Chapter 235: As Though Hope Had Appeared
The two have lived together for nearly twenty years, and without needing Fu Wei to say anything, Baili Wenxi could immediately tell that everything written on this paper was true.
Baili Wenxi looked into her husband’s eyes. “You knew, you knew that… Miss Gu… is a daughter that I had borne?”
Fu Wei opened his mouth, but no words came out.
“Very well.” Baili Wenxi took a deep breath. “No wonder your reaction when I mentioned accepting her as a G.o.ddaughter was so strong the other day.”
She didn’t say anything further, walking out of the room.
Behind her, Fu Wei’s face was pale. What else could he have said?
Taking Gu Xiqiao in as a G.o.ddaughter? In what position could they do that? As the founder of Nine Heavens Network, would Gu Xiqiao even want the position of being the G.o.ddaughter of the Fu family?
Or should he have told her that Gu Xiqiao was her biological daughter? But how could he dare to say it? Knowing that she had another daughter, and it was also a child that he had taken a liking to. However, Gu Xiqiao was the child she had with another man. He was going crazy with jealousy when he remembered this, how could he have dared to say anything?
Fu Wei sat on the bed, staring blankly at the photos littered on it. These were evidence of him adopting Fu Xuejun, and the evidence that he had deceived her that he had once erased. Now, they had been dug out by somebody.
He suddenly recalled Baili Bin who had been leaving when they b.u.mped outside the elevator, and he covered his face.
The phone in his pocket rang again and again. He took it out anxiously, intending to hang up the call, but then he saw that it was a call from N City and he picked it up suddenly.
“Gu family?” Fu Wei’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t want to see the existence of the Gu family after a few days.”
Throwing his phone to the side after that, he lit up a cigarette, sitting on the bed as he silently smoked.
***
In the living room, Fu Xuejun, who had the soul sucked out of her, sat on the sofa, the screen still playing the movie ‘Empire Under Siege’. When she saw Gu Xiqiao’s appearance on screen, her face twisted into an ugly expression.
It wasn’t until Baili Wenxi sat down beside her, that she kept her emotions in check.
Baili Wenxi glanced at Fu Xuejun, even though the child in front of her was not hers by blood, she had spent twenty years raising her, and feelings were impossible to be faked.
“Mommy, are you watching this movie?” Fu Xuejun brushed her hair back, a smile on her face as she looked at her mother.
“Yes.” Baili Wenxi turned her attention towards the screen, saying in a dazed voice, “Miss… Gu’s acting is very good.”
Hearing those words from Baili Wenxi, Fu Xuejun felt her heart tighten. Why did she like Gu Xiqiao so much? “Miss Gu and I are collegemates, actually. I heard that she’s an orphan, an illegitimate daughter that was raised in the mountains by a village woman. When she returned home, even her elder sister was chased abroad by her, and that her sister can’t even hold a paintbrush now.”
Fu Wei and Baili Bin already knew the existence of Gu Xiqiao, as well as her true ident.i.ty.
Fu Xuejun’s fears were being realized one after another. The only thing that she could do now, was to make Baili Wenxi hate Gu Xiqiao. This was the only way she could hold unto her remaining lifeline.
The information on Gu Xiqiao had been given to her by Wanqi Jue.
“Orphan?” Baili Wenxi repeated, still dazed.
She recalled the information that Baili Bin had given her in the doc.u.ments.
Orphan, she had indeed been raised as an orphan. She didn’t even know who her biological parents were.
And even after returning to her biological father’s house, she was squeezed in every possible way, and was incompatible with the family from start to end.
No matter what she did, she had always been alone. Baili Wenxi suddenly recalled the dog that Gu Xiqiao was holding the other day. That would have been the only thing that she had taken when she left the house, right?
Being taken back in as an illegitimate daughter that wasn’t recognized as a proper child of the house, Baili Wenxi could only imagine the kind of life that she had been living during her days in the Gu family.
That slender and obedient figure lingered in her mind, not disappearing no matter what. All these years, how had she been living?
Thinking about this, a stab went through Baili Wenxi’s heart. She turned to Fu Xuejun, and said slowly, “Jun’er, did you also know that Miss Gu is my daughter?”
That’s right, otherwise, why would Baili Bin hate Fu Xuejun all of a sudden. Why would he suddenly lash out at the Fu family, who he had been ignoring all the while, and why Fu Xuejun would say these things…
Unexpectedly, Fu Xuejun was stunned when the words came out from Baili Wenxi’s mouth.
