For a moment, Gu Nanyan was stunned.
Did Lu Beicheng know what he was doing?
Surprised by Gu Nanyan's reaction, Lu Beicheng's eyelashes fluttered, and then he came back to his senses and let go of her, saying, "Aren't you the one who's been shouting every day that you want to have kids? What's this, waiting for me to wait on you?"
Gu Nanyan suddenly snapped back to reality, raised her hand to unbutton his hospital gown, and casually asked, "In your current condition, can you even get it up?"
Lu Beicheng really wanted to sew Gu Nanyan's mouth shut with needle and thread.
Then, suddenly letting go of her hand, he remarked, "You certainly have no trouble taking clothes off."
He then changed the subject, "We'll talk about the drugging incident when your parents come tomorrow."
Thrown aside by Lu Beicheng and sitting on a chair, Gu Nanyan's face darkened, "Lu Beicheng, it's no fun when you're like this."
Lu Beicheng could provoke anyone he wanted, but not her parents.
Her parents were her lifeline, her bottom line.
Lu Beicheng looked at her indifferently, "Weren't you afraid when you drugged me?"
While speaking, he took out a bottle of pills from under the pillow and threw it to Gu Nanyan, "Either eat all of these, or let your parents judge."
Picking up the medicine Lu Beicheng had thrown at her and seeing that it was laxative, Gu Nanyan was furious.
But she had to suppress her anger and gritted her teeth, "Okay, Lu Beicheng, you're ruthless."
She would rather stay in the hospital for a few days than have her mother lecture her like Meng Jiangnu weeping over the Great Wall.
Immediately after, she poured the pills into her palm and was about to toss them into her mouth.
Seeing that Gu Nanyan was really about to take the pills, Lu Beicheng once again grabbed a pillow and hit her with it, neither too lightly nor too hard.
With the pills scattered all over the floor, Gu Nanyan looked up at him, and Lu Beicheng said coldly, "I'm not as vengeful as you."
Gu Nanyan suddenly laughed, "If you care about me, just say so."
Lu Beicheng shot her a cold glance, and Gu Nanyan quickly made a gesture to zip her lips and fell silent.
The ward fell quiet.
Not long after, the hotel take-out millet porridge ordered by Qin Haiyun was delivered.
Gu Nanyan then carefully sat by the bed with the bowl and spoon and began to feed him.
Every time she fed Lu Beicheng a mouthful of porridge, Gu Nanyan would blow on it near her mouth first, checking the temperature.
Only when it wasn't too hot would she bring it to Lu Beicheng's lips.
All of this felt like a return to the past, back to before that argument.
It had been a long time since they had interacted this way.
——
In the still of the night, when Lu Beicheng woke up, there was only a small bedside night light left on in the room.
The light was dim, and Gu Nanyan had fallen asleep on the edge of the bed.
Two years!
It had been two years since he had looked at her this way.
Lu Beicheng raised his right hand, and just as it was about to touch her face, he stopped mid-air.
He remembered everything she had said that day, word for word, along with the big fire and all the solid evidence.
As memories flooded in, Lu Beicheng's right hand still landed on Gu Nanyan's head, and he muttered to himself, "Do you hate me so much that you want me dead?"
But after what had happened that time and the big fire, they couldn't go back to the way things were, and he couldn't possibly fulfill her wish to have children.
Their time together consisted only of mutual torment and suffering.
Later on, until he was discharged from the hospital, Lu Beicheng never revealed the incident of Gu Nanyan drugging him.
On Gu Nanyan's end, she took care of Lu Beicheng until he was discharged, and it was just in time for her to finish her annual leave and return to work at the law firm.
After this parting, they returned to living as if they were perfect strangers.
That day at noon, just as Lu Beicheng came back from a government meeting, Xia Cheng brought some documents and reports for him to sign.
After putting the documents down, Lu Beicheng asked, "What has Gu Nanyan been busy with lately?"
It had been a month since Gu Nanyan last sought him out.
