Damn!
His fist struck the wall with a heavy thud.
Zhang Fang was startled by the sudden noise. After calming down, she jumped up and smacked the back of his head. “You brat! You scared me to death! This is just a suspicion—why are you so worked up? It might really be a stomach issue. You could prescribe some stomach medicine for her. Vomiting like this doesn’t seem like something that’ll just go away with rest.”
Gu Ciyuan realized he had overreacted and quickly reined in his emotions. “I’ll take her to the hospital right now.”
Su Wantang’s objections were futile. Gu Ciyuan had tricked her into accompanying him to the hospital under the pretense of changing the dressing on his arm wound, but once there, he forced her to have her blood drawn.
In the hospital corridor, Su Wantang’s eyes were still brimming with tears after the blood draw.
“What’s there to cry about? It’s just a little blood. We’re just running some tests—if there’s nothing wrong, great; if there is, we can treat it.” Gu Ciyuan looked at Su Wantang, who seemed as vulnerable as a child. Though he didn’t want to believe it, her behavior only deepened his suspicions.
If she had nothing to hide, why was she so anxious?
A mother and child passed by.
The child asked, “Mom, why is that pretty sister crying?”
“Because that sister isn’t brave at all. Crying over a little blood draw at her age! Our little treasure mustn’t learn from her. We’re going to be a brave little man who doesn’t cry during blood draws.”
The child nodded solemnly. “Yes, I won’t cry.”
Su Wantang: “…”
The mother noticed Su Wantang looking at her and smiled apologetically. When her child ran ahead out of earshot, she whispered, “Sorry, comrade, I was just哄哄哄哄哄哄哄哄哄哄哄哄哄哄哄哄哄哄哄哄哄哄哄哄哄哄哄哄哄哄哄哄哄哄哄哄哄哄哄哄哄哄哄哄哄哄哄哄哄哄哄哄哄哄哄哄哄哄哄哄哄哄哄哄哄
He was eight years older than Su Wantang and had practically raised her in his arms. How could he not be furious that this younger sister, whom he had cherished in the palm of his hand, had been wronged by some scoundrel?
He was also angry with himself.
The last time he passed through Nan Province and visited the Su Family to see her, he ended up leaving in a rage without even catching a glimpse of her due to the schemes of Su’s Father and Su Ye.
Gu Ciyuan, nearly 1.9 meters tall, stood there now, his helplessness palpable. His usually sharp and stern eyes were tinged with red.
Su Wantang, a head shorter than him, was completely shielded against the wall by his frame. Her lips trembled as she stammered after a long pause, “It’s… it’s yours.”
As soon as she finished speaking, she saw Gu Ciyuan’s brows furrow tightly, his gaze filled with disbelief.
Thinking he didn’t believe her, Su Wantang hurriedly explained, “It’s true. That day, my dad wouldn’t let me go home and told me to stay at a classmate’s place. But I had a fight with my classmate in the middle of the night and ran back home. You… you pulled me inside.”
Su Wantang told the truth, not daring to hide anything anymore.
She added, “Because of this, Su Ye started to resent me and persuaded my dad to secretly plan a trip to Hong Kong. They… they even handed me over to a man called Lord Zhao in exchange for two boat tickets, then abandoned me and left. That night, it was pouring rain. I knocked someone out with a candlestick to escape. A friend helped me buy a train ticket, and I ran away. I had nowhere else to go, so I could only come to you.”
“In that case, why did you go to H City?”
This was a question Gu Ciyuan had long wanted to ask but had suppressed, fearing Su Wantang would think he was meddling too much.
“Tickets to Jingdu were hard to get, and I had offended someone, so I could only buy the nearest train ticket to H City. Later, I met Zhou Xinyue, and she asked her cousin to help me sneak onto a train to Jingdu through the wilderness. That’s how I got here.”
When Su Wantang first realized the person before her was Gu Ciyuan, she had already prepared a story in her mind.
Though she described it in just a few simple sentences, Gu Ciyuan, having experienced so much himself, knew well how arduous such a journey must have been for an inexperienced young girl.
