Became a vicious male mother

156

The rhythmic sounds of a spoon hitting the rim of a bowl, along with occasional swallowing sounds, filled my ears.

I don't know how long I slept.

With a "whoosh," he instantly opened his eyes.

The reflection in his pupils was of brown leather, not those bookshelves.

Still half-asleep, with drool unconsciously escaping from the corners of her mouth, Gu Xinglan was now mostly awake.

Her hair was a mess, resembling a small bird's nest, and her profile was marked with the shape of a sofa, stretching from her jawline to her cheekbone; even the tip of her nose was red from being pressed.

Gu Xinglan yawned repeatedly, opened her eyes and looked at the desk, only to find that the person sitting there was also yawning.

"Sorry, I overslept." After saying that, he tiptoed off the sofa, his stomach covered by his suit jacket. As he regained consciousness, he bent down and folded it neatly again and again.

The bowl of sweet soup had already been eaten by someone, and now only an empty bowl remained.

Fortunately, it wasn't wasted. It had been simmering over low heat since morning, and it was sweet but not cloyingly sweet. If he hadn't simmered so little, he would have wanted to take some back for Li Hetai to try.

"Come here, I need to talk to you."

Li Taihe took off his glasses and looked over.

Under that blatant gaze, Gu Xinglan rubbed her face a few times and hurriedly went to her desk.

"Why hasn't He Tai enrolled yet?" Li Taihe glanced at the program progress report on his phone, along with some overt and covert complaints and grumbles, before looking at the person standing in front of him.

"That's exactly what I was going to tell you."

Gu Xinglan found this bizarre and absurd. He took out his phone and played the recording of the old man threatening him.

"Listen to this, not only is he extorting money, but he also wants to use a knife."

The people surrounding the desk listened intently, as if it were some beautiful piano piece.

Until the recording finished playing, Li Taihe kept his eyes down, seemingly lost in thought.

"What do you think?" He put away his phone.

"How about I ask you what you think?"

“I’d like you to mobilize some manpower to see if you can find that car. Also… when that group of elderly people came over, Li Hetai targeted the area behind the knees and elbows, but one of the elderly people died.” This matter was quite troublesome. Gu Xinglan sighed and added, “Right now, both sides have insufficient evidence, but I cannot guarantee whether Li Hetai directly or indirectly caused that person’s death.”

Either way, the consequences are very troublesome.

"I'll handle it." After listening, Li Taihe took out a black box from under his desk.

The box is engraved with gold thread and has flower petals attached to its surface; you can even smell the fragrance of flowers if you sniff it closely.

The man's main purpose in calling him over didn't seem to be what had just happened.

When the box was placed on the table, Li Taihe's previous listlessness vanished. He rested his chin on his hands and gestured with his eyes.

"Open it?" Gu Xinglan glanced at the other person tentatively and twirled her fingers.

Seeing the other person's keen interest, he couldn't help but feel curious, yet also inexplicably uneasy. With this conflicting feeling, he slowly lifted the lid of the box with both hands.

The huge box contained only paper and pens...

"This is?"

"The program team asked you to write a message for children."

He looked at the other person with a puzzled expression, even though it was something he had just casually asked someone to write for him.

As if anticipating his thoughts, the other party smiled and said, "There's another gift in this box, which I've already put away."

"What is it?"

"It's a secret." Li Taihe smiled, his eyes softening as well.

That's the mask this person usually wears.

Gu Xinglan took the box, turned around, went to the coffee table, and slowly wrote with a pen.

It was nothing more than greetings and blessings. After writing the whole page, he handed it to his desk and saw that Li Taihe was still adding a foreign language paragraph at the end of the sentence.

The handwritten italics and cursive script were hard for him to understand, but they were still written beautifully.

"What do you think of Xu Mufeng... that kid?"

Gu Xinglan couldn't help but ask.

He had actually wanted to ask this for a while.

“A normal person with a bit of cleverness.” Li Taihe put away the letter, folded it in half, and put it into the envelope. As he did so, his gaze was on him, and his manners were impeccable.

All he could say was, "Is that so..."

After the show ends, what will become of Xu Mufeng?

"You want to continue the guardianship relationship with him?"

The man's words revealed his inner thoughts, and Gu Xinglan immediately looked up, her eyes shining.

"Sure, take it abroad. All expenses will be covered."

Li Taihe smiled as he spoke coldly.

Isn't this just telling him to pack his things and go abroad together?

"I want to know what you meant when you said last time that foreign countries are where I can live."

"literal meaning."

A place of refuge highlights temporary residence due to environmental constraints, indicating a strong sense of temporality.

"You're already in the swamp. Even if you wanted to get out, it would be too late. Danger will automatically find you. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

The man standing around the desk spoke in the same tone as a superior earnestly speaking to a trusted subordinate. The key was that he wasn't just making empty promises; he subtly made people believe everything he said, as if they were under a spell.

Gu Xinglan nodded repeatedly.

Fortunately, this person was doing a life-threatening job, and any illusion magic had to be halved when it threatened his life.

When it comes to his own safety, he must prioritize his own well-being and not help the Li family commit evil.

“You’re right, you’re doing this for my own good! It would be my loss if I didn’t listen,” Gu Xinglan said firmly.

The other person just stared at him, their gaze indifferent, as if mocking his clumsy rhetoric.

He wanted to crawl into the pages of the book, but Gu Xinglan smiled and stepped back to the coffee table, saying, "If you have nothing else to do, I'll go pick up Young Master Li."

After saying that, he picked up the bowl on the table and slammed the door shut with a "bang".

The study suddenly became quiet, so quiet that even breathing sounded abrupt.

Only the slight dent in the sofa, the neatly folded suit jacket, and the lingering sweetness in one's mouth indicated that an outsider had been here.

*

evening.

Outside the villa, seeing the thousand yuan that had arrived in his account, he was overjoyed.

The hourly wage for working six hours is much higher than what the original owner earned as a host facing the camera and memorizing scripts. If one could stay in the villa for the rest of their life, with food, drink, and accommodation provided, they could achieve financial freedom directly. No wonder the servants reacted so strongly when they were fired; the treatment was far superior.

Gu Xinglan walked to Quanlu Mall, waved her hand, and bought several sets of clothes for the child, as well as various stationery.

Arrive at school.

Children swarmed out of the doorway.

They walked in twos and threes, and adults were rarely seen.

He sat quietly on an open-air bench in the food street, holding his shopping bags.

Five o'clock is still one of the main times for people to go to work or take part-time jobs in urban villages.

As a result, it became commonplace to see the food street opposite the school packed with children, almost all of whom were eating there.

A gentle evening breeze stirred, lifting the soft, wispy hair and revealing the person sitting on the bench with a face that had been carefully sculpted, possessing a delicate and graceful appearance.

The simple white shirt the person was wearing, without too many complicated decorations, only accentuated their inexplicably quiet temperament. The slightly open collar gave off a casual vibe.

Especially his eyes, as bright as stars, were quietly gazing into the distance, a faint sense of tranquility and contemplation in them, as if the hustle and bustle around him had nothing to do with him.