Chapter 79: Father Wakes at Last
After the call ended, Gu Tang and Gu Qinian rushed to the hospital at once.
Gu Tang had gotten his driver’s license during the summer break, and he had been the one driving on the way to the orphanage.
Since he was still a new driver, he drove very slowly.
Originally, he could have continued driving slowly all the way home, but after suddenly receiving the news that his father had awakened, Gu Tang became both excited and uneasy, afraid that something might still go wrong.
Even the fingers he used to press the car key were trembling slightly.
When the two of them got into the car, Gu Qinian gave him a look.
Seeing that Gu Tang was still the same as on the way there—shakily climbing into the driver’s seat—Gu Qinian did not say anything. He simply took a long stride and sat down in the passenger seat.
Once Gu Tang got into the car, he did not start it right away.
Instead, he pressed both hands down, trying to stop them from trembling.
After a while,
he turned his head with a pitiful droop to his face and said, “Niannian, I don’t think we can leave like this…”
Gu Qinian had already guessed this would happen. He unfastened his seatbelt. “I’ll drive.”
Gu Tang jumped. “No!”
“You still don’t have a license!”
Gu Qinian pondered for a moment, then said rather unwillingly, “…I do.”
Gu Tang: “?”
Impossible.
During the time he had been sweating under the hot sun learning to drive and taking the test, Young Master Gu had been busy with Gu family business and had had no time at all to go with him.
So where had a license come from?
“In Country S, you can take the test at sixteen. I got one back then.”
Gu Qinian had not originally wanted to mention it, but since he needed to drive now, he had no choice but to explain.
“The operation of driving itself is not that different. The main difference is just traffic rules from country to country.”
Then he added, “A few days ago, I spent half a day on it and passed in one go.”
Gu Tang looked at him in utter confusion. “Then why didn’t you say anything on the way there?”
He had enthusiastically said he wanted to take Young Master Gu out for a drive, all full of excitement about speed and freedom. Instead, because he drove so slowly, he had managed to turn a sports car into a crawling turtle. There had not even been the slightest breeze the whole time.
And somehow Young Master Gu had really endured it, sitting with him in that slow little rocking car the entire way.
“…”
Gu Qinian did not answer. His thin lips pressed into a guilty straight line.
Gu Tang stared at him for a while, then suddenly understood. “You did it on purpose?”
“You just wanted me to drive you around?”
Gu Qinian coughed lightly and tried to defend himself. “You need more practice anyway. Wasn’t it perfect for me to keep you company…”
“So you pretended not to have a license?” Gu Tang’s eyes widened into perfect circles. “You tricked me!”
“No.”
To avoid being misunderstood, Gu Qinian hurriedly argued for himself. “I would never lie to you.”
Gu Tang crossed his arms and gave a tiny huff. “Right, you didn’t lie. You just didn’t say anything.”
“…”
No matter how invincible he might be outside, once he got in front of Gu Tang, Gu Qinian lost every time. Whether it was arguing or fighting, he never had any chance of winning.
Still, the way the boy lifted his chin and argued made him look much more spirited than before.
Gu Qinian felt slightly reassured and reached out to rub his cheek. “You really only know how to pick fights with me. Are we still going to the hospital or not?”
“Yes!”
Gu Tang slapped his hand away and covered his own cheek so it could not be touched. “I’ll settle this with you when we get back.”
“Alright.” Gu Qinian smiled.
The phrase “I’ll settle this with you when we get back,” coming from Gu Tang’s mouth, sounded exactly like the kind of petty sulk a wife might throw at her husband.
It was the sort of teasing only a couple would say to each other.
As for how he would settle it…
Honestly, Gu Qinian found himself rather looking forward to it.
The two of them switched seats.
This time Gu Tang sat in the passenger seat. With that small interruption from Young Master Gu just now, his emotions had eased slightly.
But as soon as he quieted down and thought of his father again, the unease in his heart returned.
The doctors had said before
that in a case like Yu Zhongyuan’s, after more than ten years in a coma, waking up would indeed be a miracle. But at the same time, the family had to be mentally prepared for the worst.
