Chapter 53: Release

Outside the house, the sky was dark and overcast, and inside, only a single ceiling light was turned on in the entryway.

Under the faint glimmer of light, the vast villa appeared exceptionally cold and quiet.

Yu Xi hung his head. His bent neck was slender and pale, the spinous process of his seventh cervical vertebra peaking out from the collar of his sweater, forming a beautiful curve with his thin back.

He resembled a swan offering its neck for slaughter. Pouring out his secret past word by word had already drained him of all his strength, and he was waiting for a trial.

He was crying. But he cried without making a single sound, merely letting his tears flow silently, carving a desolate trail down his cheeks, condensing into water droplets at his chin before plunging down to dampen his clothes.

Gu Chuanzhou reached out a hand, catching a single droplet; his fingertip twitched slightly as if scalded. After listening to everything Yu Xi had related, he remained silent for a long time before saying, “But Yu Xuelin is currently alive and well.”

“…Yes,” Yu Xi’s voice was minuscule. “I originally wanted to plunge it straight into Yu Xuelin’s chest, but… I couldn’t leave my mother all by herself.”

Therefore, with that strike, Yu Xi had merely slashed the arm Yu Xuelin was using to smash Qi Qingyun’s head against the ground.

Yu Xuelin had never expected that this son, who had always possessed a gentle personality, could actually do such a thing. Unprepared, he clutched his heavily bleeding arm and knelt on the ground, howling loudly.

Yu Xi clenched the hilt of the knife tightly and told him: “If you ever come back to disturb my life with Mother again, I will truly kill you.”

The ruthlessness and absolute resolve in Yu Xi’s eyes completely terrified Yu Xuelin, preventing him from daring to reappear before Yu Xi and his mother left that city.

So when Yu Xuelin tracked him down once again, the only method Yu Xi could think of to scare him off was none other than this.

Aside from when he was in the dormitory and the examination hall, he carried the knife on his person anytime and anywhere, waiting the entire time.

And he had truly thought about it… if Yu Xuelin refused to let him go, then they would both go down together.

Thinking about everything that had happened in the alleyway, Yu Xi’s fingers began to tremble once more.

The next second, his hand was gently held, and subsequently, Gu Chuanzhou’s voice entered his ears.

“Xixi, that can only be considered justifiable self-defense. You were very brave, and you did the right thing. There’s no need to condemn yourself for this.”

Yu Xi’s tears stopped, and he asked blankly, “Don’t you think I’m very bad?”

“Bad?” The corners of Gu Chuanzhou’s mouth pulled up slightly. “Learning all this makes me want to kill him more than you do. It would be best to execute him by a thousand cuts, hack him into tens of thousands of pieces, and ensure he can never be reincarnated for eternity—”

Yu Xi was startled. He saw a torrential fury in Gu Chuanzhou’s eyes, dark and heavy like dense storm clouds, but it lasted for only a brief instant. When Yu Xi shuddered, Gu Chuanzhou rapidly suppressed his sinister side.

“Am I, who thinks like this, not even worse?”

Yu Xi met his gaze without shrinking back, shaking his head slowly but firmly.

A bit more warmth spilled into Gu Chuanzhou’s eyes. He lowered his head to press his forehead against Yu Xi’s, while also cradling Yu Xi’s cheeks: “Our Xixi must have suffered so many grievances and endured so much hardship along the way. I’m sorry for not being able to accompany you.”

“I…” Yu Xi opened his lips slightly. He wanted to say he didn’t feel aggrieved or find it hard, and he also wanted to say he was fine, but before the voice could leave his mouth, it turned into a sob in his throat.

He couldn’t speak, and his tear ducts lost control once more. The tears flooded out unceasingly, rolling to the corners of his mouth, giving him a mouthful of bitterness.

He hadn’t wanted to cry. Since childhood, he had never been a child who loved to cry, because his mother would feel sad and blame herself upon seeing it.

Tears were weak and useless; they couldn’t resolve a single thing.

