Chapter 53
The autumn wind at night carried a hint of chill as Gu Yang sat in the passenger seat, leaning against the window and gazing at the bustling city skyline.
Lin Lan had returned, so it was only natural that Lin Xiao Ran would move back home. However, the suddenness of the move tonight caught Gu Yang off guard.
Having been apart from her son for three months, Lin Lan naturally didn’t want to be separated from him again. Since she couldn’t just move into Gu’s house immediately, she first went there to pack Lin Xiao Ran’s things in the afternoon before heading to the school to find him.
After a meal together, Gu Xiu Yuan drove them back to Tianjun Peak.
Now, only Gu Yang and Gu Xiu Yuan were left driving back to the East Lake villa.
Their relationship hadn’t softened after Gu Xiu Yuan’s apology; they usually stayed quiet around each other. The car was filled with silence, only the sound of the radio breaking the stillness.
Gu Xiu Yuan glanced over at Gu Yang a few times, realizing that if he didn’t speak, Gu Yang wouldn’t initiate a conversation either. With a helpless sigh, he said, “I heard from your homeroom teacher that you ranked second in the whole grade this time?”
The monthly exam results had been out for a while and the excitement at the school had faded. However, Gu Yang’s score had indeed improved drastically. There was too much gossip circulating in the school; even if someone presented Gu Yang’s middle school scores as evidence of his intelligence, it was hard to convince people that he could jump from the bottom of the class to second place in just a month.
Thus, the school conducted various investigations to confirm that Gu Yang had followed the rules during the exam and there was no possibility of cheating before finally informing Gu Xiu Yuan of his scores.
Naturally, Gu Xiu Yuan was pleased; he had always been worried about Gu Yang’s significant decline in grades since the third year of middle school. But he also realized that the only explanation for Gu Yang’s rapid improvement was that his previous poor performances were deliberate.
Gu Yang didn’t respond to his question, continuing to stare out the window.
Gu Xiu Yuan took another glance at him, “Gu Yang, I know you still think that what happened with your mother is my fault. You’ve been angry with me for three years. But you have to understand, I couldn’t foresee it. I didn’t know that would happen. If I had known…”
“Arrived.”
Before he could finish, Gu Yang calmly interrupted him.
Gu Xiu Yuan paused, stopping the car at the entrance.
Gu Yang didn’t say another word, simply opened the door and got out.
Through the car window, Gu Xiu Yuan watched his son’s retreating figure and could only shake his head in resignation.
Three years had passed, and he knew that Gu Yang still held onto his grievances. He didn’t know how to open up that locked heart of Gu Yang’s because even to this day, Gu Yang never brought it up directly.
Even if Gu Xiu Yuan wanted to discuss it, Gu Yang would only remain silent.
This time, Gu Yang had finally not hidden his academic performance. Over the past period, Gu Xiu Yuan had also noticed that Gu Yang no longer wandered aimlessly outside. He thought perhaps Gu Yang had come to terms with things.
Now, it seemed that was not the case.
Back in his room, Gu Yang lay back on the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling for a while before getting up and heading to the bathroom to shower.
After showering and coming out, he heard the sound of Bai Tang meowing outside, rubbing his head dry as he opened the door. He saw the little creature sitting at the door of the opposite room, peeking inside.
Gu Yang squatted down to pat its little head, but as he looked into the empty room across, he suddenly felt a bit empty inside.
“Meow~” Seeing him, Bai Tang seemed to see a glimmer of hope, turning to rub against his feet, then scratching his hand with its little paws, looking back and forth between him and Lin Xiao Ran’s room, meowing continuously as if asking Gu Yang where the pretty brother had gone.
Gu Yang scooped it up and flopped onto Lin Xiao Ran’s bed, gently asking, “Do you miss him?”
“Meow~”
“He’s gone home. What should we do?”
“Meow~ Meow~”
The little guy seemed to understand, scratching him insistently as if urging him to find a solution.
