However, he was right about one thing: Xia Ran and the child were indeed still sleeping.
This was because Xia Ran stayed up late last night braiding ropes. Since the child insisted on staying up with Xia Ran, they stayed up together.
Xia Ran woke up half an hour later and greeted the old man when she saw him sitting in the living room watching TV.
"Grandpa, did I oversleep? What would you like to eat? I'll cook it for you."
"It's not late, it's not late. Don't rush. I made some porridge and ate a little when I got up, so I'm not hungry now. Go wash your face and have some breakfast too, don't upset your stomach. By the way, didn't the child get up with you?"
"Okay, I'll make you something nice later. The child isn't up yet; it was hard on him to stay up with me last night." Xia Ran sat down next to the old man.
The old man chuckled and said, "This child wasn't spoiled for nothing. He insisted on staying with you yesterday even though he knew you were staying up all night. If he didn't really care about you, he wouldn't have stayed with you. But you still haven't told me what you're going to do with all those ropes you've braided?"
Xia Ran smiled and said,
"Xiao Chen won a prize at kindergarten yesterday, which was a few small ornaments. He wanted to wear them, so I braided a few ropes for him to wear. A few more are for Xiao Chen's classmate. His classmate's dad invited us to his house to play tomorrow. His family also won some ornaments, but his dad doesn't know how to braid, so I braided a few more ropes to give to them."
After listening, Grandpa Xia nodded, then said with some hesitation,
"So tomorrow... you're going with Gu Zheng?"
Xia Ran paused for a moment before replying, "Probably, since the people at the kindergarten don't know our relationship. They invited a family, so we should all go together."
Chapter 381 Invitation
After speaking, Xia Ran looked at Grandpa Xia nervously, afraid that he would be unhappy if he heard it.
To Xia Ran's surprise, after listening to the story, Grandpa Xia showed no sign of anger, but simply sighed heavily.
"That's normal. They invited your whole family, and if Gu Zheng didn't go, they might suspect Xiao Chen. By the way, Gu Zheng came to see you earlier and said he had something to discuss with you."
Xia Ran looked at the old man in surprise and asked in a low voice,
"Grandpa...Grandpa, aren't you angry?"
Grandpa Xia sighed, "What's there to be angry about? It's all in the past. Xiao Ran, all Grandpa wants now is for you to be well and happy. I'll listen to you on everything else."
Xia Ran increasingly felt that the old man's words were somewhat strange.
"Grandpa, what's wrong? What do you mean by those words? Don't scare me."
Grandpa Xia glanced at Xia Ran helplessly and said,
"Grandpa is fine. He just wants you to be happy. Grandpa knows you can't let go of Gu Zheng, so he won't force you to forget him."
“Grandpa was too stubborn about what happened before. He shouldn’t have forced you to do things because of his own affairs. So, Xiaoran, this time, no matter who you like, as long as they are good to you, Grandpa will agree. Even if it’s Gu Zheng, I will agree.”
Xia Ran was surprised that her grandfather would say such a thing, and she felt increasingly strange, but looking at her grandfather's mood, he didn't seem to be in any trouble.
Although he was puzzled, he wasn't too worried. He was just a little uncomfortable about what Grandpa Xia had just said.
"Grandpa, you don't need to think too much about it. I'm fine as I am now. I have things to do with you every day. Isn't that good? As for love and romance, I don't want to think about it anymore."
"Don't worry about me. I know what I'm doing. Just focus on taking good care of yourself, okay?"
Grandpa Xia wanted to say something more, but Xia Ran had already stood up and was ready to leave.
"Um, Grandpa, I'm going to brush my teeth, wash my face, and have breakfast. I'm starving."
Hearing this, Grandpa Xia could only sigh and watch Xia Ran leave.
Xia Ran stood in the bathroom, staring blankly at her reflection in the mirror.
He remembered what his grandfather had just said and didn't understand why his grandfather would suddenly say such a thing.
Marry someone else? Side with Gu Zheng? Ha... How could that be? Hasn't he suffered enough from the first bitter experience? How could he possibly go through that again?
Xia Ran bent down, scooped up a handful of water, and splashed it on her face. The icy water finally made her feel a little more awake.
But that only made me a little more clear-headed; some things and thoughts still lingered in my mind.
As for Gu Zheng saying he needed to talk to him about something, he didn't take it to heart at all.
But just as Xia Ran and her child finished their belated breakfast, the doorbell rang again.
Xia Ran paused for a moment; even without looking, he already knew who it was.
Because only a few people come here, and the Lin family father, son, and patriarch have already given them keys, so they don't knock on the door.
In other words, 99% of the time, the person knocking on the door is Gu Zheng from across the street.
Grandpa Xia glanced at Xia Ran, and Xia Ran stood up.
"I'll go take a look."
He didn't want to go see it at first, but the knocking on the door kept going on and on, and it seemed unlikely that it would stop even if he didn't open it.
But as soon as she stood up, Xia Ran seemed to remember something, and looked down at Gu Chen, saying...
"Xiao Chen, go open the door. If it's your uncle, tell him to leave. If it's looking for me, tell him I'm busy, understand?"
Gu Chen hesitated for a moment, "But...why don't you drive yourself, Little Dad? Are you afraid of Big Dad?"
