However, upon investigation, he was surprised to find that Xie Mingzhu did not grow up healthily under the care of the Xie family as he had imagined.

She was only recently recognized and reunited with her family.

And the village where she used to live was indeed Broken Bridge Village.

Gu Yanjun was suddenly startled, and many clues connected at that moment.

A bold idea slowly took shape in my mind.

If that dream wasn't just a figment of imagination, but rather a slow revival and reappearance of subconscious memories, if the woman in the dream really was Xie Mingzhu...

He remembered that Grandpa Gu had said that Xie Mingzhu had not found a partner yet, and the opportunity to give birth to Jiangjiang was due to an accident many years ago when she accidentally stayed out overnight.

At that moment, Gu Yanjun felt a buzzing in his brain. He, who was always calm and composed, had never been so shocked.

The day he realized that his guess might be the truth, Gu Yanjun, who hadn't taken a day off in three years, simply took a day off and went to the public security bureau in the jurisdiction of Duanqiao Village to find out what was going on.

The public security authorities handled Xie Mingzhu's case, and even Jiang Jiang was contacted and confirmed by them. They have recorded these matters concerning Xie Mingzhu in great detail.

Gu Yanjun, posing as another person suspected to be involved in the incident, accessed these files.

As he read through the case file line by line, he was so shocked that his whole body went numb.

After leaving the Duanqiao Village Public Security Bureau, Gu Yanjun didn't dare to delay for a moment and immediately returned to the military compound to find Xie Mingzhu.

Because he was too eager, Gu Yanjun went straight to the point that time, saying that he had been having a dream for many years.

He told Xie Mingzhu in detail about one of his dreams and explained why he had such a dream.

Years ago, he spent a night with a woman in a dilapidated temple in the mountains near Duanqiao Village.

Gu Yanjun then recounted many details, which perfectly matched the case details given by the public security authorities.

In many places, Xie Mingzhu had a vague memory of the events, even though she had been drugged at the time.

Xie Mingzhu's expression changed instantly.

Then, Gu Yanjun expressed his doubts.

"I suspect that Jiangjiang is our child."

Upon hearing this, Xie Mingzhu staggered backward and nearly fell.

Although shocked, Xie Mingzhu had to admit that everything Gu Yanjun said, from the details of the case to the location and time of the incident, matched her experience in the dilapidated temple that night.

At that moment, Xie Mingzhu felt as if a bomb had been shoved into her head.

The bomb exploded with a loud bang, leaving a thick cloud of smoke in the mind, making it impossible to distinguish east from west for a moment. The mind seemed blank, but beneath this blank smoke lay a tangled mess.

Xie Mingzhu tried to calm herself down and sort out the matter.

As reason slowly returned, Xie Mingzhu finally managed to sort things out little by little.

No wonder she showed up at her doorstep afterwards; it turned out that Gu Yanjun had taken her home.

Gu Yanjun happened to be on a mission in that area when the accident occurred, and they were both caught in the trap. It all happened in the dilapidated temple...

Judging from Gu Yanjun's behavior, he doesn't seem like someone who would lie.

Furthermore, she could easily find out with Xie Zhiyan whether Gu Yanjun had an accident while on a mission; there was no reason for Gu Yanjun to lie to her.

Thinking about it this way, what Gu Yanjun said must be true.

So, Gu Yanjun was forced into this situation at the time.

But……

Xie Mingzhu felt incredibly embarrassed no matter how she thought about it.

She had already given birth, and she no longer wanted to think about or investigate who the father was; she just wanted her child by her side.

But now the child's father has not only appeared, but he's also an acquaintance who lives in the same compound...

After that conversation, Xie Mingzhu kept agonizing over the issue, unable to figure out how to respond.

The child's father was right there, chasing after her to take responsibility, and he was a good person with good character and background.

Both sides faced difficulties back then, and were forced into their own situations.

Moreover, if you look closely, Gu Yanjun was the one who was forced into this situation; it's already quite generous of them not to make her take responsibility...

But things happened so suddenly, and although she had some feelings for Gu Yanjun, they hadn't known each other for very long.

In short, all sorts of concerns are mixed together, making it really difficult to make a decision. I don't know whether I should agree to let Gu Yanjun take responsibility.

After all, this is a lifelong commitment.

If it weren't for the fact that Shu Ying's due date is approaching in the next couple of days and preparations are needed in all aspects, Xie Mingzhu's attention would have been entirely focused on Shu Ying, leaving her no time to think about all this. She would probably be tormented by this dilemma.

Before she could figure things out, Gu Yanjun actually came knocking on her door again.

Xie Mingzhu took a deep breath, braced herself and stood up. The moment she looked at Gu Yanjun, her mood inexplicably calmed down.

At that moment, she seemed to suddenly understand something.

She hadn't really thought about starting a family before because she had met the wrong person in the past, and after going through so much, she still hadn't found a child. She just didn't feel like thinking about these things.

After returning to the Xie family, Xie Mingzhu's biggest wish was to have a child, just like Shu Ying, and live a happy and lively life with her child every day.

A home that is warm and welcoming is already a good thing.

But now, the wish to find the child has been fulfilled.

Xie Mingzhu pulled Gu Yanjun aside and spoke to him about these things.

"I am very satisfied with my current life. I have children, things I want to do, and a future I want to strive to achieve."

"And after careful consideration, I realized that the things I want to do and the future I want to achieve are all things I can accomplish on my own, without needing the help of others, and without necessarily having to form a family with another person."

"Besides, there's really no emotional foundation between us. To put it bluntly, what happened back then was just an accident."

"Moreover, I made a decision a long time ago to let go of the past and start a new life. I don't want to live in the memories of the past and be held hostage by it."

"Rather than starting a family for the sake of starting a family, I hope we can gently let go of the past, like turning the page of a book, turning the page and moving on to the future."

"Life is not a game; a family without a foundation of love will not be happy."

"Comrade Gu, what I yearn for is a family like my younger brother and sister-in-law's. If I can't achieve that, I'd rather not have it."

"To be honest, although I have some feelings for you, it's not to that extent. Can you understand?"