Gu Yang pinched its little paw, helplessly saying, “I want to too, but we can’t just keep him from going home, right?”
As he spoke, he suddenly remembered something, placed the little creature on the bed, and dashed to his room to grab his phone. He opened the camera and filmed a video of Bai Tang.
The little one sat on the bed, staring up at the camera with wide eyes, looking puzzled by what was happening. After a few glances, it lost interest and lowered its head to sniff the bed, catching a whiff of Lin Xiao Ran’s scent, and then happily rolled over, hugging its tail.
Once Gu Yang finished recording the video, he sent it to Lin Xiao Ran along with a short message: Bai Tang misses you.
At Tianjun Peak, Lin Xiao Ran had just finished showering and was sitting at the table drying his hair, the damp strands slightly long and hanging over his forehead.
Hearing the WeChat notification, he casually picked up his phone and opened the message, seeing the video of Bai Tang. A warm smile spread across his clear eyes as he watched the video several times before finally replying: I’ll come to see him when I rest.
Just after sending the message, Gu Yang quickly replied: Not sleeping? How’s your ankle?
Staring at the message on his phone, Lin Xiao Ran blinked his clear eyes, feeling as though Gu Yang sending him a video of Bai Tang was just an excuse. It seemed like Gu Yang really wanted to talk to him.
If he wanted to talk, he could just send a message or call directly. Why bother with an excuse?
So silly!
However, the silly Gu Yang still managed to make him laugh, and a smile unconsciously crept onto Lin Xiao Ran’s lips as he replied, “Just finished showering. How about you?”
Gu Yang: “I’m in your room, playing with Bai Tang.”
Lin Xiao Ran paused for a moment, and suddenly the image of Gu Yang lying on his bed with Bai Tang flashed in his mind. He felt a strange discomfort, unable to pinpoint why.
Gu Yang’s message came through again: “Are you getting used to being back home?”
Looking around his room, Lin Xiao Ran realized it felt somewhat unfamiliar. After all, he hadn’t lived here for three months and had seemingly gotten used to staying at Gu Yang’s place.
“Still not asleep?” Lin Lan saw the door to his room ajar and walked in, immediately noticing the message from Gu Yang on his phone. She smiled and asked, “Chatting with Yang Yang?”
Lin Xiao Ran nodded, putting his phone aside. “Yeah.”
Lin Lan came over and sat by the bed, ruffling his hair with a smile of relief. “I was worried you might not get used to staying at Uncle Gu’s house, but it seems like you and Yang Yang get along really well. He’s a good kid. I hadn’t met him before, and your Uncle Gu kept saying he was trouble and didn’t listen. I thought he’d be a total brat, but he’s handsome and has a nice personality—really good.”
Lin Xiao Ran looked at her, a bit surprised.
Lin Lan was a host and had a way with words, but she rarely gave such compliments privately, showing she truly thought well of Gu Yang.
In fact, Gu Yang did seem to have a good personality, didn’t he?
Lin Lan didn’t stay long, as she was tired from the long flight, and Lin Xiao Ran had to get up early the next day.
Once Lin Lan left, Lin Xiao Ran lay down.
He remembered he hadn’t replied to Gu Yang’s earlier message and reached for his phone on the table, finding another message from Gu Yang: “Did you put medicine on your ankle? A little pressure should help; don’t suffer like last night.”
In the dark, the dim light from the phone illuminated Lin Xiao Ran’s face. He blinked at the screen, recalling how Gu Yang had sat on the edge of his bed, helping him with the ice pack. Unconsciously, his ankle moved slightly, pulling at the injury and causing a bit of pain.
He sighed lightly, then typed a quick reply: “Yeah, I’m going to sleep.”
After sending it, he tossed the phone aside, turned over, and closed his eyes, feeling a vague sense of loss that he couldn’t understand. Why did moving back home feel like this?
So strange!
Lin Xiao Ran rarely had trouble sleeping due to his thoughts, but tonight it was hard to drift off. He finally fell asleep in the early hours, making it difficult to get up in the morning. Splashing cold water on his face helped wake him up, and he changed into his school uniform before heading down for breakfast.
