radicalducati Page 327
Page 327
Is her youth, her life, going to be wasted here?
"That's right, benefactor, there's another benefactor!" Ma Qianyan suddenly felt as if she had grasped the last straw. She thought to herself, since that benefactor was willing to help an old man like Ah Zhao, he must be able to help her too!
There are still many kind-hearted people in this world, such as Zhou Xinqing, who has unconditionally sponsored her for several years and helped her so many times.
Ma Qianyan thought to herself that those two benefactors would surely be kind enough to help her!
She walked out of the courtyard, disregarding manners, and pushed open the door to the side room.
When she entered the room, Gu Ran and Zhou Xinqing were already sitting on the kang (a heated brick bed).
After her bloodline awakened, Zhou Xinqing's hearing also improved. In addition, the soundproofing of this courtyard was not very good to begin with, so they could hear the argument clearly.
Ma Qianyan didn't remember Gu Ran, but all her attention was on Zhou Xinqing.
“You…” She was surprised, terrified, and didn’t understand why Zhou Xinqing was here. Wasn’t she kidnapped and taken to northern Myanmar?
But then, she suppressed her shock, knowing that this was a good opportunity to ask Zhou Xinqing for help.
Yes, Zhou Xinqing is a good person. If you ask her, she will definitely help you. Even if you don't take her away, giving her some money to live a better life would be fine, right?
Thinking of all this, Ma Qianyan suddenly knelt down at Zhou Xinqing's feet and began to cry, "Sister Xinqing, help me, save me! Only you can save me! I..."
She was still sobbing when Gu Ran interrupted her with a light laugh: "It seems you still don't know why we're here!" Gu Ran smiled and then used his Sharingan to dispel the hypnosis he had placed on Ma Qianyan.
At that moment, the memory of jumping off the building flooded back, and Ma Qianyan remembered everything.
She was stunned for a moment, then finally understood why Zhou Xinqing was there: "You know everything, so... so you're here to get revenge on me!"
In that instant, everything became clear. Zhao's money must have come from Zhou Xinqing. She wanted revenge; she wanted to ruin her own life!
"Ah! Waaaaah!" Having figured everything out, Ma Qianyan knelt on the ground and burst into tears.
She regretted it. When she was forced to jump off the building before, she was filled with fear. But now, knowing that her life was about to be trapped in this small mountain village, she felt immense remorse!
Yes, if she hadn't kept the truth from her, and if she hadn't been so ungrateful, Zhou Xinqing wouldn't have gone to such lengths to take revenge on her.
Hearing the crying from the bedroom, Ah Zhao came out cursing, "What's with the crying on the first day you've been here? Are you trying to embarrass me in front of the whole village...?"
He casually picked up a rattan cane, went to the side room, and saw two distinguished guests sitting on it.
Ah Zhao was stunned for a moment, then asked somewhat flusteredly, "What happened? Did my wife offend you two? Please don't be angry, I'll beat her up to vent your anger!"
"Never mind," Gu Ran said, not wanting to witness domestic violence. "We can fight after we leave."
Ah Zhao, standing outside the door, paused for a moment, then said, "Alright, I'll hit her again after you two leave. I guarantee you'll hear her howling all the way to the village entrance!"
Gu Ran looked at Zhou Xinqing: "Let's go?"
Zhou Xinqing nodded.
She had mixed feelings. Seeing Ma Qianyan in such a state, she felt a sense of relief, but then a sense of emptiness.
Ma Qianyan knelt down, looked up at Zhou Xinqing's back, and asked, "Are you satisfied now that you've ruined my life? You might as well have just killed me!"
Chapter 369 The Night Before Parting
“Killing you is pointless.” Zhou Xinqing turned around, expressionless, and said in a cold voice, “The most painful thing in life is not daring to die, but not being able to afford to live. So I still prefer to see you suffer a fate worse than death.”
After saying this, she stepped out the door and left.
Gu Ran followed behind her, thinking that this trip with the child had finally come to a successful end.
Zhou Xinqing walked to the edge of the village and got into the passenger seat of the SUV. Gu Ran found the back seat bumpy, so she had to drive. Zhou Gui, who was originally supposed to be the driver, sat in the back, ready to take over driving from Gu Ran at any time.
Zhou Xinqing suddenly asked, "Do you think Ma Qianyan might commit suicide?"
