Chapter 12
Chapter 12
Lu Zhiyuan took a sip of his soy milk and immediately choked on it, coughing loudly. Gu Ziyu calmly grabbed a tissue and wiped the soy milk off his hand, smiling sweetly. “Brother, stay calm.”
“He’s the son I picked up!” Gu Ci declared.
“How old is he…six or seven?” Lu Zhiyuan asked Gu Ziyu.
“Six!” Gu Ziyu promptly replied.
“Gu Ci, you’re eighteen. How do you have such a big son?” Lu Zhiyuan turned to Gu Ziyu and asked, “Don’t you have any family?”
Gu Ziyu hesitated for a moment, looking somewhat conflicted. “Dad, my family is all right here with me.”
Gu Ziyu’s soft and obedient smile revealed a hint of sadness. “If you don’t want me, then I’m just an orphan.”
Lu Zhiyuan felt an unexplainable sense of reprimand from Gu Ziyu’s calm gaze.
“Are you all alone at home? Why are you following Gu Ci? She can’t even take care of herself, and when September comes, she’ll be too busy with university to take care of a child. How can an 18-year-old student raise a child?” Lu Zhiyuan advised Gu Ci, “Since he was found, why don’t you send him to the police station? They’ll take care of him.”
That way, Gu Ci would have one less person to worry about.
Gu Ziyu leisurely took a bite of his steamed bun, the points Lu Zhiyuan had earned previously plummeted once again. He knew that his father didn’t like him taking up too much of his mother’s attention, just like him, they were truly father and son.
“He has nowhere else to go, and he’s truly in need. I can take care of him,” Gu Ci thought to herself, knowing that taking care of a child was not just her responsibility alone. “You can help me take care of him too.”
“But he’s not my son.”
Gu Ziyu and Gu Ci were speechless.
Gu Ziyu sounded so pitiful as if he was about to cry, “Big brother, I don’t need much to eat, just give me a bowl of rice.”
“You had two steamed buns, a slice of toast, and two cups of soy milk for breakfast,” Lu Zhiyuan mercilessly exposed him, knowing that this little guy was trying to trick him.
Gu Ci rubbed her temples and looked at Lu Zhiyuan softly, “I’ll take care of him.”
“But the law doesn’t allow it. You’re eighteen and unmarried, the country doesn’t allow you to adopt a child,” Lu Zhiyuan knew Gu Ci was stubborn, and there was no stopping her once she had made up her mind.
Gu Ziyu softly suggested, “Why don’t you two get married, then you can adopt me.”
Gu Ci and Lu Zhiyuan were both stunned.
Gu Ziyu didn’t understand why they were both stunned. “Why not? I’m a gifted child who can make money and support the family. I have a good personality and manners. Isn’t that great?”
Lu Zhiyuan looked at Gu Ziyu with mixed feelings, “You’re really good at selling yourself. But there’s no such thing as so many gifted children.”
Gu Ziyu silently repeated to himself, “He’s my biological father, don’t get angry!”
He smiled and asked, “So, are you going to get married and adopt me?”
Lu Zhiyuan was very conflicted. What if Gu Ci really wanted to marry him? Should he say yes or no? He felt a bit tempted, but his rational side quickly suppressed those thoughts. However, Gu Ci said something more practical, “He’s not of legal marriage age yet.”
Lu Zhiyuan was speechless.
His worries were unnecessary after all.
“It’s such a shame.” Gu Ziyu said surprisingly, “Dad, you lost a gifted son.”
Lu Zhiyuan didn’t know how to respond to that.
After the three of them finished breakfast, Gu Ci had to go back home to get her household registration book, ID card, and passport. She was in a rush when she left home that day and didn’t have time to take her documents. She left them with Lu Man and Gu Wenliang, but she was still worried. She needed the household registration book to register Gu Ziyu, but fortunately, the restrictions were not as strict now.
As soon as Gu Ci left, Lu Zhiyuan’s face darkened. He looked at Gu Ziyu coldly and asked, “Little guy, were you trying to scam Gu Ci?”
