In an instant, the room fell silent, and everyone turned to look at Gu Qingchi. Gu Qingchi was carefully stirring his congee with a spoon, but the amount of congee in the bowl didn’t seem to have changed. It was obvious that he hadn’t been eating properly.
Sensing the sudden silence in the room, Gu Qingchi slowly stopped stirring and confusedly tilted his head to look at Mrs. Gu. He was wearing an oversized white tee, so oversized that it hung past his collarbone and part of his shoulder. He held a spoon in his hand. The adhesive patch from earlier was still stuck to the back of his hand. He came off as both cute and lovable. This was a bad habit of Gu Qingchi’s. He didn’t like to wear pajamas. Instead, he would wear the most comfortable clothes that he owned and used them as sleepwear. SrUI5f
Mrs. Gu ended up being the one to break the silence.
“This isn’t my son. This is my nephew.”
Chrysanthemum Garden.
Mrs. Gu seemed to be in a much better state of mind today. She could clearly make out what her relationship was with Gu Qingchi.
Gu Qingchi sat on the bed with his head down, and his hand shook. His spoon hit the side of the bowl, a crisp tinkling sound ringing out into the room. RxCrfz
Mrs. Gu worriedly looked over at him. Gu Qingchi’s hand rested on the side of the small table. His head was lowered, and his hair was scattered. His expression couldn’t be seen clearly.
“Chi Chi, do you have no strength in your hands? Quickly put it down. I’ll help you.”
Mrs. Gu paid no mind to Gu Qingchi’s stumbling refusal. She enthusiastically took the bowl into her hands and began to feed him congee spoonful by spoonful. Her hand movements were very, very gentle, but they were also unyielding. This had a clear and visible effect. The amount of congee in the bowl quickly started to go down. Mrs. Gu must’ve had a lot of experience in feeding children as she had an excellent grasp of rhythm. Gu Qingchi could finish swallowing one spoonful, and the next spoonful would already be waiting for him.
Gu Qingchi was busy taking mouthfuls of congee. He was like a baby bird being force-fed by its mother. No matter how much it resisted, it was going to be fed until its belly was round.
BJGxQK
The nurse laughed once she saw this scene. She wasn’t into celebrities. She just thought that Gu Qingchi was extraordinarily good-looking. The atmosphere of the previous conversation had also been very good, so she didn’t feel any pressure when she spoke.
“Auntie, I have to tattle on him. He refused to eat properly before you arrived. Mr. Xie needed to coax him for hours on end before he’d eat anything. He would only eat fruit if it was peeled and cut into small pieces, and he needed to have it handed to him too.”
Several people in the room started chatting again. Once the small bowl of congee was finished, Mrs. Gu didn’t force him to eat anything else, attentively wiping away the corners of his mouth.
“Chi Chi, wait here for me. I’ll be back in just a moment.” BM80NZ
She stood up as she spoke. Once she turned around, her smile disappeared, and she stormed out of the room. She didn’t even stop as she walked past Mr. Gu. She simply reached out her hand and grabbed him by his tie. Mr. Gu had originally been standing by the door with his hands in his pockets, watching them as they chatted. He didn’t get angry about getting grabbed by his tie. He simply bent down and let her drag him along.
Despite walking some distance away, she still didn’t let go. Instead, she pulled him down even further, forcing him to bow his head.
Her voice wasn’t loud, but each and every word was spoken through gritted teeth. She looked furious.
“My nephew — your brother’s child — doesn’t resemble your brother, doesn’t resemble that woman, but resembles me? Don’t you find it to be somewhat of a coincidence that, right after we lose our child, he suddenly has a son?” yhzgRk
“Your brother went through a lot of trouble trying to conceive a child. Your brother’s wife doesn’t care about the child at all. Do you think that’s normal? Do you think that’s how a mother should act? Huh? Does he seem like her child?”
She turned her head away, trying to calm herself down. She paused for a moment before continuing.
“Did you ever see the child’s body? Who dealt with it?”
Mr. Gu’s brows were tightly knit, and his lips were pursed into a thin line. In the end, he hoarsely responded. 1GCZum
“Rb, P vlvc’a. Pa kjr vfjia klat ys atfw.”
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Mrs. Gu found herself laughing out of anger. She let go of the tie, and, when she did, her smile disappeared. Her each and every word seemed to have been forced out from between the gap in her teeth, and, for a moment, her expression was exceptionally fierce.
“Investigate! Investigate all of it! Gu Jiu, you goddamn piece of trash!” hCsyp0
Mr. Gu didn’t deny it. He watched the other walk back into the hospital room before turning around and briskly walking away.
Two nurses happened to brush shoulders with him. They both held their breath as he passed and only exhaled once he was gone.
One of them bumped the other with her shoulder and teased.
“Why are you so nervous? Weren’t you just gossiping about how handsome he is? You said that he looked like a domineering president straight from a novel.” goK1dM
“No way. I was totally wrong about him. He’s definitely a thug in a suit. He looked like he was on the hunt for revenge.”
Meanwhile, Gu Xie received a text message from Mr. Gu.
[I’m going to go investigate something. Make sure to take care of your mother.]
Gu Xie responded affirmatively and looked up. imgpaF
Mrs. Gu was currently peeling grapes for Gu Qingchi. She even had a smile on her face. She wiped grape juice from the corner of his mouth every now and then, making for a calm and peaceful picture.
Gu Qingchi obediently lowered his head and accepted her care. He inadvertently looked past her and locked eyes with Gu Xie. He then gave the other a soft and somewhat shy smile.
