‘Who has the right to decide Xiao Bao’s future,’ Qiao Tan Yuan asked.
Qiao Tan Yuan thought it was pointless fighting with Gu Jiao Wu, neither of them was willing to surrender. She pulled her arm out of his hold, and took a step back.
‘You don’t have the right to decide Xiao Bao’s future,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said. ‘Have you forgotten you didn’t want Xiao Bao to be born? What right do you have to visit my daughter?’
Gu Jiao Wu didn’t want to fight with Qiao Tan Yuan. He looked at the anger and hurt in her eyes, and took a deep breath to calm himself.
Gu Jiao Wu had been busy working. But he didn’t stop thinking about how to get Qiao Tan Yuan to accept he was Xiao Bao’s father. He didn’t have the right to stop Qiao Tan Yuan marrying Shen Cheng because they were divorced. But he and Qiao Tan Yuan have a daughter together. He wasn’t going to let go of Xiao Bao. He didn’t want Qiao Tan Yuan to marry Shen Cheng, and Shen Cheng claiming Xiao Bao as a member of the Shen Household. He didn’t want to hurt Shen Cheng, but he wasn’t going to give Xiao Bao to Shen Cheng.
‘Qiao Tan Yuan, why didn’t you marry Shen Cheng?’ Gu Jiao Wu asked.
Gu Jiao Wu was distracted by the pain between his legs, Qiao Tan Yuan owed him for the pain her knee gave him.
Qiao Tan Yuan was surprised Gu Jiao Wu knew she called off the wedding.
‘None of your business,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said.
‘Not my business?’ Gu Jiao Wu asked. ‘Even if you don’t marry Shen Cheng, do you think I’ll let you raise Xiao Bao overseas?’
‘I don’t need your permission,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said. ‘Do you think contributing a tiny sperm gives you the right to dictate Xiao Bao’s life? Where were you during the nine months I was pregnant?’
Tiny sperm? Gu Jiao Wu was livid.
‘If you didn’t drug me and stole my sperm then I wouldn’t be standing here,’ Gu Jiao Wu said.
Qiao Tan Yuan rubbed her chest. What drugging Gu Jiao Wu to sleep with her? What stealing his sperm? She couldn’t believe he still didn’t believe she didn’t drug him at the hotel.
‘So what if I drugged you and stole your sperm?’ Qiao Tan Yuan asked. ‘Aren’t you Mr Invincible? If you are then how did you let someone like me drug you twice and steal your sperm? You should change your name to Mr Dumbo.’
Mr Dumbo? Gu Jiao Wu was too angry to speak.
‘Did I drug you before?’ Qiao Tan Yuan asked. ‘If I didn’t drug you then why were your hands all over me? Oh, I forgot to ask, did your tiny brother liked the feeling of my knee wrapped gift? If after a long famine, you want to satisfy your hunger, I think you should find a chicken to satisfy your hunger.’
Chicken? Gu Jiao Wu’s complexion darkened.
Qiao Tan Yuan wasn’t scared of Gu Jiao Wu’s anger. She must have been blind and dumb to be intimidated by him in the past. She wouldn’t give him another opportunity to mock her.
Qiao Tan Yuan pointed at the door. ‘The door is over there.’
Qiao Tan Yuan finally calmed down after confronting Gu Jiao Wu. She scoffed at him, turned around and blow dry her hair as if he didn’t exist.
Gu Jiao Wu was distracted by Qiao Tan Yuan sitting in front of the vanity and blow drying her hair. She hadn’t dyed or permed her hair for ten months. Her long ebony hair was naturally straight. The way she tilted her head to the side and bared her nape was provocative. He was too mesmerized to move.
Gu Jiao Wu didn’t know how long he watched Qiao Tan Yuan prepare for bed. After she was done blow drying her hair, she moisturized her skin. He could smell the sweet organic cream she used while still breast feeding Xiao Bao.
Qiao Tan Yuan put the hair dryer and organic cream in a drawer, stood and walked to the bed. She was surprised Gu Jiao Wu was still standing in her bedroom. She was too tired to tell him to leave again. She laid in bed under the bedsheet with her back facing Gu Jiao Wu.
Gu Jiao Wu laid on the bed and turned Qiao Tan Yuan’s body to face him.
‘Gu Jiao Wu, what do you want?’ Qiao Tan Yuan asked.
Gu Jiao Wu held Qiao Tan Yuan’s hands so she couldn’t slap him.
‘Qiao Tan Yuan, you kicked me,’ Gu Jiao Wu said.