But he never expected that the one who had wronged Su Wantang was himself!
For a moment, he was at a loss for words.
At the other end of the corridor, head nurse Li Cuiping had been watching the two for a while, sensing something was off.
She went to the nurse’s station to inquire and was shocked to learn that Su Wantang had come for a pregnancy test!
Gu Ciyuan had never paid much attention to family matters. He only knew Li Cuiping worked at a hospital but had no idea which one.
He never imagined such a coincidence—in such a large hospital, Li Cuiping would happen to witness him bringing Su Wantang for a check-up.
Before he even received the test results, that piece of paper had already passed through Li Cuiping’s hands.
…
Gu Changsheng was in the middle of training troops when he received a call from home, feeling utterly exasperated.
“Comrade Li Cuiping, what could be so important that you had to have me pulled out of the training field?”
After so many years of marriage, Li Cuiping had always been sensible and never caused him any trouble in his work. Even in family matters, she managed everything in perfect order.
The only thing that troubled Gu Changsheng over the years was his disobedient eldest son, who seemed born to rebel and opposed him at every turn.
Between the two of them, the son didn’t resemble his father at all – it was more like they were sworn enemies.
Chapter 14: Who Bullied You?
Damn!
He slammed his fist against the wall, making a loud thud.
Zhang Fang was startled by him. After calming down, she jumped up and smacked him on the head. “You brat, you scared me to death! It’s just a suspicion right now, why are you so worked up? Maybe her stomach is really just upset. You could prescribe her some stomach medicine. Vomiting like this doesn’t seem like something that will get better on its own.”
Gu Ciyuan also realized he was being too emotional and quickly reined in his feelings. “I’ll take her right now.”
Su Wantang’s refusal was useless. Gu Ciyuan had tricked her into accompanying him to the hospital to get the dressing on his arm changed, only to force her to have her blood drawn once they arrived.
In the hospital corridor, Su Wantang, who had just had her blood drawn, still had tears in her eyes.
“What’s there to cry about over a little blood draw? We’re just getting it checked. If there’s nothing wrong, great. If there is, we can treat it.” Gu Ciyuan looked at the childlike Su Wantang. Although he didn’t want to believe it, her reaction made the suspicion in his heart grow heavier.
If she had a clear conscience, what was there to worry about?
A mother and son walked past them.
The child asked, “Mom, why is that pretty big sister crying?”
“Because that sister isn’t strong at all. She’s a grown-up and she’s still crying over a blood draw. Our little Bao must not learn from her. We have to be a brave little man who doesn’t cry when he gets his blood drawn.”
The child nodded solemnly. “Yeah, I definitely won’t cry.”
Su Wantang was speechless.
The mother turned and saw Su Wantang looking at her. She smiled sheepishly and, after the child had run a few steps ahead and was out of earshot, whispered to her, “Sorry, comrade, I was just trying to coax my child.”
Su Wantang shook her head and watched the mother and son go to the blood draw window.
Not long after, a sharp cry rang out. The boy was struggling in his mother’s arms as the bright red blood flowed through the needle, a scene not much different from when Gu Ciyuan had held Su Wantang down just moments before.
Gu Ciyuan had said he was getting her stomach checked, but Su Wantang wasn’t a fool. At the entrance, she had clearly heard him tell the doctor to test her for pregnancy!
And he had claimed he was there to get his own wound redressed, asking Su Wantang to accompany him, but in the end, Su Wantang was the one seeing the doctor. What a liar.
She couldn’t run even if she wanted to. Fearing her fate would be even worse after the results came out, Su Wantang could only say tentatively, “I heard you talking to the doctor just now.”
Gu Ciyuan looked a little uncomfortable.
Forcing an unmarried young woman to get a pregnancy test was indeed quite humiliating.
“Don’t overthink it. It’s just a routine checkup…”
Seeing that he was still trying to fool her, Su Wantang simply closed her eyes and mustered her courage. “What if I really am pregnant?”
