"You can't say that. Maybe Xiaomu will love her even more than you do in the future."
Ye Lichuan looked at him disdainfully, "I don't know about Xiao Mu, but he's clearly not a good father."
Huo Ge was indignant at being told he was incompetent and deliberately mocked him for using a scheme to bring him back to China. Ye Lichuan was not to be outdone and said that his incompetence was the reason why An Ran had to travel far away to host a press conference during her pregnancy, which led to her death.
Sitting to the side, Gu Anran realized that the man clearly held a grudge against Huo Ge for this incident. Huo Ge also felt guilty about it and couldn't say anything to refute it.
Gu Anran tugged at Ye Lichuan's sleeve, and when he looked over, she gently shook her head, understanding what he meant. He then changed the subject back to the arranged marriage.
"It's not impossible for you to arrange a marriage between our family's precious child and me, but you have to agree to a few conditions."
Huo Ge's eyes lit up, and he looked at him eagerly. He cleared his throat and said, "An Ran will need to rest for a while after giving birth. During this time, you need to manage the company well."
"The arranged marriage should wait until Erbao is born and grows up to be sensible before she can decide for herself, and also..." Ye Lichuan rambled on with a bunch of demands that favored Anran and Erbao.
Hogo could accept the previous demands, but he was unhappy when he heard that his son would be moving in with them in the future. He would never agree to it, even if it meant fighting for his pride. The two successful men started to compete over this.
Gu Anran, who had watched the whole thing, was quite helpless. How come she hadn't noticed how childish these two men were? Maintaining one posture for so long made her hands start to go numb. As she changed her posture, she unconsciously glanced at the three children opposite her.
The son and Elena sat very close together, while Xiaoling sat alone next to them, looking at the tablet in her hand, her brows furrowing unconsciously.
"The gender hasn't even been determined yet, how come you're already talking about dowry?" Gu Anran couldn't help but ask as the two of them went further and further off track.
Huo Ge said dismissively, "This is taking precautions." Seeing that Ye Lichuan agreed with him, she twitched the corners of her mouth and turned to look in Xiao Tian's direction.
She noticed that Xiaoling was still isolated, and she could sense her disappointment. Even her usually bright eyes were downcast, and she didn't know what Xiaoling was thinking.
"Xiao Tian, do you have time? Xiao Ling is usually busy studying and doesn't have time to go out and play. Elena is here for the first time. Why don't you take them out and have some fun?"
Gu Xiaotian was about to agree when he was interrupted, "Auntie, no need, I haven't finished my homework yet, you guys go ahead."
Gu Anran naturally understood that this was an excuse, but there was nothing she could do. She could only tell her to take breaks while studying.
"Okay, Auntie, I'll go upstairs to study now." With that, she turned and went upstairs back to her room.
Gu Xiaotian only turned around when he could no longer see her. He couldn't hide his disappointment and looked at Elena with a confused and sad expression. Elena, who had already seen through everything, pouted and continued playing on her phone.
Ye Lichuan also sensed that something was wrong. He nudged Gu Anran and asked what had happened. She shook her head, feeling frustrated. Seeing her son and student like this made her uncomfortable, but she didn't know how to intervene.
After sitting in the living room for a while, Gu Xiaotian got up and said he wasn't feeling well and went back to his room. Gu Anran opened her mouth but then slowly closed it again, deciding to let him have some peace and quiet.
"What's wrong with Xiao Tian?" Huo Ge looked bewildered, glancing at them and then at the stairs, completely baffled.
"I'm heartbroken." Elena spoke Chinese a little awkwardly, but she used idioms quite well.
All eyes were on her. She organized her thoughts and said, "Xiao Tian definitely likes Xiao Ling, but he hasn't received any response, which is why he's so sad."
Gu Anran agreed with her statement, but it didn't change the situation at all, and they didn't know why the two of them were like this.
The atmosphere became somewhat subdued when the topic came up, but seeing this, Elena took the initiative to start a conversation.
"Aunt Gu, would you like to know about Xiaotian's life in Bulgaria?"
"What's wrong?" Gu Anran asked anxiously, but as Elena recounted what had happened, everyone present laughed.
Gu Xiaotian spent half a day getting acquainted with Bulgaria before immersing himself in his studies. He and John were very compatible in their studies, and although there was a significant age gap between them, their ideas were basically the same. However, they rarely talked about anything other than their studies.
One day, John saw that Xiao Tian spent all day studying in his room and asked him if he needed to go out and relax. In Xiao Tian's mind, relaxation meant going to the library to read books, and John's way of relaxing was the same, but he felt that children think differently from him.
After much deliberation, they decided to take Xiaotian shopping. Little did they know that Xiaotian hated shopping the most. Coincidentally, John also hated shopping. Neither of them mentioned it until Elena found out.
"Xiao Tian later told me that it was no wonder; he thought the teacher was one of the few men who liked to go shopping."
"Don't men like shopping?" Gu Anran looked at the two men present with a question in her mind. Ye Lichuan and Huo Ge shook their heads in a rare unison, which made her laugh out loud.
The atmosphere finally picked up, and Elena went on to tell several more interesting stories about Xiaotian's time in Bulgaria, with Hogo and Ye Lichuan occasionally joining in the discussion.
"If I remember correctly, Xiao Tian hasn't been gone for very long, yet you know so much about him. Do you like Xiao Tian?" Huo Ge asked teasingly.
Hearing this, Gu Anran also looked at her. The two were not much different in age. Although Xiao Tian was thinking about Xiao Ling, it didn't mean that Elena had no feelings for Xiao Tian. Between the two, she still preferred Xiao Ling, after all, she was her student.
Elena pretended to think for a couple of minutes before slowly saying, "Xiao Tian is indeed very outstanding, and my father likes him very much. However, I don't want to be a third party. I would despise myself for interfering in other people's relationships."
Although she pursues art, she is a girl with self-respect and self-love. She will not interfere in other people's relationships. Even if her father wants Xiaotian to be his son-in-law, she will find a way to change her father's mind.
Gu Anran breathed a sigh of relief. It was fortunate that this was the case. Otherwise, compared to girls born into knowledgeable families and with good looks, Xiaoling would definitely be more inferior and might choose to stay away from Xiaotian completely.
"Really? Are you sure you're not lying to us?" Huo Ge asked persistently, but Gu Anran rolled her eyes at him, which he ignored.
"Of course it's true. I only treat Xiaotian as a younger brother. Besides, my family is quite well-off. Why would I lower myself to be a mistress?"
What she said made perfect sense, so Hogo touched his nose and decided to keep quiet.
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