A sudden awakening could also be no more than a final flash of life before the end.
Gu Tang did not know whether the life points he had shared were enough for his father, nor did he know whether this awakening was the first kind of possibility or the second.
The good possibility was greater, but even if the bad possibility was only one in ten thousand, it was enough to make him worry.
Gu Qinian reached over and fastened his seatbelt for him. “Don’t worry. Uncle will definitely get better.”
“Mm…”
Gu Tang nodded, but the worry in his eyes did not fade.
Gu Qinian took hold of his hand.
Gu Tang had always been a well-behaved boy who knew the traffic rules by heart. Even now, in the middle of fear and anxiety, he still did not forget to remind him, “You can’t do that. You can’t drive with one hand.”
Young Master Gu nodded to show he understood.
Then he placed Gu Tang’s hand on the hem of his own jacket.
Gu Qinian: “Hold this.”
Gu Tang clutched that piece of expensive suit fabric and blinked.
He remembered that when they were little, Young Master Gu had still been unbearably proud and stubborn. Gu Tang had loved holding hands, but Young Master Gu often refused, so Gu Tang had simply grabbed onto his shirt and refused to let go.
The other boy could not shake him off and had no way to deal with him, so in the end he could only let him.
Now Young Master Gu had changed.
Just because he could not hold hands for the moment, he had actually stuffed the edge of his jacket into Gu Tang’s palm on his own initiative.
Gu Tang tilted his head and looked at the sharply defined, handsome side profile beside him.
He had always missed the little bun-faced Young Master Gu from back then, but now he suddenly felt that the grown-up version was even better.
He leaned over and kissed the other boy on the cheek, then the moment Young Master Gu turned his head toward him, he pushed his face back toward the front.
“Look at the road when you’re driving.”
Gu Tang pressed his lips together and smiled.
Now that the person driving had changed to Gu Qinian, the car moved much faster, and the ride was smooth too.
Before long, the two of them arrived at the hospital.
Inside the hospital room, the Yu family was already gathered.
The moment Yu Xiao saw the tall Gu family young master following his adorable younger brother inside, he immediately frowned in displeasure. “Why did you come too?”
If it had been anyone else, Young Master Gu would not even have bothered responding.
But the person asking was his future brother-in-law.
Gu Qinian acted as though he could not hear the hostility in the other man’s tone and greeted him politely, “Hello, big brother.”
“Gu Tang was a little nervous, so I brought him here.”
That was his calm and respectful answer to the future brother-in-law’s question.
Yu Xiao’s eyes widened as he was just about to say, “Who the hell are you calling big brother?”
But before he could, Yin Ruan came over.
She had always liked this boy from the Gu family who had grown up with her son. He was strikingly handsome, carried himself well, and looked like the kind of person destined for great things.
She stepped forward to welcome him. “You’ve worked hard, Xiao Gu. Come sit down and have some fruit.”
Then she smacked her own eldest son and scolded him, “A-Xiao, why are you being so fierce to Xiao Gu?”
After being directly criticized by his mother, Yu Xiao kept a straight face. “Mom, you don’t know what he—”
“Big brother…”
Before he could finish, his younger brother interrupted him again.
Gu Tang asked carefully, “Big brother, don’t you like Niannian?”
The moment he saw how cautious his little brother looked, Yu Xiao’s heart instantly softened, and he frantically waved his hands. “How could that be?!”
“I like him! Big brother admires him very much, hahaha!”
Yu Xiao forced out a dry laugh and slapped Gu Qinian on the shoulder.
He did not hold back in the slightest.
Gu Qinian took three solid hits from the Yu family eldest brother without making a sound.
Instead, it was Yu Xiao whose palm started hurting.
He had no idea what exactly that brat from the Gu family had grown up eating. His whole body felt as hard as steel plating…
If his little brother ended up being rolled around by that steel plate in the future, wouldn’t he be the one who suffered terribly?!
No!
He would absolutely not allow steel plating to crush his little brother!!!
Behind the gold-rimmed glasses, Yu Xiao’s hawk-like eyes flashed sharply.