"That's hard to say." Gu Ran then started the car and drove away with the chef team and the wedding team's convoy.
As he drove, he said, "She was so glamorous yesterday, receiving so much flattery from the women in the village. But in a couple of days, when those women find out that the man she married is a penniless man, who knows what they'll say about her behind her back. You know, this mountain village is so small; good news doesn't travel far, but bad news travels fast. I bet in less than a week, she won't be able to hold her head up in this mountain village anymore."
"And it's not just her who's embarrassed, but also his parents. They were all very proud yesterday, but after the banquet, they found out their son-in-law was penniless and had nothing. That's embarrassing for them too. But they'll think that once a daughter is married, she's no longer part of the family. If anyone's going to be embarrassed, it'll be Zhao. But Zhao... seems to have a thick skin."
“And I think she’s afraid to die,” Gu Ran continued. “She’s died once, so she’s even more afraid of dying and will only live without any dignity.”
Zhou Xinqing listened silently to Gu Ran's analysis, her thoughts unreadable.
"What, you're still not happy? I have another plan that can make her life even more miserable." Gu Ran's car was at the back of the convoy. He stepped on the brake and snapped his fingers toward the back seat.
Zhou Gui immediately leaned in to listen.
Gu Ran said, "Go back to the village and tell Ah Zhao to give him a birth incentive plan. For each child he has, he gets 500 yuan, 1,000 yuan for the second, 2,000 yuan for the third... and 1,000 yuan for each child thereafter. This way, Ma Qianyan can spend most of her life in this mountain village having children. With so many children, and Ah Zhao being lazy, Ma Qianyan will be the one who suffers the most..."
Zhou Gui opened his mouth, thinking to himself that this young master Gu's schemes were getting more and more vicious.
One can imagine that if this birth incentive were offered to Ah Zhao, wouldn't he be having children like crazy?
At that time, Ma Qianyan probably won't even have time to rest after childbirth.
Moreover, childbirth is a life-or-death ordeal for women every time, especially in this backward mountain village, where a difficult childbirth could very well result in the death of both mother and child.
Zhou Gui nodded and immediately opened the car door to get out and make arrangements.
"Forget it," Zhou Xinqing said, stopping them. "The child is innocent."
Gu Ran turned her head away and looked at Zhou Xinqing intently, noticing that her expression remained unchanged and unwavering.
Gu Ran smiled and said, "That's true, there's no need to let the child suffer outside."
If Zhou Xinqing were to adopt this plan, Gu Ran would arrange for his foundation to support those children. He would only let Ma Qianyan suffer, but not the other children.
He pressed the accelerator again to get the car moving.
"What if Ma Qianyan gets divorced?" Zhou Xinqing asked again.
“Miss, you’re just not experienced enough,” Gu Ran said with a smile. “Not to mention the gossip that would circulate in this feudal little mountain village, even if Ma Qianyan wanted to get a divorce, it wouldn’t be so easy. In reality, some people have been subjected to domestic violence and have filed for divorce several times, but it still doesn’t work out. They are advised to reconcile rather than separate.”
"In the future, it will definitely be easier to get married than to get divorced. You're still young, so you don't understand. When you grow up and want to get married, you must be careful, otherwise it will be very difficult to get divorced," Gu Ran said earnestly.
Zhou Xinqing pouted her round face and complained, "You're even younger than me!"
"I'm already engaged. What about you? Do you have a boyfriend? How many relationships have you had? When are you planning to get married...?"
"Alright, alright!" Zhou Xinqing interrupted him impatiently, "Why are you acting like one of those nagging mothers who pressure people to get married!"
Gu Ran smiled and noticed that Zhou Xinqing's face had become more expressive.
It seems that she has gradually let go of her worries by now.
Perhaps one day in the future, she will still think about this painful past, but she will be able to face it calmly and tell herself that it's all in the past and it's nothing to worry about.
Only then did she have the courage to face the rest of her life.
Life must go on.
*……*……*
When they returned to Shanghai, it was already evening. Su Xiaoqiang and Zhou Xinqing's brother, Zhou Yancheng, came to pick them up at the airport.
Gu Ran greeted Zhou Yancheng and then took Su Xiaoqiang's hand and left.
He will be leaving Shanghai in two days to go to Kassel College, so he wants to spend more time with his young wife.
