Chapter 56 The Secret [VIP]
Chapter Summary: So what will you do?
Tears streamed down her face.
Fu Xianyin lowered her head, her vision blurred. Large tears welled up in her eyes, falling to the ground with a pattering sound, spreading out in patches of water.
The emotions that had been suppressed for so long completely collapsed upon hearing Gu Linzhao's words, as if they had found an outlet to vent, and the pent-up emotions surged out.
At first, she just shed tears silently, but the tears fell so fiercely that her breathing gradually became choked with sobs, and in the end she even cried out loud.
"sorry……"
Fu Xianyin sobbed uncontrollably, her palms soaked with tears, and her sleeves damp.
"I don't know... I really don't know what to do..."
The tears flowed so fiercely that Fu Xianyin could barely speak.
She could only murmur incessantly, repeating the same sentence:
"sorry……"
"I'm so sorry..."
Gu Linzhao felt as if his heart had been crushed.
He reached out somewhat helplessly, wanting to pat her shoulder and wipe away her tears.
But in the end, it just hung in mid-air.
After hesitating for a moment, he opened his arms and whispered, "Want a hug?"
He was actually prepared for Fu Xianyin to refuse.
But she didn't.
The moment he finished speaking, Fu Xianyin rushed into a hug with her.
It was different from the moment he collapsed to him, exhausted after finishing the relay.
Fu Xianyin was now conscious. She opened her arms and hugged him.
Gu Linzhao's body stiffened for a moment. He briefly wrapped his arm around Fu Xianyin's back before slowly hugging her back.
Fu Xianyin held her very tightly.
Perhaps it's because when people are helpless, they always subconsciously grasp at that last straw.
Or perhaps she just desperately needs a hug right now.
She felt like a drowning person clinging tightly to a lifebuoy named Gu Linzhao.
After an unknown amount of time, Fu Xianyin slowly released her arms.
Her breathing was still a little unsteady, and she was sneezing, but her emotions had gradually calmed down.
Gu Linzhao didn't say anything, just quietly looked at her.
After a long pause, Fu Xianyin spoke softly:
I'm hungry.
...
She was really hungry.
After finishing the exam at noon, I went back to the dormitory and listened to Chen Huimei's crazy rant. I didn't eat a single bite of food. In the afternoon, I came back to take the exam again. Just now, I dragged Chen Huimei up and down the stairs and threatened to jump off the building. I also called Fu Dongyuan's secretary to clean up the mess. In the end, I even burst into tears.
All physical strength was exhausted.
Fu Xianyin felt that she wasn't that tired after running the relay.
The cafeteria was closed during the exam period. Gu Linzhao asked her to wait for him on a bench in the small garden, while he went to the convenience store to buy some bread, nuts, milk, and other food.
When Fu Xianyin took that bite of bread, her first thought was:
Ah, I'm finally alive.
After taking a few more bites of bread, my sluggish brain slowly began to function again.
Only then did she belatedly realize an important question.
It's exam time now, so how did Gu Linzhao get out?
The two sat side by side on a bench. Fu Xianyin gently nudged Gu Linzhao with the tip of her shoe and asked, "Aren't you taking an exam right now? Why are you out here?"
Gu Linzhao chuckled lightly: "You have energy now?"
Fu Xianyin: ...
If it weren't for the fact that she was eating bread he bought, Fu Xianyin would have really wanted to scold him.
She took a big bite of her bread, and just as she was about to wait for him, she heard someone next to her speak:
"I handed in my paper early."
Fu Xianyin frowned: "Are you finished writing?"
When she handed in her paper, there was still almost an hour left before the exam ended.
It took me a little over an hour to finish a math test.
It's unlikely.
Her eyes were still red-rimmed, but her delicate brows were furrowed.
Gu Linzhao smiled and said, "It's not finished."
Although the answer was expected, Fu Xianyin's mind still went blank for a moment when she heard Gu Linzhao say it himself.
She put down the bread, somewhat anxiously: "No, why did you hand in your paper early if you hadn't finished? This is a city-wide joint exam, brother. What will happen to your score if you hand in your paper?"
Gu Linzhao looked at her seriously: "Then what are you going to do?"
Fu Xianyin was speechless.
She opened her mouth, but couldn't utter a single word.
Gu Linzhao's voice was soft and gentle: "This is just an exam."
Fu Xianyin said softly, "But it's a city-wide joint exam."
Gu Linzhao said, "That was just one exam that was held citywide."
Fu Xianyin was completely speechless.
