Chapter 78: I Have Grown Weary of Proclaiming My Innocence

“I like you so much, Uncle Gu, I’m afraid that once you marry someone, you’ll stop caring about me.” Bai Lu summoned all her coquettishness accumulated over two lifetimes. “It was so hard for me to come back; I just want you to spoil me and only me. I want to be the only one in your eyes, the only one you dote on.”

He knew perfectly well the little vixen was pretending to be pitiful, but the old fox couldn’t bear to expose her.

Gu Pianran sighed. “Just this once.”

“I’ll always love you, Uncle Gu!” Bai Lu, never one to miss an opportunity, pressed her luck. “Uncle Gu, can I ask you a favor?”

Gu Pianran, deftly washing and chopping vegetables, replied, “No need to ask. Just say the word, and I’ll walk through fire and water for you.”

Tears welled in Bai Lu’s eyes. “Uncle Gu, can’t you teach my dad a thing or two? I want to experience gentle fatherly love, too. Every day his fatherly love is like a landslide—I’m exhausted.”

Gu Pianran chuckled softly. “If your father started treating you gently, wouldn’t you be scared?”

Bai Lu shuddered and shook her head vigorously.

She’d probably have nightmares for a month straight.

Gu Pianran smiled as he asked, “So what do you want from Uncle Gu?”

“Stop thinking about Gao Fanqin. Okay? I like him. I want him.”

Gu Pianran’s knife paused abruptly.

He slowly turned his head and gazed at her deeply.

Bai Lu gave a sweet smile and popped a peeled lychee into her mouth, looking completely innocent. “I’ve already put a love spell on Gao Fanqin. He’s mine for life—there’s no escape.”

Gu Pianran slowly withdrew his gaze. “Gao Fanqin isn’t someone who’d submit to another. Lu Xiaolu, you won’t be able to handle him. Be careful not to get burned.”

“I’m not afraid. I have my dad and Uncle Gu.” Bai Lu, ever the flatterer, picked the biggest, juiciest lychee and held it to her uncle’s lips. “If Gao Fanqin won’t submit, then you and Dad can just break his legs. He’ll have to submit then.”

Gu Pianran shook his head helplessly but said nothing, accepting the lychee she fed him.

That was as good as granting her permission.

Bai Lu grinned arrogantly and triumphantly. “Hmph, I have a dad and an uncle who spoil me! I’m the little crab who walks sideways wherever I please!”

“Crab?” Lu Yiting yawned as he walked in. “Crab is my favorite.”

Bai Lu immediately offered the fruit plate with both hands. “Dad, have some fruit.”

Lu Yiting opened his mouth, and Bai Lu dutifully picked out his favorite pieces to feed him.

Gu Pianran commented, “...Lu Yiting, is this how you treat my niece?”

Lu Yiting laughed even more proudly. “She’s my daughter. If you’re jealous, go have one of your own!”

Gu Pianran’s smile grew gentle and profound.

Father and daughter turned in perfect unison.

“Dad, maybe we shouldn’t disturb Uncle Gu while he’s cooking.”

“You’re right. Let’s let Uncle Gu focus on cooking. We’re all thumbs anyway—no need to give him extra trouble.”

“Let’s go, let’s go.”

“Mm-hmm.”

Gu Pianran watched the pair, unable to hold back his laughter.

Truly father and daughter—two of a kind.

With Gu Pianran around, the mischievous pair were always guaranteed good food.

Before the meal, Bai Lu asked curiously, “Uncle Gu, don’t you have work today? How come you have time to cook for me and Dad?”

Gu Pianran served each of them a portion of greens. “No talking at the table.”

Father and daughter both pulled equally mournful faces.

“Gu Third…”

“Uncle Gu…”

“Eat,” Gu Pianran said lightly. “No picky eating.”

Lu Yiting: “……”

Bai Lu: “……”

The second rule of survival in the Lu family: Never go against the Fox.

