"Brother, I love Jiang Lin."
Jiang Lin was highly recognized by the hospital for his outstanding performance, professional ability and dedication in this disaster relief.
Taking into account his high-intensity work in recent days and the shock he suffered, the hospital specially approved the early termination of his follow-up arrangements for supporting the countryside and gave him three days of leave to allow him to adjust and rest.
Gu Yansheng stayed in the emergency room for one night. His vital signs were stable, his high fever subsided, and the rash had mostly disappeared. After the doctor examined him the next morning, he agreed to be discharged from the hospital and go home to rest.
When going through the discharge procedures, Gu Ting said to Gu Yansheng with a serious face, "Come home with me. Everything has been arranged with my parents. We can rest assured that someone will take care of you."
Gu Yansheng refused without even thinking, "Brother, no need. I'll just go back to my place. It's quiet and I'll get better quickly." He subconsciously didn't want to leave the space he shared with Jiang Lin. There was their aura there, which would make him feel at ease faster.
Gu Ting's brows immediately furrowed, and his voice rose a little. "Your side? Can you take care of yourself in your current state? Go back! Mom and Dad are waiting at home!"
"I'm an adult, brother! I can take care of myself!" Gu Yansheng was also a little unhappy, his voice was weak but very persistent.
Seeing that the atmosphere between the two brothers was getting tense again, Zhou Yuan quickly stepped forward to smooth things over. She pulled Gu Ting's arm, her tone persuasive, but her eyes glanced meaningfully at Jiang Lin who was silently sorting things beside her. "Okay, Gu Ting, Yansheng is already an adult. He knows what he needs and what kind of environment to rest. Don't always treat him like a child."
Gu Yansheng looked at his sister-in-law with gratitude, but Zhou Yuan looked at Jiang Lin meaningfully. Jiang Lin paused slightly, receiving Zhou Yuan's understanding yet somewhat helpless look, and understood that this thoughtful sister-in-law had probably heard from Gu Ting about his relationship with Yansheng.
After hearing what his wife said, Gu Ting looked at his brother's stubborn face, snorted heavily, and turned his face away, which was considered as tacit consent, but his whole body exuded the aura of "I am dissatisfied".
Seeing his brother's expression, Gu Yansheng breathed a sigh of relief. He said to Gu Ting in a gentle tone, "Brother, I'm really fine. The doctor also said that I just need to rest. I will go home during the day to eat and let my parents see me, okay?"
Gu Ting didn't say anything, but he didn't object anymore and tacitly agreed to this compromise plan.
After completing the formalities, the group walked to the hospital entrance. Gu Ting's car was parked on the side of the road, but he didn't get in immediately. Instead, he turned around and stopped Jiang Lin who was about to say goodbye.
Gu Ting lowered his voice, speaking in a volume that only the two of them could hear, and looked at Jiang Lin with complicated eyes, "You...don't go back to the Gu family yet." These words carried an unquestionable command, but also a hint of anger that had not yet completely subsided and an awkwardness that needed time to digest.
Jiang Lin looked up at him, his face expressionless. He neither argued nor nodded. He just moved his jaw imperceptibly in silence, tacitly agreeing to this temporary "ban."
He understood that Gu Ting needed time and space to accept it.
Gu Yansheng stood a few steps away, watching the brief and stagnant conversation between his brother and Jiang Lin. He vaguely understood something in his heart, and a sour and helpless emotion surged in his heart.
But he asked nothing, said nothing, just lowered his eyelashes.
When I returned to the Gu family, I found it was indeed a chaotic place.
Mother Gu's eyes were red as she pulled Gu Yansheng up and down, blaming him non-stop, "You kid! How could you be so troublesome! You knew your own health condition, yet you still went to that kind of place! What kind of hero are you trying to be? You scared your mother to death!"
Gu's father was relatively calm. He patted his son's shoulder and spoke with a rational and comforting tone, "Although the process was dangerous, the result may not be a bad thing. Moreover, this is originally a physical stress caused by psychological problems. The fact that you took the initiative to step into that environment this time is a huge breakthrough in itself. However, you must never disregard your own safety like this again in the future!"
Gu Yansheng laughed and comforted his mother, "Mom, I'm fine. Look, I'm full of life." His main focus was to comfort her.
But most of his attention was actually quietly focused on the mobile phone in his hand. The screen would light up from time to time, indicating messages from Jiang Lin.
Arrived home?
How do you feel? Are you still feeling bad?
【Auntie...did she say anything about you?】
Gu Yansheng's fingers tapped quickly on the screen, and a smile unconsciously appeared on the corners of his mouth.
[We're here. It's okay. Mom just grumbled a few words.]
I miss you. (Nodding silently)
After finally making it to dinner, Gu Yansheng made an excuse that he was not in good spirits and asked to go back to his own place to rest.
