Chapter 72: After the Little Girl Returns Home, My Grievances Can No Longer Be Hidden

Xin Xin saw the man remain silent, slipped off his leg, and when she saw his face clearly, her jet‑black eyes lit up and she adorably covered her mouth.

Gu Yunci realized she had mistaken someone, and gave her a gentle smile.

Xin Xin's long, upturned lashes fluttered twice, and her usually restrained little face broke into a soft smile.

"Sorry, uncle, I mistook you for someone else."

She politely bowed to Gu Yunci, then turned and ran out of the tea‑break area.

Gu Yunci reached out to pull her, but his body seemed inexplicably frozen, unable to move.

He stood there, a restrained, desolate sense of fate tightly enveloping him.

That sudden collision just now reminded him of how, years ago, Meng Shutang had unexpectedly burst into his life; after many twists, fate still refused to let him go.

The cruelest tenderness of fate is that after his loss, it makes him realize how he himself had carelessly lost her.

He doesn't know whether he can still have a future with Meng Shutang.

But he longs to see that lively little girl again; her radiant smile would dispel the gloom in his heart and body.

When Qin Zheng finished his work and came in, he gave this order.

"Find me a little girl about this tall, wearing a purple chiffon dress, with curly hair, very cute…"

Qin Zheng knew at once that he had gone mad again.

A three‑year‑old must have family; who would let a stranger get close to his child?

But he didn't want him to keep losing composure, so he softly called, "President Gu, boarding time is approaching."

The man's Adam's apple bobbed, yet his gaze remained locked on the bustling crowd, not moving an inch.

Qin Zheng saw this, grabbed his briefcase, just as he had done for four years.

It's not that he's ruthless; only this way can the business prodigy, the man who dominates the market, return to his proper place quickly.

"President Gu, the international flight to New York is about to take off.

In fourteen hours, it will land in New York; all itineraries and documents will be ready, no delays allowed."

The man slowly withdrew his gaze, the crimson in his eyes dimming bit by bit, leaving only a dead, cold emptiness.

With one practiced hand he buttoned the lowest button of his suit, "Let's go."

At the airport exit, the crowd surged, and Meng Shutang spotted that tiny figure at a glance.

The little girl wore a princess braid, her back hair naturally curled, a pink‑white face beaming with a smile, her eyes seeming to contain starlight.

Meng Shutang watched her squat down and opened her arms.

The little girl immediately saw her, broke free from Li Xiuyun's hand, and, like a light butterfly, rushed straight toward her.

"Mom."

The soft, mushy voice struck Meng Shutang's heart, making it flutter.

She steadily caught the little one as it leapt into her arms.

The little girl exuded a faint milky scent; her tiny arms wrapped around her neck, and her pink lips affectionately brushed her cheek.

"Mom, I miss Xin Xin so much."

"Xin Xin misses Mom too."

They hugged for a while; Xin Xin rose from Meng Shutang's arms and kept looking at that delicately carved pink face, never getting enough of it.

Little Xin Xin clung to her neck, chattering about the amusing incidents on the plane, and when she smiled, her tiny dimples were dazzlingly sweet.

Xin Xin turned, saw Lu Shenyang beside her, walked to his side and took his hand, "Dad."

Meng Shutang's cheeks warmed, "Xin Xin, call him uncle."

Xin Xin, "Grandma told me to call him that."

Meng Shutang, apologetically looking at Lu Shenyang, "Sorry, Brother Shenyang, my grandma misunderstood."

Lu Shenyang actually took it well, and since Meng Shutang said so, he didn't object.

Lu Shenyang held Xin Xin's hand and walked ahead, gently brushing aside the strands on her forehead, "Xin Xin, have you missed uncle?"

Xin Xin nodded, "I have."

"Where have you missed him?"

Xin Xin pointed to her heart, then to her little head.

Everyone saw and laughed together.

Behind them, Li Xiuyun grabbed Meng Shutang, "It's been so long, how come you still…"

Meng Shutang replied, "Grandma, I told you, Shenyang and I aren't the relationship you think; he's my brother."