Lin Lan was preparing breakfast while also trying to persuade him. “Ran Ran, why don’t you skip school today? Your ankle is so swollen; wouldn’t it be better to rest at home for a few days? I can call your teacher for you. Missing a few days won’t hurt your grades. It’s not like you have to be first every time. I just want you to do okay. I wouldn’t feel right sending you out like this; what if something happened on the way…”
After three months apart, Lin Lan was still the same quirky mom, never pushing Lin Xiao Ran on his grades, always with plenty to say.
Lin Xiao Ran was used to it, quietly sitting at the table and eating breakfast, letting her words drift in one ear and out the other.
At that moment, the doorbell rang.
Lin Lan paused her chatter, puzzled. “Who could it be this early in the morning?” She walked over to open the door.
Lin Xiao Ran continued eating, indifferent, until he suddenly heard Lin Lan exclaim with surprise, “Yang Yang? What are you doing here so early?”
Lin Xiao Ran, with his head down, noticed his eyelashes flutter as he glanced up at the door. Gu Yang was smiling and greeting Lin Lan. “Good morning, Auntie! I was worried about Ran Ran’s ankle, so I came to go to school with him.”
As Gu Yang spoke, he noticed Lin Xiao Ran and waved, “Hey, good morning.”
Lin Xiao Ran shot him a glance, then looked back down at his food, feeling that Gu Yang was being a bit overdramatic. It wasn’t like he couldn’t take a taxi; he twisted his ankle, not becoming incapacitated. Gu Yang must have gotten up so early just to come here.
Yet, he felt a bit happy for some unknown reason.
Lin Lan handed Gu Yang a pair of slippers to change into, her smile beaming. “Yang Yang, you’re so thoughtful! I was just worrying. I just got back to the country, and I have to go to the TV station this morning. I can’t take Ran Ran to school myself. I wouldn’t feel right letting him take a taxi alone. You coming to take him with you puts my mind at ease. Have you eaten breakfast yet?”
“Not yet. I heard Ran Ran say Auntie cooks well, so I wanted to come and join you for breakfast,” Gu Yang said, putting on the slippers and heading to the dining room, sitting casually beside Lin Xiao Ran.
Lin Lan, already fond of Gu Yang, was even more pleased by his sweet talk. “Oh, Yang Yang, you really know how to charm! You’re handsome, considerate, and your words are so sweet. Whoever gets to be your girlfriend will be so lucky!” As she spoke, she turned away to cook dumplings for Gu Yang.
Hearing this, Gu Yang couldn’t help but glance at Lin Xiao Ran, who happened to look up. Their eyes met, and Gu Yang raised an eyebrow as if to say, “Did you hear that?”
Lin Xiao Ran rolled his eyes at him and continued eating, ignoring him.
Gu Yang chuckled. While Lin Lan was busy, he reached over and pinched Lin Xiao Ran’s cheek. Lin Xiao Ran raised his foot to kick him, but Lin Lan turned around, so Lin Xiao Ran had to retract his foot, glaring at Gu Yang.
Lin Lan, focused on cooking dumplings, didn’t notice their little antics. Once the dumplings were ready, she served them to Gu Yang and continued chatting.
Lin Lan had a great personality, not like most parents who would put on airs in front of their children. She seemed more like a friend, easily discussing any topic.
After finishing breakfast, the two boys said goodbye to Lin Lan and headed out.
Taking the elevator down to the first floor, Lin Xiao Ran still couldn’t put weight on his injured ankle, so Gu Yang directly picked him up.
Lin Xiao Ran was taken by surprise. “Hey…”
“Come on, if we wait for you to walk down step by step, we’ll miss lunch at school,” Gu Yang interrupted, carrying him outside and placing him on his bicycle, ready to head off. But then he noticed the dark circles under Lin Xiao Ran’s eyes and reached out to lift his chin, leaning in closer.
