Chapter 47
It took a lot of effort for Gu Fang to feed Jiang Li the medicine.
The door to the private room faced the courtyard, its doors open. The tall buildings in the distance resembled dormant giants, nestled among the rocks and bamboo groves. They seemed detached from the mundane world, yet a gentle breeze blew from it. Gu Fang took a sip of his now-cold tea and looked back. Jiang Li was slumped against his chair, clutching his chest and breathing heavily.
Gu Fang's hair was ruffled by the breeze. He paused and suddenly felt that waiting for seventeen years for a family affection that was destined to have no response showed that he was very lacking in love.
But in fact, his current family gives him a lot of love, which is enough for him to use this love to love another person.
He stood up, put down the teacup, exhaled, and felt like something had finally landed.
Then he said to Jiang Li, "I'm leaving first. You should have a good rest."
Before he left, Jiang Li suddenly said from behind him, "Didn't Gu Jianbo ever mention this to you? Ha..." He chuckled softly, "No wonder he finally agreed to let you come see me. Turns out he wanted to borrow my help."
Gu Fang turned his head slightly, his eyes sunk into the shadows, his meaning unclear.
"I'll ask him clearly."
"I'll wait for you, Fangfang." Jiang Li closed his eyes silently, "I will always wait for you."
Gu Fang was a soft-hearted man, and there was no denying that when Jiang Li said this, his heart still stung uncontrollably. He had a vague idea that Jiang Li's condition had deteriorated since giving birth to him, and perhaps he had been diligently receiving treatment for the past seventeen years, just to be able to see him with a smile like a normal person.
But talking about this now has lost its meaning. It's like a bag of bread that has gone bad. The packaging is exquisite, but the inside is moldy and rotten.
When he returned to the villa, he sent a message to Mr. Gu, asking how long it would take him to return. Usually by this time, Mr. Gu would understand that he was waiting for him and had something to say to him.
The door opened with a click, and Gu Fang stood up, only to see his uncle coming in first with a sullen face, followed closely by Mr. Gu with an expressionless face.
Gu Jianlan threw his coat over and asked Gu Jianbo coldly, "Did you let Fangfang go see him?"
Gu Jianbo caught the coat that was blown towards him and said calmly, "His condition has improved a lot. I don't think it's necessary to stop him. Fangfang has to meet him eventually."
"Of course you're fine." Gu Jianlan pulled the corners of his lips together and forced out a cold smile, "You know exactly how much Jiang Li hates—"
He suddenly choked, as if he was worried about Gu Fang's presence, so he had to change his words, "...AA and Fang Fang had a romantic relationship, and you wanted to make Fang Fang give up, so you let him see Jiang Li - don't you know he's a lunatic? He's going to return the same insults to Fang Fang as he did to you back then!"
Gu Jianbo still looked indifferent, and seemed a little tired of such a quarrel.
"It's different. Fangfang is his and...'s child. Besides, his condition is much more stable than before, so he'll be more calm."
"Hmph, restrain yourself." Gu Jianlan snorted with an ambiguous tone, "He didn't even show any mercy to Gu Jianhuai, how can you expect him to restrain himself towards Fangfang?"
Gu Fang listened in silence for a while, then raised his head and asked, "Why... is he so annoying..."
And Jiang Li's ambiguous words.
Suddenly, he didn't really want to know. Partly because he didn't want to care about someone who was late, and partly because he instinctively recoiled from the answer.
He just needs to remember that he cherishes the family in front of him, that's all.
Gu Fang then stood up, poured them two glasses of water, and said, "I'm a little tired. I'm going to take a shower and get ready for bed."
Gu Jianbo held down his wrist as he tried to withdraw it, raising his eyebrows. "Jiang Li should have asked you to come back and ask me. Fang Fang, listen to me before you make your choice, okay? Whether it's Lu Si's matter, or... Jiang Li's matter."
Gu Fang pursed her rosy lips, her eyelashes trembled slightly, and she sat down silently.
Gu Jianlan looked at the adoptive father and son for a long while with a sour face, then sank down on the sofa and stopped Gu Jianbo, who was still considering how to start. "Let me tell you. I'm more objective."
Gu Jianbo did not comment, but did not say anything else.
Gu Fang knew very early on that he had no blood relationship with his current family, and that they adopted him because he was Gu Jianhuai's child.
The Jian generation refers to the Gu family.
A story, if it needs to be told in full, often goes back many years.
So fairy tales often begin a long, long time ago.
But this is far from a fairy tale.
It should be traced back to when Grandma Gu was young.
