Chapter 352: Chapter 318: Dad
"Cough." Gu Qili choked on the toothpaste and hurriedly rinsed her mouth before beating a hasty retreat. To avoid looking too flustered,
Mu Qinian stared blankly at the glass door that had just closed in front of her, blinking her big eyes twice and muttering, "Is Ali sick,
"You don’t know how many things you’re unaware of." The shameless man straightened his tie and glanced at her sidelong, "I need to take my son to kindergarten soon."
"I’ll take him, don’t trouble yourself."
"My son isn’t used to riding in taxis, and even less so in buses."
Gu Qili felt this man was being unreasonable. When Mu Qinian was with her, they had ridden buses and taxis without any complaints from him.
Eventually, Gu Qili still ended up in his Maybach, not the one with the ’5277’ license plate, but the one she had driven before.
She wasn’t compromising for him; she just wanted to spend more time with her son.
In the car, mother and son laughed and talked joyfully, zero communication with the man driving.
After dropping Mu Qinian at the kindergarten, Gu Qili planned to leave.
"Where are you going? I’ll take you." Mu Shuoqian followed her at a close distance.
Gu Qili ignored him, heading to the roadside to hail a cab. It was rush hour, and after waiting a long time without success, she was considering going to the bus station when a Maybach stopped in front of her.
The window rolled down, revealing that enchantingly charming face, his tone allowing no refusal: "Get in."
Gu Qili continued to walk along the roadside, hands in her trench coat pockets, not even looking at him, while he followed her slowly by car. The luxury car and beautiful woman naturally drew a lot of attention, with passersby starting to point and whisper curiously.
Unable to tolerate it any longer, Gu Qili finally walked over and tapped his car door. Mu Shuoqian slowly brought the car to a stop.
The air conditioning was on inside the car, and as soon as she sat down, she was surrounded by warm air. Gu Qili turned her head to glare at him: "Mu Shuoqian, we are already divorced, what exactly do you want?"
Since she returned, they had met four times; during two of those, he had tried to take advantage of her.
Mu Shuoqian drove the car out of the bustling area. Faced with Gu Qili’s questioning, he too had a moment of bewilderment. When he learned the true cause of Gu Dezhong’s death, he had been incredibly relieved, but the more he wanted to keep her, the more he feared losing her. These explanations, he didn’t know how to articulate them, but without saying them, he felt he had no hope at all.
Mu Shuoqian was about to speak when Gu Qili suddenly turned her head to the window, clutching her handbag tightly: "Even if desperate, please find someone else; even if you didn’t kill Niannian, you still harbor deep hatred towards the Gu Family. I don’t want to share a room with my enemy, nor do I want to forgive a perpetuator who destroyed my family."
Mu Shuoqian opened his mouth and then slowly closed it again, finally pressing his lips into a straight line. Soon, they reached the commercial area; he suddenly stopped the car by the roadside, not looking at her, his voice cold and stern: "Get out."
Gu Qili did not hesitate, opening the car door and stepping out, yet she was barely steady when the Maybach sped past her, without a trace of sentiment.
Gu Qili watched the car driving away, momentarily lost in thought and hating her own weakness. After so much time had passed, she still found herself distracted by this man’s every action.
That’s really pathetic.
Unable to hail a cab, Gu Qili had to walk a long distance to the bus station, her feet aching. She cursed Mu Shuoqian internally; the bus stop wasn’t far from the kindergarten, but he’d tricked her into getting into his car and abandoned her in a place without a village in sight or a store behind.
Mu Shuoqian turned on the music in the car. His USB drive had only one song, which hadn’t been changed for four years. Whenever he missed her, he would listen to it on repeat.
"Just once is enough, I’ll take you to see everlasting desolation; to laugh heartily on a sunny day."
He had often fantasized about such times, yet he never seemed to earn fate’s favor. Just when he decided to reveal the truth, she laid a cruel reality before him — she said she would not forgive him.
Even if Gu Dezhong did not die because of him, she would not forgive him for once bankrupting the Gu Family.
So, why provoke her again? That’s it, the same mistake, he doesn’t want to make a second time.
～
Gu Qili’s mood was not very good after arriving at the vineyard.
Meizi was inspecting the vineyard and waved when she saw her: "Qili."
"Sister Meizi, you’re early today." Gu Qili tried to shake off the irritable mood in her mind, standing side by side with Meizi in the vineyard: "Is it time to start winter pruning?"
"Yes." She was reluctant to leave her small noodle shop, it took her over half a year of persuasion to finally convince her.
Getting Meizi to come over was a major achievement for her because even Reynolds said an excellent Pruner could bring a vineyard back to life, so how could she miss such a talent.
"Sister Meizi, the grapes are growing so well, we can make wine by the time of Qixi, right?" Gu Qili stroked a grapevine, as if she saw the hope of the future.
"If the weather is good, we can produce the first batch of wine by Qixi. By the way, when are the equipment you ordered arriving?"
"Soon, they are already on the way."
Meizi nodded, looking at the vast vineyard in front of her with a worried expression: "Now we shouldn’t worry about the grapes, but about the winemaker. You’ve been back for a while,
Gu Qili had already had a preferred candidate in mind; she felt no one was more suitable for the position than him, but he hadn’t made wine in so many years; could he take up the profession again for her vineyard?
"Sister Meizi, let me try first. If I really can’t persuade him, then I’ll consider other winemakers."
While they were talking, Fan Bin, who had finished his tasks, came over. Seeing Gu Qili, he seemed to remember something and tapped his forehead: "Miss, the new owner of the old villa asked you to visit when you have time. The old villa suddenly caught fire recently, and it’s badly damaged. The furniture inside was mostly burned too.
"Caught fire?" Gu Qili was momentarily stunned, "How did it suddenly catch fire?"
"Recently, Aus City has been experiencing thunderstorms. It seems that a dead tree in front of the old villa was struck by lightning, causing the fire. By the time it was discovered, it was too late to save. But it was raining at the time, fortunately, it didn’t all burn down." Fan Bin sighed continuously: "Although the old villa has been sold, it’s still a keepsake from Mr. Gu, I wonder if it can be rebuilt."
"Then I’ll make a trip there."
The villa is very close to the vineyard, only separated by a row of dense trees, she hadn’t noticed the burnt house there.
From a distance, Gu Qili could see the villa, badly damaged by fire. Its originally grey walls had turned black, and all the windows were burnt, resembling black hollow eyes.
This house, in which she lived from childhood to adulthood, held so many emotions, and some of her beautiful memories with Mu Shuoqian also took place here. When she sold it, she was sad for many days.
Two workers were dealing with the ruins. Seeing a stranger coming, one of them straightened up and asked, "Are you Miss Gu?"
"It’s me."
"This is the situation: Mr. Li asked me to hand these things to you. He said there’s a secret chamber within one of the burned walls, containing this iron box. He thought these items were likely left by the previous homeowner, so he prepared to return them to you intact." The worker brought out an iron box from the house, not heavy, but it also weighed several kilos.
Secret chamber?
Gu Qili had lived here for over a decade and did not know of the existence of a secret chamber. Did Gu Dezhong have any other secrets she didn’t know?**