Capítulo 14: Chapter 14: Guarding One's Integrity Like Jade
Gu Mian's fingertips trembled lightly, and her heart ached as if pierced by a needle.
In his heart, she might be worth less than a dog he raised.
And Yin Luoxue, she was the treasure of his heart, for whom he was willing to pay any price and fight against anyone.
Gu Mian suppressed the pain in her heart and spoke, "I understand, I will keep my distance from Mr. Pei in the future. Please stop making things difficult for my uncle; he's the only family I have left. Tingshen, I'm begging you."
Li Tingshen took a drag of his cigarette, "Is that the attitude with which you beg someone?"
Gu Mian was stunned.
If he had any thoughts about her, they were only about matters in bed.
But she didn't want to use her body as a bargaining chip, even for the man she loved the most; she felt it was an insult.
Moreover, she was pregnant now and couldn't share a room with him.
But the situation with her uncle was urgent.
Li Tingshen watched her anguished and distressed expression, his voice growing colder, "Weren't you smiling so brightly in front of Pei Jinchuan? Why do you look like you're half-dead when it comes to me?"
"Tingshen, I..." Gu Mian struggled to speak, "Can I use my hands to help you... would that be acceptable?"
"What did you say?" Li Tingshen didn't understand the meaning of her words at first, but once he did, he laughed instead of getting angry, "What, you go out for a meal with someone and now you want to keep your chastity for him? You can't even bear to let me touch you?"
"That's not what I meant..."
Gu Mian had just started to speak when he interrupted her harshly, "Bring it in."
The door to the office was opened, and the assistant pushed in a serving cart, the aroma of steak instantly filling the air.
Li Tingshen pulled Gu Mian by the hand to the table.
"You like eating it, right? I'll let you eat your fill. Finish all these steaks, and I won't trouble your uncle anymore."
Gu Mian looked at the five steaks on the table, clenched her teeth, sat down, and began eating with a knife and fork.
Li Tingshen sat opposite her, holding a wine glass, leisurely watching her.
It was already past midnight, and Gu Mian was a bit hungry, so she started eating quite smoothly.
But after one steak, she was full, and her pace of eating slowed down.
Li Tingshen took a sip of wine and added, "I forgot to mention, I'm pressed for time, so I'm only giving you thirty minutes. Gu Mian, you have twenty minutes left."
Gu Mian was both panicked and aggrieved, "You're being unreasonable."
"You came to beg me of your own accord; no one is forcing you to eat."
Gu Mian knew she couldn't oppose him and hurried to continue eating the steaks.
Perhaps because she ate too hastily, or maybe the steak was too greasy, but when she got to the fourth piece, Gu Mian suddenly felt nauseous. She got up and rushed into the restroom, where she started vomiting violently into the toilet.
Li Tingshen paused with his wine glass in hand and commanded in a deep voice, "Take it away."
"Yes."
The assistant hurriedly cleared away the steaks, after all, he felt sorry for the lady.
Gu Mian vomited for a long time and finally managed to catch her breath, sitting on the floor gasping for air.
A man's deep, cold voice came from nearby, "Will you dare again?"
Gu Mian's nose tingled, and her tears nearly fell.
She held back the tears and gently shook her head.
Li Tingshen turned and walked away, "Take the lady home."
The assistant came in, "Madam, let's go."
Gu Mian returned to her rented apartment, took a hot shower, and lay down exhaustedly in bed.
Li Tingshen's desire for control was too strong; if she stayed in the Capital and had the child, he would definitely find out.
It looked like before her belly started to get bigger, she not only had to divorce but also had to leave the Capital and find a secluded place to give birth.
Gu Mian gently touched her lower abdomen with her hand.
As long as she could safely give birth to the child, even if she and her child never returned to the Capital, it would be fine.
After all, there was nothing here worth her nostalgia.
...
The next morning, Gu Mian received a phone call from Wang Shulan, who was in a pretty good mood.
"Gu Mian, are you up? Have you had breakfast?"
Gu Mian directly asked, "Aunt, what happened?"
"I just got a call saying that your uncle's store doesn't need to move. You must have gone to see Tingshen last night, right?"
Gu Mian was noncommittal, "Can we start business now?"
"Not yet, I called you just to talk about this." Wang Shulan got to the point, "Gu Mian, your uncle and I rely on this store to support our family. If it's closed even for a day, we don't make a penny, how can we manage? You'd better reconcile with Tingshen soon so we can start our business earlier."
"Aunt, I understand."
"That's being a good obedient child," Wang Shulan continued, "Now that the store is bought by Tingshen, he is basically our landlord. If you can get on his good side, maybe he will be happy to reduce the rent for us. He is so wealthy, it's possible he might even give us the store!"
"Aunt, you think too highly of me," Gu Mian replied truthfully. "I can only beg Tingshen to let you continue the business. As for anything else, I don't carry that much weight in his heart."
Wang Shulan suddenly became unhappy, "Look at what you're saying. You don't even think about fighting for your aunt and uncle. I really spoiled you for nothing... But what you said is also true. If he cared about you at all, he wouldn't personally send you to jail... Alright, go find him quickly and let's start our business as soon as possible. I really had the worst luck marrying into the Gu Family, not a day of happiness and still have to slave away at the store...."
Gu Mian waited for her to vent before saying goodbye and hanging up the phone.
She went out and bought two buns at the entrance of the residential area and then took the bus to the hospital.
Just after feeding Xiaobao breakfast, Pei Jinchuan walked in, "Gu Mian, morning."
"Morning, Mr. Pei," Gu Mian saw the dark circles under his eyes and asked, "Xiaobao said you didn't sleep last night and worked all night, is that right?"
"Yes."
"Mr. Pei, there's something I'd like to discuss with you."
"Go ahead."
"Let's talk outside." Gu Mian gave a toy to Xiaobao and went with Pei Jinchuan to the small living room, then started, "Yesterday I promised I would take good care of Xiaobao, but I have to break my word. Once you find a new caregiver for Xiaobao, I won't come anymore."
Li Tingshen did not make the uncle move his store, which was a step back, but he had not agreed to continue business.
It meant he was still angry.
She had thought it over and realized the only way to appease him was to quit her job here.
"What happened?" Pei Jinchuan seemed to think of something, "Is it because of your husband, right?"
Gu Mian, not wanting to cause more trouble, shook her head, "It's my own reason."
Pei Jinchuan hesitated for a moment, then asked, "Is it because you are pregnant, right?"
Gu Mian was startled, "How did you know?"
Even her closest uncle didn't know about the pregnancy!
Fearing that Li Tingshen would find out, she had been putting off a hospital visit and secretly started taking folic acid.
Pei Jinchuan smiled, "It seems my guess was true."
Gu Mian hurriedly said, "Mr. Pei, please you must keep this a secret for me."
"Of course, I won't tell anyone without your permission."
Gu Mian finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Outside the door, Yin Luoxue's eyes widened, unable to believe what she had heard!
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