When Gu Jianbo was born, Grandma Gu suffered a difficult labor, and doctors later diagnosed her with infertility. Grandma Gu's lifelong wish was to have a loving Omega child, but unfortunately, Gu Jianbo differentiated into an Alpha at the age of 14.
By then, the Gu family had already established the Hope Foundation. Using the funds from the orphanage, Grandma Gu adopted two children—one, 13 years old, with exquisite beauty who looked like an Omega, and was named Jianhuai. The other, barely two years old, was barely recognizable, but caught Grandma Gu's eye, so she named him Jianlan.
Two children adopted at different ages are destined to have very different personalities and experiences.
The two-year-old son, whose cognition was not yet established, quickly integrated into the Gu family's new life. He naturally regarded family members as his closest relatives and believed that he was also a part of this family.
The 13-year-old boy is grateful to the Gu family for adopting him, but he is unable to truly integrate into this family. He has an independent personality and is more delicate and sensitive.
He is about the same age as Gu Jianbo.
It is difficult for two cognitively mature teenagers to regard each other as family members. As they spend time together day and night, the family affection that Grandma Gu has been looking forward to for a long time turns into another kind of emotion.
When Gu Jianhuai was 17 years old, he started dating his nominal brother.
His differentiation was much later than that of ordinary people. He was confirmed to be an Alpha at the age of 18.
As a result, Grandma Gu discovered this secret love affair.
As a bystander, the younger son, Gu Jianlan, had no idea of the double pressure his two older brothers were experiencing. He was only seven years old at the time, and didn't fully understand anything, only that Gu Jianhuai had gone abroad to study. He even threw a tantrum over it, refusing to eat no matter how much Grandma Gu tried to coax him.
Gu Jianlan no longer knew what his second brother had experienced abroad during those years.
Later, when I grew up, I roughly learned that Gu Jianhuai was studying business administration at a university in Italy. At that time, his school and the neighboring art academy organized an art exhibition, and he was one of the organizers of the student union, which is how he met Jiang Li.
They gradually fell in love. Two orphans in a foreign land, one fresh out of a disastrous relationship, the other completely clueless about love, sympathizing with each other, healing each other's wounds, falling so deeply in love they were about to enter the palace of marriage.
Adults have learned to be superficial and evasive. They are more likely to feel ashamed and guilty about their past childish behavior, and are more likely to be grateful.
Gu Jianhuai decided to return to China and bring Jiang Li to meet Grandma Gu.
Everything was normal. Grandma Gu sincerely wished them well, Gu Jianbo treated him like an older brother, and 11-year-old Gu Jianlan also suppressed his temper and wished his brother well.
But Jiang Li still knew the past.
Maybe it was some nagging aunt from the Gu family, or some talkative relative, or maybe Jiang Li himself had doubts about why Gu Jianhuai had been away from home for so many years, so he paid close attention to the investigation.
Jiang Li's psychiatrist said he had a typical paranoid personality. His childhood in an orphanage left him with severe mental illness, which he managed to control for a while during his relationship with Gu Jianhuai, but then began to spiral out of control.
They were caught in endless quarrels, perhaps even more. A sick Jiang Li was like a hedgehog, eager to prick those who loved him. Gu Jianhuai's endurance only gave him a new outlet, and the Gu family, especially Gu Jianbo, suffered greatly from it.
Later they broke up.
Jiang Li returned to the country and began to try taking banned drugs to seek temporary mental peace. This led to him being hospitalized and finding out that he was pregnant.
Jiang Li stopped taking medication and decided to give birth to the child despite the doctor's advice, even though the doctor said that the child might be born with defects. Gu Jianhuai only learned about this news much later, because his former college classmate worked in the hospital and met Jiang Li for a prenatal checkup.
He chose to fly to where Jiang Li was. No one else could know what he was feeling at that time. After all, this was only a matter between him and Jiang Li, and had nothing to do with any third party.
The chances of an air crash occurring in aviation history are incredibly small, so small that you can practically ignore it, yet it's not completely zero either. The chances of it happening are tiny, but once it does, there's no chance of survival.
Jiang Li's condition got completely out of control after that, and she lost the ability to raise a child normally.
That morning, Gu Jianbo set foot on foreign land and came to the city where Gu Jianhuai had lived for many years. After listening to the doctor's advice in the sanatorium, he finally adopted the child in the name of his relatives.
That's the whole story.
I use the word "story" to describe it because it seems to have a very dramatic quality.
But it encompasses the lives of many people and decades of time; it exists quietly and dramatically, and no one can erase it.