"No, it's nothing. Just think of it as doing your stepfather a favor and go open the door, okay?"
Gu Chen blinked, then nodded in agreement.
"Okay, little daddy, I'll go now."
"Okay, thank you, Xiao Chen."
Xia Ran patted Gu Chen's head, and Gu Chen turned and ran towards the door, but came back a moment later.
"Little Daddy, where are the red string bracelets you made yesterday? One of them is for Big Daddy, I'll take it out and give it to him."
After Gu Chen finished speaking, he looked at Xia Ran with innocent eyes.
Even if Xia Ran wanted to refuse, she didn't seem to have a reason to, since one of them was originally intended for Gu Zheng.
But he was really worried that Gu Zheng would overthink things if he suddenly gave this to him out of the blue.
Xia Ran went to the room and took out three red ropes. Xia Ran helped Gu Chen put one on, gave the other one to Gu Chen and then gave it to Gu Zheng, while Xia Ran herself didn't wear her own rope.
Call him dramatic or whatever, he really doesn't want to wear it right now.
The red string with small bells tied to it looks very delicate and pretty.
Gu Chen was very happy after putting it on, and he ran to the door to open it.
Xia Ran sat down on the sofa after watching Gu Chen leave. Grandpa Xia had been paying attention to Xia Ran and the others' actions, and naturally noticed Xia Ran's emotions.
But having said so much in the morning, it wouldn't be good to say anything more now, so he just pretended not to know anything.
It's best to let Xia Ran handle these things herself. All he could say was that he wouldn't force her to stay away from men and get married anymore.
Gu Zheng was still persistently knocking on the door. He really wanted to talk to Xia Ran as soon as possible because it was almost time for his appointment with Lin Ziming, and he had to go there.
However, he did not expect that the person who opened the door would be Gu Chen. He subconsciously glanced behind Gu Chen but did not see Xia Ran.
"Why are you the one who opened the door? Where's your stepfather?"
“My stepfather told me to come and open the door. He also said that if I was looking for him, I should say he was busy. In short, he didn’t want to see me.”
The last sentence was added by Gu Chen on his own initiative, but he felt that he was right because he felt that his stepfather's emotions were just like that.
"Really?" Although Gu Zheng spoke with skepticism, he already believed Gu Chen's words in his heart, since these were indeed words that Xia Ran could say now.
"Of course it's true, I would never lie." Gu Chen was very unhappy when he was questioned.
Gu Zheng paused for a moment before speaking.
“Go inside and tell your stepfather that I really have something to say to him, and it’s about you. Tell him he absolutely has to come out.”
"About me? What is it? Can you tell me? I'll go tell my stepfather myself."
"No, I can't tell you," Gu Zheng said. "Be good, go and call your stepfather out."
Gu Chen frowned. "I don't dare. My stepfather is in a very bad mood right now and can't tell him. Why don't you come and talk to him later? Here, this is a little bell he brought back from kindergarten. My stepfather strung it together with a red string."
He handed the red string he had been holding to Gu Zheng, whose eyes lit up when he saw it.
He took the rope and put it on his wrist. He used to disdain wearing such things, but now he really liked it.
"Why is your stepfather in a bad mood?" Gu Zheng looked down at Gu Chen.
Gu Chen: "I don't know, but I can tell he's in a bad mood. Is your matter urgent? If not, let's talk about it later."
Gu Zheng thought for a moment, then checked the time again, and finally decided to postpone it for a while, since it was almost time to meet Lin Ziming.
Gu Chen's matter won't be any worse than a day or two.
"Then go inside and tell your stepfather that I really need to talk to him tonight, it's about you, and he absolutely has to come and open the door, but he can't bring you with him, understand?"
Gu Zheng thought that since he had made it clear that he wouldn't be taking Gu Chen with him, Xia Ran should understand.
Although Gu Chen still looked puzzled, he nodded in agreement.
"I understand. I'll go in and tell Daddy right away."
After saying that, he turned around, went inside, and closed the door.
Gu Zheng stood silently for a while before leaving, only occasionally touching the red string on his wrist.
He now roughly guessed why the old man said Xia Ran was still sleeping that morning; it must be because of braiding these ropes.
He also recalled that before he divorced Xia Ran, Xia Ran seemed to get up very early every day, even if she stayed up late at night.
But now he realized that wasn't the case. Xia Ran also liked to sleep in. She probably got up so early before so that she could have breakfast with him, so that the child could have breakfast.
The more Gu Zheng thought about it, the more distressed and guilty he felt.
Qin Hao was already waiting in the car. After Gu Zheng got in, Qin Hao drove directly to the destination.
When Xia Ran saw the child come in, she simply smiled at the child and didn't ask anything.
But just because he doesn't ask doesn't mean the child won't tell him.
Gu Chen threw himself into Xia Ran's arms, tilted his head up, and said to her.
"Little Daddy, Big Daddy asked me to tell you something, something he absolutely had to tell you."
"Hmm?" Xia Ran subconsciously hummed in confusion.
Gu Chen: "Your little dad said he'll come looking for you again tonight. He said it's about me, and it's very important. He said you absolutely have to go out and open the door, and you absolutely can't bring me with you."
"Why?" Xia Ran was genuinely stunned this time. "Why can't I bring you?"