"What is it?" Xiao Jia felt rebuffed.
Just then, a group of people arrived to pick up packages, and Gu Yan went to get busy. Xiao Jia also followed suit, so there was no time for further idle chat.
They worked until midnight. Gu Yan helped the boss tidy up the shop, closed the door, and then went home.
Back home, Gu En had already fallen asleep. A small energy-saving lamp was left on for her in the living room. The yellow light was dim, but for Gu Yan, it was very heartwarming.
She gently pushed open Gu En's door, turned on the bedside lamp. The boy was sleeping sprawled out, his blanket having fallen to the floor.
She picked up the blanket, patted it, and re-covered her son.
Looking at her son's peaceful sleeping face, her thoughts drifted back to the night twelve years ago…
That night, she was once again sent by her superior to "Bu Ye Tian" to entertain clients. Having learned from experience, she had taken a hangover pill in advance. After a few rounds of drinks, she made an excuse to leave the private room to get some air and to avoid being forcibly detained by clients again.
Coincidentally, she ran into Ye Qichen, who was meeting a client in the next private room. He was clearly drunk, being supported by two women, followed by clients who seemed eager to please, urging the women to take care of Ye Qichen.
At the time, she saw Ye Qichen clearly resisting, trying to push the two women away, but they wouldn't let go, clinging to him and heading towards a hotel room.
Gu Yan thought of how Ye Qichen had helped her many times, and she should help him, so she stepped forward and blocked their path.
"I am his friend, here to take him back."
The two nightclub hostesses obviously didn't want to hand him over. "Who are you? Why should we hand him over to you?"
Seeing that they wouldn't let go, Gu Yan thought she had to forcibly take him.
"Let go of me!" Ye Qichen forcefully pushed the two women away. He swayed and looked at Gu Yan for a while before reaching his hand towards her. "Gu Yan? Take me back."
Gu Yan immediately supported him, glared at the two women, and then helped Ye Qichen into the elevator to leave.
Gu Yan booked a room for him at a nearby hotel and struggled to help him inside. The weight of a fully grown man when he's helplessly drunk is quite substantial. Gu Yan, having been a young lady for over twenty years and rarely doing heavy work in the Gu family, had limited strength. In a moment of carelessness, they both fell onto the bed…
Later, Gu Yan recalled the events of that night many times. If she could go back to that day, she thought, she still wouldn't have pushed him away, even though Ye Qichen seemed to have no memory of that night afterward.
A month later, Gu Yan discovered she was pregnant!
She didn't know how to tell Ye Qichen. The only solution she could think of was to confess her feelings to him and gauge his reaction.
If he accepted, she would tell him about the pregnancy.
If he refused, meaning he didn't like her, then there would be no point in mentioning the child.
The result, as is now obvious.
"Hmm…" Suddenly, a spasm in her stomach, a sharp pain, pulled Gu Yan back from her thoughts.
She clutched her stomach, curled up on the floor, the pain making her vision black out. After a long while, when the intense pain subsided, she managed to stand up with difficulty.
Over the years, to be on time for work, she often skipped meals, which had led to her stomach problems.
She leaned on the table to stand up. Only then did she see a written self-criticism on the table. The content was very simple, the sentences devoid of any rhetorical devices, but it still made her eyes water.
Ye Qichen's appearance gave her a sudden thought: perhaps she shouldn't force her child to do things he disliked.
But more than that, she feared that if Ye Qichen found out about the child, he would fight for custody, and with her current difficult circumstances, she would have no chance against him.
She stood by the bed, leaned down, and gently kissed Gu En's forehead, tucked him in, and then turned off the light and left.
The food Gu En had left for her in the kitchen was already cold. She reheated it, ate a little, took her stomach medicine, rested for a while, and then bathed and went to sleep.
The next day, 5:30 AM.
Gu Yan woke up on time, finished her morning routine, went to the nearby market to buy groceries, and then prepared breakfast. She also packed lunch into a thermos. Just as Gu En woke up.
Mother and son ate breakfast together, then each carrying their bags and lunch boxes, they headed to the subway station.
On the way, Gu Yan spoke first: "Gu En, if you really don't want to study at the school in the city center, we'll transfer. But you need to think carefully, because once we leave, we can't come back."
Gu En looked at her in surprise. He obviously hadn't expected his mother, who had been so insistent for years that he study at the city center school, to suddenly change her mind overnight.
He suddenly thought of the man who had appeared at their home last night. Could it be because of him?
Gu En didn't answer. They entered the subway station, and he parted ways with Gu Yan on the transfer line.
Gu Yan's accounting company for daytime work was also not close. It took an hour and a half by subway and then bus.
After finishing her morning's work, at noon, she reheated her meal at the company. During her lunch break, she changed into more casual clothes and rushed to the warehouse of a nearby supermarket to help unload goods before the 2:30 PM work restart.
Today, she planned to inform the manager in advance that she might not be coming next week after this week. She needed to find a new place to live and possibly find another school for Gu En.
Ye Qichen's appearance made her feel an unsettling premonition.
She needed to move quickly and find a new place where he couldn't find her.
"Gu Yan, you're here." Manager Lan, who was in charge of logistics and unloading, came out of the office.
"Manager Lan, I…"
"Those people are looking for you. Go handle it first."
Gu Yan was interrupted by Manager Lan before she could finish her sentence.
He pointed to several strong young men with tattooed arms, their faces looking unfriendly, clearly not respectable youths.
Gu Yan didn't recognize them and walked over hesitantly.
"Hey, you're Gu En's mom, right?" Seeing her approach, a man with dyed yellow hair spat out his cigarette butt and asked.
Gu Yan frowned slightly. "Yes, who are you?"
"Your son has offended our boss. We're here to remind you to educate your son properly!" The yellow-haired man said, shoving Gu Yan hard.
Gu Yan, caught off guard, stumbled and hit the stacked beverage crates next to her. As it happened, they were glass bottles of pre-mixed alcoholic beverages. The collision caused half of them to fall.
"Bang—" Gu Yan knew it was bad, but it was too late. Over a dozen cases of bottles hit the ground, mixing various colored liquors and spilling everywhere.
The yellow-haired man didn't care. Seeing his subordinate recording Gu Yan's disheveled state, he led his men away.
"Gu Yan! What are you doing!" Manager Lan rushed over at the commotion and, seeing the shattered beverages all over the floor, his anger flared. "You have to pay for these, or you're not leaving!"
Back when she was in the Gu family, Gu Yan wouldn't have deigned to drink these pre-mixed alcoholic beverages. Now, with her financial constraints, she was even less likely to buy them. After breaking so many, she didn't know where to turn for an explanation, and was now responsible.