Chapter 1: Gu Tingyan

Gu Tingyan's tall frame covered her, he lowered his head to kiss her lips, his fingers interlaced with hers.

After a bout of intense intimacy.

Qin Shu was drenched in sweat, her bones feeling as if they had fallen apart; she lay limply like a kitten against Gu Tingyan's bare chest, panting slightly.

Gu Tingyan held her tightly from behind, his chin resting on her shoulder.

Qin Shu's face was burning red; she reached out to wrap her arms around his lean, powerful waist, pressing her cheek against the man's chest to listen to his strong heartbeat.

Gu Tingyan's stamina in this regard was too formidable, often leaving her unable to cope.

Qin Shu looked up at his face, which was as addictive as a poppy, and the tip of her heart trembled violently.

Gu Tingyan pressed her into his embrace, burying his head in the crook of her neck, looking lazy and satisfied: "Stop taking the medicine."

Qin Shu's heart surged slightly; she hugged his waist tightly, pressed against his eight-pack abs, and smiled: "Okay."

This was the first time Gu Tingyan had proposed to her that they have a child.

The man pressed tightly against her from behind, holding her close; after being satisfied, his voice was languid: "Let's have another child."

"Give birth to a daughter, preferably one who looks like you."

Married for five years, excluding that chaotic night when they were drugged, Qin Shu had become pregnant.

Every time they did it afterward, Gu Tingyan had taken precautions; she didn't know how he had forgotten after returning from a three-month business trip abroad.

He hadn't originally intended to have children with her.

That child was merely meant to fulfill his grandmother's final wish before she passed away.

Grandmother hoped to see Gu Tingyan married and to see the birth of the Gu Family's eldest grandson before she died.

The child was born, and before she even had a chance to take a look, he was taken away by her mother-in-law.

Now that he was taking the initiative to suggest having a child with her, did it mean that Gu Tingyan had already fallen in love with her?

Qin Shu felt a bit happy.

"Young Mistress, it's time to get up." The housekeeper knocked on the door at the scheduled time, expressionless: "The Madam is still waiting for you to prepare breakfast."

Qin Shu lifted her head from Gu Tingyan's embrace and answered with a smile: "Coming right away."

Every time they returned to the Old Residence, early mornings were unavoidable; her mother-in-law said this was a duty she should manage as the mistress of the Gu Family.

Gu Tingyan looked displeased; he reached out to pull her waist, pressing her into his arms: "Sleep a little longer, don't worry about Mom."

Gu Tingyan's hand caressed her waist, his long, slender fingers toying with her hair: "If you aren't there, will they not make breakfast?"

Qin Shu pushed his shoulder: "Better get up, otherwise, another lecture is unavoidable."

After Qin Shu finished speaking, she got up neatly; Gu Tingyan frowned and got up as well, heading to another bathroom.

Ten minutes later.

The man's hair was damp, a bath towel wrapped loosely around his waist; his bare, fair chest and abdominal muscles were clearly defined, the muscles taut and firm, sexy and fluid.

Gu Tingyan had long legs, broad shoulders, and a narrow waist; his handsome face was a work of art, his thin lips giving the illusion of coldness, and his pair of long, narrow phoenix eyes were both sharp and ruthless, possessing an innate nobility that kept people at a distance.

Gu Tingyan stood in front of the mirror, wearing a finely tailored suit, with a hickey on his neck that Qin Shu hadn't been able to restrain herself from leaving the night before.

Gu Tingyan unbuttoned two buttons, adding a touch of rakish laziness, the shirt collar covering the mark on his neck.

By the time he went downstairs, breakfast was almost ready.

After breakfast, the two of them stayed at the Old Residence to keep Gu Laoyezi company, not leaving until evening.

Lin Jingshu held Chenchen's hand, looking at Qin Shu with a cold face, her attitude firm: "Chenchen is staying at the Old Residence."

Qin Shu's lips twitched, her throat suddenly feeling bitter: "Mm."

Qin Shu looked up at Gu Yichen's face; he was also sizing her up, his eyes filled with curiosity.

The little guy was wearing a small suit and a bowtie, looking quite mature; that face was completely a miniature version of Gu Tingyan.

The same face, the same coldness.

Those eyes, when looking at Qin Shu, lacked warmth, holding only inquiry, detachment, and indifference.

He did not have very deep feelings for his own birth mother.

For Gu Yichen, he had been raised by his grandmother since he was small and was closer to her.

To Gu Yichen, Qin Shu was dispensable.

Qin Shu met Gu Yichen's strange gaze, paused, and felt as if something had torn a hole in her heart.

When Qin Shu had just given birth, her body was very weak; Lin Jingshu entered with bodyguards, and when she lifted the swaddling clothes and saw that Qin Shu had given birth to a boy, she took him away directly.

Gu Yichen had always been raised at the Old Residence; Qin Shu could only visit her own biological son.

He had been snatched away from her side by Lin Jingshu the moment he was born.

For so many years, the number of times Qin Shu had seen Gu Yichen could be counted on one hand.

Because Lin Jingshu wouldn't allow it.

Even though Qin Shu ran to the Old Residence time and again, she couldn't even catch a glimpse of the child.

Lin Jingshu said Qin Shu was small-minded and lacked class, and that spending too much time with Gu Yichen would affect the child's values and perspective.

Qin Shu had cried and made scenes, but none of it worked.

Later, she could only compromise.

Every time she was allowed to see her child even once, she was very satisfied.

The car sped along the road home; Qin Shu leaned against the car window looking at the scenery outside when a ringtone sounded in the carriage, and the car suddenly braked hard.

Qin Shu's whole body lurched forward, her head hitting the seat in front.

"Gu Tingyan, what's wrong?" Qin Shu looked up toward the front.

Gu Tingyan's complexion was pale and looked very strange, because only he knew who he had assigned this familiar ringtone to.

It was Chu Sheng.

Chu Sheng, who had already been dead for five years.

The phone kept ringing, as if competing with him; he wouldn't answer, and the other side wouldn't hang up.

The familiar ringtone, coming from someone who had been dead for five years, seemed exceptionally eerie, supernatural, and terrifying in the pitch-black, ink-thick night.

Qin Shu saw his phone ringing incessantly and frowned: "Someone is calling you, why aren't you answering?"

Gu Tingyan glanced at her, his heart pounding violently; he put on his earphones, reached out to press the answer button, and a soft voice came from the other end: "Tingyan, I'm back."

Gu Tingyan's breath suddenly hitched, his whole body stiffened, his fingertips trembled slightly, and his complexion turned ghastly in an instant.

Qin Shu could tell that this was a woman's voice.

But through the earphones and the distance, she could not make out whose voice it was.

Yet judging by Gu Tingyan's reaction, she guessed that his relationship with this woman was not ordinary.

Gu Tingyan remained silent, listening quietly, his chest heaving with surging emotions.

"Where are you?"

"I am in that villa on Xiangzhang Avenue."

That villa was originally bought by Gu Tingyan as a wedding house for Chu Sheng, but before the ownership could be transferred, Chu Sheng had "died."

Gu Tingyan broke out in a cold sweat; how could someone who had been dead for five years be alive again?

He turned to look at Qin Shu, his voice cold and heavy: "Get out of the car, take a taxi back yourself."

Hearing this, Qin Shu stared at his slightly heartless profile and was practically angered into a laugh: "We are still ten kilometers away from the city, in the middle of nowhere; where do you expect me to hail a taxi?"

Because of one woman, he was going to abandon her halfway?

Gu Tingyan's mind was in a mess right now; the way home and the road to Xiangzhang Avenue were not in the same direction.