novelraw Chapter 458 "How Could I Bear to?"
Chapter 458 "How Could I Bear to?"
Chapter 458 "How could I bear to..."
Lin Zhao glared at him.
Gu Chenghuai: "..."
“I’ve been busy with work at the military region, where would I have provoked him?” He grasped Lin Zhao’s hand, his expression serious. “Zhao Zhao, believe me, I really didn’t provoke him. This kid has wronged me, you have to clear my name.”
Lin Zhao is the judge of the family; anyone who suffers injustice comes to her for help.
Looking at his father like this, Gu Zhiheng was stunned, unable to imagine that this was the tired and old man he remembered.
Now he is dignified and powerful, exuding the composure and confidence of a superior, yet he is gentle and patient in front of his mother, indulging her little temper tantrums and playing along with her act...
In my memory, he was already the youngest commander in the military region, showered with countless honors and shining brightly.
So this is what Dad's life was supposed to be like.
For a moment, Gu Zhiheng felt somewhat relieved.
He suddenly smiled.
Gu Chenghuai said, "Zhaozhao, look at him, he's still laughing. That bastard who tricked me..."
Before he could finish speaking, Lin Zhao slapped him on the shoulder. "Don't swear in front of the child. What if Erzai learns bad habits from you?"
She regarded 'Gu Zhiheng' as the little boy who lost his mother when he was five years old.
"Zhao Zhao, aren't you being too biased?" Gu Chenghuai looked at Lin Zhao. "You glared at me today because of that kid, and now you've even hit me. I just came back to eat a steamed bun, and I didn't do anything... I need an explanation."
Gu Zhiheng remained silent. This scene filled his long-empty heart with flesh and blood. So this is what it's like when your parents are alive.
Lin Zhao shoved the man away. "Don't act strangely. You still want to explain? I won't give it to you. I'm just biased towards my second son, so what? You dare to have a problem with that?"
Gu Chenghuai's gaze paused slightly. "I wouldn't dare. You are my superior. I wouldn't dare to have any objections, not even the slightest hint of one."
Gu Zhiheng watched this scene quietly, a smile unconsciously creeping onto his lips.
"Damn it! Those are my parents, get out of my body!"
The person in the sea of consciousness woke up and angrily issued a challenge.
Gu Zhiheng's head felt heavy.
"Shut up! Or I'll shred you." he threatened.
Gu Zhiheng cursed loudly, "Twist me, twist me all you want! You're so arrogant while occupying my body, you...you're completely upside down!"
"What can you do to me?" the harsh voice rang out again.
After just a few words of conversation, Gu Zhiheng's head felt as if it had been drilled by an electric drill.
He got up and said, "I'm sleepy, I'm going back to my room to sleep for a while."
Seeing that Erzai's face was slightly pale and his fingers were curled up, Lin Zhao said with concern, "...Go on, don't forget to close the window."
"Ah."
After Gu Zhiheng left, Gu Chenghuai frowned and asked Lin Zhao, "What exactly happened to him?"
He was a staunch materialist who couldn't imagine things that would break through science, but he could sense the strangeness in his son.
He seemed like a completely different person.
"...It's nothing, I just watched a movie and was imitating the characters' speech." Lin Zhao made up a lie casually.
She knew about Zhiheng's change, but couldn't explain it. Even if she did, the man wouldn't understand. Most importantly, mentioning it would inevitably bring up the plot of the original book—
It's enough for her to know; Gu Chenghuai doesn't need to know. If he knew, he'd probably punch himself twice, regretting not being by her and the children's side, questioning where he'd been, and probably wouldn't be able to sleep at night, suffering unbearable pain.
Gu Chenghuai believed Lin Zhao's words, given Gu Zhiheng's past record.
He shook his head. "Here we go again. His business partners know him like this; how can they possibly put pen to paper when it comes to signing contracts..."
“This doesn’t stop my son’s business from becoming bigger and more successful,” Lin Zhao retorted.
Gu Chenghuai looked at her and said, "Zhaozhao, I feel like you're especially irritable today. Are you sure no one's upset you?"
"It's you, it's you, it's you! You've made me so angry!" Lin Zhao pinched the man's cheeks and pulled them apart with a little force, as if settling scores after the fact.
Where was she when she died? Why did her children all end up orphaned and with tragic fates?!
Even knowing that no one could resist the power of the plot, Lin Zhao couldn't help but feel a little resentful.
Gu Chenghuai was completely bewildered, but he didn't argue with his lover. He said helplessly, "Okay, it's my fault. How do you want me to coax you?"
Lin Zhao immediately said, "Find an opportunity to take me and Erzai to see Qianbao."
"Missing the younger ones?" Gu Chenghuai's eyes were indulgent.