Xia Cheng: "Boss, the young madam has been busy with work recently, taking on quite a few divorce cases."
At the last sentence, Xia Cheng's voice was noticeably quieter.
Lu Beicheng laughed coldly with a flick of the documents in his hand: "She's getting some early practice."
"..." Xia Cheng.
In fact, he thought the same.
And why Gu Nanyan married Lu Beicheng was an open secret, clear to any bystander.
--
At Chaoyang Law Firm, in the conference room.
Gu Nanyan sneezed and was wondering who could be cursing her when the director turned to her and said with deep concern, "Gu, you're so young, why do you always take on divorce cases?"
While saying that, he looked around at the other colleagues: "Don't bully Gu for being young and a newcomer by dumping unwanted cases on her."
Gu Nanyan smiled and said, "Director, it's not that serious, I just consider it a training."
Her marriage to Lu Beicheng was bound to be a battle, and this was just a warm-up for her.
The director, furrowing his brow, said: "But training like this isn't right either. Gu, try to take on fewer divorce cases in the future so as not to affect your view on marriage."
Gu Nanyan had only graduated a year ago; the director was worried these cases would influence her.
Without waiting for Gu Nanyan to reply, the director added, "Gu, don't think I'm not looking out for you. I heard that Lu's Corporation is looking to change their legal counsel, and if you manage to land Lu's legal representation, it would be making your mark in this field."
Over the years, their law firm had actively pursued Lu's Corporation's legal representation, but despite taking turns to try, they never succeeded.
Now there was a new face, so they wanted to send someone out to have a go.
And the director highly recognized Gu Nanyan's work ethic and capabilities.
Worried that Gu Nanyan might shy from this hot potato, the director said: "Gu, don't feel pressured. The firm doesn't demand you to secure Lu's representation; just give it your best shot."
Since the director put it that way, Gu Nanyan couldn't refuse and agreed to give it a try.
Just the thought of having to deal with Lu's Corporation gave Gu Nanyan a headache.
Therefore, when she had dinner at home with her parents that evening and they asked her about Lu Beicheng, she coldly retorted, "Dad, when you and Lu Tianyang insist on me marrying Lu Beicheng, are you helping me, or are you setting me up?"
Gu Nanyan's words turned Gu Qinghua's face green: "What nonsense are you talking about, child? We obviously want what's best for you. Besides, several fortune tellers said that your birth chart is only compatible with Beicheng, or else you might end up childless."
Gu Nanyan glanced at Gu Qinghua: "Has Lu Tianyang ever doubted you? Or doubted those fortune-tellers?"
"Those were all arranged by your father-in-law; I don't know them."
"..."
Destined to only bear children with Lu Beicheng, and with any other man, she couldn't get pregnant, bear children, nor become a mother.
She didn't know if she was in debt to Lu Beicheng in a past life or it was the other way around, but fate insisted on entangling them like this.
No one's fate was more melodramatic than hers.
Meanwhile, Gu Nanyan's mother asked: "Qinghua, if Nanyan has children in the future but Beicheng still insists on divorcing her, will the children be given to Nanyan?"
"Tianyang said, if it ever comes to that, the children will definitely be with Nanyan, so her most important task right now is to have one son and one daughter."
"That's better." Gu Nanyan's mother: "Nanyan, did you hear that? You need to take this seriously."
Gu Nanyan: "Have, have, have, even if I stop eating, drinking, and sleeping, it won't stop me from having children with Lu Beicheng. Mom, don't worry about it."
At first, she didn't take it seriously, but when several fortune-tellers gave the same prediction, Gu Nanyan had to pay attention.
No matter what the future held with Lu Beicheng, she had to get pregnant as soon as possible.
After eating and sitting with her parents for a while, and promising them she would definitely have children, Gu Nanyan drove away from the Gu Family mansion.
Arriving back at Yulin Bay, just as she entered the house, Sister Jiang excitedly reported, "Madam, the young master has returned."
Her movement in hanging her bag slowed, and Gu Nanyan was surprised.