Chapter 42: Confessing One’s Identity
Lan Mo hurriedly rode her bicycle to the small Western-style house early in the morning after finishing breakfast.
Taking advantage of the fact that Gu Yan’an hadn’t arrived yet, she swiftly stored away the valuable furniture and began cleaning room by room.
After tidying up the furniture and completing the cleaning, two hours had passed in the blink of an eye. Lan Mo quickly rushed to the storage room and returned the prepared medicinal herbs and cotton to the cellar.
She then placed a thousand coal briquettes in the kitchen and three thousand catties of coal in the yard. After that, she retrieved a used small tricycle from her space.
As she was thinking about whether she had missed anything, the main door was knocked loudly, leaving her no choice but to answer it.
“Comrade Gu Yan’an, why have you come so early?”
“It’s already eleven o’clock now. Your grandfather told me you came here early in the morning. What have you been busy with here?”
“Tidying up the house!”
“Momo, whose house is this? It’s so big!”
Lan Mo was considering whether to tell Gu Yan’an about her biological father. If she told him she was an adopted daughter of the Lan family, would he back off?
“Comrade Gu Yan’an, I want to seriously tell you something now. After hearing it, you can decide whether you still want to be in a relationship with me.”
Gu Yan’an felt uneasy inside. What could it be that Momo was speaking so seriously about? Could it be that she had been in a relationship before? Was this house left to her by her ex?
“Momo, go ahead and say it! No matter what happened to you before, those things are in the past. Since you’ve agreed to be my partner, you can’t go back on your word.”
“Comrade Gu Yan’an, actually, this Western-style house was left to me by my biological father.”
Since she had decided to be in a relationship, she couldn’t hide the truth about her origins forever.
“Your biological father?”
Could it be that Auntie Su had Momo with someone else? Wouldn’t that mean Uncle Lan was wearing a green hat?
“Comrade Gu Yan’an, don’t jump to conclusions. My dad is actually my uncle, and my mom is actually my aunt. The aunt who remarried and moved to Jingshi is my biological mother.
My brother and I are twins. After my biological mother and father separated, my grandparents took my father and brother to Gangcheng.”
Poor Momo, she was abandoned by her biological parents. No wonder she was previously against marrying into Jingshi—it turned out her biological mother, who had abandoned her, had married into Jingshi.
Gu Yan’an suddenly pulled Lan Mo into his arms, holding her gently and patting her back.
“Momo, don’t be sad. You still have me! I will stay by your side forever, never leaving you. Whether it’s your biological father or mother, since they abandoned you, don’t think about them anymore.”
She wasn’t sad at all. The original owner had barely seen Lan Ziwan a few times, let alone her.
Lan Mo pushed Gu Yan’an away and said, “You’ve misunderstood. My biological father didn’t abandon me. Back then, he wanted to take me with him.
The child my mom gave birth to that year died, and my dad, afraid she would be heartbroken, brought me back to raise.
This house was left to me by my biological father, and there are many valuable medicinal herbs in the cellar too.”
Gu Yan’an carefully observed Lan Mo, trying to see if she was truly not sad at all.
“Momo, if you’re hurting, just say it. Don’t hold it in alone.”
“Comrade Gu Yan’an, I only found out the truth about my origins recently.
Since it’s already happened, I can’t spend every day drowning in sorrow, can I?
I was only a hundred days old when my parents took me in to raise me. I will carry the Lan surname for the rest of my life.”
Gu Yan’an immediately declared, “No matter what your surname is, you are my partner.”
Lan Mo slowly raised her head, gazing calmly at Gu Yan’an, and said, “Comrade Gu Yan’an, perhaps your parents will look down on me for being an adopted daughter of the Lan family. You should think it over carefully—it’s not too late to change your mind now.”
Without a second thought, Gu Yan’an pulled Lan Mo into his embrace, leaned down, and kissed her tender, alluring lips.
Lan Mo was stunned. In her previous life, she had been single for twenty-eight years—not only had she never kissed anyone, she hadn’t even held hands with a male comrade. Now, having arrived in the 1960s for less than two months, how had she already lost her first kiss?
She slowly opened her eyes and looked at the handsome face pressed against hers. Boom! It felt as though a firework had exploded in her heart.
Thump… thump… Why was her heart beating so fast? Oh no, would she react this way if just any man kissed her?
No, if he were as ugly as a pig, she would definitely feel nauseated.
Just as Lan Mo was about to struggle and push Gu Yan’an away, he finally realized what he had done. His handsome face flushed with two suspicious patches of red.
“Momo, I’m sorry! I couldn’t help myself just now. I just wanted you to know that in this lifetime, it has to be you.”
Lan Mo quickly took a step back. That scoundrel! Are all men born this shameless?
Before this, they hadn’t even held hands, and now he was kissing and embracing her all at once. What a huge leap—the speed was almost like riding a rocket.
“Alright, I understand! Let me make this clear to you today: if you ever regret this in the future, we’ll break up. Once we break up, I won’t look back.”
No matter the circumstances, even if she had already fallen in love with him, once they broke up, she would never turn back. Being indecisive wasn’t her style, and she didn’t have the time to waste on him.
“Momo, I will never regret it. Even if my family opposes us, I’ll stand firm.”
“Let me say this first: if your parents object, I’m not prepared to put up with that kind of treatment. Otherwise, after marrying you, there would be endless arguments and worries. Jingshi is so far away, and I’d be all alone with no support.”
“That won’t happen. My father has always respected my opinions. Momo, you’re so beautiful and well-behaved—my mother would adore you if she saw you.
They won’t mistreat you, and you won’t be alone—you’ll have me. If you’re worried about not getting along with your mother-in-law, we can move in with Grandfather after we get married. He’s all alone in that siheyuan, and it’s really pitiful.”
After all, their family only had three bedrooms: one for his parents, one for his younger sister, and the last one occupied by Yanbei.
He and Yannan had both been in the military before, rarely returning home even once a year. Now, his father had set up a bed in the living room, so when he went back, he slept in the living room with Yannan.
Since his demobilization, he had spent most of his time keeping Grandfather company. Grandfather’s siheyuan covered about five hundred square meters, with over twenty rooms of various kinds.
Now, Grandfather lived there alone. After Grandmother passed away, he relied on the driver to bring him meals every day—it was truly pitiful.
His second and third uncles had wanted to move their entire families in, but Grandfather refused, saying he was saving the house for him to get married.
As the eldest grandson of the Gu family, even if Grandfather didn’t leave the house to him, he would still take care of Grandfather in his old age.
“Your family has a siheyuan?”
“Do you like siheyuan, Momo? Our family lives in a compound, and my grandfather has a siheyuan, which was awarded to him by the authorities. Grandfather said he would transfer the siheyuan to my name once I get married.
I haven’t reported to my new unit yet, and it’s unlikely they’ll allocate housing to me in the next year or two. The house in our compound is also quite cramped, so why don’t we move in with Grandfather?”
Lan Mo looked at Gu Yan’an with a faint, teasing smile. “Comrade Gu Yan’an, we’re just dating now. Why are you already talking about life after marriage?”
“Alright, let’s not talk about that anymore. Momo, what did you want to see me for?”
“Come on, I’ll show you something good!”
Better not move those things out just yet. She would wait until her father arrived and then ask Gu Yan’an to bring the medicinal herbs and cotton out from the cellar, so her father wouldn’t suspect her.