864 A Million Times for You 226

He was weeping silently in grief.

She stood before the bed without uttering a single word.

"Xiaoning, thank you. Thank you so much," he said softly.

"What for? Be careful, I might just eat up your company," she said teasingly.

"You may have it if you want."

An Xiaoning sat down beside him and said with a smile, "Why? Do you see everything clearly now?"

"Yes."

"Give Mingxi a call. She'll definitely accept treatment properly after she hears your voice."

"Alright."

An Xiaoning quickly dialed Lin Mingxi's number and placed her mobile phone beside his ear.

Lin Mingxi began tearing up over the phone and was crying tears of joy.

She was filled with worry every single day that Gu Beicheng would not ever wake up again.

Gu Beicheng comforted her gently and only hung up after they'd had a long conversation.

No. 8 served the porridge, after which An Xiaoning placed a pillow behind Gu Beicheng's back and allowed him to rest on it while she fed him.

Gu Beicheng gazed at her and finished the porridge mouthful by mouthful.

"Why do you keep looking at me? Is there something on my face?" she asked, placing the empty bowl onto the table.

"Why are you so kind to the Gu family?"

"Probably because we're family and that's what kinship is about. My first pair of parents was my adoptive parents, but they abandoned me after raising me for a few years. I've also cut ties with the Jin and Lin families. Those three pairs of non-biological parents have proven themselves to be unworthy of me, and they're not fit to be my parents at all. However, your parents are different from them. When Grandpa took me as his god-granddaughter and allowed me to become a part of the Gu family in exchange for my help during times of crisis, I really treated you guys as my own kin," An Xiaoning said with a smile.

Gu Beicheng stared at her with reddened eyes and said, "I've long treated you as my closest kin too. Now that Father and Mother are no longer around, there will be fewer people whom I can call my family from now on. Fortunately, I still have you and Mingxi."

"Your child is safe and healthy. Once we're back in S Nation, I'll bring you and Mingxi home and have the doctors take care of you there."

"Alright."

"Mother told me to transfer my name back to the Gu family household register. Qingyan has helped me do just that."

"Don't remove it ever again, unless you get married," he said, looking at her.

"Sure, but there's something I haven't told Mingxi yet. I've allowed the hypnotist who controlled Gu Dongcheng to stay alive. He's the only survivor."

"You probably have your own reasons."

"I got someone to amputate his legs and make him a mask. I'm planning to use him. You may tell her about it when we go back, I don't wish to hide it from her," An Xiaoning said slowly.

"Okay, I'll tell her in private when we're back."

"Everything will be fine."

"Boss, that fellow is calling you again!"

She whipped out her mobile phone to see that it was a call from Pei Yi.

She stood up and went outside to pick up the call.

"Hello."

"I thought you would hang up immediately."

"Why did you call me again?" she asked calmly.

"Nothing much, I just felt like calling you. I'm wondering if I should be a good host since you're here on my territory," he said with a tinge of sinisterness.

Turns out he knew about my arrival, after all.

"I appreciate your good intentions, but no thanks."

"Are you afraid to see me? It's not like you haven't seen me before," he said with a chuckle.

"There's no need for us to meet again."

"Why do I feel like it's necessary?"

An Xiaoning gripped her phone tightly and said, "Must you really do this?"

"Mmm-hmm."

"It's raining cats and dogs right now. Another day."

"No, I'd like to feel the thrill of hunting my prey that has escaped."

An Xiaoning's heart sank the moment the call ended.

She hurriedly asked the elderly man, "Is there a secret passageway in here? My enemy is on his way right now to hunt me down."

"This used to be a warzone so there are secret passageways here."

"Great, but do many people know about the passageway?"

"The residents at the foot of the mountain are all aware of this."

She nodded and hurriedly instructed No. 5 to carry Gu Beicheng while No. 8 held onto Rong Yan's hand. Meanwhile, Xiao Bai was in charge of carrying the medicine and books given by the elderly man, who then led them through the secret passageway.

An Xiaoning was the only one who stayed behind.

The reason was clear.

If she had left together with him, Pei Yi would definitely find out about the secret passageway from the residents nearby and, hence, they would not be able to escape.

She was the one he wanted to meet.

With her newly-acquired powers, it was a piece of cake for her to escape from him.

The elderly man returned to see that there were several cars parked outside the house.

Donning a fedora and a pair of shades that hid his eyes, Pei Yi alighted from the car.

"I thought you would escape. You never fail to surprise me."

"Are you surprised? Wow, Master Pei, you're still as dashing as ever. Are you trying to blind everyone with your stunning good looks?" An Xiaoning gibed with a smile.

"Does everyone include you?" he asked with a smirk.

"You wouldn't believe me if I said yes." After a moment of silence, she continued, "Master Pei, you insisted on coming here to see me despite the heavy rain. Just what is your purpose?"

He walked toward her and removed his shades. Glaring at her coldly, he said, "I was infuriated about the fact that you were rescued."

"And then? Are you going to punish me for escaping?"

"No, I just didn't take enough safety precautions. After all, you probably would have been killed by my people even if you didn't escape. I really want to be a good host, so I came here to personally invite you to my place," he said with his hands behind his back.

An Xiaoning nodded and said, "Could you not put this elderly man in a spit, and…"

The intelligent Pei Yi could already guess what she wanted to say next. "I'm not interested in your bodyguards and Gu Beicheng, who have all escaped. Gu Beicheng didn't die thanks to his own fate."

She was apprehensive about his words.

"I believe you're not one to say one thing and do another, Master Pei. Let's go."

She got inside his car and sat beside him in the backseat.

Just as the car began moving off, An Xiaoning looked at him while smiling, as if she were really going to visit his house as a guest. "Master Pei, what have you been busy with lately?"

"I've been thinking about which man you're smiling at every day, you liar."

"…"

He handed her two photos and said, "Didn't I say before that you're only allowed to smile at me and that no one else has the right to see you smile at all? Why have you gone back on your words so soon? Not only did you break your promise, you also even stayed over at Jin Qingyan's place every now and then. Are you planning to get married to him again? Is it because he saved you? Or is it because you've never stopped loving him?"

An Xiaoning stared at the photos in her hand, only to discover that one of them was a photo of her talking to Fan Shixin and the other was of her speaking to Jin Qingyan…