So, she knew too. It was only her that had been kept in the dark all these while.
Baili Wenxi trembled with anger and she stood again, going out to find Baili Bin.
***
The next day, early in the morning, Gu Xiqiao got up early for her morning exercise. Just as she stepped out of the house, she received a call from Jiang Shuxuan.
“Brother Jiang,” Gu Xiqiao said, a smile blooming on her face.
Jiang Shuxuan knew that she needed to be at the set early today, and so he gave her a call without much thought. But when he heard her voice, he was slightly startled, only opening his mouth to reply after a while. “You gave the ancient martial arts world people a scare yesterday?”
“I’ll be more mindful next time.” Gu Xiqiao scratched her nose, slightly guilty.
“No need to.” Jiang Shuxuan chuckled lowly. “It’s fine.”
Gu Xiqiao spoke with him a little while more, and as she turned to head downstairs, she saw that Baili Bin was already waiting for her downstairs. “Brother Jiang, I see Brother Baili, I’ll talk to you next time!”
Jiang Shuxuan, who had been hung up on: “…” He was starting to regret getting Baili Bin to drive her.
After hanging up, Gu Xiqiao walked towards Baili Bin with a smile on her face. “Morning, Brother Baili. Let’s go up to my place for breakfast later, and then we’ll leave.”
She still needed to head to the set of ‘Divergent Paths’ today.
Baili Bin nodded in agreement, and he saw Baili Wenxi coming downstairs from the corner of his eyes. He quickly averted his gaze, smiling and continuing to talk to Gu Xiqiao instead.
Baili Wenxi looked at Gu Xiqiao’s profile with bitterness in her heart.
How would she say this?
In Gu Xiqiao’s eyes, she had abandoned her for nearly twenty years. Although she had done so because she didn’t even know the existence of such a daughter in the first place.
Gu Xiqiao began her jog without hesitating, and her expression didn’t change at all when she pa.s.sed Baili Wenxi.
Baili Wenxi’s hand that she was about to raise, fell to her side limply.
***
Cheng Zhou had scheduled all of Gu Xiqiao’s scenes in the front, and that was the reason Gu Xiqiao’s shooting was coming to an end soon. It was possible that she could wrap it up in the next few days.
After shooting a scene, Gu Xiqiao sat in a chair to rest while she played with her phone.
There was a message from Luo Wenlang on it.
Luo Wenlang: The latest news on Gu Enterprise has been sent to your inbox. By the way, you really don’t intend to look for Yu Ning?
Gu Xiqiao just replied with a ‘Thank you!’, ignoring the later part of his sentence.
Cheng Zhou raised his head to see Gu Xiqiao playing with her phone, and his breath caught in his throat suddenly. All of the actors and actresses in the crew, including Du Yixin and Song Guanjing were all grasping at the time they had available to recite their lines and study the plot, not having a second to themselves to relax, while she was playing with her phone and chatting with the other members of the crew.
And when it came to filming, she was still better than anyone in the court. There were times when even Li Yu couldn’t compare to her!
“You really don’t intend to continue acting?” Cheng Zhou asked, feeling an inexplicable sadness welling up inside him as he thought about how soon Gu Xiqiao would be finished with her scenes.
He was still and always would be firm in the fact that she was born to act, but she didn’t take it seriously.
Really, so aggravating!
Gu Xiqiao nodded her head slowly. “I won’t take on any more roles.”
Cheng Zhou: “… I’ll raise your salary.”
Gu Xiqiao didn’t reply, but Song Guanjing did. “Does she even need it?”
Suddenly remembering Gu Xiqiao’s ident.i.ty, Cheng Zhou’s entire person wilted.
In the afternoon, Gu Xiqiao only had one scene to shoot.
It was a scene with Du Yixin, and this was an extremely challenging scene. It was also the most interesting part of the movie. Cheng Zhou was afraid that the two wouldn’t perform well, especially because he was afraid that Du Yixin would have a problem midway again. Hence, he made sure to arrange sufficient time for this scene.
The feather-like snowflakes fell one by one from the sky.
A plainly dressed Feng Qiqi stood in the snow, her face as pretty as a picture, and was highlighted even more by the white endless scene around her. Her usually arrogant face was in a grave expression this time, and she looked at the man who was holding a sword, standing opposite her. “Is this enough?”
Although there were no tears on her face, her dark eyes made people feel the endless sadness that was churning in them, and it made the people watching burn with an inexplicable overwhelming feeling of hurt and devastation.