If only they could cook, who’d put up with him?

After lunch, Bai Lu finally understood why her uncle, the head of the Gu Corporation, had time to play babysitter—no, caretaker—for her and her dad.

Gu Pianran said, “Xiaolu, there’s no time for you to prepare yourself mentally. Yiting, you have to take Xiaolu back to the Lu house today. Chairman Lu has already tracked you down, and he knows you and Xiaolu are living together.”

Bai Lu: “……”

No wonder Uncle Gu waited until after lunch to say this. If he’d said it before, she wouldn’t have been able to eat a bite.

Lu Yiting raised a brow. “Gu Third, is this how you handle things?”

Gu Pianran smiled slightly. “Someone tipped him off—I couldn’t guard against it.”

Bai Lu immediately turned to look at her dad, who was also turning to look at her.

“Dad, what kind of romantic trouble have you gotten yourself into?”

“Lu Lu, what kind of romantic trouble have you gotten yourself into?”

Father and daughter, in perfect unison.

“Uncle Gu, you tell us!”

“Gu Third, you tell us!”

Again, in perfect sync.

“...” Gu Pianran said, “If anyone says you two aren’t related, I’ll be the first to object.”

Just look at this tacit understanding.

If they’re not father and daughter, who is?

Gu Pianran spread his hands. “Chairman Lu is tight-lipped. I couldn’t find out.”

But his gaze lingered briefly on Bai Lu.

Bai Lu pointed to herself. “My only romantic entanglement is that scoundrel Yu Fuqing. He’s got no right to complain to Grandpa—he can’t even get past the Lu family’s front door!”

Lu Yiting sneered. “Did you forget about Huo Yansui?”

Bai Lu: “……”

She’d said a thousand times it wasn’t like that; her dad just wouldn’t believe her.

She was tired of defending her innocence!

Gu Pianran said, “In short, Chairman Lu knows you two are living together. He’s instructed me to bring you both home today. If I don’t, he won’t mind coming himself.”

Bai Lu: resigned.jpg

Lu Yiting: resigned.jpg

Father and daughter collapsed onto the sofa in matching postures.

Gu Pianran couldn’t help but laugh and scold. “Yiting, you’ll have to take Xiaolu back sooner or later. She deserves her rightful place. Xiaolu, you have to face your grandparents eventually. You have half an hour to wash up—then we’re leaving.”

Bai Lu pleaded, “Uncle Gu, can we at least wait until after dinner?”

Lu Yiting said, “We just ate lunch. I’m sleepy—I’m going to nap.”

Gu Pianran glanced at his watch. “I have a meeting this afternoon and no time for your antics. Twenty-nine and a half minutes.”

The second rule of survival in the Lu family: memorize it!

Half an hour later, Bai Lu and Lu Yiting climbed into Gu Pianran’s sedan.

Since it was a personal matter, Gu Pianran hadn’t brought his secretary or assistant.

Through the rearview mirror, he looked at the father and daughter in the back seat, amused. “Do you really take me for your family’s chauffeur and nanny?”

Bai Lu clutched her heart. “Uncle Gu, don’t talk to me—I’m preparing myself mentally.”

Lu Yiting closed his eyes. “Be quiet. I’m already in a foul mood.”

Suddenly gaining a daughter—especially one beloved by the whole nation—how was he supposed to explain that to the old man?

The old man would surely ask whose child she was.

How was he supposed to answer that?

He didn’t know himself.

Soon, they arrived at their destination.

But it wasn’t the Lu family’s estate in the outskirts; it was the headquarters of the Lu Corporation.

Gu Pianran handed two paternity test reports to the back seat. “I have another meeting. I won’t go up with you.”

Bai Lu, teary-eyed, grabbed her uncle’s right hand. “Uncle Gu! I’m your one and only precious niece! You can’t just abandon me now!”

Lu Yiting seized Gu Pianran’s left hand. “Gu Third! I saved your life once! You can’t just walk away!”