‘Yes, it was me who kicked you,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said. She looked down at Gu Jiao Wu’s crotch and smiled smugly. ‘Who said I can’t kick you? What was I supposed to do? Let you treat me like your personal prost.i.tute?’
Gu Jiao Wu let go of Qiao Tan Yuan’s hands. He was upset she misunderstood him. He didn’t see her as his personal prost.i.tute.
Qiao Tan Yuan slapped Gu Jiao Wu’s cheek.
‘Qiao Tan Yuan!’ Gu Jiao Wu said.
‘Gu Jiao Wu, I told you, you can go find a chicken to satisfy your hunger,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said. ‘Keep your distance from me. Seeing you makes me want to vomit.’
Gu Jiao Wu glared at Qiao Tan Yuan, the woman who slapped him thrice. The woman next to him was a shrew. If she was a man, he would have slapped her thrice too. He was distracted again by her trembling body, and her angry shy eyes.
Gu Jiao Wu’s stomach ached, and he remembered he skipped dinner. He stood and looked down at Qiao Tan Yuan lying on the bed. Her skin looked smoother than usual.
‘Qiao Tan Yuan, don’t dream about raising Xiao Bao in Denmark,’ Gu Jiao Wu warned. ‘Xiao Bao is my daughter too. Even if you marry Shen Cheng and move to overseas, you can’t change the truth. But don’t think I’ll let you take Xiao Bao overseas.’
Qiao Tan Yuan sat up on the bed. ‘Gu Jiao Wu, soon you’ll see me take Xiao Bao to Denmark.’
‘Qiao Tan Yuan, soon you’ll accept you can’t take Xiao Bao to Denmark,’ Gu Jiao Wu retorted.
Qiao Tan Yuan ignored Gu Jiao Wu. In a week hers and Xiao Bao’s travelling doc.u.ments to Denmark would be approved. She chose a neighborhood in Denmark suitable for raising children.
Gu Jiao Wu didn’t want to fight with the stubborn Qiao Tan Yuan anymore. He hunched over the bed, and his face was an inch in front of her face. She moved back, he moved closer and stared hungrily at her red swollen lips.
The way Gu Jiao Wu was staring at Qiao Tan Yuan’s lips made her put her guard up.
‘Qiao Tan Yuan, I’m not hungry enough to find a chicken,’ Gu Jiao Wu said. ‘But I know you’re hungry for a man enough to drug me. Before I was satisfying your hunger a little. Shouldn’t you thank me?’
Gu Jiao Wu quickly walked to the door before Qiao Tan Yuan slapped him a fourth time.
Qiao Tan Yuan aimed a pillow at Gu Jiao Wu, but the pillow hit the door.
‘Gu Jiao Wu, go to h.e.l.l,’ Qiao Tan Yuan cursed.
At the door Gu Jiao Wu looked at the pillow on the floor then he smiled at Qiao Tan Yuan.
‘Too bad you missed,’ Gu Jiao Wu teased.
‘Gu Jiao Wu, you AH, go to h.e.l.l!’ Qiao Tan Yuan said.
Gu Jiao Wu closed the door and smiled wider. He didn’t know why seeing Qiao Tan Yuan frustrated to death put him in a good mood. He walked to the nursery to check on Xiao Bao. Xiao Bao was sleeping on her bed. He dismissed the look of weariness on Mrs Chu’s face, and stood in front of Xiao Bao’s bed. From his height, looking down at Xiao Bao, she had his eyelids and nose, and Qiao Tan Yuan’s smooth skin and lips. He thought Xiao Bao inherited the best physical traits from him and Qiao Tan Yuan, and knew Xiao Bao would grow up to be a beautiful woman like Qiao Tan Yuan.
Gu Jiao Wu gently stroked Xiao Bao’s adorable small face. Xiao Bao’s skin was soft and smooth like Qiao Tan Yuan’s skin. He quickly retrieved his hand, remembering the feeling of Qiao Tan Yuan’s skin aroused him. He turned around and left the nursery.
Mrs Chu sighed in relief to see Gu Jiao Wu leave. She pitied him. It was obvious he loved Xiao Bao, but Xiao Bao would cry whenever he held Xiao Bao.
Outside the Qiao Mansion, Gu Jiao Wu’s stomach ached more after he sat in the car. He waited for the pain to pa.s.s while staring at Qiao Tan Yuan’s bedroom on the second floor. A while later her bedroom light turned off, and he a.s.sumed she was asleep. He couldn’t believe that shrew woman kicked and cursed him like a stray cat. But remembering her angry eyes, and the way she confidently defied him made him smile. He drove off to look for food. While driving, he thought about ways to tame the shrew and get her to give Xiao Bao to him.
End of Chapter Forty-One