"I mean you're not a fan of reading. Isn't it a waste of money if you buy a book without reading it?"

"It's not a waste of money. I collect books."

There were lots of hardcover books in Song Shuang's study.

But Gu Baisheng remembered that Song Shuang had read all the books in his collection.

There was no exception.

She felt it strange, so she reached out to the book.

Song Shuang frowned and stood in front of the shelf when he noticed her move, "What are you doing?"

"I want to read it."

"You have already read it."

"I can't remember the details. I remember a very famous quotation in it, so I want to check it again."

"Search it online."

"Why do I bother to search it online if I have the book?"

"Don't stain my book. It's a limited edition. Look at the ink on your fingers."

Song Shuang looked at her fingers with a little contempt.

Following his gaze, Gu Baisheng looked at her hands.

There was indeed ink on her fingers.

She didn't know when she got ink on her fingers.

"It's weird. I didn't touch any ink."

"I have a broken pen that leaks ink."

Song Shuang took up the pen on the table, "Did you touch this pen?"

Gu Baisheng shook her head, "I didn't remember it."

"Wash your hands first. Don't stain your clothes."

Song Shuang took her to wash her hands.

Gu Baisheng got distracted.

She forgot about the book.

Song Shuang dragged her to wash her hands.

...

Although Song Yi was allowed to stay at the old mansion of the Song Family, Song Zhaolu wasn't.

She had to stay at a hotel.

In fact, Song Zhaolu's money was enough to buy many villas in Beicheng.

But she didn't buy one.

She didn't come back for living in a nice house.

Song Yi helped his mother to open the suite door.

Song Zhaolu was still touching her wrist, which used to have the green jade bracelet on after she walked inside.

It was her habitual action.

Song Zhaolu wasn't used to it when the bracelet was gone.

Song Yi noticed it and said, "Mom, grandma left the bracelet to you. Why did you give it to Bai Shengsheng for no reason?"

"It's just a bracelet."

It didn’t seem that Song Zhaolu really cared about it.

After she entered the room, she walked around to check the decoration.

"It was grandma's. It's not an ordinary bracelet."

"That's the reason why I gave it to her daughter-in-law."

"Why?"

"Because that's something that she couldn't get."

Song Zhaolu smiled and said meaningfully, "Lin Fengya wasn't the one whom Zhaoyang wanted to marry."

Hearing this, Song Yi frowned, "So this bracelet..."

"Your grandma planned to give the bracelet to that woman. However, that woman disappeared. Your grandma didn't like Lin Fengya, so she gave the bracelet to me." Song Zhaolu looked at her son smilingly, "Now I gave it to her daughter-in-law. She'll feel hurtful every time she sees her wearing it."

Song Yi looked down while listening to his mother, "My aunt doesn't like Bai Shengsheng."

"Such being the case, the bracelet will make it worse."

Song Zhaolu smiled and touched her wrist gently, "It’s just a bracelet that I can make use of. Although I really like the bracelet, it's worth it if giving it to someone makes Lin Fengya mad."

Song Yi sighed while looking at his mother.

He didn't speak his mind.

Song Zhaolu lifted her eyebrows when she heard the sigh, "What? Are you worried about Song Shuang's wife?"

Song Yi didn't deny it and said, "Bai Shengsheng is innocent."

"Innocent?"

Song Zhaolu laughed, "Speaking of being innocent, which of his wife is not innocent? Isn’t his dead ex-wife innocent? Or her deceased son? Why do you think Bai Shengsheng is innocent? She gets married twice. And I heard that her previous experience was not pretty. She's a wanton gold-digger."

Song Yi had contact with Bai Shengsheng and he felt that she was not like that. So he said, "It's just a rumor, and it’s not true."

"Well?"

Song Zhaolu looked at her son harshly.

Song Yi knew his mother's personality and had no intention to argue with her, "I'm telling the truth."

"Do you know what the truth is?"

Song Zhaolu put her hand, which had stroked her wrist, on the sofa handrail and looked very resentful and arrogant, "The truth is that you should be the successor of the Song Family."

Song Yi looked down without refuting it.

His mother hated his uncle because they fought over his grandpa's legacy.

The hatred gradually became a seed buried in her mind alongside their hard life.

The seed grew quickly in recent years.

It filled his and his mother's hearts, especially his mother's.

