Chapter 428: Hardships (Script 14)
"Don't rush to write now."
Gu Xi considerately put down his pen. He curled his eyes and said soothingly, "You can write an IOU anytime you want. Of course, it doesn't matter if you don't write it. I mean what I say."
Gu Xi pointed to the bowl of steaming millet and pumpkin porridge and said softly, "Drink the porridge first, okay?"
Shen Xiangyang must be hungry after tossing around for so long.
The aroma of food wafted over at the right time, and Shen Xiangyang's tense nerves finally relaxed completely in front of this bowl of warm porridge.
A huge feeling of fatigue overwhelmed him like a tide, but this time, beneath the fatigue was no longer cold despair, but a sense of happiness of surviving a disaster and finally finding a safe haven.
He stopped refusing, sat down silently, and picked up the spoon.
The warm porridge slides into the throat, carrying the natural sweetness of the grains, gradually dispelling the coldness deep in the body and the haze in the heart.
Shen Xiangyang ate the millet and pumpkin porridge in small mouthfuls, his movements still very slow, but more steady than before.
Gu Xi sat opposite him, without urging him or saying anything else, just looking at him quietly.
Under the soft light, the boy's drooping eyelashes cast a light shadow under his eyes, and his pale cheeks gradually became lively under the nourishment of food. Gu Xi's eyes swept over the pile of review materials on his desk, then looked at Shen Xiangyang, and an idea quietly formed.
After Shen Xiangyang finished his porridge, Gu Xi stood up, walked to the desk, and started to tidy up.
He moved some of the books and papers to an empty low cabinet next to him, freeing up nearly half of the space on the desk.
Then Gu Xi opened another drawer and took out a brand new, simple-shaped eye-protection desk lamp and a matching pen holder, and placed them together on the vacated half of the desk.
"From now on, this is your place."
Gu Xi turned around and said seriously, "We can review together and strive for University A together. As for your precious notes and error books, have Uncle Wang come to you tomorrow... to get them."
Gu Xi changed his words in time and avoided the unpleasant word "home".
Shen Xiangyang looked at the corner of the desk that had been carefully tidied, and then glanced at Gu Xi's face with a bright smile.
Gu Xi's smile was like a ray of sunshine, shining unreservedly into his world that had just experienced a storm and was in a mess.
Shen Xiangyang lowered his head to look at his empty hands, then looked up at the half of the desk, and his throat was once again blocked by a warm current.
This time, Shen Xiangyang did not try to suppress it.
A hot tear finally broke free from the eye socket and silently fell on the back of his hand on his knee.
Gu Xi saw the teardrop, he didn't say anything, just walked over and gently patted Shen Xiangyang's shoulder.
Outside the window, it is late at night.
The hustle and bustle of the city is isolated.
In this warm and bright space, Shen Xiangyang clearly felt for the first time that the door that isolated him from the cold world was finally opened by Gu Xi.
Behind the door, there is no longer endless darkness, but a road paved with warm lights, where they walk side by side.
…
Time is like sand flowing through fingers, and a month slips away quietly with the sound of friction between the pen tip and the pages of the book.
Shen Xiangyang slowly settled down in Gu Xi's villa.
That half of the desk became his new base, where his treasured notes and the new materials that Gu Xi had bought for him were neatly placed.
The two of them eat and live together, go to school together during the day, and go home together at night.
The two of them practiced exercises together until late at night, memorized words together in the morning light, and worked hard towards the same goal.
The peace was broken one weekend afternoon.
At this moment, Gu Xi was in front of the French window in the living room, carefully explaining a complicated physics problem to Shen Xiangyang.
The sunlight shone through the glass onto the carpet covered with draft papers. Shen Xiangyang listened attentively, nodding from time to time, and the tip of his pen rustled on the paper.
Just then.
The steady yet slightly hurried sound of keys turning came from the entrance.
Then, the door was pushed open, and a cold scent belonging to an adult male, mixed with a hint of cigar and high-end aftershave, instantly invaded this warm space that originally belonged to only two teenagers.
It was Gu Xi’s father, Gu Zhenting, who came back.
He was wearing a well-tailored dark gray suit, looking dusty, with fatigue from a long flight and his usual coldness between his brows.
After opening the door, he swept his sharp eyes across the living room. When he saw the two young men sitting side by side on the carpet with their heads almost touching, Gu Zhenting's brows instantly frowned.
The air seemed to freeze in an instant.
"Gu Xi."
Gu Zhenting's voice was not loud, but it was cold: "Explain it."
Gu Zhenting's eyes made Shen Xiangyang feel uncomfortable in an instant, and he subconsciously put away his hands on the carpet.
Gu Xi stood up, stood in front of Shen Xiangyang, met his father's scrutinizing gaze, and explained seriously: "Dad, this is Shen Xiangyang, my classmate and my friend. His family has some special circumstances, so he is staying here temporarily and reviewing with me."
"Special circumstances?"
Gu Zhenting repeated it, with the ending tone full of doubt.
He strode into the living room, his eyes sweeping over the snack bags on the coffee table, the school uniform jacket casually draped on the sofa, and finally the desk that had been split in half. His expression grew gloomier. "So... my home has become your study room and shelter?"
Gu Zhenting deliberately emphasized the last three words with undisguised contempt and dissatisfaction.
Shen Xiangyang's face instantly lost all color, and he clenched the corner of his clothes tightly with his fingers. The familiar feeling of being treated as "trouble" and "trash" came back.
Gu Xi's expression also changed. He didn't expect his father to use such harsh words: "Dad! Be careful with your words! Xiangyang..."
"Should I pay attention?"
Gu Zhenting's voice suddenly rose, and his voice was filled with undisguised anger: "Gu Xi! Who gave you the right to bring an outsider into my house? And he lived there for a month! Do you think our house is a charity? The college entrance examination is approaching, and you don't review well, but do all these messed up things, University A? I think you have lost your mind! I don't think you focus on studying at all! All you do all day is..."
He didn't finish what he was saying, but the contemptuous look he gave Shen Xiangyang made his meaning clear - he believed his son had been led astray by this "poor friend" and his mind was not on the right path.
“That’s enough!”
Gu Xi suddenly roared, his chest heaving violently, his eyes red with anger. His father's insults to Shen Xiangyang and his total denial of him were like two sharp knives stabbing him at the same time.
Gu Xi was about to refute desperately, even wanting to say impulsively "I don't live in this house" -
A thin but extremely determined figure suddenly stood up from behind him!
It’s Shen Xiangyang.
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