Even though Gu Qiwu got bail, he could not leave City Z immediately. In the time that came, he stayed at the Gu family mansion, and only managed Hui Gu remotely.

It was great that the higher management of the company handled things well, so the crisis this time around was still manageable in terms of how it affected Hui Gu.

After Doris’s incident, things seemed to have slowly quieted down. The entire city soon returned to its usual calm.

With the days that passed, the New Year grew closer. There was a lot of work closer to the end of the year. Mu Yuchen and Xi Xiaye both started work early and ended late, what more Su Chen and the rest. For quite a while, apart from the occasional phone call, they did not have time to meet up.

The weather grew colder and colder. After the huge snowfall in the north when a cold wave quietly struck City Z, Elder Mu and Mu Yinan went to meet Gu Qiwu at Bamboo Teahouse while he was sick.

Gu Qiwu was not as cold as he usually was before Mu Yinan. Only his quiet, apologetic behavior remained. At least, when he faced Mu Yinan, he could not help but hold himself back.

Mu Yinan was a man who had gone through many hardships. Right now, sitting before Gu Qiwu, he was calm. His peaceful eyes did not shift much, but when he looked at Gu Qiwu, the latter felt pressured in ways he did not understand.

Gu Qiwu did not even know how to begin. From what he remembered, he probably had not sat like this with Mu Yinan for decades now.

After a while, Mu Yinan suddenly frowned. He wiped his mouth with a napkin and coughed for a long while until there was sweat on his forehead.

When Gu Qiwu saw that, he quickly poured him a cup of tea. “Uncle Mu, please have some tea.”

Mu Yinan took a deep breath and held back the discomfort in his throat as he looked at the cup of tea that Gu Qiwu handed him. He fell silent for a long while before reaching out to accept it and taking a brief sip.

“Do you know why I’ve come to see you?” You could hear the age in Mu Yinan’s lowered voice. Gu Qiwu also saw that his hand seemed to be trembling slightly as he held the teacup.

The old man did not seem very energetic, and there was a sickly pallor on his face.

Gu Qiwu nodded silently. Had it been in the past, he might have been a little more unyielding before Mu Yinan, but right now, he understood that he owed them too much. “I owe the Mu family a lot, whether it’s Zixi or Lingshi and the rest…”

“If their grandmother was still around, I might not have been willing to meet you,” Mu Yinan said in a lowered voice.

“I’m sorry, I…” Gu Qiwu wanted to apologize when he knew that these words were the most useless thing in the world.

“There’s no point harping on these things anymore. You don’t need to say more. I didn’t come to see you today to hound you on taking responsibility. I’ve been thinking a lot in recent days. Back then, the Gu family was interested in being connected to the Mu family by marriage, but when I considered the Mus and the Gus’ relationship that gradually grew colder, and the fact that I didn’t want my daughter to be sacrificed for a family clan’s benefit, I let her decide on her own marriage and respected her choices. I didn’t recommend her to marry into the Gu family, and I didn’t want to let a scheming person like you be the son-in-law of the Mu family.”

At this point, Mu Yinan could not help but sigh deeply while his aged eyes held an indescribable sense of blame for himself. “Back then, Zixi was already reacting oddly. I thought it was because she didn’t want to make things difficult for me, so she was against it, but I didn’t expect that…”

“It was I who went after Zixi first, Uncle Mu…”

“There’s no need to say that. Zixi was wrong in this too, and so were we, but the bigger fault lies with you. As a man, not only did you not take on the duty of protecting your woman, but as a father, you didn’t take on the duty of raising your children too. You have failed terribly. This proves that my judgment was right back then. Gu Qiwu, you’re an irresponsible person. My daughter would’ve done better marrying a pig or dog than an animal like you.”

Even though Mu Yinan spoke these angry words, his tone was very calm. He had no more energy to go after these things anymore because…

“Ah Shi has told me about her considerations and thoughts. I’m old now, so I’m afraid I don’t have many years left…” Mu Yinan sighed.

“No, Uncle, you’ll live long!” Gu Qiwu did not know why, but despite being quite indifferent initially, he suddenly felt his heart clog up upon hearing Mu Yinan say that. He seemed afraid of the idea of death.

“I know my own body. After their grandmother passed away, I’ve grown weary and death will probably come in the next few years. It is because I’ve gone through too many struggles and misery that I don’t want to see my children suffer through such long misfortunes. I’ve let go. As long as the children are happy, as a man in my final years, I’m content.”

“Uncle, I—”

“It’s alright. Let me finish.”

Mu Yinan breathed in, had a sip of tea, and continued again, “I understand Ah Shi’s thoughts very well. She’s afraid that she will burden Ah Chen and the rest. The fact that you came to this means that you must have thought it through as well. From a long-term perspective, this might not be a bad idea. Leaving this place, being miles away, and returning to your turf, you can protect them well. On one hand, you could also avoid any unnecessary conflict. It is indeed a solution with the best of both worlds.”

“Uncle, are you agreeing to it?”

When Gu Qiwu heard that, he looked at Gu Qiwu in disbelief. He thought that Mu Yinan would be incredibly difficult, or at least reprimand him a little, but…

“What did you think that? Will reprimanding you and making you pay some price calm this anger? I, Mu Yinan, will not do such a thing, but don’t feel like you’ve gotten away. I’m willing to let you go for the children. I don’t want anything on my end to cause them any burden. I already can’t do much for them, and I don’t want to hold them back further. I will hold back all of these unhappy grudges, and even if I can’t let them go in the end, I’ll let them leave with me,” Mu Yinan said, yet he did not know that Gu Qiwu felt sad and guilty as he listened.