Chapter 41

"Mm... so are you about to hang up now?"

Lin Yuewei: "..."

If the situation were reversed, Gu Yanqiu would have reacted completely differently. Lin Yuewei did not want to admit that she was less composed than Gu Yanqiu, but on this point, she really was more restless.

She said nothing.

Gu Yanqiu waited, and she was taking a gamble too, betting on whether Lin Yuewei would cut the call off without hesitation or brush it off lightly and keep talking to her as if nothing had happened.

Gu Yanqiu counted ten Buddhist prayer beads on her wrist. Only then did Lin Yuewei finally speak.

"No. I actually have something to tell you."

Lin Yuewei was not someone who liked being beneath anyone else, especially not Gu Yanqiu. Even in conversation, if she lost even a little ground, she found it hard to bear. She could not explain that mindset with science; all she could do was settle on a more acceptable excuse: she and Gu Yanqiu were just naturally at odds.

Gu Yanqiu replied calmly, "Miss Lin, please go ahead."

Lin Yuewei could hardly bring herself to say anything real. She thought for a moment and said, "I'm leaving for S City today."

Gu Yanqiu knew about that. According to the competition rules, one week after the finalists made their debut, Lin Yuewei and the others were supposed to return to the program group's headquarters and receive their assignments from above. From the day her break started until today, it had been exactly a week.

"What for?" Gu Yanqiu asked, pretending not to know.

"To see who I'm going to sign with." Lin Yuewei was faintly annoyed, and without meaning to, her tone carried a bit of reproach. "Didn't you watch the show? Don't you know how this program's final results are presented?"

"..."

"Sorry." Lin Yuewei apologized very quickly, then found an excuse for herself with practiced ease. "I just realized I left something very important at home. I'm a little anxious, so my tone was off. I didn't mean it. Please forgive me."

Gu Yanqiu swallowed back what she had been about to say and replied, "It's fine."

She pressed her lips together and added, "I only watched a few episodes of the whole show, so there are still some things I don't quite understand. Please forgive me too."

"It's fine," Lin Yuewei said.

The two of them fell silent over the phone, but the atmosphere was different from any of the times before. Both of them could feel a faint, mysterious feeling circling between them.

For no reason at all, Lin Yuewei felt the corners of her mouth lifting. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't press them down.

She coughed softly.

Gu Yanqiu swallowed and asked in that clear, pleasant voice of hers, "I wonder what Miss Lin left behind at home?"

"Nothing much; it was just the rabbit doll I used to hang on my backpack while I was in the competition. I went home before and noticed it had gotten a little dusty, so I washed it, hung it out to dry, and then forgot to bring it with me." Lin Yuewei added, as if clarifying herself, "It was a gift from my fans."

Lin Yuewei's rabbit doll really had been left at home, but that was not something she had thought of earlier while talking to Gu Yanqiu; it was just a makeshift excuse she came up with on the spot.

Gu Yanqiu let out a meaningful "oh."

Lin Yuewei said, "It's actually not that important. It's just the first gift I ever got from a fan, so I remembered it."

Gu Yanqiu paused. "Then I'll bring it to you next time."

Lin Yuewei was startled. "What?"

Gu Yanqiu said, "I'll bring it to you. I'm going to S City on a business trip in two days anyway, so it's on the way."

Lin Yuewei hurriedly said, "No, no need, Miss Gu. You're being too polite." She even reflexively looked around, afraid that Gu Yanqiu would somehow appear beside her out of nowhere. Once she made sure there was no way Gu Yanqiu could materialize at her side, another thought came to her for some inexplicable reason: if Gu Yanqiu really could appear, that wouldn't be bad either...

Gu Yanqiu had no idea what was going on in her head. She was already calculating how to make time during the trip and casually answered, "It's nothing."

Lin Yuewei hadn't meant that, but with Gu Yanqiu taking it that way, it sounded as if she had agreed.

She licked her upper lip, straightened her posture a little, and twirled a lock of hair in front of her chest around her finger. "Miss Gu, there's something I want to ask you to help me keep an eye on."

"What is it?"

Lin Yuewei hesitated.

"Miss Lin, please say it."

