PPS Chapter 87
by VolareGu Yusen spoke to the staff before being allowed on stage.
He took the young man’s hand. Perhaps sensing a familiar presence, Chu Zhaoyi didn’t struggle. Instead, he obediently followed Gu Yusen down.
“Sir, I need to remind you that Chu Zhaoyi needs to submit his entry in five hours. This cannot be postponed,” a staff member kindly reminded.
“Okay,” Gu Yusen nodded, leading Chu Zhaoyi to the lounge.
Gu Yusen had Chu Zhaoyi sit on the sofa, while he squatted in front of the young man, his heart aching as he looked at the boy’s unfocused eyes.
“A-Yi?”
“A-Yi, I’m Sanmu Gege.”
Chu Zhaoyi blinked, his eyes slowly focusing on Gu Yusen’s face. He tilted his head, a slight smile appearing on his lips.
“Sanmu Gege,” he said, his voice filled with joy.
He didn’t look like he was having a fit at all.
Gu Yusen breathed a sigh of relief, then pinched the boy’s nose, slightly annoyed. “You scared me to death. Why are you faking illness, you little rascal?”
Chu Zhaoyi guiltily touched his nose. Gu Yusen had used a bit of force, and Chu Zhaoyi’s skin was fair, so his nose was already red.
The boy gave a flattering smile, looking obedient, like a cat showing its belly to its owner.
“Xie Haoran wanted to provoke me, and I granted his wish,” the boy explained the situation in a few short words.
While queuing before going on stage, Xie Haoran had said to Chu Zhaoyi, “Chu Zhaoyi, what if I told you that your parents, the fatherly and motherly love you crave, all belong to me?”
Xie Haoran knew too much.
He knew the ten-year-old Chu Zhaoyi too well, how he craved the little bit of love his parents gave, how he would shrink back home after being bullied at school, relying on that shallow love to heal his wounds.
The ten-year-old Chu Zhaoyi would be sad and collapse upon hearing those words.
But the eighteen-year-old Chu Zhaoyi wouldn’t.
“So, what is the little rascal planning to do? You can tell Gege now, right?” Gu Yusen, knowing Chu Zhaoyi was fine, completely relaxed. He casually sat on a sofa, his arms propped on either side.
“He wants first place.”
“I don’t want to give it to him.”
“I hate him.”
“He bullies me.”
Chu Zhaoyi spat out these words, unhappy. These few short words were enough to make Gu Yusen’s heart ache.
If, as he suspected, all of Xie Haoran’s talent since childhood came from Chu Zhaoyi, who was helping Xie Haoran in the middle?
It couldn’t have been just a child who could do such a thing.
It could only be Chu Zhaoyi’s mother.
The one who claimed to be taking care of Chu Zhaoyi, staying at home every day, but secretly sneaking out to indulge in mahjong parlors.
What was the purpose?
Profit?
What could a ten-year-old Xie Haoran give her?
Nothing.
Gu Yusen sighed slowly, thinking of Chu Zhaoyi and Xie Haoran’s identical birthdays.
His little friend had suffered so many grievances without him knowing.
“Does A-Yi want Gege to help?”
Chu Zhaoyi shook his head. Every action of Xie Haoran’s was within his expectations. Today, he would pull Xie Haoran down.
In fact, he hadn’t initially planned to seek revenge. He just felt bored. But then he discovered that Xie Haoran was the one who found a child to trigger his episode at the hospital, the one who made him show such an ugly side to Sanmu Gege.
He hated him.
He hated anyone who coveted Sanmu Gege.
He also hated anyone who ruined his image in front of Sanmu Gege.
“But, Sanmu Gege wants to help A-Yi,” Gu Yusen said, stroking the boy’s head, his usually frivolous tone unusually solemn at this moment.
He wanted to help him.
He wanted to help the ten-year-old A-Yi.
He also wanted to help the eighteen-year-old A-Yi.
Chu Zhaoyi was stunned, hearing such a strange request for the first time. He actually seriously considered it. His eyes flickered slightly, as if weighing the feasibility of the proposal.
“Sanmu Gege, kiss me,” the boy came up with the idea. In TV dramas, the protagonists gain more courage to face hardships after being kissed.
He could too.
Gu Yusen’s expression instantly froze, his usually nonchalant demeanor completely collapsing. His lips twitched slightly, and he almost choked on his own saliva. He cleared his throat, trying to appear calm, but the blush on his face had already spread uncontrollably.
“What are you saying! Chu Jiaojiao!” Gu Yusen’s voice trembled slightly, with a hint of suppressed panic. He glared at Chu Zhaoyi, trying to mask his embarrassment with a stern tone. “Be more reserved!”
Gu Yusen didn’t expect Chu Zhaoyi’s covetousness towards him to have reached this point.
He lowered his head slightly, trying to cover his reddening ears with his hair.
Chu Zhaoyi visibly drooped.
He was a little disappointed.
“Is it not allowed?”
Gu Yusen couldn’t stand the sight of the boy looking so pitiful.
Chu Zhaoyi heard a helpless sigh in his ear, followed by a warm touch on his forehead.
“A-Yi, no matter what, Sanmu Gege is here.”