Chapter 12#
Chapter 12 Analysis
“Uncle Wei, I’ll take you there.” Gu Chenzhou said.
But Wei Chengbo waved his hand gently: “No need, you’ve been tired all night, rest well.”
Gu Chenzhou paused, understanding the other party’s meaning in his heart: “It’s in Ward 5103. Let Dr. Fang lead the way for you, Uncle Wei.”
The intern responsible for Gu Chenzhou was stunned, thinking that with such a big door plate hanging there for 5103, just walking straight would do, why need someone to lead the way? But looking at the big leader in front of him who seemed to acquiesce, he also smartly leaned forward and said: “Leader, I’ll lead the way for you.”
Wei Chengbo nodded: “Xiao Lin, Xiao Chen, you two come with me.”
This was an exclusive floor in the hospital specifically for receiving cadres and VIPs, not much different from a hotel. As soon as Wei Chengbo took the people away, only Gu Xinjun and Gu Chenzhou were left in the corridor, which seemed empty.
“How is the injury?” After more than ten years of tit-for-tat, although Gu Xinjun spoke out of concern, his voice and expression seemed particularly cold and hard, “I told you to behave yourself usually, you didn’t listen, look what happened now!”
Gu Chenzhou’s family environment and the education he received since childhood determined his way of doing things. Even when the conflict was at its worst, he couldn’t possibly throw tables, slam doors, and run away from home to make people laugh at Minister Gu. Moreover, he didn’t come back this time to continue arguing with Gu Xinjun. He didn’t take up the conversation, but just said: “Dad, someone wants Xiangjin’s life.”
Gu Xinjun didn’t fail to understand that tonight’s incident couldn’t be blamed on his son, he just couldn’t turn his mind around for a while. He said with a gloomy face: “Tell me about tonight’s events in detail.”
“Xiangjin and I organized a birthday party for Zhengjia…”
Gu Chenzhou had already explained tonight’s events when the police car arrived at the scene. Now he was just repeating it, and quickly finished explaining the matter simply.
After listening, Gu Xinjun frowned and looked at Gu Chenzhou twice. Leaving aside the car accident part, there was a very obvious suspicious point:
Wei Xiangjin left first, and Gu Chenzhou chased after him immediately, and happened to arrive in time at the critical moment. This was too coincidental.
Not to mention anything else, firstly, Wei Xiangjin usually drove very steadily, and he had never heard of him driving after drinking, which showed that the few glasses of wine he drank didn’t affect him much. Secondly, this party was proposed by Gu Chenzhou. Even if he really felt worried, a phone call to remind him would be enough. Why would he chase after him personally? It was almost as if he knew Wei Xiangjin would have a serious car accident and rushed there specifically.
But if it was said that his son had a hand in Wei Xiangjin’s car accident this time, Gu Xinjun didn’t believe it either: because there was absolutely no need for this!
The two families had been friends for three generations and were very closely connected. If Gu Chenzhou wanted to do something, would Wei Xiangjin and the Wei family not help? Conversely, once something happened to Wei Xiangjin, Gu Chenzhou would only lose a strong arm of support, which was not worth the loss.
Not to mention that the two children grew up playing together, and their feelings were very deep…
After thinking about it, Gu Xinjun’s thoughts turned to the mastermind behind this car accident. Having reached their position as officials, plus the deep foundation of the Gu and Wei families themselves, it was very normal to have a few political enemies under the situation of attracting wind due to being a big tree. But which political enemy would hate the Wei family to the point of wanting to kill Wei Xiangjin through a car accident? You know, this kind of thing is very sensitive and is a taboo for political personnel. Once found out, no matter how hard your background is or how high your status is, you will be severely cracked down on by everyone united.
“Dad, Auntie came out.” Gu Chenzhou, standing beside him, suddenly spoke.
Gu Xinjun, who was thinking, gave a faint “En”. His mind was elsewhere, so he didn’t notice for a while that his eldest son rarely greeted his stepwife.
Zheng Yuelin, who walked out of Wei Xiangjin’s ward, heard this voice. She glanced at Gu Chenzhou, her eyes flickering slightly, and then said to Gu Xinjun: “Xiangjin is fine, just a little dizzy and nauseous. Yayu will stay here with him tonight and won’t go back. Let’s go first, Chenzhou has been tired all day too.”
Gu Xinjun came back to his senses and habitually wanted to say a few words, but seeing the splint on Gu Chenzhou’s left arm, he swallowed the words in his mouth and said: “Let’s go.”
