Hearing her mother say this, Niu Niu understood that the fierce uncle had been helping them.
After figuring it out, she wasn't so afraid of her uncle anymore. She curiously opened her big eyes and blinked as she looked him over.
Strange, he was so fierce just now, like a big tiger, but now he looks at his mother with such gentle eyes, like a big puppy.
Gu Chengfeng burst out laughing: "How could I possibly let a female comrade invite me?"
"You helped me, so it's only right that I treat you!"
As they argued back and forth, the older woman who had spoken up earlier said, "I think you two should stop arguing. The food that person ordered hasn't been touched. Don't waste food."
“That’s right!” Shen Sisi chuckled to herself. Although Zhao Changjiang ordered the dish, it hadn’t been touched and he hadn’t paid for it, so she wasn’t really taking advantage of him.
Hearing that it was that salty pig's trotter who ordered the dish, Gu Chengfeng felt nauseous.
"Take it if you like, and Sisi and I will order again."
Sighing in deep thought, Senior Gu is still as domineering as ever, and also very fastidious.
"Alright... don't waste it." Shen Sisi tugged at his sleeve, gesturing for him to sit down.
Gu Chengfeng lowered his gaze, subtly glancing at the slightly wrinkled hem of the clothes, and couldn't help but curl his lips into a smile: "Fine, I can't go against you."
As soon as he sat down, he reached into his pocket and grabbed a milk candy he had prepared beforehand, which was about to melt from being held all the way.
“This is…” He looked at the sickly little girl.
Shen Sisi introduced her daughter without any hesitation: "My daughter's full name is Shen Xingyue, and her nickname is Niu Niu."
Gu Chengfeng's expression was subtle. His surname was Chen, but he didn't take his father's surname.
He grinned, forcing a warm smile. He hadn't smiled in a long time, and he didn't realize how strange his smile looked.
Niu Niu was timid and shrank back into Chen Sisi's arms in fright, leaving Gu Chengfeng at a loss. He quickly took out some milk candy.
"Uncle came suddenly and didn't prepare anything for you. Here's some White Rabbit milk candy, it's very sweet, would you like to try it?"
Gu Chengfeng was somewhat incoherent. After all, he was quite adept at scaring children, but coaxing them was a first for him.
Chen Sisi stroked the round little head in her arms: "Niu Niu, what did Mommy teach you? You have to be polite. Look, when the uncle gives you milk candy, what should you say?"
Niu Niu timidly raised her head, and the moment she saw the milk candy, a flame ignited in her tiny, beady eyes.
Milk candy... sweet and soft milk candy!
She is three years old and has only eaten milk candy once. She has almost forgotten what it tastes like, but she remembers that it was sweet, very sweet, and the more she ate, the more saliva she would produce.
Niu Niu swallowed hard and looked tentatively at Chen Sisi.
After receiving her mother's approval, she dared to extend her tiny hand and say "Thank you, Uncle" in a childish voice.
That "Uncle" melted Gu Chengfeng's heart.
He carefully unwrapped the candy, and Niu Niu took it but didn't rush to put it in her mouth. Instead, she held it to Chen Sisi's lips.
"Mom, eat!"
Seeing how well-behaved and sensible she was, Chen Sisi's nose tingled with emotion: "Sweetie, Mommy doesn't like it, you eat it!"
"Mommy, eat!" Niu Niu stubbornly shoved the candy to her lips: "If Mommy eats the candy, Mommy won't feel bitter anymore..."
Chen Sisi unconsciously tightened her arms, unable to believe that a three-year-old child could say such things.
The tears welled up in his eyes like a burst dam.
"Honey, I'm not heartbroken. With Niu Niu here, Mommy is doing great!"
He saw through her feigned strength.
His hands clenched tightly under the table, his knuckles turning slightly white from the force.
He wanted to ask more questions, but he was afraid of touching on her painful memories.
After all, they had just "bumped into" and "reunited," so asking about someone's privacy directly would be too offensive.
So, suppressing his curiosity, he asked with concern, "What's wrong with the child...?"
“Tuberculosis. Niu Niu didn’t have enough milk when she was little, so her health wasn’t very good. Once she caught a cold and had a fever, but there was no medicine in the countryside, and by the time she was sent to the city, it was too late.”
Every time this matter is brought up, Shen Sisi feels extremely guilty.
It was her fault for not taking good care of Niu Niu...
So, her purpose in coming to the city this time was to find a father for Niu Niu.
Niu Niu's tuberculosis is getting worse and worse. If she doesn't go to the city for treatment soon, she might not make it through the winter.
Otherwise, why would she be treated like a commodity, meeting with several people every day, being picked over and criticized, and being called a slut and shameless?
Only if she marries a man from the city and moves her household registration back to the city can Niu Niu go to the city for medical treatment as soon as possible.
Thinking of the purpose of her trip and the humiliation she had suffered these past few days, she forced back her tears, swallowed her bitterness, and said calmly, "It's nothing serious, I'll take good care of her."
A deep, dark look flashed across Gu Chengfeng's eyes.
Tuberculosis, not a big deal?
With current medical conditions, it is very difficult to cure.
Gu Chengfeng knew she was very strong-willed and independent, but sometimes she could be less so.
However, from her words, he seemed to sense the truth behind her going to the city for a blind date—it was for Niu Niu!
"So, you're going on blind dates so that Niu Niu can go to the city and receive better treatment, right?" he asked bluntly.
Chen Sisi stared at him in astonishment, meeting his sharp, hawk-like gaze: "As expected... nothing can be hidden from you."
“That’s right, I do want to find a father for Niu Niu so I can transfer her household registration to the city. I don’t intend to hide this from anyone; after all, people have the right to know. If they agree, I can live a good life with someone, but…”
She laughed self-deprecatingly. These past few days of blind dates had made her realize that no man would ever be willing to accept them.
They would rather accept a divorced woman with children.
But he dared not accept a woman who was unmarried but had a child.
She didn't want to tell Gu Xuechang about these upsetting things, but since others had found out, she had no point in hiding them anymore.
Gu Chengfeng coughed lightly, his heart pounding in his throat. He took a deep breath and pretended to be relaxed: "If you're in trouble, why don't you come to me?"
"You?" Shen Sisi raised an eyebrow slightly. "How will you help me?"
"Marry me!" Gu Chengfeng said, his eyes filled with a gentle warmth, so tender that it made one's heart dazed.
Thankfully, she hadn't touched her chopsticks yet, or she would have spat out her food: "Stop teasing me. I've heard that you've become a battalion commander, a young and promising officer... You have plenty of girls chasing after you."
Unlike her joke, Gu Chengfeng was extremely serious, his eyes firm as if making a vow: "I'm serious."
"You really aren't lying to me?"
"I'm not lying to you!"
Chen Sisi's smile cooled as she looked intently at the handsome and dashing face before her. Beneath his sword-like eyebrows, a pair of beautiful eyes held an air of haughty arrogance, their black pupils concealing a glimmer of starlight.
Compared to before, Gu Chengfeng is now less roguish and arrogant, and more upright and resolute like a soldier. Coupled with his neat green military uniform, he would surely charm countless girls on the street.
Unlike her... infamous and despised.
They're worlds apart, how could they possibly be...?
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