"It's like this: my mother hasn't been in a very good mood lately. When I ask her, she doesn't say anything, only that the weather is too hot and she's not energetic. I don't know if that's true or not. I can tell she likes you quite a lot. I might not be able to look after her when I'm away, so if she asks you to come over to my place, could you please talk to her a bit more?"

"Okay."

Lin Yuewei felt that the words carried an inviting meaning, so she added, as if to cover it up, "If you're busy with work, then forget it. I was just mentioning it offhand. I also told Jiang Congbi."

"Mm." Gu Yanqiu's answer was very short and sounded distracted.

Lin Yuewei frowned.

"Miss Lin, please wait a moment. I need to reply to something important."

"Okay, go ahead."

Then Lin Yuewei heard rapid keyboard tapping through the receiver, crisp and staccato. Normally at this point she would have hung up, because she didn't like wasting time waiting around. Besides, she had nothing else to say to Gu Yanqiu.

But she just sat there listening to the sound of the keyboard and didn't find it boring at all.

When the typing stopped, Lin Yuewei asked casually, "Are you very busy with work?"

"Not too bad." Gu Yanqiu's answer was, as always, brief. Just from the sound of her voice, she seemed distant and impossible to approach; Lin Yuewei exhaled and was about to say goodbye when Gu Yanqiu belatedly added, "Actually, I'm not especially busy. It's just that there isn't much else to do at home besides work, so I may as well work. After all, I'm earning money for my own company."

Lin Yuewei asked, "Then what other leisure activities do you usually have?"

Gu Yanqiu thought for a moment. "Horseback riding, archery, and shooting? Does that count?"

"It counts." Lin Yuewei laughed. "Don't tell me you're some kind of time traveler from ancient times? Why are your hobbies so old-fashioned?"

"Equestrian sports are now a professional competitive event. I took part in many competitions abroad. Archery is because I enjoy the thrill of drawing the bow and taking aim; guns are very modern, and firearms only really matured in the modern era." Gu Yanqiu gave her a serious explanation. "How is that old-fashioned?"

It was the first time Lin Yuewei had heard her speak at such length, and she couldn't help being a little surprised. So this person could chat too.

"I was just joking. Don't be angry."

"I was joking too. I'm not angry." Gu Yanqiu's brows and eyes softened; she even showed a rare hint of playfulness.

"I can only make sure I won't fall off a horse. There's no way I could run fast, let alone manage any technique. Is archery hard to learn? People aren't allowed to play with guns in China, right?"

"None of them are difficult. In China there are air guns, and there are dedicated clubs and lounges."

"I'm pretty interested."

"If you have time, I..." Gu Yanqiu looked at the message window in front of her, frowned in thought, and sent a reply to a business partner. The other side answered even faster, almost outrageously. Gu Yanqiu's thoughts were quick; the two of them went back and forth in a flurry of messages.

Lin Yuewei waited and waited, but her sentence never came. She wanted to urge her on, but felt too embarrassed to do so, so she could only wait quietly.

"Did you just say something?" Gu Yanqiu, after finishing the message, had already forgotten what she had been about to say.

"I didn't say anything." Lin Yuewei said sulkily.

Gu Yanqiu was puzzled by the sudden anger.

Lin Yuewei said, "My mom's calling me. I'm hanging up now."

Gu Yanqiu replied, "Okay."

"See you next time." Lin Yuewei hung up without the slightest delay.

What exactly had she just been hoping for? Lin Yuewei covered her face with both hands and leaned back in the chair.

Gu Yanqiu, puzzled yet oddly satisfied, set her phone aside. No matter what, she had talked with Lin Yuewei for much longer today, and the other side had not been sarcastic or hostile to her. That was already a huge step forward.

Gu Yanqiu was in no hurry about this at all. She had always been patient.

Her ears felt uncomfortable after wearing the earbud for too long, so Gu Yanqiu took it off and put it beside her phone. Once she got absorbed in work, she would forget the time; by the time she remembered to stop and eat, it was already two in the afternoon.

Gu Yanqiu checked the time and decided to wait two more hours. At four, she would make lunch and dinner into one meal. Even the most disciplined person sometimes wanted to sneak in a little laziness; cooking was such a hassle, after all. The fewer times she had to do it, the better.

