Separation
Zhou Lexing returned about half a month later. Considering the time spent traveling, he had done his best to get back.
His gains were considerable, most notably his improved understanding of the world and the restoration of his bulging wallet.
This is indeed a booming opportunity where even a pig can take off.
Zhou Lexing sighed inwardly, but Zhou Yuanxiang and Zhou Shusheng were not interested in this. Instead, they carefully examined him before asking Zhou Lixing about his recent situation.
"Mom, I'm standing right here." Zhou Lexing was speechless. "Why didn't you ask me?"
Zhou Yuanxiang rolled her eyes without any politeness: "Why should I ask you? Do you want to hear you brag?"
Unfortunately, Zhou Lixing also only had a vague understanding of his situation, but with Zhou Lexing's simple description and his eloquence, the story was told in a clear and logical manner without any omissions.
Zhou Yuanxiang fell silent.
She had thought that her third son might spend lavishly, make friends with a bunch of hooligans, or even fall in love and have some other romantic feelings, but she never expected that her third son would actually go out and make his way in the world.
Fortunately, the subtle silence was drowned out by the sounds of Zhou Shusheng excitedly unwrapping his gifts.
"biscuit!"
Zhou Shusheng pointed at the words on the iron box and shouted excitedly, his cheeks flushed. The black dog beside him became excited as well, nudging the iron box with its wet nose, as if it wanted to help Zhou Shusheng open the lid.
Zhou Lexing looked at the big black dog's shiny fur and reached out to stroke it a couple of times. The black dog then turned its head to lick his palm, and then turned back to excitedly help Zhou Shusheng hold the lid of the box up, going back and forth several times, busy as a bee.
"Mom, where's Jian Sheng?" Zhou Lexing asked casually, but did not receive a timely response.
Zhou Lexing's previously lighthearted mood suddenly sank, and he immediately turned to look at Zhou Yuanxiang's expression.
He doesn't look sad or upset.
Zhou Lexing calmed down a bit: "What's wrong?"
Zhou Yuanxiang subconsciously looked for something to do and recounted the stack of money she had just received. As she counted, she said in a casual tone, "He went to the city to enjoy life with his father."
A brief silence fell over one corner of the room, a stark contrast to the joyous scene on the other side. Zhou Lixing immediately sensed something was amiss. He looked at one side, then the other, mentally reviewing the conversation he had just overheard, and hesitantly asked, "Which dad?"
How come he remembers that Gu Jiansheng's father died a long time ago?
Where did this come from?
Zhou Lexing took nearly a minute to adjust his mindset.
He looked at Zhou Shusheng, who had finally opened the cookie box, and said in a somewhat nonchalant tone, "That's good. It's quite convenient to contact him by phone these days, and he must have left an address, right?"
Zhou Yuanxiang first looked at Zhou Lixing and scolded, "Which other father do you have? He only has one father!"
She glanced again at the noticeably slumped back and sighed, "It's a good thing that Jian Sheng is living in the city; it's easier than begging for food in this remote mountain village. Lan Hua is living in the city now too. I think they must have run into each other again there. It's a twisted fate..."
Zhou Yuanxiang rambled on and on about some incoherent things.
Zhou Lexing finally turned to look at her, the terrible suspicion in his mind gradually surfacing in a hideous guise: "He didn't leave an address? What about his phone number?"
There was another brief silence in this corner.
Zhou Lixing also noticed that Zhou Lexing was not in a good mood, and then fell silent.
Even Zhou Shusheng and the big black dog noticed something was wrong and turned to look in this direction.
The black dog's constantly wagging tail finally drooped down and tucked between its legs.
Zhou Shusheng took the cookie he was about to put to his mouth out again, hesitated, and handed it to Zhou Lexing: "Brother, have a cookie."
Zhou Lexing looked down at the golden-yellow biscuit, barely opening his mouth. The crisp sound of the biscuit breaking was faint, and the delicate, milky taste entered his mouth, but it also evoked a lingering bitterness within.
