Chapter 12
"Brother, no, no, no, I didn't. I didn't do anything." Gu Xiuli was frightened by that look, and followed Gu Xiuyi to explain, at a loss.
Gu Xiuyi walked straight over the broken glass and came to Ji Ruan. Ji Ruan looked up at him, then suddenly turned his head away with forbearance, and a few tears fell from his big watery eyes.
What a pitiful crying scene.
All Gu Xiuyi could see were Ji Ruan's wet eyes and red nose. His brain went blank for two seconds before he squatted down to check Ji Ruan's ankle injury.
It wasn't serious, just a very shallow cut, but maybe because Ji Ruan's skin was too tender, a few drops of blood still seeped out, hanging on the wound for a long time and failing to coagulate.
"Brother..." Gu Xuli was still trying to explain in a low voice: "Please believe me..."
"Go get the medicine box." Gu Xiuyi said in a deep voice.
"What?" Gu Xuli seemed not to understand and pointed at himself: "Me?"
"Who else?" Gu Xiuyi put his elbows on his knees and looked back at him: "By the way, take a broom and sweep the things on the floor."
Gu Xiuli opened his eyes wide and took several steps back, unable to believe it: "You want me to do the work of a servant?!"
Ji Ruan's tears were running out and she couldn't cry anymore. She propped up the piano lid, covered her face with her hands, and watched the show with a crack of her eyes.
Gu Xiuyi stood up, his face grim: "What do you mean by servants? Aren't they all human beings? Can they do things that you can't do?"
He casually pointed at the mess on the ground with his fingertips: "Sweep it clean, don't leave even a tiny bit of debris behind."
"Brother!" Gu Xiuli wanted to retort and was about to cry, but when Gu Xiuyi gave her a cold look, she had no choice but to swallow her words back.
Gu Xiuyi's figure was too tall for them. Even though he just stood there and did nothing, his fierce aura was enough to scare them.
Gu Xuli clenched his fists, bit his lips hard, and trotted out.
By the time Fang Lan realized something was wrong and rushed over, the piano room was brightly lit. Ji Ruan was leaning on the piano, being hugged and coaxed softly by Gu Xiuyi, while his own son was sweeping the floor with a broom and tears in his eyes.
This scene was like a slap in Fang Lan's face. She snatched the broom from her son's hand, put on a stiff smile, and took two steps towards Gu Xiuyi: "Xiuyi, what are you doing?"
Gu Xiuyi was busy coaxing Ji Ruan, without even raising his head: "Oh, nothing, Xiaoli made a mistake and I punished him."
"Him!" Fang Lan took a deep breath and said, "What did he do wrong?"
Gu Xiuyi looked back at her coldly: "He injured my child's leg."
Fang Lan's gaze immediately moved down to Ji Ruan's fair calf, where there was a white Band-Aid on her ankle.
A small piece!
It looks like the injury would have healed if it hadn’t been treated later!
Fang Lan was so angry that her temples were throbbing.
"Mom! It wasn't me at all!" Gu Xiuli cried and pulled Fang Lan's arm to protest: "He broke the photo frame himself. I just wanted to apologize to him and make good relations with him. It was him! He was the one who cursed without knowing right or wrong and he also broke things!"
"Shut up!" Fang Lan shook off her son's hand and tried her best to maintain her virtuous appearance: "Xiuyi, you heard it too. Xiaoli said he was innocent. You can't not believe your brother!"
"Is that so..." Gu Xiuyi nodded thoughtfully and raised Ji Ruan's chin: "Is what he said true?"
Ji Ruan didn't answer, but his red and swollen eyes were stunned for a moment, as if he didn't expect to be questioned. After several seconds, he lowered his eyes in extreme disappointment, biting his lower lip to hold back tears.
Gu Xiuyi immediately hugged Ji Ruan, rubbed the back of his head and coaxed him in a low voice: "Okay, okay, don't cry, I get it."
He turned his head and glanced at the mother and son: "You saw it too, Xiaoli was not wronged."
"Brother!" Gu Xuli's emotions were out of control: "Why do you believe everything he says! No...he hasn't said anything yet, I'm your biological brother!"
"Okay, Xiaoli!" Fang Lan held onto Gu Xiuli tightly, maintaining her last bit of rationality: "Xiuyi... yes, yes, even if Xiaoli made a mistake, I'll apologize for him, okay? But you can't punish him like this..."
Gu Xiuyi was surprised: "How did I punish him?"
Fang Lan was crying, as if she had suffered a great humiliation: "You can't, you can't let him do the work of a servant, he is the second young master of the Gu family!"
"Alas," Gu Xiuyi sighed with a headache, "Aunt Fang, the remnants of feudalism are too much in your hands. What era is it now? You still call me a servant? With the way you educate me, it's no wonder that Xiaoli is ignorant."
Fang Lan was originally very angry, but when she heard Gu Xiuyi say this, she suddenly figured out something else: "What... do you mean?"
Gu Xiuyi smiled and said, "Xiaoli is about to graduate from university, how about studying abroad?"
"How can that be possible!" Fang Lan lost her voice, and the illusion she had been maintaining was shattered at this moment: "He is going to join the company after graduation!"
"There's no rush for this," Gu Xiuyi said calmly, "Xiao Li himself said that he doesn't have enough ability, and I'm sending him abroad for his own good."
"No, no!" Fang Lan's voice trembled: "Xiao Li has never traveled far away by himself. It's so chaotic abroad..."
