“Unfortunately, the retention period for middle school entrance exam answer sheets is only six months. They were already destroyed in a batch last week. I’m afraid I’ve disappointed you, little girl.”
“No, I was being selfish. Thank you, Uncle.”
Gao Hongyi nodded politely to the County Education Director.
‘If I could see Gu Yebai’s handwriting…’
‘I could definitely tell if he is [White Night Walker].’
It was a bit of a pity.
“May I ask, why would such a good child stay in Linchuan?”
“To be honest, I can’t figure it out either.”
The County Education Director’s emotions were suddenly ignited, and his tone carried a hint of righteous indignation.
“Why would a child like that stay in Linchuan County? Normally, for a talent like this, the major schools in the provincial capital would have been fighting over him. Scholarships, poverty grants, and guaranteed admission spots — he wouldn’t lack anything. Once he leaves Linchuan, his fate would be completely transformed. It’s the kind of thing that brings immense honor to one’s entire ancestry!”
His expression was exaggerated, even more so than Gao Hongzhi’s.
“There are only two possibilities.”
“Either the child refused the olive branch offered by the prestigious schools himself, or…”
He paused, and his voice dropped.
“Someone tampered with things behind the scenes.”
“It is indeed a pity,” Gao Hongzhi said.
His tone was steady, yet it carried an undeniable certainty.
“However, since I am here, I won’t let a child like that be buried.”
Even if Gu Yebai was not his own flesh and blood, Gao Hongzhi had already planned to sponsor him.
From his initial lack of expectations to his current state of total surprise, the name “Gu Yebai” had been etched into his mind like a brand.
And now, there was only one urgent matter.
To find him.
He hadn’t let himself fall into ruin.
He was merely fighting to break through the soil in the darkness.
Gao Hongyi took out her phone and checked the time, hesitating over whether to make a video call to [White Night Walker].
‘If Gu Yebai’s face appears on [White Night Walker]’s QQ, then it can be confirmed…’
…
Beep… beep…
The heart monitor chirped rhythmically.
The middle school entrance exam results had been out for quite a while now.
Gu Yebai had ranked second in the entire county.
“Here, Dad, have some water.”
Gu Yebai unscrewed the thermos and poured water into a cup.
Before handing it over, he pressed it against his own lips to test the temperature.
Once he confirmed it wasn’t too hot, he brought it to his father’s hand.
“Stop fussing over me.”
Gu Chengfeng leaned against the hospital bed.
His face was pale, but his smile remained bright.
“Hurry up and rest. You’re going to the provincial capital in two days. Aren’t you excited?”
He narrowed his eyes, as if thinking of something happy.
“This is your first time leaving the county, right? The girls in the capital are very pretty, and they dress fashionably too. Find a beautiful girl to be your girlfriend then, haha. If your father is still alive by then, I’ll teach you how to pick up girls.”
Gu Chengfeng looked at Gu Yebai, a smile always lingering in the corners of his eyes.
When he first heard that Gu Yebai had ranked second in the county, he had become the happiest person in the entire hospital.
It was as if he didn’t have terminal cancer, but just a common cold.
Before his chemotherapy sessions, he would joke around with the doctors and other patients like a child showing off a toy.
He would start with, “The middle school exam was quite hard this year,” and then very carelessly add, “My son took the exam this year too.”
When asked how he did, he would shrug and say with a humblebrag, “He did alright, just second in the entire county.”
This was Gu Chengfeng’s daily routine during his hospitalization.
Now, Gu Chengfeng felt a bit sentimental.
“Now that you’re leaving, I’m actually a bit reluctant to see you go. But as a parent, my job isn’t to keep my child by my side, but to push him further.”
“Go to the provincial capital and take good care of yourself.”
Gu Yebai’s hand tightened around the water cup, and his Adam’s apple bobbed slightly.
“Dad, actually…”
“What is it, son?”
Gu Chengfeng was still smiling.
“Actually, I spoke to the school.”
Gu Yebai’s voice was very soft, but his heavy tone suggested he had made a firm resolution.
“I’m not going to Shencheng Number One High School.”
The air seemed to freeze for an instant.
“I’m staying at Linchuan Number Five High School.”
With school starting soon, Gu Yebai had kept this a secret from his parents for nearly one month.
Eventually, the truth had to come out.
But could he leave?
If he left, who would take care of his parents?
They wouldn’t hire a nurse; they had no money and were reluctant to spend what they had.
Once he left, this home would truly be left with only two patients.
Because of this, Gu Yebai had rejected the olive branches offered by the elite schools.
Life was a wilderness, and any path taken was still a road.
But he only had one set of parents.
“Dad?” he called out tentatively.
The smile on the face of the man who had been so high-spirited moments ago began to fade.
