‘Yes,’ Li Lam said.
Li Lam couldn’t see through Gu Jiao Wu’s thoughts.
‘Did you look for me to ask about my older twin sister?’ Li Lam asked.
‘No,’ Gu Jiao Wu said coldly. ‘Aunty Li gave birth to one daughter, you. You don’t have an older twin sister.’
‘Oh, you investigated me?’ Li Lam asked.
‘Why do I need to investigate you?’ Gu Jiao Wu asked. ‘I only need to ask aunty Li, and she would tell me the truth.’
‘Did you ask about me because you’re curious about me?’ Li Lam asked.
‘You sound conceited,’ Gu Jiao Wu said.
‘No, I’m just happy you’re curious about me,’ Li Lam said. ‘I love you and I’m really happy you’re attracted to me.’
‘I’m not attracted to you nor do I love you,’ Gu Jiao Wu said.
Chu Da was an orphan and lived her whole life in the southern district. Gu Jiao Wu was certain Li Lam wasn’t Chu Da.
‘What about Chu Da?’ Li Lam asked. ‘You don’t love Chu Da?’
‘You…’ Gu Jiao Wu said.
‘I’m Chu Da,’ Li Lam said. She grabbed Gu Jiao Wu’s hand. ‘Jiao Wu, can’t you see it’s me? I’m your Chu Da. You love me the most.’
Gu Jiao Wu pulled his hand away. ‘What did you say?’
‘I’m Chu Da,’ Li Lam said. ‘Jiao Wu, I’m back.’
Chu Da? Gu Jiao Wu looked at the hurt in Li Lam’s eyes that looked like Chu Da and he didn’t know what to do. Li Lam grabbed his hand again, she fell onto his chest and hugged him.
‘Jiao Wu, I’m back,’ Li Lam said. ‘I’ve always missed you. I’ve waited for you to look for me. But you never came. I’ve suffered without you. Since you didn’t come look for me, I couldn’t wait any longer and I looked for you. I thought you would miss me. But I didn’t expect you wouldn’t recognise me. How can you forget about me?’
Gu Jiao Wu didn’t know what to do. He couldn’t push away the woman hugging him that had Chu Da’s face.
‘Chu Da, Chu Da…’ Gu Jiao Wu called and tucked Li Lam’s hair behind her ears.
‘Yes, I’m Chu Da,’ Li Lam said. ‘Your Chu Da is back.’
‘Chu Da…’ Gu Jiao Wu called.
Gu Jiao Wu had dreamt of Chu Da’s return for four years.
‘Jiao Wu, I really missed you,’ Li Lam said. ‘I’ve thought about you all these years.’
‘I…’ Gu Jiao Wu said.
Gu Jiao Wu would have said he missed Chu Da too if the waiter didn’t bring two cups of coffee to the table.
‘Sir, Miss, your coffee,’ the waiter said.
Gu Jiao Wu regained his senses. He realised he was hugging Li Lam, not Chu Da. He let go of Li Lam and waited for the waiter to leave.
‘Who are you?’ Gu Jiao Wu asked and gripped Li Lam’s arm.
‘I’m Chu Da,’ Li Lam said. ‘Jiao Wu, don’t you recognise me?’
‘Who are you?’ Gu Jiao Wu asked.
Gu Jiao Wu admitted he missed Chu Da enough to forget who was in front of him. But he wasn’t foolish enough to be deceived. Li Lam wasn’t Chu Da.
‘Li Lam, why do you look like Chu Da?’ Gu Jiao Wu asked. ‘Where is Chu Da?’
‘I’m Chu Da,’ Li Lam said. Gu Jiao Wu gripped her hand painfully. ‘Before you hugged me. Can’t you feel I’m Chu Da?’
Gu Jiao Wu glared at Li Lam. Li Lam didn’t cry out in pain or try to pull her arm away. If Li Lam wasn’t Chu Da, Li Lam wanted to act convincing in front of him that Li Lam was Chu Da.
‘Li Lam,’ Gu Jiao Wu called. His heart was certain Li Lam wasn’t Chu Da. ‘What’s your agenda?’
‘I don’t know what you mean,’ Li Lam said.
Li Lam looked at Gu Jiao Wu’s eyes and knew he didn’t believe her.
Gu Jiao Wu didn’t believe there could be two unrelated people that had the same face and wore the same fragrance existed in the world. He was certain Li Lam sought him out with ulterior motives.
Gu Jiao Wu let go of Li Lam’s arm and he didn’t care about the bruise on Li Lam’s arm.
‘Li Lam, I don’t care who you are,’ Gu Jiao Wu said. ‘Why did you seek me out? What’s your agenda? If you keep pretending you’re Chu Da, you won’t be able to cope with the consequences.’
Li Lam looked at Gu Jiao Wu smiling at her threateningly, but she acted like she wasn’t scared.