But… but…

The voice Gu Chuanzhou used to comfort him was too gentle, and the chest supporting him was too warm—so good that he couldn’t help himself.

Once the grievances accumulated over many years opened the floodgates, they could no longer be controlled.

For the first time in all these years, Yu Xi wept so unrestrainedly in someone’s embrace, resembling a child who had taken a fall and could vent and throw a tantrum without any misgivings.

At first, it was suppressed, but it gradually turned into loud wailing, hysterical, wanting to release all his bad emotions at this very moment.

Throughout it all, he kept feeling Gu Chuanzhou patting his back and offering comfort, but he couldn’t process what was being said, merely crying to his heart’s content.

He cried for a very long time, crying so hard that he even lacked oxygen, leaving his head swimming and his brain throbbing. Only when he had exhausted himself from crying did his voice decrease bit by bit.

As his emotions calmed slightly, he belatedly felt Gu Chuanzhou’s kisses falling upon his face, kissing away those tears for him.

These kisses didn’t carry a shred of carnal desire; there was only infinite tenderness and heartache.

These light, gentle touches caused Yu Xi’s nearly stopped tears to surge forth violently once more. He involuntarily buried himself even deeper into Gu Chuanzhou’s embrace, resembling a kitten seeking warmth while having its fur licked.

He was greedy for this warmth. When he slowly recovered, he felt a delayed sense of bashfulness.

“I…” The moment Yu Xi spoke, he let out a crying hiccup, which also carried a thick nasal quality. His two hands pressed limply against Gu Chuanzhou’s chest, stopping him from continuing to kiss him. “I’m already, hic, already fine…”

The tears had stopped, but after a bout of crying, he would shudder every few seconds, failing to even speak properly.

Yu Xi also saw that his crying had completely soaked Gu Chuanzhou’s shoulder, making him feel even more embarrassed. With a twist of his waist, he buried his face into the sofa’s throw pillow, refusing to let Gu Chuanzhou look at his wretched, tear-stained face.

“Not crying anymore?”

Hearing Gu Chuanzhou speak, the tips of his ears grew increasingly burning hot. He buried himself a bit tighter, facing Gu Chuanzhou with the back of his fluffy head.

He tried hard to appear natural.

During the few seconds of silence, Gu Chuanzhou let out a sigh, then rose and walked away.

The moment the man left, Yu Xi popped his face out from the throw pillow. He put on his coat and wrapped his scarf around himself, intending to let Gu Chuanzhou know and then flee back to the Pei residence.

Very quickly, Gu Chuanzhou returned, a cup of warm water added to his hand.

“Are you leaving?”

Yu Xi buried his head very low, not looking at Gu Chuanzhou. He gave a couple of random “mm-mm” sounds, his eyes darting quietly, having already selected a route to exit while bypassing Gu Chuanzhou.

However, Gu Chuanzhou kept him there with just a single sentence: “Your eyes are swollen; Auntie Pei will be worried if she sees them.”

“…” Yu Xi touched his own eyes, already feeling it.

Gu Chuanzhou handed the water to him: “I’ll go get something to cold-compress them for you.”

Cradling the water, Yu Xi sat back down on the sofa, slowly drinking the entire cup dry.

Having cried for so long, he truly did need to replenish his fluids.

Before long, Gu Chuanzhou came over holding a towel, an ice pack, and a metal spoon to help reduce the swelling of his eyes.

Yu Xi offered to do it himself but was rejected, leaving him with no choice but to tilt his small face up to approach.

The icy-cold metal spoon pressed against him first, driving away some of the aching, swollen sensation left from excessive crying, which felt rather comfortable.

He kept one eye open alone, staring blankly at Gu Chuanzhou’s sharp jawline and focused eyes, hastily closing it again after their gazes met.

“When I picked you up at Jingcheng University, I already gave your Auntie Pei a heads-up, so you don’t need to worry about her being anxious later,” Gu Chuanzhou told him in a low voice. “When you go back, you must eat your fill, take a good bath, and go to sleep early. I will call to check at ten o’clock tonight.”