“Brother, you seem very hostile towards me,” Gu Ziyu said.
“Likewise, you’re not exactly friendly towards me either,” Lu Zhiyuan smiled. “No matter how sweet you smile, you can’t hide your hostility. What do you want?”
“What should I do? Sister likes me,” Gu Ziyu’s smile was bright. “If you bully me, I’ll tell on you.”
Lu Zhiyuan laughed. “You’re still so young, where did you learn all these tricks?”
Gu Ziyu smiled but didn’t say anything. Li Jiang came in and said, “Young Master, the Chairman is here.”
Lu Zhiyuan’s face instantly darkened.
Gu Ci drove Lu Zhiyuan’s sports car back to the Gu family mansion and saw several cars parked outside the gate. Gu Ci didn’t pay much attention and walked inside. In the hall, Xu Tingting, Lu Shijie, Gu Wenliang, Lu Man, Gu Chuyun, and Gu Yaozu were all present. The housekeeper and others stayed far away, not knowing what they were discussing, but their faces were extremely grim.
Xu Tingting’s face was filled with anger. “Miss Gu, marriage is not a child’s play. If you want to cancel the engagement, you must give me a valid reason.”
Gu Yaozu angrily said, “If it weren’t for Master Lu’s outrageous behavior, could this engagement have been broken? You were already engaged to Gu Chuyun, yet you were also eyeing Gu Ci. You’re greedy and disgusting!”
Lu Shijie’s eyes turned cold as he looked over. Gu Yaozu was frightened but still wanted to protect Gu Chuyun.
Xu Tingting sneered. When she was young, she climbed up the ranks from an eighteen-line actress to land Lu Ze. She even gave birth to Lu Shijie and Lu Shixiu. How could she be an easy target? “Which man is not lecherous and promiscuous? Gu Chuyun, you should have heard the rumors about him when you agreed to the engagement with Shijie. We didn’t force you to marry him. You did it willingly. At the engagement banquet, you even tried to push your fiancé onto Gu Ci. If something really happened between Gu Ci and Shijie, would you use it as an excuse to break off the engagement? It seems that you agreed to the engagement just to let my son ruin your sister. Your heart is so dark at such a young age. Do you think everyone is blind?”
Gu Chuyun’s thoughts were exposed. Her face turned red and then pale, feeling ashamed and unable to admit it. She had teary eyes and said, “I didn’t…it was Lu Shijie who wanted Gu Ci and forced me to do it.”
“Gu Chuyun, it was you who said that Gu Ci had a crush on me and couldn’t wait to climb into my bed. Even if something happened, Gu Ci wouldn’t dare to speak up. From start to finish, it was all your plan. Why would I have any reason to ruin my own engagement banquet?” Lu Shijie’s eyes were cold. “You’re really good at distorting the truth.”
“Dad, Mom, Brother, I didn’t!” Gu Chuyun cried pitifully. No matter who saw this scene, they would think that Lu Shijie was forcing her and that she was innocent.
Gu Ci curled her lips. So it was a dogfight.
Interesting!
“What do you want?” Gu Wenliang couldn’t afford to offend the Lu Corporation.
Lu Shijie sneered, “You want to call off the engagement? Fine, it’s simple. Just have Gu Ci marry me instead.”
Gu Chuyun was overjoyed and Lu Man quickly nodded, “Okay, let Gu Ci marry you. We have no objections.”
“But the Gu family must provide a dowry of 20% of their shares,” Xu Tingting demanded with a bold statement. Gu Wenliang and Lu Man were both shocked. Seeing Gu Wenliang hesitate, Gu Chuyun asked with a pitiful voice, “Dad, are shares more important than your daughter’s happiness?”
In his heart, Gu Wenliang knew that the shares were indeed more important, but he couldn’t say it outright. Gu Chuyun then used a retreat as an advance tactic and said, “It doesn’t matter, I don’t want any shares.”