Chapter 496 Gu Yanjun increasingly felt that the person that night was Xie Mingzhu.

Jiangjiang ran over and hugged Yangyang and Yueyue, her little face beaming with happiness, almost overflowing with joy.

Gu Yanjun had just returned from morning training and was about to go home to get some things when he happened to stumble upon this scene as he turned a corner.

He stood at the corner, quietly watching Jiang Jiang standing between Yang Yang and Yue Yue with a happy smile on her face, his brows slightly furrowed.

Last night, Gu Yanjun was supposed to rush back to pick up his child as usual, and planned to take Jiang Jiang to the cafeteria for dinner.

Unexpectedly, after waiting for a long time at the school gate, no one came. Then the gatekeeper at the kindergarten told him that Jiangjiang had already been picked up by his grandfather.

Gu Yanjun returned home completely bewildered. While he was changing his clothes, the old man sent his bodyguard, Xiao Wang, to take all of Jiang Jiang's belongings away at once.

Gu Yanjun asked what was going on, and Xiao Wang seemed to be unable to explain himself. He only said that the old man had found Jiang Jiang's mother and was going to move all of the child's things to his biological mother's place so that he could live with her from now on.

But he never expected that Jiang Jiang's biological mother was Xie Mingzhu.

Watching the child raise her little head and call out to Xie Mingzhu with a sweet smile, Gu Yanjun felt a strange unease.

Xie Mingzhu and Shu Ying were chatting and laughing when Xie Mingzhu inadvertently turned her head and caught a glimpse of the figure standing at the entrance of the alley not far away. She recognized him.

It was early autumn, and the days were getting shorter. In addition, the weather was foggy today with little sunshine, making Gu Yanjun stand alone on the street corner, looking even more lonely.

Xie Mingzhu suddenly felt sorry for Gu Yanjun.

Jiangjiang had always been by his side, but now that she's suddenly gone, he wonders if she'll feel a sense of loss and loneliness.

The more I think about it, the more pitiful I feel.

But the next second, looking at Jiang Jiang's lovely smiling face, Xie Mingzhu shook her head secretly and suddenly came to her senses.

Why is she pitying others for no reason?

Gu Yanjun has both ability and status in the military, and there was also that conversation between Gu Yanjun and Jiang Jiang in the canteen.

This shows that he doesn't actually like children, but he has been taking Jiang Jiang with him because of pressure from Grandpa Gu.

Compared to them, she and Jiang Jiang, who have been separated for so many years, are the most pitiful ones.

She had simply projected her own thoughts onto Gu Yanjun; perhaps he didn't even think that way.

Xie Mingzhu composed herself, ignored Gu Yanjun, and walked away chatting and laughing with her three children.

Gu Yanjun watched them until their figures completely disappeared at the end of the road.

Just as Xie Mingzhu thought, he really wasn't thinking about Jiang Jiang.

His gaze remained fixed on Xie Mingzhu, and he couldn't help but recall the strange dream he had been having frequently lately.

In his dream, he seemed to have returned to the dilapidated temple on the mountain that he had visited many years ago.

He was injured while on a mission and thought he would spend the night in a dilapidated temple and leave as soon as it got light.

Unexpectedly, he was tackled by a woman right there in that dilapidated temple.

The dilapidated temple was very run-down and pitch black inside. Only the broken window lattices divided the moonlight into different shapes, allowing it to fall into the room and bring in a little light.

In the dim light, he was completely exhausted. He remained vigilant and cautious while squinting at the woman's face.

In the chaos, the blurry face suddenly changed to Xie Mingzhu's.

Every time Gu Yanjun dreamt of this part, he would suddenly wake up.

Every time Gu Yanjun recalls this dream, he finds it absurd.

To recall such an absurd dream about a girl you've barely met feels like a disrespect and desecration to her.

He raised his hand to rub his temples and sighed softly.

For the next period of time, although Old Master Gu lived in Gu Yanjun's house, he almost never appeared in front of Gu Yanjun during the day, except when he went back to sleep every night.

The old man was either at Xie Mingzhu's house playing with Jiang Jiang and helping Xie Mingzhu and Shu Ying take care of the children, or he was sitting at the kindergarten gate or in the military compound talking to the neighbors about how cute Jiang Jiang, Yang Yang, and Yue Yue were. He was always cheerful.

It was as if Grandpa Gu and Shu Ying were the real family, while Gu Yanjun, their grandson, seemed like an adopted child.

Some newly moved-in military dependents, unaware of the situation, genuinely believed that Old Master Gu was a relative of the Xie family. Occasionally, when they saw the old man coming out of Gu Yanjun's place, they would ask him in surprise how he knew Gu Yanjun as well.

Listening to these words and seeing the old man's cheerful expression, Gu Yanjun almost didn't recognize his grandfather.

Is he still the same grandfather who sighs all day long, looking at him with a worried expression and complaining that he is dull and boring?

Occasionally, when Grandpa Gu has to go out, and Xie Mingzhu and Shu Ying are also unavailable, he will ask Gu Yanjun to help pick up the children.

The three children, hand in hand, skipped and hopped as soon as they stepped out of the school gate, where they saw Gu Yanjun standing there expressionless, saying to them—

"Let's go, I'll take you home."

The classmates who came out with them couldn't help but exclaim in amazement when they saw this scene.

"Wow, Yangyang, Yueyue, Jiangjiang, are you all from your family? This uncle is so handsome! Just as handsome as your dad, Yangyang and Yueyue!"

"Yangyang, Yueyue, Jiangjiang, you are so lucky! Why do so many people come to pick you up every day, while we only have our parents to pick us up..."

“I wish I had that many people in my family. I love living with my grandparents and uncles. Now I live alone in the compound. Sometimes my parents go on duty at night, and I have to stay in the house by myself. No one plays with me.”

"The three of you can not only go to and from school together, but also play together at night. You're so lucky."

"I really envy them..."

Yangyang, Yueyue, and Jiangjiang, upon hearing this, were practically beaming with pride, their little hands tucked into their waistbands, and they smiled smugly.

"Don't be too envious of our relationship, because we are family. If you are envious, you can ask your parents and aunts to have lots and lots of brothers and sisters for you, so we can play together."

After each conversation, Jiang Jiang would look up at Gu Yanjun with anticipation.

"Gu Yanjun, when are you going to get married and have a baby so we can play together? That way we'll have more playmates."

Gu Yanjun: ...

This child really can't say what he wants to hear.

-

Time flies, and in the blink of an eye, Shuying's belly has become visibly rounder than before.

With her due date fast approaching, Shu Ying was terrified that something unexpected might happen and she wouldn't have time to finish her work. So, she had been busy at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the past few days, not daring to slack off for a moment.