Arranging things for him step by step, he resembled a worrisome older brother.

“As for the rest, you don’t need to worry.”

The coldness pressed against his eyelids departed, and subsequently, what lightly landed on the outer corner of his eye was a kiss Gu Chuanzhou treasured immensely.

A steady and incomparably comforting voice said, “Leave everything to me.”

…

Just like that, Yu Xi dragged his packed suitcase back to the Pei residence. That night, he ate dinner, took a bath, and climbed into bed early exactly as Gu Chuanzhou had instructed.

He held the small pebble close to his chest, waiting until ten o’clock, receiving Gu Chuanzhou’s call without a single minute or second of error.

“I properly did everything you said,” Yu Xi said to the phone in a small voice.

Gu Chuanzhou carried a smile: “Mm, Xixi is very good.”

Yu Xi curled his toes: “Now that you’ve checked, I’m going to sleep.”

“Okay.”

Gu Chuanzhou didn’t say another redundant word either. “Goodnight, Xixi. Wish you a good dream.”

That night, Yu Xi truly did have a good dream. In the dream, his father hadn’t failed in his investments, nor had he contracted the vice of gambling; he and his mother remained in love the entire time.

He grew up to eighteen years old in a family filled with love. Every winter and summer vacation, he would travel to the capital to spend the most beautiful holidays with his friends.

When he got admitted to university, his father and mother bought a house in the capital.

At the very end of the dream, everyone he loved was by his side. Those separations, betrayals, and breakups… had never occurred; there was only joy and happiness.

“Mommy…”

By the bedside, someone seemed to wipe away his tears with utmost gentleness.

“This child is missing his mother.”

“Burning like this, he must have dreamed of her.”

It was the voices of Auntie Wan and Auntie Pei.

Auntie Wan was saying, “Xiao Xi is a bit too sensible. He doesn’t make anyone worry at all, and he can’t bear to trouble others with anything, even though he’s only eighteen.”

Pei Lexin sighed softly: “I won’t go to the company today; I’ll stay at home.”

The hand helping him wipe his tears departed. Yu Xi heard these words in a daze and wanted to tell Auntie Pei it was fine, not to delay important matters because of him, but his eyelids were so heavy and his head ached so badly that he couldn’t wake up no matter what.

In his grogginess, he lost consciousness once more.

When he woke up again, what he saw first was the IV drip bag hanging above his head, and then Pei Lexin sitting nearby using a notebook to handle company affairs.

Pei Lexin noticed him very quickly. Putting down her notebook to sit by the bedside, she asked Yu Xi if he felt uncomfortable anywhere, fed him water using a straw, and had Auntie Wan bring up the porridge that had been simmering the entire time.

Yu Xi didn’t eat much, but his stomach felt warm, and it no longer felt uncomfortable.

The IV drip wasn’t finished yet, and leaning against the headboard, he felt a bit drowsy again.

“This morning you didn’t wake up on time to eat breakfast like before. Auntie Wan and I both thought you were exhausted from the exams, thinking of letting you sleep a bit longer. We didn’t expect you to be sick, running a high fever.”

“You were perfectly fine last night; how did you become like this today? Do you usually push yourself too hard? Or did you keep it to yourself even when you felt uncomfortable?”

“You completely terrified Auntie Pei. If your mother found out, she would definitely be worried to death.”

“Xiao Wang is the same; knowing you were sick, he refused to go to school, saying he wanted to stay home to take care of you. I had to scold him to make him leave.”

Pei Lexin chattered a great deal, tucking him in, adjusting his pillow, and also patting his chest gently with her hand, completely coaxing him as if he were a fragile little baby.

“Alright, our Xiao Xi needs to get well soon. Once you’re better, Auntie Pei will take you to eat delicious food, okay?”

Yu Xi was coaxed into a slumber.

This time, he didn’t dream again, merely sleeping a very, very long and peaceful sleep.

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