Gu Yanqiu wandered around the house, opening the refrigerator here, a drawer there, and dug out a bag of soft candies and a bag of biscuits. She sat down in front of the sofa and cast Lin Yuewei's edited videos onto the TV screen, using that beauty as her meal accompaniment.

After staring at the beauty on the television for too long, Gu Yanqiu couldn't help imagining the real Lin Yuewei, and when she suddenly came back to her senses, she quickly moved her prayer beads.

...Amitabha.

Gu Yanqiu had made a good plan, but plans never kept up with changes. She ended up not eating dinner at home; her father, Gu Huai, called her back to the Gu residence.

Gu Yanqiu looked at the half-chopped scallions on the cutting board, lifted the plain noodles out of the pot and into a noodle bowl beside it, covered them exactly as they were, washed her hands, and drove out.

"Dad." When Gu Yanqiu entered, He Songjun and Gu Feiquan were not in the living room. Standing in the entryway and bending down to change her shoes, Gu Yanqiu asked, "Why did you call me back so urgently?"

Gu Huai said, "Old Jiao specially sent over some crawfish from his own farm. I told the maid to make crawfish for dinner. You like it, don't you? So I called you over."

Old Jiao had been the Gu family's driver in the past. Gu Yanqiu called him Uncle Jiao. He had worked for Gu Huai for many years; from as far back as Gu Yanqiu could remember, he had always been the family's driver. When Gu Yanqiu was in her second year of middle school, Old Jiao had been in an accident and lost the use of one leg, so he could no longer drive for Gu Huai. Later, Gu Huai gave him a sum of money, and Old Jiao resigned and went home to start a crawfish farm. He threw himself into the work vigorously, and every harvest season he would pick out the biggest, fattest ones to send over, without missing a year.

It was crawfish season again. Gu Yanqiu had been abroad for several years; if Gu Huai hadn't mentioned it, she really would have forgotten.

Gu Yanqiu said, "I haven't seen Uncle Jiao in a long time."

Gu Huai said, "He's busy right now. If he has time in a while, he might come back to Yanning."

Gu Yanqiu said, "If we invite Uncle Jiao to dinner then, remember to call me."

Gu Huai said, "Okay. He misses you too. He even mentioned you when he called me yesterday."

Gu Yanqiu smiled. "Has Uncle Jiao's daughter already started university? Where did she get in?"

"One of the 985 universities in the provincial capital; it's ranked pretty high nationwide."

"That's not bad."

"Old Jiao is planning to send her abroad for two years after she graduates."

"How old is she now?"

"Nineteen. She just started her second year this year."

Father and daughter chatted casually. Although the topic was not especially close, their relationship had improved without either of them noticing. But then Gu Yanqiu remembered another suspicion: her father remembered how old his former driver's daughter was and where she studied; he definitely was not a cold or heartless person. That overlapped with the Gu Huai she remembered. Over the past half year, this Gu Huai seemed to have become an entirely different person, but in truth that was obviously not the case. He still remembered old acquaintances; he would occasionally show her a father's tenderness.

Uncle Jiao... Right. A flash of inspiration struck Gu Yanqiu all at once. Uncle Jiao had followed her father for so long, and he had been a driver for the Gu family; would he know anything about her mother? Once that thought arose, Gu Yanqiu could hardly suppress it. She immediately wanted to go find Uncle Jiao, and only by digging her nails into her palm did she barely keep her expression as calm as ever.

"He was telling me last time that..." But before Gu Huai could finish, he noticed the change in her expression and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Gu Yanqiu smiled faintly. "Dad, do you have Uncle Jiao's phone number?"

Gu Huai's expression changed subtly for a moment as well. "What do you need his number for?"

Gu Yanqiu answered composedly, "Yuewei likes crawfish too. I was planning to order a batch from Uncle Jiao and have them sent to our home, and if her in-laws like them too, I could send some over there as well."

In her heart she said apologetically, Sorry, Miss Lin; borrowing your name for a moment.

Gu Huai nodded. "I see. That's only right. Bring me your phone."

Gu Yanqiu's phone was closer to Gu Huai; she could reach it with a stretch. Gu Huai took her phone and found Old Jiao's number in the contacts, then handed it back to Gu Yanqiu. "There it is. Save it."

