CH 66.2

Daughter.

Tan Xu Er left work early, and she went to pick up Yue Gu Zai at the restaurant. But when she arrived at the restaurant, paramedics were carrying Yue Gu Zai into an ambulance and the woman by his side was Zhen Zhen.

Tan Xu Er drove home, and she sat in the quiet dining room. She knew one day Zhen Zhen would find Yue Gu Zai but she didn’t expect it would be so soon.

At the hospital, Yue Gu Zai was in a stable condition. Zhen Zhen sat by his bedside and she held his hand.

‘Mrs Yue, boss is going to OK,’ Bai Yu Tian said. ‘He lost his memories a year ago. When he wakes up, there is a good chance he’ll regain his memories.’

‘Bai Yu Tian, I want you perform the laser surgery on my eyes,’ Zhen Zhen said.

‘Mrs Yue, everything is prepared,’ Bai Yu Tian said. ‘I was only waiting for you consent.’

‘Um,’ Zhen Zhen said.

Zhen Zhen kissed Yue Gu Zai’s forehead.

‘Gu Zai, wait for me,’ Zhen Zhen said.

In the operating room, before Zhen Zhen was induced to sleep, she thought about how she was fated to meet Yue Gu Zai and how cruelly they were separated. After she regained her sight, she didn’t want to be separated from him again.

Zhen Zhen didn’t think she could ever love someone like the way she loved Yue Gu Zai. Her biggest dream was simple, she wanted to be with Yue Gu Zai for the rest of their lives.

Although Yue Gu Zai didn’t say he loved Zhen Zhen, she knew how much he loved her. He sacrificed everything for her to be alive.

After the eye laser surgery, Zhen Zhen opened her eyes and the sunlight she hadn’t seen for a year slowly appeared in front of her eyes.

Yue Gu Zai hugged Zhen Zhen, and their pain melted away.

‘You regained your eyesight,’ Yue Gu Zai said. ‘You’re not allowed to cry.’

‘Gu Zai, do you know how much I missed you?’ Zhen Zhen asked. ‘I thought you died… did you know how much pain I was in when I thought you died… in that moment I finally understood how much I loved you. Everyone consoled me, but I couldn’t stop crying. I cried to the point I couldn’t see. During the months you weren’t with me, I didn’t want to live. I missed you so much, but why did you forget me?’

‘Zhen Zhen, I’m sorry,’ Yue Gu Zai said.

After Yue Gu Zai and Zhen Zhen were discharged from the hospital they went home together. Louis informed him what happened in the year he disappeared. Unexpectedly, Tan Lang didn’t make any moves against Ni Sheng when he was missing.

Two weeks later, Yue Gu Zai received evidence Shu Tang Jue had his and Zhen Zhen’s daughter.

‘Zhen Zhen, I want to go get our daughter back,’ Yue Gu Zai said.

‘No,’ Zhen Zhen said. She held onto Yue Gu Zai’s hand. ‘Don’t go.’

‘Zhen Zhen, he has our daughter,’ Yue Gu Zai said. ‘Our daughter belongs with us.’

‘Gu Zai, I want to come with you,’ Zhen Zhen said.

‘Zhen Zhen, stay home and wait for me,’ Yue Gu Zai said. ‘I’ll bring our daughter home.’

‘Gu Zai, you have to come back to me,’ Zhen Zhen said.

‘I will,’ Yue Gu Zai said.

Yue Gu Zai kissed Zhen Zhen’s forehead.

Yue Gu Zai drove to Tan Xu Er’s home first.

At Tan Xu Er’s home, she left all of Yue Gu Zai’s clothes on the sofa. He hadn’t returned for two weeks. She suspected he regained his memories.

When Tan Xu Er heard a knock on the door, she ran to open the door.

‘Du Yi, you’re back,’ Tan Xu Er said and smiled.

Tan Xu Er wanted to hug Yue Gu Zai, but he looked at her coldly the same way he looked at her before he lost his memories.

Yue Gu Zai walked to the sofa and he put a one way plane ticket and a cheque on the coffee table.

‘Thank you for saving me,’ Yue Gu Zai said. ‘Here is a plane ticket to the U.S. and a generous cheque.’

Tan Xu Er lost hope that Yue Gu Zai wanted to stay with her. She resented why she had to leave.

‘Why do I have to leave?’ Tan Xu Er asked.

‘Because I don’t want to see your face,’ Yue Gu Zai said.

Yue Gu Zai wanted to kill Tan Xu Er. If Tan Xu Er didn’t save him, he would have killed her the moment he regained his memories. He hated Tan Xu Er, because of her, he was separated from Zhen Zhen for a year.

‘What did I do wrong?’ Tan Xu Er asked and cried. ‘All I did was love you. Is it wrong of me to love you?’

‘The plane leaves tomorrow afternoon at three,’ Yue Gu Zai said. ‘It’ll give you time to pack and tie up loose ends here.’

Yue Gu Zai turned around and left Tan Xu Er’s home for good.

‘I hate you,’ Tan Xu Er said to Yue Gu Zai’s back.

Tan Xu Er didn’t want to accept it was meaningless to love a man who loved his wife. But she was powerless to change her reality. She knew he would kill her if she stayed.

At Shu Tang Jue’s mansion, Yue Gu Zai for the first time since he met Shu Tang Jue sat at the same table with Shu Tang Jue.