Those eyes that used to be so wanton and sly closed slowly, and finally she fell into the snow.
Ji Zhang’gui plugged his sword into the white ground, falling to his knees. He knelt in the snow, touching her face with his trembling fingers.
Her face was ice cold.
Ji Zhang’gui picked her up in his arms, getting up slowly. He looked towards the people from the Sky Thunder Sect, his face glowering. “Although she was a demon, she had never done a single thing to harm anyone. But you destroyed her entire clan, and finally, sacrificed her for the world beneath the heavens. Tell me, Master, since when was the fate of the world entrusted onto a little fox demon? Where is the justice in this?”
“From today onwards, I am no longer a disciple of the Sky Thunder Sect.”
Ji Zhang’gui held Feng Qiqi in his arms, taking step by step as he left the area.
Seven steps later, the meridians broke. “Master, I’ll return everything that you’ve taught me.”
He lowered his head, thinking of the words that he had once said—Harmonious pa.s.sing, silent mountain rivers.
“Feng Qiqi, I’m bringing you home.” He muttered.
And that was the end.
After the shoot, Gu XIqiao went to remove her makeup, while Du Yixin went to Cheng Zhou. “Director Cheng, I remember clearly that there were two kissing scenes in ‘Divergent Paths’?”
“Kiss scenes?” Cheng Zhou glanced at Du Yixin, blinking. His performance in the last scene was good, and it made Cheng Zhou happier to see him. “If I remember correctly, didn’t you say you won’t do kissing scenes?”
Du Yixin immediately remembered that he had indeed said that he didn’t do kissing scenes when he first took the role, but Cheng Zhou had also rejected him upfront, saying that it was impossible to remove the scenes. But the whole movie was done, so where were the kissing scenes?
“It’s fine, young man.” Cheng Zhou patted his shoulder. “Even if you wanted to film a kissing scene with Miss Gu, you’d have to ask that guy back home whether he’d allow it in the first place!”
Honestly, thinking of shooting a kissing scene just because you saw how beautiful the person is? Can you not be so beautiful!
The guy back home? Who was it? Du Yixin was surprised, it was the first time hearing this from Cheng Zhou’s own mouth. At the same time, he remembered the comments under Gu Xiqiao’s Weibo. He went and changed out of his costume in a daze before leaving the set.
As soon as he was out on the road, he saw Gu Xiqiao standing at the intersection, looking like she was waiting for a taxi.
“Stop the car!” Du Yixin said.
The a.s.sistant stepped on the brakes immediately.
Du Yixin rolled down the window, planning to call out to her. Before he could open his mouth, she had already managed to get herself a taxi.
The taxi drove off slowly.
“Let’s go.” Du Yixin said, rolling up the window.
***
Gu Xiqiao had taken a taxi to A University. She sat in the backseat, glancing at the driver uncle who didn’t spare her a glance. She immediately pulled out a doc.u.ment from her inventory.
The driver accidentally glanced at the rearview mirror at this time: “…” Holy sh*t, he’d just seen a ghost, didn’t he?!
As soon as the car stopped, Gu Xiqiao saw Zhu Yuan pacing at the entrance. She took out an appropriate amount of money and handed it to the driver before getting out of the car, walking towards Zhu Yuan. She missed the uncle’s surprised expression as she did.
“Here, I won’t go in.” Gu Xiqiao handed the doc.u.ment to Zhu Yuan lazily. “I’ve written down all the comments too, you should be able to understand them.”
Zhu Yuan resisted the urge to open it immediately, knowing that if he did so, he wouldn’t be able to stop reading. He acted more reserved, as he cleared his throat. “Then I’ll head back to the labs first.”
Gu Xiqiao nodded her head.
Zhu Yuan looked as though he was flying as he ran back to the lab, a gust of wind blew up where he pa.s.sed, causing everyone in the path to look at each other, confused as to what had happened.
Gu Xiqiao couldn’t help but rub her temples as she turned to leave. However, there was a sudden commotion at the school gate. The sound of engine roaring pierced through the air, and she winced as she covered her ears. Who the h*ll was it, so exaggerated?
The harsh rubbing of tires against the concrete ground screeched out.
A flaming red sports car stopped at the school gate, the driver, a young man took off his black sungla.s.ses, revealing a pair of azure blue eyes and a devilish handsome face, causing the people around him to exclaim in surprise once they saw it.
Fu Xuejun, who had followed the crowd towards outside, her face lit up when she saw who it was. As though she had seen a new hope, she called out, “Wanqi, I’m here!”