Reluctantly Willing

The New Year’s celebrations were over in the blink of an eye. At the end of February, the spring wind had begun to blow over the northern city.

It was a sunny day when An Xiaoyan was discharged from the hospital. His legs were still bandaged, but the doctor said that as long as he rested well at home, he would be able to remove the bandage after a month.

When he was discharged from the hospital, Gu Jun came to pick him up.

An Xiaoyan looked at Gu Jun, who was standing by the door of the ward, in disbelief. He wondered why Gu Jun would come to pick up the man whom he hated so much.

“Can you walk on your own?”

An Xiaoyan limped forward, leaning on his crutches, and said, “Yes, I won’t bother Mr. Gu.”

Gu Jun followed behind An Xiaoyan and watched the figure in front of him bouncing up and down as he tried to walk. He strode forward and swiftly picked An Xiaoyan up off the ground.

“Mr. Gu, let me down. I can walk on my own.”

“I have to rush back to the company, so do not waste my time.”

Gu Jun wasn’t embarrassed by their conspicuous appearance at the corridor. If he could, he would hold onto An Xiaoyan openly in public.

Just as he exited of the hospital, he came face to face with Xiu Yijian.

Gu Jun, holding An Xiaoyan in his arms, made Xiu Yijian ponder secretly. “Mr. Gu, it is such a coincidence to meet you here.”

Xiu Yijian came to the hospital to retrieve some medical examination results from last year. The scene before her was quite unexpected.

With regards to Xiu Yijian, Gu Jun used to have a good impression of her. However, his opinion of her had soured quite a bit. He did not say much to her, but simply nodded and went off.

“Gu Jun, I did not expect that you’d have such a gentle side.”

The woman spoke to him as he was walking away. Gu Jun stopped and said, “If Miss Xiu has nothing important to say, go and get busy. You’ll come across many people in this hospital.”

An Xiaoyan blushed in Gu Jun’s arms. Miss Xiu was supposed to be Gu Jun’s beauty. He had a feeling that he was getting in the way of Gu Jun’s happiness.

Back at the villa, Gu Jun put a row of documents beside An Xiaoyan. “This is the plan for Guo Guo’s education for the first half of the year. You should take a look at it. When your legs are well, you can take him to school and assume full responsibility for his studies.”

“Yes, Mr. Gu, I will read through it thoroughly.”

Just when Gu Jun was about to leave, Gu Jun remembered one thing. Zhang Zilan told him that when An Xiaoyan looked at the medical equipment, he had an eager look on face.

“I specifically made a bookshelf in your room. When you are free, you’re welcome to take a look at those medical books upstairs.”

Before An Xiaoyan could answer, Gu Jun had gone somewhere else in the villa.

By now, the servants had all returned to the villa to work. Once Gu Jun had left, the nanny came downstairs with Guo Guo.

“Guo Guo told me that you were injured. I was so frightened and worried. Look at your leg; it’s all plastered! Your injury must be quite serious. What happened?”

“On New Year’s Day, I accidentally fell down the stairs and tore a ligament.”

“Gosh, you have to be more careful in the future. As the saying goes, ‘A broken ligament takes a hundred days to heal.’ Mr. An, you have to take good care of yourself. Guo Guo kept on telling me that you can’t play with him in your current state.”

An Xiaoyan bent down and touched Guo Guo’s head. “When Uncle’s legs are well, Uncle will be able to play with Guo Guo again.”

Looking at the harmony between the two, the nanny could not help but feel that Mr. An is Guo Guo’s guardian angel. If not for Mr. An, Guo Guo could not have developed so healthily. I must make some nutritious stew rib soup for Mr. An to drink.

…

Gu Jun looked at the golden invitation card in his hand, and the name on it. He really did not wish to go.

So what if his cousin is getting married? It’s none of his business. He’s not the one getting married. What would be the point of attending?

Although he’d rather not, on the wedding day, Gu Jun obediently took the gifts with him and attended the wedding.

During the New Year’s dinner, old Mr. Gu had already told him about it. This wedding was very grand, held at the only five-star hotel in A City.

Behind the hotel was a lawn dedicated to weddings.

Gu Jun naturally brought Guo Guo along, mainly because old Mr. Gu assigned Guo Guo to be a flower boy. On one hand, he wanted Guo Guo to be a flower boy; on the other hand, he wanted to take advantage of this good opportunity for people from other families to see his grandson.

Thinking of this, Gu Jun thought it was funny. If Gu Jing knew about this, he would probably be very angry, as his wedding would become a subtle stage for the family’s power struggle.

“Daddy, why do I have to dress like this?” Guo Guo sported a unique hair style, and held on to a pink bow around his neck. He had never been dressed up like this.

“Later on, when Uncle gets married, you will walk in front of them with these flowers in your hand.”

“What is ‘getting married’?”

“That means two people living together.”

Guo Guo looked up with his innocent face and thought for a while, but he did not seem to understand what marriage is.

“Why didn’t Uncle An come?”

“Did you want Uncle An to come?”

“Yes.”

Listening from the driver’s seat, Chen Chen was very happy to hear the conversation between the duo. Mr. Gu was finally becoming closer to his son.

The car stopped at the hotel’s entrance. Gu Jun got out of the car with Guo Guo in his arms. Gu Jing and Gao Shan were greeting the guests at the entrance, dressed in their wedding attire.

“Welcome, welcome! Please come in. Guo Guo, you are here too,” Gu Jing said politely.

“Hmm,” Gu Jun hummed indifferently. He took Guo Guo’s hand, and walked in.

The wedding was very grand, and Gu Jun looked quite dazzling with the child in his arms. During the New Year’s festivities, only his family and friends had met Guo Guo. Today, there were many businessmen at the wedding. The Gu family would be making a pivotal decision when choosing a new head of the family in March. Thus, many businessmen attended the wedding in order to observe the current situation.

