Chapter 340: Chapter 309: He Even Has a Son Now
Gu Qili flipped through a magazine for a while before glancing at her watch. The agreed-upon time was fast approaching. Why hasn’t Mu Qinian arrived? Did something come up at the last minute, or does he simply not want to forgive her?
The thoughts that sprang to mind made Gu Qili somewhat impatient; she couldn’t focus on a single word in the magazine anymore.
Just then, a clear child’s voice came from outside: "Daddy, it’s this room. I made an appointment with Ali, and when you meet her, remember to be polite, okay?"
Gu Qili looked towards the source of the voice just as the door to the private room opened.
She had anticipated encountering him on this return trip to Aus City. Her last visit to Xiangshan was fraught with fear. But never did she expect that day would come so unexpectedly, nor did she imagine... that Mu Qinian would be his son.
So, he already had a son. He must have been doing well these years; the momentum of the Grand Lisboa could almost be described as unstoppable, and he had very much become the wealthiest man in Aus City.
He stood beneath the corridor’s chandelier, the deep contours of his face accentuated by the light, appearing even more handsome. His hawk-like eyes were calm and impassive, a testament to the wisdom and composure that had settled with the years.
He still favored black and white: a tailored black suit, a white shirt, as if nothing had changed at all.
Gu Qili suddenly felt a tightness in her chest, an urgent feeling as if she couldn’t catch her breath. She had imagined many scenarios for their reunion; she had pondered over how much resentment and anger she would feel upon seeing him. Yet, now faced with the face that once prompted love and hatred so profound, she found herself able to remain emotionally detached.
When the heart has died, where can resentment stem from?
"Ali, this is my dad." Mu Qinian, holding Mu Shuoqian’s large hand and with a face expressing shy delight, looked as nervous as someone introducing their partner to their parents for the first time.
Taking a deep breath, Gu Qili gave a slight nod to Mu Shuoqian, then bent down and said to Mu Qinian with a smile: "Qini, I have to go now. I’ve ordered some ice cream for you, it will be served shortly."
Gu Qili packed up the magazines on the table into her bag. Under Mu Qinian’s surprised and puzzled gaze, she walked out with a light step. As she passed by Mu Shuoqian, she didn’t pause for even a second, her decisiveness as if she never knew this person at all.
"Ali?" Mu Qinian wanted to chase after her, but his small body was firmly held back by a large hand, "Ali, are you angry? Don’t worry, my dad is very easy to get along with."
"Dad, let go, I need to chase after Ali. She must be mad; it’s all your fault, you scared her."
Mu Shuoqian simply picked up Mu Qinian under his arm and coldly warned: "We’re going home."
"No, I don’t want to go home." Mu Qinian suddenly saw a toy box on the chair. He immediately pointed with his hand, "Dad, let me down quickly, that must be a gift from Ali."
Mu Shuoqian originally intended to ignore it, but he ended up picking up the LEGO toy box and strode out decisively.
Mu Qinian felt utterly confused. The toy box should have been bought by Ali for him; once back home, how did it end up in dad’s room? His requests were met several times with a cold refusal.
Encountering a snag here, Mu Qinian couldn’t help feeling even more irritated. No ice cream, and the meet-up was spoiled; today was simply too unlucky.
Mu Shuoqian sat on the edge of the bed smoking, with the LEGO toy box in front of him.
Fate really liked to play tricks. So, the Ali that Mu Qinian often mentioned was actually her. Ali equals Ali? How exactly did this kid come up with such a nickname?
It was inevitable that mother and son would meet, but he had not expected they would get to know each other so soon. In such a large city as Aus City, the chances of encountering someone were slim, almost faint. Yet it seemed that the bond between mother and son had been predetermined in the grand scheme of things.
Was it blood, was it kinship, or was it a connection that simply couldn’t be severed?
Mu Shuoqian took a drag from his cigarette, his gaze settling on the toy set, as his thoughts drifted back to four years ago.
When he woke up from the car accident, the first person he saw was Qiu Yufei.
It was only then that he realized he had been lying in the intensive care unit for a full week.
A full week, then what about his child?
