Chapter 98: To Get Closer

Xin Xin has a soft personality, sensible and sensitive.

Since her birth, this is Meng Shutang's first time giving her a cold face; actually it wasn't directed at her, but Meng Shutang feels extremely guilty inside.

"How could it be? Mom will always love Xin Xin."

Saying that, she pulls Xin Xin close and kisses her cheek.

Song Yilin sees this and says, "Beautiful aunt, my uncle is actually quite good; other than being a bit handsome, he has no flaws."

Gu Yunci snorts with laughter, "Who told you that?"

Song Yilin turns his head, "Did you say I'm pretty good or that I have flaws?"

Gu Yunci replies, "You said I'm handsome."

Song Yilin says, "Your cousin."

Upon hearing that, Gu Yunci's thin lips curl slightly; he no longer looks at Song Yilin, his gaze falling directly on Meng Shutang, his deep eyes bearing a casual smile and a concealed, unresolvable deep affection.

He continues to stare at her without blinking, his tone low and resolute, "Whether I'm handsome or not doesn't matter; as long as she feels good, that's enough."

Seeing her breezy, moonlit smile, Meng Shutang's heart skips a beat; she awkwardly and nervously lowers her head.

After finishing the meal, the group leaves; Meng Shutang escorts Xin Xin back to Qingluju and says she is going to the hospital.

Li Xiuyun grabs her, "Don't go yet; I have something to ask you."

Grandma is mysterious, and Meng Shutang still thinks she wants to ask something.

"That Wang Duoduo we were still chatting about last time—did he ask you about the ancient pearl?"

Meng Shutang originally didn't want to tell Grandma about this; seeing her take out her phone, if she said she wouldn't talk to Wang Duoduo anymore, she would definitely push another match onto her.

"Grandma, he's not at all related to the ancient pearl industry; he studied civil engineering and is currently unemployed at home."

He said Aunt Zhang took three thousand yuan from him, is blunt and impolite, and also made advances toward me.

"Forget it, I won't go on blind dates anymore."

Li Xiuyun, surprised, "What did you say? Aunt Zhang took his money? And that man also made advances on you?"

Meng Shutang nods.

"That old Zhang is truly deceitful; taking my gift is one thing, but demanding more money as well."

"He made advances, you weren't harmed, were you?"

Meng Shutang shakes her head.

"Fine, it's all Grandma's fault; Grandma will go settle the score with them now."

Meng Shutang holds her, "Alright, Grandma, I wasn't harmed, but a setback is a lesson; please stop randomly introducing me to matches in the future."

"But over at Shenyang, there's been no news."

"Grandma, I've only been divorced for four years; my heart needs time to heal."

"Both Shenyang and I are slow-tempered; I think that's fine. I heard he also has someone in his heart, and that girl died because of him, so we... both need time."

Li Xiuyun, after hearing that, completely gave up the idea of setting Meng Shutang up on a blind date.

Meng Shutang is going to the hospital; Li Xiuyun puts the things she packed for Zhou Xingfan into her bag and says, "I also want to go with you to see your mother, but my heart hasn't been good lately, and I'm afraid I'll become sad if I go."

Meng Shutang comforts her, "Doctor Huo says my mother is recovering well; signs of waking up are becoming more evident."

If technology had advanced ten years earlier, perhaps Zhou Xingfan, who has been lying in bed for four years, could have gotten up.

Li Xiuyun, moved to the point of choking, says, "You are a grateful daughter; your mother is lucky to have you for a lifetime."

"If it were anyone else, they'd have given up long ago."

But Meng Shutang's many years of perseverance truly created a medical miracle.

"Tang Tang, you don't need to worry about me; go see your mother quickly!"

Meng Shutang grabs her things and leaves, drives to Jiangcheng Yiyuan, passes an intersection, and sees Bai Lianyue hugging Meng Zhibang's arm while buying durian at an upscale fruit shop.

In an instant, her heart twitches with a slight pain.

With both hands on the steering wheel, her clear eyes become moist, and through blurred, teary vision, she sees a hazy childhood picture of the three of them happy together.

Thinking back, how ironic.

When she couldn't see it, she thought her father left for work, but actually he was comforting another mother and daughter.

Moreover, that woman was once her mother's most trusted friend and sister.

Meng Shutang reaches the ward, looks at Zhou Xingfan's increasingly gaunt face on the bed, and doesn't dare to approach.

She can't understand why the neglected original wife ends up with a barren fate, while the husband's mistress can live brightly.

Heaven truly is unfair.

But she can't complain; everything is over.

As long as Zhou Xingfan can wake up, their family being whole and intact surpasses countless things in the world.

After massaging Zhou Xingfan, Meng Shutang sits down to drink water, and her phone chimes.

She picks it up, opens WeChat, and sees a kindergarten message.

It says a sports day will be held this Tuesday, requiring each family to send two parents.

She had told Teacher Xing about their family's situation, and immediately a chain reply appears: 【Meng Xin Qiao participates.】

The next second after she sent it, another chain reply pops up: 【Song Yilin participates.】

The person sending the message is Gu Yunci.

When she saw those three characters, she was stunned for a moment.

She thought she had misread, deliberately went to his profile to check, and confirmed it was correct.

When did he join the parents' group?

But as an uncle, his enthusiastic participation in his nephew's kindergarten activities is still quite commendable.

Before leaving the ward, Meng Shutang always holds Zhou Xingfan's hand to his cheek and says, "Mom, get well quickly; I'll go home and wait for you."

After leaving the hospital, she went back home.

She helped her grandmother with housework and took her grandmother's quilt downstairs to dry.

Grandmother has liked sunshine since she was young; the quilt feels uncomfortable if not sun‑dried for a few days.

The house is a large four‑bedroom unit, and the room Meng Shutang gave her grandmother faces the sunny side and has a balcony.

Grandmother often sun‑dries the quilt; today she let her take it downstairs because the sun was fine.

While going upstairs, she ran into Gu Yunci and Song Yilin.

"Beautiful sister, you're drying the quilt!"

Meng Shutang nodded, "Yeah, where are you taking it?"

Song Yilin said, "I'm going home."

"Going home? Didn't you say last time that you live in the villa area by Building Nine?"

Song Yilin turned his head and glanced at Gu Yunci, "From now on, that's it!"

Meng Shutang didn't think deeply; after all, this is a school‑district house, perhaps Gu Wanying thought the property was cheap now and bought another one.

Arriving by the elevator, Song Yilin gave Gu Yunci a frantic look indicating he should press the button, but the man didn't notice at all; walking at the back, his attention was entirely on Meng Shutang.

After entering, the close button was still pressed by Meng Shutang.

Song Yilin lifted his eyes again to glance at Gu Yunci, the man still didn't know why he was being looked at.

After Meng Shutang left, the elevator closed.

"Uncle, the sixth‑floor apartment you bought for us, is it to be closer to Xin Xin and to chase the beautiful sister?"

The man nodded, "You're quite sharp."

Song Yilin said, "But I think you're not very sharp."

The man frowned, "What are you saying? There's no way to talk about uncle like that."

Song Yilin said, "When my dad and mom go out, it's always dad who presses the elevator, but you don't."

"Are you lazy or just not sharp?"

Gu Yunci hesitated, lowered his eyes to look at his little nephew, "Your dad is so pitiful?"

Song Yilin knew he was being stubborn, but actually listened, "My dad says that at the company he's a senior leader and demands employees be vigilant with eyes and hands."

At home, mom is the leader, so he must be even more vigilant with eyes and hands, and keep his mouth sweet.

"Uncle, can you do that?"