Xia Ran thought Lin Ziming was thirsty and turned to pour him another cup, but Lin Ziming stopped her.
"No need, I'm not thirsty."
“But you…” Xia Ran looked at the empty cup in Lin Ziming’s hand and hesitated, as if she wanted to say something but couldn’t.
Lin Ziming chuckled and said,
"It's just a habit of mine. My dad taught me from a young age that if someone pours you water, you must finish it, so that others won't think you don't like it."
"Although I don't agree with this principle, I've gotten used to it because my dad has said it since I was little, so I'm really not thirsty and you don't need to pour me any more."
Xia Ran was slightly taken aback after hearing Lin Ziming's words.
This habit is just like the one his grandfather taught him.
He also thought it was fallacious reasoning at the time, but he couldn't go against his grandfather's wishes, so he could only stick to it.
He thought he was the only one with such a strange habit, and he was usually quite careful about it when he was out. He never expected that someone else would have the same habit as him.
Lin Ziming noticed Xia Ran's surprise and explained,
"This is indeed a very strange thing. You probably found it very strange when you first heard about it."
"No, no, no." Xia Ran quickly shook his head, knowing that people had misunderstood him. "I didn't think it was weird, I was just a little surprised, because I have this habit too, and my grandfather told me the same thing."
“I used to think that only my grandfather raised his children this way, so I was a little surprised that there were other people like me.”
"Oh? Really? You have this habit too?"
Lin Ziming feigned surprise and asked, though he actually thought it was quite normal, because his father said that this habit was taught to him by his grandfather.
His father, however, thought there was nothing wrong with this kind of education, so he imposed it on him.
Given the relationship between his grandfather and Grandpa Xia, it's quite normal for them to share this habit.
It's unclear whether this habit was passed down from Grandpa Xia to his grandfather, or from his grandfather to Grandpa Xia, or perhaps both of them had this habit.
Xia Ran: "Yes, I even argued with my grandfather at the time, but he just said it was no problem or something."
Lin Ziming: "This is just a personal habit, you don't need to think there's anything wrong with it. Besides, I didn't expect that we would have such a coincidence, that we could run into such a strange habit."
“Yes.” Xia Ran smiled as well. He inexplicably felt that Dr. Lin was very kind and peaceful, and it was very comfortable to be around him.
Gu Chen, who had been standing next to Xia Ran, felt a sudden unease when he saw Xia Ran and Lin Ziming getting more and more engrossed in their conversation and becoming increasingly happy.
He hadn't seen his little dad so happy in a very long time. Could it be that his little dad had a crush on this doctor uncle?
Gu Chen's eyes widened instantly. No, no, Little Daddy belongs to him and Big Daddy. He had just promised Big Daddy that he would take good care of Little Daddy. He didn't expect that someone would come to steal Little Daddy away now!
His eyes darted around, and he tried to climb onto Xia Ran's lap.
"Little Daddy, why are you ignoring me?"
Gu Chen's tone was so aggrieved that Xia Ran was taken aback and her heart softened.
“Your dad isn’t ignoring you, he’s just chatting with the doctor.”
Xia Ran held the child carefully, her tone filled with a hint of doting affection.
Lin Ziming looked at Gu Chen, raised an eyebrow, and showed a hint of interest in his eyes.
This little guy is quite precocious for his age.
"By the way, Xia Ran, may I call you that?"
“Of course.” Xia Ran nodded.
"Can I ask you a question? Is this child yours? I think I heard the child calling President Gu 'Daddy' the other day, so you're married?"
He pretended to know nothing and asked, but in fact he hadn't heard the child call Gu Zheng Da "Dad" either; it was just something his subordinates had found out.
He wanted to get some information from Xia Ran so he could decide his attitude towards Gu Zheng.
Xia Ran's expression stiffened for a moment. She glanced down at the child, hesitated for a second, and then spoke.
"Indeed, I was married to him before, but... we divorced for some reasons. As for the child... the child couldn't bear to leave me, and I couldn't bear to leave the child, so they've been living with me ever since."
Upon hearing this, Gu Chen pursed his lips, and his eyes involuntarily reddened.
He didn't like this doctor uncle, and yet he asked these things that made his younger father uncomfortable.
To be honest, Lin Ziming didn't expect Xia Ran to actually answer.
This answer was exactly what he expected.
"Is this child your biological child?" Lin Ziming asked, pretending not to know.
He actually found out that the child wasn't Xia Ran's biological child, but he couldn't find out whose child it was.
