Although he hadn't been to bars many times, he knew that you shouldn't just talk to people who tried to pick you up in those places.
The man wasn't annoyed by Xia Ran's appearance. After all, he was attracted to Xia Ran precisely because of her looks. He had seen too many people who would fall for him as soon as he approached them, and that wouldn't be interesting.
"Would you like to come along for a while, sir? I'm a regular here and know this place quite well. How about I show you around?"
"No need," Xia Ran said indifferently, her eyes already showing a hint of impatience.
"Then... can I leave you my contact information?" the man continued.
Xia Ran was extremely annoyed, so she turned around and moved to the side, putting some distance between herself and the man.
"No need, I'm waiting for someone."
The man's expression began to darken. He could take Xia Ran's repeated rejections as her being wary, but now that she was using waiting as an excuse, he was getting annoyed.
“Hey little brother, it’s not good to use this as an excuse to fob me off, is it? Since you’ve come all this way, you must have come to have fun. If you’re here to have fun, why not admit it? Being all coy is no fun.”
Xia Ran was annoyed by the man's words. Just as he was wondering why Gu Zheng hadn't come out yet, a person hurriedly walked out from in front of him.
At this point, the man also began to get impatient and put his hand directly on Xia Ran's shoulder.
"Little brother, what's wrong with you..."
"What are you doing?" Gu Zheng's cold voice rang out from the side. As soon as he finished speaking, he walked to Xia Ran's side and directly removed the hand from Xia Ran's shoulder.
The moment Xia Ran saw Gu Zheng come out, she subconsciously felt calm.
"You..." The man turned his head, but unexpectedly saw Gu Zheng. "Gu... Brother Gu, what are you doing here?"
Gu Zheng reached out and pulled Xia Ran aside, answering the man's question in a cold voice.
"Can't my partner and I come here to enjoy some time alone together?"
"You...your partner?" The man's incredulous gaze fell on the two holding hands, but in reality, it was Gu Zheng holding Xia Ran's hand unilaterally.
"Could it be that Young Master Li has been spending too much time in bars, so much so that he doesn't even know that I'm married?"
Although his marriage to Xia Ran was not officially announced, some people in the industry already knew about it.
Upon hearing this, the man named Young Master Li's expression immediately changed, and he said in a panic,
"No...no, we already knew about your marriage, Brother Gu. We were just a little surprised to meet your wife for the first time. It was my fault earlier. I have other things to do, so...I'll be leaving now!"
After saying that, the man ran away as if his feet were greased, afraid that Gu Zheng would call him back and settle accounts with him.
After the man left, Xia Ran broke free from Gu Zheng's hand.
"Come on, didn't you have something to say to me? Why don't you hurry up? Do you want to look bad here?"
Perhaps angered by the man from earlier, Xia Ran spoke very rudely.
For some reason, Gu Zheng found Xia Ran quite likable and quickly agreed.
"Okay, let's go, the private room is up ahead."
Gu Zheng forcibly took Xia Ran's hand again and walked forward. This time he was prepared, so no matter how Xia Ran struggled, she could not break free.
It wasn't until Gu Zheng led him into the private room that he let out a low growl of anger.
"Gu Zheng, are you ever going to stop?! Let go of me right now!"
Upon hearing this, Political Commissar Gu reluctantly released his grip and spoke.
"Ranran, don't be angry. I was just afraid you would get lost, and I was also afraid you would be approached by someone like before, so I had to hold your hand."
Xia Ran was speechless after Gu Zheng's words. She had a lot to say to Gu Zheng, but in the end, she couldn't say anything.
He wasn't used to this kind of governance.
Seeing that Xia Ran didn't speak, Gu Zheng knew that his method of playing the victim had worked. He was secretly pleased, but his face still looked aggrieved, upset and scared. However, his hands moved quickly and decisively, locking the door of the private room from the inside.
Xia Ran took a deep breath, sat down on the sofa in the private room, and said with a cold expression,
"If you have something to say, say it quickly. I have other things to do."
Chapter 388 The Truth
Upon hearing this, Gu Zheng sat down next to Xia Ran.