Strangers would have mistaken Shu Tang Jue as a gentle priest if they didn’t know he was the cold blooded leader of Tan Lang.

Yue Ni was a mischievous one-year-old baby girl. Shu Tang Jue and Nan Ma loved Yue Ni more than their baby son, Shu Tang Li.

Yue Ni wasn’t scared of strangers. She looked curiously at Yue Gu Zai. Yue Gu Zai didn’t have anything for her to play with. She pulled Shu Tang Jue’s hair and she jumped on Shu Tang Jue’s lap to get him to put her down so she could go and play.

‘Small dad,’ Yue Ni called. ‘Play, play.’

Yue Gu Zai didn’t show that hearing Yue Ni call another man dad made him furious with Shu Tang Jue.

‘Xiao Ni, let small dad talk to uncle first,’ Shu Tang Jue said. ‘Then small dad will take you out to play.’

Yue Gu Zai wanted to kill Shu Tang Jue because he wasn’t Yue Ni’s uncle, he was Yue Ni’s biological father. When he saw Shu Tang Jue let Yue Ni put a loaded gun in her mouth, he wanted to take the gun out of her hands and shoot Shu Tang Jue.

Yue Gu Zai in a flash, grabbed the gun out of Yue Ni’s hands and pointed the gun at Shu Tang Jue. Shu Tang Jue also pointed a gun at Yue Gu Zai.

Yue Ni’s cry broke the silence. But Yue Gu Zai refused to let Yue Ni hold the gun again.

Shu Tang Jue was angry at Yue Gu Zai for making Yue Ni cry.

‘Xiao Ni, don’t cry,’ Shu Tang Jue said. ‘If Xiao Ni stop crying then later small dad will take you out to shoot birds.’

Yue Ni stopped crying and she smiled at Shu Tang Jue.

Yue Gu Zai thought it was unfair he didn’t get to take care of Zhen Wu and he missed Yue Ni’s birth too. But Shu Tang Jue got to be there for Yue Ni and Shu Tang Li’s births.

‘I came here to take Yue Ni home,’ Yue Gu Zai said.

‘I’ll let you take Xiao Ni home,’ Shu Tang Jue said.

‘I don’t believe you’ll let me take my daughter home this easily,’ Yue Gu Zai said.

The truth was Shu Tang Jue loved Yue Ni like his own daughter. He didn’t want to give Yue Ni back to Yue Gu Zai. But Nan Ma threatened to divorce him if he didn’t give Yue Ni back to Yue Gu Zai.

‘I don’t want to give Xiao Ni to you,’ Shu Tang Jue said. ‘If you give me full custody of Xiao Ni, I’ll raise Xiao Ni and love Xiao Ni like she’s my own daughter.’

‘Stop dreaming,’ Yue Gu Zai said.

Yue Gu Zai carried the crying Yue Ni to the car.

Shu Tang Jue wanted to call the cops and report someone kidnapped his daughter that he raised since she was born.

Nan Ma pinched Shu Tang Jue’s ear.

‘If you dare try to take Xiao Ni back, I’ll divorce you and take Xiao Li with me,’ Nan Ma threatened.

‘Wife, didn’t you see me give Xiao Ni back?’ Shu Tang Jue asked and hugged Nan Ma.

‘It’s too empty here without Xiao Ni,’ Nan Ma said. ‘Xiao Li is such a good baby boy, he rarely cries.’

A couple of days later, a miracle happened. Shu Tang Jue attended Yue Gu Zai’s wedding in peace.

Yue Gu Zai and Zhen Zhen held a small wedding to renew their vows. They invited some of Ni Sheng’s gang members, Mr and Mrs Zhen, Nan Ma, Shu Tang Jue and Shu Tang Li.

The news spread about Yue Gu Zai and Shu Tang Li having dinner at the same table. Ni Sheng members and Tan Lang members speculated why Yue Ni called Yue Gu Zai dad and Shu Tang Li small dad. Since their leaders didn’t kill each other, an unspoken truce was made between Ni Sheng and Tan Lang.

Five years later, Yue Ni was a six-year-old and Zhen Wu was a thirteen-year-old.

Early in the morning, Zhen Zhen wore a white dress and she knocked on Zhen Wu’s bedroom door.

‘Zhen Wu, where’s your little sister?’ Zhen Zhen asked.

Zhen Wu had returned home from training in Africa a year ago, he was tanned, taller and stronger.

‘Little sister said everyone here bullies her and doesn’t love her,’ Zhen Wu said. ‘She ran away to live with her small dad. Mum, you should call my godmother and ask her to tell her husband not to give little sister everything she wants then she won’t run away from home anymore. It’s troublesome to bring her back every time she runs to her small dad.’

‘Zhen Wu, get dressed and bring your little sister home,’ Zhen Zhen said.

‘Mum, you know Xiao Li is like his dad,’ Zhen Wu said. ‘Xiao Li is only six, but he’s possessive of little sister like his dad is possessive of godmother. Do you know I risk my life every time I take little sister back home?’

Zhen Zhen smiled at the sleepy Zhen Wu who looked exactly like Yue Gu Zai. Since Zhen Zhen and Yue Gu Zai were reunited, they were grateful they got to live happy and peaceful lives together with Zhen Wu and Yue Ni. Zhen Zhen and Yue Gu Zai loved each other more every year and they wanted to fulfil their dream of growing old together.

***

End of Chapter Sixty-Six (Part 2 of 2)