Xia Ran was somewhat puzzled by He Hao's question, but only for a moment before she quickly recovered and answered,
"Yes, my parents passed away shortly after I was born. I was raised by my grandfather."
Upon hearing this, He Hao's heart started racing, but he maintained a calm expression on his face.
"I see. Then you should take this opportunity to spend some quality time with the old man. He's getting old and needs someone to keep him company the most right now."
"Yes, all I want now is for my grandfather to be happy, safe, and healthy. Right now, I just want to spend time with him."
"You're right, it's indeed a good time to spend with the old man." He Hao said absentmindedly, but his heart was very heavy.
It seems that Xia Ran is unaware of her own identity. Moreover, given the deep relationship between Xia Ran and the old man, how would she change if she knew her true identity?
He Hao remained absent-minded until Feng Nianhao and Gu Chen came out and the two picked up the child and parted ways; he still couldn't recover.
Xia Ran took the child home and found that Lin Ziming and his father were already at home preparing a meal, while Grandpa Xia was watching TV in the living room.
Xia Ran felt the familiar presence of home again after a long absence.
During dinner, Lin Ziming told his father about their trip to Liucheng the next day. Grandpa Xia paused for a moment upon hearing the name Liucheng. Xia Ran noticed, but pretended not to know and simply told Lin Ziming and the others…
"Brother Ziming, Uncle, how many days are you going? Will you be able to come back for the New Year? There's not much time left until the New Year."
"I will come back for the New Year, but it will only be for a few days. After I see my friends and take care of my business, I will come back. After the New Year, we will go back to our hometown with you to retire. I am getting old, and it is time for me to retire."
The old man remained silent for a while, and the others guessed his mood, so they quickly changed the subject.
When Lin Ziming and his father got back, it was already past nine o'clock. The old man was getting on in years and soon went to sleep.
Xia Ran helped Gu Chen take a bath, watch TV, and read books. Gu Zheng came to knock on the door at ten o'clock.
He had just returned from the company, and was the man who had just arranged for a group of people to help Gu En. He knew what day it was, so he hadn't come back to see Xia Ran, so as not to affect her mood.
However, Gu Zheng needed to clarify things with Xia Ran regarding Lin Ziming and his father.
When she heard the knock on the door, Xia Ran glanced at the time and almost immediately guessed who it was.
He hesitated, unsure whether to open the door.
But the people outside kept knocking on the door until he opened it, as if they wouldn't give up until they got what they wanted.
"Little Daddy, why don't you go and open the door? Maybe you have something to say."
Hearing Gu Chen's words, Xia Ran hesitated even more, but after a while she still got up to open the door.
Fine, he'd like to see what Gu Zheng had to say.
When Gu Zheng knocked on the door, he thought Xia Ran would definitely come to open it. But after waiting for so long without seeing anyone, his expression turned sour. Could it be that after a day, Xia Ran had gone back to how she was before?
Thinking this, Gu Zheng knocked on the door much faster, but fortunately, he didn't have to wait long before the door was opened.
Seeing Xia Ran appear before him, Gu Zheng breathed a sigh of relief, but also felt a pang of grievance.
"Aran, why did it take you so long to open the door?"
Xia Ran still couldn't get used to Gu Zheng's aggrieved look, and for a moment she didn't know what to say. She could only remain silent for a while before speaking.
"Is there something you need?"
Xia Ran's indifference made Gu Zheng feel even worse, but he didn't forget to say something important.
"I came here to talk to you about something, about Lin Ziming and his father, they are..."
"I don't care who they are. I just need to know that they have no ill intentions towards me. The rest is none of your business."
Xia Ran was about to close the door when Gu Zheng stopped her in time.
"What if I told you they were related to your grandfather's girlfriend when he was young?"
Gu Zheng immediately spoke up, fearing that Xia Ran would really close the shop if he didn't.
"What did you say?"
“I’m saying, they have a relationship with your grandfather’s girlfriend from when he was young. Are you sure you don’t want to know?”
Looking at the serious expression on Gu Zheng's face, Xia Ran was certain that Gu Zheng was not lying.
"You're not lying to me?"
"Aran, do you think I would lie to you about something like this?"
Xia Ran paused for a moment, then asked, "What do you want to say? Or what do you want to do?"
"This matter cannot be explained in a short time. We need to find a place to talk about it. It wouldn't be good if Grandpa heard us talking here."
Xia Ran was certain that what Gu Zheng said was true, and she knew that what Gu Zheng had just said made sense. It was indeed inappropriate to say it here, in case her grandfather heard it...
"I'll go put the kids to sleep first, and I'll be out in twenty minutes."
After saying that, Xia Ran closed the door.
For the first time, Gu Zheng didn't feel upset as he looked at the closed door, because he knew Xia Ran would come out again soon.
He can take a shower in twenty minutes.
Xia Ran ran into Gu Chen as soon as she entered, and the child immediately threw himself into his arms.
"Little Daddy, was that my Big Daddy just now? What was he doing? Did he bring us any midnight snacks?"
Looking into the child's bright eyes, Xia Ran gently pinched the child's nose and said, "..."
"Why do you like eating late-night snacks now? It's not good for kids to eat too many late-night snacks."
Gu Chen blushed. "I...I just want to eat crayfish. I like crayfish."
"You like it? Then next time, Daddy will take you. Now we need to go to sleep, because you have to go to kindergarten tomorrow. Okay?"