Within just a few seconds, he had already devised hundreds of ways to kill the brat from the Gu family inside his head.
Then he heard him calmly say, “Thank you, big brother, for your kindness.”
Yu Xiao: “…”
Who the hell is your big brother?!
Gu Tang glanced toward the closed door of the inner room and asked softly, “How’s Dad? Is he alright?”
The moment he finished speaking, the inner door opened from within.
Yu Yang walked out. As soon as he saw Gu Tang, joy lit up his face. “Tangtang’s here. Perfect timing. Dad said he wants to see you.”
So Second Brother had already told Father the news that he had been found.
Gu Tang nodded and prepared to go in.
Gu Qinian followed right behind him, but Yu Yang stretched out an arm to block him. “Hey, why are you barging in too?”
“I want to go in and greet Uncle.”
Gu Qinian said it with complete seriousness.
In the past, Yu Yang would definitely have thrown a punch straight at the brat who dared covet his little brother.
But now, he himself had his eyes on that brat’s uncle.
And since sooner or later they were all going to become relatives, and would have to see each other sooner or later, they could not afford to make things too stiff.
Yu Yang gave Gu Qinian a tug and quietly warned him, “What are you so eager for? My dad’s old-fashioned as hell. Be careful. Stay quiet out here and don’t go in there looking for death.”
Then he raised his voice so everyone could hear. “Dad said he only wants to see Tangtang. He even kicked me out.”
Gu Qinian looked to Gu Tang, waiting for his decision.
Gu Tang pointed toward the sofa. “Niannian, wait for me out here for a bit?”
Only after the boy himself said it did Gu Qinian nod and agree.
Then, like a very well-behaved large dog, he sat quietly on the sofa.
A hospital room was not the same as a home. Even with all the comforts of a luxury suite, there was still only one sofa in the sitting room.
So after Gu Tang entered the inner room, a very odd sight appeared in the outer room: three tall, handsome men squeezed together side by side on the same sofa.
Gu Qinian was stuck in the middle.
Yu Xiao sat on his left, and Yu Yang on his right.
Six long legs, all awkwardly bent, had nowhere to go.
All at once, the perfectly ordinary long sofa looked like some kind of toy.
Yin Ruan did not notice the hidden tension flowing between the three men at all. She peeled a large, perfectly round apple and handed it to Gu Qinian. “Xiao Gu, have some fruit.”
Gu Qinian leaned forward slightly and accepted it with both hands. “Thank you, Auntie.”
At the side, Yu Yang clicked his tongue. “Mom, where’s mine?”
Yin Ruan grabbed a piece of fruit and the fruit knife together and stuffed them into her second son’s hands. “Peel it yourself. And peel one for your big brother too.”
Yu Yang: “…”
So this was already open favoritism?!
This only proved even more that the brat from the Gu family must not be allowed into the family!
Yu Yang shot his elder brother a look.
The Yu brothers were perfectly in sync. Yu Xiao immediately understood and turned to Yin Ruan. “Mom, you don’t need to be this nice to outsiders.”
“What are you talking about?”
Yin Ruan did not care how neatly her eldest son’s hair was styled or how intimidating he looked outside. She reached up and smacked him on the head.
It was not hard, but it still knocked a lock of Yu Xiao’s fringe loose.
That frightened Yu Yang into immediate silence.
Who would even believe it?
His elder brother had gotten smacked in the forehead because of the Gu family brat!
“How could Xiao Gu be an outsider?”
Yin Ruan looked at her two sons and scolded them, pointing as she went. “Why are the two of you so insensitive? Think about it—who was it that raised your little brother? The Gu family treated Tangtang as one of their own and raised him with such care, raised him so well. How could our Yu family possibly repay kindness with ingratitude?”
Then she turned toward Gu Qinian, and her gaze became extremely gentle. “If Xiao Gu doesn’t mind, you can think of me the same way you think of your own mother.”
Young Master Gu immediately climbed right up the ladder. “Alright, Mom.”
Yu Yang: “???”
Yu Xiao: “!!!”
