Xia Ran thought this was probably what others called double standards, but so what? He liked Gu Zheng, so of course he would like everything about Gu Zheng. What did double standards matter?
As the oxygen in her mouth was slowly sucked away, Xia Ran couldn't take it anymore, and her weak hands pushed Gu Zheng away.
Once Gu Zheng released her and she felt completely liberated, Xia Ran gasped for breath.
His face and lips were rosy, which inexplicably made Gu Zheng feel that he was very delicious, and even his throat felt a little tight.
Gu Zheng forced himself to look away and suppress the other thoughts in his mind.
Xia Ran had been leaning on Gu Zheng because his legs were weak, but now that he felt a little better, he stood up on his own.
In fact, Xia Ran really didn't want to let go of Gu Zheng, but he also knew that if he didn't let go, Gu Zheng would probably get angry.
"Ah Zheng, you must remember this next time. You must never leave Xiao Chen alone in the room again. That would be very bad."
Having calmed down, Xia Ran hadn't forgotten that Gu Zheng hadn't yet agreed to his request.
Gu Zheng's eyes flickered slightly, and then he gave a soft "hmm".
Upon hearing this, Xia Ran's eyes lit up. Remembering what he had promised Gu Chen, he cautiously spoke up again.
"Ah Zheng, are you... are you free today?"
"Hmm?" Gu Zheng looked somewhat puzzled.
Xia Ran: "I just promised Xiao Chen that we would take him out to play, so..."
Xia Ran's cautious voice, still somewhat soft from what had just happened, sounded to Gu Zheng almost like Gu Chen crying, making him feel inexplicably pitiful.
Actually, he had things to do at the company today, but looking at Xia Ran's hopeful and expectant eyes, he couldn't bring himself to refuse.
"Are you sure you're feeling better? Can you go out now?" The implication was that he agreed to let her out, but it depended on Xia Ran's health.
Xia Ran's eyes lit up. "Alright, alright, I'm not tired anymore, and my head doesn't hurt. We can go out now!"
After he finished speaking, fearing that Gu Zheng wouldn't believe him, he jumped up and down a few times in front of Gu Zheng.
Seeing Xia Ran's childish appearance, Gu Zheng couldn't help but smile slightly, but unfortunately, it was only a slight curve that Xia Ran didn't see.
"Shall we go out in a bit?" Xia Ran asked expectantly.
Gu Zheng: "No."
Xia Ran's smile froze.
Didn't Ah Zheng just promise to go out with them? Why is he going back on his word now?
Chapter 32: Their personalities are very different.
Just when Xia Ran thought Gu Zheng was going to back out, Gu Zheng said something else.
"There's not much to do in the morning, and I have some important things to do, so I'll go in the afternoon after lunch."
Upon hearing this, Xia Ran's face lit up with a smile again, and she said,
"Okay, let's go this afternoon!"
He was so focused on going out to play that he completely forgot there wasn't much to do in the morning.
"But Zheng, next time you should stop pausing and speaking in a disjointed manner. You should finish what you're saying in one go, otherwise it's easy to cause misunderstandings."
Xia Ran spoke boldly to Gu Zheng, and even slightly pursed her lips, as if she was very dissatisfied with the fact that Gu Zheng had suddenly stopped talking earlier.
Gu Zheng was taken aback, not expecting Xia Ran to say such a thing.
"Okay." He nodded slightly.
"Then I'll go downstairs to keep Xiao Chen company first. You should go to work at the company too!"
Xia Ran finished speaking with a smile and then turned and went downstairs.
Gu Zheng, who was standing still, gradually revealed a strange look in his eyes.
Given his personality, he shouldn't have answered "okay" just now, but facing Xia Ran's face, he really couldn't bring himself to say anything else to refuse.
With an inscrutable expression, Gu Zheng returned to his study and took out a photograph from the safe.
If Xia Ran were here, he would definitely recognize this as the picture he broke the frame with.
Gu Zheng gently stroked the boy in the photo whose eyebrows and eyes were extremely similar to Xia Ran's, his eyes filled with complex emotions.
“I’m doing this for Xiao Chen. If you see this from heaven, please don’t be sad or angry. Xiao Chen needs a family, a family that will allow him to recover and be like a normal child.”
“I couldn’t give it to him before, but now I can. Xia Ran is the one. He looks a lot like you, but his personality is completely different.”
Gu Zheng muttered to himself, pausing slightly when he mentioned that their personalities were completely different.
The study was so quiet that Gu Zheng could almost hear his own breathing.
After a while, he put the photos back in the safe.
While the photos were being displayed, Gu Zheng noticed the photo frames inside.