Li Xiuyun sighed, saying nothing.

The group got into the car, and Xin Xin voluntarily recounted what had just happened, "Earlier inside, I mistook someone, thought he was uncle, and leapt onto him at once.

He was standing by the floor‑to‑ceiling window, one hand in his pocket, looking so dashing, and his scent was pleasant."

For some reason, as Xin Xin described that man, Meng Shutang could only think the man she mentioned was Gu Yunci.

Standing by the floor‑to‑ceiling window, hand in pocket—doesn't that epitomize a man!

And, I must say, the cedar scent on him was indeed fresh and pleasant.

But that thought flashed by, how coincidental!

Lu Shenyang drove, taking Meng Shutang and the others home.

For lunch, he was the chef, preparing authentic Jiangcheng cuisine.

Li Xiuyun looked at the table piled high with dishes, laughing with her mouth unable to close.

When leaving, Lu Shenyang asked Meng Shutang if she wanted to go to the hospital; Meng Shutang replied, "The medicines from yesterday and today have run out, I'll go tomorrow night."

Her daughter and grandma had just returned, wanting to spend more time with them, understandable, "Then you should take better care of yourself."

Meng Shutang nodded, "I know."

As soon as Lu Shenyang left, Grandma asked Meng Shutang, "You two have such a good relationship, you know each other inside and out—why don't you just break the window paper?"

Meng Shutang: "Grandma, you're at it again."

"No, if he despises that you've been married and have children, then you shouldn't be this close.

It would delay you and also delay him."

"Lu Shenyang isn't that kind of person; I think… this is quite good."

If Lu Shenyang truly confessed, perhaps they wouldn't even be able to remain friends.

Meng Shutang, eager to end the topic, said, "My dad… has been found."

Li Xiuyun's hand paused slightly, "Has he… gone to see your mother?"

Meng Shutang nodded, "But I drove him away. In the future, if you go to the hospital and happen to meet him, just let him leave."

Li Xiuyun asked, "Can you let go?"

In the past, Meng Shutang had longed so much for her father.

Whenever she spoke of him, it was like the chattering of little sparrows.

He was the one she offered to the altar, the undying god in her heart.

Li Xiuyun felt that for her to say that, an unknown amount of blood must have dripped in her heart.

"Grandma, he's with Bai Lianyue, you've always known that, right?"

Li Xiuyun gave a bleak smile, "Grandma, I'm someone who's been through it; the first time I saw them together on the same stage, I could tell."

That was Meng Shutang's tenth birthday, and the whole family celebrated boisterously at home.

Suddenly, Bai Lianyue, the goddaughter who hadn't visited for ten years, arrived hand‑in‑hand with Bai Cixian.

When she saw her goddaughter and god‑granddaughter arrive, she welcomed them warmly.

But son‑in‑law Meng Zhibang was so flustered that he shattered a glass bowl.

When they sat down to eat, Bai Lianyue sat right next to Meng Zhibang.

Meng Shutang's grandfather was so angry that he collapsed on the spot and fell ill.

But Zhou Xingfan, who loved Meng Zhibang to the bone, was not as agitated as imagined.

Meng Shutang, looking at Li Xiuyun's absent‑minded stare, said, "Actually, when I calm down and think, it's not that I have no feelings."

If Meng Shutang remembers correctly, after that day, later Zhou Xingfan was in a car accident and became a vegetative patient.

Those four years in between were four years of slow torment.

Previously, her father, who used to accompany her every day, only came home occasionally.

A ten‑year‑old child can't understand so much; she was still waiting, still hoping, still yearning for everything to return to the way it was.

What she got, however, after her fourteenth birthday, was Meng Zhibang helping her send Zhou Xingfan to the hospital, after which he vanished completely from her life, without even a goodbye.

It turned out those breakages weren't a sudden collapse, but a little at a time, day by day, slowly cooling.

When she finally understood, the person who once swung her on a swing in his arms and lifted her over his head had long since gone.

And when did her mother find out that her husband had an affair with his close friend?