Chapter 69 "My Time in Germany"
When Song Jiahe received Ji Yuanfeng's call, he was still in Milan.
Ji Yuanfeng rarely called Song Jiahe while she was working. Even if there was a problem, his first choice was to call Song Jiahe's assistant. But this time, he called Song Jiahe directly.
Even after leaving the table, Ji Yuanfeng's head was still throbbing. The words "Dad, please help me" had left him feeling both sore and numb.
“I don’t know what I did wrong, but Tongtong asks me if I would still love him if he didn’t have children.”
"He wants me to help him?" Ji Yuanfeng wiped his face. "You don't know the tone and look in his eyes when he said that. I... how can I, as a father, bear it—"
“Tell me again what Tongtong said in detail.”
Song Jiahe's cold voice interrupted Ji Yuanfeng's heartfelt emotions, and Ji Yuanfeng stopped halfway through wiping his face.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"Nothing much. Just repeat what Tongtong said, word for word."
Ji Yuanfeng's phone call focused entirely on Ji Tong, glossing over everything else, including information about the girl Ji Tong liked. At this point, he found it strange.
"She's a high school classmate, we've known each other for three years, and we've only been dating for two months. Her family background is similar to ours... That's all. Tongtong didn't say much, and I didn't ask for details."
After Ji Yuanfeng finished speaking, the call suddenly fell silent.
Sensing that Song Jiahe's mood was off, Ji Yuanfeng stopped talking.
The two of them just held their phones like that.
Three minutes later, Song Jiahe spoke.
"When is Tongtong going back to school?"
"After lunch tomorrow."
“I’ll go to the airport after I’ve finished dealing with the art exhibition. I’ll arrive in Anjing at nine o’clock tomorrow morning. You can have Tongtong…” Song Jiahe paused, then changed her words, “You can have Xiaoshu wait for me at home.”
Ji Yuanfeng frowned as he looked at the disconnected call.
The wife obviously came back because of her son, but why did she look for Xiaoshu instead of Tongtong?
The next morning, Ji Yuanfeng only drank a bowl of porridge and drove himself to the airport.
After picking him up, on the way back to Haiyuan, Ji Yuanfeng wanted to talk about his son. Just as he was about to speak, the car's speakers suddenly connected to Bluetooth and started playing white noise from the fireplace.
Song Jiahe leaned back in her chair with her eyes closed.
Ji Yuanfeng swallowed all his words.
There's no other reason than that Song Jiahe only listens to white noise when he's feeling restless and needs to calm down.
When the car was still a few hundred meters away from Haiyuan, Song Jiahe opened her eyes and said, "Stop at the entrance. I'll go upstairs first. You drive the car back to the garage."
Song Jiahe got out of the car and walked into the villa. Aunt Yang came to greet her, and Song Jiahe only said two sentences.
One sentence, "Where is the little book?" and another, "Where is Tongtong?"
Aunt Yang answered truthfully.
"His pillow book is in his own room."
"Tongtong is still sleeping."
After saying that, Aunt Yang watched as Song Jiahe walked straight to the second floor. She didn't take the elevator, and she didn't even take off her coat.
Song Jiahe didn't sleep all night, only managing to get a few hours of sleep on the plane.
Ji Yuanfeng said that there was very little information about the girl Ji Tong liked. He even went to look through his son's graduation photo, but there was no such person. She was probably from another class.
Song Jiahe, however, knew that enough was enough.
It's not that this person doesn't exist, it's that this "girl" doesn't exist.
Ji Yuanfeng took the phrase "knowing each other for three years" as a general reference, meaning the three years of high school.
But Song Jiahe knew it wasn't true.
Gu Lingao transferred to No. 1 Middle School three years ago in March.
The reason they can't have children isn't because anyone has a health problem; it's simply that they're incapable of having them.
Song Jiahe caught Song Zhenshu smoking twice, both times two months ago, and Tongtong had just been dating him for two months.
