Lin Qingping and Gu Juncheng

Chapter 308 The male host

Suddenly getting close, all I could see were his dark eyes, as deep as the sea. The light in the room was reflected in his deep eyes, like a flickering flame in a dark vortex, carrying a strong sense of aggression.

Lin Qingping couldn't help but put her hands on his shoulders, trying to push him away, but he pushed her down even further, his hot breath hitting her face.

She turned her face away, "Gu Juncheng! You said you slept on the floor!"

"I'm sleeping on the floor?" His voice was menacing. "Since I appeared today, how many times have you mentioned your future man?"

"It's none of your business!" Lin Qingping turned her face to the side, resisting his breath, and pushed him back forcefully with both hands.

"It's none of my business?" Gu Juncheng sneered. "I really can't control it! Has the male head of the household been in this house?"

Lin Qingping paused for a moment, then said, "Yes."

Calm, yet resolute.

The strong shoulder she was supporting suddenly stiffened, and her hand went limp. When she turned around, he had already stepped back.

"Go to sleep," he whispered.

As soon as the lights went out, the room suddenly became quiet.

The weather was hot and humid, and it was hard to tell if it was going to rain.

The scent of his soap gradually wafted into her breath, making her feel as if her own space had shrunk. The 1.5-meter-wide bed seemed to have only a few dozen centimeters of space left. Tossing and turning, she felt like she couldn't breathe freely enough.

Suddenly, there was a soft knock on the door.

Gu Juncheng opened his eyes in the darkness. "Who?"

"Nariko?"

It turned out that Liu Fen was outside.

"What is it, Mom?" Gu Juncheng asked.

"Open the door," Liu Fen said from outside.

Gu Juncheng quickly rolled up the blanket on the floor and put it away, and pushed Lin Qingping towards the inside of the bed.

"What?" Lin Qingping asked in a low voice.

"Sleep a little deeper, don't let my mother know I'm sleeping on the floor," Gu Juncheng said softly.

Then, Gu Juncheng opened the door.

Liu Fen stood outside, looking at the light inside the room. Gu Juncheng, tall and imposing like an iron plate, stood at the doorway, blocking the view inside.

Liu Fen whispered, "Chengzi, there's something I want to talk to you two about, but it's inconvenient during the day because there are too many people around."

Lin Qingping: ...

What is it that you need to say at this time?

Gu Juncheng turned to look at Lin Qingping and let his mother in.

Lin Qingping got out of bed and sat against the headboard.

Liu Fen smiled ingratiatingly, "Pingzi, you're still awake?"

Lin Qingping smiled. In the end, she was just too soft-hearted. Liu Fen had already given her a hard time when she first arrived today, and she felt bad about continuing to give the old woman a hard time.

Liu Fen carefully sat down on the stool, leaving Gu Juncheng with nowhere to sit. He ended up sitting on the edge of the bed, earning him a fierce glare from Lin Qingping.

“Pingzi, Chengzi…” Liu Fen spoke cautiously, “Besides coming to see you, there’s actually… something else I need to discuss…”

"Mom, tell me," Gu Juncheng said. "Is it because the family is short of money? Just tell me how much you need."

"No, no, no!" Liu Fen waved her hands repeatedly, "It's just that you haven't had children yet, isn't it?"

As Liu Fen spoke, she kept glancing at Lin Qingping, as if afraid that Lin Qingping would get angry.

Okay, so that's where you were waiting!

Lin Qingping thought to herself, but she couldn't be bothered to respond to this. She pinched the muscle on Gu Juncheng's back, signaling him not to play dumb. Whoever's mother it is, they should deal with it themselves!

Gu Juncheng clicked his tongue. "Mother, why are you bringing this up?"

Liu Fen glared at her son, then looked at Lin Qingping with a guilty expression. "Pingzi, I know that our Gu family has wronged you and made you bear a bad reputation. Your father and I are not unreasonable people. It's Chengzi's problem. We also feel very guilty. Thank you for being so tolerant of Chengzi all these years."

Gu Juncheng: ...

Gu Juncheng thought to himself: Thank you so much, Mother! You really are my mother!

Lin Qingping had countless question marks in her mind. Suddenly, she sat up straight, looked at Gu Juncheng with a playful gaze, and the internet meme automatically popped into her mind again: If you're going to talk about this, I won't be sleepy anymore.

He had an expression of watching the gossip and enjoying the show.

Gu Juncheng and Lin Qingping exchanged a glance: ...

"Mother, go back to sleep, stop worrying about these trivial things!" Gu Juncheng's expression was clearly not good.

