‘Tan Yuan, what do you want to do?’ Shen Cheng asked.
Qiao Tan Yuan bit her lips. She only thought about safely delivering her baby and didn’t think too far into the future.
‘Shen Cheng, let’s get married,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said.
Shen Cheng saw sunlight shining on Qiao Tan Yuan’s small face, but he remembered her cold sweaty hand and understood.
‘If this is what you want, let’s get married,’ Shen Cheng said.
Qiao Tan Yuan nodded. ‘Shen Cheng, let’s get married. I promise in the future I’ll give birth to your children.’
‘Tan Yuan, do you think I care about who’s the father?’ Shen Cheng asked. He patted Qiao Tan Yuan’s hand. ‘Don’t overthink things. The most important thing is you having a healthy pregnancy. I want you to be happy. We’ll wait until the baby is born then we’ll get married.’
‘Um,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said. ‘Shen Cheng, I promise I’ll be a good daughter-in-law and a good wife.’
‘Dummy, I love you for who you are, I don’t need you to give me anything,’ Shen Cheng said. ‘No matter what you look like, I’ll still love you.’
‘Shen Cheng…’ Qiao Tan Yuan said. She was deeply moved and hugged Shen Cheng. ‘Shen Cheng, thank you.’
Shen Cheng’s existence showed Qiao Tan Yuan how blessed she was. She had someone who loved her and was sad to see her sad.
In the distance, Gu Jiao Wu turned on the engine. He looked out the window and saw Shen Cheng hugging Qiao Tan Yuan. His eyes darkened and he calmly drove off.
Later at the Shen Mansion, Shen Cheng discussed marriage plans with Mrs Shen in the living room.
‘I don’t approve,’ Mrs Shen said. ‘Xiao Cheng, I’ll never give you my blessing to marry Giao Tan Yuan.’
‘Mum…’ Shen Cheng said. ‘I want to marry Giao Tan Yuan.’
‘There are many women for you to choose from,’ Mrs Shen said. ‘Why can’t you choose a decent woman, why must you want to marry Giao Tan Yuan? You know about her and Gu Jiao Wu…’
‘They’re divorced,’ Shen Cheng said. ‘Giao Tan Yuan divorced Gu Jiao Wu. Why can’t I be with Giao Tan Yuan?’
‘What about her baby?’ Mrs Shen asked. ‘Why is she carrying the Gu Household’s baby into the Shen Household?’
‘Mum, it’s my baby…’ Shen Cheng said.
‘Don’t think you can deceive me,’ Mrs Shen said. ‘Xiao Cheng, we both know the baby belongs to Gu Jiao Wu.’
‘Mum… you agreed as long as I get married, you’ll give your blessing,’ Shen Cheng said.
‘Yes, I did agree,’ Mrs Shen said. ‘You can marry a former mistress if you wanted to, and I’ll give you my blessing. But Xiao Cheng, I’ve known Qiao Tan Yuan since she was a little girl. In her heart there is only Gu Jiao Wu. If you two marry each other, neither of you will be happy.’
‘In the past there’s no room in her heart, but it doesn’t mean in the future she won’t love me,’ Shen Cheng said.
‘I’m telling you, in the future she still won’t love you,’ Mrs Shen said.
Mrs Shen saw Shen Cheng’s stubbornness and sighed. ‘Xiao Cheng, you know I love Qiao Tan Yuan. On paper, both of you look compatible. If you truly want to marry her, I won’t oppose. But the truth is the person she loves and will always love is Gu Jiao Wu. If you marry someone who doesn’t love you, you’ll only suffer for the rest of your life.’
‘It’s enough there’s only her in my heart,’ Shen Cheng said. ‘Mum, I loved her for a long time. Mum, give me your blessing.’
‘If she wasn’t pregnant, perhaps I would have given you my blessing,’ Mrs Shen said. ‘But she is pregnant, and the baby belongs to the Gu Household. I suspect the Gu Household doesn’t know she is having Gu Jiao Wu’s baby. But in the future the Gu Household will find out the truth, and we both know the Gu Household won’t let you keep the baby.’
‘I…’ Shen Cheng said.
