"What are you angry about? Because of me? It's not worth it. Now go—don't linger in my courtyard. Return to your lavish mansion; my humble abode cannot accommodate a colossal Buddha like you."
Long Yubei seized her arm firmly. "You've erred, and not only do you refuse to admit it, you've even run away from home?"
"What wrong have I committed?" she retorted stubbornly. "I don't believe I'm at fault—I am blameless!"
His dark eyes gleamed sharply as a frown crept upon his brow. "For the foreseeable future, even years ahead, I have no intention of having children."
"Since you won't bear the child, do you expect me to carry it for ten months?" she snapped.
"This isn't about me giving birth," he stressed. "If I don't wish for it, yet you persist, I find it unbearable."
"You have your plans," Gu Lili lowered her gaze. "In any case, it's not that you dislike children or don't want them—you just don't want to have them with me."
"I simply don't want children. It's not about not wanting them with you."
She didn't believe him. "Let's drop this subject—I have no desire to revisit it. I understand your position now. I won't mention children again. But when it comes to your grandparents, you must explain things yourself. Don't let them think I'm incapable of bearing a child."
"I will."
"Then go back. I shall remain here for a while." She turned abruptly, slamming the door behind her.
Long Yubei departed.
Standing on the rooftop, Gu Lili watched his car's silhouette vanish swiftly into the night, her eyes deep with melancholy.
Lying back on her bed, she realized she had regarded him as kin, but he may not have felt the same.
She would rely on no one; her strength was solely her own.
Drawing the soft quilt over her face, she concealed herself from the world.
Days slipped by as Gu Lili remained in residence.
During this time, Tang Qingli visited once to deliver some documents.
She handed the materials to Su Changzhi. Seeing him homeless, Gu Lili invited him to stay at her home.
After all, with so many rooms, one more friend meant company and conversation—why not?
It was merely a matter of adding one bed and setting another pair of chopsticks at the table.
"What do you envision for your future?" Gu Lili inquired while rinsing rice.
"Of course I have thought about it, but I care little for fame or fortune. I simply yearn for a tranquil, enduring life of warmth—living alongside the one I love, and then having a child. That would be fulfillment."
Gu Lili smiled at him, touched by the simplicity of his dream.
"We are kindred spirits." She poured the rice into the cooker, closed the lid, wiped her hands, and sat down. "What type of woman do you like? I could help you register on one of those matchmaking websites. There are many online now."
He waved his hand with a gentle laugh. "No, I want to be with the woman I love, not just pick anyone to settle for."
"Did you have a beloved in your past life?"
"Yes. She is a woman whose name fills me with both joy and sorrow." Su Changzhi drifted into memory. "I have been searching for her reincarnation, but as you know, one forgets all from past lives after death and rebirth. Finding her again is no easy task. What I call love stems from her—I wish to find her reincarnation and begin anew, not simply marry and have children with any woman. That is not what I desire."
"How can you possibly find her?" Gu Lili mused. "In this vast sea of humanity, it's like searching for a needle in an ocean."