A long time passed without a sound from Gu Ciyuan.
Su Wantang carefully opened her eyes, only to see his face dark and grim, as if he wanted to eat someone alive.
“Did someone bully you?”
Gu Ciyuan let out a long breath. Fearing his expression had scared the young woman, he tried to make his tone as gentle as possible.
To be fair, although they had only known each other for a day, Gu Ciyuan was genuinely good to her.
So good that her initial fear of him, born from those first words, had begun to waver.
“I’ll tell you, but please don’t get angry. Don’t hate me, okay?”
It was impossible not to be angry, but his anger wasn’t directed at Su Wantang, but at the person who had bullied her.
He was eight years older than Su Wantang; he had practically watched her grow up. This little sister he had cherished in the palm of his hand had been bullied by some unknown bastard. How could he not be furious?
He was also angry at himself.
The last time he passed through Nan Province, he had gone to the Su Family’s home just to see her. But because of Su’s Father and Su Ye’s scheming, he hadn’t even gotten to see her and had left in a fit of anger.
Gu Ciyuan, a tall man of nearly 1.9 meters, stood there now, and one could actually see the helplessness in his posture. His usually sharp eyes were now tinged with red.
Su Wantang was a head shorter than him, completely shielded by him against the wall. Her lips trembled, and it took her a long time to say, “It… it was yours.”
As soon as she finished speaking, she saw Gu Ciyuan’s brow furrow, his gaze on her filled with disbelief.
Su Wantang thought he didn’t believe her and quickly explained, “It’s true. That day, my dad wouldn’t let me come home and told me to stay at a classmate’s house for the night. Then, in the middle of the night, I had a fight with my classmate and ran back home, and you… you pulled me inside.”
Su Wantang told the truth, not daring to hide anything anymore.
She added, “It was because of this that Su Ye started to hate me. She even persuaded my dad to plot their move to Hong Kong behind my back. They… they also gave me to a man called Lord Zhao in exchange for two boat tickets, and then they abandoned me and left. It was raining heavily that night. I knocked him out with a candlestick and escaped. I asked a friend to help me buy a train ticket and ran. I really had nowhere else to go, so I could only come find you.”
“If that’s the case, why did you go to H City?”
This was a question Gu Ciyuan had long wanted to ask, but he had suppressed it, afraid Su Wantang would think he was being too controlling.
“Tickets to Jingdu were hard to buy, and I had made an enemy, so I could only buy a ticket for the nearest city, H City. Later, I met Zhou Xinyue, and she had her cousin help me sneak onto a train to Jingdu from the countryside. That’s how I got here.”
The moment she realized the man before her was Gu Ciyuan, Su Wantang had already prepared a story.
Although she described it in just a few simple sentences, Gu Ciyuan, with all his experience, naturally knew how arduous these actions must have been for a girl who had not yet seen the world.
He just never expected that the one who had bullied Su Wantang was himself!
For a moment, he didn’t know what to say.
At the other end of the corridor, Li Cuiping, the head nurse, had been staring at the pair for a long time, feeling that something was not quite right.
She went to the nurses’ station to ask and was shocked to learn that Su Wantang was there for a pregnancy test!
Gu Ciyuan never paid attention to family matters. He only knew that Li Cuiping worked at a hospital, but not which one.
He never imagined that things would be so coincidental. The hospital was so large, yet Li Cuiping had happened to witness him bringing Su Wantang for a checkup.
Before he could get his hands on the test results, the paper had already passed through Li Cuiping’s.
…
Gu Changsheng was leading his troops in training when he received a call from home, feeling utterly exasperated.
“Comrade Li Cuiping, what could possibly be so important that you had to have someone pull me from the training grounds?”
They had been married for so many years, and Li Cuiping had always been considerate, never causing him any trouble at work. Even on the home front, she managed everything in an orderly fashion.
The only thing that had troubled Gu Changsheng over the years was his disobedient eldest son, who was rebellious to the bone and opposed him at every turn.
Between the two of them, it was less like father and son and more like enemies.