Song Zhaolu squinted and stared at the void coldly as if she had been staring at the person whom she hated her entire life, "There's only one truth in this world, Yi. It's ‘winner takes all’. You have to know that."

Song Yi looked at her cold and hateful eyes.

He looked down and covered his deep eyes with his long lashes.

Like a vine, her hatred closely drew him and his mother together.

They could never be separated or get away from it.

The only thing he could do was to do what his mother expected, even though he wasn't interested in it.

...

In the afternoon, Gu Baisheng visited Hu Hui to wish her a happy new year.

Hu Hui took the washed fruits out of the kitchen and asked Gu Baisheng to have some enthusiastically.

Expectably, Gu Baisheng ate the sour grapes.

Song Shuang was sitting next to Gu Baisheng. When he noticed that she liked the grapes the most, he bit his lips.

Qu Xiaobo rolled her eyes and asked Gu Baisheng smilingly, "New things for the new year. Any new plans?"

"Working at the Second Hospital is my plan for the next few years."

Gu Baisheng answered honestly.

Hu Hui was supportive, "You're awesome and definitely can do it!"

After saying so, she glanced at Song Shuang.

Song Shuang nodded after he saw Hu Hui's glance, "As long as you try hard, you can achieve your goal."

Although they said so, except for Gu Baisheng, they all knew that she could definitely become a doctor at the hospital where Song Shuang worked after her internship.

Gu Baisheng was good at her job.

And the Second Hospital would offer Gu Baisheng this job for Song Shuang's sake.

Gu Baisheng didn't pay attention to their facial expressions because she was busy eating the grapes.

After talking about her job, Qu Xiaobo continued, "Apart from your career goal, anything else you want to do?"

"Anything else?"

Gu Baisheng thought about it.

Hu Hui seized the chance and said, "For example, a baby?"

She urged them to have a baby.

Gu Baisheng stopped eating grapes and looked at Hu Hui, "You can't force it to happen."

Qu Xiaobo didn’t think too much but said carelessly, "What are you talking about? As long as you two make..."

She suddenly choked halfway.

She realized that she couldn't be so explicit when Hu Hui was around.

Qu Xiaobo said smilingly, "Make more effort! Nothing is impossible for a willing heart!"

She checked Hu Hui's face after saying so.

She was relieved after knowing that Hu Hui didn't find anything wrong.

She was a very straightforward person.

But the elders were usually very reserved.

She needed to pay attention to her language in front of the elders.

She couldn't say things like "Try harder until you're pregnant".

She would be criticized for it by Hu Hui.

Hu Hui agreed with Qu Xiaobo, "Bobo is right. You two are not young and need to put more effort into it. I want to see my grandchild next year."

Song Shuang smiled on hearing it, "We'll try, mom."

Hu Hui was very happy with his answer.

But Gu Baisheng didn't respond.

Hu Hui asked her, "Did you hear me, Shengsheng?"

Gu Baisheng nodded impatiently, "Yes."

Hu Hui frowned, "I meant it."

Gu Baisheng realized that she was too impatient when she answered the question, so she answered it one more time, "I heard it, Auntie Hu."

Hu Hui nodded after she promised, "Great."

Qu Xiaobo couldn't help laughing at Gu Baisheng when she made the promise seriously.

Gu Baisheng glared at her.

Qu Xiaobo was laughing at Gu Baisheng's suffering. Unexpectedly, Hu Hui started to look at her.

Hu Hui turned around at Qu Xiaobo, "Bobo, I take both you and Shengsheng as my daughters. Shengsheng has made her promise. I think it's your turn."

Gu Baisheng knew that Hu Hui started to urge Qu Xiaobo to have a baby.

She couldn't help laughing and said, "Yeah, Bobo. I promised to have a baby this year. What about you? Will you make the same promise?"

Qu Xiaobo was awkward because she didn't expect to be at the center of the spotlight, "I... I... Zhang Kai and I are both very busy with our jobs. We need to take it slow. We have a lot of time. It's no need to rush."

Hearing her answer, Hu Hui shook her head and disagreed, "All the young people want to get married and have babies when they are older. But they're just wasting their own time. Think about it, Bobo. You're not young now. You'll be in your 30s in a few years."

"It's a bit dangerous for women to have babies in their 30s. And your body just goes downward after 25. It takes longer to recover from your delivery."