Gu Yanqiu saved the number by comparing the digits. Her mind was a tangled mess: why had her father been so straightforward? Had he simply not thought that she would ask about Uncle Jiao? Or did Uncle Jiao actually know nothing? Or was he confident and unconcerned?

The latter two possibilities were not what she wanted to see.

Gu Yanqiu returned the phone. Gu Huai casually tossed it aside again and said, "How are you getting along with your in-laws? Are they making things difficult for you?"

"No. I see her father less because of work, but I see her mother more. She's a very good person. I even went to the Lin house for dinner last week." As Gu Yanqiu spoke, she felt a little awkward yet also somewhat novel. Being asked about married life by her father would probably, for ordinary people, be something shy and happy.

She quietly lowered her lashes. It would have been nice if her mother were still alive; she hadn't even been able to see her married off before she died.

Gu Huai said, "I know. You even stayed at the Lin house for a night."

Gu Yanqiu: "!!!"

Gu Huai looked a little amused. "I saw it on your mother-in-law's Moments. She posted about the Lin family's daughter helping you find a toothbrush, and your mother-in-law even asked everyone what electric toothbrushes are good."

Gu Yanqiu only had Lin Mom's phone number, not her WeChat. She had no idea about this whole operation of Lin Yuewei's and stared blankly at her father.

The first thing that flashed through her mind was actually what Lin Yuewei would think when she saw that post; whether she'd fly into a rage on the spot and argue with her mother at length. That did fit her personality.

Gu Huai smiled with relief. "Originally, I was worried that you married the Lin family's daughter for some other reason. But now it seems you're doing well, and that's enough."

A faint glimmer seemed to pass through Gu Huai's eyes. Your mother would also be happy for you if she were watching from heaven.

When Gu Yanqiu looked again, Gu Huai had already returned to his usual expression. He stood up and walked ahead. "Come with me to the study; I have something important to tell you."

***

Gu Feiquan was a very busy man; seven days a week, he spent all seven working. That afternoon, He Songjun really couldn't stand it anymore, so she hauled him out to keep her company shopping. Gu Feiquan did not like shopping, but he was a dutiful son. Since his mother had opened her mouth, he naturally couldn't refuse. Like most men, he followed behind carrying bags and packages, swiping his card and paying. When He Songjun asked which one looked better, he would just say oh, mm, anything is fine, and then immediately say buy them all. He Songjun cursed him for being a spendthrift, and Gu Feiquan rolled his eyes at the sky.

Mother and son shopped from noon until the sun slanted westward. Gu Feiquan drove the car in through the front gate and saw that there was an extra vehicle in the parking space at home; a white Maserati sat quietly at the edge.

Gu Feiquan narrowed his eyes. Before he could say anything, his mother, He Songjun, was already looking grim. "Why has that little bitch come running back here again?"

Gu Feiquan frowned. He did not like Gu Yanqiu, but that did not mean he could accept such a way of addressing her. He Songjun had been resentful over the years and had vented all her anger on Gu Yanqiu and her mother. Her mother was already dead; the only one left alive was Gu Yanqiu.

Gu Feiquan said, "Watch your language. Careful that Gu Huai hears you."

He Songjun was afraid of Gu Huai. As soon as she heard that, she immediately pressed her lips together tightly, as if Gu Huai might suddenly leap out from a building dozens of meters away. Seeing her like that, Gu Feiquan felt both pitiful and ridiculous, and at the same time he desperately suppressed a trace of disgust in his heart.

Even if that person was his biological mother.

Gu Feiquan got out of the car, carrying both the backseat load and all the shopping bags in his hands. "Mom, close the car door."

He Songjun had already moved several steps away. Earrings, necklaces, clothes, and bags; everything she wore was branded, very much the image of a rich wife. She raised her hand in a delicate, aloof gesture and said, "I'm not going. Can't you close it yourself?"

Gu Feiquan glanced at her and bumped the door shut with his elbow. The force was hard to judge; it made a loud bang. He Songjun immediately reprimanded him again. "What if you break the door? How much money are you trying to waste? Do you think you're Gu Yanqiu or something? Look at her car, then look at yours. Isn't that shabby?"

