novelraw Chapter 81 Not Going Anywhere
Chapter 81 Not Going Anywhere
Lu Xiran's breath hitched.
"Moreover," Gu Yanshen's eyes darkened, "Aunt Yun... has been missing since the incident this afternoon. Her phone is off, and no one is home at her residence."
"Aunt Yun?!" Lu Xiran exclaimed in surprise, only then realizing that she hadn't seen the kind and gentle aunt who was always by Bai Fang's side at the old house all day. "Where...where did she go?"
"We're still investigating." Gu Yanshen didn't say much, but simply pulled her into his arms, gently resting his chin on the top of her head, tightening his arms to give her the strongest support. "Don't worry, I'm here for you. Grandma will be alright, and the truth will come out."
His embrace was warm and strong, dispelling the chill and fear in Lu Xiran's heart.
But Gu Yanshen's next words made her heart clench.
He stepped back slightly, cupped her face in his hands, his deep eyes reflecting her image in the dim light. His tone was more solemn than ever before, even carrying a barely perceptible tension born of concern for her safety:
"Ranran, things might not be peaceful for the Gu family for a while. How about... you have Lin Chen take you to Switzerland for a period of time? I'll bring you back after I've completely sorted things out here."
"What?" Lu Xiran was stunned, almost unable to believe her ears.
"Didn't you always want to go back and finish your studies?" Gu Yanshen tried his best to make his tone sound calm, even with a hint of coaxing. "I've already taken care of the procedures for you to resume your studies, and I've also contacted Professor Weber. You can go back to continue your research at any time."
"No...it's not because of that..." Lu Xiran shook her head, her clear, doe-like eyes quickly welling up with tears of grievance, her voice choked with sobs, "Before...before we didn't have a baby, but now...now we have a baby..."
"Precisely because you have a baby, you must go!" Gu Yanshen interrupted her, his tone suddenly becoming urgent and forceful. The suppressed fear and resentment in his eyes finally leaked out. "They attacked Grandma today, and now they've set their sights on you! Poisoning, disappearing... what wouldn't those people blinded by profit do with such dirty tricks?!"
Thinking back to the panic that almost froze his blood when he received the news that afternoon—what if she had drunk that bowl of soup first? What if the shoving had been more violent? What if… He didn’t dare to think about it.
"Ranran," his voice choked uncontrollably, his fingers trembling slightly as he cupped her face, and a pleading pain clearly surfaced in his usually all-encompassing eyes, "I don't care what happens to me. But you and the baby... absolutely cannot suffer even the slightest mishap! I... cannot bear it!"
This was the first time he had so openly revealed his deepest fears and vulnerabilities to her.
Lu Xiran's heart was struck hard, and bitterness and heartache instantly overwhelmed all her grievances.
"Uncle..." she whispered, taking the initiative to kiss his tightly pursed, somewhat pale lips. The kiss was light and gentle, carrying a soothing meaning, yet also a firm strength.
She pressed her face against the crook of his neck, her voice soft: "I know you're worried about me, afraid you can't protect us."
"But, Uncle," she raised her hand and gently smoothed his furrowed brow, "the baby needs his father. He wants to stay by his father's side and feel his heartbeat. I... can't live without you either." She paused, then wrapped her arms around his waist even tighter, burying her face in his chest. "I love you, Gu Yanshen. Wherever you are, that's where my home is. I'm not going anywhere else."
"Ranran..." Gu Yanshen's heart was warmed by her words, but also gripped by deeper worries.
"And, Uncle," Lu Xiran looked up, her clear eyes revealing a worldly wisdom, "I once thought that escaping to Switzerland would keep me away from trouble. But have you forgotten? It was because I was being hunted down there, with nowhere else to go, that I fled back to China, and that's when... I met you." She gripped his hand tightly, their fingers intertwined, "So you see, Switzerland has never been a safe haven."
She leaned closer to him, their noses almost touching, her warm breath brushing against his lips: "Being by your side is the safest place in the whole world for me."
She lowered her eyes, her slender fingers unconsciously fiddling with the cold buttons on his shirt. Her voice trailed off, tinged with a sweet, endearing longing: "Besides... I feel so empty and miserable if I don't see you for even a moment. How can I bear being separated from you for so long, from so far away?"
The final words were like the softest feathers, gently scratching at Gu Yanshen's hardest armor, instantly shattering all the defenses he had tried to build, the defenses called "for your own good."
"Ranran, I will have Lin Chen send more people, 24 hours a day..."
Lu Xiran didn't let him finish speaking. She tilted her head back again and used her warm, soft lips to silence all his unfinished and worried arrangements.
This kiss was no longer gentle; it carried her unique stubbornness and unreserved trust, as if telling him through her actions—no need for further words, my mind is made up, we'll weather the storm together.
Gu Yanshen froze for a moment, but finally, in her lingering kiss, all his tense nerves and unwavering resolve dissolved into a barely audible sigh. He tightened his arms, taking the initiative and returning the kiss deeply, with a kind of almost desperate cherishing and possessiveness ingrained in his very bones.
He knew he couldn't go against her wishes.
From the moment he fell in love with her, he was destined to be helpless against all her persistence.
As night deepened, the person in his arms finally succumbed to exhaustion and fell into a deep sleep, her breathing steady and long. Gu Yanshen, however, was wide awake. He carefully settled her in, tucked her in, and gazed at her peaceful sleeping face for a long time before quietly getting up and going to the study.
Dial Lin Chen's phone.
"How's the investigation going?" He asked in a very low voice, his tone chilling in the night.
"The police's preliminary test results are in. The additives in the soup match the old lady's symptoms, but the source and route of poisoning are still under investigation. Surveillance footage shows that no one else handled the soup between when it left Yunyuji and when it entered the old house, except for Miss Lu and Aunt Yun." Lin Chen's voice was clear and calm. "Miss Lu can basically be ruled out as a suspect. The key lies inside the old house, and... the missing Aunt Yun. We don't have any valuable clues about her yet."
Gu Yanshen was silent for a moment, his fingers unconsciously tapping on the table: "The matter in Switzerland... let's put it on hold for now. She... doesn't agree."
On the other end of the phone, Lin Chen seemed completely unsurprised, even letting out a barely perceptible chuckle: "I told you long ago, she would never agree." He paused, his tone becoming serious and profound, getting straight to the point:
"Yan Shen, don't you understand yet? Her danger has never been about where she is. The real source of danger lies in you—in that you are Gu Yan Shen, in your current position, in what you possess, and... in what you care about most—it's her."
Gu Yanshen's fingers tightened suddenly as he gripped his phone.