He glanced at Gu Mingzhu again and said coldly, "Get in my car. Anxi doesn’t owe you anything, stop pestering her and Xichen."

Gu Mingzhu was taken aback, her eyes welling up with tears, and she pursed her lips, "I didn’t mean that. I don’t want to pester her."

Gu Changqing said nothing, merely opened the car door to signal her to get in.

Gu Mingzhu’s heart was pounding. With Gu Changqing’s care, she had already forgotten about Gu Anxi and Bo Xichen. She got in the car cautiously, trying to be accommodating.

Gu Anxi watched, and then got into her own car with Bo Xichen, unable to help herself from saying, "She really is a big baby."

Bo Xichen chuckled, starting the car, "A lot has happened to her this year, hasn’t it? I heard she hasn’t attended classes for a while."

Gu Anxi bit her finger, "Uncle, I haven’t attended classes for a long time either, and you don’t care about me."

"Don’t we have classes every evening? If you don’t understand something, you can ask me," Uncle Bo said with a straight face.

Gu Anxi...

After a while, she said, "Drive slowly."

Bo Xichen slowed down a bit, freeing a hand to hold hers, speaking softly, "Actually, you care about her a little, don’t you?"

Gu Anxi didn’t reply.

She just turned her face toward the car window. Outside, the lights of all Beicheng were dazzling. She looked for so long that her eyes got a bit sore before she softly said, "Just because she can’t hurt me, there’s nothing I hate about her, just a spoiled child."

After a moment, she said irritably, "I don’t care about her, I just think she looks ugly when she cries."

Bo Xichen laughed. He released her hand and focused on driving.

The little spirit babbled to herself, "I see Tang Yuan pregnant with Min Xin’s child, not because I’m particularly fond of him, but maybe because I want to have a child with a good destiny, after all, Min Xin..."

Never imagined it would end up like this.

And Gu Mingzhu’s background is something she couldn’t choose. She was bad—exactly like Tang Yuan—both dumb and evil. But if left alone, she might become even dumber and worse!

Gu Anxi thought and chuckled.

Bo Xichen followed Gu Changqing, arriving quickly at a barbecue shop. It wasn’t big or high-end, definitely not anywhere near a fancy French restaurant. Gu Mingzhu was a bit disdainful, even drunk she didn’t forget to wipe the tables and chairs thoroughly with napkins...

Gu Changqing ignored her and continued talking with Bo Xichen, while Gu Anxi quietly played on her phone.

After chatting for a bit, Gu Changqing thought of pulling out a cigarette but suddenly asked, "Are you guys planning to start a family? If so, I won’t smoke."

Gu Anxi felt at a loss for words.

Uncle Bo calmly admitted, "That’s the plan."

Then Gu Mingzhu, as if catching onto something, "Gu Anxi, you’re planning to have a baby at 21?"

Playing on her phone, Gu Anxi said coolly, "Mrs. Tang had already had two children by the time she was 21."

Gu Mingzhu pursed her lips and fell silent.

Gu Anxi continued playing her phone until the grilled lamb chops came over. She put down her phone, her eyes sparkling at the golden-brown lamb chops. Besides the chops, the shop’s other offerings were pretty good. They had gathered here once before, but that was a year ago, also when she first met Tang Yuan.

As Gu Anxi gnawed on the meat, she recalled past events, looking at Gu Mingzhu with a deep gaze.

She suddenly thought, if she hadn’t come to Beicheng, maybe Tang Yuan wouldn’t have passed away so quickly and would still be the celebrated Mrs. Gu of Beicheng. Speaking of which, her nickname as a "heavenly wreaker" is not undeserved, at least for Tang Yuan.

Sitting across from her, Gu Mingzhu just stared at her, not eating anything.

Still disdainful.

After chatting with Bo Xichen, Gu Changqing turned his gaze back, "Why aren’t you eating?"

Gu Mingzhu made an "oh" sound, picked up a skewer, and once she took a bite, she couldn’t stop.

After she’d eaten several skewers, Gu Anxi teased, "Saying you don’t want it, but your body is honest—that perfectly describes you."

Gu Mingzhu felt aggrieved, not daring to retort in front of Gu Changqing.

Gu Anxi thought she was a bit of a masochist. She pondered if Gu Changqing had intervened earlier and not left everything to Tang Yuan’s decision, maybe Gu Mingzhu wouldn’t have turned out this way, utterly indescribable.

She despised Gu Mingzhu, just as Gu Mingzhu despised lamb chops, without hiding it.

Gu Mingzhu ate several more, so satisfied her nose seemed to bubble, but still refused to admit it. Gu Anxi just mocked her, still pretty much ignoring her.

After finishing all the food, it was already late at night.

Time to head home.

Gu Anxi looked at Gu Mingzhu, who instinctively moved closer to Gu Changqing, yet still afraid, afraid Gu Changqing wouldn’t care about her or want her... after all, they shared no blood relation.

Unexpectedly, Gu Changqing spoke in a calm voice, "Come stay with me from now on."

Gu Mingzhu was stunned.

Without further explanation, Gu Changqing stood up and walked towards the door. Gu Mingzhu hurriedly got up and followed, awkwardly.

Gu Anxi propped her chin and watched, then smiled at Bo Xichen, "You better not tell Min Xin she left with Gu Changqing, I haven’t collected my money yet."

Uncle Bo was speechless.

Over there, Gu Changqing got into the car, and Gu Mingzhu quickly sat beside him, carefully fastening her seatbelt, hesitated for a long time, and finally called, "Brother."

Gu Changqing turned his head, silently looked at her for a long time before speaking, "It was Dad’s idea."

Gu Mingzhu froze.

Tears welled up again.

After a long time, she lowered her head and quietly asked, "Does he still care about me?"

Gu Changqing lit a cigarette, leaned back in his seat, and slowly smoked. After half the cigarette, he finally spoke hoarsely, "He needs time, everyone needs time."

Then he said nothing more, started the car, and drove towards his villa. Gu Mingzhu sat there, feeling a bit dizzy, probably from not having slept well for a long while and after getting very drunk, she relaxed then, and fell asleep in the car.

When she woke up, the car had stopped. She opened her eyes to see Gu Changqing’s deep gaze on her face.

She bit her lip and asked anxiously, "Does Sister Ding Ning live with you, will it disturb you?"

Gu Changqing’s hand was on the car door, ready to get out, but he sighed upon hearing her words, "You’re certainly not as shrewd as that little rascal Anxi. She could tell at a glance that Ding Ning and I broke up."

So foolish, she wondered how she always tried to go against Anxi all day long, furthermore, based on this, Min Xin’s genes might not be stronger than his father’s...