Gu Tinglin had returned, his calm and resolute face showing no emotion. 

The more he acted like this, the more uneasy Song Yaling felt, but she still got up and forced a smile to greet him, “Old Gu, you’re back.” 

Gu Tinglin glanced around the house and said indifferently, “Hmm.” 

Song Yaling stepped forward and wanted to take the briefcase from his hand. “You rarely come back. What do you want to eat? I’ll cook for you.” 

Gu Tinglin didn’t answer but looked at Chen Yanfei, whose face was injured. “Yanfei, please step aside. I have something to say to your mother.” 

Chen Yanfei, whose face was painful and swollen, was still thinking about how to respond. But when she saw Gu Tinglin’s eyes, she couldn’t even say a word. 

An invisible pressure weighed on her, leaving her helpless. Fear surged through her, causing her to tremble. 

She stood up, returned to her room, and closed the door with a sense of unease. 

Gu Tinglin sat down and said to Song Yaling, “Sit down.” 

Song Yaling inhaled sharply and pretended to be calm. “What’s wrong with you? You still have a stern face after work.” 

Gu Tinglin didn’t say anything but looked at her quietly. 

It was as if he were looking through her to see someone else. 

Someone who used to be lively and passionate, who dared to love and hate, who ignored societal pressures and said she would marry him even if the sky fell. 

Thirty years have changed her face beyond recognition. 

Song Yaling had faced this kind of gaze before. 

She really hates his scrutiny, as if she is an unforgivable villain. 

But what can she do? She can only try her best to save the relationship. When they were in love and had conflicts in the past, she took the initiative to coax him, but it was really easy to coax him at that time, just pulling on his sleeve with teary eyes was enough. 

But now he is like a stone in the pit—smelly and hard! 

Gu Tinglin slowly spoke, “Why did you treat her like this?” 

Even though she was mentally prepared, Song Yaling still shuddered. “Who?” 

But she quickly reacted. “Are you talking about what happened in the mall today? There is a misunderstanding. The other party had friction with Yanfei before and has always been resentful…” 

Gu Tinglin interrupted her, “Jiang Ning is clearly your own child. Why did you treat her like this?” 

Song Yaling’s face froze. “Old Gu, what are you talking about? I only have one daughter, Yanfei. The child I gave birth to in the Chen family was unfortunately killed when the thugs rushed into the house during the Eternal Night. I’ve explained this to you before. Maybe you were too busy to remember.” 

Gu Tinglin opened the briefcase and threw two documents in front of her. 

Song Yaling pretended to be calm and picked them up, but when she saw the contents clearly, her blood immediately rushed back. It turned out to be two paternity test reports. 

One was made during the Eternal Night, and the date was the second day she brought Yanfei into the base. 

The other was from recently, taken the night Jiang Ning arrived, with a hair sample. 

Jiang Ning and Gu Tinglin are 99.999% father and daughter, and Chen Yanfei has no blood relationship with him. 

Song Yaling’s mind was buzzing. The military base can even build submarines; how could it not be able to conduct DNA testing? 

It’s just that it has not been made public. 

Her hands trembled uncontrollably. Song Yaling felt like a joke and stared at him, “Since you know I’ve been lying to you, why have you never exposed it all these years?” 

Why not expose it? Gu Tinglin had considered it but ultimately chose to accept it. 

He had to carry out a confidential mission that year, which lasted more than a year. He came back after a narrow escape. He hurried back to Fengcheng to see her before his injuries were healed, wanting to discuss the matter of getting a marriage certificate. 

She was indeed getting married, but the groom was not him. 

A lot of things happened in the Song family this year, but his job was too special to accompany her through the ups and downs. 

He felt guilty and wanted to make amends. 

But she cried and said, when the Song family went bankrupt, he wasn’t there; when she was pregnant, he wasn’t there; when she miscarried, he still wasn’t there; now she was going to marry another man and hoped he wouldn’t be there either. 

It was only then that Gu Tinglin realized she had been pregnant with his child but had lost it. 

The news was too sudden, and he could not accept it for a while. 

But Song Yaling handed over the B-ultrasound form and the abortion surgery form. 

Gu Tinglin didn’t want to believe it from the bottom of his heart and went to the hospital to check it out but ran into Song Yaling’s fiancé accompanying her for a prenatal check-up. They were sweet and affectionate, and matched perfectly. 

Her choice was right, and he could not give her the happiness she wanted. 

So he chose to let her go and wished her well. 

But he never expected that more than twenty years later, Song Yaling would suddenly call him, saying she was forced into marriage to save the family business and that the child had not been miscarried but had been secretly born. 

After marriage, she confessed to the Chen family, and the Chen family accepted and raised the child. 

Gu Tinglin never married, not because he didn’t meet a suitable partner, but because his profession left him little energy to take care of a family. He didn’t want to delay someone else’s happiness. 

But every time he saw a lively and naughty child, he would think of his own flesh and blood who had no chance to come to this world. 

If he hadn’t been on a mission at that time, perhaps he would have married Song Yaling, and the child would have been born safely. 

He had the opportunity to be a father. 

In the end, he owed Song Yaling and failed her expectations. 

And now there is a chance; he can make up for it appropriately. 

In truth, Gu Tinglin couldn’t distinguish whether it was about making amends or easing his own conscience. 

He always thought of his unborn child and even met him countless times in his dreams. She cried and called for her father… 

The doctor said it was a mental burden and advised not to put too much pressure on himself. 

But this knot in his heart, whether through medication or relaxation techniques, remained unresolved. 

So when Song Yaling came and said that his child was not dead, reason told him that he should not believe it, but thinking of the dream that had entangled him for more than 20 years, what if it was true? 

He had hope, but she really lied, and the child had no blood relationship with her. 

Time has changed everything, and Song Yaling is no longer the same person she was before. 

People have come and gone, and Gu Tinglin has long let go of the ignorant and impulsive love affair when he was young. He did not expose Song Yaling’s deceit just to make up for the debt of the year, but he still felt a little regretful every time he thought of the child. 

However, he never thought that one day he would meet Jiang Ning, whose facial features looked very similar to the young Song Yaling, and they were both from Fengcheng. 

There are indeed similar people in the world, but there are really not many who are so similar that it makes people suspicious. 

Therefore, he arranged a special sparring assessment and got Jiang Ning’s hair as soon as possible. 

“If you don’t want a child, why give birth to it?” After over thirty years of military service, Gu Tinglin’s demeanor was calm and reserved. He questioned coldly, “Why would you rather throw it into an orphanage after giving birth to it instead of letting me raise it?”