Gu Feiquan had held in his anger all the way home, and now it suddenly exploded. "What's wrong with being shabby? At least I bought it with money I earned myself! Other people have a good father and a good mother; I don't!"

He Songjun pointed at him. "You!"

Gu Feiquan said, "I don't compare myself to others because I know exactly what I'm worth. Do you? And let me tell you, I once met Gu Yanqiu's mother. You're nowhere near her. Put on a dragon robe and you still don't look like a prince; can you stop being so vain?"

"Vain?" He Songjun was choked speechless by him. Beating her chest in frustration, she cried, "I'm doing all this for who—"

"For yourself."

Gu Feiquan coldly tossed out that line and strode toward the door.

"Stop right there!"

He didn't pause for even a second.

He Songjun swept her gaze left and right at the servants peeking this way. "What are you looking at? Get back to work!" Then she stamped her foot and chased after him. "Gu Feiquan, are you trying to rebel?"

By the time they reached the door, He Songjun fell silent and continued putting on the act of a loving mother and dutiful son with Gu Feiquan. Gu Feiquan was in a foul mood and didn't bother playing along; he went up the stairs in long strides.

Gu Huai saw it and asked, "What's wrong with him?"

He Songjun smiled. "Nothing. He just wasn't happy accompanying me shopping."

Gu Huai paused, as if enduring something, then said, "If he doesn't want to go next time, you can let me accompany you instead, as long as I'm free."

He Songjun froze.

Gu Yanqiu at the side also froze, looking at Gu Huai in disbelief. She clenched the fists hanging at her sides and left the living room.

After a while, He Songjun asked carefully, "Are you serious?"

Gu Huai asked her back, "When have I ever said anything that wasn't serious?"

"Then what about thirty years ago? What did you promise me?" Tears welled in He Songjun's eyes.

"Everything is my fault." Gu Huai took a tissue and wiped her tears, looking at her as he said, "But the children are innocent. I don't want Feiquan to become a tool in your hands; he's a good child."

Gu Huai said, "I'll make it up to you."

He Songjun let the man's fingers brush the corners of her eyes, and with grief in her heart she thought: Too late. How am I supposed to count all these years you owe me?

***

Gu Yanqiu went up to the rooftop terrace on the third floor and ran straight into Gu Feiquan's eyes.

The two of them averted their gazes at the same time, each taking a corner; the well water did not offend the river water.

Two cigarette butts lay at Gu Feiquan's feet; he was still smoking nonstop, his eyes looking far into the distance, his gaze deep and unreadable. Gu Yanqiu sat on a small folding stool that had been moved to the corner of the wall, lost in thought.

Gu Feiquan stamped out one cigarette and turned to look at the young woman, who was calm to the point of seeming almost nonexistent. A strange feeling rose in his heart: this person was his half-sister.

Before Gu Feiquan knew his own background, he had imagined having a younger sister. A fair little face, soft hair, someone who would cling to his legs and act spoiled, calling out, "Brother, hug me; Brother, carry me; Brother, buy me this." He would have given her everything.

When he was a little older and more sensible, his mother told him that he had originally had a father, but there was a vicious woman who stole his father away and even gave birth to a daughter with him. He Songjun had specially taken him to the entrance of a private school, where students in British-style uniforms were coming and going; those uniforms looked far better than the mass-produced school clothes of ordinary schools. Gu Yanqiu herself was very beautiful and could be spotted at a glance in a crowd. Back then, Gu Yanqiu was already beginning to look cold and aloof, surrounded by a group of similarly privileged young people.

He Songjun forced him to stare at her, again and again whispering in his ear, "See that? That person is the daughter of that bad woman. Look at the school behind her, look at the clothes she's wearing, look at her friends; all of that should have been yours."

A luxury car stopped at the school gate. A tall, handsome young man got out. Gu Yanqiu, then in middle school, looked at him and broke into a bright smile. The man fed her a candy and led her into the car with a face full of indulgence.

"That's your father; his name is Gu Huai. He's yours too; he belongs only to you."

"They stole everything that belonged to you! You have to remember that!"

All these years later, Gu Feiquan still remembered what He Songjun looked like then. Her eyeballs bulged, her features nearly twisted beyond recognition; she was terrifying, repeating the words over and over beside Gu Feiquan's ear as if laying down a curse.

