Today, due to the whole tendering deal he had been busy all day. He did remember to call, but ended up in vain. He was planning to call An Ran after work to ask about the situation, but before he could call, he caught sight of her sitting beside Hua Tan all alone.

“Everything is good. Dr. Zhang said that she has a pituitary tumor, but it is benign. Only its position is a bit complicated, afraid that later on it may compress the optic nerve. But I"ve discussed it with dad, and we ultimately decided to keep on with the treatment, as the risk with craniotomy was a bit too high.” An Ran stated.

“Will that have an effect?” Su Yi Cheng asks worriedly. He was still quite concerned about Lin Xiao Fen"s health.

“Doesn"t seem like it would, it"s just benign, and wouldn"t grow.” However whether or not it will shift position, no one can say. However compared to opening the skull, they decided to be conservative.

Su Yi Cheng nods, and asks, “Do you want to go home and see?”

An Ran freezes. She understood that the ‘home" that Su Yi Cheng meant was her home. She shakes her head, and just says, “No, I"m a bit tired.”

Su Yi Cheng doesn"t say much more, and concentrates on driving. He looks ahead earnestly, but in between gaps, he reaches out to hold her hand.

An Ran turns to look at him. Then she says, “Yi Cheng, if you knew that someone was hiding something from you, and that something is closely related to you, what would you do?”

Su Yi Cheng turns to look at her, but doesn"t say anything. He turns his head forward and continues to concentrate on driving the car.

An Ran waits for a while. When she thought that he wouldn"t answer, the cars stops at a red light, then she hears Su Yi Cheng say, “If it was for my own good, then I would rather go on feigning ignorance.” He turns to look at her and smiles.

An Ran was taken aback, and asks, “But you obviously already know, how can you go pretend?” She also wants to pretend, pretend to not know, but at the back of her mind she could always recall those words at the hospital that afternoon, and can"t help but surmise the meaning behind those words.

Su Yi Cheng doesn"t answer. The light had turned green and he drove the car forward.

An Ran doesn"t say anything else either, just turns her head and looks out the window. The expression on her face was the same expression she had sitting at Hua Tan, obviously looking far away, but without focus at all.

The car slowly stops at the underground garage. An Ran opens the door and was about to leave, but in an instant her hand was captured by Su Yi Cheng. He stares at her, and lets out a soft sigh. He softly asks, “What happened, tell me, okay?”

An Ran looks at him, looks at him determinedly, then she suddenly felt this inexplicable injustice. Thinking of it, her eyes turned red, heating up, the tears stream down uncontrollably.

Su Yi Cheng lets her cry, and patiently wipes the tears that were falling down.

After a while, An Ran"s tears stop. She looks at him and tells him what she had heard that afternoon at the hospital, word for word. She was in disorder, even now her heart was beating rapidly. She wanted to find someone to talk to, if she doesn"t say it out loud how could she ease the tension and uneasiness in her heart.

“Yi Cheng, what do you say, do you think I"m really not my father"s daughter?” An Ran looks at Su Yi Cheng determinedly and waits for an answer. Her eyes were red, and still had moisture in it, as if one touch, would make the tears fall down.

Su Yi Cheng returns her look, and looks at her determinedly, and faintly asks, “Is familial love strictly based on bloodline?”

An Ran turns blank. Her eyes were still hanging onto the tears. She stares at him, a little confused about what he had meant.

“Will you not recognize your dad because you have no blood relation?” Su Yi Cheng asks again, this time seeming to be more understanding.

An Ran shakes her head, her tone extremely a.s.sured as she says, “He will always be my father!” He had been before, he is now, and even after he definitely will be. No matter if they have blood relation or not, no matter if they do not have the same blood flowing through them.

Su Yi Cheng smiles, reaches out to wipe the anxious tears that had just fallen. This time he did not withdraw his hand, but gently strokes her cheek, faintly says, “Then what"s the problem?”

An Ran turns blank. She thinks about what he had said, then appears to come to an understanding. That"s right, even if they have no blood relation, even if he isn"t her biological father, she only recognizes Gu Heng Wen as her father, there is no one else!

Looking at him, she seemed to understand. She suddenly breaks out into a laugh, “Hehe.” She nods then shakes her head at him, and says, “En, there"s no problem.”

She was the one who was splitting hairs, trapping herself into a dead end. In reality it won"t affect her past at all, who her biological father was, there will only ever be one person who is her father, and that is Gu Heng Wen. He had given her a lively childhood, accompanying her during her rebellious youth. Back then for her he worried about her schooling and work, even now, he still dotes on her, worries about her, he had done everything for her, more than that the blood relationship can"t be denied. So even if he isn"t, he will always be Gu An Ran"s father.

Su Yi Cheng pinches her refined nose, and says, “Let"s go up. I remember we bought beef last night, I"ll make you beef curry tonight.”

An Ran looks at him, and nods heavily. But when he was about to get off the car she grabs his hand like he had before, then when he turned his head, puzzled, she plants a kiss on his lips. The lilac tongue pries his lips open and enters his mouth. He was still in confusion as their tongues met contact. She clings to his lips, and on his lips she lets out a low voice, saying, “Thank you!” Thanking him for raising that point, thanking him for showing the way out of that dead end.

Su Yi Cheng was never the pa.s.sive kind of person, and always loved to take the initiative to attack, like this kiss.