Even Yin Ruan had not expected the child to call her “Mom” so smoothly. She blinked in surprise.
Realizing he had been too rash, Gu Qinian hurriedly explained, “Sorry, Auntie, I startled you. My mother has always cared more about her career, so when I was young, I did not spend much time with her. Your words just now felt very warm, and I accidentally let it slip out…”
“Oh, it’s alright, it’s alright.”
Yin Ruan came back to herself and quickly waved her hand generously.
Gu Qinian wore a mild, obedient expression. “Thank you for understanding, Auntie.”
Beside him, Yu Xiao blew at the strand of fringe hanging over his eyes.
Yu Yang also narrowed his fox-like eyes.
At the same time, both Yu brothers silently cursed a certain plant in their hearts.
He’s pretending!
He’s so unbelievably tea-like!!!
That damned brat was way too good at this!
Of her three sons, only Gu Tang’s looks and personality really resembled Yin Ruan’s.
Yin Ruan was kind, gentle, and deeply compassionate. She completely failed to notice how tea-like Young Master Gu was being, and the look in her eyes became openly caring. “This poor child has had it hard. He’s had to look after himself, and still he’s grown up to be this outstanding.”
“Yes, because I grew up with Gu Tang. He’s good, so I became better too.”
Gu Qinian put on the smile of an angel.
Yu Xiao & Yu Yang: Who the hell is this?!
They knew perfectly well that the Gu family’s young master was an icy-faced little statue.
So how could he possibly smile this naturally and this innocently?
He even reduced Yu Yang—a professional actor who had practiced imitating his little brother’s smile just to make their mother happy, only to end up with a fake smile—to absolute rubble.
What they did not know was that Gu Qinian had spent every day with Gu Tang, practically inseparable.
If he wanted to learn Gu Tang’s little angel smile, he had a naturally overwhelming advantage.
He could study it at point-blank range.
And he could even learn it while kissing him.
Hearing Gu Qinian praise her youngest son, Yin Ruan’s eyes curved into crescents. “Good, good. You’re all good children.”
Watching their mother be coaxed into a delighted smile by tea-like Young Master Gu,
Yu Xiao and Yu Yang exchanged a look.
This round, they had no choice but to admit defeat…
Meanwhile, in the inner room, Gu Tang stepped in and met his father awake for the first time.
Yu Zhongyuan sat propped up in bed, tubes and IV lines connected to him everywhere. He still looked weak, but his expression remained cold and stern.
Especially those sharp, eagle-like eyes.
They looked capable of seeing through everything.
Yet the instant he turned and met Gu Tang’s gaze, his eyes softened.
His eye sockets even turned a little red, gradually filling with moisture.
“My child…”
With a hoarse voice, he called out softly and beckoned him over. “Come here. Let me look at you properly…”
Gu Tang obediently walked over and took the hand his father reached out toward him.
He had wanted to share life points with his father one last time, just to make absolutely sure that he would recover safely.
But when Yu Zhongyuan sensed what his youngest son intended, he withdrew his hand and gestured for him to stop. “I’m fine. I don’t need it anymore.”
Gu Tang froze when he heard that.
What did he mean, he did not need it anymore?
Had his father noticed something?!
“When I was asleep, although I could not wake, I could still vaguely hear the voices around me, and I could also sense changes in the energy around me.”
Yu Zhongyuan looked at Gu Tang as he spoke slowly. “Whenever you held my hand and spoke to me, a warm energy would pass in through my hand, and my body would gradually grow warm with it…”
“My child… was it you?”
“You’re the one who woke me up, aren’t you?”
Faced with his father’s questions, Gu Tang could not answer.
He could not reveal the existence of the system, nor could he explain what kind of rewards he had obtained.
If he exposed the secret, who knew whether the plot would not suffer a major bug? The whole world might collapse.
“…” Gu Tang could only press his lips together and say nothing.
Yu Zhongyuan truly deserved his reputation as the strongest head of the Yu family in generations.
Just by observing his youngest son’s expression, he had already gleaned a few clues.
