Chapter 283 - 230: New Year and Age Gifts

Chapter 283: Chapter 230: New Year and Age Gifts

"Thanks for your trouble today."

Gu Heng said to the other man.

"Not at all, not at all. It’s my honor to be of service to Chairman Gu."

Liang Chengyu was somewhat overwhelmed by the attention.

Gu Heng smiled but said no more.

Once the door was shut, his Rolls-Royce Cullinan, flanked by two Hongqi Guoyao escort vehicles, quickly pulled away from Guilin Road and sped toward Baiyue Mansion, where Xu Mo currently lived.

...

DING!

Slightly tipsy from the wine, Xu Mo snuggled against Gu Heng.

They stepped out of the elevator and opened the apartment door with a fingerprint scanner.

After changing into slippers in the foyer, Xu Mo was about to take a step forward when her body suddenly went rigid.

In the spacious and brightly lit living room, 18 exquisitely wrapped gift boxes had appeared at some point. Each was tied with an iridescent ribbon and adorned with a colorful sticker.

Age 1, Age 2, Age 3...

All the way to Age 18.

As Xu Mo stood frozen in place, instinctively covering her mouth, Gu Heng gently hugged her from behind.

"Actually, the Ji Province Entrepreneurs’ Gala was over by nine o’clock."

"The reason I didn’t arrive at Sound Wave until almost ten was because I made a special trip back here to arrange these gifts I’d already prepared."

Gu Heng said softly, "Momo, these are 18 New Year’s gifts I prepared for you. I wasn’t there for the last 18 years of your life, but from now on, I want to spend every single year with you."

Xu Mo stood there in a daze. In truth, her eyes had started to turn red the moment she saw the gifts. Now, after hearing Gu Heng’s words, they were completely brimming with tears.

New Year’s gifts.

For Xu Mo, those words represented a distant and unfamiliar concept.

Every time her mother had tried to prepare a New Year’s gift for her, her father, upon finding out, would either fly into a rage or resort to shouting and violence.

In her father’s eyes, money was better spent on alcohol or going out drinking with his friends than wasted on "pointless" New Year’s gifts.

Over time, Xu Mo had long since learned not to expect any New Year’s gifts.

And yet, she never imagined that Gu Heng would make up for all eighteen years of gifts she’d missed, all at once, today.

That feeling of being pampered and cherished made her heart, which had already completely surrendered to him, fall even more hopelessly in love.

"Heng..."

Xu Mo was so choked with emotion she could hardly speak.

At this moment, she didn’t care in the slightest what was inside the exquisite boxes. Even if they were all empty, she would still have treasured them.

She had never been a materialistic girl. For her, the thought behind Gu Heng’s gesture was more than enough.

"You’re such a little crybaby."

Gu Heng turned Xu Mo to face him. Cupping her face in his hands, he used his thumbs to gently wipe away the teardrops sliding from her eyes. "Today is the first day of the New Year. You should be happy. Now, let’s go open your presents."

Xu Mo pressed her lips together and sniffled, trying her best not to cry.

"Sob..."

"Heng, what am I supposed to do? I can’t stop crying."

Xu Mo tried her best to stop them, but the tears just kept rolling down her cheeks.

Looking at her adorable state, Gu Heng couldn’t help but give a faint, amused smile.

"Come on."

"Let’s open the gifts."

Gu Heng took Xu Mo’s small hand and led her over to the presents.

"We’re opening them now?"

"I almost don’t want to."

Xu Mo said, looking up at him, her eyes blurry with tears.

"Presents are meant to be opened."

Gu Heng coaxed her, "There will be many more opportunities to open presents in the future. There’s no reason to be reluctant."

"Then I want to take a picture."

Xu Mo wiped her tears, pulled her phone from her pocket, and proceeded to snap more than a dozen photos from various angles before reluctantly putting it down.

"Start with Age 1."

Gu Heng picked up the exquisite gift box with the "Age 1" sticker on it and handed it to her.

Xu Mo stared at the New Year’s gift in her hands, her clear eyes sparkling. She simply knelt on the floor and gazed at the seventeen remaining gifts, feeling a sense of fulfillment she had never experienced before.

She unwrapped the gift with painstaking care, trying to remove its contents without damaging the beautiful packaging.

Gu Heng watched her quietly, observing her innocent, childlike excitement. An old internet saying inexplicably came to mind.

’Raising a daughter is like raising a wife.’

’If you don’t spoil her today, Old Wang next door will do it for you tomorrow.’

’Gu Heng found it hard to imagine. A girl like Xu Mo—a hopeless romantic to the core, who grew up severely starved for affection, and on top of that, had a stunningly beautiful face.’

’If she hadn’t met him, but had instead encountered some other man with ulterior motives, the outcome would most likely have been tragic.’

’Gu Heng was a player, yes, but he wasn’t a piece of scum.’

’He was open and honest about his nature as a player, and his conscience was clear.’

’With good girls like Jiang Ruan, Luo Xiwen, and Xu Mo, he might have been absent when it came to companionship, but he never short-changed them when it came to material things.’

As Gu Heng watched Xu Mo, his thoughts swirling, Xu Mo’s own tireless efforts finally paid off. She had unwrapped her New Year’s gift for "Age 1."

It was a Peace Jade Pendant of fine, smooth texture. It had a gentle, watery luster and a rich green color. Under the lights of the living room, it glowed with a pure, deep emerald hue. The carving was exquisitely natural, giving it an appearance of utter elegance and beauty.

"I had to call in a favor to get the raw jade for this Peace Jade Pendant."