She lowered her head, staring at the water stain on the ground where her tears had just left a smudge.
I don't know why, but the tears I had finally managed to stop were starting to well up again.
Fu Xianyin felt like she had been crying the whole time.
She tilted her head back, trying to hold back her tears.
Stop crying.
She scolded herself in her heart: What's there to cry about? Crying all day long, what kind of behavior is this?
The people around him fell silent again.
Gu Linzhao unscrewed a bottle of milk and handed it to her.
She reached out and took it, then symbolically put it in her mouth, but the bottle was tilted at a very small angle, so Gu Linzhao thought she probably hadn't drunk a drop.
After what seemed like an eternity, the person beside him finally spoke again:
"How about I tell you a secret?"
secret.
This is a special word.
It's like a bond, or like a chain.
They tied the two people tightly together.
This is actually what Gu Linzhao has always wanted.
He hoped that Fu Xianyin would not hide anything from him, and that she could completely trust and accept him.
But when that moment actually arrived, his heart couldn't help but clench.
Fu Xianyin was a little puzzled when she didn't hear a reply from the person next to her for a long time.
She turned her head and raised an eyebrow at Gu Linzhao: "What, don't you want to hear it?"
Whether it was her imagination or not, she saw Gu Linzhao seem to take a deep breath.
This was a very subtle action, and by the time Fu Xianyin wanted to investigate further, there was no trace left.
She only saw Gu Linzhao slowly open his mouth and utter two words:
"I want to hear it."
Hmm, where to begin?
Fu Xianyin sorted out her messy life and found that there was no way to straighten out this mess.
But she believed that with Gu Linzhao's intelligence, even if she talked about things in a haphazard way, he would definitely understand.
So she randomly picked a spot and started speaking:
"Ye Yang is my younger brother."
After saying that, she thought for a moment and added, "My dear."
Gu Linzhao was completely stunned by this information.
Ye Yang, younger brother, biological brother.
He understood each word, but the amount of information conveyed when put together was still a bit too much.
Fu Xianyin seemed quite pleased with his reaction; she even laughed out loud.
"How about it?" Fu Xianyin winked at him mischievously, "Shocked?"
"I'm so shocked," Gu Linzhao said.
Fu Xianyin sighed, "So do you know how shocked I was when Lin Anxu came over and said that he was my younger brother, back when you arranged the basketball game with the affiliated high school?"
She lifted her leg and said, "I fucking thought you guessed it back then. I thought it was impossible, I don't look like him at all. Later I found out you were just making it up."
Gu Linzhao suddenly felt that it was somewhat absurd.
He started getting jealous the moment he met Ye Yang, and he got jealous every time they met.
Now tell him that it really is her brother.
He asked, "So you're fraternal?"
Fraternal twins?
Fu Xianyin laughed so hard her shoulders were shaking, but Gu Linzhao saw a fleeting sadness in her eyes.
“No.” She smiled, but her voice became distant: “I’m a few months older than him, we are half-siblings.”
The phrase "half-siblings" encapsulates the seventeen years of turmoil in Fu Xianyin's family.
She tilted her head and continued, "My dad is a rotten bastard, my mom is a crazy woman who became my husband through a mistress, and Ye Yang's mom is just like my mom ten years ago. Maybe ten years from now, his mom will be just like my mom now."
"I always thought that everything would be alright. At least I thought I would be alright."
“But Gu Linzhao,” Fu Xianyin said softly, “I’m realizing now that I might not get better.”
She took a deep breath and changed the subject, saying, "I was being very irrational about switching seats. I didn't mean I didn't want to be your deskmate. On the contrary, I really enjoyed being your deskmate. You are kind and tolerant of me. No one has ever been so tolerant of me before."
"But I'm afraid Chen Huimei will see those posts on the confession wall. My study habits have also been off lately, I really am."
Her shoulders slumped, her voice filled with helplessness and despair:
"I don't know what to do."
"I'm sorry for telling you this so late." Fu Xuanyin forced a smile, "I didn't mean to hide it from you. I really didn't know, and I didn't want you to know."
After a long while, Fu Xianyin heard an apology.
She turned her head with some surprise and asked, "Why are you apologizing?"
Is this a common problem among kind people?
To blame oneself for the misfortunes and suffering of others.
Gu Linzhao said, "I shouldn't have pressured you, and I shouldn't have..."
He paused for a moment and then said, "I shouldn't have been angry with you either."
Fu Xianyin tilted her head and looked at him.
My gaze traveled from his short hair to his prominent brow bone, from his delicate eyebrows and eyes, and then down to his lips, chin, neck, and Adam's apple.