Song Jiahe finally understood why Xiao Shu, who had quit smoking for several years, suddenly picked it up again and, contrary to his usual behavior, stayed peacefully in Anjing.
Song Jiahe hadn't asked anything yet, but she knew that Song Zhenshu must have met with Gu Lin.
Given his personality and past experiences—
Song Zhenshu is the most difficult mountain to move in the Song family.
Gu Lin, however, walked past him.
During those ten hours on the plane, Song Jiahe thought about many things, not about the future of the two children or the Gu family, but about what Gu Lin had said to Zhen Shu.
But Song Jiahe never expected it to be a will.
Even more unexpectedly, Tongtong saw them.
-
Ji Yuanfeng parked his car in the garage, and as soon as the elevator doors opened, he saw Aunt Yang coming down from upstairs.
He casually asked, "Where's Jiahe?"
Aunt Yang: "Inside the little study."
Ji Yuanfeng took off his coat and handed it to Aunt Yang: "Is Tongtong awake yet? Has she eaten anything?"
Aunt Yang took the coat and pointed to the second floor: "He's up. He said he's not having breakfast. He'll have lunch with Madam later."
“That won’t do. Make him a bowl of shrimp wontons to tide him over. He didn’t eat much last night. I’ll go check on him.” Ji Yuanfeng said, heading towards Ji Tong’s room, but was stopped by Aunt Yang.
"Tongtong wasn't in his own room. Hearing that his wife was at Xiaoshu's place, he rushed over to his uncle's room in a hurry."
Ji Yuanfeng: "?"
What are they doing running towards the small book?
Ji Yuanfeng said "I understand" and was about to go upstairs when a dull thud came from the second floor.
That's the direction of the small study room.
Ji Yuanfeng told Aunt Yang to go to the kitchen first, and then he went upstairs.
As soon as I stepped off the last step and turned around, I saw my son standing at his uncle's door.
"What's wrong? Why are you just standing there... What's wrong?!" As Ji Yuanfeng approached, he saw Ji Tong trembling all over. "Tongtong!"
The phone had already fallen to the ground, but Ji Tong's hand remained frozen in a clenched position, as if his body had been suddenly covered with a layer of white frost, freezing him in place.
What did he hear?
"Will," Ji Tong's eyes were somewhat vacant, his gaze seemingly floating even though he was looking at Song Zhenshu and Song Jiahe. "Whose will?"
Ji Yuanfeng, who was regarded as a benchmark by the entire business community in Anjing, showed a look of horror for the first time.
It has been a mere ten minutes since he parked the car back in the garage.
"Whose will? What will? Wife, Xiaoshu, what are you talking about?"
Ji Yuanfeng's voice reached Ji Tong's ears, but he couldn't hear anything. He just breathed heavily and repeated the sentence he had just said: "Whose will?"
Song Zhenshu quickly went over: "Tongtong, this isn't what you want..."
Ji Tong's voice trembled as she asked, "Was he sick? Why did he make a will?"
Ji Yuanfeng: "?"
Who's sick?!
Song Zhenshu was momentarily speechless. He never expected that Ji Tong's first reaction upon learning of Gu Linli's will was to ask him if he was ill.
Song Jiahe's heart skipped a beat.
She followed Song Zhenshu over, wanting to touch Ji Tong's face to comfort him, but when she raised her hand, she touched nothing.
It wasn't that Ji Tong avoided it; rather, he bent down to pick up the broken phone.
Ji Tong's hands were shaking so badly that he had to pick up the phone twice before he could.
The screen is cracked, but it still works.
Ji Tong unlocked the device while swaying as he stood up.
His eyes, face, nose, and even his neck were red, not a normal red, nor a swollen red from crying, but an unhealthy red, like the swollen red of someone who has been strangled with a thin rope.