Given Gu Juncheng's absolute authority at home, if it were before, his impatience would have terrified his mother, and she would have definitely listened to him and gone back home.

But today, his mother has come with a mission!

I have a strong sense of mission! Even if it means going all out, I will complete this mission!

So, Liu Fen finally stood her ground and scolded her son with a stern face, "Chengzi! I know this is a matter of your reputation! But some things can't be solved by running away! Do you know how awful the villagers are saying? You and Pingzi have been married for years and still don't have a child! The villagers ask me every day, and I'm almost at my wit's end!"

"Just ignore it! What can't you answer? If you can't answer, then don't answer!" Gu Juncheng got up to shoo him away, "Go to sleep!"

Liu Fen refused to leave, and once she sat down, she wouldn't move. She even patted her son, saying, "Sit down, I need to finish what I have to say!"

Liu Fen rolled her eyes at him, "Of course you think it's no big deal! The villagers aren't gossiping about you!"

"Who are they talking about?" At this point, Gu Juncheng still didn't think it was a big deal.

"Say 'bottle'!" Liu Fen said angrily, "Saying 'bottle' is like saying 'hen that can't lay eggs'!"

Gu Juncheng's expression changed. "Who's talking nonsense? Can't you yell back?"

"Why don't you go and scold them? It's your own fault for not being able to have children, go and scold them yourself!" Liu Fen said, glaring at him.

Liu Fen felt incredibly aggrieved. She and her husband couldn't hold their heads up in the village because they didn't have a grandson, especially since it was her son who had the problem! This son was hers, and the fact that he couldn't have children seemed to be a stain on her reputation. Her husband had complained about her more than once!

Gu Juncheng was speechless for a moment. He turned to look at Lin Qingping, thinking she would definitely be angry. Unexpectedly, she looked at him with a smile, like an outsider watching a show.

Liu Fen's long-suppressed resentment welled up instantly, and her eyes welled up with tears. She said to Lin Qingping, "Pingzi, our Gu family has really let you down. We've caused you to bear the stigma in the village. Actually, it's not just in this village; it's in several villages, almost the entire township. When I went to the river to wash clothes, all those women were talking about me. Your father and I thought, we can't let this continue. We have to make sure Chengzi's lineage has someone to carry on the family line..."

"What terrible idea are you coming up with?" Gu Juncheng became alert. "We have Zhiyuan!"

Liu Fen replied, "Zhiyuan's surname is Li after all, and he has no blood relation with you."

"So what are you planning? Let me tell you, Mother, don't try to pin your feudalistic ideas on me. I'm a soldier, I don't believe your nonsense!" Gu Juncheng said with a dark face.

"What feudal dregs? Soldiers don't have sons? They don't want sons? You're wrong no matter where you put it!" Liu Fen said angrily. "Chengzi! You're a man! A man should have a sense of responsibility! Since you can't have children, you should find a way to prevent Pingzi from suffering this injustice!"

“Then go back and put up a notice at the village entrance saying that I can’t have children!” he said in a muffled voice.

These words completely enraged Liu Fen. "Then how are your father and I supposed to live in this village? I might as well just throw myself into the river at the village entrance!"

Lin Qingping let the mother and daughter argue without saying a word. In any case, this matter had little to do with her. However, she felt a little annoyed. She and Gu Juncheng did not have children. There were rumors about her in the village, but the Gu family's reputation was more important than her own. She had to take the blame, not the Gu family.

Therefore, if people can get along harmoniously, it means that their interests have not yet reached that point.

The Gu family members are kind and not greedy. So, in their previous life, even though Gu Juncheng gave her all the compensation money, the Gu family elders didn't say a word. But face is too important in the countryside. It's priceless. For the sake of face, they were willing to let her be talked about by the whole village rather than explain that it was their son who was incompetent.

But Lin Qingping doesn't care now. Whether it's Gu Family Village or Lin Family Village, they're both a million miles away. Let whoever wants to talk, she's not with them at all. Besides, Gu Juncheng himself said that such a thing shouldn't happen, and he was the one who got divorced. His mother was right about one thing: he's a man, he has to be responsible, and he has to take on that responsibility!

Then Liu Fen continued, "Your father and I have discussed it. It doesn't matter if you can't have children. We'll just get a child from a relative's house and say that it's yours. Nobody will know."

Upon hearing this, Lin Qingping knew that Gu Juncheng would absolutely not agree.

Why are you hugging them? They're divorced now!

Moreover, even if they hadn't divorced, Gu Juncheng wouldn't have agreed.

Sure enough, Gu Juncheng got angry. "Mother, if you keep talking nonsense, you can go back with Father tomorrow!"

But Liu Fen was determined.

