it's dark, coax me

Zhou Xing came back soon. Although there were quite a few people here for lunch, the speed of serving food was not slow, and soon the dishes ordered by Zhou Xing were delivered one after another.

It's a pity that when Gu Xiu faced the meals cooked by Zhou Xing himself, he would reluctantly eat a few mouthfuls because he couldn't bear him to waste his time, but he didn't have such a mood when facing the meals outside.

Gu Xiu didn't have much appetite at the moment, so he simply didn't move his chopsticks much.

Seeing him like this, Zhou Xing couldn't help but said, "If the things I ordered don't suit your mouth, you can order something else. What do you want to eat? I'll call the waiter over."

"no need."

Zhou Xing frowned slightly, and said a few more words of persuasion. Seeing that Gu Xiu was impatient, he didn't say any more.

After the two got into the car again, Gu Xiu became quieter.

This is the last section of the journey, and in two or three hours, Gu Xiu should be home.

Zhou Xing originally wanted to say something, and wanted to draw a successful conclusion to Gu Xiu's journey this time.

But Gu Xiu's gaze stayed outside the window all the time, he didn't even give him a look, it seemed that at this moment, no matter what he said or did, it was an unreasonable disturbance to him.

He always knew that Gu Xiu was going to return to his own world after all, that they were different people in the first place, but now he realized that there was already a gap between them without waiting for Gu Xiu to return home. Han clear boundaries.

At this moment, he no longer dared to call himself Gu Xiu's friend, he was like a real driver, a driver hired by Gu Xiu, whose mission was to take him home.

From noon to afternoon, the sun gradually slanted to the west, and the vehicles gradually entered the urban area.

It was bustling and noisy, and there was a lot of traffic everywhere. It didn't take long for the vehicles to be blocked on the road.

Zhou Xing has lived on the mountain for a long time, and now he feels that the surroundings are too noisy.

He looked at the tall buildings around him, at the clean and tidy streets, and at the well-dressed white-collar workers coming and going.

I have to admit that although he has always clearly known in his heart that the two of them have never been in the same world, when he really felt all this, he still felt an indescribable discomfort in his heart.

They are like two parallel lines that would not and should not intersect. Even if there is a brief intersect, they will eventually separate again in the end.

Originally, Gu Xiu's plan was to go back to his home first, put the car and luggage back, and change clothes before going there, but because of the traffic jam, it was almost five o'clock, so he simply asked Zhou Xing to drive him off. Went to Gu Wenlin's side.

Gu Xiu didn't intend to stay with Gu Wenlin for a long time, he just planned to save face and go back, so he didn't let Zhou Xing drive the car into the villa area, but let him park the car on the side of the road near the community.

Zhou Xing turned off the engine, neither of them got out of the car in a hurry, the car seemed to be still.

After a while, Zhou Xing forced a smile and said, "After I send you home, my mission is completed. Gu Xiu, I wish you smooth sailing, peace and joy in the future."

Gu Xiu lowered his eyes and said after a while, "Thank you, you too."

Zhou Xing handed the key back to Gu Xiu, and got out of the car.

He originally wanted to go to Gu Xiu's side, open the car door for him, and help him get out of the car.

But Gu Xiu didn't use him, he unbuckled his seat belt, opened the door and got out of the car before he walked over.

The two stood facing each other, Gu Xiu finally asked, "How did you go back?"

"Don't worry about me, I can go back anyway."

Although the journey is long, the traffic is well-connected, and you can go back no matter what.

Gu Xiu nodded, "Then I'll go first."

Zhou Xing looked at Gu Xiu's back, until his back disappeared in the villa area, Zhou Xing remembered that they didn't even say 'goodbye'.

I think so, maybe they will never see each other again, since this is the case, why bother to say goodbye.

Looking at the exquisite and luxurious villas in front of him, he couldn't help but make up his mind.

He has saved some money over the years, but his little money may not even be enough for a down payment in a decent location in this city.

this is the truth.

He remembered the day when Gu Xiu asked him if he liked him.

What is liking in the face of such reality?

Gu Xiu will eventually meet someone who also likes him and is more suitable for him.

Zhou Xing stood still and smoked a few cigarettes, and finally turned around and left.

