The two looked at each other and smiled in tacit understanding!
Gu Xuehong said, "Nanxi is smarter than her mother and better at choosing n, too. I’m very reassured to entrust Nanxi to you!"
"If Qinqin hadn’t chosen back then, if I hadn’t been blinded by love and eloped with Qinqin, maybe none of this would have happened! It was who hurt Qinqin and our daughter Nanxi!"
"No, Nanxi isn’t actually that smart, and sotis, she can be very confused! But since you say you’re reassured, I’ll gladly accept that!"
Gu Xuehong pursed his lips and said nothing.
Lu Yinchu said, "Actually, given our current relationship, I should call you ’father-in-law.’ I might not have been clear on many things from the past, but I was shocked when I heard that you and your wife eloped, it even seed a bit, unbelievable! Because I can’t quite understand what kind of difficulty in real life could drive a couple to disregard friends and lovers and choose to flee this city, regardless of everything!"
"So ti ago, I had a friend who eloped to H City with his woman and sought refuge with . He stayed in H City for a while. When he left, he called from the airport. I asked him if he was planning to continue eloping elsewhere. He laughed and said, if possible, he would drop everything to be with her, but does leaving solve all problems? No, it doesn’t solve anything. So what’s the point of leaving? It’s just a way to hide for a while and catch one’s breath, that’s acceptable! Now, having caught his breath, he’s ready to return with his beloved woman and face everything bravely!"
Lu Yinchu said, "Father-in-law, I won’t deny that you loved your wife and wanted to give her happiness, nor will I deny you miss Nanxi and wish for her joy. You’re a good husband, as well as a good father! But still, I must say, I do not agree with your decision to elope back then, and after you left, it’s so many years without ever returning. Even if you felt guilty towards Nanxi and the Liang Family after losing touch with her, you shouldn’t have avoided them and refused to see them. Do you realize how selfish your actions were!"
Gu Xuehong’s lips trembled, his fingers holding the cigarette shook, unable to speak a word.
Lu Yinchu looked at him and spoke again, saying, "In fact, I especially want to ask you, if we hadn’t co looking for you, how much longer were you planning to hide? I an, hide from Nanxi?"
"I don’t know! But..." Gu Xuehong looked up, took a deep breath, "But... I am now very glad that you ca looking for , and that you found !"
...
That year, Gu Xuehong was twenty-five years old, in the pri of his youth, and it was at that ti that he t Liang Huiqing!
Gu Xuehong’s parents had died early, so he grew up with his grandparents. After they passed away one after the other, his family circumstances forced him to confront social realities prematurely, leaving no opportunity for further education. He dropped out after junior high school!
At that ti, he was working at a local pharmaceutical factory!
That year, Liang Huiqing was twenty-two years old, and after graduating from college, she beca an art teacher at a local middle school!
It seed like she and Gu Xuehong were people from two completely different worlds!
That sumr, Liang Huiqing, encouraged and helped by a good friend, organized a calligraphy training class. Gu Xuehong, on his way to dinner with a friend, saw the class advertised on a signage board at the bus station by chance, noted the number, and made the call!
The phone was answered by Liang Huiqing. Gu Xuehong asked if they accepted adults, claiming he wasn’t well-educated, but he truly loved calligraphy and wanted to learn!
Liang Huiqing hesitated and didn’t reply imdiately, hanging up the phone for the ti being. Liang Huiqing later said that when she ntioned this matter to friends, they all said that this person wasn’t here to study calligraphy at all—he was clearly there to pursue a girlfriend!
Liang Huiqing frowned upon hearing this and said, "We can’t just write soone off like that. How about we let him sit in for a day and see how it goes? Maybe once he cos and sees that the class is full of teenagers, he’ll feel too embarrassed to keep coming, saving the trouble of rejecting him!"
Indeed, Gu Xuehong did co, and to Liang Huiqing’s surprise, he had the nerve to stay, not showing the slightest intention of giving up—even though he was surrounded by teenagers. Instead, he was particularly earnest in every aspect of the class!
He didn’t show any of the intentions her friends had suggested, of pursuing her. It seed he genuinely ca to study calligraphy!
But later on, to everyone’s amazent, they ended up together. How did they fall in love? No one knew, but they indeed fell for each other!
In everyone’s eyes, including Gu Xuehong himself, it was baffling why Liang Huiqing, such a beautiful, talented, and well-off girl, would take a liking to him—a man from a small pharmaceutical factory who had nothing and was of no use?
Gu Xuehong felt very insecure and lacked self-confidence because of this. The girl was right by his side, yet he often felt she was very distant from him!
Later, when Liang Huiqing’s family found out about the relationship, they opposed it—unsurprisingly, strongly!
Liang Huiqing was only twenty-two and had a brighter future awaiting her. But a man like Gu Xuehong couldn’t help her with anything. They were not suitable for each other!
At that ti, Gu Xuehong felt he was about to lose her. The fear was indescribable. Holding her tightly, hating himself for not being able to protect the woman he loved most, he felt he was not man enough!
It was that very night they beca intimate, and after it was over, Liang Huiqing leaned into his arms and said, "If you can’t face everything for the ti being, let’s elope!"
Gu Xuehong was stunned. Elope? Would Liang Huiqing really give up everything to elope with him? It was inconceivable!
But many years later, as he looked back on that scene, he suddenly hated himself. Liang Huiqing’s proposal was clearly a choice made after feeling cornered!
What she really wanted wasn’t for him to elope with her, but to stay with her and face everything bravely!
Yet, at that ti, he, confused and panicked, didn’t understand and actually went through with the elopent!
Later, they drifted from city to city, their life filled with unspeakable hardships—and also trendous sweetness.
But he also noticed the change in Liang Huiqing. She beca quiet and reticent, often sitting in a daze.
She changed her na, calling herself Shi Muqin. When he asked why she would change it, she said, "From the mont I left, I no longer deserved to bear the Liang surna. Dusk turns to night, black hair will turn to white, I too will age. I only hope that my mother and brother will not bla !"
"At that mont, I knew she regretted eloping with ." Gu Xuehong said with eyes slightly closed. "Then, I thought about taking her back, but she was unwilling. I didn’t know why. Later, through a friend’s introduction, we ended up in Hong Kong. I went into business with friends, and it was very tough at first. To make ends et, Qinqin had to set up a stall on the street to write calligraphy for people. We lived this way for three long years until my business finally started looking up. Once I had money, I imdiately bought that villa! I thought it was the light at the end of the tunnel, that I could finally provide a good life for her and Nanxi, but what awaited was another Abyss!"
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