Chapter 283 Learning About the Past
"Can I talk to you?" Gu Shixi asked, a question that required a great deal of determination.
Jiang Ruan: "Okay."
The two went to the rest room inside the ward.
After glancing at Huo Zhizhou lying on the hospital bed, Gu Shixi looked away and said, "Before we begin our formal conversation, I apologize for the bad things I said behind your back yesterday. I'm sorry."
Jiang Ruan didn't care about any of that and didn't respond to that sentence.
“I called you here to see him not so that you could get back together with him, nor so that you could reconcile.” Gu Shixi had calmed down and was much more composed at this moment. “I just want you to help him resolve his inner conflict. If this continues, he really will die.”
Jiang Ruanxin believed this.
Huo Zhizhou appears to be a gentleman, gentle yet powerful.
But he can be quite crazy when he's struggling with himself, as evidenced by the time he stabbed himself with a knife.
“If possible, I would like to ask you to stay here for two days and have a heart-to-heart talk with him after he wakes up.” Gu Shixi said sincerely, “If you are unwilling, I will not force you. As you said, you are already divorced.”
"You go first," Jiang Ruan said, but did not agree.
Gu Shixi paused before speaking, and finally opened his mouth with a heart full of complex emotions: "What I want to tell you is his past."
He wouldn't have told Jiang Ruan these things unless absolutely necessary. Five years ago, Huo Er had instructed him not to talk about the past in front of Jiang Ruan, but now he couldn't continue to hide it.
If she didn't say anything, Jiang Ruan might just take a look and leave.
If she tells him, she might stay and wait for Huo Er.
Jiang Ruan paused for a moment, then said, "Okay."
"It all started when he was a child..." Gu Shixi began, his voice heavy, his thoughts drifting into the distance.
Huo Zhizhou's birth was a joyous occasion for the entire Huo family.
Mom and Dad were overjoyed, and Grandpa doted on them.
He was the darling of his family until he was two and a half years old, but his life changed dramatically after that.
He was forced by his family to learn all sorts of things. At an age when he couldn't even write his own name properly, he was filled with all kinds of extracurricular classes. If he was even a little lazy or playful, he would be scolded by his parents and even his grandfather.
They don't even have time for normal rest or play.
He met and became friends with Gu Shixi, Si Ning, and Shan Mu'an in an extracurricular class. After getting to know them, his repressed life was able to relax a little.
Since then, he has calmly dealt with all the pressure at home.
When I was five or six years old.
There are some minor disputes between the families.
His parents ordered him to break off all contact with Shan Mu'an and promised him that they would never see each other again. Huo Zhizhou refused, for which he was scolded by his father and threatened to commit suicide by his mother.
They thought he was disobedient and rebellious.
Forced to the limit, Huo Zhizhou compromised and became taciturn, no longer speaking to them when they encountered them at school.
Even so, Shan Mu'an still regarded him as his best friend. When he didn't like to talk, he would tease him. When he didn't like to laugh, Shan Mu'an would try all sorts of ways to make him laugh.
"Huo Er was very depressed during that time." Gu Shixi still remembers the events clearly. "His parents sent people to monitor him 24 hours a day. As long as he showed even the slightest possibility of getting along with us, he would be scolded when he went back."
"Not only that, my aunt would threaten him with her own life and ask him if he wanted to force her to her death."
“My uncle would say, ‘Look how angry you’ve made your mother. Can’t you be a little more sensible?’”
A quiet, reserved little boy appeared in Jiang Ruan's mind: "Is there a lot of friction within the family?"
"Not much." Gu Shixi knew some things herself, and some things she heard from her elders. "It's just that Mu Ge's father got the cooperation, and Huo Er's father got nothing in the end."
This was a common situation at the time.
Huo Cheng is too much of a sore loser.
“Since then, Uncle Huo has harbored hostility towards the Shan family.” Gu Shixi said softly, “At first, it was very obvious, but as Huo Er grew a little older, he saw his own value and temperament, and began to hide his hostility. In the end, he found an opportunity to kill Mu Ge and his entire family.”
That happened when Huo Zhizhou was sixteen years old.
Huo Cheng harbored resentment over what happened back then. He appeared to have let it go, but in reality, he remembered everything.
Huo Zhizhou knew they had a problem with the Shan family, but he assumed it was because Huo Cheng was upset about losing to Shan Mu'an's father. He tried to mediate and get Huo Cheng to let it go.
Huo Cheng outwardly agreed, promising that he would let it go as long as he did two things.
"What two things?" Jiang Ruan asked.
"First, he completed the difficult projects entrusted to him with outstanding performance, proving that he was capable of managing the Huo Group in the future." Gu Shixi remembered the events clearly. "Second, he went abroad to study and participate in competitions, winning an international gold medal."
Jiang Ruan paused.
Winning an international gold medal wasn't particularly difficult for Huo Zhizhou, who was quick-witted.
But to complete a difficult project with excellence at the age of sixteen is quite a challenge.
"Huo Er agreed, and he did a great job on the project. His uncle and aunt were very happy," Gu Shixi said. "When they sent him abroad to study, they told him that as long as he could win the gold medal and come back, he would completely let go of his dissatisfaction with the Shan family and become an old man supported by his son."
"But Huo Cheng made a move against the Shan family while he was abroad," Jiang Ruan guessed, based on what Si Ning had said earlier.
Gu Shixi: "Yes."
Jiang Ruan remained silent.
"When the Shan family had their accident, Huo Er was taking a closed-door exam for half a month. During that time, he was not allowed to use communication tools, and no one was allowed to come in to disturb him." Gu Shixi can still remember the emotions he felt at that time.
Jiang Ruan asked, "Was this something Huo Cheng planned all along?"
Gu Shixi: "He didn't admit it, but we all think so."
Gu Shixi: "We thought that after Uncle Shan and the others had their accident, Mu Ge would definitely avenge his parents' deaths, given his personality. But we didn't expect that he would jump off the top floor in less than a week. Bystanders said that he didn't hesitate for a second when he jumped."
Jiang Ruan recalled the photos Huo Sinian had shown her and the words Si Ning had said.
Huo Zhizhou personally collected the body and held the funeral.
“Jiang Ruan, I know that Huo Er’s past has nothing to do with you, but as his friend, I would like to ask you to help him.” Gu Shixi said, word by word, “His life has been too bitter.”
Jiang Ruan fell silent.
Gu Shixi added, "Once his psychological problems are resolved, you can treat him however you want. Even if you have to take a knife and stab him, I'll be the one to hand you the knife."
"Did you know that he fell into the river when he was a child?" Jiang Ruan did not answer his question directly, but asked a different question that she wanted to know.
“I don’t know. He’s been afraid of water since he was little and doesn’t go near deep water.” Gu Shixi shook his head, then added, “If you’re talking about this, it’s highly likely that his parents threw him in.”
Jiang Ruan's eyes widened in shock.
She frowned almost imperceptibly as she said the word: "Throw?"
Gu Shixi explained, "When Huo Er was a child, his parents often threw him into deep swimming pools, rivers, and shallow beaches because he was afraid of water and couldn't swim. But the more they did that, the more afraid Huo Er became. Even now, he doesn't go near deep water."
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