"I thought no one else would ever know about Xiao Chen's background, but I never expected it would be discovered. Actually, it's quite simple. Gu En had some trouble before and was forced to have Xiao Chen. After the child was born, I took him home and announced it to the outside world. Even my aunt and the others said he was my child."
“They didn’t suspect anything, but Gu En was still bothered by what happened back then and developed depression. Because Gu En suffered those things because of me, I felt a little guilty towards him. Plus, we grew up together, so our feelings for each other were different from others. But now, looking back, I feel more guilty than anything else.”
“My parents passed away when I was young, and I didn’t have any relatives around me. I was young at the time, and my aunt and uncle were the ones who maintained the family business. They wanted to take care of me, but they were powerless to do so. They could only let me live with Uncle Wang. Sometimes, when they couldn’t take care of Qin Hao, they would leave him at home with a nanny or send him to live with me.”
“I’ve always been aloof since I was little, and I’m like that to everyone, so I don’t have many friends. I’ve always felt guilty towards Gu En and grateful to his father. But not long after my child was born, Gu En disappeared. I searched many places but couldn’t find him. Later, I found a body, and after examination, I confirmed that it was Gu En.”
Perhaps he had said too much, for Gu Zheng paused for a moment at this point. Xia Ran remained silent, wanting Gu Zheng to get to the point, but seeing Gu Zheng take a sip of wine, he swallowed the words that were on the tip of his tongue.
Gu Zheng took a sip of wine and continued talking.
“I haven’t looked for Gu En since I confirmed his death, but I didn’t expect him to come back. I guess Gu En just wanted to escape from here temporarily, but he was kidnapped by human traffickers and taken to some backward mountain villages. He only escaped this year.”
"He came looking for me after he got out. The first time I saw him was at your house. I tricked you into going out then, do you remember?" At this point, Gu Zheng gave a bitter laugh, regretting his foolishness at the time.
"Later, he told me that he had a disease, a kind of cancer that only lasts a few months. He said that he had no regrets in his life and just wanted to be with the children openly for a while. At that time, I felt very guilty towards him, so I agreed to divorce you."
"Looking back now, I was really stupid. I believed him just because he showed me a medical record and didn't even think to check it. Besides, at that time, I already knew that my feelings for you were different. The heartache and complicated emotions I felt when I saw you kneeling next to Grandpa for me were the first time I had ever felt that way."
“But at that time I didn’t think I loved you so deeply. I regretted it the day after we divorced, but I couldn’t do anything about it. At that time I felt that I owed Gu En too much. Until later I found out that Gu En had pretended to be sick to deceive me, I completely cut ties with him. I even prevented him from getting close to the Gu family. I gave him a sum of money and then completely cut ties with him.”
Hearing this, Xia Ran pursed her lips and asked a question that had been bothering her.
"Do you know that Gu En investigated my grandfather a while ago and posted my grandfather's past on the internet in a worse way?"
"What? I didn't know." Gu Zheng looked at Xia Ran. "Why didn't you tell me before?"
Hearing Gu Zheng's answer, Xia Ran didn't know how to describe her feelings, and could only say sarcastically,
"If I had told you back then, would you have believed me?"
"I believe it, why wouldn't I?" Gu Zheng said firmly.
Xia Ran paused for a moment, then looked away.
Gu Zheng: "And then what happened? How did Grandpa's matter fade away online?"
Xia Ran didn't want to say it, but somehow his mouth seemed to be out of his control.
"After we investigated and found out that Gu En was the one who did it, we asked Brother Ziming to cover it up."
Upon hearing the name "Brother Ziming" again, Gu Zheng's face darkened.
Why didn't you come to me back then, but instead went to Lin Ziming?
"Why would I look for you? You're just a substitute, what am I?" Xia Ran retorted to Gu Zheng.
Gu Zheng was speechless after Xia Ran's words, and his whole being was filled with guilt and regret.
There was a moment of silence in the private room. After a long while, Gu Zheng spoke in a hoarse voice.