He did not care about whatever small secret Gu Tang was hiding. He only asked, “Would doing this damage your own body?”
Was Father worried about him?
“It won’t, Dad. Please don’t worry.”
Gu Tang answered in a guarded way.
Neither denying nor admitting it.
Even if someone else had overheard this outside, they would only have taken it for a son saying something kind to reassure his father.
But it was enough to put Yu Zhongyuan at ease.
He did not care how his own body had recovered. He only cared whether it had harmed Gu Tang.
While he had been trapped in a dazed state all those years, what he had feared most was that the youngest son they had finally found again might exhaust himself trying to save a living corpse like him who should already have been buried.
Luckily, Gu Tang looked healthy now. His complexion was rosy, and he seemed full of life.
So there should be no need for him to worry too much.
Only after that did Yu Zhongyuan belatedly remember that his youngest son seemed to have called him “Dad” just now.
Gu Tang was a sweet little bean. Without needing Yu Zhongyuan to ask, he took his father’s hand again.
The boy leaned forward and hugged his father’s frail body, now terribly thin from lying in bed for so long, his voice catching. “Dad, congratulations on waking up. And welcome back.”
“Thank you, child. Thank you.”
Yu Zhongyuan was deeply moved.
While in his coma, he had vaguely heard this child calling to him at his bedside again and again.
The boy had called him “Dad,” hoping he would wake up soon.
He had heard it all.
It was that hope, together with that mysterious energy, that had allowed him to return to this world.
With difficulty, he lifted an arm and patted his youngest son on the shoulder.
Yu Zhongyuan said, “Good boy… and welcome home.”
His father’s words made Gu Tang think of his previous life.
No one had ever said “welcome home” to him.
Those hospital days had been lonely and dull. When he had felt well enough, he had once thought about going home to visit, but his father had his assistant forbid him from leaving.
The excuse had sounded noble enough: his body was weak, and going outside would only make his condition worse.
But in truth, he had personally overheard his father’s voice coming through the receiver while the assistant was on the phone, saying that he was unlucky, and that it would be best if he did not come back at all.
Thinking back on it now, his heart no longer hurt.
That cold-blooded family and that terrible body were all far away now.
In this life, he was very happy.
His health could be maintained with life points, and he had a complete family—actually two families—with so many, many people who loved him.
And on top of that, he now even had someone he liked…
The moment he thought of Young Master Gu, the corners of Gu Tang’s lips lifted unconsciously.
Once Father had recovered more strength, he would bring Young Master Gu over to meet him!
That single “welcome home” from his father made Gu Tang let go of everything.
And once he calmed down, he suddenly remembered something important.
If Father had remained aware of the world around him during his coma, then—
“Did you also know… that Yu Rong wanted to kill you?”
Gu Tang asked directly.
Yu Zhongyuan’s gaze darkened as he nodded. “Call Yu Xiao and the others in. I have something to tell them.”
Exactly as Gu Tang had guessed, while Yu Zhongyuan had been unable to move at all during his coma, he had been fully aware of Yu Rong’s little tricks the entire time.
He had watched helplessly as Yu Rong poisoned him again and again, all while being utterly unable to do anything about it.
“But Father can’t testify to what happened while he was unconscious. Yu Rong’s defense lawyer only has to say it was all a dream, and the charges will easily slip away.”
Yu Xiao frowned tightly. “At most, it would only count as attempted murder.”
Yu Yang smashed a fist into the wall. “That’s getting off way too easily!”
“Why does Yu Rong want to kill Dad?”
“Why is he so desperate that, the moment he learns Dad might wake up, he has to take the risk and act?”
Gu Tang asked the most important question.
That was also the problem currently frustrating the police.
They still had not found Yu Rong’s real motive.
If it were merely about taking over the Yu family company, then what was the point of killing an old patriarch already lying comatose in bed?
Wouldn’t it make more sense to target Yu Xiao instead?
Gu Tang’s question drew Yu Zhongyuan’s thoughts back to seventeen years ago.
His gaze turned deep and grave. “Because…”
“I saw him carrying Tangtang away.”