‘Xiao Shen, I can’t give you my blessing to marry her,’ Mrs Shen said.
‘Mum, if you don’t give me your blessing then I’ll ask dad,’ Shen Cheng said.
Mr Shen loved Shen Cheng the most, he believed Mr Shen would approve.
‘Don’t look for your dad,’ Mrs Shen said. ‘As long as I don’t give my blessing, there is no door for her to walk into the Shen Household.’
‘Then I’ll move out,’ Shen Cheng said. ‘I truly want to marry Tan Yuan.’
‘OK, go ahead and marry her, but after you marry her, I’m no longer your mum,’ Mrs Shen said.
‘Mum…’ Shen Cheng said. ‘Don’t force me. OK, I’ll no longer be your son.’
Shen Cheng stood and left the Shen Mansion. Mrs Shen felt cornered. If she couldn’t reason with Shen Cheng, she could only make a trip to see the elders of the Gu Household.
In the evening, Shen Cheng drove to the Qiao Mansion and picked up Qiao Tan Yuan to go to dinner.
At a restaurant near the Qiao Mansion, Qiao Tan Yuan picked up a piece of beef into Shen Cheng’s bowl.
‘What’s wrong?’ Qiao Tan Yuan asked. ‘Did something happen at work?’
Shen Cheng shook his head and smiled. ‘Nothing. The beef here is delicious.’
‘The beef is delicious, it’s a pity I can’t drink wine,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said.
‘After you give birth, you can drink wine,’ Shen Cheng said. ‘Where do you want to go for our honeymoon?’
‘Honeymoon?’ Qiao Tan Yuan asked. She thought it was too early to think about honeymoon destinations. But she saw the antic.i.p.ation in Shen Cheng’s eyes. ‘I want to go to Denmark.’
‘Denmark?’ Shen Cheng asked. ‘I thought you would want to go to shopping destinations like Paris and Milan.’
‘You’re hateful, you make it sound like I only know how to go shopping,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said.
‘Of course not,’ Shen Cheng said. ‘Right now, you’re uncle Qiao’s second in command. If we go somewhere like Paris and Milan, it can give you inspirations to help improve Qiao’s company’s goods and services.’
Qiao Tan Yuan remembered the first year being married to Gu Jiao Wu, she was too depressed to work. Instead she would go shopping. On the rare occasions Gu Jiao Wu was at the Gu Mansion, they would fight. Afterward she would go on another shopping spree. It was a nightmare.
Qiao Tan Yuan should thank Gu Jiao Wu, if it wasn’t for him, she wouldn’t be sick of shopping. Nor would she have focused her energy on working at Qiao’s company, and establishing her career.
‘What are you thinking?’ Shen Cheng asked. He could see Qiao Tan Yuan was lost in thought. ‘After you give birth, if you want to return to work and help Qiao’s company, I’ll support your decision.’
‘If you want me to focus on our family life, I don’t mind staying at home,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said.
‘I don’t want to waste your potential,’ Shen Cheng said. ‘I truly mean it. In the future I’ll support any decision you make.’
‘Shen Cheng, thank you,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said.
Qiao Tan Yuan was truly grateful toward Shen Cheng. She ate a piece of beef and promised herself she was going to give her baby a good life.
‘You don’t need to thank me,’ Shen Cheng said. ‘We’ll be husband and wife soon. You should hand over your workload to Qiao Jie. It’ll give you time to plan our wedding. We can get married after celebrating the baby’s one month milestone.’
‘Um,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said.
In the past Qiao Tan Yuan suffered in a one sided love, there was only Gu Jiao Wu in her heart. But in front of her was Shen Cheng who loved her deeply. She was determined not to disappoint Shen Cheng’s love. She would treat Shen Cheng well and build a happy family with Shen Cheng. She and Sheng Cheng would have more children together and hold hands for the rest of their lives. She was going to cherish their happy family.
At a shop nearby the restaurant, a six month pregnant Zheng Jia Ju was working as a shop a.s.sistant.
‘Executive Gu?’ Zheng Jia Ju asked.
Gu Jiao Wu looked at Zheng Jia Ju’s stomach, and it made him think about his confrontation with Qiao Tan Yuan.
End of Chapter Ten