Dinner was again at the rooftop club. Since his mother came back, he couldn't see his girlfriend as often, so he took Su Xiaoqiang on dates every day, but they still went to the rooftop club for dinner.
Gu Ran ate with complete abandon, eating five or six pounds of top-grade Wagyu beef at every meal, or a lobster seafood feast.
Nuwa wasn't stingy, so she let him eat as much as he wanted. Du Huimin and Lü Xueer would also tell Gu Ran what fresh ingredients were available that day and arrange things for him in advance.
As for Liu Miaomiao, who stayed at home, she met Zhang Qiong after New Year's Day through Su Xiaoqiang's introduction.
Liu Miaomiao was a very well-behaved girl, and Zhang Qiong immediately took a liking to this cute little girl, so he gave her a jade pendant as a gift.
Zhang Qiong was a jade enthusiast and had collected many jade pendants, all of which were kept by Zhang Wanjun.
Liu Miaomiao also felt that Gu Ran's mother was quite kind, so when Su Xiaoqiang was on a date and didn't have time to have dinner with her, she ate with Zhang Qiong instead, which was better than eating alone in loneliness.
Tonight, Gu Ran and Su Xiaoqiang also went to the rooftop club. The two of them ate a king crab and steak. Su Xiaoqiang was basically full after eating two legs, and Gu Ran ate the rest by himself.
"Come on, I'll show you something special tonight." After dinner, Gu Ran led Su Xiaoqiang to the living area of the Nuwa Master. He walked into the living room, opened the window, and reached out to Su Xiaoqiang.
"Come!"
"What?" Su Xiaoqiang followed, somewhat dazed.
Wa Zhu, who was playing "Twin Star Exorcists 2" on the living room sofa, looked at Gu Ran with a puzzled expression, wondering what he was up to.
Su Xiaoqiang went over and took Gu Ran's hand, and then Gu Ran suddenly jumped out of the window.
He used his chakra to adhere to the wall and asked Su Xiaoqiang, "Are you ready? Come out quickly."
Su Xiaoqiang was quite bold. She knew that Gu Ran definitely didn't intend to drag her off the building with her, so she nonchalantly stepped out of the window.
However, she was still a little scared looking down from such a height, so she couldn't help but hug Gu Ran's neck.
"Here we are!" Gu Ran grabbed the window, then leaped up, carrying Su Xiaoqiang to the rooftop in an instant.
"You little madwoman!" Nuwa glanced at her and realized she wanted to go to the top floor. "Why didn't you just ask Du Huimin for the key to the top floor? Why did you have to jump up there? Luckily it's nighttime. If it were daytime and someone saw you, they would think you were going to jump!"
After making a complaint, the little girl picked up the controller and continued playing the game.
She wasn't worried that the two of them would fall to their deaths. If they did, she would definitely go to their tombstones and mock them mercilessly.
Gu Ran, carrying Su Xiaoqiang, quickly jumped onto the water tower at the top of the building.
This building isn't the tallest on the Bund, but the view and sense of openness from the rooftop are unparalleled by anything you can see from inside.
"Wow, so beautiful!" Su Xiaoqiang pointed to the night view of the Bund. The weather was clear today, and the neon lights were clearly visible, making it a magnificent sight.
The bustling crowds and the dynamic light strips on the bar street danced freely, creating a vibrant atmosphere.
The bustling activity in the distance contrasts with the tranquility nearby, creating an atmosphere that is both lively and peaceful.
The excitement belongs to others, but between Gu Ran and Su Xiaoqiang, there is only each other.
"Isn't it beautiful? I've been wanting to come up and see it for a long time." Gu Ran took out two cushions that he had prepared beforehand, spread them on the ground, and gave one to Su Xiaoqiang.
The two of them stretched their legs out over the high-altitude view and sat side by side, looking at the night view in the distance.
Su Xiaoqiang wasn't afraid of heights. She was originally a crazy girl, but after following a man for over a year, she learned to be more submissive and restrained her wild nature.
She nestled in Gu Ran's arms, quietly enjoying the tranquility that belonged only to the two of them.
These days, Gu Ran would take her around every evening after dinner.
Unlike other people who go shopping, Gu Ran, with Su Xiaoqiang, always ventured into less crowded places. Sometimes it was under empty bridges, sometimes in dark spots under embankments, and sometimes in deserted stairwells in shopping malls...