Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
The sky was getting brighter.
Lin Xiaojuan phoned Zhong Ran and told him not to exaggerate when telling Tong Hua about this matter. She wanted him to say that it was not so serious. As she and Gu Xie walked in the garden of the hospital, something was bothering them.
Gu Xie said, “I rarely interfere with the people in Ghost City. In fact, I have never had anything to do with Ghost City. At the age of eight, I started acting. Apart from going to school, acting, and accompanying my mother, I hardly cared about other things. We brothers are not that far apart in terms of age. In my impression, the Gu Family was very harmonious. The brothers respected each other. Big Brother, Second Brother, and Third Brother were very close. They always hung out together. My Fourth Brother, Fifth Brother, and I were very close as well. We often played basketball and golf together. Although my mother was in deep sleep, we would accompany our mother for an hour every day. When Dad lost his temper, we also liked to hide in our mother’s room. Only when we were with our mother would we not be punished. Although there were some unpleasant memories, my whole childhood was a very happy one.
“I don’t know when it started, but the atmosphere at home began to change. After Big Brother and the Second Brother went to study abroad, there were already some gaps when they came back. The two brothers pretended to be on good terms in front of my father, but when he was not there, they would be fighting for power. Dad raised Big Brother to take over his job, but Second Brother’s ability was superior to that Big Brother’s. Big Brother was soft and nice, and he did not have the same level of power as Second Brother did. Second Brother knew what to do. Back then, Dad wanted to whitewash all the industries in Ghost City. Big Brother was supposed to take over. However, some of the forces in Ghost City were relatively large, and they couldn’t be gotten rid of at all. Therefore, Second Brother became in charge of the dark side of Ghost City while Big Brother was on the clear side. Over time, conflicts rose until one day, Big Brother was shot to death. Since then, our family has changed forever.
“I am very clear of my Dad’s expectations of me, but I did not want things in the family to be even worse. I did not want the brothers’ feelings to drift apart, so I never asked about Ghost City again. I focused on filming. I have noticed the events occurring in Ghost City, but I barely interfere. Second Brother is a very good heir. In his hands, nothing has ever happened to Ghost City. Dad trusts him.”
Yet, there were some conflicts that could never be washed away once they were created.
“Do you think Big Brother was killed by your Second Brother?” Xiaojuan asked.
Gu Xie remained silent.
Lin Xiaojuan was uncomfortable. “You are brothers.”
Gu Xie said, “None of us are Dad’s biological children.”
“… ” Lin Xiaojuan was at a loss for words.
Gu Xie took a deep breath. “Although the six brothers are all surnamed Gu, we are not Dad’s own children. Dad had a few brothers. Back then, when they were in Northern Europe, they died while protecting him. Therefore, he put our names under his, and he raised us up. Only Second Brother and I are biological brothers who had the same parents. Dad only had one biological daughter, but unfortunately, she died.”
Gu Xie looked far into the distance. “Although we are not their real children, they treated us like so. Before Mom got into this state, she adored us. It has been twenty odd years. We are grateful for how they had raised us more than whoever that had given birth to us. We respected them like our real parents as well.”
Lin Xiaojuan never thought that she would hear such a story.
She had wondered why Gu Xie had so many people in his family. There were six brothers. So it turned out that they all had different parents.
“When I was adopted, I was only one year old. To me, they are no different from my real parents,” Gu Xie said. “My elder brothers were all filial. I have no idea why my family is in such a state right now.”