018
Lu Tian insisted on having hot pot, but near dinner time, the hot pot restaurants near the hospital were basically full. Meng Jingdong drove her to another place, a private restaurant that looked quiet, with few people coming and going. The waiter led them to a table where ingredients and a pot base were already set.
“The pot base here is very good, and the ingredients are very fresh, not worse than the one you wanted to eat.”
As long as it tasted good, Lu Tian had no objections. After the pot base was ready, she silently cooked and ate. She was already very hungry after the procedure, and it took a long time to get to the restaurant, so she ate silently until she was half full before slowing down enough to talk.
Her lips were red from eating, and her forehead was sweating. She stopped to eat a spoonful of the restaurant’s homemade yogurt, which was smooth and topped with a scoop of blueberry jam—sweet and sour, without any added flavors; refined and delicious.
Midway, someone who knew Meng Jingdong came to greet them, naturally surprised to see her.
Meng Jingdong calmly introduced, “This is my wife.”
“Oh? Congratulations, congratulations! Mr. Meng, why didn’t you announce the wedding? We’ve all been looking forward to drinking at Mr. Meng’s wedding!” a middle-aged man with a large belly and a jovial demeanor joked.
“We haven’t had the wedding yet. We’ll definitely invite Mr. Liu when we have the wedding.”
“Hahaha, that’s good, that’s good. Congratulations in advance!” The man called Mr. Liu left contentedly.
Lu Tian put down her chopsticks, opened a wet wipe, and wiped her hands and mouth. Because she had to lie in bed for most of the day, she hadn’t put on any makeup, so she wiped without any scruples.
“Why did you agree to marry me? While a second marriage doesn’t affect your worth, what if I’m difficult to get rid of if you meet true love?”
Meng Jingdong put down his chopsticks, frowned slightly, and asked, “Why are you asking this?”
Lu Tian glanced at him and said boldly, “I’m just wondering why you introduced me so naturally, and when it came to marriage, you seemed a little nervous. Plus, I pay attention to your movements. If you want to dump me, I don’t want to be the one who’s dumped, and I definitely don’t want to be unknowingly cuckolded.”
People like them having lovers was nothing unusual; Meng Jingdong having a confidante wasn’t strange either. But the original story described him as extraordinary, still a virgin bachelor at thirty, almost like a rare animal.
“Don’t worry, I won’t let the one I love suffer grievances. If I have a lover before our agreement expires, I will compensate you.”
Lu Tian thought for a moment; this meant he didn’t have a lover now. She hesitated, “Are you gay or straight?”
Meng Jingdong was drinking water; he choked on the water and coughed for a while before saying, “My preferences are the same as your gender.”
That’s right, otherwise, the original owner wouldn’t have succeeded in forcing herself on him. However, in the memories she has received so far, she has no memory of that night, only remembering before going to bed and waking up. Was it because… the lights were off?
She nibbled on a piece of cantaloupe, her eyes looking at the boiling pot, not knowing what she was thinking. Meng Jingdong, having learned his lesson, didn’t speak easily. After a while, she started eating ice cream again, and he couldn’t help but ask, “You’re eating so much junk food, can your stomach handle it?”
“It’s fine.” She looked up and smiled, her face young and beautiful under the light, full of collagen.
Meng Jingdong thought that she didn’t directly say it was because she was young, which was polite enough.
After dinner, Meng Jingdong sent her back to the Zou family, all the way to the door, instructing, “The doctor said the van driver might wake up in a few days. Don’t go out alone before he wakes up. If you need to go out, contact Wen Jin to accompany you.”
Wen Jin was the female bodyguard he had sent. No matter why Meng Jingdong was worried about her safety, Lu Tian still thanked him. The two separated at the door of the Zou family.
Lu Tian returned home and found the living room TV still on. The housekeeper was watching TV with an old lady, Zou Rui’s mother. She was startled for a moment, then greeted with a smile, “Grandma, Auntie, I’m back.”
Zou’s mother wasn’t very satisfied with Zou Rui marrying a second-time wife who also had a daughter, Tian Jing, but after Tian Jing gave birth to Zou Fan, she had no objections. However, she was old-fashioned and gradually treated Lu Tian as her granddaughter over the years. Seeing her come back so late, she frowned, saying, “Why is a girl like you coming home so late? It’s very dangerous. Look at how many girls have accidents in cars, how did you get back?”
“Meng Jingdong sent me back.”
Zou’s mother immediately stood up, “Why didn’t you ask him to come in and sit?”
“It’s late, I asked him to go back first.”
Zou’s mother nodded and asked the housekeeper to bring a cup of hot milk, stuffing it into her hand, “Drink a cup of milk before sleeping.”
Lu Tian obediently took it and drank two sips in front of the old lady. Zou’s mother was very happy and continued watching TV; she was a kind-faced old lady, whose love for the original owner was certainly less than for Zou Fan, but it was sincere.
In the original story, around this time, Old Master Gu passed away. The original owner quarreled with Meng Jingdong, went back to the Zou family after being cold-shouldered. Coincidentally, Zou’s mother happened to be staying at the Zou family. She disliked the original owner’s behavior and nagged her. The original owner disliked her old-fashioned ways and couldn’t help but speak harshly to her, causing a big argument. Zou’s mother was old and had severe high blood pressure and heart disease, and she fainted from the original owner’s scolding. She was sent to the hospital and suffered a serious illness.