"Okay, I'll do whatever Daddy says."
Xia Ran breathed a sigh of relief; he had been worried that the child wouldn't want to go to sleep.
The child falls asleep very quickly; not just in twenty minutes, but in less than ten minutes after lying in bed.
After making sure the child was asleep, Xia Ran carefully left the room.
But when he got to the door, he found that Gu Zheng hadn't come out yet; he had only opened the door.
He frowned, glancing at his phone. Twenty minutes had passed. Was Gu Zheng going to break his promise? But if he was, why hadn't he closed the door?
Just as Xia Ran hesitated, Gu Zheng walked out of the house across the street. He was wearing a bathrobe, and water was still dripping from his hair, so he looked like he had just taken a shower.
Xia Ran paused. He hadn't seen Gu Zheng like this in a long time, and he felt a little unaccustomed to seeing him like this for the first time.
"Ran, come in first, let's talk," Gu Zheng said to Xia Ran.
However, after hearing Gu Zheng's words, Xia Ran looked at him with a wary expression, unable to believe what he was saying.
Seeing the wariness in Xia Ran's eyes, Gu Zheng felt more distressed than ever before.
In the past, Xia Ran would look at him with joy and happiness in her eyes, but now she would be wary.
He sighed and said, "Aran, don't worry, I just want to have a good talk with you. Besides, where else can we talk at this time except inside? I won't do anything to you, you can trust me."
Xia Ran stared at Gu Zheng for a while before silently walking past him into the living room.
Anyway, his relationship with Gu Zheng is already like this, so there's nothing to be afraid of.
When Gu Zheng saw Xia Ran come in, he was indeed relieved. He then closed the door and turned to follow Xia Ran.
When Xia Ran first entered this place, she found that all the furniture and items were very new, as if they had just been bought. Well, there's nothing that someone like Gu Zheng can't do.
However, that wasn't the time for him to think about; he just wanted to know what Gu Zheng meant by those words.
"Tell me, what did you mean by what you just said?"
Chapter 400 There has never been anyone else.
Gu Zheng looked at Xia Ran's eagerness to know the truth and gave a bitter smile to himself.
He used to find Xia Ran clingy and annoying, but now that he wants to spend more time with her, she doesn't want to be with him anymore. Is this what they call the wheel of fortune turning?
"Are you going to talk or not? If you don't, I'm leaving!"
Since Gu Zheng remained silent, Xia Ran assumed that Gu Zheng was only trying to get her to stay and that what he had said earlier was all a lie.
"Okay, sit down first. Don't rush, I'll tell you now." Gu Zheng sat down on the sofa, and Xia Ran glanced at him and sat down as well, but her expression remained tense.
“At first, I didn’t intend to investigate Lin Ziming. I just felt that Lin Ziming had ill intentions towards you, so I wanted to know what Lin Ziming was up to. Later, I found out their true identities. They have been living abroad. Do you know what their family does? They are involved in underground work. Do you know what underground means?”
Xia Ran didn't understand what it meant at first, but looking at Gu Zheng's serious expression, he thought about it more deeply and realized that he seemed to understand.
He knew that Lin Ziming and the others were not ordinary people, but he hadn't thought about it that way. To be honest, he was still quite surprised when he heard it now.
But after the initial surprise, he felt relieved. He still believed that Lin Ziming wouldn't do anything to him or his grandfather; he was related to Lin Ziming as a person, but it had nothing to do with Lin Ziming's identity.
"I don't want to know anything about Ziming's identity. I think he's a good person. I just want to know what you mean by my Ziming's connection to my grandfather's past!"
Even if Brother Ziming is involved in underground work, he has nothing to be afraid of. Who says that people who do that kind of work aren't good people?
Gu Zheng had originally thought that if he revealed Lin Ziming's true identity, Xia Ran would definitely mind to some extent, but to his surprise, Xia Ran didn't care at all, which made him very unhappy.
"You really trust him that much?" Gu Zheng couldn't help but ask.
"Why don't you believe him?" Xia Ran retorted directly.
The two looked at each other, and in the end, Gu Zheng gave in. He sighed silently and handed a file folder to Xia Ran.
"The answers are all in there. Take a look for yourself first, and then I'll explain it to you, and you'll understand."
Xia Ran didn't bother to doubt Gu Zheng and simply picked up the file folder to look at it.
The first thing he saw when he took out the item was a photograph. The photograph was very old, but it was very well preserved, only slightly yellowed, and looked like it had been processed using special methods.
This photo shows my grandfather when he was young, and his girlfriend when he was young. Seeing the photo of my grandfather and that person again, Xia Ran couldn't help but feel a little emotional.
Both were wearing white shirts unique to that era. In their early twenties, their eyes shone with light. Shoulder to shoulder, they looked like two dashing young men, making people feel very envious.
But looking at it now, Xia Ran only felt heartache.
Are these two really not truly in love? Back then, they were willing to leave their parents for each other, face the gossip of that era, and stay together even when they were starving. Why did they stop being together once their lives improved?
Xia Ran's hand caressed the two people in the photo, and her nose couldn't help but sting with tears.
Gu Zheng had been paying attention to Xia Ran's emotions, and now he began to comfort her.
"Aran, look at the rest of the things first. It seems that what happened to Grandpa back then is not quite the same as what we know."