Chapter 19 What to do if your parents are in a cold war
I don’t know what happened, but the family atmosphere became frozen overnight.
On Sunday, Gu Yunsu got up and went to the kitchen to find something to eat. Before he even went down the stairs, he could already feel the chilly air. Although it was autumn, when the heating was not on and the harvest was in short supply, it shouldn't be so cold that it would make people shiver, Gu Yunsu thought as he tucked in his arms and legs and went downstairs.
In the living room, Li Jianxiong was leaning on the sofa listening to an opera. The actress in blue clothes was singing in a melodious and gentle voice, as if she was crying and complaining.
Hearing footsteps, he raised his head and greeted her: "Get up."
"Yeah." Gu Yunsu responded, and when he saw the other person's expression, he began to feel uneasy. Li Jianxiong was unhappy.
There are many kinds of people in this world: sensitive, dull, calm, irritable, careful, careless, easily influenced by other people's emotions, and not easily influenced by others...
Unfortunately, Gu Yunsu is one of those highly sensitive people who will become uneasy at the slightest disturbance, and she must eliminate all environmental factors that make her uncomfortable before she can return to normal.
So as soon as she noticed Li Jianxiong's "abnormality", she immediately began to mobilize all her senses to find out the truth, or more precisely, to find out whether the other party's unhappiness had anything to do with herself or her mother.
Considering that the two of them had just done something that would make Li Jianxiong absolutely unhappy if he knew, Gu Yunsu's first reaction was that the truth had been exposed and Li Jianxiong knew about Gu Kangqi's affair.
Unfortunately, she soon learned the truth from Wu Limei, and it was exactly as she thought.
"Alas," Gu Yunsu sighed, "I said you should buy two sets of clothes."
Wu Limei shook her head: "That's not the case."
"What's going on?"
In order to avoid revealing her true intentions, she spent two hours in the mall, waiting for Wu Limei and Gu Kangqi to finish their conversation, and then went home together. How could such a meticulous action not be enough?
Wu Limei said, "I told him myself."
Gu Yunsu: …
Speechless means being speechless and not knowing what to say.
"Really?"
"Otherwise, I'll always feel uncomfortable because I have something on my mind."
"If you want to say it, you should have said it before you go. Saying it now is like killing first and asking for permission later. Does it mean the same thing?"
"Why, do I need his approval before I can go anywhere or meet someone? I have no freedom?"
"I said you have freedom, will it work if you do this? It requires coordination between the two of you. But the problem is, you are not meeting an ordinary person, you are meeting your ex-husband, and a treacherous ex-husband at that. Which current partner would be happy to know this?"
"So I'm being honest, right? I just want things to be clear between us, without any sneaky stuff... Why are you always speaking for him now?"
"Sorry, I'm a reasonable person." Gu Yunsu said self-deprecatingly using a word that Wu Limei didn't understand. Without waiting for her to ask, he got back to the point, "Why don't I go and tell them? Anyway, this matter was caused by me. I'll go and explain. Just say that I dragged you there, and I was the one who suggested lying."
"No need." Wu Limei refused. "If he is really so petty, I won't live with him anymore."
Gu Yunsu thought to herself, "You're pregnant now and you don't want to live with him. Could it be that you've made up your mind to go back to Gu Kangqi?" Of course, she was just thinking about it. This time, she learned her lesson and didn't want to get herself involved in trying to mediate the conflict between the two of them.
In fact, she really wanted to ask what the two of them talked about after she left that day, and whether they did anything out of line. But on the one hand, she always felt that she had nothing to do with the romantic affairs of her elders; on the other hand, she couldn't tell whether she was a little bit insincere, and was afraid to really hear that Wu Limei did something stupid because of love.
Although she was dissatisfied with this reconstituted family, at least the overall trend was good and full of hope. She didn't want Wu Limei to be like herself and destroy the road to happiness.
Li Jianxiong has been unhappy since he learned the truth, but he didn't show any anger. He just held his anger and ignored everyone.
Gu Yunsu tried to use the same old trick to bring the couple together by having a dinner, but failed. She also tried to arouse the people's spirit of unity by carrying out a large-scale cleanup, but failed. She also tried to turn on the TV and gossip about the stars in the TV, hoping that the people would achieve harmony through entertainment, but to no avail.
Tired, after a long time, she found out that the little ugly one was actually her own. Gu Yunsu collapsed on the bed and thought, as an adult in the family, she could be fully responsible for her own behavior. Thinking carefully, it was indeed true. The couple was in a cold war, and what did she have to do with it? She should be like Li Yan, eat when she should, sleep when she should, and hide in the bedroom when she should be indifferent and ruthless. Maybe... it would give the couple a chance to talk openly.
Thinking of this, she suddenly had an epiphany.
That's right! Because of her and Li Yan's face, the two of them must have felt embarrassed even to make loud noises. The trouble of reorganizing the family was revealed again at this time. Family members were like relatives and strangers, not far away, but not close either. They were concerned about their face and were not happy with anything they did.
Of course, Gu Yunsu felt that she would never have a happy time as long as she was with her mother. Since she was a child, she would be taught even if she jumped on the bed twice: "Consider the neighbors downstairs!" She was reminded every moment to "speak softly", "eat quietly", and "walk steadily". She grew up in such a restrained manner. She knew too well how Wu Limei would "torture" the people around her in order to maintain her own values. When she thought of this, she couldn't help but sympathize with Li Jianxiong.