Back then, when the Yu family mansion caught fire, everyone had been desperately running outside.
Yu Zhongyuan had been trying to go save his youngest son when Yu Rong suddenly rushed over to him and said, “Uncle! I’ll go get the materials from your study for you!”
The study was right next to the nursery, separated by only one wall. It was also where the fire had started.
At a moment like that, the nephew who had rushed over in all haste had not thought about saving the baby—he had been preoccupied with the things in his study.
For one brief instant, Yu Zhongyuan had felt that Yu Rong’s face looked blurred and strange.
And then, in that very instant of hesitation, Yu Rong suddenly changed his words: “Then… you go get the documents, Uncle. I’ll go save little brother!”
With that, he ran toward the nursery.
Later, Yu Rong had indeed come out carrying the child. But instead of handing him over to Yin Ruan and Yu Xiao at once, he hid him. And once he realized Yu Zhongyuan would never wake up, he went mad and abandoned the child completely.
That was how Gu Tang ended up in the hands of traffickers.
After thinking for a moment, Yu Zhongyuan suddenly asked a question that sounded completely unrelated. “Yu Xiao, how is our old rival, the Wang family, doing these days?”
Yu Xiao had no idea why his father had abruptly brought up business.
But he still answered honestly. “During those years when things happened at home, they pushed us hard. I had no choice but to shift the structure of our business. There have been occasional conflicts over the years. They’re not as powerful as they were back then, but their strength still can’t be underestimated.”
Yu Zhongyuan nodded, already understanding.
Back then, the Yu family and the Wang family had been business rivals. And at that time, Yu Zhongyuan had uncovered that the Wang family was falsifying accounts and even had certain criminal dealings behind the scenes that could never see the light of day.
Yu Zhongyuan had placed all the evidence in his study, preparing to report them.
And just then, just as the evidence had been fully collected, the Yu family home had caught fire.
After hearing Yu Zhongyuan out, everyone suddenly understood.
“There must be a connection!”
Yu Xiao ground his teeth together. “I’ll investigate Yu Rong’s relationship with the Wang family, and I’ll find evidence of any private contact between them.”
Yu Zhongyuan raised a hand to stop him. “Seventeen years have passed. If they ever had evidence like that, do you think they’d still keep it? They’ve already washed themselves clean.”
“The only way to reopen the investigation is to crush the Wang family first.”
At this point, his voice sank. “But if it’s just the Yu family trying to suppress them, it won’t be easy.”
“There’s also the Gu family.”
A deep voice came from outside, growing nearer.
Everyone looked toward the doorway, where Young Master Gu stood.
Gu Qinian, tall and broad-shouldered, stood there in the backlight. Yet he was perfectly proper—without being invited, he did not step one foot into the inner room.
Yu Zhongyuan narrowed his eyes slightly, trying to identify him. “You are… from the Gu family?”
Gu Qinian nodded politely. “Yes. My name is Gu Qinian. Hello, Uncle.”
Gu Tang thought to himself that his father really did know everything—even Young Master Gu had been recognized.
So he reached over and pulled him inside by the hand.
Yu Zhongyuan’s gaze lingered for a moment on their joined hands before he said slowly, “This is a Yu family matter. There’s no need to drag the Gu family into it.”
“Uncle, Gu Tang is also a child of the Gu family. His matters are Gu family matters too.”
“As long as the Gu family and the Yu family join forces—”
Gu Qinian turned to look out the window.
“!” Gu Tang instantly felt alarm bells go off inside.
Sure enough, Young Master Gu gazed deeply at the lush greenery outside and said in that calm, chilly tone, “When the wind turns and the leaves begin to fall, and the weather gets cold… that’s when the Wang family should start feeling cold too.”
“…”
Gu Tang opened his mouth, wanting to say something, then stopped himself.
He only wanted to ask—
Did you absolutely have to say that line? Did you?!!!
***
Author’s Note:
Gu Niannian: The weather is turning cold. It’s time for the Wang family to go bankrupt.
Tangtang (too tired to even complain): Do you really have to say it? Are you not allowed to be a domineering CEO unless you say it?!