“Mom, you guessed right.” Ji Tong no longer hesitated or wavered. He didn’t want to waste his energy erasing and concealing things like he did at the dinner table yesterday, and he didn’t care about taking things step by step. He looked straight at Song Jiahe and gave his answer like a hammer striking a sword.
"The person I like is Gu Lin, a guy. We've been dating for two months, and our relationship is very stable. We won't have children, but we'll get married in the future."
Like thunder, like a sudden downpour.
After the chaos and turmoil subside, there is utter tranquility.
Song Jiahe closed his eyes and exhaled the long breath that had been building up in his chest.
Song Zhenshu stood by the entrance hall, saying nothing.
Only Ji Yuanfeng, standing in the torrential rain with branches and leaves all over him, hadn't yet pulled himself out of the "will" when he was shattered to pieces by the name "Gu Lin".
Ji Tong did not pause. Under the swaying gaze of Ji Yuanfeng beside him, he opened his phone, flipped it over, and handed it to Song Zhenshu.
And so, Song Zhenshu saw a plane ticket on the screen, which was fragmented and looked like a spider web.
A plane ticket to Germany.
The passenger is Ji Tong, and the flight time is 11:00 AM tomorrow.
Song Zhenshu's eyelids twitched heavily, and the moment he looked up, he met Ji Tong's gaze.
Ji Tong spoke each word carefully.
"Uncle, can we talk about the will now?"
-
Twenty minutes later.
"That's how Gu Lin and I talked that day."
"Tongtong, Gu Lin isn't sick. He made a will simply because he's certain that there will be no one else in his life but you."
Only Song Zhenshu's voice remained in the room.
Ji Yuanfeng and Song Jiahe stood by the window smoking.
During the few minutes that Song Zhenshu was reciting the contents of the will, Ji Yuanfeng, who could calmly sign a nine-figure bill, forgot that his cigarette was still burning. It wasn't until the scalding wick burned his hand that he snapped back to reality and stubbed out the cigarette in the jar.
Ji Yuanfeng took the cigarette pack, wanting to light a second one, when he heard another sentence: "The will is in triplicate, one copy is at the notary office, one copy is with Gu Lin, and the last copy is with Gu Lin's parents."
Ji Yuanfeng dropped the cigarette pack in his hand to the ground. He was so exhausted that he couldn't even bend down to pick it up. His lips were so dry that they cracked, but he still forced himself to say to Song Jiahe, "If you can't stand up, lean on me."
Song Jiahe glanced at him but didn't say anything.
The next second, Ji Yuanfeng leaned against Song Jiahe.
Ji Tong sat on the edge of the bed the whole time, with his back to the three elders.
He just listened without saying a word.
Ji Tong finally spoke after Song Zhenshu said, "Gu Lin is not sick."
“He was sick, with sleep disorders and somatization of anxiety, I knew that.”
Song Zhenshu was taken aback.
Ji Tong then asked, "Was it Brother He who called you yesterday?"
Song Zhenshu watched Ji Tong's retreating figure.
yes.
The call from Germany was made by Qin He.
"Did you hear that?" Song Zhenshu asked.
Ji Tong's voice was flat and emotionless, as if he had just finished a long run: "Yeah, your door wasn't closed, I'm at the door."
Song Zhenshu hadn't expected Ji Tong to discover all of this in one day. He sighed and said cautiously, "Tongtong, the medication has been stopped. There's nothing seriously wrong."
“If you’re worried, your uncle will call Qin He right now and have him go to the hospital again to take a picture of your medical records.”
“Brother He isn’t a relative, so he can’t see it,” Ji Tong said. “I’ll go see it myself.”
Song Zhenshu almost forgot that he also had a plane ticket to Germany.
But right now, he couldn't help but remind her, "Tongtong, even if you marry Gu Lin in the future, right now... you're not a relative."
When Ji Yuanfeng and Song Jiahe heard the word "marriage," their temples twitched in unison.
“I know,” Ji Tong said. “I will contact Aunt Yang Yin after the plane lands.”
