Gu Zheng thought of Xia Ran's care for Gu Chen and her affection for him, and couldn't help but doubt Gu En's words.
Is Xia Ran really that kind of person?
But if that weren't the case, why would Xiao En have said it? Xiao En wouldn't lie to him; perhaps he had never really understood Xia Ran.
"Ah Zheng?" Xia Ran called out in confusion when she saw Gu Zheng standing at the top of the stairs, looking at her without saying a word.
Gu Zheng snapped out of his daze and walked over. "I have something I want to talk to you about."
Xia Ran was stunned for a moment, then quickly nodded in agreement.
"Sure, shall we talk here or back in the room?"
Gu Zheng glanced at Aunt Gu and the others, but they remained unmoved. Aunt Gu no longer wanted Xia Ran and Gu Zheng to be together, so she turned a blind eye to some things.
Gu Zheng frowned slightly. "Let's talk in the room."
"Okay." Xia Ran had no objections, but she had a bad feeling about it.
Why did he feel that Ah Zheng's expression was a little strange?
Just as Xia Ran was about to stand up, Aunt Gu pressed down on Xia Ran's shoulder and said,
"Slow down, your foot is still injured, don't hurt it again."
Aunt Gu deliberately spoke very loudly, her heart filled with dissatisfaction with Gu Zheng.
You knew to help Gu En into the room, but you didn't do that with Xia Ran?
Xia Ran smiled at her aunt and said,
"Don't worry, Auntie, it's just a slight sprain. I'll walk slowly and I'll be fine."
It was only at this moment that Gu Zheng remembered Xia Ran's injury. He pursed his lips, feeling a little guilty.
He was thinking about something and forgot for a moment.
"Let me carry you inside, and then you can sleep in the room. Don't walk around too much with your injured foot."
Upon hearing this, Xia Ran's eyes lit up even more. He nodded, thinking to himself that Ah Zheng still cared about him after all.
Aunt Gu snorted softly upon hearing this, but did not stop Gu Zheng's actions.
The real reason is that if she were to stop it at this time, what reason would she have?
But just as Gu Chen was about to bend down to hug Xia Ran, Gu Chen, who had been standing silently next to Xia Ran, pushed Gu Zheng away.
"Go away! Don't touch... Daddy! You're bad!"
Gu Chen glared at Gu Zheng with red eyes, then stood in front of Xia Ran with his arms outstretched, like a cub protecting its food.
This time he was really angry with Gu Chen, so he stopped calling him "Big Dad" altogether.
Gu Chen's action stunned everyone present.
Gu Zheng looked down at Gu Chen, and the words Gu En had said to him flashed through his mind.
Indeed, although Gu Chen is much more cheerful than before, his personality is still quite bad.
It seems that, just as Xiao En said, we really need to discipline them.
But now is not the time; he still has things to ask Xia Ran.
"Gu Chen, move aside, I have something to say to my stepfather."
"No! You're bad! Get away from me!"
Gu Chen's eyes were red and swollen, but he still spoke firmly.
Xia Ran snapped out of her daze, quickly pulled the child into her arms, and said softly,
"Xiao Chen, don't be like that. He's your uncle. You can't talk to him like that. It's not good. Have you forgotten what your uncle taught you? You have to listen to your elders and not be rude to them."
Upon hearing this, Gu Chen's tears streamed down his face, and he sobbed as he spoke.
"He's bad! He doesn't love his little dad! The baby doesn't like him anymore! He's bullying his little dad!"
Xia Ran was surprised. "Xiao Chen, what nonsense are you talking about? How could Big Daddy bully Little Daddy? Big Daddy has something to say to Little Daddy. So Xiao Chen, please sit here obediently and wait for Little Daddy, okay?"
Xia Ran felt a warm glow in her heart, but she was also trying her best to correct Gu Chen's words.
He didn't know why the child felt that Gu Zheng was bullying him, but he still had to correct the behavior.
Gu Zheng's brows furrowed even more. He had initially thought Xiao En's words were an overreaction, but now it seemed that they weren't.
If they're already spoiled like this at such a young age, what will they be like when they grow up?
Suppressing his anger, Gu Zheng decided to keep Xia Ran and Gu Chen at a distance, not only to help Gu Chen get used to life without Xia Ran, but also to prevent the child from becoming more spoiled if he continued to stay with Xia Ran.
"Uncle Wang, hold the child."
Gu Zheng simply lifted Gu Chen aside and had Uncle Wang carry him.
Xia Ran wanted to speak, but Gu Zheng had already picked him up.
Holding Wang Bo in his arms, Gu Chen couldn't help but start crying, repeatedly calling out "Little Daddy."
Xia Ran felt extremely distressed upon hearing this and couldn't help but say...
"Ah Zheng, why don't we try to comfort Xiao Chen first? It's not good for her to keep crying like this."
Gu Zheng said coldly, "He's not that spoiled. I told you before that I don't want you to pamper him. Don't forget he's a boy."
"I..." Xia Ran hadn't heard Gu Zheng speak in such a cold tone for a long time, and for a moment she didn't know what to say.
