As soon as Jiang Yun saw Nian Suian's enthusiastic expression, she knew she had found the right person.
"Just last year, a new neighbor moved in across from us - a woman with a 3 or 4-year-old girl. At first, I didn't pay much attention, but I have to say, the little girl is adorable. Every time she sees my Zhou Zhou, she calls him 'big brother' so sweetly." At this point, Jiang Yun sighed, "If Old Qu were at home, I'd definitely want to have another child - a girl this time."
"Mom, aren't you afraid you might have another boy?" Qu Zizhou and Gu Zhijing had somehow snuck up behind them.
"Get out of here!"
"We were just about to leave. We came to tell you that we're going to check in for the competition now!"
Jiang Yun was in the middle of her story and just waved them off, telling them to hurry along.
Nian Suian quickly said to Gu Zhijing, "I'll come over when your competition starts."
"Where were we?" Jiang Yun asked.
Nian Suian reminded her, "The little girl is very cute."
"Right! She's absolutely adorable! As time went on, I got to know them better. I noticed the mother would take the child to daycare during the day and pick her up after work. A few times when she had to work overtime unexpectedly, she had nowhere to leave the child, so she asked me to watch her for a few hours." Jiang Yun smiled and continued, "At first, she was really embarrassed about it, but I was actually quite happy. I'm usually alone at home, so having such a cute little girl to keep me company was a joy. As this happened more often, I asked her why she was raising the child alone. She said her parents had passed away, and her husband had died while she was pregnant. Oh, I felt terrible for bringing up such a sad topic! I told her that whenever work got busy, she could always bring Jiaojiao to me."
At this point, Nian Suian interjected, "So, you're saying that her story about her husband passing away was a lie? Or maybe the man who showed up later wasn't the child's father?"
"That man looks so much like Jiaojiao, there's no mistake. And also..." Jiang Yun lowered her voice, "Later, a middle-aged woman came to the door when Xiaxia wasn't home. That's the young woman's name, Xiaxia. Since Xiaxia wasn't there, she came to talk to me."
"To you? What for?"
"Suian..."
"What?" Nian Suian didn't know what Gu Junxing wanted, suddenly tapping her shoulder.
"I need to go to the car for a meeting." The company's vice president had suddenly called him for a meeting, so he had no choice but to go to the car.
"Go ahead." Nian Suian didn't have time to pay attention to him now, and immediately turned back to Jiang Yun, saying, "Please continue."
Gu Junxing sighed as he walked away, certain that if he hadn't said anything, Nian Suian might not have even noticed he was gone.
"I was puzzled too, not knowing why she wanted to talk to me. Then she said she was the child's grandmother and just wanted to ask about the child's situation. I immediately sensed something was off. If you're the child's grandmother, why are you asking the neighbor about the child instead of the mother?"
At this point, Jiang Yun suddenly became serious. She took a sip of water, caught her breath, and then continued.
"She asked if the child was well-behaved, if she caused any trouble, and if Xiaxia often worked overtime and neglected the child. When I heard this, I knew something was wrong. I thought maybe she was trying to get custody of the child! I haven't read all those novels for nothing! So I told her that Xiaxia was raising Jiaojiao very well, that Xiaxia had a good income and a stable job. I even said I was envious and wished my daughter could find such a good job."
"Then what happened?"
"After that, seeing she couldn't get any information out of me, she left. The sad thing is, after all this commotion, Xiaxia says she's planning to move. That man has been hanging around the building lately." At this point, Jiang Yun sounded particularly disdainful, "Where was he all this time? The child is grown now, and he suddenly shows up acting all concerned. Xiaxia told me everything. When they were together, his parents looked down on her family for being ordinary and criticized her for not graduating from a prestigious university. At that time, he didn't stand up for her at all and even went on blind dates. So Xiaxia broke up with him and went back to her hometown. Later, when her parents passed away, she was in a daze for a long time. By the time she realized she was pregnant, she was already quite far along and couldn't bear to have an abortion. She came to our city because back in her hometown, as a single mother, she was constantly gossiped about, and the child was bullied. She never expected that man to find her even in a different city."
Nian Suian felt angry after hearing this, but she also thought that constantly running away wasn't a solution.
"She can't keep moving every time. If he found her this time, there could be a next time."
Jiang Yun was indeed worried for Xiaxia and also didn't want to part with Jiaojiao, but she didn't have any good solutions.
"Xiaxia says the man's family is wealthy and influential. She's afraid she'll lose if they go to court for custody. She said she doesn't want anything else, just her daughter."
"Why not fight for it? Xiaxia has raised Jiaojiao from birth, and she has a stable income. The court won't necessarily award custody to the father's side. Besides, they should be required to pay child support," Nian Suian didn't know much about law, but she felt that the court wouldn't just give the child to whichever family was richer.
"Xiaxia's point is that she doesn't want any involvement with his family anymore. If they pay child support, wouldn't that keep them connected? I've been asking around, trying to find lawyer friends who can help. If you know anyone, please ask for advice too."
Nian Suian didn't actually know any lawyers, but Gu Junxing did. Since the other party was wealthy, they wouldn't hire just any lawyer. So if they were going to find help, it had to be someone formidable.
"I'll ask Gu Junxing later. He knows a lot of people."
Jiang Yun nodded. She didn't want Xiaxia and Jiaojiao to move away, and it would be even better if they could help them.
"I'll introduce you to them later. Jiaojiao is such a lovely child, we can't let that family take her away!"
As she spoke, Jiang Yun started to tease Nian Suian, "I'm too old now, but you're still young. Why don't you have a daughter? Then you'd have both a son and a daughter at a young age. Who wouldn't envy you?"
Nian Suian found it amusing, "I don't have the ability to just give birth to a girl on command."
"It's fine if it's another boy too. Having two brothers is nice as well."
"Yun-jie, are you from the family planning office or something?" Nian Suian had already made up her mind not to have children in this lifetime. Gu Zhijing had even said he'd take care of her in her old age even if they divorced. Besides, for now, she found Gu Junxing tolerable and had no plans for divorce.
However, if Gu Junxing still wanted to have children, she could only apologize. He'd have to divorce her and find someone else.
Even if Gu Zhijing didn't take care of her in her old age, it wouldn't matter. She had recently calculated her current savings and could consider herself a minor heiress.
Nian Suian didn't want to talk about having children anymore. Noticing the time, she stood up, pulling Jiang Yun with her. "Let's go. Zhijing's competition should be starting soon. What event is Zizhou in?"
"Zizhou is doing the long jump, right next to the high jump area."
"Perfect, let's go together." Nian Suian glanced around but didn't see Butler Su. She wondered if he had gone to the meeting with Gu Junxing or if he had gone to find Gu Zhijing.
