Gu Zheng paused for a moment, patted Gu Chen's head, and said softly,
"It should be, but right now, my stepfather is in a bad mood. Let's not ask him about it for now. Let's take it slow. One day, my stepfather will make up with us, okay?"
Gu Chen nodded in understanding. "I understand, Daddy. I won't ask Little Daddy. I know Little Daddy is in pain right now, and I will stay with him. But this time, you absolutely must not hurt Little Daddy again, and you must not make him suffer."
"Good boy." Gu Zheng patted Gu Chen's head. The relationship between father and son had already become very good without them even realizing it.
Xia Ran was unaware that the father and son outside the bathroom had already discussed a lot. He was currently soaking in a hot bath, and all his fatigue seemed to have disappeared.
Grandpa may not show his sadness on his face anymore, but he'll still think about it. Grandpa's biggest wish is for him to live a good life, and he will definitely do that.
Xia Ran also washed her hair, and felt much more relaxed when she came out.
Gu Zheng and Gu Chen sat on the sofa in the room waiting for him to come out. When Gu Zheng saw that Xia Ran's hair was still dripping wet, he immediately got up to get a hairdryer.
"Ran, let me blow-dry your hair."
"No need," Xia Ran instinctively refused. "I can do it myself."
"You're in a bad mood today, so I'll help you this once, okay?" Gu Zheng softened his voice, and Xia Ran was at a loss for what to do.
"That's right, that's right, Little Daddy, you must be very tired today. Let Big Daddy help you blow-dry your hair. You can relax and enjoy yourself, okay?"
Gu Chen also tried to persuade Xia Ran, and Xia Ran looked at the father and son before finally nodding.
"Okay, thank you then."
Gu Zheng, who had been wearing a smile, froze when he heard Xia Ran say thank you.
"Ran, could you please not say thank you next time? Don't you find the word 'thank you' too unfamiliar to you?"
"I...I'll be more careful next time," Xia Ran said after thinking for a moment.
"Okay." Gu Zheng was satisfied; at least Xia Ran hadn't directly refused.
Xia Ran sat down on the edge of the bed, and Gu Zheng stood in front of her to blow-dry her hair.
Because Xia Ran was sitting and Gu Zheng was standing, Xia Ran was facing Gu Zheng's waist.
Feeling the warmth on her head, Xia Ran felt somewhat dazed and even confused.
He couldn't help but raise his hand and circle it.
"Let me lean on you for a moment, just for a moment, just for a moment..."
Xia Ran muttered to himself. He no longer cared about his relationship with Gu Zheng. What he desperately needed now was someone to lean on, someone to make him feel like he wasn't alone.
Although Gu Zheng was initially startled by Xia Ran's actions, he quickly responded with an "okay," and his movements remained as gentle as ever.
"It's okay, my child and I are always here, we're not afraid."
"Hmm," Xia Ran responded listlessly, and released her grip after about three or four minutes.
"Alright, you should go take a shower too." Xia Ran looked a little uncomfortable.
Gu Zheng ruffled Xia Ran's hair one last time before going to take a shower, but before entering the bathroom, he also took Gu Chen, who was facing away from them and covering his eyes, with him.
"Come on, let Daddy take you to take a bath."
Xia Ran clearly heard the excitement in Gu Zheng's tone, and he couldn't help but slightly curl the corners of his mouth.
That's fine too.
However, Gu Zheng was still quite inexperienced in bathing children, so when he brought Gu Chen out after his bath, his clothes were still wet.
Xia Ran said to him, "Why are you all wet? Go wash up quickly, I'll help the child get dressed and blow-dry his hair."
Gu Chen came out wearing a large bathrobe, his hair wet, indicating he had washed it.
Actually, Gu Chen can dress himself; he just needs someone to blow-dry his hair.
"Are you sure you can?" Gu Zheng hesitated. He certainly wouldn't normally ask this, but considering Xia Ran's current mood, he asked one more question.
Xia Ran understood Gu Zheng's meaning and nodded immediately.
"It's fine."
"Okay, call me if you need anything."
When he went into the bathroom, Gu Zheng kept turning back to look at him, clearly worried.
Xia Ran was drying Gu Chen's hair when the child nestled in his arms, rubbing his head against him like a kitten.
"Daddy, you feel so comfortable, I love it."
Xia Ran had just turned off the hair dryer, so she heard Gu Chen's words.
"Then your stepfather will spend more time with you from now on."
"good."
When Gu Zheng came out, he saw Xia Ran and Gu Chen lying on the bed watching videos on their phones. They occasionally let out a soft gasp or a laugh.
At this moment, Gu Zheng wished time could stand still. At the same time, he also knew that Xia Ran would truly no longer dwell on her grandfather's matter.
Grandpa's passing is something that's hard to accept and very painful, but the living still need to live their lives well. Gu Zheng didn't want Xia Ran to be constantly preoccupied with the matter of Grandpa's death.
Xia Ran didn't notice Gu Zheng coming over at first, until Gu Zheng came over to get the hair dryer.
He glanced at it only once, then looked away and continued looking at his phone with Gu Chen.
Because Gu Zheng was only wearing pajama bottoms and no clothes.