In fact, Gu Xiu didn't go far, he just looked at Zhou Xing under the shade of a tree at a corner, and he didn't look away until Zhou Xing left.

Zhou Xing had been entrusted to take care of him from the very beginning, and now, Zhou Xing's task was finally completed, and there would be no more interaction between them.

fair enough……

Gu Xiu looked at the familiar yet unfamiliar villas in front of him. He had lived here for more than a year, but now everything here felt strange.

That's right, this is not his home after all, and it's normal to feel strange.

Gong Wenli called again, asking if he had arrived.

Gu Xiu returned: "Here we are, it's downstairs."

Gong Wenli was obviously satisfied with his reply, and said, "I'm almost there too."

Gu Xiu pressed the doorbell.

He originally thought that the nanny would come to answer the door, but he didn't expect that it was Gu Ming who came to answer the door.

Sometimes Gu Xiu thinks that Gu Ming is really a good name, and he has a bright future at first glance, and he won't fall into the quagmire like him.

Gu Ming didn't speak, just nodded to him as a greeting.

Gu Ming has been like this since he was a child, he is not domineering, and he has never even bullied him in a real sense, or done anything to him. To be honest, he is even considered a well-mannered person.

All he did was ignore him like a god would ignore a mortal beneath his feet.

Most of the time, Gu Ming seemed to be unable to see him, only treating him as air, as if he didn't exist.

When he was in school, he would not ask more questions about his late return, and he would turn a blind eye to his embarrassment when he was sick. Now, he is standing in front of him with a limp, and he is not interested in asking the last question. The attention is only on academics and the few people who deserve his attention, and he obviously doesn't deserve his attention.

For him, he seemed to think it was a waste to even look at it, waste a little more thought, and say one more sentence.

Gu Xiu stood in front of the door, looking at the opened door, suddenly he didn't understand why he listened to Gong Wenli, why he stood in this position.

For a moment, he wanted to just turn around and leave without making a sound.

However, at this moment, Shao Wan saw Gu Xiu standing at the door, and she laughed instantly, and immediately said, "Xiao Xiu is here, come in quickly, what are you doing standing at the door, your father is - talking about you."

Shao Wan was the mistress Gong Wenli was talking about.

I have to say that she is indeed beautiful. She is over 40 years old, but because of proper maintenance, she looks about 30 years old.

She is wearing a cheongsam today, which makes her figure more uneven. She has her long hair scattered behind her back, and she has a smile on her face. She looks really gentle and pleasant.

It is very difficult for people who meet Shao Wan to have any ill feeling towards her, which is why she has been able to get along like a fish in water in the circle of rich wives these years and has gained a good reputation.

If he hadn't personally experienced her methods, Gu Xiu would not have believed that there would be such duplicity in the world.

Gu Xiu finally stepped through the door.

After closing the door, Shao Wan said with a smile: "I wanted to call you before, so that you don't need to bring anything back, and there is nothing missing at home. Your father will be happy when you come back..."

She glanced at Gu Xiu from top to bottom, "It's fine if you're like this, otherwise the family will look divided..."

That's what connoted him going home empty-handed.

Gu Xiu has been on the verge of falling ill for the past two days, and his mood is unstable. He has indeed neglected this aspect, but when Shao Wan said this, he felt that this was pretty good, and they didn't deserve him to spend his time choosing something. Gift.

Gu Wenlin was sitting on the sofa watching TV, and he hummed when he saw Gu Xiu, obviously he was still dissatisfied with what he had done to hang up the phone before, but after all the person came back, his face also softened a bit, making Gu Xiu Sitting next to him, he asked at the same time, "What happened to your leg?"

"Climbing a mountain, I accidentally fell."

"Aren't there fences on the mountain? How could it still fall like this? You are too careless..."

Shao Wan stood beside Gu Wenlin and said with a smile, "Don't talk about Xiaoxiu like that, maybe it's mountaineering in the wild."

"Mountain climbing in the wild? Just his body? It's not me. You saw me when I was young. I have muscles all over my body... Not to mention anything else, in this respect, the two sons are far behind me!"

"That's why you are the best. If it weren't for this, our family wouldn't be where we are now..."

Shao Wan is clearly not from the south, but when she speaks, she has a tone like Wu Nong's soft words, soft and calm, as if she speaks to the heart of a person, after a few words, only Gu Wenlin said I'm so excited.

