Chapter 545 - 470: Believe
Chapter 545: Chapter 470: Believe
Since Xiao Man started her internship at De Ren Hospital, Gu Shaojun had been showing up once or twice almost every day. Handsome and imposing, he was a familiar face to the nurses and doctors. They all knew he was there for Xiao Man and would kindly point him in the right direction as soon as they saw him. Today was no exception. Just as Gu Shaojun walked into the main building’s lobby, a young nurse ran out from the Chinese pharmacy, her face blushing, and told him, "Tang Manman is on the third floor, performing acupuncture on a patient."
Gu Shaojun said his thanks and turned toward the stairs. It was only a few dozen steps, a flight he would normally bound up effortlessly in one go. Today, however, his legs felt as if they were tied to thousand-pound sandbags. He was forced to pause several times on the way up, and when he reached the third floor, he stood at the top of the stairs, panting for breath. Coupled with his slightly reddened eyes, he looked as if he were suffering from some terrible disease. Two pregnant women coming up the stairs behind him shot him suspicious glances, covered their mouths and noses with their handkerchiefs, and quickly gave him a wide berth, afraid of catching whatever he had.
The shunned Gu Shaojun: "..."
He knew his emotions were showing all too clearly, so he made an effort to compose himself and look more normal before heading to the acupuncture room to find Xiao Man.
Xiao Man had already finished her work. She was back in the office, washing her hands and taking off her white coat, ready to leave for the day. Sun Yiming came over and told her with a smile that a new restaurant had opened on the front street. It served authentic Hangzhou cuisine, and he wanted to treat her to a meal there. Before Xiao Man could reply, Gu Shaojun appeared at the door. He knocked twice on the doorframe, walked in, and nodded at Sun Yiming with a smile. "Manman and I have plans today. How about tomorrow? My treat."
Sun Yiming shrugged, watching calmly as the two left hand-in-hand. Still, a trace of resentment lingered in his heart, difficult to dispel.
Gu Shaojun opened the car door and settled Xiao Man in the passenger seat before getting into the driver’s side. Before starting the car, he suddenly leaned over and gave her a firm peck on the lips. Xiao Man made a sound of disapproval and glared at him reproachfully. ’We’re still at the hospital! It’s broad daylight, and people are walking around.’
Gu Shaojun patted her head indulgently and pointed at the sunlight reflecting off the windshield. "Don’t worry, no one can see us!"
The car pulled away from the hospital and headed directly for the recently opened Prince Mansion Restaurant.
As its name suggested, the Prince Mansion Restaurant was genuinely located inside the former residence of a late-dynasty prince. There was an old saying: "A prime minister’s home on earth is like a celestial palace in heaven." A prince’s mansion, however, was a cut above even a prime minister’s residence, boasting a level of luxury and splendor unimaginable to the common person. The restaurant wasn’t open to the public, either. It only served the powerful elite, prominent aristocratic families, and a few other special individuals. Reservations were required well in advance; otherwise, you’d show up only to find there was no table for you, a testament to its roaring success.
Naturally, the person capable of opening such a restaurant had an incredibly powerful background. Gu Shaojun had brought Xiao Man here three times, and they never needed a reservation, heading straight for a private room. That room belonged to Gu Shaozhen; the Second Young Master Gu was one of the shareholders of the Prince Mansion Restaurant.
This was what one would call a truly top-tier restaurant in Beijing. The chefs were all descendants of imperial cooks, the dishes were exquisitely crafted, and the flavors were sublime. Xiao Man had eaten here several times and still wasn’t tired of it. She was more than happy to enjoy the fine dining whenever Gu Shaojun brought her. She did, however, remember to call home and tell her grandpa and grandma not to wait for her for lunch.
