CHAPTER 239: CHAPTER 239: THE LITTLE PRINCESS OF THE GU FAMILY

The two elderly people were eager to go home and see everything; they told An Junxi, "Whenever you have time, bring Aixi to visit us."

An Junxi said, "Sure, give me a call when you get back."

Gu Aixi saw that they were leaving, stretched out her arms, and shouted, "Grandma, Grandpa, come play."

Mrs. An picked up her little sweetheart, "Grandma and Grandpa are going home. Aixi will stay with daddy and mommy tonight."

Gu Aixi’s nose turned red, "No, I want to go together."

Mr. An held her tight and didn’t want to let go, "Aixi truly loves her grandparents, she can’t bear to be apart from Grandma and Grandpa."

As they reluctantly said their goodbyes, Gu Kuangyong, Liang Huiyun, and Gu Kuangyuan arrived. They stood at the door of the hospital room watching the little girl, who looked like a powdery dumpling and hesitated to enter.

Mr. An and Mrs. An were unaware of the falling out between An Junxi and the older members of the Gu family. Mr. An said with a smile, "Our in-laws are here, Aixi, greet your grandpa and grandma."

Gu Kuangyong, a grown man, had tears welling up in his eyes. This child looked too much like Yi Ke. Their family had many boys, and holding a granddaughter was his greatest wish.

Heaven has favored the Gu family by blessing them with this adorable little angel.

Liang Huiyun looked embarrassed. She wanted to hold the child but was afraid An Junxi wouldn’t allow it, especially since she had slapped An Junxi before.

Gu Aixi wasn’t afraid of strangers, but she wasn’t as warm to Gu Kuangyong and the others as she was with ordinary people; she clung tightly to her grandpa and shook her head.

She had never been taught to say "grandpa" or "grandma" before, so these titles were too unfamiliar to her.

Mrs. An saw that she was unwilling to call them and told Gu Kuangyong and his wife, "The child has never seen her grandpa and grandma before, so she’s a bit shy."

Gu Kuangyong felt ashamed and said to them, "We heard about everything that’s happened to you over the last two years. We are deeply sorry; it’s our Gu family that owes your An family. My brother... let’s not talk about him. Raising Aixi wasn’t easy, we are all one family, yet we did not do even a fraction of what you did. We sincerely thank you."

He solemnly thanked them several times. Mr. An said, "No need to be so polite. Aixi is my granddaughter too. Loving her is not hard at all."

The two families chatted for a while; then Mr. An and Mrs. An left the hospital to go home. Gu Aixi clung to her mother and wouldn’t let go.

An Junxi was still quite respectful towards Gu Kuangyong but much less so towards Liang Huiyun.

She taught the child, "This is Grandpa, Grandma, and Auntie."

Gu Kuangyuan said, "I’m only a few years older than Yi Ke, calling me Auntie makes me feel so old."

An Junxi smiled and said, "The generational gaps are there; what else could we call you?"

Gu Aixi didn’t want to call them; she looked at her mommy, and An Junxi looked back at her seriously.

Gu Aixi was a clever child who could read the expressions of adults. She called out, though not perfectly, "Yayaya, Nai Nai, Auntie."

Gu Kuangyuan played with Gu Aixi, and Aixi was very warm towards her, even willing to be held.

Gu Kuangyuan excitedly said, "Aixi is willing to let me hold her! Come, let Auntie give you a kiss." She didn’t care anymore about how old the title made her feel.

Holding this soft little dumpling with skin as tender as a peach and the scent of milk, she was overjoyed.

Gu Aixi curiously played with the necklace around Gu Kuangyuan’s neck; she loved shiny things the most.

An Junxi said to her, "Aixi, be polite."

Gu Kuangyuan said, "It’s fine, let her play. Auntie will give Aixi a set of silver bracelets, okay?"

Gu Aixi didn’t know what silver bracelets were, but she heard there was something to get and smiled until her eyes became slits, "Okay!"

Gu Kuangyong and his wife couldn’t help but smile; they looked enviously at Gu Kuangyuan, their hands itching to hold her.

An Junxi pretended not to see, occasionally exchanged a few polite words with them, but did not particularly encourage the child to get close to her grandparents.

Gu Kuangyuan took the child out for a walk, and Liang Huiyun followed suit, thinking she wanted to hold the child. Instead, Liang Huiyun took the opportunity when the child wasn’t paying attention and clipped a few strands of Gu Aixi’s hair with a nail clipper.

Gu Kuangyuan hurriedly looked back at the hospital room and whispered, "Are you crazy? Aixi looks exactly like Yi Ke’s child. After all the trouble you’ve caused, what do you think Junxi will think?"

Liang Huiyun pocketed the hair, saying, "She won’t know unless you tell her."

Gu Kuangyuan was furious, "And you think you’re in the right?"

Gu Aixi looked at them with her big round eyes, not understanding what they were saying.

Gu Kuangyuan didn’t want to argue in front of the child and brought her back into the room, "They just reconciled, don’t create more trouble for their marriage. A harmonious family is most important."

Liang Huiyun was reprimanded by Gu Kuangyuan but still didn’t see reason, "I need to see the report to be at ease."

Gu Kuangyuan didn’t want to argue with her anymore; she brought Aixi back to An Junxi.

Gu Kuangyong teased his granddaughter, "Aixi, call me Grandpa, and Grandpa will buy you toys."

This time, Gu Aixi called out perfectly, "Grandpa!"

Gu Kuangyong responded with a hearty laugh, "Good girl, Grandpa will bring you fun toys tomorrow."

An Junxi pinched her little cheek, "So you call people for gifts, who taught you that?"

Gu Aixi giggled.

Gu Yikun reached out for his daughter’s small hand, and Gu Aixi, who wasn’t afraid of him anymore, squeezed and toyed with his hand.

The tiny baby hand in Gu Yikun’s palm made his heart melt, "How can she be so tiny?"

An Junxi said, "She’s only one year and five months old. She was even smaller when she was just born, less than six pounds."

Gu Yikun did the math, remembering it was the night they spent in the company’s rest room.

Looking back, he realized all the oddities from that night were clear now.

Why she acted so unusually, taking initiative and not letting him use contraception was because she wanted to leave him with a child after she left.

The guilt in his heart suffocated him. He had been so busy with work that he neglected her and was unaware of the immense mental stress she endured.

He embraced her, "You went through so much during the pregnancy, and I wasn’t there for you, missing every moment of our daughter’s birth. I’m such a poor husband and father."

An Junxi told him not to think about it anymore; she and Aixi were back now. As long as they raised their child well, providing a healthy family environment for her to grow up happily, that would be enough.

Gu Kuangyong really wanted to take Aixi home, but she refused to leave her mommy. They could only say, "We’ll come back tomorrow then. Junxi, take care and rest well, your health is important."

An Junxi asked them to take care of themselves as well, seeing them out the door.

Every step of the way, Gu Aixi followed An Junxi closely. She looked at Gu Yikun, wanting to play with her daddy but feeling a bit scared.

With only the three of them left in the room, Auntie He called An Junxi, "Junxi, what would you like for dinner? I’ll cook and bring it over."

She knew how happy Junxi was to have her little girl back and felt sorry for her for having to give birth alone outside; she definitely needed more nourishment.

An Junxi said, "Don’t trouble yourself, Auntie He. I don’t have much of an appetite tonight."

"That’s not okay. I’ll make some soup for you and porridge for the little miss."