Gu Xiu sat on the side of the sofa, watching the couple express their love for each other in front of him, he just thought it was funny.

Gu Wenlin's family originally had several nannies, and it was not Shao Wan's turn to do the cooking, but she didn't know if it was to show that she valued the dinner, or what, after saying a few words, she went to Turned around and went to the kitchen.

After Shao Wan left, Gu Wenlin asked Gu Xiu, "How have you been recently?"

"good."

"If you have nothing to do, come back and have a look. By the way, you haven't talked to Gu Ming much since you came back. When I call him out, you two brothers have a good chat."

After Gu Ming opened the door for Gu Xiu, he went back to the study to study, and now he was called out by Gu Wenlin with a book in his hand.

He sat opposite Gu Xiu, but he didn't intend to open his mouth, his eyes still stayed on the book, which to him was just reading in a different place.

This atmosphere only made Gu Xiu feel depressed, and he began to want to leave.

At this moment, the doorbell rang again, and the nanny went to open the door, and Gong Lihua appeared in front of several people.

Compared with the previous years, Gong Lihua has changed a lot now. She also started to put on makeup and pay attention to her clothes.

But even so, standing with the well-maintained Shao Wan, the age difference between the two is only a few years old, but it looks like they are separated by a dozen years, a generation apart.

Different from Shao Wan's "gentleness", Gong Lihua was originally a strict person, and after so many years of teaching students to become a habit, it made her face even more fierce.

She has her own pride, she thinks that she is different from Shao Wan, who only picks up men and lets men keep them, so even though she is not as good in appearance, she still has a lot of confidence.

Unlike Gong Lihua's sarcasm face, Shao Wan rarely smiled when she saw her. She smiled and greeted her as if the two were sisters.

Gong Lihua ignored her.

Shao Wan didn't pay attention to her attitude, but said to Gu Ming, "Call me auntie."

Gu Ming put down the book in his hand, and said to Gong Lihua, "Auntie, hello, please sit down."

Gong Lihua's eyes turned around on Gu Ming. It cannot be denied that Gu Ming is indeed very good.

Her gaze turned to Gu Xiu who hadn't spoken since she entered the door. Gu Ming's generous attitude was much better than Gu Xiu's.

Although she said a lot of bad things about Gu Ming to Gu Xiu, everyone has a steelyard in their hearts. Many times she has to admit that her son is indeed inferior to Gu Ming.

But she immediately realized that something was wrong. Before she could do anything, she let herself down first, which is not okay.

She praised Gu Ming casually, then changed the subject, and talked about Gu Xiu, about Gu Xiu's achievements over the years, and about his new book just released...

It's not that Gong Lihua didn't really pay attention to Gu Xiu these years. After all, she hasn't remarried for so many years, and Gu Xiu is always her only son.

Although she sometimes resents that Gu Xiu is not good at everything, but occasionally she will think of Gu Xiu.

Thinking of how Gu Xiu was small and soft when he was a child, and he squeezed his palm hard, but he could only hold her with one finger.Thinking that Gu Xiu was easy to take care of when he was a child, and he was not crying like other children at all.Thinking of how Gu Xiu was the most obedient and sensible when he was a child, and liked to cling to her the most...

Maybe it was the flesh that fell from her body after all, Gong Lihua had complicated thoughts about Gu Xiu.

Just like Gu Xiu treated her.

Gu Wenlin is really big-hearted, and he really hasn't paid much attention to Gu Xiu. He only knows that Gu Xiu has been writing books for these years, and he doesn't really pay much attention to what he has written.

As for how much money Gu Xiu earns, he doesn't even pay attention to it. It's impossible for him to earn as much as his company.

So it was the first time he had heard of Gu Xiu's achievements.

Speaking of it, he didn't deliberately ignore Gu Xiu. He actually didn't pay that much attention to the other pair of children. He usually listened to Shao Wan say what awards his son won and where his daughter danced. knew.

As for Gu Xiu, Shao Wan didn't mention it, and Gu Xiu didn't say it himself, so he naturally knew nothing about it.

Sometimes he doesn't understand why Gu Xiu treats him like this.