Zhou Lexing swallowed the biscuit with difficulty, got up and walked outside: "I'm going out for a walk."
Zhou Lixing and Zhou Yuanxiang exchanged a glance, and saw helplessness and sighs in Zhou's mother's eyes.
The image of the cold-faced boy that Zhou Lixing had seen the last time he returned home had just flashed into his mind when he thought of Zhou Lexing's natural affection for Gu Jiansheng at that time.
It seems that the saying "one thing subdues another" can indeed be applied to humans. However, he wondered if Gu Jiansheng's departure would change his third brother again. Thinking of this, he finally shared the same worries as Aunt Zhou.
"Why so suddenly?" Zhou Lixing frowned even more, recalling all the rumors he had heard before. "Are you sure it's Jian Sheng's father? There hasn't been any news about him for so many years..."
Everyone in the village thought his father was dead. His sudden reappearance, didn't anyone suspect anything?
Zhou Yuanxiang: "Don't we old neighbors recognize what his father looks like? Don't think about those things. Actually, this is a good thing for Jian Sheng. A college student came to the village a while ago, and coincidentally, he and Jian Sheng's father were old acquaintances. With this matchmaking, the matter was settled. Not to mention you, we are all still confused. We don't know if the mother and son will come back."
This separation may mean we'll never see each other again in this lifetime.
Zhou Lexing wandered aimlessly through the village, and every now and then, villagers passing by would greet him warmly and ask about his recent situation.
He didn't even know what he had responded to. In a daze, he walked onto the familiar country road and stopped in front of the tightly closed gate of the Gu family.
Actually, he should have had a premonition much earlier, just like how He Huaizhi would still appear in Zhoujia Village even though Jian Sheng didn't go to the city.
Although Zhou Lexing has not yet found the edge of this world, since the places he can reach are limited, the plot surrounding Gu Jiansheng and He Huaizhi seems to be moving forward. Even though the storyline has deviated and distorted to some extent, it still cannot stop its forward trend.
Did Gu Jiansheng go with them voluntarily?
In Zhou Lexing's view, Gu Jiansheng's life in Zhoujia Village was far from pleasant, with constant harassment from petty thugs. It was only after Zhou Lexing intervened that the situation was temporarily brought under control.
In this way, Gu Jiansheng's departure seems even less of a surprise.
But what truly concerned Zhou Lexing was Gu Jiansheng's resolute decision not to leave behind any information.
"At least say a few polite words..."
Zhou Lexing stared at the door in a daze for a while, then heard someone excitedly calling his name.
"Brother Le!"
As one head peeked out from the end of the alley, four more heads followed, each one beaming with delight upon seeing him.
Zhou Lexing: "What are you doing here?"
He knew he had made a stupid mistake as soon as he asked the question.
Sure enough, Zhou Bobo immediately expressed his loyalty: "Brother Le, didn't you tell us to come and visit Zhoujia Village whenever we had time? I happened to be free recently, so I invited everyone over."
Anyway, it doesn't matter where they gather, they'll still gather. Without Brother Le around, they wouldn't dare to go head-to-head with the gang leaders from the nearby villages, but even if they have a lot of free time, they can't just stay at home.
They were all restless and couldn't sit still.
With Zhou Lexing's instructions in mind, they imagined many passionate scenes from movies, like a gang leader's dying words, and worked with great enthusiasm.
Zhou Lexing met the five pairs of bright, praise-seeking eyes and readily agreed, saying, "Thank you for your hard work."
"Let's go, I brought you gifts."
Upon hearing this, the five cheered and happily followed Zhou Lexing.
Zhou Bobo: "Brother Le, is Brother Lixing alright?"
Zhou Lexing had no idea what kind of tragic and heartbreaking scene they were imagining, and simply shook his head.
Li Cheng: "Brother Le, do you know that Gu Jiansheng went to the city?"
Zhou Lexing stopped in his tracks, looked at his group of underlings, and suddenly had a guess: "Did Jian Sheng leave a message?"