The three walked into the elevator. While taking the elevator, Zheng Yuelin said: “Xiao Zhou, stay at home tonight. There is no one following you at your place.” She rarely made a suggestion.
Gu Xinjun heard it and wanted to speak again. How could Gu Chenzhou not know? Before he could speak, he agreed simply: “Okay.”
The majestic Organization Minister who was preparing to fire was silenced for a moment.
Zheng Yuelin, who proposed it at the beginning, didn’t notice these. She seemed to be thinking about something, and it took a long time before she smiled and said: “…That’s good. The room has always been tidied up. Stay at home for a few more days with the injury on your hand. Your dad misses you too!”
Minister Gu’s dissatisfaction was diverted. But at this time the elevator door slid open, returning to the bustling hall, and he didn’t say anything more.
There was no conversation all the way. When they returned to Tianrui Garden, Gu Zhengjia and James were already waiting in the living room.
Gu Zhengjia on the sofa heard the sound of the car and was looking frequently towards the door. Seeing several people come in at this moment, he quickly stood up: “Dad, Mom, Big Brother, you’re back? Are you and Third Brother Wei okay? I was almost scared to death when I heard the news!” Then he hesitated, “The party was all messed up later. Your and Third Brother Wei’s friends left first, my classmates are all here, um…”
“All discussing the car accident?” Gu Chenzhou added a sentence.
Gu Zhengjia nodded a little embarrassedly: “Then I let them go first.”
“Mr. Gu, Mrs. Gu.” As soon as Gu Zhengjia’s voice stopped, James greeted Gu Xinjun and Zheng Yuelin.
Gu Xinjun also attached great importance to the butler beside his father-in-law. When he married Shen Rou, this British butler was already an old man beside Old Master Shen, and his status in the Shen family was very high. He said politely: “Zhengjia is just a child, you could have just let him come back by himself.”
“This is what I should do, Mr. Gu.” James smiled slightly, then he said to Gu Chenzhou, “Young Master Chenzhou, I’ll go back first.”
“I’ll see you off.” Gu Chenzhou said.
James didn’t refuse. When he walked to the entrance, he stopped and whispered: “Young Master Chenzhou, the first one to get the news about you and Young Master Wei’s car accident was the young master of the Wen family. But after you left, the first one to leave the venue was the young master of the He family.”
“When did he leave?” Gu Chenzhou asked.
“Twenty minutes after you left.” James said.
Gu Chenzhou’s eyes darkened: “I know, say hello to Grandpa for me.”
“See you next time, Young Master Chenzhou. I will definitely convey your greetings.” James bowed again, then turned and left.
Gu Chenzhou turned back to the living room. Zheng Yuelin had already gone upstairs, and Gu Xinjun was still sitting in the hall. Gu Zhengjia was dawdling on the side, touching the teacup for a while, watching TV for a while, looking like he wanted to stay but also wanted to leave. His idle appearance made Gu Xinjun look at him dissatisfiedly several times.
Gu Chenzhou stopped: “Dad.” He greeted him, looked at Gu Zhengjia whose eyes drifted towards him from time to time, and thinking of the party that was half ruined tonight, he still said, “Zhengjia, come to my room for a moment.”
As soon as these words came out, not only did Gu Zhengjia slip his hand and drop the teacup, but even Gu Xinjun couldn’t keep a straight face and showed a stunned expression.
The fact that the relationship between the two brothers of the Gu family was plain was well recognized not only within the Gu family but also in the circle.
Subtracting the first five years of ignorance, and then subtracting the three years Gu Chenzhou went abroad, in the remaining eight years of getting along, Gu Zhengjia really didn’t remember when was the last time Gu Chenzhou invited him to his room—or maybe never?
Anyway, he was stunned by this sudden sentence. Seeing Gu Chenzhou’s figure disappear around the corner of the stairs, he said foolishly: “Dad, Big Brother actually called me!”
“Of course he would call you.” Gu Xinjun said with a wooden face, “He rarely calls you once…”
“I know,” Gu Zhengjia suddenly shrugged quickly and naturally, just like every time he was ordered by his mom, “I’ll go up right now.”
Plain curtains covered half of the window. The bed, desk, and bookcase were all made of raw wood. Gu Zhengjia remembered that this was the same as the furniture in their home at the very beginning, but after moving several times, the furniture was slowly replaced. He didn’t expect Gu Chenzhou to still keep the full set here.
He deliberately moved a few steps slowly, scanning several corners with his eyes, such as the safe in the corner, a few shirts thrown on the small sofa facing the bed, and Ultraman placed on the grid of the bookcase… Wait, there’s even this!