"Yes, can we see him?" Lin Zhao asked. She had talked to Erzai and knew that he wanted to see Sanzai.
“Sure, since you brought it up, why can’t I? I’ll go and make the contact,” Gu Chenghuai said.
Lin Zhao happily hugged his neck, kissed his cheek, and smiled broadly. "My man is so capable."
Gu Chenghuai couldn't help but smirk, and was about to say something when Lin Zhao stood up. "Then you should contact them quickly."
“Okay, I’ll contact them right away,” Gu Chenghuai said immediately.
"Then I'll leave it to you." Lin Zhao didn't stare at him, walked towards the room, picked up her change of clothes, and went into the bathroom.
Gu Chenghuai always took the lead in fulfilling his promises to his wife. After watching Lin Zhao leave, he immediately picked up the phone and made a call.
After exchanging a few words, the goal was successfully achieved.
After Lin Zhao finished showering, Gu Chenghuai stepped forward, took the towel from her hand, and dried his wife's hair. "It's all arranged. We can go the day after tomorrow. Qianbao can make time."
Lin Zhao looked up at her husband with a dependent gaze, "Really? That's wonderful! Do you have time to go with me?"
Gu Chenghuai paused slightly, a hint of guilt appearing in his eyes. "I can't go."
"It's okay, I know you're busy. I'll drive Erzai there." Lin Zhao patted his arm.
Gu Chenghuai's eyes softened.
……
Gu Zhiheng returned to the house, surrounded by roars.
"Get out of my body! What kind of skill is it to steal someone else's body? Come here, let's fight."
Gu Zhiheng lay on the bed, the roar in his ears growing louder, "That's my bed, don't lie on my bed!"
“I’ll lie down, I’ll lie down,” Gu Zhiheng answered loudly.
"Aaaaaaahhhhh!!" Another scream followed.
"Noisy," Gu Zhiheng said impatiently.
Gu Zhiheng was speechless, his belly full of curses, but thinking that this wretched thing shared the same parents and ancestors as him, he couldn't bring himself to curse, and his face turned red with suppressed anger.
He took a deep breath. "When are you going to stop playing?"
He had a vague feeling that another version of himself had come into his body for another purpose, but he didn't know how long he would be locked up, which made him extremely agitated.
"Play until you don't want to play anymore," 'Gu Zhiheng' answered him in his heart.
"Whatever your shameful past, it has nothing to do with my family. Don't hurt them, especially... don't use my body to hurt them." Gu Zhiheng's tone was solemn and sincere.
Gu Zhiheng opened his eyes and looked at the cozy room. His body's memory told him that this was arranged by his mother.
Gu Erzai of this world has obtained everything he never had before.
He couldn't deceive himself; he was indeed jealous, even resentful, and uncontrollably harbored a greedy desire to possess it.
"Say something! Don't stay silent! Promise me you won't hurt my family!" Gu Zhiheng felt his consciousness fading, and his tone became urgent.
But even as he drifted back into deep sleep, he did not receive the affirmative answer he had hoped for.
A long time has passed.
The young man on the bed rested his right arm over his eyes, murmuring, "How could I bear to..."
Gu Erzai in this world is so easy to fool. He looks shrewd, but he's actually too sentimental. Even if he didn't want to, he wouldn't be able to take control of this body. But for some reason, Gu Zhiheng actually granted his wish.
Are people who live in love really so selfless?
He is completely different from her.
He owned very little in his life; without fighting and grabbing, he would have gained nothing. In his world, there was no concept of yielding; there was only plunder.
"Gu Zhiheng, I really envy you."
……
Before I knew it, the day to meet Qianbao had arrived.
When Yao Bao learned that her mother and second brother were going to visit her younger brother, she couldn't sit still and took a day off to go with them.
Lin Zhao looked at her with doting eyes and said nothing.
After Yao Bao got into the car, she let out a "hehehe" laugh.
Gu Zhiheng glanced at her through the rearview mirror, a smile flashing in his eyes.
"Second brother is laughing at me." Yao Bao met his smiling eyes, hugged Lin Zhao's arm, and complained to her.
"No, your second brother thinks you have a beautiful smile." Lin Zhao gently rubbed his daughter's forehead.
Gu Zhiheng nodded, “...Yes.”
The moment he finished speaking, he released the brakes, and the car slid off the road.
That intense feeling of being pushed back came over me.
"Second Brother!!!" Yao Bao was startled and shouted accusingly, "You scared me to death! Luckily, I'm used to wearing a seatbelt."
Gu Zhiheng slowed down, his tone apologetic, "I'm sorry."
He hadn't driven in a while, so he was a bit rusty. Besides, he's always been a reckless driver.
"It's nothing, that's how driving is, you can easily speed up if you're not careful. Slow down from now on, and watch out for pedestrians," Lin Zhao said reassuringly.
