109: He kept calling his mother in his dream
Xu Yao and Gu Jun were standing aside. The young man turned his head and looked at them. His eyes seemed to be out of focus, with sunken eye sockets and bloodshot eyes.
He seemed to be looking at Xu Yao and the other person, or perhaps he just turned his head unconsciously, and soon his attention returned to his canvas.
Xu Yao just thought that the young man looked a bit like Gu Jun from the side, but when he turned his head, Xu Yao was stunned.
Not only the side profile, but even the eyebrows and eyes are very similar to Gu Jun!
Gu Jun obviously also discovered this.
Gu Jun originally wanted to ask if the other person was the painter Jason, but suddenly he didn't want to ask anymore.
Gu Jun took Xu Yao's hand and said, "It's getting dark. It's not safe for us to stay outside for too long. Let's go back to the hotel."
"But--"
Xu Yao wanted to say something but stopped herself, Gu Jun remained silent. Xu Yao could only look back repeatedly until she could no longer see the young man who was painting.
That night, Xu Yao's mind was filled with the young man she saw on the beach and the Black Sea she had seen at Jason's exhibition. The two images switched in her mind. Lying in bed, she suddenly couldn't help but ask Gu Jun:
"Do you think the person we met at the port would be Jason?"
Gu Jun didn't answer, and Xu Yao thought he was asleep.
Gu Jun on the other bed was breathing steadily, but his eyes were actually open.
Gu Jun stared at the dark ceiling, thinking about the young man he had met at the harbor. As he thought, the dark ceiling seemed to transform into the black sea in Jason's painting, and the young man he had met at the harbor became the fish struggling to breathe... That night, Gu Jun had nightmares again and again. His dreams were filled with arguments and blood, thick blood covering the entire room, its color changing from bright red to dark red, and then slowly turning black. In his dreams, Gu Jun himself became the small fish, and no matter how hard he struggled, he couldn't wake from the nightmare.
"Gu Jun, Gu Jun!"
It seemed like someone was calling him.
It was a female voice he was familiar with.
A pair of hands were gently shaking him. Gu Jun used all his strength to open his eyes and saw Xu Yao sitting beside his bed.
"You had a nightmare?"
"……No."
Xu Yao saw through Gu Jun's stubbornness. She placed her hand on his forehead and wiped it. "You're covered in sweat. I even heard you talking in your sleep. It took me a while to wake you up. Gu Jun, we need to talk. You didn't seem quite right after seeing Jason's exhibition yesterday. Did it remind you of something unpleasant? Jason's paintings are really powerful. I was shocked and a little uncomfortable at the same time."
Xu Yao didn't sleep well last night, but she was optimistic by nature and had strong self-regulation ability. After waking up from a good night's sleep, Jason's paintings no longer had much impact on her.
Judging from Gu Jun's appearance, he was obviously greatly affected.
Gu Jun's personality is rather awkward, and Xu Yao is quite worried about him.
Seeing that Gu Jun was silent, Xu Yao was a little angry. "What did we agree on before? We should communicate as husband and wife. You don't tell me anything about your worries and just take me out to eat and drink. Is this considered communication between husband and wife?"
Gu Jun rubbed his brows. A night of nightmares made him feel exhausted even though he was awake.
"What did I talk in my sleep?"
He asked Xu Yao, and Xu Yao hesitated for a moment: "You have been calling mom."
Xu Yao and Gu Jun's flash marriage had been going on for so long. She had told him everything about the Xu family's bankruptcy and her own romantic history, but he never mentioned anything about his family. When Gu Haishan was buried, Xu Yao saw Gu Jun's deceased grandmother and father in the cemetery. There was no tombstone for Gu Jun's mother, and Xu Yao had even felt relieved for Gu Jun—without a tombstone, Gu Jun's mother must still be alive. Gu Jun never mentioned his mother, so perhaps his parents divorced early?
No matter what, if Gu Jun's mother is still alive, Gu Jun has relatives in this world.
Xu Yao respected Gu Jun's privacy and wanted to wait for Gu Jun to tell her about the past.
If there hadn't been the incident at the port yesterday, and if Gu Jun hadn't had the nightmare of calling "Mom", Xu Yao still wouldn't have pressed the issue, and she could still have waited patiently.
But Xu Yao couldn't wait now because Gu Jun's condition was obviously not right.
Traveling is not a good time to find out about Gu Jun's past, but there is no other way. Some things have to happen, and it is no use avoiding them all the time.
Xu Yao spoke the truth, but Gu Jun seemed disgusted: "Impossible!"
Xu Yao smiled without saying anything, and directly opened the recording software on her phone and clicked play.
Gu Jun's own voice could be clearly heard in the room, and it was indeed calling "Mom". Gu Jun couldn't deny it and his face turned black.
Xu Yao put down her phone and said, "I'm going to the restaurant to have breakfast. You can take your time. You can think about whether to tell me or not while I'm eating."
Gu Jun sat up from the bed and said, "I'll wash my face and go to the restaurant with you. Don't look at me like that. I'll tell you after dinner."
After they finished breakfast and returned to the room, Xu Yao poured a cup of tea for Gu Jun.
Gu Jun sat on the sofa, his handsome face full of indifference. He told Xu Yao that he had not seen his mother for more than 20 years.
"I was three years old that year, and I often heard them arguing in the middle of the night. After one fight, my mom disappeared. She took some clothes and left home with her suitcase before dawn. A neighbor who was exercising early asked her where she was going, and she said the school had sent her on a business trip. She never came back. For six months, my dad looked everywhere for her, but he couldn't find her. One night, six months later, my dad went out again. He locked me in the house and told me not to run around. He came back drunk in the middle of the night and said he had found my mom, but she didn't want to come back. She called my dad a loser and said we were a burden to her... That was the last time my dad spoke to me. That night, he used the utility knife my mom had left behind to slit his own carotid artery."
Gu Jun looked up at Xu Yao and said, "My father was a math teacher when he was alive, and my mother was an art teacher. If she hadn't run away from home, and he hadn't committed suicide, I wouldn't have to be a poor student."
Xu Yao couldn't utter a word, as if a thousand-pound stone was pressing on her chest.
She thought it was a simple divorce between her parents, but she didn't expect that there would be a murder involved.
Xu Yao held Gu Jun's hand tightly.
The room was warm, but Gu Jun's hands were cold.
Xu Yao half-knelt in front of him, took his hand and put it on her face, letting Gu Jun feel her warmth. She asked softly, "Did she never come back?"
Gu Jun had a sarcastic smile on his face. "Does she dare to come back? I have a good memory. I can't forget what they said when they quarreled in the middle of the night. My dad said she was pregnant with someone else's child and she left home with a big belly."
Gu Jun originally lived in the school’s staff housing building. After his father committed suicide, he was taken in by his grandfather Gu Haishan to live in the Gu family’s old house.
Gu Haishan had never taught him to hate his mother for running away from home, but it was Gu Jun himself who found it difficult to let go.
Just as he told Xu Yao, he originally had a complete family and didn't have to be a poor student. It was his mother's behavior that ruined everything!
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