The family atmosphere was really depressing. Gu Yunsu hesitated for a while and was sure that he couldn't write anything good in this environment. After thinking about it, he knocked on Li Yan's door and said, "Want to go out for a walk?"
She had no idea what 18-year-old boys liked to play, so she asked him and got the expected answer: "Whatever."
As they spent more time together, Gu Yunsu began to correct her impression of Li Yan as a "little pervert". It was certain that he had psychological problems, but just as she had guessed, Li Yan's silence was more of a harmless silence. He had his own world, so he didn't care about others, nor did he invite others in.
Later, Gu Yunsu asked him one time, "Why do you look at people so hard?"
Li Yan looked confused: "Do I have it?"
"Of course," she imitated him, "that's how you look at it."
Li Yan shrugged, as if he still didn't believe it: "I don't know, but I have astigmatism and the glasses are not strong enough. This is how I can see clearly."
Ha! So that's how it is.
Gu Yunsu recalled the other person's "ferocious" gaze, which was indeed somewhat similar to the way she put on a pirate eyepatch and frowned hard trying to see more clearly during her annual vision check.
So people's imagination and prejudice can cause serious misunderstandings.
Gu Yunsu took Li Yan to an Internet cafe, where they booked a private room and played chicken.
Li Yan played unexpectedly well. Not only that, he was simply amazing. He played five games and won four times. In the end, even Gu Yunsu felt that winning was meaningless.
Gu Yunsu: "I didn't expect you to be a potential professional athlete."
Li Yan was not interested at all and shrugged, "It's boring."
"This is boring?" Gu Yunsu thought his brother must be well versed in the ways of the mundane world. "Then what do you find interesting?"
"Nothing interesting," he replied.
Gu Yunsu could tell that Li Yan was not having a second-year syndrome and was pretending to be naughty, because before answering her, he even tilted his head and thought seriously for several seconds before giving such an answer.
That was a problem, she thought, because as an adult with her own personal concerns and a deep concern for mental health, she knew how empty life could be without hobbies and goals.
Her maternal love for her elder sister came into play again, and she continued to ask, "Don't you have any hobbies?"
Li Yan thought about it seriously again and nodded: "Yes," he paused, "You have seen it."
What else did Gu Yunsu see? She suddenly recalled the day when she mistakenly opened a door and entered a completely wrong "parallel world".
She waved her hands in disdain: "Alright, alright, let's talk about something that can be shown on TV. Like watching a movie or assembling a model or something?"
Li Yan: "I only watch horror movies, does that count?"
Gu Yunsu: …
Li Yan: "Models..." He looked a little shy and averted his eyes, "I like dolls."
You still feel embarrassed!
Gu Yunsu was speechless. No matter how you look at it, this brother is a pervert! He even likes dolls. He really knows what horror killers like!
She was a little tired, so she changed the topic and asked, "So what do you want to do in the future?"
This time Li Yan answered very straightforwardly: "I don't know."
"I don't know? How do you want to fill out your college application?"
“Human Resource Management.”
"So you want to work in management in the future?"
"It doesn't matter."
“…”
Gu Yunsu’s inner thoughts: I’m so tired, I don’t want to chat anymore.
Gu Yunsu: "Then why did you choose this major?"
"My dad decided it. Or rather, my grandma decided it. Anyway, it's decided."
Gu Yunsu didn't know what to say, because living a life without autonomy was so sucky. She even began to understand Li Yan's silence and giving up - who could not admit that this was a silent resistance?
Gu Yunsu has a problem from the beginning to the end, that is, while trying to be cold and ruthless, he can't let go of too much kindness. People who are indecisive are always ambiguous and lose their ultimate charm, but most importantly, pulling back and forth and constantly entangled will only make oneself particularly tired.
At this moment, she was struggling between these messed up thoughts: "What does it have to do with me?", "He is my brother after all?", and "Everyone has the responsibility to care for autistic teenagers". In the end, her humanity prevailed, and she extended a helping hand and held his arm.
She said something that was not quite relevant to the context: "Take your time, it will be fine."
She didn't want to sound so pretentious and artificial, but these words came from her heart, and she had told them to herself countless times, in those nights when she felt she couldn't go on, in the quilt where she could hide herself.
Li Yan stared at her hands on his body and didn't say anything for several seconds. It was unknown what he was thinking.
Then he raised his head and looked at her with an inexplicable expression, which Gu Yunsu couldn't understand anyway.
Aren't you moved?
Gu Yunsu thought, please don't do such a clichéd drama! Her heart, which was dried by the wind of reality, could not bear this kind of "sister-brother love" segment.
She was so scared that she quickly let go.
But she obviously knew nothing about this brother.
But she didn't have the time to find out.
Because at this moment, her phone dinged and the screen lit up. She swiped the phone, opened WeChat, and her heart immediately started pounding.
The bastard she thought would never appear in her life again, the ex who left her so easily and made her toss and turn for countless nights, once again sent her a warm greeting: "How are you doing recently?"
Good fuck.
How can it appear so light and airy?