‘If you believe Shen Cheng’s the father then you won’t mind if my daughter and I have a DNA test?’ Gu Jiao Wu asked.
Gu Jiao Wu stretched his arms to hold their daughter.
Qiao Tan Yuan sat up frantically and felt pain below her waist, but she ignored the pain and grabbed Gu Jiao Wu’s arm.
‘She is Shen Cheng and my daughter,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said. ‘You don’t have the right to perform a DNA test.’
Qiao Tan Yuan wasn’t going to allow Gu Jiao Wu to take their daughter away from her.
‘Who’s the father?’ Gu Jiao Wu asked.
Gu Jiao Wu knew he was the father, but he wanted to hear Qiao Tan Yuan acknowledge the truth.
‘Shen Cheng is the father,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said. She bit her lips to stop herself from crying. ‘Gu Jiao Wu, she is Shen Cheng and my daughter.’
‘She’s my daughter,’ Gu Jiao Wu said. ‘Qiao Tan Yuan, you deceived me.’
Qiao Tan Yuan shook her head. ‘I didn’t deceive you. We’re divorced. My baby has nothing to do with you. You can leave.’
Gu Jiao Wu looked at Qiao Tan Yuan’s stubborn face. She refused to let go of his arm, he tried pulling her hand away.
Qiao Tan Yuan held onto Gu Jiao Wu’s arm tighter to stop him from taking their daughter away. Suddenly she noticed the teeth mark on his hand, and vaguely remembered she bit his hand in the delivery room.
Gu Jiao Wu saw Qiao Tan Yuan staring at the teeth mark on his hand. He pulled her hand away and sat on the chair next to the bed. He looked at Qiao Tan Yuan calmly then he looked at their daughter pouting beautiful lips.
‘She’s my daughter,’ Gu Jiao Wu said.
Gu Jiao Wu wasn’t deluded. He was certain he was the father. Qiao Tan Yuan’s reactions exposed her secret.
‘No, no…’ Qiao Tan Yuan denied.
Qiao Tan Yuan wanted to cry. She couldn’t make Gu Jiao Wu believe her lies because their daughter looked exactly like Gu Jiao Wu.
‘Why didn’t you take the pill?’ Gu Jiao Wu asked.
‘I… I did take the pill,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said. ‘She really isn’t your daughter.’
Qiao Tan Yuan would rather die than admit the truth in front of Gu Jiao Wu.
Gu Jiao Wu pursed his lips. He was about to ask Qiao Tan Yuan to tell him the truth, but Shen Cheng entered the room.
‘Tan Yuan, are you Ok?’ Shen Cheng asked.
Shen Cheng noticed Gu Jiao Wu was sitting next to Qiao Tan Yuan’s bed and was startled.
‘Big brother?’ Shen Cheng called.
Gu Jiao Wu stood, he noticed the sweat on Shen Cheng’s forehead and nodded his head.
Shen Cheng ignored Gu Jiao Wu and stood in front of Qiao Tan Yuan and saw her pale face.
‘Tan Yuan, are you in pain?’ Shen Cheng asked.
‘I’m OK,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said. ‘Shen Cheng, meet our healthy baby daughter.’
Shen Cheng looked at the baby girl and compared her to Qiao Tan Yuan. ‘Our daughter is beautiful. She looks exactly like you.’
‘She does look like me,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said. She smiled, Shen Cheng understood her and Gu Jiao Wu. ‘That’s right. She’s beautiful like me.’
‘You’ve endured a lot,’ Shen Cheng said. He kissed Qiao Tan Yuan’s forehead. ‘Thank you.’
‘You don’t have to thank me,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said. She held Shen Cheng’s hand and wanted to cry. ‘Shen Cheng, I love you.’
Qiao Tan Yuan glanced at Gu Jiao Wu, but she didn’t know what he was thinking
‘Tan Yuan, I love you too,’ Shen Cheng said. He could feel Qiao Tan Yuan’s cold sweaty palm and put her arm and hand under the bedsheet. ‘I know you’re happy to see me. But you need to take good care of yourself. You gave birth today and should stay warm so you don’t get sick.’
‘I’m OK,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said. ‘I’m happy to see you. I was really scared today. I only wanted to call you and see you.’
‘You must have been scared,’ Shen Cheng said. ‘When I received your call, I was scared too.’
‘I’m sorry I worried you,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said.
‘It’s nothing,’ Shen Cheng said. He looked at Gu Jiao Wu. ‘Big brother, thank you for taking Tan Yuan to the hospital. You can leave. I’ll stay here and take care of Tan Yuan and our daughter.’
Gu Jiao Wu creased his brows while watching Qiao Tan Yuan and Shen Cheng being lovey dovey. How could Shen Cheng lie and say his daughter looked exactly like Qiao Tan yuan?