Tang Qingyun answered the phone. As soon as he heard her voice, he knew it was Gu Shaojun taking Xiao Man out to eat and wander about instead of coming home. He was inevitably displeased and started asking more questions. Standing beside Xiao Man, Gu Shaojun expressionlessly took the receiver from her hand and hung up. Before today, he had always thought that no matter what, Tang Qingyun was Xiao Man’s biological father and deserved respect. Now, he thought differently. ’Yang Liu’er made it crystal clear. In the past life, after Grandma Tang passed away, Tang Qingyun returned to Beijing with Wu Xiaowen and Tang Yaxuan. Grandpa Tang didn’t die until two years after they came back. In those two years, even if Tang Qingyun felt no pity for his own daughter, if he had even a shred of respect for the old man, he should have told him about Xiao Man’s situation. He should have told Tang Qingshan.’
’But he didn’t! He cast Xiao Man out of his life of wealth and comfort, as if she had never even existed in this world!’
A sharp pain gripped Gu Shaojun’s heart again, and he involuntarily tightened his arms around Xiao Man. He now understood so profoundly why she could never forgive her biological parents. ’From now on, I’ll share her attitude. In fact, I might be even more fierce and ruthless about it!’
Xiao Man thought Gu Shaojun was acting strangely today. Usually, when they were alone, she was the one who loved to hang off him. ’But I’m the girl, so that’s normal, right? Why is Gu Shaojun even clingier than me today?’ He kept an arm around her, either his left or his right, constantly holding her or pulling her close, as if he wished she would just grow onto him. Even during the meal, he had to sit right next to her. His eyes were glued on Xiao Man. When she ate, he rushed to serve her food; when she had soup, he ladled it for her, even tasting it first to check if it was too hot or too salty...
Normally, peeling shrimp and deboning fish was Xiao Man’s job. She was an expert at it—her movements were clean, efficient, and even elegant to watch. But today, Gu Shaojun insisted on doing it all. He did a decent job deboning the fish, but the way he peeled the shrimp was a complete waste. He’d just toss the head, the tail would go missing, and all that was left to eat was the middle section. Given that he was serving his girlfriend with such sincerity, not even saving a bite for himself, Xiao Man didn’t have the heart to complain and just ate what he gave her.
When the golden, fragrant, crispy-skinned chicken arrived, Gu Shaojun immediately picked up a drumstick and told Xiao Man to eat it while it was hot. But then he hesitated, pulled it back, bit off all the crispy skin, and then placed the meat in her bowl.
Xiao Man: "..."
’This is crispy-skinned chicken! You just ate the best part! What’s the point of eating it now?’
They stared at each other. Gu Shaojun quickly realized his mistake and hurriedly grabbed another drumstick for her, laughing sheepishly. "Gu Shaoling never ate chicken skin when she was little. And I’ve heard a lot of people say that girls don’t like to eat the skin because they’re afraid of gaining weight..."
"We’ve had so many meals together. Have you ever once seen me turn my nose up at chicken skin? Or are you trying to tell me I’m out of shape and need to stop gaining weight?"
Gu Shaojun quickly tried to defend himself. "No, that’s absolutely not what I meant! I... I just want to dote on you! My grandma used to pamper Gu Shaoling just like that. She would always eat the chicken skin for her!"
"I’m not that delicate," Xiao Man said, biting her lip to suppress a smile. "Gu Shaojun, you’re not acting like yourself today. What on earth happened?"
Gu Shaojun closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them again. He looked at Xiao Man with a gentle gaze and said softly, "This morning, I ran into Yang Liu’er and Bai Junfan. They were arguing on the side of the road, so I took Yang Liu’er away. I treated her to breakfast at Yipinxiang, and then... I asked her about the ’last life.’ She told me everything."
Xiao Man froze. "She... what did she tell you?"
Gu Shaojun enveloped her small hand in his large one. "Everything she experienced in her last life... everything I wanted to know. She told me."
"Do you... believe in that kind of thing?"
Xiao Man’s heart began to beat faster and faster. Gu Shaojun pulled her into his arms, holding her tightly against his chest, right over his heart.
"Darling, our hearts are connected. Even if you don’t want to talk about it, I can probably sense it anyway... I just need you to confirm one thing for me: in our past life, our engagement was still valid, and I married my rightful fiancée and we lived together. Right? No matter how bleak my end was in that life, just based on that alone, I was happy. It made my life worthwhile!"