“Qiangwei, come out and meet me first, will you? I really feel like I owe you and your Mom too much. Can you forgive me just this once?”
In Gu Qiangwei’s memory, this was probably the first time that Gu Zhendong was speaking to her in such a soft tone. Blood was thicker than water. To say that she was not moved would be a lie.
“I am at the hospital now. Will you… come and visit me?”
Gu Qiangwei was shocked.
“What happened to you?” She unknowingly revealed her concern for him, and Gu Zhendong noticed it immediately.
This daughter is just all bark but no bite.
“Just an old issue. Nothing much.”
“Which hospital?”
“I just did an examination, and I’ll be going home soon. Will you come home?”
Gu Qiangwei did not want to return to that house, but hearing that he was not in the pink of health, she could not help it.
For twelve years, the amount of care that her father gave her was really minimal. However, it was still hard to sever this tie.
No matter what, he still raised me for 22 years, didn’t he?
After hanging up and grabbing the car keys, Gu Qiangwei left Jue Yuan.
It was drizzling outside.
40 minutes later, she arrived at the Gu Mansion. A lot of childhood memories flashed past Gu Qiangwei’s mind as she looked at the familiar building.
She recalled that when Chen Peifang and Gu Shijie were not here, she used to sit on her father’s shoulder and enjoy the fatherly love that other children had.
Along the way to the Gu Mansion, there had long been servants waiting for her at the entrance. This time when she returned, someone opened the door for her without even needing her to ring the doorbell. It was really rare.
There was not a single person in sight in the empty living room.
“Master and Madam are on the second floor.”
A servant said from behind her.
Gu Qiangwei glanced at her and went straight to the second floor.
She arrived at the master bedroom, and the door was left ajar. She looked in and saw Gu Zhendong leaning against the bed frame.
Seeing her enter, he got off the bed quickly.
“Qiangwei, ah! You’re here!”
Seeing that Gu Zhendong was so ready to welcome his daughter, Chen Peifang looked at the father and daughter on the side in a not-so-nice manner.
“Are you okay?”
Gu Zhendong smiled. “I’ve had my medicine. There’s nothing serious. Come and have a seat.”
This was the first time that Gu Zhendong had pulled her over in a loving manner, and the two sat on the sofa at the side.
Upon seeing this, Chen Peifang, who was sitting on the side, was so angry that she had a fierce expression.
“Qiangwei, where are you… staying now?” From the beginning to the end, Gu Zhendong was all smiles. He was exceptionally careful even when he was asking this question.
But Gu Qiangwei did not notice anything. She thought that he was really trying to make up for something.
She naturally could not tell others about having a fake marriage with Qin Sijue, so she could not say that she was staying at the villa either.
“I… am, at the moment, staying at a friend’s house.”
Gu Zhendong was rather surprised by this answer.
He could not help but frown. “You, aren’t you with Qin Sijue?”
Hearing his words come out in such a straightforward manner, Gu Qiangwei was a little startled; she did not understand why he asked such a question.
Gu Zhendong explained hurriedly after seeing the weird look on his daughter’s face. “Haha, I mean, so you really have been staying at your friend’s house after leaving home all this while? Then that time, Qin Sijue…”
To Gu Qiangwei, her father’s care did not come easily. She did not wish to lose it so easily.
She subconsciously believed that her father simply did not wish for her to be with a man at such a young age and that that was why he asked those questions.
So she lied. “There’s nothing between us.”