When she walked out of the Civil Affairs Bureau, Gu Mian was completely lost in thought.
"I knew it was too calm for Li Tingshen to just let us get married," Pei Jinchuan said with a relieved laugh, "Gu Mian, actually, I'm very happy."
"I can tell," Gu Mian gathered her thoughts and turned to glance at him, "you never wanted to register our marriage in the first place."
"Right," Pei Jinchuan said with a self-deprecating smile, "I used to dream about this day, but now, my time is running short, and I must consider your future."
"Jinchuan…"
"Gu Mian, you don't need to say anything," Pei Jinchuan said as he lifted his hand to her shoulders, "we were never destined to be together, you never felt that way about me, and we were never meant to be husband and wife."
"There's a long road ahead, and I don't want you to be alone. I know deep down, you haven't really let go of Li Tingshen, otherwise Niannian wouldn't carry the Li surname."
"If you can't let go, then don't torture yourself or him. Li Tingshen loves you and is powerful enough to protect you fully."
"As for the child with Liu Yunxi, what does it matter if he wasn't the one who chose to have it?"
"Gu Mian, the world is so vast, and the probability of two people falling in love is incredibly low, you should learn to cherish it."
Gu Mian shook her head forcefully, tears falling involuntarily, "It's not like that, Jinchuan, it was never like that."
"My split from Li Tingshen was due to many overlapping factors, the child with Liu Yunxi was just the last straw that broke me."
"You can never understand how desperate I felt when I learned that Liu Yunxi was pregnant with his child," she said.
"Following that, I was just tired, so tired that I didn't want to face any of it anymore, tired enough to just want to flee from his side," she continued.
Pei Jinchuan hugged her with sympathy, "I can imagine, but Gu Mian, you might fool everyone else, even Li Tingshen, but you can't fool your own heart..."
Gu Mian leaned into his embrace, crying silently.
...
From across the street inside the black Rolls-Royce, Li Tingshen watched the two embracing, a cold look spreading in his eyes.
"Just because she can't register her marriage with Pei Jinchuan, she's this upset?"
The driver in the front seat and Assistant Cheng looked at each other, dumbfounded.
"President Li, Madam Li doesn't remember you. Now, she spends her life with Pei Jinchuan, obviously her affections lie with him," said Assistant Cheng.
As he finished speaking, Assistant Cheng could feel the atmosphere in the car drop even lower.
He hurriedly corrected himself, "But Madam Li is destined to be yours!"
Driver: "…" Assistant Cheng's survival instinct is really strong! I've got to learn from this!
Li Tingshen withdrew his gaze, "Let's go home."
The driver was curious, "President Li, aren't you going to invite Madam Li into the car?"
"What's the rush?" Li Tingshen leisurely adjusted his cufflinks, "She'll come looking for me soon enough."
Li Tingshen was right on point.
No sooner had he returned to Yunyue Bay than Gu Mian came following behind.
Li Tingshen smirked, "Madam Li is quite fiery. Someone, brew a cup of chrysanthemum tea to cool Madam down."
"Chrysanthemum tea my ass!" Gu Mian snapped angrily, "Li Tingshen, name your terms!"
"What terms?"
"Name your condition, what do you want for you to agree to a divorce!"
Li Tingshen sat back with his legs crossed, an air of lazy arrogance surrounding him, "So tell me, why should I want a divorce?"
Gu Mian struggled to calm herself down.
If not, she really feared she might kill Li Tingshen on the spot.
"Li Tingshen, we both have children with others, we should've divorced long ago."
"If you want a wife, isn't Liu Yunxi ready and waiting?"
"Is she worthy?" Li Tingshen scoffed, "Besides, I'm worried that if one day you regain your memory and find out I married Liu Yunxi, you'll get jealous."
Gu Mian: "…"
"Rest assured, that's never going to happen. Right now, I especially hope you two lock it down, together till death do you part!"
"I'm afraid you're going to be disappointed, Madam Li," Li Tingshen looked up at her. "The position of Mrs. Li can only be filled by you."
"Since you love Pei Jinchuan so much, I'll give you two days to move out of his house."
"We're not divorced, and you dare to live with another man. Do you believe I'll take you to court, hmm?"
Gu Mian: "..."
"Li Tingshen, what on earth do you want?" Gu Mian was so angry her chest heaved. "Niannian can't be separated from her father, our family can never be apart. Please show some mercy and let go, alright?"
"Our family?" Li Tingshen stood up, took two steps towards her, his tall and straight silhouette casting a shadow over her, a presence of overwhelming oppression.
"Madam Li, the name in your spouse column is mine!"
"I'll give you one more chance. Say it again, who is your family with, hm?"
Gu Mian pursed her lips tightly, staring straight into his deep and sharp eyes.
The atmosphere was tense, servants holding the brewed chrysanthemum tea shook uncontrollably, not daring to come forward.
Suddenly, the sound of a ringing cell phone broke the deadlock in the air.
Gu Mian took out her phone from her bag and slid to answer, "Lord Jing..."
Wen Jing said something unknown, making Gu Mian's face turn pale in an instant!
"How could this be... I'll be right there!"
Seeing her hand shaking with the phone, Li Tingshen asked anxiously, "What happened?"
"Niannian had an accident! I need to go to the hospital!"
"You're not in a stable condition right now, you shouldn't drive. I'll accompany you!"
Gu Mian did not refuse.
Li Tingshen was right. She would be very dangerous driving in her current state.
The two of them quickly arrived at the hospital and rushed to the emergency room.
Apart from Wen Jing, Old Madam Li and Nanny Zhang were also there. Li Bao was sitting on a bench nearby, watching cartoons on an iPad.
"What happened?" Gu Mian saw Wen Jing covered in blood, shivered uncontrollably, and asked anxiously, "Where is Niannian hurt!"
Wen Jing, turned into a crying mess, "Gu Mian, I'm sorry, I didn't look after Niannian well enough, she lost a lot of blood..."
Gu Mian trembled violently!
The door to the emergency room opened, and a doctor came out.
"Doctor!" Gu Mian rushed forward, "How is my daughter!"
"The child has injured her leg's main artery and has lost too much blood. She must undergo surgery immediately!" said the doctor gravely. "Here are the consent form and the critical condition notice, please sign."
Gu Mian's legs went weak!
Li Tingshen's reflexes kept her from falling, "Gu Mian!"
Gu Mian took the pen and paper with trembling hands, and with difficulty, signed her name.
"Doctor, I beg you, you must save my daughter!"
"We'll do our best, but the biggest problem now is the patient urgently needs a blood transfusion, and our hospital's blood reserve is not sufficient."
"It may be too late to get blood from other hospitals now. The fastest way would be if someone present could donate blood."
Li Tingshen immediately asked Gu Mian, "Does Niannian inherit your Panda Blood?"
Gu Mian shook her head, "No."
The doctor spoke up, "The child is type B blood, is anyone here type B?"
"I am," Li Tingshen said without hesitation, "Use mine."
The doctor, elated, said, "Then quickly follow the nurse!"
Just as Li Tingshen was about to leave, Gu Mian suddenly grasped his wrist.
"No," Gu Mian said, her face pale and her voice quivering. "You can't give Niannian blood..."