Gu Huaian dragged Gu Qingxin back to the Gu family mansion. When Zhou Mantong saw both father and daughter, she nearly jumped in shock. She pointed at Gu Qingxin and questioned, “Why did you bring her back here? If the Meng family finds out about this, do you think they’ll let us get away with it?”
“What other solution do we have? Let’s lock her up first. If the Meng family harasses us again, we’ll just tell them that she disappeared with Meng Zhenglin.” Gu Huaian could only come up with this emergency solution.
“No! You cannot lock me up, my mother is still in the hospital. Dad, I’m begging you, you must save her life. After all, you used to be married,” Gu Qingxin kneeled on the floor and pleaded with her father.
“Shut your mouth! Do you know what kind of trouble you’ve gotten me into? How can I bring myself to care about somebody else at this juncture!” Gu Huaian released her as he angrily loosened his tie.
“You should be the one telling me where Meng Zhenglin is? Ah!” Gu Huaian pointed at his daughter and questioned her furiously. He had asked her this exact question countless times on their way here, but she simply refused to tell him.
“I don’t know, I really don’t know. Dad, you can punish me however you want, but I’m begging you… Please save my mother’s life. If you don’t save her, there will be no hope left for her,” Gu Qingxin begged.
“In that case, let her meet her death! You and your mother are both jinxes to the Gu family! It’d be best if the two of you die together!” Gu Huaian ruthlessly kicked Gu Qingxin and commanded, “Lock her in the basement. Without my permission, no one is authorized to let her out.”
There was a sharp pain in Gu Qingxin’s calf, but it was nothing compared to what she felt in her heart after she heard her father shout “In that case, let her meet her death! You and your mother are both jinxes to the Gu family! It’d be best if the two of you die together!”
“This man is my biological father…” she thought.
…
The basement was dark and damp.
Gu Qingxin had no idea how long she had been locked up. After getting caught in the rain yesterday, she now felt chills all over her body. She curled up into a ball and incessantly called out to her mother as tears streamed down her face.
A thud was heard as the heavy steel door was opened. Gu Qingxin abruptly opened her eyes. A pair of black leather shoes appeared before her.
She slowly raised her head. Under the dim light, Tang Rongling’s breathtakingly handsome face materialized. “If you want to save Aunt Lin’s life, I can help you. I can pay for her surgery. However, you have to agree to one condition.”
Gu Qingxin gazed at the face before her. For the past ten years, she would burst into delighted laughter whenever she thought of him. Now, however, he felt extremely unfamiliar to her, like a stranger.
Her eyes felt hot with tears, but she could not let them fall. She clenched her hands into tight fists and sharply dug her nails into her flesh.
“They found Meng Zhenglin, he has become a cripple. “When Tang Rongling said these words, he observed Gu Qingxin’s reaction closely. However, she did not react. She remained unruffled, as though this had nothing to do with her. “Marry him, and I’ll be fully responsible for your mother’s surgery fee.”
Marry him, marry him, marry him…
Those two words kept replaying in Gu Qingxin’s head.
“Tang Rongling knows very well what kind of person Meng Zhenglin is, yet, he is offering me to him without hesitation. He knows that Meng Zhenglin is a cripple now, but he still wants me to marry him. If I end up marrying Meng Zhenglin, what kind of consequences will there be? Meng Zhenglin will direct all his anger onto me. He will either cripple me as well or kill me. Tang Rongling is no longer simply pushing me into the fire pit. Now, he is sending me to the gates of hell!” she thought.
“If I marry him, I’ll die!” Gu QIngxin stared fixated at him as she calmly stated that fact.