Gu Zhengjia’s eyes straightened for a moment, and then he heard Gu Chenzhou say:
“Sit anywhere.”
Gu Zhengjia quickly sat upright.
“Talk about today’s party.” Gu Chenzhou said. He frowned and looked at his left arm. The arm fixed by the splint made him a little uncomfortable now.
This should be the purpose of the other party calling him up… The topic was a bit broad. Gu Zhengjia thought for a while: “After Big Brother left, Big Brother Jiang—Jiang Junda—talked to me for a while. He has a little sister who goes to the same school as me, and is in the same class. I didn’t know before, I only met her at the party this time… And Sister Tang Si, she specially came over to say a few words to me… And Big Brother Zhou Zhong…” He recalled carefully, and slowly said what he saw at the party and felt he should say:
“Those people brought by Big Brother and Third Brother Wei, although Big Brother Chen and Big Brother Wen were with different people, they would gather together to say a few words from time to time. But Sister Qiu stayed alone all night. Big Brother Shen was with other people, both men and women… By the way, He Hailou was the first to leave the villa.”
The sixteen-year-old boy really couldn’t accept He Hailou’s special preferences, so this became the only name he called directly.
After listening, Gu Chenzhou was actually a bit surprised: “Did you remember all those people after I introduced them to you once?”
“Well, actually not really,” Gu Zhengjia said a little embarrassedly, “Many people live here. I have seen them when entering and exiting. When Dad was with me, sometimes he would tell me who was who. After saying it a few times, I remembered.”
Gu Chenzhou nodded, and then picked the name that appeared first in Gu Zhengjia’s mouth: “How much do you know about Jiang Junda?”
This question? Gu Zhengjia blinked.
“You have a good impression of him, right?” Gu Chenzhou tapped the table lightly, “His father is the director of the District Housing Management Bureau, fifty-three this year.”
This was not unexpected. Gu Zhengjia often met such people: “He wants to move up?”
“Move up?” Gu Chenzhou laughed, “He is going to move up, but he still holds several bad debts in his hand.”
Gu Zhengjia was startled: “Big Brother, you mean—how do you know?”
“Why wouldn’t I know?” Gu Chenzhou asked back, “Do you think I invite people casually?”
“Of course not, I mean… uh…” He said, “Then why did you invite him?”
“Because someone already plans to help him.” Gu Chenzhou said lightly, “Just wait for him to worship the right temple gate. I didn’t invite him because of his own face.” But who exactly, he didn’t elaborate.
Gu Zhengjia lowered his head and considered: “Then the other few, Sister Tang Si seems…” He peeked at Gu Chenzhou, hesitating a bit.
“You guessed right, the Tang family wants to marry into the Gu family.” Gu Chenzhou said.
Gu Zhengjia’s eyes looking at Gu Chenzhou lit up instantly. He actually wanted to tease Gu Chenzhou a few words, but this brother who was seven years older than him… he still didn’t quite dare.
The corner of Gu Chenzhou’s mouth twitched, revealing a smile, but without much meaning: “Not only the Tang family, the Lin family, and even the Qiu family before, all have this intention.”
Why does it sound like a business transaction! Gu Zhengjia’s face fell, and the gossip flame in his heart was extinguished with a hiss: “The Qiu family? Sister Qiu? Tonight Sister Qiu and Big Brother Shen…” He associated something and opened his mouth instantly.
“Qiu Yue doesn’t like me, you think too much.” Gu Chenzhou pointed out what Gu Zhengjia was thinking.
Gu Zhengjia immediately closed his mouth and smiled awkwardly: “Actually, I didn’t think anything.”
“Qiu Yue doesn’t care who she marries, but Shen Delin already has someone he likes.” Gu Chenzhou explained a few words, “Now it’s Shen Delin himself fighting against the family. Don’t look at him talking and laughing with men and women all night, looking very free and easy, actually the pressure is very great.”
Gu Zhengjia nodded quickly to show that he understood. He listened to these gossips quite enthusiastically.
Gu Chenzhou tapped the table lightly again: “Here with us, if you want to understand a person, it’s best to understand his family. If you want to understand his family, it’s best to look at the children raised by this family. Do you like this kind of life?”
“Hmm?”
“If you don’t like it, tell Dad and Auntie as soon as possible.” Gu Chenzhou ignored Gu Zhengjia’s question and continued, “If you like it… sixteen is about time. I’ll take you out in the future. It’s getting late, go to sleep.”
“Eh? …Oh, oh.” The last topic changed too fast. Gu Zhengjia didn’t suddenly realize until he walked out of Gu Chenzhou’s room and watched Gu Chenzhou close the door: This was asking him if he wanted to step into the political circle!