Ji Tong didn't say who "Aunt Yang Yin" was, but the other three people in the room knew.
Another silence followed.
After a long while, Ji Tong got up from beside the bed, walked step by step to Ji Yuanfeng and Song Jiahe, stood still, and looked at them.
Ji Tong's eyelids were a little swollen, and the corners of her eyes and the tip of her nose were still red. Her voice, which had been devoid of emotion, finally became a little choked up at this moment.
"Mom, Dad, I'm sorry."
Song Jiahe was still covered in cigarette smoke. She took off her coat, took out a handkerchief from her pocket, wiped her fingers that were still holding the cigarette, threw the handkerchief to Ji Yuanfeng, and then went forward to hug Ji Tong.
It took Song Jiahe less than half an hour to go from "knowing" to "accepting".
"No need to apologize."
"With my parents, there is never an 'I'm sorry'."
Song Jiahe's voice was both gentle and firm.
"From the day you were born, your parents' only 'requirements' for you are health, safety, and happiness."
Song Jiahe patted Ji Tong's head: "Are you happy being with Gu Lin?"
"happy."
"That's enough."
Ji Yuanfeng imitated Song Jiahe, wiping his hands clean with a handkerchief before touching the back of Ji Tong's head.
"Dad will help you."
"But Germany is too far away. Your mother and I are worried about you going alone. Should we let your uncle go with you?"
Ji Tong remained silent for a long time before agreeing.
-
From dawn till dusk, Ji Tong did nothing but lie in bed, except for lunch and dinner.
It was as if the fuse connecting his mind and body had been blown, and he was completely disconnected, waking up and falling asleep repeatedly.
At nine o'clock in the evening, Ji Tong called Gu Lin. He spoke in a normal tone, said a few words, and ended the conversation by saying "Mom is here."
The screen was still cracked, but Ji Tong ignored it and didn't replace it. Looking at the low power mode notification, Ji Tong long-pressed the lock screen and turned off the phone.
It was never opened again.
Until an aircraft slowed down by reverse braking along the runway, entered the taxiway, and came to a safe stop at its parking position at Berlin Brandenburg Airport.
Ji Tong looked out the window at the completely dark sky, and only when the seatbelt indicator light went out and the flight attendant announced that electronic devices could be turned on did he turn his phone back on, which had been off for a day and a night.
The screen inside the cabin displays the surface temperature and time in Germany.
It's 7:02 PM in Germany.
Ji Tong's phone, however, was still set to Anjing time.
Anjing, 1:02 AM.
The second the signal was received, there were 54 missed calls, half of which came from the same number.
Ji Tong looked down at the two words "Gu Lin" highlighted in red because the call had not been connected, and turned her finger to dial the number.
"Buzz," and the caller ID and a "low battery" message popped up simultaneously.
Ji Tong turned on low power mode, and the call was connected three seconds later.
The person, separated by a six-hour time difference, didn't speak; all Ji Tong could hear was a heavy, deep breathing sound.
Whether it was half a minute or a minute later, the person on the other end finally spoke, using a tired, hoarse voice that Ji Tong had never heard before, speaking word by word.
Where is it?
A business class flight attendant came over, saw Ji Tong on the phone, nodded slightly, and gestured for him to walk towards the VIP passage at the cabin door.
Berlin was still quite cold in March. Ji Tong only spoke when he got off the plane, boarded the VIP shuttle bus, and drove out along the separate security passage.
“Germany,” Ji Tong’s voice was as soft as a breeze, and he repeated it slowly, “I’m in Germany.”
There was no sound on the other end of the phone.
Even their breathing stopped.
"Gu Lin."
Ji Tong called Gu Lin's name softly, as gentle as a lover's murmur, but the words she said were quite the opposite.
"I'm very soft-hearted."
Ji Tong paused for two seconds, the Berlin wind blowing, and uttered the last sentence—
"It'll only be one day before you can't find me."
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