Chapter 74 Golden Wedding (2)
The room was deathly silent.
The old woman stared intently at her husband, her voice trembling slightly, "Isn't Chaoyang your son?"
“Of course Chaoyang is my child.” The old man’s eyes curved slightly, and the wrinkles left by the years added to the cruelty of time’s passage. “You’re old and can’t remember, but Chaoyang is my little sun. How could he not be my child?”
The gentle question revealed a host of abnormal and bizarre elements.
The old woman felt a sudden, inexplicable panic. She was plunged into a profound sense of bewilderment and could only try to defend herself, saying, "We've been together for so many years, you know that you've always been in my heart. I have absolutely never been involved with any other man. Muxi is my son with you, that's beyond question!"
"I know, I know," he gently reassured her, his words filled with trust. "Of course you've never betrayed our marriage. Over the years, you've always kept me in your heart, and I'm very grateful."
The old lady grabbed her husband's hand as if it were a lifeline. "It must be a mistake by the hospital. They're deliberately spreading these rumors. There must be some unspeakable secret behind this. This matter is related to the reputation of our Gu family. You must find out the truth!"
She couldn't help but come up with many conspiracy theories. These rumors were clearly aimed at her and her son. She had spent most of her life taking care of her family, being a good wife and mother, and later living a semi-secluded life with her husband. She had no enemies.
The only possibility is Gu Chaoyang!
The old lady cried and said, "Over the years, I have taken good care of this family. Although Chaoyang is not my child, I have never wronged him. I have been even better to him than to Muxi. You have seen how well I have taken care of Chaoyang since we got married."
The old lady was heartbroken. "I know he has always held a grudge against me, but Muxi is his brother. He can take revenge on me, but he must not lay a hand on Muxi. If it were a small matter, I would let it go, but today's matter is too serious. Muxi is also a child you raised. You can't just watch our son be slandered and framed. I don't ask for anything else, I just want justice for our son."
Her words were all reasonable and heartbreaking. As the saying goes, a mother is strong for her son. She is usually gentle and obedient to people, and it was only today that she was pushed to the limit and made a request to her husband for the first time.
The old man handed her a tissue to wipe her tears. He smiled and said, "You've misunderstood Chaoyang. He never intended to spread rumors and frame you and Muxi."
The old lady questioned, "Then wasn't it him who spread the rumor that he and Muxi weren't related?"
"It was indeed Chaoyang who said those words, but what he said is true."
The old lady was taken aback. "What did you say?"
The old man reminded her again, "Why don't you look at the golden wedding anniversary gift I gave you?"
Her body trembled slightly, and her gaze fell on the wooden box again. A strong intuition sent a chill through her body, but the unlocked box seemed to have a strange magic that tempted her to open it.
The old woman's trembling hands gently opened the box. The moment she saw what was inside, she screamed. The box fell to the ground, and a small, complete skeleton was smashed into pieces.
She screamed, but strangely, the people outside the ward seemed not to hear her. No one came in to disturb her. The old man watched her frightened outburst quietly and slowly chuckled.
The old woman gradually regained her senses. She dared not look at the thing on the ground for long, but immediately gripped her husband's hand tightly and asked in a hoarse voice, "This was just a joke, wasn't it? You were just trying to make me happy, weren't you? That thing was fake, wasn't it!"
There was a hint of pleasure in his voice, "Some people say that a mother will always recognize her child at first sight, but now it seems that this is not the case. Mingyue, how come you can't recognize the flesh and blood you carried for ten months and gave birth to?"
Mingyue was the old lady's given name. In his entire life, he only called her by her name so affectionately twice. Once was when he discovered the woman's body. After he buried the woman with his own hands, he gently said to her, "Mingyue, let's live a good life together from now on."
It was from that moment that her husband, who had never touched her before, began to sleep with her. She was filled with anxiety, but he asked her, "Haven't you always wanted to have children for me?"
During that time, they lived like any ordinary newlywed couple, inseparable. He gave her all the beautiful dreams for the future, as if they were a match made in heaven.
And then, right now, he called her "Mingyue" again, asking if she could recognize the child she had carried for ten months.
Wang Mingyue felt a chill run down her spine. She couldn't believe it, her eyes were cloudy. "You're lying to me. My son is Gu Muxi, I'm Gu Muxi's mother, and you're Gu Muxi's father. Our son is alive and well, isn't he?"
"Which Gu Muxi are you talking about?" he said with a cold smile. "The one lying in the next room, or the one lying on the floor?"
Wang Mingyue's face was as pale as paper, and her wrinkled face was devoid of life. Yet she still tried to comfort herself, "It must be because the child I gave birth to is not healthy. You don't want me to be sad, so..."
“Mingyue, the child you gave birth to for me is very healthy. He cried loudly and was very energetic when he was born.” The old man remembered something and said regretfully, “It’s a pity that you fell asleep right after he was born, otherwise you could have seen him. But it’s not too late now, you have seen him.”
Wang Mingyue trembled all over, feeling as if she had fallen into an ice cellar, the chill in the air making it hard for her to breathe.
To this day, she still remembers the joy of her pregnancy. Unlike other men who are careless, he put her first in everything after learning she was pregnant and took great care of her.
Before the child was born, he prepared many things for the child. Everyone said that she had finally seen the light at the end of the tunnel, and she herself felt the same way. Moreover, when she saw the silent Gu Chaoyang, she felt a kind of joy. He must have been much more attentive to her child than he was to Gu Chaoyang.
On the day she gave birth, he didn't care about the saying that childbirth was unlucky and that men shouldn't go in. He stayed with her to witness the birth of their child, but at the moment the child was born, she fell into a deep sleep due to exhaustion.
When she woke up again, everyone around her told her that her husband really valued the child she gave birth to. He wanted to take care of him personally from the moment he was born. He didn't lack sons, but he especially valued her son. This was obviously because he loved her so much that he loved her child as well.
Such a good husband belongs to her.
Now, however, her youth has faded, and the woman, old and faded, clings tightly to her husband's hand, screaming hysterically, "He is your son! He is your own son!"
"Of course I know he's my own son." The old man smiled calmly. "If he weren't my own son, his death would have been meaningless."
Wang Mingyue felt a chill run through her body, as if the blood in her veins had turned cold. She hunched over, pale and weak, and cried out, "You can hate me, you can seek revenge, but how could you... how could you... He's your child too! He's innocent!"
He smiled, his eyes crinkling, "I only have one child. As long as it's a seed that came out of your belly, it's not innocent."
Of course, he is by no means innocent either.
Wang Mingyue felt as if her blood had frozen, and suddenly she couldn't utter a single word.
The elderly man smiled casually, as if he had crossed time and space and returned to that rainy night.
A filthy young man carefully protected the baby perched on his shoulders, while a pretty woman chased after him with a broom, yelling, "How old are you! Taking your son to play in the mud! Do you know how hard it is to wash clothes?!"
The man was hit a few times, but he still smiled ingratiatingly and shamelessly bowed his head to his wife to admit his mistake. The little child sitting on his shoulders saw his father being hit and joined in the commotion, shouting for more beatings.
Wang Mingyue only glanced at him from afar, but she suddenly remembered this man who worked under her father. He was usually aloof and difficult for ordinary people to approach, but she realized that he could also laugh so happily.
Now, she saw his smile again, seemingly the same as before, yet like a demon from hell, making her feel only eeriness and terror.
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