Because erasing it means erasing the first half of your life, and erasing those people who once existed vividly in your memory.
Gu Jianbo never deliberately forgot those memories. With the experience of the past, he groped for the stones to cross the river in the darkness. In the process of raising that child, he understood a truth: you always gain more than you lose.
So he gradually walked out, waded through the water and trudged ashore, and saw the scenery of life that could only be seen after the age of 30 or 40.
He gained the ability to love again, and that was when he met Wen Chuji.
"Your father loves him very much, and he loves you too."
Gu Jianbo said to Gu Fang, "You were born with two loves."
"And now, we love you too."
Gu Fang finally understood why Mr. Gu was obstructing him.
Gu Jianbo understood that his child had been looking forward to Jiang Li's arrival.
Gu Jianbo also needed Jiang Li's arrival. He didn't want Gu Fang to lose another person because of choosing one person without knowing why.
He probably felt that love was inscribed in his genes. Jiang Li received all of Gu Jianhuai's love, and similarly, Jiang Li could easily obtain Gu Fang's love without even showing up.
That is a child's natural attachment to his parents.
Whether Lu Si can overcome this attachment is a big unknown.
"So, Fangfang," Gu Jianbo said, "are you still sticking with your original resolution?"
People's hearts are probably very "mean".
Perhaps it is because I have received too much love, so I am obsessed with the one I lack, and it eventually becomes a knot in my heart.
But human hearts are ultimately biased.
Things that cannot be compared can never be compared.
The person Gu Fang likes receives too little love, but he has a lot, so if you give him some, it won’t be less.
"Such a comparison is meaningless," Gu Fang replied, "so my determination will not change."
“Let go…”
Gu Jianbo pondered for a moment, lowering his eyes as if considering how to start.
"I've also experienced teenage love, but looking back now, I feel that kind of determination was too frivolous and childish. Of course, I can't empathize with your current thoughts."
"However, as your current guardian, I need you to know how difficult it will be for AA relationships in society in the future."
Gu Fang vaguely sensed his intention and frowned slightly: "So... I have to prove it to you first?"
Gu Jianbo smiled: "I don't appreciate running away from home, so that doesn't count."
He paused, then said thoughtfully, "Think of it as a test. This is the final hurdle I'm giving you and Lu Si. I've already discussed this test with Lu Si this afternoon."
Gu Jianlan was shocked at the side: "So this is what you said to him at that time?"
"What test?" Gu Fang asked back.
Let’s go back to this afternoon.
Mr. Gu met Lu Si in a cafe outside the private hospital.
"You and your father should have just met with the attending physician." Gu Jianbo casually ordered two cups of coffee for him and Lu Si, then looked at the tall young man in a white shirt across from him. "Your sister's problem is mainly with her eyes, and the doctor has given us better advice."
"For blindness caused by blood clots and swelling, there are successful cases of treatment at the Capital Military Region General Hospital. They have established a relatively mature treatment process."
Gu Jianbo rested his elbows on the table and clasped his hands together, a gesture for serious negotiation.
"I will help you transfer to the capital and enroll in a high school near the Military Region General Hospital. I will also cover your subsequent tuition and medical expenses."
The waiter brought two cups of coffee.
Gu Jianbo pushed one of the glasses in front of Lu Si in a gentlemanly manner. "Don't worry, I understand what you mean. This is just a temporary loan. I won't charge any extra interest, and I believe you will be able to repay it in the future."
"Thank you very much for your help." Lu Si's fingers circled the coffee cup, his brows lowered slightly, and he was silent for a moment. "What... do you need me to do?"
"I don't need you to do anything," Gu Jianbo said. "You can think of this as a test. You want to be with my child, so I have to see that you're serious, right? Forget about promises. I don't believe in those frivolous verbal promises."
Lu Si understood what he meant, "What test?"
Gu Jianbo smiled faintly. "Like your father, I don't recommend dating before completing high school. Relationships during this period are often affected by the excessive hormones produced during puberty. And Fangfang has only just differentiated into an Alpha. You're being too hasty by being with him."
A subtle trace of guilt appeared on Lu Si's face because of the last sentence.
Before Lu Si could say anything, Gu Jianbo interrupted him: "Before the college entrance examination, or before September of this year, give him and you some time to think carefully about your relationship, okay?"
"During this period, I hope you will not contact him anymore."
"After this period of time, if you still want to contact him, or if he wants to contact you, then that's a matter between you two. It has nothing to do with me, your father, or anyone else."
The author has something to say:
Don’t worry, there is nothing that the Time Dharma cannot resolve.
Come on, adult! (anxious.jpg
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