Liu Fen had never been so determined in her life!

"Let me finish!" Liu Fen turned to Lin Qingping and said, "Pingzi, we originally wanted to adopt a child from the Gu family, but after thinking it over, we realized that Chengzi is ultimately the one who wronged you. So, how about we adopt one from your maternal family? Since we are related to you by blood, we will recognize him as a child of the Gu family!"

what! ?

Lin Qingping never expected that this matter would come back to haunt her!

“No… Mother…” Lin Qingping sat up straight, “My family is going to adopt a relative’s child? Where in my family would I find a suitable child?”

Liu Fen laughed, "Yes! You haven't been back for years, you didn't even know!"

Lin Qingping had a bad feeling.

Sure enough, Liu Fen said again, "Your brother's."

"What?" Lin Qingping was truly shocked tonight. "My brother?"

“Yes! Your brother is only five months pregnant and hasn’t given birth yet. Your mother had someone check, and it’s definitely a son,” Liu Fen said with a smile.

"No, when did my brother get married?!" Lin Qingping was completely dumbfounded. How could her brother, who was so hopeless in his life, find a wife? "Whose daughter did he marry?"

“From the county!” Liu Fen laughed. “I heard she’s quite something, the factory director’s daughter. I met her once, she’s very beautiful!”

Lin Qingping's body went limp; if she hadn't been half-lying on the bed, she would have definitely fallen by now.

"Could it be Cheng Yuanyuan?" she murmured to herself. Could she really marry Cheng Yuanyuan in this lifetime? No way? The reason her brother was able to marry Cheng Yuanyuan in her previous life was entirely because he had a brother-in-law who was a regimental commander. Otherwise, why would someone from a state-owned factory, who was paid by the government, be interested in a good-for-nothing country boy like him?

Liu Fen exclaimed happily, "That's right! Her name is just two characters stacked together, something like the daughter of a sugar factory director. What, do you know Pingzi?"

Sugar factory manager...

Oh no, it really is Yuan Yuan...

Thinking of Cheng Yuanyuan's tragedy in her previous life, Lin Qingping felt sad.

At that time, she was wholeheartedly on her brother's side. She only helped Cheng Yuanyuan secretly when she was suffering. She never publicly upheld justice and never stood up to say a word against her brother and mother.

But why?!

Liu Fen had no idea what Lin Qingping was thinking. She just said happily, "The girl is already pregnant before the wedding. Your mother said it's perfect. She can give birth in the county and no one will know. Then we can bring the baby to you two and say it's your child. Who in the village will know?"

Lin Qingping was thunderstruck after hearing only the first sentence.

Unmarried pregnancy...

This is a very serious matter in this day and age!

All I can say is that this girl must have been tricked by her brother, because now her family has no choice but to agree even if they don't want to!

She racked her brains for a while before finally arriving at this last sentence: Your mother said…

She scoffed inwardly and asked Liu Fen, "Did my mother come to you to say that?"

Liu Fen nodded, "Isn't that right? Your father and I have been looking for a suitable child in the clan. We always felt that no matter how carefully we looked, they were all people we knew from all around. If we brought them back to raise, people would talk behind our backs and say, 'This isn't our biological child.' We couldn't feel comfortable with it. Then your mother came along, and look, she's just the right person in every way! And she's your own nephew. Isn't that wonderful?"

Liu Fen came with absolute certainty.

Lin Qingping might not be willing to adopt a child, since Chengzi is the one who can't have children. But what could she say about raising her own nephew?

Even Lin Qingping had to admire her parents-in-law. In the countryside, clan mentality was still very strong. Generally, children were adopted from the man's clan, as they were of the same lineage and surname, and were of the same bloodline. It was extremely rare for children to be adopted from the woman's family.

But why did her mother think she would agree?

However, thinking about it, it's understandable that this was her mother's idea! Her mother-in-law, Liu Fen, would never have come up with such a thing!

"Aren't you kidding me?" Gu Juncheng finally retorted after listening for a while. "You think you can just raise a child like that? Do you think the woman's family will agree to that? This is their grandson! And he's a factory manager in the city!"

Liu Fen couldn't stand the sight of her son today. She glared at him and said, "Since I'm here, it proves that everything has been arranged over there! The woman's parents have agreed to let the child be adopted by the aunt! Otherwise, how could they face her if the child wasn't even born before the wedding? Besides, even if they got married now, it would be shameful! Would the bride have a wedding while heavily pregnant? Even if they didn't have a wedding, where would they hide the child? Either way, it's a disgraceful thing! Your mother-in-law suggested that the child be born first, then the aunt could raise it, and after they got married, the child could be born, and they agreed."