He held back her head, and skillfully lifts up her jaw, opening her lips a bit, letting himself fall deep into her kiss.

Sucking, hooking, stirring, today Su Yi Cheng"s kiss was not tender, slightly eager and overbearing, his hold on her was also heavy. Being kissed by him, An Ran moans. His kiss was very hurried, not that only his hold very tight. When An Ran thought that she was going to die from breathlessness, Su Yi Cheng finally releases her, allowing her to lean against his chest to catch her breath. He himself was also panting heavily, as he held her he also slowly calms down.

The two of them held each other for a while in the car. When their breathing was finally steady, they then opened the door to go up.

Upon arriving home, An Ran naturally takes Su Yi Cheng and her bags into the studio together, while SU Yi Cheng removed his suit jacket. He rolls up his sleeves and enters the kitchen to make their meal.

Even if An Ran doesn"t make it, but every day it was him to made dinner, she at least felt embarra.s.sed about it, so recently she had been feeling very conscious about it. She volunteered to be his helper. At the beginning SU Yi Cheng would refuse, but he was unable to resist her insistence, so in the end he allowed her to do it.

Only, it seemed like she didn"t know much, so every time she helped this kind of situation always appeared.

“Yi Cheng, how do I deal with this beef?”

“Yi Cheng, why is the shrimp still moving!”

“Yi Cheng, do I cut the carrot this way or that way?”

And so on and so forth, she with her never-ending questions. It seems like whenever she helped out he was more fl.u.s.tered, but he still liked it, this kind of faint happiness, this faint warmth.

Su Yi Cheng"s culinary skills really weren"t too bad, Chinese meal or Western meals, he was good with both of them.

The couple sit on either side of the counter, each with a bowl of beef curry. In order to match the Western-style mood, An Ran specially dims the light above the counter, while Su Yi Cheng pours each of them a bit of red wine.

An Ran stares at him, “Not allowed to drink!” The doctor had already said so, his stomach cannot handle much alcohol. Usually when he was out he had no choice, and needs to be polite, but at home she still hopes to take care of him. Besides, this person"s alcohol tolerance wasn"t too good to begin with, last time he was shamelessly drunk!

“Just a little.” Su Yi Cheng looks at her, consulting for her opinion.

“Can"t drink!” An Ran was firm, not allowing any leeway. She reaches out and takes the wine bottle from him, muttering, “Ye Zi Wen was right, you are a black belly wolf, who would have known that you"d be a shameless drunk, I won"t give you the chance to have your way again!”

“Haha.” Su Yi Cheng laughs out loud. There was only the two of them in the house, and they were sitting face to face. Although she was muttering, who wouldn"t hear it clearly. He allows her to take away the wine, not stopping her.

The two chatted and ate, idly. After eating dinner, An Ran still offered to wash the dishes. Recently because of the matters with Ke Ji City, Su Yi Cheng actually is a little burnt out. He didn"t come home too late today, and that is because he originally wanted to go and ask about mother and father"s health report. There actually is still a lot of work, and he had brought the work home, so after eating Su Yi Cheng went into the studio.

After washing the dishes An Ran pours a cup of tea for Su Yi Cheng and goes in. The reason why she brought tea was because Su Yi Cheng said that he wasn"t used to drinking coffee. At home he was used to drinking tea with his father and grandfather. But the real reason, which he hadn"t told An Ran, was that she had been putting way too much sugar into his coffee.

She knocks before coming in, and places the tea on the desk. Su Yi Cheng raises his head from the doc.u.ments, and gives her a warm smile, “Thanks.”

An Ran returns the smile, “No problem.”

Su Yi Cheng reaches out to knead her small hand, and says, “I think I"ll have to stay up late tonight. If you"re tired you can go ahead and sleep first, don"t wait up for me.”

An Ran nods, and just says, “Don"t stay up too late.” She retreats from the studio.

After leaving the room An Ran doesn"t immediately go to the room, but sits in the living room silently watching TV. Actually she wanted to talk to him some more, but he was too busy, or maybe she should wait until he was done, then they can chat better.

She doesn"t know how much time had pa.s.sed, and An Ran felt that she really was in no mood to watch TV. Obviously the movie playing was an extremely disturbing one, but she fell asleep to it.

When Su Yi Cheng appeared from the studio, he was planning to get himself a cup of tea, when he took a glimpse of the show on TV. He walked closer and then saw the sleeping figure on the sofa.

Su Yi Cheng shakes his head, and puts the cup in his hand aside. He turns off the TV with the remote, and bends down to lift her up. But the moment he made contact with her she woke up from her slumber. She looks at him dazedly, rubbing her eyes, and asks, “Are you done.”

Su Yi Cheng doesn"t reply to her, and just says, “Why didn"t you go to the room and sleep if you"re tired, didn"t I say to go sleep first?”

“I still have something to say to you.”

Su Yi Cheng asks, “What do want to say?”

An Ran stares at him, a good while later does she say, “Yi Cheng, If I can"t work anymore in the future, even if I do want to work but no company would hire me, what will you do?”

Not even thinking about it, Su Yi Cheng immediately blurts out, “Then I will support you for a lifetime.”

An Ran stares at him blankly for a while. Then a good looking smile appears on her face.

---END OF CHAPTER---