The silence was like a bucket of cold water poured over their heads.
In Gu Yebai’s memory, his father had a good temper and an upbeat personality; he had never spoken a harsh word to him.
But at this moment, within that silence, a storm was surging, ready to explode.
The water cup was violently knocked to the floor.
Glass shattered, fragments scattered everywhere, and water spread across the floor from the foot of the bed.
A nurse outside was about to enter, but she stopped at the door and ultimately decided not to push it open.
“Who told you that you could make your own decisions?”
Gu Chengfeng stared intently at Gu Yebai, his chest heaving violently.
“You did so well on the exam — second in the county!”
“The conditions in the provincial capital were laid out clearly for you!”
“And yet you decided to stay in this shitty county to study?”
“Are you trying to kill me?!”
“Dad, I don’t want to go.”
Gu Chengfeng’s eyebrows shot up, and his fingertips turned white.
“Do you plan to stay in Linchuan for the rest of your life? And then, just like your mother and me, wait until you have a terminal illness in this county full of industrial waste before you’re happy?!”
Those words were like a knife.
Gu Yebai’s eyes instantly burned, and a sense of grievance welled up in his heart.
“If I leave, what will happen to you and Mom?!”
“What will happen?!”
“I’ll take care of your mother, and your mother will take care of me!”
“The two of us don’t need you to worry!”
“Didn’t we get by just fine before you were born?!”
“How can I not worry — “
Cough, cough, cough…
Gu Chengfeng suddenly began to cough violently.
Because his movements were so sudden, the IV tube was jerked tight, causing the bubbles in the hanging bottle to shake.
“Dad! I was wrong, please don’t be angry!”
“Do you really think that by staying at our side, the illness will just go away?!”
“Do you think that by practicing this kind of filial piety, your mother and I will be happy?!” Gu Chengfeng shouted.
“Foolish filial piety! It’s pure fucking foolishness!”
It was the first time Gu Yebai had heard his father swear.
“Do you have any idea?”
Gu Chengfeng’s voice was trembling.
“I haven’t accomplished much in my life. My only hope was that you could get out of here! Making your own decisions like this is like stabbing me in the heart!”
His voice suddenly broke down.
“It’s all my fault! I’m the one trapping you in this hellhole! Gu Chengfeng, you’re a goddamn burden! Gu Chengfeng, you’re dragging your son down with you!”
His throat felt as though it were being rubbed by sandpaper.
He raised his hand to slap himself, but Gu Yebai grabbed his wrist.
“Dad, don’t say that. You’re not a burden.”
“Then what am I?!”
Gu Chengfeng’s face completely crumbled, and large tears began to roll down.
“Making my son give up on his life…”
“I’d rather die right now. I deserve to be hacked into a thousand pieces. I should have died before your exam!”
This man had never broken down before.
But now, he was crying like a child.
The sound of his sobbing wasn’t loud, but it felt as heavy as thunder.
After a long time, he seemed to have thought things through.
He said haltingly: “You… you’ve got guts, kid. You’re a real man. But as a father, as long as I’m still breathing, I don’t want my son to carry these burdens. And I certainly don’t want to become your baggage.”
“I lost in this life…”
“But I don’t want you to lose alongside me.”
“Dad, look at me.”
Gu Yebai’s tone was more solemn than ever before.
“Staying in the county doesn’t mean I’ll waste my studies.”
“Even if I stay here, I will leave Linchuan based on my college entrance exam results.”
“Talk is cheap.”
“I promise you.”
“I could rank second in the county for the middle school exam, and I can do the same for the college entrance exam.”
“This is the internet age. I have a phone, and I can learn just as much as I could in the provincial capital.”
“Besides, if I really went there and couldn’t see you and Mom, I would be distracted and wouldn’t be able to study anyway. That would actually drag my grades down.”
“You… you’re full of excuses.”
Gu Chengfeng lay back and stared at the ceiling.
“They aren’t excuses, Dad.”
“Don’t tell Mom about you not going to the provincial capital.”
“Just say you’re on a temporary leave of absence.”
“I know, Dad.”
They both knew the truth.
This was something they couldn’t possibly hide.
But in front of that woman, they still pretended as if it had never happened.
Lu Xiaoai knew they were lying, but she never exposed them.
Until the day her life ended, she maintained the pretense that she was being kept in the dark.
…
It was 9:00 AM.
Gu Yebai opened his eyes and rubbed his hair, which had been ruffled by the pillow.
His parents had been gone for a while now.
But he still dreamed of them.
Perhaps as time passed, such dreams would slowly become less frequent.
But eventually, on some unexpected day, they would meet again.
Sometimes Gu Yebai wondered if the end of life wasn’t actually an ending, but a way of going home in another sense.