Gu Yuxuan enjoyed the warmth that she had long desired. It felt like they had been apart for a century and would never be willing to leave each other again.
"Xu, I"ve missed you so much!"
"We should have held on longer."
"Xu, my father has approved of us getting married!"
"Ah? Really?"
Meanwhile, in Gu Chengkang"s study...
As he watched the couple downstairs embrace sweetly, Gu Chengkang smiled bitterly. Then, he turned back and walked away from the French window.
Suddenly, his phone rang. He walked to the desk to pick up the phone but saw an unfamiliar number.
"h.e.l.lo?"
"Is this Gu Chengkang?"
A man"s deep voice was heard from the other side.
"Yes. Who"s this?"
"It"s Murong Haotian."
"Oh? What"s up?"
"I"d like to talk to you about the children. Are you available to have a meeting with me?"
"Now?"
"Is this not a convenient time?"
"I"ve told Xuanxuan that I will no longer object to their marriage. If you just want to persuade me to approve their marriage, I don"t think we will have to meet. Am I right?"
Gu Chengkang was reluctant to meet with Murong Haotian. Thus, he would avoid meeting with him face to face if he had an excuse.
"Oh? Mr. Gu has changed his mind? "I still want to have a word with you."
"Do you have to?"
"Yes."
"Okay, send me the address."
Half an hour later, in the Wuchen Tea House...
The minute Gu Chengkang walked into the tea house, a waiter came up to him and asked with courtesy, "Excuse me, are you Mr. Gu?"
"I am!" Gu Chengkang nodded slightly.
"Then come with me, please."
The waiter walked ahead of Gu Chengkang, leading him to the inner-most private room of the tea house. The waiter tapped the door softly and then pushed it open, giving way to Gu Chengkang.
Murong Haotian was sitting inside, looking poised. He smiled faintly as Gu Chengkang walked in and greeted him with a nod.
"Have a seat, please, Mr. Gu."
Gu Chengkang sat down across from Murong Haotian, who poured a cup of tea for him and invited him to try it by making a gesture.
"It may have been a little offensive of me to invite you here at such a late hour. I beg your pardon, Mr. Gu!" There was a hint of a smile on Murong Haotian"s face. It was merely a fake smile, as the haughtiness in his heart was suddenly manifested.
"I wonder what Mr. Murong wants to talk to me about at such a late hour." Gu Chengkang maintained a poker face that his companion couldn"t decipher.
"Were you reluctant to meet with me, Mr. Gu?" Murong Haotian cast his eyes over Gu Chengkang meaningfully and then took a snip of tea with his head down.
"I thought that you were reluctant to meet with me, Mr. Murong, insomuch that you wished that the Gus would be out of your sight forever." As Gu Chengkang drank the tea in the cup, its faint pleasant fragrance lingered around his teeth. He had to admit that this was nice tea. However, if the man who tasted the tea failed to savor it to the fullest, some of the fragrance would be missed.
"Since you are so frank, Mr. Gu, let"s not beat about the bush." Murong Haotian cast his eyes on Gu Chengkang as if he was shooting an icy arrow. There was no goodwill in his expression at all.
"Go ahead, please."
"I want you to leave A city with Gu Yuxuan. Preferably, for a foreign land."
"Why?"
"I thought you were clear yourself. Otherwise, you would not have opposed their relationship before."
"But you were in favor of their marriage originally. Why do you object to it now?"
"I"m not objecting to their marriage. I just thought that you weren"t aware of that issue. Now that you know about it, I think it will better for them not to meet with you anymore."
"Don"t you think you are being too selfish? You have treated her that way, and now you"re treating us the same way, although we haven"t hampered you at all. The children know nothing about this."
"Yes, but now that someone has discovered it, it seems inappropriate for them to keep staying together!"
"Why is it inappropriate? Do you feel guilty about it?" Gu Chengkang stared at Murong Haotian with cold eyes as he spoke as if he was interrogating him.
"Guilty?" Murong Haotian t.i.ttered. "What would I feel guilty about?"
"If you are not guilty, why are you asking us to hide away?"
"As long as you promise to leave, I"ll compensate you twice for everything you lose. I could even make all the necessary arrangements for you to move to a foreign country! Except the US. You can choose any other country you like."
"Ha ha... You are so generous, Mr. Murong! However, I"m not leaving. We don"t have to leave."
"Are you trying to challenge me?"
"No, I wouldn"t dare. I"ve witnessed the Murong Family"s power. We just want to live a normal life, just like we always have."
"Then leave this city!"
"Why would you keep asking us to leave? Is it because of that matter? In that case, I don"t think it"s necessary for you to do so. I won"t mention this again. I"ll keep it a secret. Of course, I won"t do this for you. I"ll do it for the sake of Xuanxuan, because I don"t want to ruin her happiness. I"ll remain silent."