After all, he has been abroad for many years, and some of his influence is no longer available in the country.
Moreover, Gu Zheng seems to have concealed the child's biological mother very well, and no clue can be found at all.
The only information found was that when that child was born, the younger brother named Gu En, whom Gu Zheng's family had adopted, disappeared in the same year.
He found out that Gu En had returned some time ago, but his subordinates hadn't found out exactly what he was doing back.
That's true, it's already quite impressive that they were able to find this much in just one day.
Xia Ran chuckled softly, covered the child's ears with her hands, and whispered,
"He's not my biological son, but so what? The bond between us can't be broken by blood ties."
“The child may know these things himself, but I don’t want him to hear them.”
Lin Ziming paused for a moment, then looked away from Xia Ran covering the child's ears.
Chapter 292 Don't Pull My Collar
It seems that Gu Zheng can cause some trouble, but this child must be carefully protected.
"I'm sorry, I was just too curious, so I asked. Don't worry, I won't ask again."
Xia Ran didn't think there was anything wrong with what Lin Ziming said about the future.
"Okay, thank you, Dr. Lin."
"Don't mention it. It was my fault. I asked a question I shouldn't have."
Lin Ziming saw Xia Ran remove her hand from the child's ear.
Gu Chen looked up at Xia Ran with a blank expression and asked in a childish voice,
"Daddy, why did you cover my ears just now? Is there something you can't let me hear?"
Xia Ran smiled and shook her head, saying,
"No, Daddy just wanted to cover your ears, it was just a sudden thought, Xiao Chen, don't overthink it."
Although Gu Chen was puzzled, he still obediently nodded.
"I understand, little dad."
Lin Ziming smiled as he watched the child depend on Xia Ran.
Well, since this is Xia Ran's acknowledged son, then he's practically his nephew.
"Little one, you can call me uncle from now on. Uncle isn't a bad person, so don't be afraid of uncle, okay?"
His tone softened considerably, but he only received a glare from Gu Chen in return.
Lin Ziming paused for a moment, then laughed and looked at Xia Ran.
"Your son has quite a temper."
Xia Ran felt a little embarrassed.
"He used to be quite shy, but he's only gotten a little better now, so please don't feel awkward."
Hearing this, Lin Ziming nodded. Indeed, the information he had investigated did contain information about this child.
He had severe personality defects since childhood, which were essentially autistic, and it wasn't until this year that he started to get better.
This year also happened to be the time when Xia Ran and Gu Zheng got married, so you can imagine how much effort Xia Ran put into raising her child.
The two continued chatting about various things. Although they mostly talked about ordinary matters, Xia Ran didn't realize that Lin Ziming was subtly trying to extract information from her.
These messages all revolve around Xia Ran and Grandpa Xia's daily life.
After this conversation, Xia Ran and Lin Ziming's relationship seemed to have inexplicably improved a lot.
Gu Chen watched from the side, feeling extremely uncomfortable.
Waaaaah, he doesn't want it anymore, his little dad is gone, he's going to be kidnapped, waaaaah, what should he do? What can he do to keep his little dad from leaving with someone else?
After chatting for a while, Grandpa Xia slowly woke up.
I was a little surprised to see that Xia Ran and Lin Ziming got along so well.
"Dr. Lin is here?"
"Grandpa," Lin Ziming walked to Grandpa Xia's bedside, "How are you feeling? Are you feeling any better now?"
Grandpa Xia nodded gently. "Much better."
"That's good." Lin Ziming then took the medical record and asked a number of questions.
These are all questions that must be asked in the basic work.
Grandpa Xia is much better in health and his spirits have improved significantly.
Lin Ziming still didn't plan to leave. Although he couldn't reveal his identity or ask certain questions, being able to watch over the old man was enough to fulfill his grandfather's last wish.
Although he had never met his grandfather, he knew from his father that his grandfather was a very good person.
My biggest regret in life is that I have let down Grandpa Xia.
"Grandpa, would you mind if I sat here and chatted with you?"
Lin Ziming asked, and Xia Ran was still a little surprised, not understanding why Lin Ziming was chatting with her grandfather.
Not only Xia Ran, but even Grandpa Xia was quite surprised. However, Lin Ziming was very elegant and gave people a gentle feeling, so he made a very good impression on Grandpa Xia.
"If Dr. Lin isn't busy, he can certainly stay here."
Lin Ziming: "I'm not busy right now. I'm really sorry, sir, but you look so much like my deceased grandfather that I couldn't help myself."