"I wasn't a substitute. I never intended to use you as a substitute. I noticed you a long time ago, from the day you came close to me. I also noticed your face, but at that time I didn't immediately want to marry you. I just pretended not to know. If I really wanted to use you as a substitute, I should have gone to you the moment I saw you. The fact that I didn't prove that I didn't intend to use you as a substitute."
"The reason I decided to marry you is because of the child's condition. When we went to see the doctor, he said that someone had to stay by the child's side and take good care of him, which would be beneficial to the child's condition. I never considered the people in my social circle because I knew their personalities."
"Then I suddenly thought of you. I thought that since you have noticed me for so long, you must like me and have a lot of patience. You must also like children. So I took a gamble and had someone contact you. Just like I told you at the beginning, I can give you everything except love. I'm not saying this to you. I would say the same thing to anyone, because I have never thought about developing a relationship with anyone."
Gu Zheng spoke cautiously and carefully, afraid that he might say something wrong that would make Xia Ran angry or sad.
But everything he just said was exactly what he was thinking.
The idea of a body double has never really been valid.
Xia Ran kept his head down, and it was unclear whether he had listened to Gu Zheng's words. After a while, seeing that Gu Zheng was not going to continue, he spoke up.
"It's about the children; everything else is none of my business."
Gu Zheng felt a little sad. He had said so much, but Xia Ran still didn't react.
“Okay, actually, the child’s situation is very simple. Yesterday, after I took the child home, I went to see Gu En. I don’t know when Gu En secretly had a paternity test done with the child and made a copy for someone else. According to Gu En, if Gu En doesn’t contact that person for two days, that person will expose the child’s situation.”
"His reason for threatening me was simple: he wanted to marry me, or... he wanted to take the child back if I didn't marry him. I would never agree to either of those."
To be honest, Xia Ran's heart still couldn't help but clench when she heard these words.
Based on the two reasons Gu Zheng just mentioned, either one would affect his relationship with his child. If we take it to a more serious level, it's possible that he and his child will never be able to see each other again, since the child is his biological child.
Gu Zheng had been paying close attention to Xia Ran's emotions. Seeing that Xia Ran's expression was somewhat dazed, he couldn't help but speak up.
"Don't worry, I won't agree to his request, and I will never let you and the child be separated. In everyone's eyes, you are the child's only little father."
Upon hearing this, Xia Ran subconsciously looked up at Gu Zheng, her lips moved, and she said...
"Where is the child now? I'll take him back first, so he won't be sad if it drags on. As for your matter with Gu En, it has nothing to do with me. I just hope that the child won't be hurt."
Although Xia Ran's voice still sounded somewhat cold, Gu Zheng could still detect a hint of gentleness in it, unlike before.
Moreover, Xia Ran's words just now proved that he no longer cared about the child's identity, which is a good thing for him.
"The child is at home. Shall I take you back to pick him up?"
The thought of returning to his hometown filled Xia Ran with intense dread. That place evoked far too many memories for him.
"Have someone take him to my house."
As she spoke, Xia Ran got up to leave. Gu Zheng quickly took out his phone, sent a message, and then followed Xia Ran out the door.
Just as the two reached the bar entrance, Gu Zheng's phone rang. Gu Zheng answered it and put it on speakerphone. He was right behind Xia Ran, so Xia Ran could hear the voice coming from the phone.
"Young Master, are you back yet? Young Master has locked himself in his room again and won't let anyone in. He's hiding inside crying."
Along with Uncle Wang's voice came bursts of children crying. Xia Ran, who was walking ahead, heard it as well.
Xia Ran subconsciously stopped in her tracks. Gu Zheng, seeing an opportunity, immediately walked over, speaking into his phone to Uncle Wang as he did so.
"I understand, I'll be right back."
After saying that, he hung up the phone, walked directly in front of Xia Ran, and blocked her path, saying...
"Ranran, the baby is crying right now. Why don't you come back with me?"
Xia Ran remained silent. He didn't want to go, but the sound of the child crying kept echoing in his ears.
This is probably a common problem for all parents: if their child is even slightly uncomfortable, the parents will feel a thousand times more uncomfortable than the child.
"Ranran, I've told you everything about us. Please... give me a chance, okay?"