Chapter 350 Happier than Us

It was really late by the time they returned home after Gu Niannian’s IV drip. Fang Yaru was still a little worried, staying in Gu Niannian’s room, and refused to leave. Gu Nianbin tried to get her to bed, saying that he would stand guard by Niannian’s side. Fang Yaru asked Du Xiaoxian to stay as well since she was more experienced.

In the end, everyone left, leaving only Gu Nianbin and Du Xiaoxian. One sat while the other stood, and it was rather awkward.

Gu Niannian was fast asleep. She had rosy cheeks, and her long eyelashes fluttered like butterfly wings. The orange glow of the night light shone down on her glossy black hair. She looked like a little angel. Gu Nianbin crouched down beside the bed and looked at his daughter quietly.

She looked a little like Du Xiaoxian but looked even more like Gu Shanshan as well as the personality. Although she was still young, he could already see that she was going to be a great beauty when she grew up. The guy who got to marry her would be super lucky!

Gu Nianbin could not help but smile. Why was he thinking so far ahead into the future?

He leaned closer and smelled a milky fragrance. Gu Niannian was already five but still smelled of milk. He wondered if she was formula-fed or breast-fed when she was younger.

If she was breastfed… An image suddenly popped up in his mind. He suddenly looked toward Du Xiaoxian.

Du Xiaoxian was sitting there in a daze. She felt an intense stare on her and instinctively looked up, causing their eyes to meet. At this moment, time seemed to come to a standstill.

His gaze was no longer cold. Instead, it was intense and sensual. Du Xiaoxian was no stranger to his gaze like this. He had looked at her like this many nights in the past. On those nights, he slowly approached her, and his body language was telling her how much he loved her!

Although there were still problems between them, she would not refuse if he really wanted to…

Du Xiaoxian blushed furiously as she thought about this. She quickly looked the other way and stood up at a loss. However, she did not know why she stood up, so she sat down again and stared at her toes. It felt like her blood was boiling inside her. She felt ill at ease. A shadow flitted past and it was Gu Nianbin standing up. Du Xiaoxian became even more nervous as she gripped the hem of her clothes tightly.

However, he did not walk toward her. He just stood there for about a minute, or maybe even longer. She then heard his low and husky voice. “I’m going out for a smoke.”

She did not look up. He seemed to hesitate for a moment before saying, “Mom is worried about Niannian, so maybe you should sleep with Niannian tonight.”

Du Xiaoxian remained silent, so Gu Nianbin left. He walked across the carpet silently as if he was afraid of alarming her. Even though she couldn’t hear his footsteps, she knew that he had gone out since she heard the sound of the door closing.

She suddenly breathed a sigh of relief, but she was feeling vaguely disappointed. To others, crossing the gap from strangers to lovers might be a long and tough journey. But for them, it only required just a simple decision. But Gu Nianbin’s decision was that he did not need her!

She kept her head down and did not move until her neck started to ache. She was then forced to look up.

Gu Niannian was still sleeping soundly on her bed. The pink room was like a land from fairytales. It was really such a great thing that she could have a beautiful room like this. Gu Niannian was living a wonderful life with the love of so many people. Du Xiaoxian watched her sleeping daughter happily with a faint smile on her lips.

The doctor said that Gu Niannian would need close observation overnight. Fang Yaru was worried, so was Du Xiaoxian. Therefore, she had no objections when Gu Nianbin asked her to stay here and sleep with Niannian. She pulled the covers and quietly lay down. She held her daughter in her arms and closed her eyes.

Gu Niannian had a faint smell of milk. Du Xiaoxian was used to falling asleep with that smell. After returning to the Gu family, she slept very uneasily without her daughter by her side. She always woke up in the middle of the night and habitually reached out to pull the blankets over her daughter, only to feel nothing but air. She would be stunned for a while before remembering that they had returned to the Gu family.

She fell asleep quickly, probably because Gu Niannian was by her side. In her half-asleep state, she felt as though someone was tucking her in. The movements were gentle as warm fingers brushed over her head. Who was it? Was it Gu Nianbin? She tried hard to open her eyes, but her eyelids felt like they weighed a ton. She could not open her eyes no matter how hard she tried. Maybe it was just a dream. Du Xiaoxian thought that she must be dreaming.

The weather was good the next day. Sunlight streamed in through the thin curtains, lighting up the room. The bright sunlight was like golden sand floating in the air, fine and dazzling to the eyes.

Du Xiaoxian opened her eyes and looked at Gu Niannian beside her. Niannian was still fast asleep. Niannian felt a little warm as Du Xiaoxian had been holding her too tightly. Her hair was tousled, and her face was pink. Du Xiaoxian lifted the covers, and a strong milky fragrance filled the air.

Du Xiaoxian gently kissed her daughter on the face, then turned over and got out of bed. Someone must have come in because the thick curtains were pulled open, leaving only the sheer curtains in place to let the sunlight in.

She quietly opened the door, planning to head downstairs to wash up before Gu Niannian woke up.

Almost at the same time, the door opposite was opened. Gu Nianbin stood at the door, looking like he had just woken up. He probably did not expect to see Du Xiaoxian. He was momentarily stunned but came to his senses quickly. His gaze became indifferent again.

Du Xiaoxian was about to wish him a good morning but she abandoned the idea when she saw his cold demeanor. She lowered her head and walked past him. She turned around when she reached the bend in the staircase. She saw Gu Nianbin pushing open the door to Gu Niannian’s room and walking in.