The unease I had finally managed to suppress seemed to surge up all at once again.
Did A-Zheng mean that he thinks Xiao-Chen has spoiled him?
"I understand, I'll be more careful in the future."
Gu Zheng carried Xia Ran to the bed in the room. Because Gu Zheng said he had something to say to her, Xia Ran temporarily suppressed her discomfort.
"Ah Zheng, you said you had something to tell me, what is it?"
Gu Zheng found a chair in the room and sat down directly opposite Xia Ran.
He originally wanted to ask Xia Ran directly, but looking at her now, he couldn't bring himself to ask.
But if we don't ask, it might cause even bigger trouble later.
"I'm asking you, did you go to find Xiao En when you got up this morning?"
"Yes." Although Xia Ran didn't understand why Gu Zheng was asking this, he had indeed gone to look for him.
Gu Zheng's expression instantly turned even more unpleasant.
"So, did you two not have a pleasant conversation? Were you in a bad mood after talking to Xiao En? Did you offer to help Xiao En downstairs?"
Chapter 145 Xia Ran's Heartache
Xia Ran was stunned by Gu Zheng's series of questions, and he felt a little uncomfortable.
However, he didn't want to think about it too much. Thinking about what happened in the morning, he nodded in agreement because he also had something to ask Gu Zheng.
"Yes, we talked about some things that weren't very pleasant. I did offer to help him down the stairs because it was difficult for him to go down alone, but..."
"Enough!" Before Xia Ran could finish speaking, Gu Zheng suddenly spoke up. He stood up and looked down at Xia Ran sitting on the bed, his eyes filled with undisguised disappointment.
"Xia Ran, I didn't expect you to be this kind of person. If you had a bad conversation with Xiao En, you could have told me. You could have asked me directly if you had anything to say. Why did you let go of Xiao En's hand when he was going down the stairs?"
"Do you know that what you're doing will harm him? Didn't you just hear the doctor say that if Xiao En's leg isn't treated properly, it could affect him for life?"
Upon hearing this, Xia Ran's eyes widened in shock. He had been wondering why A-Zheng had asked this question, and now he realized that A-Zheng suspected him of deliberately making Gu En fall.
Xia Ran felt as if an invisible hand was gripping his heart tightly, causing him excruciating pain. He looked at Gu Zheng in front of him and spoke with some difficulty.
"What do you mean? You mean I made Gu En fall down the stairs? Who told you that? Gu En?"
Xia Ran didn't call him "A Zheng" for the first time because he was exhausted from what had happened in the past two days.
He didn't understand why Gu En had turned Gu Zheng into this.
"Isn't that right?" Gu Zheng hadn't noticed Xia Ran's strange behavior. "Xia Ran, I don't know why you treat Xiao En like this, but Xiao En is my family, and I don't want you to treat Xiao En like that again."
"He's your family? Then what about me? Who am I?" Xia Ran's eyes were filled with bitterness. "So, what Gu En said this morning about you taking Xiao Chen to meet a relative, is that true? And it's also true that I can't go?"
Upon hearing this, Gu Zheng paused for a moment, then nodded.
"Yes, we were supposed to take Xiao Chen out today, but now that Xiao En is like this, it's impossible to go out. So you deliberately made Xiao En fall down the stairs because of this."
"Ah Zheng, do you really believe I let go of your hand? Does that mean I'm not family? Gu Zheng, what do you take me for? Why have you become like this? You weren't like this before Gu En came back!"
This was the first time Xia Ran had questioned Gu Zheng. He didn't want to, but he just couldn't hold back anymore. He felt terrible if he didn't ask.
"Didn't we say that when we got married? I just wanted you to take good care of the children. I told you I couldn't give you love, and you agreed back then."
Gu Zheng blurted out the words without thinking, and in fact, he regretted it as soon as he finished speaking.
But he quickly put his regret aside. He had wanted to believe Xia Ran, but seeing Xia Ran like this, it was indeed because he let go that Xiao En fell.
Xia Ran's face turned pale instantly. He hadn't expected that after so long, Gu Zheng would still give him the same answer.
Xia Ran's wounded gaze inexplicably stirred a pang of pain in Gu Zheng's heart. He looked away and said,
"Xia Ran, I don't want today's incident to happen again."
After saying that, Gu Zheng turned and left.
Xia Ran watched Gu Zheng's departing figure, her lips moved with difficulty, but in the end she didn't say anything to call him back.
He never imagined that he was that kind of person in Gu Zheng's heart.
How could he have deliberately caused Gu En to fall down the stairs? It was clearly an accident.
Furthermore, why would Gu En slander him like this? What exactly did he do to offend Gu En?
When Aunt Gu came in, she saw Xia Ran's pale face. She was shocked and immediately went over to her.
"Xiao Ran, what's wrong? Why do you look so pale? Did Gu Zheng bully you?"
Upon seeing Aunt Gu, Xia Ran could no longer hold back her tears, which she had been holding back for so long.
"aunt……"
As soon as she spoke, her voice trembled with emotion, and Aunt Gu felt a pang of sympathy.