With his ability, he can raise several children for a lifetime. If Gu Xiu was not too stubborn in the early years and refused to give in, and the relationship between the two of them was too tense, he actually didn't mind sending Gu Xiu some money to support him. profligate.

As for the property and company at hand, he originally thought that several children would have a share. Even because Gu Ming was too immersed in his scientific research career, he made it clear early on that it was impossible to take over the company. Take over the idea of ​​the company.

However, Gu Xiu was ill, and he was not close to him, so he finally gave up on this idea. There are a lot of professional managers around this year, and at worst, the company will be handed over to professional managers in the future.

When Gu Xiu heard Gong Lihua say these things, he felt as if he was hearing her talk about the achievements of an outsider. He didn't feel much comfort from it, he just felt that it was very strange.

He looked at the two people in front of him.

They are his parents, and now they are talking about him here, but all of this seems to have nothing to do with him.

He looked out of the window, feeling more and more empty in his heart.

At this moment, the door of the bedroom was opened, and Gu Xuan walked out of the room with her mobile phone.

Gu Xuan is the second child of Shao Wan and Gu Wenlin, and the younger sister of Gu Xiu and Gu Ming, but she is much younger than the two, only 16 years old now.

It was precisely because of the large age gap and the fact that she was a girl that Gong Wenli's hatred for her had faded a lot. At least, she had never been compared with Gu Xiu.

Gu Xiu's feelings towards Gu Xuan are more complicated than towards Gu Ming.

Gu Xuan was only a few years old when Gu Xiu moved here. He was an age who didn't understand anything, so he couldn't see the adult's wink, couldn't feel the disharmony in the family atmosphere, and couldn't feel that he was out of place here.

Sometimes she naively chases after him and calls him 'brother', as if she really regards him as her own brother.

Gu Xiu actually liked this child a little at that time, and sometimes he would try his best to take care of her, treating her like his own biological sister. Speaking of which, they were related by blood, and she was indeed his biological sister. .

It's just that children will eventually grow up from ignorance, and gradually become complicated from a blank sheet of paper.

Her attitude towards Gu Xiu has undergone several changes over the years, from clinging to him at the beginning to alienating him, and now and then showing ridicule to him occasionally, he noticed it all.

It was also until that time that he found that the only sense of belonging to him in this strange home had disappeared, so he never returned to this home after that.

Now watching Gu Xuan walk to her side, she called out, "Brother."

Gu Xiu even felt in a trance for a moment, and he couldn't even figure out how long it had been since Gu Xuan called him that.

Gu Xuan handed the phone to Gu Xiu, the video on the phone was paused, and there was a picture of a person sitting at the table.

Gu Xuan asked: "Brother, is this you?"

Gu Xiu just glanced at it before confirming it. Looking at the background, this was the restaurant where he had lunch, and he was looking out the window in a daze.

Gu Xiu didn't know who was secretly filming him, and he didn't understand why Gu Xuan asked such a question.

He didn't have time to change his clothes, so the clothes he was wearing now were the ones he was wearing at noon. Basically, he could be confirmed at a glance. It was nothing to ask, but he still responded.

Shao Wan stretched out his hand to pull Gu Xuan, pulling her away from Gu Xiu's side.

Gu Xiu looked at Shao Wan. In the past, Gu Xuan always liked to be by his side. At that time, Shao Wan also pulled her away like this.

He still remembered what Shao Wan said to Gu Xuan at that time:

"He is abnormal, mentally ill, and he will go crazy at some point. Stay away from him. Why don't you listen to what I tell you?"

"If you are so close to him again, you are worried that you will be infected with madness by him in the future..."

"Don't spread the word that you have two older brothers. Do you want people to know that your older brother is mentally ill?"

……

Perhaps, it is because of these that Gu Xuan drifted away from him, until now.

And at this moment, Gu Xuan clicked the play button, and the voice came out.

The person who took the video cannot see his face, only his voice can be heard.

"Today at the XX restaurant, I ran into the writer Gu Xiu by accident. He looks even more handsome than in the photo. He is worthy of being a handsome writer born in the [-]s. However, he seems to be injured and has a cast on his leg. I don't know if he got into a fight or Something happened."

"Wait, a little girl passed by with a book. I don't know if the little girl recognized him and asked him for an autograph. Let me get closer and have a look."

The picture in the video visibly shakes, and it seems that the man is approaching the position of the two people.

