Chapter 404  : Guilty

“I’m not an ignorant child, who would try to keep you to myself. And it’s not like I would get mad at you for not spending enough time with me after you have your own family.” Tan Mo took a deep breath. “I’m well aware that after marriage, most of your time will be spent with your family because you’ll have your wife and children.”

“Not to mention, you’re so occupied with work as it is. Being able to take time out to spend it with your family is already a challenge in itself. You wouldn’t be able to look after me like you did before. I expect as much, so I can fully understand the position you’ll be in.”

“In fact, I’ve prepared myself for it. After you get married, we’ll probably only meet once a year during New Year and holidays. Since your work is demanding, you might even need to work overtime during weekends. Naturally, you would want to spend those rare off days with your family, so I won’t be ignorant and insist on visiting you. I’ll just drop by once in a while to visit my future auntie and your children, which will be more than enough. I promise I won’t intrude often.”

“If I visited frequently, I might disrupt your family bonding time, which wouldn’t be nice,” Tan Mo continued, “so I would never ruin your dates just because I’m afraid that you’d stop caring for me.”

“You cared for me all these years, which is why I would want you to find happiness too. You starting a family is an amazing journey. Hence, I would be the first to support you in your decision.” Tan Mo said reluctantly, “I’ve tried putting myself in your shoes and thought this out a long time ago.”

“But I never expected you to keep this from me for fear that I might ruin things for you. Every time I asked, you’d say you were busy working overtime. But the truth was you were out on blind dates this whole time.”

“I’m not mad at you, Uncle.” After Tan Mo said it, she felt surprised.

She clearly said she was not angry, so why was her heart beating so frantically?

She felt out of breath and uncomfortable.

“You understand me so well.” Hearing how Tan Mo was being so considerate of him, he could not help but feel a weight in his heart.

Tan Mo felt depressed and lost at the same time as she tried to understand the frantic pounding of her heavy heart.

As soon she heard Wei Zhiqian’s reply, she pushed the rollercoaster of emotions to the back of her head. “So you really did keep it a secret from me because you didn’t trust me!”

Wei Zhiqian was taken aback.

Where did that come from?

The two of them were talking about the same thing and surprisingly seemed to even agree with each other. As it turned out, they both meant completely different things.

“It’s not that I don’t trust you.” Wei Zhiqian did not know where to begin.

He was just genuinely afraid of facing Tan Mo and was just avoiding her.

He had no idea what came over him when Tan Mo had asked what he was busy with. He suddenly felt too afraid to tell her the truth.

It wasn’t that he was worried Tan Mo might stir things up. He just felt guilty.

“I never thought that way about you,” Wei Zhiqian explained helplessly.

“Then, why couldn’t you just be honest with me?” Tan Mo asked indignantly.

“Is that why you were so angry? Did you think I was worried you might cause a scene?” Wei Zhiqian asked.

Tan Mo nodded sadly.

Looking at the little lady, Wei Zhiqian did not know what to do.

“I know you’re a generous and kind-hearted girl. Whoever treats you well, you treat them twice as good, constantly thinking on their behalf. Back then, you took care of me when I was hurt. You burned yourself out and ended up with a fever. Why would you ever cause me any trouble just because you knew that I was dating?”

“I just… I just couldn’t face you,” Wei Zhiqian explained while concealing part of the truth.

Tan Mo turned to him with a wondering expression. “Couldn’t face me?”

Seeing how obedient she looked, Wei Zhiqian could not fight it any longer. He pulled Tan Mo into his arms and placed her on his lap.

It was just like how he did when Tan Mo was a kid.

Back then, Tan Mo was so tiny when she sat on his lap…

Two chubby short legs, swaying in the air. She was a jolly girl who could smite the hearts of everyone in the room.

Even though Tan Mo’s two feet still could not touch the ground now…

It was because her legs were wedged apart—one leg in the driver’s seat, and the other on the passenger side—certainly not because her legs were still short.

Those chubby legs were now long and slender.

Wei Zhiqian did not dare to look further.

As he was holding her, his mind began to wander. His heart raced.

He could barely keep his mind in check. He was willing to fight his urges if it meant he could hold her a little longer.

Wei Zhiqian sighed silently.

He thought if he had stayed away from Tan Mo, everything would have been fine.

But alas…

Not only did it not help at all, but he also made the little lady angry.

When they finally met again, his feelings for Tan Mo seemed to have intensified.

Wei Zhiqian’s held her waist with the hands of a gentleman, not indulging in his desires.

He could not take advantage of her, especially when the little lady had no clue what he felt about her.

Pulling her into his arms was already crossing the line.

“Uncle, what did you mean by you could not face me?” Tan Mo asked.

As a friendly girl, she would talk while looking into the other person’s eyes.

However, other people always found it hard to look into her sparkling bright eyes.

It was as if her crystal-clear gaze left them nowhere to hide.

This time, Tan Mo was the one too nervous to lift her head.

All Wei Zhiqian could see was the top of Tan Mo’s forehead. The rest was covered by her long, thick hair.

Tan Mo was blessed with a beautiful bone structure. The back of her head was perfectly round, giving her hair a voluminous bounce.

On top of that, the crown of her head was covered with thick, dark hair. It made her pretty face even more stunning.

Tan Mo lowered her head. She too was feeling guilty and could not bear to see Wei Zhiqian’s face.

Each time she looked at him, her gaze would land on his lips. She would instantly recall the incident that had just happened.

However, at Tan Mo’s eye level, all she could see was Wei Zhiqian’s Adam’s apple.

The bulge on his neck somehow seemed oddly seductive to her.

How did she not notice this before?

As she gazed on, Wei Zhiqian’s Adam’s apple suddenly moved. The veins on his neck were faintly visible.

Tan Mo lifted her fingers, fighting the urge to run her fingers down his neck.

If this was in the past, she would have touched him without hesitation.

She now had a guilty conscience.

With a guilty conscience, her thoughts went rampant as did her worries.

It was an action she never once worried about in the past. Now, she overthought things and even worried about misleading Wei Zhiqian.

Watching Wei Zhiqian’s throat move, she unconsciously gulped.

At that moment, she heard Wei Zhiqian say, “I know you would never act unreasonably or ever get in my way of dating. I just felt unworthy of being your uncle that I spent my time going on dates rather than spending it with you.”

Wei Zhiqian glanced down at her. The part where he felt unworthy was genuine.