Du Xiaoxian was somewhat gratified since Gu Nianbin checked on his daughter the first thing after he woke up. She was happy as long as Gu Nianbin was good to Gu Niannian and loved her like any normal father.

However, the current state of her relationship with Gu Nianbin was not very good for their child. She could not help but sigh as she thought about this.

Du Xiaoxian did not have an easy life in the Gu family. Similarly, Lu Haochen did not have a comfortable life in Yawan. When the woman he loved left him, it was as if his soul had been taken away. For days, he was like a walking corpse. He was emotionless and would wander around with blank eyes.

Xiao Meiyuan was very worried and did not allow him to live on his own. She stipulated that he had to come home every day. She hoped that she could nurse her son’s broken heart while he was at his lowest with her motherly love and affection.

Lu Haochen was very obedient. He would obediently head home every day. Xiao Meiyuan would personally cook a couple of her son’s favorite dishes. The family would gather around the table to eat and chat happily. At this moment, Lu Dingshen was drinking red wine with Lu Haochen. He raised his glass and said emotionally, “Son, thanks to you, I get to eat your mom’s food every day!”

Xiao Meiyuan glared at her husband, “Didn’t you eat enough years before?”

Lu Haochen glanced at his father, then his mother. He suddenly grinned. “Do you think it’s appropriate for you two to flaunt your affection for each other in front of me?”

Xiao Meiyuan was afraid of upsetting her son, so she quickly said, “No, no. Your father and I are an old married couple. Why would we openly show our affection at this age?”

Lu Dingshen said, “Do your mother and I need to flaunt it? After all, we’ve always been affectionate.”

Xiao Meiyuan kicked her husband under the table, signaling him to watch his words.

Lu Haochen smiled again. “Why did you kick Dad? Dad is right. I also think that you’ve always been very affectionate. I’ll be lucky if my future wife and I have a relationship like yours.”

“Of course, Son.” Xiao Meiyuan looked at her son lovingly. “You’ll be happier than us in the future.”

Lu Haochen nodded. “I hope so.” He said that to comfort his parents. However, he knew that happiness had already slipped away from him. He was once so close to it, and he thought it was within his grasp. However, his happiness did not materialize.

After dinner, he sat at the stone table in the courtyard with a cup of hot coffee and looked up at the sky.

There were a couple of bright stars shining above him, scattering across the velvet sky.

Were the stars in G City’s night sky as bright as these? Was she okay? Did she ever think of him? Was Gu Nianbin good to her? No matter what, she must be happy now that she was back with her lover. He would be at ease as long as she was happy.

But he still missed her. He missed her frowns and her smiles. He often thought of her delicate expressions, her slender figure, and her clear eyes…

Someone slowly approached him. Lu Haochen turned his head and saw that it was Xiao Meiyuan. She was also holding a cup of coffee as she looked at him with a smile. “Is it okay if I join you?”

“Please sit, Mom.” Lu Haochen reached out to help his mother.

“What are you doing?”

“Nothing much,” he answered. Lu Haochen took a sip of coffee and looked up at the stars. “I’m just stargazing.”

Xiao Meiyuan also looked up, “There aren’t many stars tonight. I’m afraid tomorrow will be a cloudy day.”

Lu Haochen said, “It’ll be good if it rains! It’s been sunny for too long.”

Xiao Meiyuan did not reply but drank her coffee silently. Lu Haochen knew that his mother had come to talk some sense into him. Over the past few days, Xiao Meiyuan would take any chance persuading him, saying comforting words. He knew that his mother did not want him to get any silly ideas, so he just listened but never took her advice to heart.

It would probably be the same today, but he was caught by surprise when Xiao Meiyuan started to speak.

Xiao Meiyuan said, “Son, you’ve always thought that your father and I have a loving relationship, but I’m not the person your father loves the most.”

“Mom, don’t be silly. You and dad have been together for so long. He won’t…”

“No, listen to me, Haochen.” Xiao Meiyuan interrupted her son. “Your father and I have been married for decades. He has always been very good to me. You could say that we love each other, but I know that his true love is someone else. Even so, your dad has never lied to me. We were married and already had you when he suddenly confessed to me that he was deeply in love with another woman. To be honest, I knew before he told me. Women have a gut feeling for this kind of thing. He told me only out of respect.”

Xiao Meiyuan paused for a moment. She had a distant look in her eyes as if she was immersed in the memories of the past.

“But that woman didn’t love him back. He had his heartbroken. Just like you, he would sit in a daze. He always seemed absent-minded when I talked to him. I forgave him because I loved him. I didn’t know how I could live without him. Hence, I gave him all the space and freedom he needed. He could do whatever he wanted as long as he was happy—anything that could help him forget the pain. In the end, your father made it through to the other side. He learned to love me. He said that he would take me to travel the world after you took over the company to make it up to me after all these years. It doesn’t matter if he fulfills his promise or not. Just the fact that he said that makes me very happy.”

“Son,” Xiao Meiyuan said earnestly, “Your father is still very happy even though he couldn’t be with the love of his life. I believe that you’ll also be able to find your own happiness. You have to resign yourself to fate. It’s not yours if it wasn’t fated to be. Don’t try to force it. One day, you’ll meet the person you’re meant to be with.”

Lu Haochen did not expect to learn about this matter between his parents. He was stunned into silence.

Xiao Meiyuan stood up and patted Lu Haochen on the shoulder. “Son, learn from your father.”

“Mom,” Lu Haochen stopped her. “Who was the woman Dad was in love with?”

“He never told me, and I never asked.” Xiao Meiyuan smiled. “Sometimes, it’s not a good thing to know too much.”