He Zhichu was still sitting in the car. From a distance, he stared at Gu Nianzhi quietly and kept her company.
Amongst the bustling crowd, her lonely figure was particularly eye-catching.
A chubby little boy ran over with a big marshmallow and brought it to Gu Nianzhi. He said in a childish voice, “Big sister, don’t cry. I’ll give you some candy.”
Gu Nianzhi looked up with tears streaming down her face. She saw a little boy who was around four or five years of age looking at her with concern. He was holding a big marshmallow and was about to hand it to her.
Gu Nianzhi did not like to eat sweets. However, when she saw the big marshmallow and the little boy’s clear eyes, her heart warmed up.
The world wasn’t that cold and heartless, was it?
She was touched by the kindness of this child who she didn’t know.
“Thank you.” Gu Nianzhi reached out to take it and licked it.
The little boy smiled widely. His chubby little face was just like a juicy red apple that tempted one to take a bite.
Gu Nianzhi stood up and looked around. “Where are your parents?”
“Ah!” the little boy cried out. He looked back and shouted, “Daddy, Mommy!”
Not far away, a young couple who were anxiously looking for the child glanced over. “Tong Tong!”
The two of them ran over frantically and hugged the child. “Tong Tong! Are you okay?!”
The little boy giggled and shook his head. “I’m fine! I brought a marshmallow for this big sister to eat. Big sister cried and she was very sad. After eating the marshmallow, she wasn’t sad anymore.”
Gu Nianzhi wiped her tears in embarrassment and spoke to the couple, who were still overwhelmed by lingering anxiety. “Thank you, Tong Tong. He’s a good kid.”
The young couple noticed Gu Nianzhi’s stunning beauty, as well as the clean and elegant clothes she was wearing. Although the style of her clothes was ordinary, they were of very good quality. It was obvious that she was from a good family.
They let out a sigh of relief and smiled. “Tong Tong is so naughty. He told us that he wanted to buy balloons, but he disappeared in the blink of an eye.”
The little boy recalled the balloons that he wanted. He pouted and said unhappily, “I want those big balloons that can fly in the sky while I sit inside.”
“Tong Tong, don’t be silly. Those balloons are hard to come by. Besides, even if we managed to find them, Mom and Dad wouldn’t be able to afford it.” Tong Tong’s father patiently tried to reason with him.
The four-or five-year-old child didn’t quite understand the class difference brought about by money. He didn’t quite understand the concept, but he also understood that he wouldn’t be able to fly in a balloon.
He lowered his head and nodded again. “Okay, then we’ll buy a few balloons to hold.”
“Tong Tong is so understanding!” the couple kissed their son passionately and realized that Tong Tong was giggling again.
The family of three bid farewell to Gu Nianzhi and went to buy a few helium balloons from the stall selling balloons across the street.
Gu Nianzhi looked at them enviously and sighed slightly.
He Zhichu noticed that the couple had come looking for them and quickly got out of the car. He was worried that something might have happened to Gu Nianzhi.
However, when he realized that there was no conflict, he did not draw closer. He simply stationed himself nearby.
After the family of three had left, He Zhichu walked over to Gu Nianzhi and said, “What else do you want to eat? I’ll buy it for you.”
Gu Nianzhi licked the marshmallow and thought to herself, when the heart is bitter, eating more sweets can truly make up for it.
Although she never liked sweets, she took a special liking to that marshmallow.
Although the marshmallow was big, it was actually just an empty shell.
She had only eaten a few mouthfuls, but the huge marshmallow was shrinking at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Gu Nianzhi said in a low voice, “… I want to sit in a hot air balloon. Can you do it?”
He Zhichu’s shimmering peach eyes flickered. “Of course.”
He had heard the little boy’s wish.
He Zhichu took out his phone and made a few calls. Not long after, a large hot air balloon flew over the square and landed on an open space nearby.
Gu nianzhi smiled and said, “I’ll ask Tong Tong to sit in the hot air balloon with me. Is that okay?”
He Zhichu nodded. “Let’s go find him together?”
The couple had just bought Tong Tong a helium balloon. They had been playing with it for a while when they saw the hot air balloon flying towards them. Tong Tong’s attention was immediately drawn to it.
This was the balloon he wanted to sit in!
Hence, together with the other children, he shouted and rushed towards the hot air balloon that had just landed.
The staff responsible for maintaining order in the square tugged on a rope to separate the hot air balloon from the crowd.
Gu Nianzhi walked over to Tong Tong and said, “Tong Tong, do you want to sit in the hot air balloon? I can sit with you.”
“Really?! That’s great! Thank you, Big Sister!” Tong Tong was jumping with joy.
Tong Tong’s parents had also rushed over and were extremely grateful to Gu Nianzhi. They said, “Miss, you’re too kind. There’s no need for this…”
Gu Nianzhi smiled and said, “If you’re worried about his safety, then we can forego this. There isn’t any special meaning to this. Tong Tong gave me a marshmallow and so I’m returning the favor.”
The couple glanced at each other. Then, they looked down at their son’s eager little face. They almost agreed to it.
However, they were still rational beings.
Although Gu Nianzhi didn’t look like a bad person, she was still a stranger to them.
