Father Lu was looking at the family photo that Xu Qingqing had sent him. Looking at the five people smiling happily in the photo, his gloomy mood brightened up.
Father Lu heard a knock on the door. He quickly sat up and went to open it.
He thought it was his eldest and second sons waking up to look for him, but he couldn't help but be stunned when he saw that it was Xu Qingqing and Lu Chuanbai outside the door.
"Xu Qingqing, Lu Chuanbai, what do you want?"
Lu Chuanbai turned around with a gloomy face, wanting to leave and not face the truth.
Xu Qingqing grabbed his shoulder, not allowing him to go, and smilingly pushed Lu Chuanbai in front of Father Lu.
"Uncle Lu, it's Lu Chuanbai who has something to ask you."
"What does he want to ask me?"
Father Lu looked at Lu Chuanbai in surprise, his eyes full of expectation.
Lu Chuanbai said awkwardly, "I want to ask you... Was it really you who had an affair back then?"
Hearing Lu Chuanbai's question, Father Lu was instantly stunned. The smile on his lips faded, and his face looked extremely ugly.
"Why are you asking this? This is not your business. Go back to sleep quickly!"
Father Lu was embarrassed and wanted to gloss over the matter. He reached out to close the door.
Lu Chuanbai raised his hand to block the door. His tone was cold and direct. "If you don't tell me, I won't come to you again."
Hearing Lu Chuanbai's firm words, Father Lu was finally afraid. A self - mocking smile appeared on his face, and his face was full of pain.
"It's all my fault. If it weren't for me, your mother wouldn't have died... None of these messes would have happened!"
Xu Qingqing quickly comforted him. "Uncle Lu, please tell us what exactly happened. We'll clear up the misunderstanding!"
Father Lu's yellowish eyeballs were filled with tears, which deeply touched Lu Chuanbai.
It was the first time he had seen Father Lu cry.
As Father Lu told the story, the misunderstanding from back then was gradually cleared up.
Back then, the stepmother was just a worker in a hotel, in charge of managing the private rooms.
Father Lu often went to that hotel to entertain guests. Sometimes he would ask the stepmother to reserve a seat for him. As time went by, they added each other's contact information.
Although the stepmother had secretly hinted at something, Father Lu, who had seen a rose, would never fall in love with a weed. He always refused her firmly.
Later, when the stepmother directly made her intentions clear, Father Lu deleted all her contact information and tried to avoid going to that hotel as much as possible.
But later, a client booked that place for a business negotiation, and Father Lu had to go.
That night, something happened. The client that night was a Russian with a very high alcohol tolerance.
Father Lu got drunk with him. The stepmother, who had been waiting outside, took advantage of the situation and drugged Father Lu.
Then a series of things happened...
Hearing that Father Lu didn't have an affair voluntarily, Lu Chuanbai's face softened a bit. He clenched his fists tightly at his sides.
"So that's what happened. Why didn't you say anything?"
"I explained it clearly to your mother back then, and she believed me. Later, there were some troubles in the company. Some people wanted to set up their own businesses and almost tore the company apart. I barely managed to hold on."
"I was always busy with the company's affairs and neglected your mother. I never thought that the stepmother had been pestering your mother, trying to make your mother accept her and her son..."
"I only found out all these after your mother died..."
Saying this, Father Lu covered his face with his hands and sobbed.
It turned out that there were so many hidden stories, which Lu Chuanbai had never known.
Lu Chuanbai was shocked. Looking at the sobbing Father Lu, he asked in a trembling voice.
"Why didn't you tell me about this?"
If he had known, he wouldn't have misunderstood Father Lu for so long.
"I didn't know how to say it. It's not something good."
Xu Qingqing patted Lu Chuanbai on the shoulder. Looking at the father and son who had resolved their heart knot, she said with a smile, "Now your confusion can be solved, right?"
Some things really need to be made clear!
Lu Chuanbai gently rubbed Xu Qingqing's head. His eyes were full of gratitude for Xu Qingqing. "Thank you."
If it weren't for Xu Qingqing, he and Father Lu might have drifted further and further apart with this heart knot.
Father Lu looked at Xu Qingqing and Lu Chuanbai with relief. His favor for Xu Qingqing had reached the peak.
Fortunately, Lu Chuanbai was with Xu Qingqing. If he had been with Miss Gu before, the whole family might have been in chaos.
At this time, Miss Gu, who flashed through Father Lu's mind, was released from prison on Christmas Eve.
She had been in prison for a few months for tomb - robbing. Instead of reflecting on her mistakes, she had become even more resentful.
In prison, she had conflicts with others many times. Even if others didn't provoke her, Gu Anrou would regard that person as Xu Qingqing and bully them severely.
Now that she was finally out of prison, she was going to seek revenge on Xu Qingqing for the months she had spent in prison!
Gu Anrou went back home first. On this Christmas day, the whole Gu family was cold and cheerless, without a trace of warmth.
Father Gu had spent a lot of effort to get Gu Anrou's sentence reduced to a few months.
Because of all the things that had happened to Gu Anrou, the Gu family's auction house couldn't operate anymore. People didn't trust the Gu family with their cultural relics.
If the Gu family didn't have other side businesses, they would have applied for bankruptcy long ago.
Mother Gu was wiping her tears while peeling an apple for Father Gu. With teary eyes, she said, "I don't know how our daughter is doing inside. She can't even come home for Christmas. Wuwuwu..."
"Why are you crying? She'll be home in a few days." Father Gu said tiredly.
Quietly turning the doorknob, Gu Anrou stood at the entrance. Hearing what her parents said, she walked up to them with tears in her eyes.
"Dad, Mom, I'm back..."
Hearing her daughter's voice, Mother Gu looked up and saw Gu Anrou standing right in front of her. The apple in her hand fell to the ground.
"Anrou, is it really you who's back..."
Mother Gu walked up to her daughter shakily and reached out to touch her face.
Gu Anrou threw herself into her mother's arms, crying. Her hatred for Xu Qingqing deepened.
The family was reunited, and the mother and daughter hugged each other tightly.
After the greetings, Gu Anrou knelt in front of Father Gu and kowtowed heavily to her parents.
"Dad, Mom, I was wrong. I won't cause you any more trouble in the future."
Hearing Gu Anrou's promise, Mother Gu immediately started wiping her tears again. "You must have suffered a lot in prison. You've lost so much weight."
"This is the lesson I deserve."
Gu Anrou smiled slightly and said fiercely, "I'll lead the Gu family to develop well in the future. I'll never bring shame to you again!"
Hearing this, Father Gu was also very touched and nodded seriously.