Gu Xie’s heart softened. He felt as though he’d been poked in his weak spot, leaving him dizzy and unable to resist. He nodded in response. However, he then felt that it wasn’t enough and tried to pull the corners of his mouth into a stiff smile, trying his best to come off as friendly.
Gu Xie wasn’t the smiling type. His appearance tended to come off as cold and stiff. He was like a great big German Shepherd, scaring others off even if he was wagging his tail. In all honesty, Gu Xie’s style of doing things had always been in line with his stiff appearance. S0Ug7Z
If he was present, his subordinates were sure to be at full attention, even going as far as to double the amount of work they get done. However, none of them could have possibly imagined that their boss had once been an older brother who spoiled his younger brother excessively. In fact, the person that spoiled Gu Qingchi the most wasn’t Mrs. Gu. Instead, it was this older brother of his that looked strict even when he smiled.
In front of Gu Qingchi, Gu Xie was like a dog with no principles. If his little brother threw a fit about wanting to touch his tummy, he would probably put on a stern face and tell him that he can only touch it once before lying down and revealing his tummy for him.
⁂
Mr. Gu returned that evening. He only stopped by the door for a moment and knocked. Mrs. Gu immediately knew what it was and followed him out the door, walking some distance away. nG3orz
Mr. Gu still had fine beads of sweat hanging from his forehead. He handed a stack of papers to Mrs. Gu. The topmost sheet seemed to be a copy of vital records from the hospital. The other sheets underneath it were some additional documents.
He briefly explained the contents of the documents to Mrs. Gu.
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“I was able to verify that there were no records of an infant dying on the day you gave birth. I was also able to verify that Gu Cheng is infertile and that Gu Qingchi has no blood ties to Gu Cheng.”
Mrs. Gu slowly flipped through the documents. pd2AKQ
Mr. Gu continued.
“It’s pretty much certain.”
He paused.
“All that’s missing is one last test.” IFLBYM
He was referring to a paternity test, but it didn’t really seem to matter if they performed the test or not anymore. His child was still alive in this world, but he hadn’t stayed by parents’ side for even a day. He’d been whisked away from his parents from the moment he was born, and he hadn’t even been well cared for.
“Gu Jiu, you goddamn piece of trash.”
Mrs. Gu repeated herself word by word and then left straightaway. Mr. Gu did not refute. He listlessly hung his head, cutting a rather sorry figure. It was only after she had left for quite a while that he uttered a response, seemingly in agreement with her.
After all, wasn’t it rather fitting? He was such a piece of trash that he couldn’t even protect his own child. ItR0Fn
The information that he presented to Mrs. Gu had been filtered. There was another part that he hadn’t shared. He’d hesitated over whether he should include it or not for a while. However, he was afraid of upsetting Mrs. Gu, so, in the end, he chose not to include it.
It was about the things Gu Qingchi had experienced over the years.
Item by item, piece by piece, each and every thing was carefully recorded.
That small child had been settled outside of the family estate and placed in the care of a nanny. Within the entire family, the only person to show him a semblance of concern was the old family butler. XG5 Ps
That small child had been cared for by only a single nanny.
The old family butler had been the one to hire the nanny, and he would also regularly keep tabs on the child. They went through several different nannies over the years. It wasn’t just because the child was overly thin, a sign of neglect. It was also because there was obvious bruising on the child’s body.
Once the child had gotten a bit older, the old butler decided to no longer work for the family. His only remaining concern was the child. He let go of all of the nannies and hired hourly workers to take care of the cooking and cleaning. He then handed over the card to the child and taught the child how to spend money on his own.
That small child held the card in his hands and became a family of one. 7D3ReF
The child liked going to school the most because there were lots of other people at school.
The child hated going home the most because there was no one but himself at home.
Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.
In the end, the child couldn’t even go to school anymore.
Gu Jiu slammed his fist into the wall and cursed under his breath. LYK9RF
Mrs. Gu pushed open the door. She couldn’t even pretend to smile this time.
She sat by the bed and looked at Gu Qingchi.
“I felt that you were familiar from the very first moment we met.”
She spoke. P2GhER
“In retrospect, it may be that we’re simply connected by blood.”
Gu Qingchi’s face instantly went pale. He balled up his fists, and his nails pierced into his palms. His heart was beating fast. He tried to digest what the other had said and spoke with difficulty.
“What … did you say?”
Gu Xie and Xie Luyu were also stunned. yNdbXd
Mrs. Gu took Gu Qingchi’s hands into her own and slowly pried Gu Qingchi’s hands open. His palms already had deep marks embedded in them from his nails.
“I’m saying that I had a child but then I lost him. I’ve been looking for him for a long, long time. I think I’ve found him now.”
Her tears streamed down her cheeks.
“Let’s take a paternity test. You’ll see that I haven’t lied to you.” zMZ9Dl
Gu Qingchi quietly agreed.
It just so happened that they were already at the hospital. Mrs. Gu shot a look at Gu Xie. Gu Xie immediately left the room and returned with a doctor.
The doctor took blood from both Mrs. Gu and Gu Qingchi. The doctor found this a little strange. Typically, paternity tests were performed between a father and a child, not a mother and a child.
Gu Xie paid extra in order to expedite the process. The results would be available within one business day. However, it was already too late for today. They would only be able to get the results by tomorrow at the earliest. JNvWuk
Translator’s Note:
I love a man that’s a slave to his wife! Did you see the way she grabbed his tie?
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Secondly, it’s finally happening! Our Chi Chi finally gets to be with his family!