Gu Jiao Wu scoffed. He would have told Shen Cheng he shouldn’t lie with eyes wide opened if his phone didn’t ring. He answered the phone, gave instructions and hung up.
‘Big brother, thank you again for today,’ Shen Cheng said. ‘We won’t inconvenience you any longer, you can leave.’
‘Um,’ Gu Jiao Wu said and walked to the door. At the door, he turned around and looked at Qiao Tan Yuan. She looked like she regretted she couldn’t make him leave faster and inwardly laughed at the backward situation. In his memories, she used to follow him everywhere and told him he needed to be with her. He wondered if a woman’s heart could change. He closed the door and left.
Qiao Tan Yuan felt depleted of energy after Gu Jiao Wu left, and she looked at Shen Cheng with regret for using Shen Cheng to protect her daughter.
‘Shen Cheng, I’m sorry…’ Qiao Tan Yuan said.
Qiao Tan Yuan didn’t want to mislead Shen Cheng that she did love him that way.
‘Tan Yuan, you don’t have to explain, I understand,’ Shen Cheng said.
Shen Cheng’s heart was bitter sweet. He knew he was playing the part of loved boyfriend, but he couldn’t escape the desire to wish Qiao Tan Yuan did love him.
‘Have you thought of a name for your daughter?’ Shen Cheng asked.
‘Not yet,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said. ‘I want call her Xiao Bao, because she’s my little treasure.’
‘Xiao Bao can be her nickname,’ Shen Cheng said. ‘In the future you can give her a formal name.’ He loved the nickname Xiao Bao. ‘Why were you with big brother?’
‘Don’t mention him anymore,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said. It was a scary and tiring day. ‘Today I was scared to death. At midday I wanted to go downstairs to eat something. I didn’t expect Gu Jiao Wu would be in the same elevator as me. When the elevator descended halfway, it stopped. There was no reception. Lucky he took me to the hospital otherwise…’
Qiao Tan Yuan didn’t want to think about what would have happened if Gu Jiao Wu wasn’t there to take her to the hospital. She didn’t know if she could have survived on her own. She couldn’t believe Gu Jiao Wu could still easily affect her moods.
Qiao Tan Yuan felt she was a weakling. She and Gu Jiao Wu were divorced, she didn’t need to be scared of him. But she was scared he would take Xiao Bao away.
Shen Cheng could see Qiao Tan Yuan’s fears and his heart saddened.
‘What do you want to eat?’ Shen Cheng asked. ‘I’ll go buy it for you.’
‘I don’t know what I want to eat,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said. ‘Right now I’m more tired than hungry.’
‘You gave birth today,’ Shen Cheng said. ‘You need to eat nutritious food to recover quicker. There’s a restaurant opposite the hospital. Stay here and wait for me. I’ll go buy you food.’
‘Thank you Shen Cheng,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said.
Qiao Tan Yuan held Shen Cheng’s hand. She was grateful he was by her side during her pregnancy.
‘Dummy,’ Shen Cheng said. He rubbed Qiao Tan Yuan’s sweaty head. ‘We’ll be married soon. You don’t need to thank me.’
‘Um,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said.
Before Xiao Bao was born, Qiao Tan Yuan did want to marry Shen Cheng. But she had second thoughts. She knew Xiao Bao wouldn’t look like Shen Cheng. She thought Xiao Bao would look like her, she didn’t expect Xiao Bao would look exactly like Gu Jiao Wu.
‘Wait for me, I’ll be back soon,’ Shen Cheng said.
Shen Cheng left before he could see Qiao Tan Yuan’s doubts on her face.
Qiao Tan Yuan looked down at her daughter sleeping beside her. ‘Xiao Bao, what should mummy do?’
Qiao Tan Yuan remembered Gu Jiao Wu’s intense look before he left the room. He knew Xiao Bao was his daughter. What did he want? In the past, he told her if she was pregnant, she should abort the baby. But Xiao Bao was born. Would he kill Xiao Bao?
Qiao Tan Yuan wouldn’t allow anyone to hurt Xiao Bao. Then she remembered Gu Jiao Wu looking tenderly at Xiao Bao. It meant he wasn’t angry she gave birth to Xiao Bao. But she wouldn’t let him take Xiao Bao away.
Qiao Tan Yuan didn’t know why Gu Jiao Wu wouldn’t let her live in peace. Gu Jiao Wu reunited with Chu Da. He and Chu Da could have their own children through surrogacy. Why did he need to steal Xiao Bao? She hated thinking about Chu Da. She had to be strong and protect Xiao Bao, no one was going to steal Xiao Bao.
End of Chapter Sixteen