The five people looked at each other and shook their heads in unison.
Zhou Lexing's burning passion deflated again, and he casually replied, "Yeah, I know about that."
Zhou Xiaoxiao: "Boss, although Gu didn't leave any message, he..."
Zhou Xiaoxiao paused briefly, looking up as if she was considering her words.
Zhou Lexing looked at him with unprecedented focus, which made Zhou Xiaoxiao feel even more pressured. It was Li Dagang who spoke up to relieve the tension.
"Gu left in a strange way."
This statement won everyone's approval.
"He even glanced at us then, it was terrifying!" Zhou Xiaoxiao added, then, fearing her words wouldn't convince Zhou Lexing, looked at the group of brothers beside her, "Right? You all saw it, right?"
Everyone nodded.
Zhou Xiaobing, with his mushroom-shaped haircut, shuddered as he recalled that glance, muttering under his breath, "It looked like he was about to kill someone."
Li Cheng: "I knew Gu was no simpleton. His usual demeanor was definitely an act, just like his cheapskate father!"
Li Dagang: "His father is very fake, he even pretends to cry, he's not like a man at all."
Zhou Bobo: "Who cares if his dad is faking his tears? I think it's good for Gu to go to the city and live a good life. It's better than staying in this dilapidated house."
Zhou Xiaobing still had a worried look on his face: "It's not necessarily about living a life of luxury. My grandma told me that if you get kidnapped, it's a terrible fate..."
Li Cheng rolled his eyes: "That's his dad. Would his dad kidnap him?"
The surrounding noise briefly disappeared from Zhou Lexing's world.
When he came to his senses, he asked, "Where is He Huaizhi?"
After a moment of understanding, several people replied, "He was standing right next to Gu's father at the time."
Zhou Xiaoxiao: "His dad is very familiar with that college student, and he must be very rich. I heard that they wanted to drive a car to pick up Gu Xiaozi, but the village roads haven't been paved yet, so the car can't get in and they can only take a tractor out."
Zhou Bobo didn't stray from the point: "He should have left with Gu and the others. I haven't seen him since."
Everyone nodded in agreement.
Zhou Lexing pondered for a moment, then led his five younger brothers home and distributed the bell-bottoms and T-shirts with various pictures printed on them.
The group was delighted to see the new clothes and immediately wanted to take off their own clothes and put them on.
Zhou Lixing leaned against the door frame, smiling as he watched the young men fooling around in the courtyard. His gaze kept falling on Zhou Lexing, who was sitting silently on a stool. Finally, as the five men pushed and laughed as they left, Zhou Lixing came to Zhou Lexing's side.
What are your plans after this?
Before going home, Zhou Lixing received an answer.
He knew that his third brother now had responsibilities and a sense of duty. He had considered packing up several of his younger brothers, including Gu Jiansheng, to start their own business. However, Gu Jiansheng, who was the one who most concerned Zhou Lexing, was nowhere to be found. The heavy plan he had made back then seemed somewhat uncertain and unrealistic.
Zhou Lexing glanced at his second brother and suddenly asked, "Brother, have you thought about the future?"
Before he came into this world, Zhou Lexing had thought about his future, which was to live a life with enough to eat and wear until the end of his life.
It wouldn't be entirely true that he truly loved his game design career; it's just that the industry was booming at the time, and Zhou Lexing saw a business opportunity and entered the field. He always had to prepare a retirement fund for himself, in case he was ever kicked out of the Zhou family.
After arriving in this world, Zhou Lexing found himself increasingly entangled with various entanglements and faced constant uncertainties, which left him feeling lost.
He had tied his future to that of another boy without realizing it, until the bond that held the boy's hand was suddenly and brutally severed, at which point he realized it in a daze.
The severed bond seemed to have ripped a piece out of his heart. A gust of wind howled from who-knows-where, bringing with it a terrifying wail, leaving only an empty opening, silently watching him.
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