Mu Shuoqian shivered violently, an unprecedented fear gripping him like an invisible hand around his throat, a compulsion driving him to search for his child without caring about the consequences. But his injuries were too severe; even moving was a struggle.
"Phone." That was the first word he uttered after waking up.
Qiu Yufei, seeing that he was awake and overjoyed, hurriedly passed him the phone that had long been turned off,
"Shuoqian, use my phone. Your phone ran out of battery and shut down," said Qiu Yufei as she handed over her own phone.
"Did any calls come in?" Mu Shuoqian asked, his voice betraying an uncontainable urgency.
Qiu Yufei shook her head; in reality, there had been countless incoming calls, but she had rejected and deleted them all.
"Oh, right, there was a message from Gu Qili," she said.
Mu Shuoqian’s entire nervous system suddenly seized up, his eyes urgently darting over: "What did she say?"
Qiu Yufei hesitated as if she had more to say, pursed her red lips and lowered her head: "She said, ’Mu Shuoqian, in this lifetime, never appear before me again. Otherwise, it will be either your death or mine.’"
Mu Shuoqian admitted that he felt desperate upon hearing these words. If the child hadn’t met with an accident, she wouldn’t have said such things for no reason.
"Shuoqian, don’t be sad. You’re injured now and shouldn’t get agitated," Qiu Yufei said with concern and urgency.
Mu Shuoqian glanced at her indifferently, his dark pupils filled with inquiry: "Why are you here?"
"I happened to be driving by the site of your car accident, so I called an ambulance."
"Where is this place?"
Mu Shuoqian used Qiu Yufei’s phone to make a call to Xiao Ran, then closed his eyes and ceased to speak.
Soon, Xiao Ran and Luo Shangqing came and arranged for Mu Shuoqian’s transfer to another hospital.
Qiu Yufei wanted to follow,...
After speaking, she also reminded Xiao Ran: "Get me a set of fresh clothes and pants later."
Qiu Yufei bit her teeth. Was he disgusted with her? Because it was she who had taken care of him during the days of his coma.
"Shuoqian, please don’t drive me away. I can take care of you," she said.
Mu Shuoqian didn’t even turn his head, simply sitting in the wheelchair as Xiao Ran pushed him away.
After the transfer, Mu Shuoqian immediately had Xiao Ran do two things. First, restore all his call and message logs from the mobile company; second, find out the whereabouts of the child.
The first task was completed swiftly by Xiao Ran. As Mu Shuoqian looked through the call logs, his expression gradually darkened. Clearly there had been so many calls for him, yet Qiu Yufei claimed there wasn’t a single call. This meant that during his unconscious state, she had tampered with his phone.
Following that, Mu Shuoqian saw the messages from Gu Qili. She was questioning him, sentence by sentence, insisting that he return Niannian to her.
Niannian? Was that the nickname she gave to their child?
Mu Shuoqian could somewhat guess what had happened; he felt a pain in his chest as if being twisted by a knife.
Suddenly, his gaze got stuck on one particular message: "Stop messaging me, a woman like you doesn’t deserve to carry my child, nor to give birth to him. His fate was sealed from the moment he was born; you are the one who killed him with your own hands."
This message wasn’t sent by him. Thus, it must have been sent by Qiu Yufei.
In fact, the messages from Gu Qili were repetitive with only one sentence: "What did you do to Niannian, give him back to me."
With just these few words, how did Qiu Yufei derive so much information, saying that she was carrying his child, gave birth to him, and killed him with her own hands...?
The fact that Gu Qili did not abort the child was something even he was unaware of.
What exactly happened during the time he paid no attention to her, and why were all these incidents related to Qiu Yufei?
"Xiao Ran, have Shangqing retrieve the surveillance footage from the hospital during my stay."
Luo Shangqing quickly took care of the surveillance footage, and when he brought the items,
Mu Shuoqian took the tablet from the bed; the video had already been copied onto it.
"Mu, how do you plan to deal with your sister?" came Luo Shangqing’s slightly salty voice from outside the door.
Mu Shuoqian’s hand, braced against the wall, suddenly clenched into a fist, a vicious glint fleeting through his mist-covered eyes.