Chapter 7: Go Outside Gu Man put away the gift into an end-table by the bed, then handed a cup of water to An Qian. "Thank you so much," An Qian took the water and thanked politely. "Gu Ning, how's your body?" An Qian asked. "Oh, I'm fine now, and ready to leave," Gu Ning replied. "Really?" An Qian was happy for Gu Ning, "Congratulations!" "Thanks," Gu Ning said. After a while, An Qian walked Gu Ning and her mother out of the hospital. Gu Man knew An Qian was working in this hospital, she didn't want to bother An Qian, so she disagreed. But An Qian insisted, so Gu Man accepted her offer. While on the way out, An Qian had already called the taxi for them. Gu Man couldn't thank An Qian enough for what she had done. As for Gu Ning, she was at ease though, but she still thanked An Qian out of politeness. When Gu Ning finally left the hospital, she felt super free and comfortable. After half an hour, the two were home at last. Gu Ning and her mother lived in an old alley at the old district. It was too old and about to be demolished sooner or later. Therefore, Gu Ning and her mother wouldn't stay here for much longer. This house was the property of Gu Ning's grandparents. When her grandpa had passed away 10 years ago, her grandma moved to live with her eldest uncle, Gu Qinxiang. And the house became the home of Gu Ning and her mother. But they needed to pay the rent. Since they were family, Gu Ning and her mother only needed to pay half of the rent. It was an old area in the old district with old amenities, so the rent wasn't high. The house had two floors. Each floor was around 40 square meters. The first floor was living room, kitchen and bathroom, and there were three rooms on the second floor. In the past, when the Gu family had lived together, Gu Ning's grandparents had shared a room, her eldest uncle, Gu Qinxiang, and third uncle, Gu Qinyang, had shared another, while the third room was shared by Gu Qing and Gu Man. It had been extremely crowded. Then, Gu Qinxiang became rich and bought another house. Gu Qinyang had got a cradle-to-grave job with a house allotted by his company. The Gu family had lived a better life afterwards. But this old house had been left with some basic furniture, without any household appliances. Gu Ning was astonished to know that her family was dirt poor. Tang Aining, in her previous incarnation, had never ever lived such a miserable life. Luckily, Gu Ning didn't feel hopeless, but satisfied, because she had the strong deep love from her mother. She wanted to earn money as soon as possible to let Gu Man live an affluent life. The first thing Gu Ning wanted to do after she earned money was to buy a big house, then buy some good clothes and expensive skincare products for Gu Man. She wanted her mother to enjoy her life. Gu Man wasn't an old woman actually. She was only 39 years old. There were a lot she could do for the rest of her life. For 18 years, Gu Man had stayed single. Gu Man was pretty indeed, and had many admirers, but she didn't want Gu Ning to feel uncomfortable, so she never agreed to marry again. Since Gu Ning had grown-up now, probably it is time for Gu Man to chase for her own happiness. So Gu Ning made up her mind to find her mother a good man in the future. As for Gu Ning's biological father, Gu Man never talked about him. Even their relatives had no idea who he was. All Gu Ning knew was that Gu Man got pregnant when she was just 19. Gu Man had been in her second semester as a freshman in her college, then she dropped out of her school and gone home. At that time, the Gu family were all astonished by the fact. It was beyond their imagination that the most docile girl in their family would have done such a bad thing. It was a great humiliation to them. They all agreed to have Gu Man abort the baby. Gu Man was unwilling to abort her child. To keep her baby, Gu Man left her family, and worked outside on her own. It had been a hard time. Gu Man hadn't successfully got any job due to her pregnancy, and Gu Qing had taken care of her. Gu Ning's grandpa had been alive at that time, and he had always loved Gu Man, his youngest daughter, so he had brought Gu Man home at the end. During the time when Gu Ning's grandpa had been alive, Gu Ning had been under the care of her grandpa, while Gu Man had worked hard to earn money. Since Gu Man had lived in her parents' house, her income had always been used by the whole household. Ten years ago, Gu Ning's grandpa had passed away. Her grandma had moved to live with her eldest uncle, Gu Qinxiang. Gu Qinxiang and Gu Qinyang had been unwilling to let Gu Man occupy their parents' house, so they had persuaded their mother to ask for rent. "Ningning, have a rest on the bed first. I'll cook now. And don't forget to change your clothes. I'll do the laundry later." Gu Man said. "Mom, you can cook, and let me do the laundry." Gu Ning felt sorry for Gu Man, who was skinny and always reminded her of her mother from the last lifetime. She wanted to do something for her. "No, you're the patient," Gu Man disagreed. "I'm fine now," Gu Ning argued. "I said no," Gu Man pretended that she was mad. "Fine," Gu Ning gave up. Half an hour later, the meal was ready. Because they lived a poor life, the meal was very simple. They didn't have meat normally, except today, because Gu Ning had just left the hospital. During the dinner, Gu Man kept sending the meat into Gu Ning's bowl, while herself didn't have a piece at all. Gu Ning was moved and about to cry. Actually, Gu Man now needed nutrition more than Gu Ning. "Mom, there's enough meat. Please have some yourself. It's hot today, and we better not leave it to the night. It will be smelly." Gu Ning immediately gave Gu Man several pieces of meat. Gu Man surely knew what was on Gu Ning's mind, but she didn't reject because she didn't want to hurt her daughter. However, she felt sad in her heart. She blamed herself for being unable to provide her daughter a good life. After dinner, Gu Man urged Gu Ning to take a rest in her room. Gu Ning didn't want to lie down, but to hang out on the antique street. She wanted to try her Jade eyes and win some money. Gu Ning took out her savings of 500 yuan and her ID card, "Mom, I want to have a walk, and I'll be back soon." Gu Man was worried, because Gu Ning had just left the hospital, "But, you need a rest now. You just left the hospital." "No worries, mom. I'm fine now. A walk and the sunshine are good for my health as well." Gu Ning replied. "But…" Gu Man was still slightly worried. "Mom, I'm not a little girl anymore. I'll take good care of myself. And, I have my phone with me. You can call me if you're worried," Gu Ning said to comfort her mother.