Chapter 868: Awakening From A Dream
Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Gong Zhan remained silent as the doctor examined him, a hint of self-mockery playing at the corners of his mouth. He too was curious about his condition. There was no physical wound on his heart, so why had he felt such excruciating pain, as if his heart was being torn apart? Surely, it couldn’t be because of Gu Zi.
If it wasn’t because of Gu Zi, then what was it? Upon learning that he had been saved by Su Shen, he felt a mix of embarrassment and relief, but no such pain. At this moment, Gong Zhan’s thoughts were in turmoil. Scenes from the past played out in his mind like a movie, all of them moments he had deliberately ignored over the years.
When he was ten, his family threw him a grand birthday party. Many people came bearing gifts, but the one that left the deepest impression on him was an oddly shaped Western cake made by the young Gu Zi. He had despised the cake for its appearance, and he had despised Gu Zi. He had even yelled at her, “Take your ugly thing and leave! I don’t want such an ugly cake!”
Back then, Gu Zi was a lovable child. Both adults and children in the courtyard adored her, everyone except him. The more she followed him around, the more he disliked her. The nicer she was to him, the more he resented her. He always avoided her, but why did he hate Gu Zi so much? He didn’t understand it himself. Looking back now, it all seemed absurd.
Standing outside Su Shen’s hospital room, he heard Gu Zi’s voice. His first reaction was that she had come to see him, that she still hadn’t let go of him. In that moment, a sense of joy he had never felt before welled up in his heart. That was until he heard what she was saying. Her voice was soft and sweet, as if soaked in honey, and her words were full of care and intimacy. She was speaking to another man, her current husband.
His legs gave way, and he almost fell. In that moment, he felt as if he had awoken from a dream. She was still the same, treating the one she loved with great kindness. Only now, the one she loved was Su Shen, not him.
His heart felt empty, and he was seized by panic. Something very important had vanished from his world. He could no longer deceive himself. He was truly suffering from the loss of Gu Zi. But the past was irretrievable. The Gu Zi who used to always follow him around, willingly playing the role of his little tail, had been left behind in the past.
He and she would never meet again. The current Gu Zi was in love with Su Shen, a man who was indeed superior to him in both ability and strength. Perhaps this was a form of punishment for him. If that was the case, he should punish himself properly.
For the next two days, Gong Zhan sequestered himself within his hospital room. He did not venture out, did not meet anyone, and did not consume any food. The toll of such self-imposed isolation was evident in his increasingly haggard appearance.
When the doctor, accompanied by Mrs. Chen and Gong Xin who had just arrived from the capital, entered the room, they noticed a tuft of white hair had sprouted atop his head, a clear sign of his heavy worries.
The doctor surmised that Gong Zhan’s loneliness was exacerbated by the sounds of laughter and familial warmth emanating from the neighboring room, where the Su family resided. Overwhelmed with concern, the doctor addressed Gong Zhan, “Deputy Commander Gong, your family has arrived. I’ll leave you to converse with them and excuse myself.”
Upon seeing her son’s vacant gaze and emaciated countenance, Mrs. Chen’s heart nearly shattered. However, she knew she could not afford to add to her son’s emotional burden with her tears. Swiftly, she composed herself, holding back her tears as she approached him with a smile, “Ah Zhan, are you feeling better? I bet you didn’t expect your mother and sister to come, did you?”
As she spoke, Mrs. Chen sat by the bed, clutching her son’s hand, her voice choked with emotion. Her son’s once fair and slender hands were now covered in scabs, two of his fingernails were missing, and large swathes of bandages wrapped around his head and body. One hand was in a cast due to a fracture. It was clear that he had suffered greatly at the hands of the drug traffickers. She was grateful to those who had acted swiftly to rescue him, or else she might have lost her son.
She hurriedly asked, “Son, which officer from the capital rescued you? Tell me, so I can write to your father. We owe a great debt to this person, a life-saving favor that we must repay.”
Upon hearing his mother’s words, Gong Zhan was even less inclined to elaborate. He remembered his life-saving favor, of course, but he needed some time to recover. He responded calmly, “Don’t worry about this matter, Mom. I will write to father about it.”
Gong Xin, who usually enjoyed teasing her brother, could not bring herself to do so upon seeing his condition. She spoke to him gently, “If you don’t want to talk about it, then don’t. I heard you haven’t eaten for two days. It’s almost lunchtime now. I’ll go get some food for us. Brother, for the sake of Mom who has traveled so far to see you, you should at least eat something.”