Lu Shaoting glared at Gu Xia with a dark look in his eyes and said with a cold laugh, “You really will stop at nothing to achieve your goals—you’re always looking for opportunities.”
Lu Shaoting had indeed suffered serious injuries.
It all started because he was in possession of a list of enemy spies compiled by military intelligence.
It was precisely while he was on his way to submit this list to his superiors that someone deliberately targeted him and rammed his vehicle.
Two cars attacked from both sides, and Lu Shaoting’s car was overturned.
The entire vehicle crushed him and his driver beneath it.
At the critical moment, Lu Shaoting shielded the young driver with his body; otherwise, the driver would have been killed instantly.
Lu Shaoting sustained severe injuries from a heavy blow to his lower back and abdomen.
After the surgery, while he was conscious, the doctor asked him about the condition of his lower body.
The current diagnosis is that he may experience dysfunction—specifically, erectile problems.
However, the doctor did not say he would be unable to have children.
But for a man, being unable to achieve an erection means he is not a “normal” man, and naturally, he cannot have children.
Hearing Gu Xia say this, Lu Shaoting probably guessed that she must have learned of the doctor’s diagnosis.
He had never planned to get married, let alone have children.
But somehow, in a haze of confusion, he’d ended up in a relationship with Gu Xia—and they’d had children, more than one.
Lu Shaoting even wondered if this was some kind of twist of fate.
Just as Gu Xia came knocking on his door while pregnant, trouble struck him—he’d been diagnosed as possibly unable to have children.
If this really was his fate, he was curious to see what would happen if he took these two children.
“Fine. You give birth to the children, and I’ll raise them. But you’ll have no connection to me whatsoever. As soon as the children are born, you’ll get the hell out of here.”
“As for the conditions you’ve set, I’ll do my best to help you meet them.”
Gu Xia’s heart leapt with joy, and a hint of a smile appeared on her face.
She was simply someone who couldn’t hide her emotions; her feelings were written all over her face.
“Fine, I can do that too. As long as you help my parents and my sister, I’ll be eternally grateful to you.”
Gu Xia was genuinely happy when she said this.
In fact, when she had drugged Lu Shaoting, she’d done so out of a desire for revenge.
But now that Lu Shaoting had suddenly agreed to help her, Gu Xia couldn’t help but forget all that in her joy.
All she could think about was that her parents and older sister would finally be able to change the miserable fate they’d suffered in her previous life.
As the most useless daughter of the Gu family, Gu Xia felt content and overjoyed that she could now help her parents and older sister.
Her smile was truly beautiful—her eyes crinkled at the corners, and her clear, bright eyes made it all too easy to overlook her scheming nature.
When she was happy, she appeared flustered and a bit reserved.
It was as if she didn’t even know how to relax when she was happy.
Lu Shaoting had originally intended to keep his distance from Gu Xia.
But driven by a desire for revenge, he said, “Don’t get too excited just yet. I have one more condition: you must stay by my side and take care of me until I’m discharged from the hospital.”
He’d intended to put Gu Xia on the spot.
To his surprise, she immediately nodded in agreement with a crisp “Yes.”
In a cheerful tone, she said, “Sure, no problem. I’m not very good at taking care of people, but I can learn.”
Gu Xia had actually been worrying about how to find an opportunity to stay by Lu Shaoting’s side.
She needed to keep an eye on Lu Shaoting and remind him to help her parents and older sister first.
Otherwise, if Lu Shaoting only paid lip service, wouldn’t that be like writing a bad check?
She didn’t feel that Lu Shaoting was putting her on the spot; rather, she saw this as a great opportunity for herself.
Seeing her so delighted, Lu Shaoting actually began to feel annoyed.
Before Gu Xia had even left—and while Lu Xiaoyan was still waiting outside—members of the Lu family arrived.
The only exception was the matriarch of the Lu family, who was bedridden due to high blood pressure.
The patriarch of the Lu family, the eldest son Lu Jianming, and Lu Xiaojing—
as well as Lu Jianming’s wife Qin Xiulian and Lu Ye—all arrived at the hospital.
When the patriarch of the Lu family saw Gu Xia in the hospital room, he fixed her with a complex gaze.
However, instead of addressing her first, he turned to his son, Lu Shaoting, lying on the hospital bed, and asked him a few concerned questions.
They were the usual ones: How are you feeling? Are you experiencing any discomfort?
The other members of the Lu family also offered a few perfunctory words of concern and greeting.
Lu Shaoting said, “I’m fine; there’s no need for anyone to worry. Those who need to go home should go home, and those who need to work should go to work. I have someone here to take care of me.”
However, when Lu Ye spotted Gu Xia, he said with a face full of scorn, “Gu Xia, what are you doing here?”
“Uncle, the person you mentioned who’s taking care of you—you don’t mean it’s Gu Xia, do you? How could you let her take care of you? Gu Xia is the most useless person in the Gu family. I’ve heard she doesn’t even know how to cook, let alone take care of others.”
Lu Jianming chimed in, “Shaoting, didn’t you chase Gu Xia away? She’s been sent down to a rural village in the Northwest now. Her household registration has been transferred there, so she’s an undocumented resident in Beicheng. If she gets caught, she’ll be deported.”
“You really have to be out of your mind to keep her around.”
“Leave this to me. I’ll contact the subdistrict office and have them deport Gu Xia directly.”
Gu Xia had indeed overlooked the issue of her household registration.
She’d only been thinking about using Lu Shaoting to achieve her goals; she really hadn’t considered this aspect.
Gu Xia was genuinely afraid that Lu Shaoting would agree to Lu Jianming’s proposal.
She immediately spoke up: “Shaoting said he wants to marry me and have a child with me.”
“How could I possibly remain an undocumented resident? I’ll be in a military marriage—my household registration will naturally follow my husband’s.”
She said this as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
Not to mention Lu Jianming and Lu Ye—even Lu Shaoting himself raised his eyes to glance at Gu Xia.
Gu Xia, of course, didn’t dare look at Lu Shaoting, because she was talking nonsense right now.
The idea of them getting married was pure nonsense.
But Gu Xia was certain of one thing: if Lu Shaoting wanted her to have his child, he would definitely want to keep her by his side.
At least for the next few months, she would definitely be staying in Beicheng.
Even if they didn’t get married, he’d find another way.
By bringing up marriage, she was deliberately trying to upset Lu Jianming and Lu Ye.
It was Lu Jianming who had orchestrated the Gu family’s exile; they certainly didn’t want the Gu family to prosper.
And they certainly didn’t want Gu Xia to stay in Beicheng, let alone get involved with Lu Shaoting.
If Gu Xia married Lu Shaoting, it would directly impact the interests of Lu Jianming and Lu Ye.
“Shaoting, is what Gu Xia said true or false? Are—are you going to marry her?”
The way Lu Jianming put it, it was as if Gu Xia were some kind of scourge.
Lu Shaoting usually disliked his older brother most of all—the one who appeared amiable on the surface but schemed behind the scenes.
Seeing Lu Jianming’s slightly off expression,
he seemed too eager to help get rid of Gu Xia—which was a bit strange.
Lu Shaoting said in a low voice, “Why can’t I marry Gu Xia? She’s a woman, and she’s carrying my child. And right now, my body is in shambles.”
“Shouldn’t you be grateful that someone is willing to marry me at all?”
Lu Jianming immediately retorted, expressing his disapproval:
“You’re so much older, and Gu Xia is only in her teens. Shaoting, you’re being foolish. She’s so young—if she chooses to marry you, her motives can’t be pure. We don’t even know if this pregnancy is real or not; how can you possibly believe what Gu Xia says?”