‘Jiao Wu, I’m really Chu Da,’ Li Lam said. ‘I left you four years ago. Now I’m back and sitting in front of you. I came back to be with you. I want to go back to our beautiful days living together. Is that wrong?’
‘You’re not Chu Da,’ Gu Jiao Wu said.
Gu Jiao Wu admitted Li Lam looked like Chu Da, but Li Lam’s looks couldn’t deceive his heart. He didn’t care why Li Lam sought him out. If Li Lam knew about Chu Da then it meant Li Lam met Chu Da and knew where Chu Da was.
‘Where is Chu Da?’ Gu Jiao Wu asked.
‘I’m Chu Da,’ Li Lam said. ‘I’m the Li Household’s long lost daughter. I was injured four years ago. I worked hard to recover because I wanted to see you again.’
Gu Jiao Wu stood and looked at Li Lam coldly. ‘Is that so? I’ll wait until you transform into Chu Da then we’ll talk again.’
Gu Jiao Wu took a step away from the table and turned around to face Li Lam. ‘I admit you’re good at imitating Chu Da. But there’s something you can’t imitate Chu Da that gave away your real self away…’
Li Lam was curious what mistake she made to expose herself.
‘Behind Chu Da’s ear there is a mole,’ Gu Jiao Wu said.
In the past Gu Jiao Wu slept with Chu Da many times. He was familiar with every freckle and mole on Chu Da’s body.
Gu Jiao Wu didn’t look at Li Lam’s widened eyes, he walked to the door and left the cafe. Li Lam wasn’t Chu Da, but he believed Li Lam knew where Chu Da was. If Li Lam didn’t want to tell him where Chu Da was, he could wait until Li Lam wanted to tell him. He waited four years for Chu Da, he was willing to wait a little longer to reunite with Chu Da.
Li Lam watched Gu Jiao Wu leave and knew she failed. She rubbed her sore arm. Didn’t Gu Jiao Wu know how to be gentle? Why didn’t Gu Jiao Wu react the way she expected he would react when he saw she looked like Chu Da? She smiled, she was interested to get to know more about Gu Jiao Wu.
Outside the cafe, Gu Jiao Wu sat in his car and drove toward the hospital. Half way to the hospital, he remembered about the shop w.a.n.g Tu Ya dragged him into that sold maternity and children’s clothes. He turned the car and drove to the shopping mall.
At the maternity and children’s shop, a shop a.s.sistant greeted Gu Jiao Wu.
‘Sir, welcome,’ the shop a.s.sistant greeted. ‘What are you looking for?’
Gu Jiao Wu thought about his daughter’s small pink lump body and loveable small face.
‘What do newborn baby girls need?’ Gu Jiao Wu asked.
‘Newborn baby girls?’ the shop a.s.sistant asked.
The shop a.s.sistant looked at the antic.i.p.ation on Gu Jiao Wu’s face and understood Gu Jiao Wu was a first time father, and led Gu Jiao Wu to the children’s section in the shop.
Gu Jiao Wu bought everything he thought his daughter would like.
‘Sir, do you want me to deliver your purchases to your home?’ the shop a.s.sistant asked.
‘No, I’ll carry them to my car,’ Gu Jiao Wu said.
Gu Jiao Wu carried eight bags of clothes and toys for his daughter to his car while happily laughing at himself.
A while later, at the hospital, Qiao Tan Yuan and Mrs Qiao were shocked to see Gu Jiao Wu appear in front of them with eight large bags of children’s clothes and toys.
Mr Qiao and Shen Cheng were at work and Xiao Bao was sleeping soundly in the baby bed.
‘Jiao… Jiao Wu?’ Mrs Qiao called.
Mrs Qiao was shocked to see her former son-in-law. Didn’t Gu Jiao Wu divorce Qiao Tan Yuan?
‘Aunty,’ Gu Jiao Wu greeted.
Although Gu Jiao Wu and Qiao Tan Yuan were divorced, he still treated the elders of the Qiao Household respectfully. He put the bags of items for his daughter on the sofa.
‘You…’ Mrs Qiao said.
Mrs Qiao was curious why Gu Jiao Wu brought eight large bags of children’s clothes and toys to Qiao Tan Yuan’s hospital room. What did Gu Jiao Wu want?
‘I’m here to see your granddaughter,’ Gu Jiao Wu said.
Gu Jiao Wu didn’t look at Qiao Tan Yuan, he stepped straight to the baby bed. He looked down at their sleeping daughter. Their loveable daughter was sucking her thumb while sleeping soundly with her eyes closed. He stretched his arm down to touch their daughter’s pink cheek, but Qiao Tan Yuan jumped out of the bed and grabbed his arm.
‘Gu Jiao Wu, what do you want?’ Qiao Tan Yuan asked.
End of Chapter Eighteen