Tian Jing and Zou Rui returned and heard about Zou’s mother’s hospitalization. Zou Rui held back and didn’t say anything to the original owner, but Tian Jing was furious, and the mother and daughter had a huge fight, ending in estrangement. Because of this, Tian Jing and the original owner had a rift, and the original owner didn’t inform Tian Jing in time about anything that happened later, until she died.
Tian Jing felt guilty towards the original owner and wanted to use her advantage in the business world to suppress Yu Ningxuan, but she didn’t expect that this act would cause her and Zou Rui’s company to lose most of their assets, injuring their bones so that it was difficult to rise again.
Lu Tian knew the future plot development and could avoid these things that would never happen to her. The original owner was like a prey trapped in a swamp; every move would sink her deeper.
She put the half-drunk hot milk on the table, went to the bathroom to wash up, and looked in the mirror. The person in the mirror was different from when she first time-traveled. Her every smile had the former flamboyance, less self-doubt and cruelty. Recently, she didn’t even bother to hide her small actions, and no one had noticed her abnormality.
Lu Tian smiled slightly at herself in the mirror, very satisfied with her current state.
On the third day after the collection, Tian Jing returned from her business trip. Zou’s mother and the housekeeper were making dumplings with Lu Tian and Zou Fan. She was surprised to see this scene, but when Zou’s mother looked over, she hid her surprise, put down her bag, took off her watch, and joined them in making dumplings.
“Lu Tian has become much more sensible recently. Is it because she has a boyfriend?” Zou’s mother asked with a smile.
Before Lu Tian could answer, Zou Fan spoke before her, “Yes! My brother-in-law is very good to me!”
“Baby, you can’t call him brother-in-law yet!” Zou’s mother corrected, “It’s too early to call him brother-in-law; it’s demeaning.”
Lu Tian pursed her lips and kept smiling. Why did she naively think last night that Zou’s mother was easy to get along with? Maybe she should just go back to school.
Tian Jing smoothed things over, “Xiao Meng is indeed a good child, Mom. Our two families are meeting next weekend. Do you have time? Come along.”
Zou’s mother agreed. Zou Fan put a dumpling in front of her, and she immediately beamed with joy, praising her grandson’s skillful hands. Lu Tian couldn’t cook at all, let alone the highly difficult skill of making dumplings. She made an excuse to slip away from the dining table, preparing to come down for dinner.
However, before she reached the stairs, Tian Jing received a phone call and quickly called her back.
“Your grandfather is hospitalized. We’ll go to the hospital to see him after dinner.”
Could Old Master Gu not escape this? Lu Tian quickly asked how the old man was doing.
“He’s still unconscious.”
Lu Tian’s heart sank, and she sat silently back on the sofa. The housekeeper quickly prepared lunch, and the three of them went to the hospital after eating.
Old Master Gu’s health had always been poor, and the Gu family even had a doctor living there to prevent him from getting sick and having an accident that couldn’t be treated in time. With such strict precautions, Old Master Gu wouldn’t fall ill because an underlying illness wasn’t discovered in time. Was it the same as in the original story, because he was angered?
At the hospital, the Gu family members were almost all present. This was the nursing home where Old Master Gu often stayed, with all the necessary facilities. Old Master Gu was lying pale on the bed. It’s true that a father and daughter’s hearts are connected; Tian Jing couldn’t help but redden her eyes when she saw the old man like this.
“How could Dad fall ill?”
Old Mrs. Gu looked uneasy and said angrily, “It’s all because of that…”
She opened her mouth to scold, but she, who had maintained her dignity all her life, couldn’t think of any insulting words. Instead, she felt sorry for Tian Jing, “Jingjing, I really didn’t know before that I grew up with such a person. How much you must have suffered!”
“Mom, what are you saying? Did… she come?”
Old Mrs. Gu nodded, full of anger. The others also looked at Tian Jing and Lu Tian with sympathy. They had only heard descriptions from the files, but they didn’t know that Old Mrs. Tian was such a shameless, rude woman who made a scene without any cultivation!
“This afternoon, Yalan’s biological mother and Xuanxuan came to our house together. Xuanxuan said she came to apologize, but who knew she nagged for a long time, saying that we should compensate them for their losses, insisting that the baby swap was my fault, not hers, and that the Gu family should compensate her for the years of separation from her daughter, and the cost of raising you. Your father already disliked her, and when he heard this, he couldn’t help but argue with her, and he fainted in a fit of anger…” Old Mrs. Gu deeply regretted it; if she had known that Old Mrs. Tian was so greedy, she shouldn’t have let her into the Gu family.
Tian Jing was furious when she heard this, “She personally admitted to it, and now she denies it! Where is she?”
Old Mrs. Tian personally said she swapped the babies because she was afraid that her biological daughter would suffer at home. Now, how could she have the nerve to complain?
“She saw your father’s illness and ran away, and now we don’t know where she is.”
As they were talking, Yu Ningxuan and Gu Yalan came in from outside.
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