She just looked at him like that.
It was as if she wanted to brand this face into the very marrow of her bones, etch it into the depths of her memory, as if only in this way could she have something to rely on.
He did nothing wrong, and he doesn't need to apologize.
He clearly, clearly did everything.
Don't do this anymore.
Fu Xianyin murmured to herself.
Don't be so nice to her anymore.
Otherwise, what will she do in the future?
Why live with such pitiful memories?
The boy seemed genuinely consumed by self-blame, and Fu Xianyin's heart softened. She said, "You didn't force me; it was my own idea to say it."
"I didn't want to talk about it before because I didn't want you to know about such disgusting and horrific things. Now I want to talk about it because..."
She sighed and became completely honest with Gu Linzhao:
"It's because if I don't talk to someone, I feel like I'm going to go crazy."
“Besides,” Fu Xianyin said, “it’s understandable that you’re angry. If it were me, I would be ten thousand times angrier than you.”
The chilly autumn wind made Fu Xianyin's eyes sting, and she idly kicked Gu Linzhao's shoes with the tip of her shoe.
Until Gu Linzhao chuckled softly: "You're so bored."
Fu Xianyin gave a soft hum.
When the exam bell rang, Fu Xianyin realized that she had been sitting there for a long time.
It far exceeded the five minutes that I had promised Sister Gao.
She stood up, but after sitting for so long, her legs went weak and she almost fell.
Gu Linzhao grabbed her arm and said, "I've already spoken to Sister Gao."
Oh, the fortune teller guessed what she was worried about again and cleaned up her mess once more.
She said, "Then could you help me pack my schoolbag and put it in the activity room? I'll go ask Sister Gao for leave."
"Are you asking for leave?" Gu Linzhao caught the key phrase: "Are you asking for leave for evening self-study? I'll go with you."
Fu Xianyin shook her head: "No need, I probably won't be coming for the next few days."
Gu Linzhao asked, "Aren't there any exams?"
Fu Xianyin: "If Sister Gao can grant me leave, I won't take the exam."
Gu Linzhao remained silent.
Fu Xianyin patted his shoulder with a smile: "What's wrong? Didn't you say it was just an exam?"
"It's just a city-wide exam."
To Fu Xianyin's surprise, Sister Gao approved the leave application very readily.
Fu Xianyin even guessed that it might be because Sister Gao was also frightened by her today.
After thinking it over, Fu Xianyin sincerely apologized to Gao Ying: "Teacher, I'm sorry. I was a little emotional this afternoon. I won't do it again."
Gao Ying sighed: "It's not your fault."
Although she was also terrified by what Fu Xianyin said that afternoon, Gao Ying knew in her heart that everyone was at fault in this matter, except for Fu Xianyin.
It's already quite remarkable that such a good child, forced to live for so long under such high pressure, has grown into someone like Fu Xianyin.
Gao Ying said, "The teacher was also at fault for not discovering the problem in your family in time. Remember in the future, you must tell the teacher if anything happens, no matter what it is, understand?"
Her expression hardened: "I'm your homeroom teacher. You have to tell me anything."
Fu Xianyin nodded and said, "I understand."
Gao Ying felt a mix of emotions.
Given Fu Xianyin's mother's situation, her father's situation must be even less optimistic. Gao Ying hadn't previously realized that Fu Xianyin's family was in such dire straits; she only thought that her mother might be under a lot of pressure, but given that her child was in her final year of high school, it was understandable.
It now seems that Fu Xianyin's family probably doesn't even have an adult who is qualified to act as her guardian.
She asked, "Teacher, could you please tell me what you're going to do during these few days of leave?"
Fu Xianyin didn't hide anything and frankly told her, "I want to talk to my dad about this. I'm also a little... unsure of what to do."
Gao Ying reminded her again, "Okay, then be sure to tell the teacher immediately if anything happens, okay?"
Fu Xianyin nodded: "Okay."
Finally, she added:
"Thank you, teacher."
After leaving Gao Ying's office, most of the people had already left.
Although there are midterm exams, evening self-study sessions are still required.
Fu Xianyin went back to her dormitory to get her ID and carried a small bag. When she walked out of the school gate, it was just before evening self-study, and everyone was walking in.
Fu Xianyin walked against the flow of people, attracting stares from those around her, but she pretended not to hear them.
After leaving the school, Fu Xianyin took a taxi straight to Fu Dongyuan's company.
