Lin Qingping and Gu Juncheng

Chapter 248 To Old Age

It's Wenxiao.

As Wen Xiao passed by Gu Juncheng, she glared at him fiercely.

There was genuine hatred in that gaze.

Gu Juncheng has a clear conscience.

He arrested criminals; if her man from the port city were a decent person, no one would have done anything to him.

The final investigation revealed that Wen Xiao was innocent; she was just a bit dim-witted and blinded by the money in the hands of that Hong Kong man.

But in reality, the person who obtained the money through illegal activities was either unwilling or dared not squander it on her, and she didn't get much of it.

By the time the case was fully investigated, all suspects were apprehended, and the verdicts were handed down, it was already the second half of that year, and Lin Qingping was a junior in college.

During this time, Wen Xiao came to Gu Juncheng and Zhiyuan more than once, bringing money with her, hoping they could find a way to prevent the men of Hong Kong from being sentenced.

But how is that possible?

Neither Gu Juncheng nor the young Zhiyuan are people who would bend the law for personal gain.

The last time Wenxiao came to beg, she left in tears.

Zhiyuan watched her retreating figure, lost in thought.

After the verdict against the man from Hong Kong, Wenxiao never came back.

Lin Qingping didn't know where she went either. The Wen family had cut off all contact with her, so naturally she had no way of getting any information. She didn't know what Zhiyuan was thinking, but Zhiyuan was a thoughtful child who kept many things to himself and wouldn't say them out loud.

One Sunday, she and Gu Juncheng took Zhiyuan and Xiaomai out to play and ran into Wen's maternal grandparents.

The two old men who had insisted on taking Zhiyuan back earlier now looked ashamed when they saw them.

Grandpa Wen hesitated for a moment, but still came forward to greet them, "Xiao Lin, Xiao Gu, Zhiyuan."

Lin Qingping subconsciously put her hand on Zhiyuan's shoulder.

Grandpa Wen noticed her protective behavior and smiled wryly, "Comrade Lin, don't worry, no one will come to take Zhiyuan away."

Finally, he sighed with a wry smile, "Wenxiao has already returned to Hong Kong."

This really surprised Lin Qingping.

That man in Hong Kong has been arrested! And he's serving his sentence here. How can she be so devoted and still want to go to Hong Kong?

Grandpa Wen understood Lin Qingping's expression and could only manage another bitter smile.

What can he do?

He also felt that Wenxiao had no need to go there anymore, but Wenxiao was unwilling. Hong Kong City had the life she longed for, and in her opinion, even washing dishes there would be better than staying here.

Grandpa Wen was too embarrassed to say this, so he forced a smile and said, "There are still two children over there, and she's worried about them..."

That wasn't a very good way to put it, and Grandpa Wen immediately realized it and shut up. But in reality, it was the truth. If she was going to go to Hong Kong, she would definitely have to stay with her two children. Otherwise, where would she stay?

There was no need to continue the conversation at this point. Both the Wen family elders and Lin Qingping and the others tacitly agreed to part ways.

That evening, Gu Juncheng returned to school, and Lin Qingping checked Zhiyuan's homework. After checking it, she asked Zhiyuan, "Are you a little unhappy?"

She discovered it.

Zhiyuan behaved normally for most of the day, but occasionally there would be a moment when he would be absent-minded, blank, and lost in thought.

Zhiyuan hesitated.

“Speak! I’m your mother, what can’t you say!” Lin Qingping pinched his cheek.

"Won't you be angry if I tell you?" Zhiyuan asked, a little uneasy.

"Of course not! I'd be angry if you didn't tell me!" Lin Qingping truly hoped that Zhiyuan, and her future children, would understand one thing: parents are a child's reliable support! It's not that if something happens outside, regardless of right or wrong, the first thing they feel is fear when they think of their parents, and then they hide it—that's not good! Some children are bullied outside, but they don't dare tell their parents when they come home!

Zhiyuan lowered his eyelids. "I... I used to feel sorry for her. I thought about it. She has no one to rely on now. Although I won't go back to that home, I will work hard to earn money when I grow up, and give her money so she can have food to eat when she gets old. But..."

Zhiyuan stopped there.

But Lin Qingping understood. The rest of the sentence meant: But she left again. She didn't need him at all. In fact, she had never even thought about him. She would rather raise someone else's child...

Yes, Wenxiao abandoned him once again...

Zhiyuan is still kind.

No wonder he told Lin Qingping not to be angry.

She won't be angry.

Zhiyuan is such a kind person...

She clearly treated Zhiyuan badly when he was a child in her past life, but he still remembered her as his aunt after he grew up and would call her "Mom" later. If he wasn't kind-hearted, how could he have done that?

"Zhiyuan." She held Zhiyuan's little hand. "You must remember that Uncle Gu and I will always be your parents."

I hope you understand that no matter who leaves, your parents will always be there for you.

Zhiyuan looked at her, his eyes welling up with a faint red.

"Silly child, go to sleep. You have school tomorrow." She tucked him in.

"Okay." Zhiyuan said obediently.

That was the end of it. From then on, Wenxiao seemed to have disappeared from their lives and didn't reappear for a long time.

As for the Wen family, they all live in the capital and are not far apart. They can occasionally run into each other, but that's all.

Also this year, Lin Qingping's younger brother, Lin Jiagui, reached the end of his labor camp sentence.

Lin Qingping had almost forgotten about this incident. Gu Juncheng told her when he came back one weekend that he had gone to the labor camp to pick him up, and after picking him up, he bought a ticket and put him on the train back to his hometown.

"You're still going to pick him up?" Lin Qingping asked.

“Otherwise?” he said. “He’ll come after you again? He wouldn’t dare to play any tricks on me.”

Lin Qingping was very curious about what her family was like. It could be said that this life was no different from the last. In the last life, Gu Juncheng truly accepted all the demands of her and her family without complaint, but in this life, his attitude had completely changed.

"Gu Juncheng," she asked tentatively, "if, and I mean if, I always side with my mother and brother, and ask you to buy things, and move all our family's belongings to my mother's place, what would you do?"

Gu Juncheng was bending over washing vegetables when he heard this and froze for a moment.

"Why aren't you saying anything?" she poked his back.

"Ahem..." He cleared his throat. "There are no 'ifs'."

"What if?" Lin Qingping hugged his waist.

He was helpless. "He was helpless. They are your family members, so of course you can do whatever you want with them."

Lin Qingping didn't know what answer she was expecting. Hearing this, she felt silly. What was there to ask? He had shown her clearly through his actions over the past two lifetimes.

"Gu Juncheng," she whispered, pressing against his back.

He grunted in agreement and continued washing the vegetables.

"Gu Juncheng... Gu Juncheng... Gu Juncheng..." She kept calling his name without saying a word.

He couldn't help but laugh, "Am I being silly today?"

"You're the idiot!" You're the idiot! Do you know that all I want to do is call your name like this, until we're old, until we can't walk anymore?

Gu Juncheng, let's live our lives peacefully and quietly until we grow old, okay?

Lin Qingping truly believed this. The meaning of her rebirth was to grow old with him. Otherwise, why would she come back? To make money? She had already made enough money in her previous life.

However, reality soon dealt her a heavy blow...