They were worried about leaving their son alone in the hot air balloon with her.
The hot air balloon wasn’t very big. There were three seats in it. One was for the hot air balloon operator, and the other two seats were for the passengers. It was impossible to fit their family and Gu Nianzhi in it.
They were too embarrassed to ask Gu Nianzhi to give up her seat in the hot air balloon and simply let their family sit in it.
The hot air balloon belonged to someone else. They were not so shameless as to treat someone else’s things as their own.
However, Tong Tong was so envious that he was on the verge of tears.
He Zhichu saw this and took out his identification card. He waved it at the couple and said, “It’s okay, I’ll go up with them. If you need anything, you can look for the He family.”
The couple realized that they were from the He family and immediately felt relieved. They beamed with joy and said, “Thank you, Tong Tong. You can go sit in the hot air balloon with Miss and Mr. He!”
Tong Tong immediately cheered up. He grabbed Gu Nianzhi’s hand and ran towards the hot air balloon.
He Zhichu followed them and allowed the hot air balloon operator to disembark. He took control of the hot air balloon and got it to take off. Gu Nianzhi and Tong Tong sat in the hot air balloon as passengers.
He Zhichu flew the hot air balloon with ease and quickly lit the fire to take off.
Gu Nianzhi protected Tong Tong in front of her and watched the crowd in the square with him. They gazed at the blue sky and white clouds that were drawing closer and closer. Their field of vision was very wide, and their mood gradually improved. Their smiles also became more sincere and refreshed.
What she did not know was that at this time, someone had taken out a high-definition, long-range focused SLR camera and snapped a picture of the three of them on the hot air balloon.
He Zhichu was handsome and elegant, just like a magnolia tree.
Gu Nianzhi was delicate and beautiful, just like a blooming crabapple.
Tong Tong was lively and cute, just like their child.
The three of them were talking and laughing, completely enjoying themselves as a family of three.
When the photo was placed in front of He Chengjian, he was so happy that he couldn’t close his mouth. He wished that he could photoshop Tong Tong’s face to look like his grandson. Then, they would be a real family of three!
…
After alighting the hot air balloon, the couple thanked Gu Nianzhi and He Zhichu profusely and left with Tong Tong, who had fulfilled his wish.
He Zhichu noticed that Gu Nianzhi was in a much better state of mind. Hence, he made a suggestion, “Do you want to go to the hospital to visit Aunt Qin?”
Gu Nianzhi’s eyes darkened instantly. Her crystal-like eyes were suddenly mixed with impurities, and they had a cold and bleak feel to it.
He Zhichu regretted his suggestion and was about to change the topic when Gu Nianzhi said firmly, “Let’s go, I need to receive an explanation.”
Gu Nianzhi did not want to believe Wen Shouyi’s claim that Qin Yaoguang was her biological mother, but she would not jump to conclusions so easily.
As a highly skilled lawyer, Gu Nianzhi only believed in logic and evidence.
She had a premonition that Qin Yaoguang was her biological mother the moment she saw her.
However, after interacting with her, she was not so sure.
It was simple. Although there was evidence to prove that Qin Yaoguang was indeed her biological mother, because Qin Yaoguang was exactly the same as Gu Xiangwen’s wife in the other world, Gu Nianzhi felt that such logic did not make sense.
Because she did not sense any form of motherly affection from Qin Yaoguang. Whether it was love or hate, she felt very indifferent towards Qin Yaoguang.
Qin Yaoguang treated her as if they were strangers who had nothing to do with each other.
This was indeed abnormal.
Since there were questions, she had to face them.
Gu Nianzhi would never run away from a problem.
Pretending to be an ostrich was not suitable for someone like her who liked to get to the bottom of everything.
He Zhichu saw that Gu Nianzhi was willing to go to the hospital. He couldn’t ask for more.
He knew that Gu Nianzhi had a knot in her heart, and he didn’t want her to stay unhappy because of it.
“Let’s go, I’ll take you to the Qin Group’s private hospital.” He Zhichu got into the car with Gu Nianzhi.
Gu Nianzhi sat in the passenger seat. She finally had the energy to admire the streets of the imperial capital.
Gu Nianzhi couldn’t help sighing as she stared at the road. The divide between the rich and the poor was many times greater on this side than on the other side.
The Huaxia Empire’s private hospital was the most upscale and luxurious private hospital in the entire empire. It had its own branch offices all over the country.
Their headquarters used to be in Z city. After Qin Yaoguang and He Chengjian got engaged, they moved to the imperial capital.
The moment they arrived, they occupied a very good location in the imperial capital. The hospital was built in an imposing manner and was full of modern decor. One look and one could tell that they were wealthy beyond comparison.
Gu Nianzhi got out of the car and narrowed her eyes as she stared at the large word ‘Qin’ engraved on the exquisite carved iron doors before her. She said, “Is the Qin family that rich?”
“Of course.” He Zhichu also got out of the car. Standing behind her, he said, “Decades ago, the imperial government decided to build a special zone in City Z. When the special zone was designated, one-third of the land in the zone belonged to the Qin family. How much has the land price there increased by now? It’s already valued at an astronomical figure.”
