Chapter 42.2
There was one less person on the way back, and the atmosphere in the car followed suit and became quite cold. Lu Ziqing didn’t say anything from the beginning to the end, only holding his mobile phone with gloomy eyes. Lu Mingren tried to initiate a conversation several times but found that he could not find anything to say.
As the car drove into the city, Lu Ziqing suddenly spoke up, “Stop the car.”
There were shops all around, and thinking he had something he wanted to buy, Lu pulled over to the side of the road. Unexpectedly, after his son left the passenger seat, he saw through the rear-view mirror that he had waved for a taxi.
The corners of Lu Mingren’s mouth twitched as he hurriedly unbuckled his seat belt and got out, asking angrily before Lu Ziqing got into the taxi, “Where are you going?”
Lu Ziqing opened the car door and paused for a few seconds before answering, “You can go back by yourself; I want to go find my brother.” After saying that, he didn’t care if Lu Mingren answered or not, he got into the car and left.
Lu Mingren: “……”
What’s with the inexplicable feeling that children are too old to stay?
———
“Ugh, it’s still a bother that I made you come this way at night.” Xie Chunhua stood outside the bathroom with a slightly bemused expression.
When Gu Xiyu came out of the bathroom, his hair and the upper half of his clothes were all wet. He took the towel Xie Chunhua handed over and said with a light smile, “It’s alright, I had nothing to do, so I could come over here to rest and relax. It’s me who didn’t think it through, I’ll write down the contact numbers of those emergency lock openers, furniture repairers, or faucet makers tomorrow so you can ask them for help in the future when I’m not around.”
“Okay, hurry up and take a shower first, so you don’t catch a cold.” As Xie Chunhua said this, Gu Xiyu coughed sideways a few more times, his brow furrowing tightly.
Xie Chunhua got scared and immediately said, “I’ll go get you a cup of hot water.”
“It’s alright, it’s an old problem. You have to go to bed early, so go and wash up first, I’ll wait for you.” Gu Xiyu gently pushed Xie Chunhua into the bathroom, forcing her to use it first and wiping his hair as he got himself a hot drink.
He held back for a long time but ended up adding ice to it.
The average person’s body was weaker than it was said to be and should not be able to withstand his love for cold things.
He had just finished making it, and before he had a chance to drink it, the doorbell suddenly rang. He opened the door only to find it was Lin Mianmian, wearing a pink long-sleeved jacket and carrying a small schoolbag behind her.
Lin Mianmian made a gesture of silence before he opened his mouth. She glanced down the corridor with a nervous expression and asked in a small voice, “Xixi, can I come and sit in your house for a while?”
Gu Xiyu did not reply, but simply gave way and let her in. Lin Mianmian even closed the door for him, taking the phrase “silently closing the door” to the extreme.
He was puzzled by her cautious attitude and asked, “What’s wrong with you?”
Lin Mianmian breathed a sigh of relief after entering his home and finally dared to speak out, “Nothing…ah, I just don’t know how to tell you.”
Seeing her face fretful, Gu Xiyu silently handed over the drink in his hand and said, “Hot cocoa that has just been brewed, you can drink it first.”
“Thanks.” Lin Mianmian didn’t refuse and took small sips like a frightened little rabbit.
It was only after a few minutes that she opened her mouth to ask the strange question again, “Say, Xixi, have you seen my brother in class ……? What do you think of his mood lately?”
Gu Xiyu hesitantly said, “I have the same elective class as him every Tuesday and occasionally meet up at school for lunch together, I don’t think he’s been different from his usual self. What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know. My brother is actually very nice to me and treats me like his own sister, and I’m grateful to him. It’s just that, I feel like he’s been watching me too closely lately. I can’t even go out with my friends when I want to. Especially Xu Chengxuan, I feel as if he has a huge grudge against him. He lives across, but I’m not allowed to discuss homework with him if I want to.”
Lin Mianmian’s hand holding the cup turned white with force: “He even said strange things to me recently, when I didn’t want to listen to his order to stay away from Chengxuan, he said it was all for his good, otherwise I would cause Chengxuan to get hurt ……”
“I was a bit confused, but I met Chengxuan this afternoon when I went to pick up a delivery and saw him with gauze wrapped around his arm. When I asked him what happened, he just said it was an injury he got from an accidental fall at home.”
Gu Xiyu: “You suspect that his injury has something to do with your brother?”
Lin Mianmian’s long black hair fell loosely over her shoulders, matching her dejected mood: “I hope not; it’s just that I don’t think my brother’s mood is quite right lately, and when I’m alone with him at home, there’s an inexplicable sense of danger.”
“I just remembered that since childhood, whenever any of my friends, especially the boys, got closer to me, they would end up slowly distancing themselves from me. Ah yes, every time before they started avoiding me, they would also get a small injury on their bodies.”