Although Mother Gu was reluctant to let her son go, she also knew that he needed to rest and had already prepared something. She took out a heavy, multi-layered food box and stuffed it into Gu Yansheng's hand. "Here's the soup and a few of your favorite dishes. Just heat them up when you get home."
She paused, then added in a perfectly natural tone, "This is enough for two. If Jiang Lin is home and hasn't eaten yet, ask him to join you. This time... it's all thanks to him for taking care of you."
Mother Gu's words were flawless, as if it were just the usual concern of an elder for her own child.
Gu Yansheng's heart skipped a beat. He took the food box, his fingertips feeling hot. He murmured, "Okay, I see. Thank you, Mom."
He held the warm lunch box and looked at the message Jiang Lin had just sent on his phone, "Waiting for you to come back." He felt that the discomfort caused by the rash that had not yet completely subsided on his body became insignificant.
Gu Yansheng suggested taking a taxi back, but his mother immediately objected, "Why take a taxi? Ask your brother to take you! You've just gotten better, how can I feel at ease if you go back alone!" Her tone was firm and unquestionable.
Gu Yansheng looked at his mother, then glanced at Gu Ting, who was looking sullen beside him. He was silent for a few seconds and nodded. "...Okay."
He did have something to say and needed to talk to his brother alone.
The air pressure inside the car was very low, with only the sound of the engine running smoothly. Neither of the brothers spoke first, and the air seemed to be frozen.
Finally, it was Gu Yansheng who broke the suffocating silence. He looked ahead, his voice soft, like a stone dropped into a calm lake, "Brother... do you know? What happened between Jiang Lin and me."
Gu Ting tightened his grip on the steering wheel and uttered a single word, "Yes."
Then there was another long silence.
Gu Yansheng frowned. He knew his brother's temper. This kind of silence often meant suppressed anger and extreme disagreement. He took a deep breath and spoke faster, with an urgency to explain and take responsibility for everything.
"Brother, don't blame Jiang Lin. It was me... I was the one who got attached to him first. I was the one who dragged him into this." He tilted his head and looked at Gu Ting's tense profile. His voice was filled with desperate honesty. "The fact that I like boys... Actually, I had a vague feeling about it when I was in high school. I was very scared and confused at that time. It was Jiang Lin who comforted me and told me that it was nothing... It was also me... I couldn't control myself and liked him later. I turned him gay! Blame me if you want to blame someone. It has nothing to do with him!"
He took all the responsibility on himself, fearing that his brother would have a deeper grudge against Jiang Lin. Thinking of the faint redness and fatigue on Jiang Lin's face when he came to the bedside last night, combined with his brother's attitude at the time, he was almost certain that there had been a conflict between the two, and Jiang Lin probably bore his brother's anger in order to protect him.
Gu Yansheng's series of words to excuse Jiang Lin were like gasoline poured on Gu Ting's already irritable heart. He suddenly turned the steering wheel and temporarily parked the car on the side of the road. He turned his head and looked at his brother with sharp eyes and a hint of pain.
"Okay, even if that's what you said." Gu Ting's voice was filled with suppressed emotion. "Then if I ask you to break up with him now, be like a 'normal' man, and find a girl to marry and have children in the future, what will you choose?"
He deliberately emphasized the word "normal," his eyes locked on Gu Yansheng, "How are you going to explain this to your parents? Will they be able to accept it?"
The word "normal" pierced Gu Yansheng's ears like a needle, and the weight of his parents' mountain instantly pressed down on his heart.
His face suddenly turned pale, his lips were pressed into a pale straight line, and his fingers curled up unconsciously. He could not care about the outside world's eyes, but his parents... that was a hurdle he could never easily overcome.
Seeing his brother's face turn pale in an instant and the sadness and struggle flashing in his eyes, Gu Ting did not feel relieved, but became even more irritated and depressed.
He pounded the steering wheel hard, uttered a curse in a low voice, and restarted the car with a stiff tone.
"...Let's go, I'll take you back."
No more words were spoken along the way.
The car drove smoothly into the residential complex where Gu Yansheng lived and stopped downstairs of the apartment building. Gu Yansheng silently unbuckled his seat belt and pushed open the car door.
The moment he was about to close the car door and leave, he paused, bent down, and looked through the car window at his brother who was still looking gloomy in the driver's seat.
The light from the night and the street lamps fell on his face, reflecting an unusual calmness and determination.
He looked into Gu Ting's eyes and said clearly, word by word:
"Brother, I love Jiang Lin."
After saying this, without waiting for Gu Ting's reaction, he gently closed the car door, turned around, and walked into the apartment building with a somewhat unsteady but extremely determined step.
Gu Ting sat in the car, watching his brother's disappearing back, the words "I love Jiang Lin" still seemed to echo in his ears.
He scratched his hair in annoyance, and finally all his emotions turned into a long sigh full of helplessness, worry and a hint of imperceptible compromise. He started the car, turned around and merged into the traffic in the night.
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