"I don"t believe you!"
"Oh? What are you afraid of?"
"Ha ha... That"s funny. What could Murong Haotian be afraid of?"
"Then, that"s it! We shall allow the children to enjoy the happiness they deserve. Don"t let what happened to one generation have an impact on the next one."
"You"re so ignorant, Mr. Gu! I"ve never believed in true love or absolute happiness! Just do as I told you. That would be the best resolution."
"Hm... I"m quite curious to know if you have ever loved her."
"Mr. Gu, it seems improper to talk about this now. You may as well not mention her or that whole matter to my face anymore. Of course, don"t mention this to anyone else either."
"Okay, I"ll act like that never happened. Let them stay together. All I want is to know that Xuanxuan is happy."
"Are you making demands now? How dare you do this to me!"
"What gives you the right to deprive the children of their happiness? You are in the wrong, yet now you seem to be asking the two children to pay by using their own happiness!"
"Ha ha... Your words might sound dignified, but you are unconsciously telling me that you hope your daughter will marry into the Murong Family."
"We don"t even care about the Murong Family. I just hope that my daughter will find the happiness that she deserves. When you were young, you also fell in love, didn"t you?"
"I don"t want to talk about this with you. Just answer me, when will you leave?"
"I don"t think it"s necessary for us to continue talking."
Gu Chengkang stood up suddenly and strode towards the door. However, he paused as he turned the handle and turned back to talk to Murong Haotian. "Murong Haotian, we shall hide that matter in our hearts for the sake of the children. We have experienced a miserable life, but we should not let our children pay for our mistakes. They have the right to seek their own happiness. We shouldn"t be too selfish. We are both fathers, and we are both in our fifties. However, our children still have a long way to go. Why let our own misfortune befall our children? I can tell that Murong Xu and Xuanxuan are truly in love. They should be together."
As soon as he finished his words, Gu Chengkang turned the handle, opened the door and walked out.
Murong Haotian stared at the closed door, holding the cup in his hands tightly.
That night, in the Muya Sacred Heart Hospital...
It seemed bound to be an unusual night. In Jia Tianxin"s ward, Jia Tianxin was holding the baby in her arms and nursing him.
The baby seemed to be a big eater, as it needed to be nursed every two hours. Although it was a little painstaking, Jia Tianxin felt a kind of happiness that she had never experienced.
Jia Tianxin had been in poor health after the delivery, as she had suffered a series of complications. Luckily, she had been in a good mood and had been responding to treatment positively. Everything was going well.
Lian Can came to the hospital to attend to Jia Tianxin almost every day. Even though Jia Tianxin couldn"t leave the hospital, in Murong Ye"s eyes, Lian Can was well-behaved. Thus, he didn"t prevent her from visiting Jia Tianxin.
"Tianxin, why should the kiddo nurse again? He eats so much that you can"t get enough rest!" Lian Can looked at Jia Tianxin sympathetically. The baby was not to blame in her eyes.
"Ha ha, isn"t it good that he eats a lot? I"m happy each time I see him eat so much. I hope that he will eat more so that he will grow even stronger."
"Alas, if you spoil him already, can you imagine what it will be like when he grows up?"
"Stop blaming me. You are just paying lip service. Actually, you"ve been spoiling him, too. Look at these clothes and toys that you bought him! They are filling up the ward! He is too young to play with these toys. All he can do now is nurse and sleep. These toys you bought him are useless. As for these clothes, he will outgrow most of them because he"s growing so fast. You"re just wasting them. Most of them won"t even be unwrapped!"
"I just like buying them for him. I bought this for my son. Do you feel jealous? He will be able to play with these toys sooner or later. As for these clothes, just throw them away once they get dirty. I"d like to see my son look handsome in nice clothes every day."
"But he"s only a little boy. He looks the same no matter what kind of clothes he wears. How can he be handsome?"
"Anyway, that"s all I can do for him. I can"t do anything else apart from buy him things. He can"t leave you yet, and you have been nursing him and coaxing him to sleep!"
"Qiqi is so happy because he has two mothers who love him. He will be even happier in the future!"
"In the future? Tianxin, does Murong Ye plan on keeping you locked away all the time?"
"I"m not sure, but I"m optimistic. As long as I stay with Qiqi and see you, I feel satisfied. I ask for nothing else!"
"But this is not how a normal woman is supposed to live!"
Jia Tianxin smiled faintly and looked at the baby in her arms, who had fallen asleep. She stood up to put him on the smaller bed, kissed him on the forehead, and stood up again.
However, the instant she stood up, she felt dizzy. Suddenly, she felt a sharp pain in her lower abdomen. A warm current floated down her legs...