Lin Mianmian suddenly felt a little guilty, “Perhaps I’m overthinking things? My brother is so good to me, if I’m misunderstanding……”
Gu Xiyu comforted, “It’s not easy to conclude on this matter; it’s good that you have a sense of self-security.”
Liu Sheng seemed to be quite a gentle person, and he knew the latter’s feelings for Lin Mianmian. As for whether he had a secret dark personality, that was uncertain.
“My parents happened to be out of town today, and I was supposed to go to Chengxuan’s in the evening to do my discussion group homework with him, but my brother ended up stopping me. His eyes got scary again, and I managed to stay up until he fell asleep. I didn’t want to stay with him for the time being, so I came to Auntie Xie to see if she could take me in for the night.”
Gu Xiyu gently patted her head, saying, “There’s a clean guest room, feel free to sleep there if you don’t mind.”
As they chatted, Xie Chunhua also happened to come out of the bathroom after taking a shower and was surprised to see Mianmian: “Hey? Isn’t this Mr. Liu’s baby next door? You came to hang out with Ah Yu so late at night?”
Lin Mianmian was a very cute and polite child, and she knew that the person living next door was Gu Xiyu’s mother, so she would usually bring her a portion of whatever goodies the family had to offer. As time went by, Xie Chunhua soon became familiar with her and had a particularly good impression of her.
Gu Xiyu did not mention Liu Sheng’s matter; he only mentioned that Lin Mianmian’s family was not at home today and she did not dare to be alone, so Xie Chunhua immediately arranged a guest room for her to rest in. His mother wasn’t even that attentive when Lu Ziqing stayed over.
With Gu Xiyu’s help, Xie Chunhua quickly tidied up the room for Lin Mianmian to rest, and the girl kept bending over to thank him.
Later, when Gu Xiyu came out of the hot bath, Xie Chunhua had already gone to bed. Lin Mianmian saw him staring at the phone and asked in a whisper, “By the way, Xixi, Lu Ziqing said that you help him with all his homework. I was so angry with my brother tonight that I didn’t dare to ask him any questions I didn’t know, and I couldn’t go to Chengxuan ……”
Gu Xiyu understood what she meant as soon as he heard it. He looked down to confirm that Lu Ziqing still hadn’t replied to his message, turned off his phone, and sat down with Lin Mianmian at the living room table, “No problem, if there’s anything you don’t know, I’ll help you look at it.”
After the homework was done, Lin Mianmian looked at him in admiration: “Xixi, you’re great; you get good grades, and you’re good at playing games!”
He laughed casually and said, “So is Ziqing.”
“Classmate Lu is indeed amazing; he’s a legend in school now.” Lin Mianmian spoke up and had just finished stretching when the doorbell rang.
She was so scared that she quickly gathered all the things on the table, picked up her school bag, and said in a low voice, “If it’s my brother, you must say you haven’t seen me!”
With those words, she ran to the guest room to hide, turned off the light in the room, and left the door open by a crack to peek outside.
Her actions made Gu Xiyu a little nervous, and he hesitated at the door before opening it.
The person outside the door was still panting heavily, his hair a bit messy from his run. The zippered cotton jacket on his body was half open, and he could see the black T-shirt inside with a blue cat printed on it, which rose and fell slightly with his breathing.
Lu Ziqing’s eyes were a little red, and he didn’t know if it was from anger or discomfort.
Before Gu Xiyu could react, he pounced on him and forcefully took him into his arms, asking in a hoarse, angry voice, “How can I trust you when you decide to leave home well knowing that there’s not much time left to see each other every day?”
Gu Xiyu leaned his head against Lu Ziqing’s shoulder, their bodies close together, their attention drawn to the strong heartbeat from each other’s chest.
Lu Ziqing’s heartbeat was loud and a little more rapid than his own.
When he returned to his senses, Lu Ziqing had already pressed him against the door. The other party grabbed his jaw with such force that it hurt him a little. Probably because he was so angry with him, this guy didn’t care if other people would find out. He wrapped his arms around his waist, lowered his head to kiss him for a long time, and deliberately bit him on the side of his lip before separating.
Gu Xiyu raised his hand and touched the sore spot, and his fingers were unsurprisingly stained with red blood.
He frowned and asked, “Are you a dog?”
Lu Ziqing still couldn’t let go of him, and his eyes were full of sorrow: “I belong to you.”
Gu Xiyu was about to lose his temper but suddenly remembered something.
He silently glanced toward the door of the guest room. Although the sound of the door being closed was very faint, it seemed particularly clear in this silent space.
Lu Ziqing noticed it and followed his line. He looked back at him, and his eyes instantly turned gloomy: “Brother, are you hiding someone behind my back?”
“Saying you came to see Auntie but actually came to have a rendezvous with someone else?”
Lu Ziqing gritted his teeth and asked, “Who is it?”
Gu Xiyu: “……”
He wondered whether it was his social death scene today, or Lin Mianmian’s.