Gu Zhiheng, an orphan, often suffered scorn and disdain when learning to drive. The person who taught him to pack his things neatly did not teach him properly, but waited for him to make mistakes so that they would belittle him. The way they looked at him with a half-smile, like a thorn in his heart, was unforgettable, even if he did not consciously think about it.
At this moment, upon hearing his mother's gentle voice, Gu Zhiheng seemed to see that lonely and helpless young man smile.
"I understand," he replied, and then drove very smoothly.
As Yao Bao watched her second brother drive away, she felt a deep sadness emanating from him, which made her nose sting.
“How strange…” she suddenly said.
Lin Zhao looked over and asked, "What's wrong?"
Yao Bao looked at her second brother again, and that inexplicable feeling vanished in a flash, leaving not even a ripple.
"No, it's nothing. I just had a strange feeling. It's nothing, I guess my brain is just foggy from work."
Lin Zhao gently ruffled Yao Bao's shiny black hair. "We don't need your salary. You work because you need social recognition and something to pass the time. If you can do it, do it; if you don't want to, come home. What your dad and I give you is enough for you to live comfortably for the rest of your life. We raised you so well not so that you would suffer, understand?"
"I know!" Yao Bao didn't expect her mother to say such a serious thing. Her eyes crinkled into crescent moons as she said sweetly, "I know, I will take good care of myself and won't treat myself badly, Mom."
"Mm." Lin Zhao nodded.
She only had this one requirement for each of her children.
In the driver's seat, Gu Zhiheng unconsciously tightened his grip on the steering wheel.
He knew it, he knew it all along: his mother was the best mother in the world, and if she could be there for him and his siblings as they grew up, they would definitely be the happiest children.
He proved this point.
Gu Zhiheng suddenly felt somewhat relieved.
Hearing soft voices behind him, the icy look in his eyes softened a little.
The journey was smooth.
The car was parked at the entrance of the classified unit.
After undergoing multiple checks, Lin Zhao and her two children entered a lounge.
Footsteps came from the doorway, and a young woman came in to serve tea.
"Researcher Gu will be here shortly. Please sit and wait a while, you three comrades."
Yao Bao nodded. "Okay, thank you, comrade."
Soon.
Familiar footsteps sounded at the door.
"It's Brother!" Yao Bao's eyes lit up as she went to greet him.
Gu Zhiheng stood up, looked towards the door, and unconsciously straightened his clothes.
Lin Zhao pursed her lips after seeing this.
Only then did she see the deep pain and guilt hidden in Erzai's eyes.
Yes, in the original book, the third child had a tragic life; he was kidnapped and died at a young age.
Erzai probably knows about these things.
The living spend the rest of their lives burdened with guilt; how bitter must her second son's heart be?
But he's still just a child.
At the doorway, the handsome young man was bumped into by his younger sister.
"Yaobao." A smile appeared in Qianbao's cool eyes as he naturally ruffled his sister's hair.
He looked up and saw Lin Zhao and 'Gu Zhiheng'.
I greeted them with a smile.
"Mom, second brother."
Gu Zhiheng approached him, his gaze fixed intently on Qianbao, "Third son..."
The sound was almost held between the lips and teeth, with a barely perceptible choke.
Qianbao was confused. "What's wrong with Second Brother? Why are you suddenly looking at me like that?"
Gu Zhiheng's gaze did not waver, and the emotions in his eyes eased a bit. "Nothing much, I just feel... it's so good to see you grow up. You're so tall now, and you're still a great researcher, just like I imagined. It's so good."
The more serious he spoke, the more uncomfortable Qianbao felt.
"Second brother..." His brows furrowed almost imperceptibly. If 'Gu Zhiheng' hadn't come with Lin Zhao and Yao Bao, Qian Bao would have thought this person was impersonating his second brother.
"Yes," Gu Zhiheng replied frankly.
That "Second Brother" sounded so nice; even if he were forced to leave right now, he would be content.
"Second Brother is acting strangely." Qianbao looked at Lin Zhao.
Before Lin Zhao could speak, Yao Bao nodded hurriedly as if she had found her people, "Right, right, I also think Second Brother is acting strange. Mom said I was overthinking it. See, Mom, even Little Brother thinks Second Brother is acting strange."
"Your second brother is imitating a movie character. He's quite immersed in the role. He'll be back to normal after a while," Lin Zhao said, sticking to her usual explanation.
Qianbao & Yaobao: "..."
Yao Bao covered her mouth and chuckled, "Second brother, how old are you? Why are you still playing those middle school games? It's so childish. I almost thought you were possessed by a ghost."
Qianbao looked at his younger sister, "Yaobao, you have to believe in science."
"I know, I know."