This is the same picture frame that Xia Ran gave him as compensation, but he didn't put the photo in it.
He closed the safe and left the study to return to his room.
It's true that he told Xia Ran he was busy; the company has indeed been very busy lately.
Xia Ran, feeling lightheaded and in a great mood, went downstairs.
Qin Hao was teasing Gu Chen when he saw the smile on Xia Ran's face as she came down. He knew without a doubt that Xia Ran had already appeased him.
"See, I told you so. You two are a married couple. As long as you coax my cousin a little, he definitely won't be angry anymore."
Qin Hao wore a mocking smile.
Hearing Qin Hao say that, Xia Ran's ears turned red again, and she nodded immediately.
However, his expression stiffened slightly after he nodded.
It seems that even after talking to A-Zheng for so long, he still couldn't find out why A-Zheng was angry.
Xia Ran's expression was quite obvious, so Qin Hao noticed it at a glance and asked with some confusion,
"What's wrong? Is there something else?"
He was perfectly fine just a moment ago. How come his expression changed so suddenly?
Hearing Qin Hao's words, Xia Ran couldn't help but feel a little disappointed, and said with a hint of frustration,
"I talked to A-Zheng a lot just now, but now I realize that I still haven't gotten the specific reason why A-Zheng is angry."
As he spoke, he picked Gu Chen up in his arms.
Qin Hao hadn't expected Xia Ran's expression to change because of this, and for a moment he couldn't help but find it a little funny, saying,
"What's the big deal? It doesn't matter how angry he is, as long as you two make up now, isn't that enough?"
Xia Ran, who was initially feeling somewhat disappointed and frustrated, suddenly felt much better after hearing Qin Hao's words.
“That’s true.” Xia Ran smiled again. “Anyway, it’s good that he’s not angry now.”
Qin Hao found it somewhat amusing to see Xia Ran display such a childlike side.
And she couldn't help but compare Xia Ran to that person in her mind.
After comparing them, he still felt that Xia Ran's personality was more likable.
However, his parents didn't like that person very much at the time. I wonder if they will also dislike Xia Ran because of her face when they see her tomorrow?
Just then, Gu Zheng came downstairs.
When he saw Qin Hao with Xia Ran and Gu Chen again, his face immediately darkened.
"Hey cousin, are you going to the company?"
Qin Hao also saw Gu Zheng, so he greeted him directly.
When Xia Ran saw Gu Zheng, she couldn't help but think of what had happened on the balcony earlier, and her face flushed again.
I feel... inexplicably embarrassed, what's wrong with me?
Gu Zheng also looked at Xia Ran, nodded to her, and then went out. He not only did not answer Qin Hao's words, but also walked right past Qin Hao as if he had not seen him at all.
Qin Hao, who was ignored: "..."
"Cousin, wait a minute, I have something to tell you!"
After telling Xia Ran, Qin Hao went straight to catch up with Gu Zheng.
When Gu Chen, who was nestled in Xia Ran's arms, saw that Gu Zheng had actually left, his lips trembled and his eyes instantly reddened.
"Bad! Daddy's bad!"
Xia Ran was taken aback by Gu Chen's words, but then she understood what he meant and couldn't help but laugh.
"You little rascal, didn't I tell you not to say bad things about your big dad? That's wrong. But don't worry, your big dad is just going to work temporarily. He'll be back this afternoon to play with us."
"Really...really?" Gu Chen blinked his big eyes.
"Of course it's true, why would your dad lie to you?" Xia Ran shook her head with amusement.
Gu Chen didn't say anything, but simply hugged Xia Ran even tighter.
He trusts his stepfather; his stepfather wouldn't lie to him!
On the other side, Qin Hao followed Gu Zheng and got into the car together.
"Cousin, I'm not trying to be mean, but it's one thing to be cold and indifferent to us, but how can you be so cold to Xia Ran too? Aren't you afraid of hurting him?"
After getting into the car and settling in, Qin Hao couldn't help but start talking.
Gu Zheng, whose expression was already indifferent, turned cold instantly upon hearing Qin Hao's words. He turned to look at Qin Hao and said coldly,
"What does this have to do with you? Aren't you too idle? If you're too idle, hurry up and find something to do, instead of just loafing around all day."
"Huh?" Qin Hao's eyes widened. "Cousin, were you trying to persuade me just now?"
This is truly unbelievable! Something I've never heard of before!
Chapter 33 Suspecting Qin Hao's Affection for Xia Ran
Gu Zheng said coldly, "I just don't want to see any more idle people in my house. Also, you should show more respect to Xia Ran in the future."