"I don't want a father like that! I don't have a father!" Gu Feiquan shouted, shook off He Songjun's grip, and ran off without looking back.

He Songjun chased after him, relentless.

In middle school, under He Songjun's day-after-day brainwashing, Gu Feiquan developed a huge sense of imbalance. He had even secretly followed Gu Yanqiu and Mrs. Gu, trying to find an opening to strike at them, but he had never once truly made up his mind.

As the years passed, Gu Feiquan went to university, had his own ideals and career, and gradually stopped caring about it. Only He Songjun, all these years, had remained stubbornly persistent, going on and on whenever she found the chance. And after the former Mrs. Gu died, she had actually, as she wished, married into the Gu family.

Even Gu Feiquan found that unbelievable.

If you asked Gu Feiquan whether he hated Gu Yanqiu, the answer was yes; over the years, He Songjun's brainwashing had seeped in little by little, and it was not something that could easily be removed. But to say he hated her to some extreme degree, not quite.

In middle school and university, Gu Feiquan had seen Mrs. Gu from a distance several times. She was the most wonderful person he had ever seen, absolutely incapable of stealing someone else's husband. How much of what He Songjun said was true and how much was false, Gu Feiquan could no longer tell. Even so, the grievances of their elders had nothing to do with Gu Yanqiu.

Gu Feiquan thought of the wish he had had as a child and couldn't help but study Gu Yanqiu's features. He looked like Gu Huai; Gu Yanqiu looked more like her mother, but Gu Feiquan discovered that the two of them shared some resemblance in their eyebrows and lips.

A trace of delight surfaced in Gu Feiquan's heart, only to be quickly suppressed by conflict.

"Hey."

Gu Yanqiu's ear twitched; she looked left and right before realizing Gu Feiquan was calling her. Her reply was even shorter than his; she only slightly raised her brows to indicate a question.

"What year did your dad and your mom get married?"

"..."

Gu Yanqiu did not answer, so Gu Feiquan went on by himself. "If my facts are correct, it was twenty-eight years ago, right? You were born in the third year after they got married."

"What are you trying to say?" Gu Yanqiu's throat was a little rough, and her voice sounded much lower than usual.

"Do you know that I'm already twenty-eight this year?"

Gu Yanqiu stared at him.

"Don't look at me like that." Gu Feiquan sneered. "They were already married by the time I was born."

Gu Yanqiu was expressionless.

"Have you never wondered how your mother married Gu Huai? Did she even know that I already existed in this world? My mother said that she and Gu Huai were in love, and that your mother stole Gu Huai away from her, making him abandon his family and child." Gu Feiquan pronounced the last four words almost one by one.

"Get lost." Gu Yanqiu raised the candy wrapper in her hand and flung it straight into his face.

Gu Feiquan closed his eyes for a moment, then looked at her provocatively. "Then how do you explain him eagerly welcoming my mother and me into the house now? Isn't it because he feels guilty?"

"Shut up." Gu Yanqiu clenched her fists and narrowed her eyes coldly at him.

"Stop deceiving yourself, Gu Yanqiu. Do you think your mother was some kind of saint?"

"I told you to shut up!" Gu Yanqiu finally rose from the small stool, flexed her fingers, and punched him in the face.

Gu Feiquan was hit so hard that his head turned to the side. Blood welled at the corner of his mouth. He licked it away and shrugged carelessly. "I don't hit women; if you need to vent, then vent away."

With a mocking curl of his lips, Gu Feiquan said, "But you should ask that father of yours what on earth he did to feel so guilty."

Gu Yanqiu slammed the door shut and left.

Gu Feiquan watched her retreating figure; the mockery in his eyes slowly softened.

Go ask. I also want to know what the truth from back then really was.

Author's note:

It's a small sweet story, I swear; it's really sweet. If it's not sweet, you don't have to pay ╰(*°▽°*)╯

There's already emotional progress; everyone can talk nicely now

Gu Yanqiu: I'm going to travel a thousand miles to send myself over—no, to send the rabbit over. How can a betrothal gift not come with me?!

TL Note:

"985 universities" refers to a group of elite universities in China. I'd be similar to saying a "T20 university" in the US.