In the picture, the little girl put the book on the table, pointed to a word on the book and asked, "Brother, do you know what this word reads?"

In the video, Gu Xiu looked at the pages of the book, and said after a while, "I don't know."

The girl seemed a little lost, "It turns out my brother doesn't know this word either..."

The little girl said, holding the book and sitting back to the previous position.

The photographer walked up to the little girl, pointed the camera at the book in the little girl's hand, and asked, "Which word did you ask just now? Let me help you look."

Facing the camera, the little girl pointed to a word on the book, which was the word '焺'.

Everything in the picture, the person in the video obviously changed to another shooting location, and there is a book in front of him, which is Gu Xiu's latest book "The Sun Rises and the Moon Eternal".

He opened the page of the book, pointed to the name of one of the supporting characters, and said, "The word '焺' is indeed a rare word. There is a supporting role in "Yue Heng" whose name is 'Du Yu'."

"I don't know if Gu Xiu didn't want to be disturbed, so he didn't want to answer the little girl's question, so he said he didn't know her, or is there some other reason? Welcome to leave a message to discuss."

The entire video only captured this incident, and the up owner himself did not comment on this incident.

But he seemed to detonate the entire comment area, and there were a lot of negative comments in the comment area.

Although Gu Xiu couldn't see clearly, he could roughly guess what everyone was talking about.

The video software on Gu Xuan's mobile phone finished playing a video, and then it would automatically play the next related recommended video, and soon, the voice on the phone rang again.

The person who recorded this video was obviously not as restrained as the producer of the previous video. He directly mocked: "A lot of people said that Gu Xiu's condition has declined. Compared with the previous books, the new book is very different. I don't think it is true at all. What a decline in status, but this book is simply written by someone."

"Everyone knows that it is more common to find gunmen in the literary circle. It is impossible for the author not to know the name of his character. There is nothing to say about it. It is only possible that he found the gunman to write this book, or he didn't even read it at all. However, I only put my own name on it."

"I really don't understand these so-called writers. They just sit in an air-conditioned room and type out some words, they can be praised by countless readers, and they can even earn more than normal people in ten or twenty years. They don't even cherish the copyright fee, and even find ghostwriters..."

"Is it true that something written by a ghostwriter can become a writer's book if the author's name is added? Are these 'writers' qualified to be called writers?"

Gong Lihua snatched the phone from Gu Xuan's hand with a livid face, and turned off the video.

She looked at Gu Xiu and asked, "What's going on here, tell me! Now you have an explanation!"

Just as Gu Xiu was about to open his mouth, Gu Wenlin said angrily: "I thought you were really promising and became a writer, but it turned out that you were looking for a ghostwriter. You might as well not write a book like this! Don't be famous! I have been a writer for so many years. How did I educate you, did I teach you to deceive the world?! You have completely embarrassed us!"

Looking at the stern faces of the two, Gu Xiu suddenly felt that there was no need to explain anything to them.

If they really believed him, the first reaction upon hearing this would not have been the case.

Gu Xiu looked at the two people in front of him and felt ironic.

At this time, Shao Wan became a good person. She stepped forward and said comforting words, but in fact she secretly stoked the flames, blocking Gong Lihua speechless for a while.

Gong Lihua became more and more angry, and felt that all her face was lost, and wished that she had never appeared here today.

She taught Gu Xiu without any words, and finally she even said hysterically: "I really wish I hadn't had you."

Gu Xiu looked at Gong Lihua in front of him, and smiled slowly, "I also wish I had never been born, if only I had never been born, never came to this world."

When Gu Xiu woke up again, he was already in his own house.

He couldn't remember how he left the villa, nor how he got back.

He dissociated again.

A stream of messages popped up on his phone.

Through the news from Gong Wenli and Gu Wenlin, Gu Xiu learned that he smashed the table at that time, and after mocking everyone, he left on his own.

Judging from the content of the message, they were frightened by him.

Gu Xiu didn't remember these things, but when he saw the content of their news and thought of that scene, he felt happy in his heart.

But after the pleasure passed, I felt faintly uncomfortable, very uncomfortable.

He didn't want to cry, but the tears flowed down uncontrollably.

The most painful thing in life is waking up from a dream with nowhere to go. ——Lu Xun