After arriving at the room, Nian Suian went straight to bed. Facing the bed that Gu Junxing had slept in that morning, she felt no particular emotion. She simply shook out the blanket and immediately fell asleep.
That was close. She was about to die of exhaustion.
When Gu Junxing arrived at the hot spring pool outside Liu Jian's room, he and Chen Shu were already there.
As soon as Gu Junxing sat down, Liu Jian eagerly asked, "What did you mean by not letting me say that earlier? Are you two not planning to have children, or was it because Zhijing was there and you didn't want to discuss it?"
Earlier, he had seen Nian Suian talking to Xu Jiasong and wanted to tease her about when she and Gu Junxing were going to have kids.
"Are you from the family planning office or something?" Gu Junxing replied irritably. "It has nothing to do with Zhijing." This indirectly conveyed his meaning - that they weren't planning to have more children.
"I'm just concerned about you. Whose decision is it? Yours?" According to Liu Jian's guess, it must be Gu Junxing who didn't want children, since he already had Zhijing. Or, thinking more darkly, women are different once they have their own biological children, so not having a second child for Zhijing's sake was understandable.
Gu Junxing glanced at him, knowing where his thoughts had wandered, and closed his eyes, not bothering to respond.
Although the couple hadn't formally discussed this topic - and given their current situation, there was no need to - Gu Junxing knew Nian Suian's thoughts on the matter.
"Why aren't you saying anything?" Liu Jian pressed.
Chen Shu couldn't help but interject, "Can't you see? Drop those little suspicions of yours and stop talking nonsense." Chen Shu could tell that Gu Junxing was displeased, even though Liu Jian was only guessing and hadn't actually said anything out loud.
Thinking about this, Chen Shu gave Gu Junxing a meaningful look, musing that he really was an old tree blossoming anew.
Liu Jian immediately wore an expression as if he'd seen a ghost. "I didn't say anything!"
"You didn't need to. It's written all over your face."
Liu Jian was at a loss for words. Everyone always said he had a dirty mind, but in reality, these two were the ones with minds like sieves.
However, if he had any sense of discretion, he wouldn't be Liu Jian. He continued to press, "Seriously, is it you who doesn't want children? How could your wife not want them? She's still young. What woman doesn't want to be a mother?"
Chen Shu couldn't help but facepalm...
Gu Junxing also opened his eyes to look at him. "If you won't read books, at least browse the internet."
"Who told you all women want to be mothers? Isn't pregnancy difficult? Isn't childbirth hard? Your thinking is stuck fifty years in the past," Chen Shu felt that Liu Jian probably wouldn't understand Gu Junxing's sarcasm, so he had to explain it more clearly.
Although he was a man and might not have much standing to speak on this, when his mother was pregnant with his sister, he was already ten years old. He had witnessed his mother's struggles from beginning to end.
"Chen Shu is right. Pregnancy is indeed very difficult," Qin Wei chimed in. After returning to his room and waiting for his wife to fall asleep, he had come out and caught the tail end of Chen Shu's statement.
Liu Jian had one good quality - he didn't get angry when criticized. "I admit I was narrow-minded. I just didn't understand. People used to always say that, but I'll definitely learn more in the future."
Qin Wei hadn't heard the earlier part of the conversation, so he was curious. "What were you guys talking about before?"
Chen Shu chuckled and said, "He was pressuring Gu Junxing about having children."
"You're really something. Why don't you pressure yourself? You're the one who's still single at your age, not Gu Junxing."
"I'd like to, but I haven't had the chance, have I?" His parents had even started introducing him to men, and he himself wanted to settle down with a wife and kids, but he just hadn't met the right person yet.
"Are you sure you're not being disingenuous? I'd like to see what kind of person you end up with."
"Qin Wei, what was that about the land in the south of the city you mentioned last time? Wasn't that plot already sold?" After the three of them finished their banter, Gu Junxing finally brought up the serious matter.
He had his eye on that plot of land in the south of the city before, but while it was still being evaluated, someone else bought it. He had let it go. But a few days ago, Qin Wei told him that the land might be back on the market. They were chatting on WeChat at the time, so he didn't ask for details, figuring he'd wait until they met in person.
"The Feng Family bought that plot before. You know about that, right?"
"I know. The Feng Family got that land at a very low price." The Feng Family's in-laws were in politics, holding a high position. Even if their offer was below market price, no one would say anything. Gu Junxing knew this, so he hadn't bothered to make a lower offer. It wasn't worth it.
"Yes. As for why it was sold to them at such a low price, we all know the reason. I've heard that their backer is about to fall from grace. The Feng Family is preparing to emigrate, and they'll likely need to sell off that land. They're in urgent need of money, so it might be even cheaper than before."
"How is that possible? Isn't he about to retire?" Hearing that the official was about to fall, all three men sat up straight, surprised.
If Qin Wei was saying this, it must be almost certain. After all, the Xu Family was also in politics, so the source of the information must be reliable. It was just unexpected news.
"He has an unruly son who's ruined his reputation. He's being investigated. The higher-ups haven't released the news yet, but evidence has indeed been found. It's just a matter of time. How do you think the Feng Family rose to prominence these years? They're panicking now, wanting to leave the country as soon as possible."
Apparently, the son was chasing after a girl, drunk driving a luxury car in pursuit. He ended up rear-ending someone in a tunnel. If he had accepted the punishment quietly, the matter might have been settled. But he argued with and physically confronted the traffic police, bragging about who his father was. Someone recorded it and posted it online, and netizens dug up the truth.
It wasn't just the luxury car, drunk driving, and disrespecting the police. There were also issues of promiscuity, setting off fireworks in a cultural heritage site to propose, using money and power to bully people. When a girl refused to be with him, he forced her employer to fire her. There was a whole mess of other issues too.
After Qin Wei finished speaking, Liu Jian's jaw dropped. "This is really... Couldn't he just be content being a second-generation rich kid? Why did he have to court death like this?"
"That's not our concern. Isn't this good news for us? If it weren't for him, his father would have retired peacefully."
"Thanks," Gu Junxing said to Qin Wei. Not a hint of this news had leaked out. If it weren't for Qin Wei, he would have had no way of knowing.
"Don't mention it. I need to head back now. Jiasong might wake up soon and want some fruit. I'll go prepare it."
"Tsk tsk tsk..." Liu Jian teased, "Becoming a father really does change a man... Whatever fruit you need, just tell the staff yourself."
"Got it."
After Qin Wei left, the three men went to a room to continue drinking tea.
"Liu Jian, get another room for Zhijing tonight," Gu Junxing said.
"What's this? Finding your son a nuisance now?"