Chapter 4 A Moment, Routed

An Xiangrong's pupils shrank. She looked at Gu Mingyu's icy face, and finally softened her attitude.

In an instant, she seemed to have lost her backbone, showing a sense of humiliation and inferiority from every pore.

"I understand, Mr. Gu."

Mr. Gu.

Gu Mingyu put down his hand and involuntarily stepped back. These three words seemed to shock him, even making him feel a bit of panic.

Gu Mingyu quickly suppressed his panic, looking at An Xiangrong he waved his hand: "An Ling said she wanted soup cooked by you, go and make soup for her now!"

"Yes... Mr Gu."

An Xiangrong subconsciously looked back at the baby in the ward, her eyes full of longing.

But Gu Mingyu, like a mountain, stood between her and the child: "An Xiangrong, don't even think about it if it's not yours!"

An Xiangrong lowered her head, her fingers slowly clenching.

It's not mine?

Gu Mingyu, this child was torn from my flesh, how is she not mine?

Gu Mingyu, such a cruel man like you, deserves to lose what you love most and not die in peace!

The most ironic part was the sound of An Ling's plea behind her.

"Ah Yu, what did I do wrong? Why does sister...why does sister always treat me like this? And Ah Yu, no matter how sister treats me, don't be angry, after all, sister helped us give birth to our child, you shouldn't be so harsh on her..."

"Heh, such a malicious woman deserves to be treated like this! An Ling, you are too kind, which is why she bullies you."

Indeed.

An Ling stole the child I desperately gave birth to and is considered kind, but when I just want my own child, I am considered evil!

And so, An Xiangrong became An Ling's nanny.

Before marrying Li Mingyu, she never imagined that the proud An Xiangrong would ever fall so low, living like a walking corpse.

One day, when Li Mingyu took An Ling out for a check-up, she immediately left the kitchen and went to the ward, standing by the incubator.

An Xiangrong looked at the tiny baby inside the incubator, her eyes finally lighting up.

It's been a month... She saw An Ling hold him this morning, she wanted to hold him too.

An Xiangrong slowly opened the incubator, then stretched out her finger, gently reaching for the baby's.

As if the baby could sense her presence, he opened his tiny hand and tightly grasped her finger.

Tears suddenly fell from An Xiangrong's eyes.

As if the baby could sense her emotions, he opened his mouth and began to cry.

In a slight panic, An Xiangrong quickly picked up the baby: "Don't cry, my little Wei, Mummy's not upset, Mummy will be strong, Mummy will definitely take you away..."

Immediately afterwards, An Xiangrong began to hum: "The stars in the sky are crying, the roses on the ground are withering, the cold wind blows, the cold wind blows, as long as you are with me..."

The baby slowly closed his eyes, his long eyelashes casting a shadow on his small face which stirred a sense of tenderness in An Xiangrong.

Just then, a low voice sounded from behind--

"An Xiangrong, what are you doing?"

An Xiangrong's body stiffened, she slowly turned around, holding the baby in her arms, showing resistance for the first time since becoming An Ling's nanny.

She looked at Gu Mingyu, who was supporting An Ling. "This is my baby. What am I doing? Of course, I am holding my baby!"

Gu Mingyu, discontent written all over his face, opened his mouth to speak, but An Ling pulled at his arm.

"Ah Yu, if sister wants to hold our baby, I can understand that, don't be angry..."

An Ling then turned to An Xiangrong: "But, sister... please don't take your resentment for me out on the baby, and don't do anything to hurt him..."

An Xiangrong, hearing An Ling's words, was trembling with rage: "An Ling, do you think I'm as evil as you?"

"Shut up! An Xiangrong!" Gu Mingyu exclaimed, already striding forward to snatch the baby from An Xiangrong's arms.

"From today forward, you're not allowed in this room!"

An Xiangrong looked at Gu Mingyu incredulously.

When a man chooses to play dumb, he really can play it to an extreme.

An Xiangrong looked at the little one in Gu Mingyu's arms, resisted the urge to snatch him back, and quietly left the room with her head down.

From that day on, the distance between An Xiangrong and the baby became greater. She could only stand at the door and look at the child from a distance, showing longing that only a mother could understand.

About a month after the baby's birth, An Ling started considering names for him.

She asked Gu Mingyu to buy her a dictionary. She spent all day flipping through the dictionary, and after a few days of brainstorming names, she closed her dictionary one day, lying on the sickbed and beckoned An Xiangrong over.

"Sister, come here. What do you think about the name I picked for our baby?"

An Xiangrong didn't want to hear the name. She had already given the baby a name, a single syllable: 'Wei', An Ling had no right to name the baby.

But she found herself walking over involuntarily, driven by curiosity, to see what name An Ling had chosen.

Then she saw the three Chinese characters An Ling wrote on a piece of paper.

'Gu Yining'.

An Ling smiled and explained: "The name 'Gu Yining' means 'Gu Mingyu will only love An Ling for a lifetime'. Sister, what do you think of this name?"

An Xiangrong trembled with rage: "An Ling, are you amused? How else do you want to humiliate me? Isn't it enough that I'm already your maid, now you want my own child to carry such a lifelong humiliation?"

"But I think it's nice." An Ling responded, with an innocent smile, "Sister, did you know, I am dad's illegitimate daughter, and when he took me home, I was so jealous of you. At that time, you were like a princess. I thought then, 'one day, I have to step on you.'

"Look at you now... Hehe, I've successfully stepped on you, haven't I?"

"Oh, sister, there's one thing I didn't tell you, on that night, when the fire had just started... I woke up. But I didn't wake up dad and mom..."

"You!" An Xiangrong could no longer suppress her anger. Like a wild animal, she lunged at An Ling!

"An Ling, you whore! Why don't you just die? I'm going to kill you!"

"An Xiangrong, have you gone mad?!"

An Xiangrong heard a man's furious voice, then suddenly her head started to throb and darkness followed.

She didn't know how much time had passed when she felt someone kicking her.

Opening her eyes, she saw Gu Mingyu's leather shoes. He had always worn custom-made shoes from a particular brand, just like him always having a preference for An Ling.

"An Xiangrong, are you still playing dead? Get up and carry water for An Ling to wash her feet!"

An Xiangrong silently watched Gu Mingyu for a moment, then slowly got up. She dropped her head and walked towards the bathroom. Her figure suddenly seemed to age decades, appearing as a woman in her sixties or seventies.