Fuck, this is simply too unscientific, his big brother can’t be so considerate! …
After returning to the room, Gu Zhengjia felt something was wrong no matter how he thought about it. He climbed up from the bed again and went downstairs, intending to see if his dad was still working hard, and then discuss Gu Chenzhou’s abnormality with him. As a result, he didn’t see his dad, but found Zheng Yuelin, who had gone upstairs long ago, on the sofa.
“Mom?” Gu Zhengjia called softly.
Only a small lamp was on in the entire living room. Zheng Yuelin was wearing pajamas, sitting on the sofa with her arms folded, motionless for a long time, not knowing what she was thinking. Suddenly hearing a voice calling her, she woke up with a start and looked: “It’s Zhengjia, why aren’t you sleeping so late?”
“Mom, why did you come down again?” Gu Zhengjia asked back, and glanced at the big clock on the wall at the same time, 12:34, it was really quite late.
“I’m thinking about some things.” Zheng Yuelin said.
Gu Zhengjia thought it was a court case, didn’t think much, sat on the sofa opposite Zheng Yuelin and spoke hesitantly: “Mom, I think Big Brother is a bit weird…”
“What’s weird?” Zheng Yuelin supported her forehead, a bit dazed.
“Big Brother called me upstairs tonight, analyzed the people at the party with me, and then asked me what I want to do in the future. He said if I don’t want to go into politics, tell you guys early. If I want to, he will take me… Mom,” Gu Zhengjia raised his voice and called Zheng Yuelin, “Are you listening?”
“What did you just say?” Zheng Yuelin asked back subconsciously.
Gu Zhengjia repeated it grumpily, and then said: “I think Big Brother is really not quite normal, this is simply too considerate…”
“Wait!” Zheng Yuelin interrupted him a bit rudely, “You said your big brother explained the situation of everyone at the party to you, and then asked you about your plans for the future?”
“I’ve said it twice…” Gu Zhengjia muttered, and then he suddenly found that his mom, who had been distracted, suddenly became energetic and looked at him with bright eyes for a long time.
Why is this also abnormal? Gu Zhengjia braced himself and called: “Mom?”
“I told you to get close to your big brother before, now your big brother is also close to you, aren’t you happy?” Zheng Yuelin swept away the hesitation just now and said with a smile.
“It’s not that, it’s just…” Gu Zhengjia said, but Zheng Yuelin stood up and patted his shoulder, “Don’t just, your big brother has put his heart into it this time. Think carefully about what you want to do in the future.”
“I just think this is not quite scientific…” Gu Zhengjia muttered in a low voice.
But, well, anyway… at least it’s a good thing, right? He thought so, stood up slowly and said: “Then I’m going upstairs to sleep, Mom, you sleep early too.”
“Go quickly.” Zheng Yuelin urged Gu Zhengjia, and waited until she saw the other party’s figure disappear at the entrance of the corridor before letting out a long breath:
Maybe I was just overthinking. There was nothing about tonight’s party. Maybe things are really developing in a good direction…
At the same time, Gu Zhengjia and Zheng Yuelin both put down the worries in their hearts and went to rest. Only Gu Chenzhou, who had just had a car accident and had been tossing about for half the night, didn’t sleep.
He turned on the computer in the room, took out a USB flash drive from his body, inserted it into the computer interface, and entered the only document inside through a password.
This document—or diary—was a record of the dream he had two years ago. Some details, clear, blurred, most frequently repeated… He recorded them one by one for deletion or research one day in the future.
The content of nearly 30,000 words was memorized by heart within a month after the dream.
The computer screen flickered with a faint fluorescence under the white light.
Gu Chenzhou looked at the bold characters on the white page and fell into deep thought.
Suppose this dream is true.
Suppose “he” in the dream is indeed him.
Then everything in the dream is logical.
He couldn’t have not investigated the cause of Wei Xiangjin’s death—he must have used the power of the Gu family to investigate; he couldn’t have not returned when the Gu family needed him—unless he couldn’t return at that time; he couldn’t have been entangled with a bitch-like man—unless he wanted to use this to paralyze someone.
So, what caused Wei Xiangjin’s death, prevented him from returning home, and even forced him to use a absurd life to cover up his true purpose?
Gu Chenzhou leaned back in his chair. The pain and stiffness in his left arm reminded him that everything now was real.
A most critical part was missing.
The most critical part that could connect and rationalize everything.
—Who is dealing with the Gu and Wei families?