Only Natural

The Gu Group held a stake in the hot spring resort hotel, making Gu Ruize one of its owners.

The two families arrived at the hotel in separate cars.

The hotel had only recently opened, but plenty of visitors had already come for its reputation.

Gu Ruize had reserved three rooms in advance, and the two children got to share one.

"Why don't you two take a nap in the room first? We'll come back and take you to the hot springs tonight, all right?" Zhou Jingyi put the children's luggage away, confident that Gu Zhuoling and Shen Xinde could look after themselves.

Gu Zhuoling nodded and took the tablet out of his suitcase.

"Keep your watch on and make sure we can reach you, A-Ling. If you need anything, call the front desk, and take good care of your little brother." Zhou Jingyi was still giving instructions as she left, glancing at Shen Xinde, who was leaning against the floor-to-ceiling window and looking curiously outside.

"Got it."

Beside her, Xia Wanqing smiled and tugged Zhou Jingyi toward the door. After a moment's thought, she called out, "Be good and listen to your big brother, Haohao!"

"Got it!" Shen Xinde couldn't spare her a thought just then. The hotel stood against a mountain, and the surroundings had been carefully landscaped. The scenery was breathtaking.

The room was in an absolutely perfect spot.

"Are you sleepy?" Gu Zhuoling put the tablet on the bed, walked over to Shen Xinde, and crouched down beside him to look at the scenery.

Shen Xinde shook his head. He had slept until noon, so how could he still be sleepy? "Dolly, look, a little squirrel!"

Sure enough, a little black squirrel was quickly scrambling up a tree.

The two of them sat in front of the floor-to-ceiling window and admired the scenery for a while. When Shen Xinde got a little tired, he followed Gu Zhuoling onto the bed to watch cartoons.

"Dolly, go to sleep." After watching cartoons for a while, Shen Xinde suddenly remembered that Gu Zhuoling had gotten up at his usual time that morning and must need a nap.

Gu Zhuoling shook his head. If Shen Xinde wasn't sleeping, he didn't want to sleep either. "I'm not sleepy yet."

Shen Xinde knew Gu Zhuoling kept a very regular daily schedule. How could he not be sleepy? He must have seen that Shen Xinde was awake and wanted to keep him company.

So Shen Xinde reached out and turned off the tablet, pulled up the covers, and quickly lay down.

"But Haohao's sleepy." Shen Xinde blinked his big eyes and tugged coaxingly at Gu Zhuoling's clothes.

Gu Zhuoling knew what Shen Xinde was doing. He obediently lay down and took Shen Xinde's hand under the covers, the corners of his lips lifting slightly. "Then let's sleep."

Shen Xinde had already gotten his fill of sleep that morning, so he woke up less than forty minutes into his nap.

Gu Zhuoling was still asleep when he woke, but his brows were tightly furrowed, as though he were having a nightmare.

Shen Xinde let go of Gu Zhuoling's hand and gently smoothed out the deep crease between his brows.

Shen Xinde didn't get up. He lay beside Gu Zhuoling and played with his fingers.

When Gu Zhuoling slowly woke up, he saw Shen Xinde nestled beside him, playing with his two chubby little hands in the air, pretending they were planes and birds.

Gu Zhuoling poked Shen Xinde's puffed-out cheek, his voice still weary with sleep. "Are you hungry?"

Only then did Shen Xinde realize Gu Zhuoling was awake. He rolled over, his face full of delight. "Dolly's awake! Haohao's not hungry!"

"Why didn't you wake me up?" Gu Zhuoling sat up, and Shen Xinde naturally sat up with him. Gu Zhuoling smoothed down the hair that had stuck up while Shen Xinde slept.

Shen Xinde obediently let Gu Zhuoling tidy him up, then climbed out of bed.

Though Shen Xinde had said he wasn't hungry, after all the playing around and another nap, the two children had only played for a little while before Gu Ruize came in to take them to dinner.

Dinner was a buffet. Shen Xinde couldn't see the dishes, so he asked Xia Wanqing to pick out things he liked for him. He ate until his mouth was greasy, and when Gu Zhuoling saw how round his little belly had become, he hurriedly stopped him.

October had arrived, and the weather was turning cool.

After dinner, Shen Xinde and Gu Zhuoling held hands and took a walk to help their food settle.

"Look how attached those two are." Watching the two little tots ahead of them swing their joined hands back and forth, Xia Wanqing couldn't resist teasing them.

"Isn't that right? Thank goodness for Xinde. Otherwise, A-Ling would be so withdrawn." Zhou Jingyi patted Xia Wanqing's hand and chuckled.

"And Zhuoling is probably the only one who could be so patient with Haohao."

Shen Xinde had always been spoiled by Shen Qiming, who gave him whatever he wanted. Whenever he cried, Shen Qiming would have given him the stars and the moon if he'd asked.

Shen Qiming might have teased Shen Xinde all the time, but whenever Shen Xinde got angry, Shen Qiming was done for.

Shen Xinde was terribly pampered.

It was finally time for the hot springs, but the men's and women's baths were separate.

The two fathers took turns looking after the children, leaving the mothers free to link arms and go enjoy themselves.

Shen Xinde, however, ran into a major problem.

He had to wear nothing but swim trunks in the hot spring!

His body would be practically naked!!

Shen Qiming lifted him up, and Shen Xinde immediately covered his private parts with his hands. His face turned bright red as he shouted, "Put me down, Daddy! Put me down!"

"What are you so shy about?" Shen Qiming couldn't resist teasing him.

Shen Xinde didn't care about any of that. He was a man of virtue, after all. When he saw Gu Zhuoling come out with a bath towel draped around him, he immediately cried for help. "Dolly, save Haohao! Dolly, save Haohao!"

Gu Zhuoling saw Shen Xinde reaching out his soft, fair arms and calling for help, his face bright red. Unable to bear it, he frowned and said, "Uncle Shen."

Shen Qiming stopped teasing his son and carefully lowered him into the water. Then he scooped up a handful of water and splashed it in Shen Xinde's face. "So concerned about your privacy, are you?"

"Hmph, I'm not playing with Daddy anymore." Standing in the children's hot spring, Shen Xinde first felt every pore in his body open up. Then he got a faceful of water. He immediately glared at Shen Qiming and paddled his little legs, moving far away from him.

Gu Zhuoling had also gotten into the hot spring by then. He glanced at Shen Qiming, then turned and followed Shen Xinde.

"So petty." Realizing he might have upset the child, Shen Qiming guiltily rubbed his nose and went back to the adults' bath.

"You brought it on yourself." Gu Ruize had seen it too, of course, and glanced at Shen Qiming nonchalantly.

"My fault, my fault." Shen Qiming laughed heartily. "Speaking of which, I have to thank you for dealing with the Chen family the other day, President Gu."

Not two days after Shen Xinde and Jiang Nan's confrontation with Chen Ming, the lawsuit between Chen Ming's father and his ex-wife had begun. The outcome was deeply satisfying: Chen Ming's father lost, and the assets were divided again, with him having to pay damages and the like.

Of course, that was far from enough for a man like Shen Qiming, who doted on his child. After all, Chen Ming's father hadn't lost everything; he had actually managed to keep some of the money.

How could he let off so easily a bastard who had taken his ex-wife's money to keep a mistress and called his own child an ill-bred little bastard?

But before Shen Qiming could make a move, Gu Ruize had already acted, setting a little trap that swindled the greedy man out of every last cent.

"It was nothing." Gu Ruize picked up the wineglass beside him and clinked it against Shen Qiming's. "I like Xinde very much."

Shen Qiming said nothing, but looked rather pleased with himself. Liking his son was only natural, after all.