She wasn't bad with directions; in fact, she was quite good at finding her way around. But as time had passed, the scenery along the way still felt somewhat unfamiliar to Fu Xianyin.
By the time the car stopped at the roadside, it was completely dark.
In the brightly lit city center, skyscrapers rise from the ground, resembling giant steel beasts.
It's rush hour now, and white-collar urban elites are weaving through these steel monsters, being swallowed up from one entrance and surging out from another.
She stood there, lost in thought, until someone accidentally bumped into her, bringing her back to her senses.
Fu Xianyin combed her hair again, moisturized her dry, chapped lips with lip balm, and then stepped into Fu Dongyuan's company.
To be frank, Fu Dongyuan's company is not small.
This is also one of the reasons why Chen Huimei insisted that she fight for it.
Fu Xianyin couldn't really say whether Chen Huimei was after love or money.
Or perhaps it's a combination of both.
It's hard to imagine that even though Fu Dongyuan is already a rotten cucumber, Chen Huimei still has some inexplicable feelings for him.
Chen Huimei loves Fu Dongyuan, which is something Fu Xianyin finds hard to believe, yet also something she cannot deny.
It was already past closing time, and there was no one at the front desk downstairs. Fu Xianyin pressed the elevator button and went upstairs based on her memory.
The last time she came to Fu Dongyuan's company was when she was in junior high school. Chen Huimei had only been married to Fu Dongyuan for a few years when she discovered that Fu Dongyuan was having an affair with another woman. In a fit of anger, she asked Fu Xianyin for a day off and brought her directly to Fu Dongyuan's company to catch him in the act.
That time, Chen Huimei caught Fu Dongyuan cheating on her at the company.
She and Fu Dongyuan had a fierce argument.
Fu Xianyin couldn't understand why Fu Dongyuan, who was clearly at fault, could still argue back and forth with Chen Huimei so logically and persuasively.
Back then, Fu Dongyuan's business wasn't as big as it is now, and there weren't as many people in the company, but Fu Xuanyin still felt suffocated by their gazes.
The conflict ended with Chen Huimei giving in first.
Fu Xianyin didn't understand at the time. Chen Huimei was so angry in Linlan, and she had already caught them in bed together, so why did she have to back down first?
She asked the question, but was met with a harsh rebuke from Chen Huimei.
Chen Huimei said, "Because you are a girl, because you are too useless, you can't compare to those people, that's why your father is like this."
Chen Huimei said it was all her fault.
Fu Xianyin could still cry back then; she still remembers tears streaming down her face on the bustling streets of Beichuan.
Chen Huimei walked ahead without even glancing at her.
It's strange. She cried so hard back then, but now when she thinks back on that memory, Fu Xianyin doesn't feel sad anymore.
With a ding, the elevator doors slowly opened, and Fu Xianyin stepped out.
After Fu Dongyuan made the company bigger and stronger, Fu Xuanyin never came again. She didn't know where Fu Dongyuan was, so she just grabbed someone at random and asked, "Hello, is Fu Dongyuan here?"
The man looked up and said, "President Fu's office is on the seventeenth floor."
Fu Xianyin thanked him and pressed the elevator button to go up to the seventeenth floor.
Not knowing which way to get there, she called her secretary.
Soon, her secretary came to meet her at the elevator.
"Hello, Secretary Shao." Fu Xianyin smiled politely at him and said, "I'm here to see Fu Dongyuan."
Shao Yang nodded politely: "Hello, Miss Fu. Mr. Fu is still busy. Please wait in the lounge for a while."
Snacks and tea were prepared in the lounge, but Fu Xianyin wasn't hungry, so she just opened a bottle of mineral water to drink.
Shao Yang was the one who picked up Chen Huimei this afternoon.
Fu Xianyin didn't ask him where he had taken Chen Huimei; she just sat there quietly and waited.
However, after waiting for almost two hours, Fu Dongyuan still hadn't come out.
Fu Xianyin asked Shao Yang, "Secretary Shao, is he still busy?"
Shao Yang smiled apologetically and said, "I'm sorry, Miss Fu, Mr. Fu is still busy."
"I see." Fu Xianyin nodded and stood up from the sofa.
Thinking she was leaving, Shao Yang opened the door to the lounge for her and said, "Miss Fu, let me see you out."
"No need to trouble yourself," Fu Xianyin smiled and said, "I'm not leaving."
Shao Yang paused in his action of opening the door.
The next second, he heard the beautiful and young Miss Fu laugh and say:
"Secretary Shao, please tell my father that I can help him divorce Chen Huimei."
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