Chapter 145: What kind of blood relation is there between relatives?

Wen Zhixia walked over and looked at the items he had placed on the desk—they were all photographs.

They were pictures of her from various periods of her life: candid profile shots from her high school days, brazen close-ups taken with his camera during college when he made no effort to hide it, and travel photos from their trips together, continuing all the way up to three years ago.

Gu Pingsheng disliked taking pictures, but he had always found endless joy in photographing her.

Back when they were in school, other boys' social media pages would showcase gaming achievements, party snapshots, or sentimental quotes paired with images. His page, however, was filled entirely with pictures of Wen Zhixia, as if he was terrified that the rest of the world might not know where his heart lay.

"This one, written by Daddy."

Little Youzhi flipped a photograph over. There were numbers written on the back, and he expertly sorted all the pictures by age.

Even Wen Zhixia herself could not clearly remember the exact ages and times these photos were taken.

For such a young child, his movements were so practiced that it looked as though he had done this thousands of times.

As twenty or thirty clear, frontal portraits were arranged in chronological order one by one, Wen Zhixia felt a lump form in her throat. "...Who... who taught you this?"

In truth, the answer was already abundantly clear. Anyone who could teach a child of this age such a task in this study would need to spend a sufficient amount of time, putting him through hundreds, if not thousands, of repetitions.

Only then did Wen Zhixia understand why this little dumpling had been so utterly certain that she was his mother from the very first moment he saw her.

Aunt Zhao had said that Gu Pingsheng had been waiting for her to return all these years.

Gu Pingsheng had said that there were no other women in his life.

Then this child... could he have been adopted?

Wen Zhixia looked at the subtle resemblance between Gu Youzhi and Gu Pingsheng. Could it be... some sort of blood relation?

"Daddy said Mommy would come back to live with us." Gu Youzhi climbed onto the chair and stood up, reaching the level of Wen Zhixia's chin. "Everyone else has a mommy, and Tuanzi wants a mommy too."

A child's world is very simple. Ever since he was born, the only father he had by his side was Gu Pingsheng. In the past, when he fell ill and felt miserable, he would cry and call out for mommy because all the other children had mommies, while his mommy was merely a pile of photographs.

After Gu Youzhi had fallen asleep, Wen Zhixia sat in the study with only the desk lamp lit. She examined the handwriting on the backs of the photographs; besides the serial numbers, each one also bore a short line of small text.

It recorded the date and location where the picture had been taken.

Under the dim light, Wen Zhixia looked at the resolute strokes of the handwriting, and countless memories surged forward like a rising tide.

***

Downstairs.

Zhou Anbei parked the car and lowered his voice to remind the man resting with his eyes closed in the back, "President Gu, we have arrived."

Gu Pingsheng pressed his fingertips between his brows, raised his eyes to look at the entrance, and instead of getting out immediately, he said, "Take the other car and go back first. I'm going to smoke a cigarette."

Zhou Anbei nodded, then turned back and hesitated for a moment before speaking up, "About the evidence in Zhao Fuhe's hands..."

Gu Pingsheng had already lit a cigarette. The window was half-open, and smoke still curled through the air. His deep eyes appeared even more unfathomable in the gathering night. "A woman like Wu Wenjing has remained quiet for all these years. To be able to re-establish contact with Zhao Fuhe this time for the sake of her son... it seems the Zhang Group's situation is far worse than what we understand."

Otherwise, she would not have taken such a desperate risk.

"The promotional video was produced by Yihe Zhixia. Wu Wenjing has contacted Madam on multiple occasions. I heard... they got along quite well, and Wu Wenjing holds Madam in very high regard." Zhou Anbei reported the information he had gathered truthfully.

Gu Pingsheng took a puff of his cigarette, exhaling a faint ring of smoke. The grayish-blue mist lingered before his eyes, his gaze profound and devoid of light. "She would not harm me."

He understood her. Even when she had been that angry with him back then, her only thought had been to leave his side; she had never entertained any other notions.

She possessed both ability and her own network of connections. Although she had left the Gu-Xia Group many years ago, if she had wanted to, she could have turned his life upside down, but she had not.