Although it wasn't the first time Xia Ran had seen Gu Zheng like this, and the two had even done more intimate things before, she still felt very uncomfortable seeing him again.
Gu Zheng had no idea what Xia Ran was thinking. He simply dried his hair a couple of times and sat down next to the two of them. He even copied Xia Ran and Gu Chen by lying down and looking at his phone.
Xia Ran couldn't help but be a little surprised, and her gaze fell on Gu Zheng.
"What are you looking at?"
Gu Zheng was lying next to Xia Ran, so when he spoke, his warm breath sprayed all over Xia Ran's ear and cheek.
Xia Ran couldn't help but rub her ears and said,
"They're some funny videos." He said, moving closer to Gu Chen.
However, with a bed that's only 1.5 meters wide, they couldn't move it much further, so the two of them were still very close, and could touch each other with the slightest touch.
Gu Zheng was aware of Xia Ran's actions, but he chose to pretend he hadn't seen anything.
"May I watch?" Gu Zheng continued to ask.
"Okay." Xia Ran placed the phone in the middle so that all three people could see it.
The family of three actually watched the video for half an hour. After half an hour, Xia Ran picked up her phone and said to Gu Chen,
"Okay, that's enough for half an hour. You can't watch anymore, or your eyes will become nearsighted."
Gu Chen always listened to Xia Ran, so he certainly wouldn't argue with her saying this now.
"good."
Gu Zheng also sat up.
"Ran, are you going to stay here all day or go home tomorrow?"
When this topic came up, Xia Ran's smile faded a little.
"I'm going back. It's almost Chinese New Year, and there's a lot to do. I also need to tidy up some things at home that belong to Grandpa."
As he spoke, he pulled Gu Chen into his arms. "So tomorrow, Da Zhuang, Zi Ming, Uncle Lin, and I will be going home from here. You can take the child back. If the Feng family wants to find me, just tell them to wait. I'll come over after the New Year and explain things to them."
"You don't want me and the child anymore?" Gu Zheng's tone changed abruptly.
Gu Chen was also quite frightened by his father's words, and tears started falling down his face.
"Waaah... Daddy, how could you not want me? You just promised me you'd spend more time with me."
Xia Ran was startled by the child's sudden crying and quickly said,
"No, no, your stepfather didn't abandon you. What are you thinking?" After saying that, he looked at Gu Zheng again, his tone tinged with helplessness.
"Can you please stop scaring the child? When did I say I didn't want children?"
"Just now," Gu Zheng's tone was also full of accusation, "you just said that you wanted me and the child to go back, and wouldn't let us come with you."
Xia Ran choked for a moment. She felt speechless when she first met Gu Zheng, but when she saw the hurt in Gu Zheng's eyes, her speechlessness turned into helplessness.
"What I mean is, you all have families too. It's almost Chinese New Year, so you should go home for the holidays. I'll go home too. I'll come find you again after I've sorted everything out, since my issues with the Feng family haven't been resolved yet."
“But for me and the children, home is where you are.” Gu Zheng blurted out without thinking.
Xia Ran paused for a moment, and after a long while, she moved her lips and whispered,
“Our current relationship… and besides, I absolutely have to go home this year; my grandfather has a lot of things to take care of, so…”
"So let me and the child go back with you. Our relationship has never changed in my eyes. You are still the child's father and my life partner."
Xia Ran stared at Gu Zheng for a long while, and Gu Zheng met her gaze. Although neither of them spoke again, it seemed that some things had already been answered.
"And what about your home area..."
"Qin Hao and your aunt will handle it. What I need to do now is stay with you. I promised Grandpa."
Xia Ran took a deep breath. "Okay, then... you'll come back with us tomorrow."
A smile finally appeared on Gu Zheng's face as he reached out and ruffled Xia Ran's hair.
Xia Ran was initially stiff, but she relaxed after a while and did not stop Gu Zheng's actions.
Around nine o'clock, Gu Zheng received two phone calls. One was from Qin Hao and his aunt. Gu Zheng spoke with them briefly, and Xia Ran also said a few words.
The last call was from Feng Ming, who was also asking about Xia Ran. Gu Zheng put the call on speakerphone, so Xia Ran could hear it.
"How is Xiao Ran? Has he eaten anything today? Has his mood changed at all? You need to pay close attention to him. If anything happens to him, I won't let you off the hook."
Gu Zheng glanced at Xia Ran before answering.
“He’s fine, I’ll take good care of him. He also asked me to tell you that he hopes you can give him some time. Tomorrow I will go back to my hometown with him to sort out my grandfather’s belongings and spend the New Year there. After the New Year, he will come to you to resolve the issue.”
Feng Ming on the other end of the phone was silent for a moment, and then a woman's voice came through.
"Okay, okay, we'll listen to him, we'll listen to Xiao Ran. As long as he's alright, that's all that matters. Gu Zheng, I'm begging you, please take good care of Xiao Ran for me, and make sure he doesn't get hurt or sick..."
This was Feng's mother's voice, and as she spoke, her voice choked with emotion.
Xia Ran kept her head down, and it was unclear what her reaction was.