With a glance, Nan Qiang saw Gu Jun in the crowd. He barreled over with his heavy body.

“Oh, who is this kid? He looks so smart.”

The newspaper had already reported on Gu Jun and his son, and made Gu Jun’s identity very clear. It was way too obvious for Nan Qiang to pretend not to know anything.

“My son, Gu Yuqi. His nickname is Guo Guo.”

“It is surprising that the second young master of the Gu family is still so young yet already has a kid.”

This “old fox spirit” didn’t have anything genuinely positive to say. Everyone in their circle knew that Gu Jun had a child out of wedlock. Nan Qiang walked over specifically to emphasize his shortcomings. Gu Jun feared that the old man may bear a grudge as Gu Jun previously rejected his proposition regarding An Xiaoyan.

Nan Qiang saw that Gu Jun had no intention of speaking up, yet he was in no hurry. After all, the realization of good things was usually preceded by rough goings.

Many people arrived at the wedding venue one after another and the hall was crowded. Since Gu Jing was the main character, Gu Jun felt that there was no need for him to steal the limelight. He simply sat down and fed Guo Guo throughout the event.

Nan Qiang came all the way back with his wine glass in hand. Coincidentally, the servant also came at the same time to ready Guo Guo for his duties as the flower boy.

“Gu second young master, remember the proposition I raised previously? Do not reject me so decisively. After all, we are still business partners. The Nan family works like an arm of your family.”

“Boss Nan, you had better not meddle in my affairs.”

Nan Qiang looked in one direction and said, “If you were the current CEO of the Gu Group, I would not say a word. But look. Now, the older cousin seems to be more popular than you.”

In the distance, many partners could be seen circling around Gu Jing, chatting and laughing with him. It suddenly seemed a little empty and quiet around Gu Jun.

“Boss Nan, it is still too early to tell.”

Nan Qiang took a sip of wine and whispered in Gu Jun’s ear, “The wise man doesn’t tell a secret. The money is dead and the people are alive. As long as you give An Xiaoyan to me, you can be sure that the Nan family will give you our full support.”

That was probably the reason why Nan Qiang came up to him in the first place. Gu Jun always had this thought: If one day, he was split between being the chairman of the Gu family on one hand, and being with An Xiaoyan on the other hand, which would he choose?

Abandoning the wealth and power, he may have no more capital, yet he could not bring himself to abandon An Xiaoyan either.

In life, you can’t have it both ways.

“Boss Nan, you had better not touch my people. After all, we are still business partners.”

Soon, the wedding ceremony began and Gu Jun sat in the first row. During the low-tempo wedding march, Gao Shan’s father stepped out onto the red carpet with Gao Shan, and Guo Guo walked in front of them with a bunch of Gardenia flowers.

Gu Jun’s eyes were fixated on his son. Guo Guo’s determined small eyes looked as if he were completing a mysterious task and his little lips were rising involuntarily. It was not a bad idea to bring along this little “steam bun.”

After dinner, Gu Jun went straight home with Guo Guo. In fact, he was still a little worried about An Xiaoyan.

Before, he was indeed heavy-handed when dealing with An Xiaoyan.

Guo Guo had been tired out today. Once he made it home, the nanny bathed him and put him to bed. Gu Jun gently opened An Xiaoyan’s bedroom door and saw An Xiaoyan lying in bed with a book in his right hand.

The scene he saw was like a beautiful painting, quiet, serene and beautiful.

Gu Jun carefully pulled out the book from An Xiaoyan’s hand. As soon as the book was taken away, the person in the bed woke up.

“Pardon me, Mr. Gu. I’m sorry that I fell asleep.”

“That is alright, An Xiaoyan. There is no need to apologize for this kind of thing in the future.”

Gu Jun randomly opened a page to take a look, the pages inside the book were very clean, without any wrinkles. He could tell that the owner took good care of the book.

But somehow he felt that there seemed to be something missing.

Gu Jun recalled that in the house rented by An Xiaoyan, he had seen a book with beautiful fonts on it. This book was too plain; too impersonal.

As he sat at his bedside, he noticed that An Xiaoyan was struggling to sit up.

Gu Jun pressed down An Xiaoyan’s shoulder while he was struggling to get up, and said, “It’s alright. Lie down.”

Gu Jun’s appearance and actions confused An Xiaoyan. Gu Jun had not been so gentle to him before.

“Mr. Gu, there is no need to do that. If I do something wrong, you can hit me. I am not afraid of pain.”

Somehow, Gu Jun felt a touch of sadness and heartache.

“There is a pen in the study. Write whatever you want on the books. I said before that you can read all of them.”

“Okay, thank you.”

In every exchange between the two, Gu Jun would always be the one who begin and end the conversation. An Xiaoyan would never mention any topic.

Gu Jun took great courage to say this sentence, “I will not hit you, really, you do not have to be so afraid of me anymore.”

“If I make a mistake, I should be beaten. Mr. Gu is not wrong to beat me. It was I who made a mistake first.”

“An Xiaoyan, I am sincere and I really mean every word of it. Besides, you can finish reading all these books whenever you’re free.”

Everyone needs to have some sort of goal before they can appreciate life. If one doesn’t work towards anything, one will lose the hope of life.

“Okay.”

There was a little bunch of kapok blossoms on the windowsill, which had given to An Xiaoyan by Guo Guo in the hospital. The nanny would cut the roots of the flowers and change the water every day and the flowers looked especially dazzling now. From a distance, the flowers looked like an orange fire.

“In the future, I will often ask the servants to buy flowers. This room is lacking personality.”