Gu Qingcheng looked at herself in the car's mirror. Pulling down the collar of her dress, she noticed that her neck had blood on it where Tang Shi had bitten her. The wounds had turned dark purple and waves of piercing pain went through her when she touched them gingerly.
Gu Qingcheng felt shocked. She pulled her hand back quickly. She grimaced to herself as she recalled the looks of excited anticipation and joy on her parents' faces when she'd informed them that she was going to meet Tang Shi at the Red Garden Resort Village last night.
Her father just couldn't stop smiling as he repeated to her mother over and over, "I just knew it. Our Qingqing is so beautiful. There was no way, after all the many years that they had known each other, that Shi could have forgotten all about her."
So, if she drove home now, especially in this state, they would be very disappointed.
Based on Tang Shi's reaction earlier, Gu Qingcheng sincerely doubted that she would be allowed to join Sheng Tang tomorrow. What she didn't know, however, was whether, after last night, she would conceive.
"If she did get pregnant, there might be a sliver of hope for her dreams on the horizon. If she hadn't gotten pregnant, then what was she going to do?"
Sighing softly, Gu Qingcheng drove at a leisurely speed into the city and began cruising around.
Gu Qingcheng drove around until about seven o'clock before she headed in the direction of her home.
In the early morning, the highway to the western suburbs wasn't congested so it took Gu Qingcheng only about 30 minutes to get home.
Before she got out of the car, Gu Qingcheng checked herself in the mirror, forced a smile onto her face, and, taking a deep breath, got out of the car, and walked into the house.
Gu Zhengnan and his wife were having breakfast at the dining room table. When they saw Gu Qingcheng, they put down their chopsticks at the same time. Gu Qingcheng's mother ran up to her and took her by the hand, asking as she led her toward the table, "Qingqing, was Shi good to you yesterday?"
"Yep." Gu Qingcheng responded briefly and sat down at the table. Although there was an appetizing spread of healthy breakfast food on the table, she had no appetite. However, worried that her parents might sense that something was amiss, she picked up a spoon and forced herself to eat some congee.
Seeing that his daughter was eating her breakfast, Gu Zhengnan followed suit. After a while, he couldn't help but ask, "Qingqing, did Shi say when you would be able to join Sheng Tang?"
Gu Qingcheng paused briefly when she heard her father's question.
There was a distinct possibility that she wouldn't be able to join Sheng Tang, but how was she to break this news to her parents?
Did she have to witness, once again, the same looks of disappointment and dejection that she had seen on their faces three years ago?
Gu Qingcheng's head hung low.
The ambience around the dining room table instantly got very tense.
Gu Zhengnan and his wife looked at each other. Then, looking concerned, her father asked, "Qingqing, is there something that you're not telling us?"
While she could've found an excuse to cover up almost any other matter, Gu Qingcheng knew that there was no way she could avoid telling them that she might just not be joining Sheng Tang after all.