Therefore, he naturally did not believe she would collude with outsiders to use such methods against him.

She was someone sentimental and soft-hearted, even though she sometimes looked cold and indifferent, almost to the point of heartlessness.

Hearing this, Zhou Anbei said nothing more, got out of the car, and left.

Half an hour later, Gu Pingsheng finished smoking two cigarettes. The glowing, flickering red tip in the dim car interior shone faintly, resembling the eyes of a lone wolf outside a desolate, silent, barren mountain.

He did not return to the bedroom because he knew in his heart that, unless he used coercive measures to force Wen Zhixia to rest in the master bedroom, she would definitely be in the guest room.

The smell of smoke had not yet dissipated from his body; entering abruptly would only disturb her rest.

Gu Pingsheng paused for a moment, then turned and headed to the study.

The study door opened slowly. Wen Zhixia, sitting before the desk, startled and looked up at Gu Pingsheng standing in the doorway, unable to react for a moment.

Gu Pingsheng was also slightly taken aback. His deep gaze fell upon the stack of photographs in front of her. He stepped closer and began gathering the pictures. "Why are you still awake so late?"

His movements in collecting the photos were swift yet careful.

Wen Zhixia watched his actions. "I... Have you been smoking?"

He was standing very close to her, making the scent of tobacco on his body quite pronounced. Gu Pingsheng, who was in the midst of tidying the photographs, paused slightly. She did not like him smoking. "Zhou Anbei smoked. He drove me back."

***

Zhou Anbei, who had been pulled out to take the blame on his way home, was still driving when he let out an unexplainable, sudden sneeze.

Whether Wen Zhixia believed him or not, she asked no further questions.

He placed the photographs back into the drawer. He did not turn on the lights, and unusually, he did not make any intimate gestures toward her; instead, he walked over to the side sofa, stretched out his long legs, and leaned back.

Neither of them spoke again, yet an inexplicable sense of exhaustion permeated the air.

"Get some rest early." Wen Zhixia stood up, walked to the study door, tilted her head slightly, and said.

Gu Pingsheng uttered a soft "Mhm," with no other sound following. His entire demeanor was uncharacteristically silent. Perhaps his coldness and detachment were reserved for others, while toward her he was always coaxing her with gentle words and a soft voice. His current state caused Wen Zhixia's worries about the events of the day to resurface.

She believed that given his current capabilities, handling this matter might be somewhat troublesome, but it shouldn't be anything particularly intractable. Unless...

"What did they say... over there?" she asked.

Gu Pingsheng leaned against the sofa back, his well-defined fingers massaging his temples, and shook his head.

"Is it very tricky?" she asked. "The people in the video... are they really staff members from the project?"

"It's fine." He beckoned with his hand, his eyes dark and deep as he looked in the direction where she stood. "If you're not sleepy now, come over and give me a massage."

Wen Zhixia hesitated, her toes instinctively wanting to step outward, but he had already reclined against the sofa, looking thoroughly exhausted.

In the end, she walked over to the sofa.

Neither of them spoke. Only the air flowed silently around them. After about ten minutes, Wen Zhixia noticed he had remained completely still for a while and lowered her gaze to look at him, only to bump straight into his profoundly deep, abyssal gaze.

"Xiaxia," he said. "Three years ago, I sent Zhao Fuhe to the underground city. Recently, she wormed her way into the bed of a staff member related to the project, and there are multiple transactions between their two accounts. People think I am sending both people and money once again."

Wen Zhixia was slightly startled.

"I can't touch Wu Wenjing right now. Do you want to know why?" He straightened his upper body, his large palm toying with her slender fingers. "The Xu family is indeed a good backing... Wu Wenjing has attached herself to Xu Qicheng's maternal aunt. The Xu family is involved in this matter to grab a share of the spoils. Do you suppose Xu Qicheng knew about this?"

Among the Xu family, if there was one elder whom Xu Qicheng valued above all others, it was his maternal aunt. This was something Wen Zhixia knew very well.