Gu Xiuyi said nonchalantly: "It's not a mess. I studied abroad for so many years and came back safely. Besides, he is the son of my Gu family. How can he be wronged when he goes out?"
"That's it," he picked up Ji Ruan and walked out: "I will ask the secretary to sort out the information of various universities. Xiaoli should be able to go abroad to continue his studies soon."
Gu Xuli was completely frozen in place.
Fang Lan trotted a few steps and grabbed Gu Xiuyi's sleeve: "You are going too far. Even if you want to send a small gift abroad, it should be your father's decision!"
Gu Xiuyi looked at Fang Lan's desperate look, and the smile on his lips was very calm: "If you think telling Gu Zhaoxu will help, please go ahead."
After saying that, he no longer looked at the expressions of the mother and son, and strode away with Ji Ruan in his arms, feeling refreshed.
The cloth in her hand was suddenly pulled away. Fang Lan staggered two steps and was supported by Gu Xuli.
Gu Xiuyi looked at the corridor ahead with a blank look in his eyes: "Mom...so am I really going to be sent abroad?"
Fang Lan closed her eyes, breathing heavily and said nothing.
Gu Xiuli's mind seemed to be drained: "Let's tell Dad, he will definitely not let me go!"
Fang Lan slowly straightened up: "Do you think Gu Xiuyi still cares about your father now?"
"But he, he always has some say!" Gu Xuli said anxiously.
"It's useless," Fang Lan looked at her son, "He has already thought about it."
"W-what?"
Fang Lan's eye sockets were sunken, and she seemed to have aged a lot in an instant: "Gu Xiuyi has wanted to send you out for a long time. Letting you into the company is a threat to him. Today, he just took advantage of the incident with that little bitch to make it clear."
She pushed Gu Xuli's hand away and staggered out: "Even if not now, tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, next month, he will still find an excuse to send you abroad..."
·
"In fact, you have already thought about it."
After returning home, Ji Ruan took a shower and lay on the bed, putting an ice pack on his eyes, while speaking slowly.
"What?"
Gu Xiuyi was sitting at the head of the bed, pressing the wound on Ji Ruan's ankle with gauze.
"I say, you've been wanting to get your cheap brother out for a long time, right?" Ji Ruan said jokingly, "You said you were helping me, but you actually have a lot on your mind."
Gu Xiuyi chuckled: "I can send him away anytime I want."
"But you can't just send someone away while cursing at them like you did today, right?"
Ji Ruan took off the ice pack and sat up, propping up his chin and looking at Gu Xiuyi: "If it were any other time, given your stepmother's difficulty, you would have to put on a fake smile and play along with them for a long time before you could deal with it. How could it be so satisfying today?"
Gu Xiuyi curled the corner of his mouth and didn't answer.
But if he didn't answer, Ji Ruan would keep staring at him and see through him.
Gu Xiuyi sighed: "What do you think?"
Ji Ruan didn't like to use his brain, so he said casually, "I think it's good. In fact, according to his IQ, he won't be able to make any waves even if he enters the company. It's mainly because it's annoying. Who wouldn't feel disgusted when an annoying person is walking under your nose every day?"
Gu Xiuyi was amused by Ji Ruan's choice of words. He raised his index finger and tapped on his white calf: "You use rude words."
He had long fingers, and he tapped Ji Ruan's calf with just his index finger, which inexplicably carried some unclear suggestive meaning.
Ji Ruan subconsciously shrank back, and Gu Xiuyi naturally held her ankle and pulled her back.
"Ahem," Ji Ruan scratched the tip of his nose: "Actually, I'm still a little worried..."
Gu Xiuyi raised his eyes and motioned for him to continue.
"That's right..." Ji Ruan hesitated: "If the mother and son thought that you wanted to get rid of that little hoof because you were afraid of his talent, wouldn't it be even more disgusting?"
Gu Xiuyi paused and tightened his jaw suddenly, looking really disgusted.
His stepmother probably really thought so. She would rather believe that all the men in the world were dead than admit that her son was not smart.
"Let's not talk about this anymore," Gu Xiuyi exhaled, looking at Ji Ruan's ankle with a serious expression: "There's something wrong with your wound, why can't the bleeding stop?"
Ji Ruan stretched his neck to take a look. Gu Xiuyi had already used up several small pieces of gauze. The amount of bleeding was indeed a bit exaggerated compared to the depth of the wound, but it was not a lot.
"It's okay," Ji Ruan pouted, "I probably broke it again when I was taking a shower. Just put a band-aid on it."
Gu Xiuyi did not comment and observed the wound carefully. It was indeed very small and shallow. It was probably just Ji Ruan's poor physical condition that caused the wound to heal slowly.
"Even though you're venting your anger, you shouldn't hurt yourself." Gu Xiuyi said while putting a Band-Aid on the wound.
"This is such an accident," Ji Ruan said while holding the teddy bear. "I was going to smash it in your brother's direction, and it was quite far away. Who knows how the broken glass flew over here?"
He sighed and said, "Maybe harming others will eventually harm yourself. It turns out that I should not do evil or be a bad person in the future."
"You are quite conscious." Gu Xiuyi leaned on the wooden table at the end of the bed with his arms folded. "But they were the first to do evil. How can you be considered a bad person, kid?"
As he spoke, he moved closer, looked at Ji Ruan's face pressed against the belly of the stuffed bear, and curled his lips teasingly:
"You are—at best—an unlucky fellow."
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