“Uncle Gao…”
“Thank you so much for today…”
“If it weren’t for you, I really wouldn’t have known how to go home today, how to face Hongyi…”
After Gao Hongzhi slowly finished the last of his espresso, Gu Yebai finally raised his head and cast the man a look of sincere, slightly clumsy gratitude.
Gao Hongzhi set down his coffee cup, looked at Gu Yebai, and curled the corners of his mouth into a faint smile.
“What’s there to thank? You’re my son.”
He paused, his voice dropping lower, like he was talking to himself or testing the waters.
“It’s just a pity… you still call me Uncle Gao.”
Gu Yebai’s Adam’s apple moved.
His gaze fell on Gao Hongzhi’s features.
From the very first time they met, this man had never shown any intention of using him.
On the contrary, he had been giving unilaterally, without a hint of impatience.
Like a friend, he kept his posture humble.
Yet like a father, he hid his warmth deep.
There was no doubt—he truly regarded him as a son.
And between Hongyi and himself, he didn’t blindly favor Hongyi.
Instead, he tried to stand in the middle and understand him.
Like today.
“Dad.”
Gao Hongzhi’s movements abruptly stopped.
A small flame seemed to ignite in his pupils, carrying a hint of disbelieving joy.
“Son, say that again?”
Gu Yebai kept his head down, his voice so soft it was almost inaudible, yet clear and without any hesitation.
“Dad. Thank you for today.”
Gao Hongzhi smiled.
Not a businessman’s polite smile, nor a perfunctory acknowledgment.
It was a laugh that welled up from deep in his chest, carrying a hint of a choked voice.
He reached out and ruffled Gu Yebai’s hair, his palm lingering much longer than usual, as if afraid that if he let go, the boy would slip back to that cramped, damp little home in Linchuan.
“Silly boy… you finally called me Dad.”
His voice was a little hoarse, his eyes slightly red, yet he still smiled and patted Gu Yebai’s shoulder.
“These years… you’ve really been through a lot.”
Gu Yebai didn’t look up.
But something gently bumped against his heart.
He had already accepted this man from the bottom of his heart.
Still, he couldn’t help thinking back to that winter in Linchuan.
Thinking of Gu Chengfeng lying on the hospital bed, using his last bit of strength to pat his shoulder and say…
“From now on, you’re not Little Bai anymore. You’re Old Bai. Be a man. Take care of your mother. That’s a promise between us men.”
That heavy debt of nurturing love could never be shaken off.
Gu Yebai never dared forget it.
But now, the man before him was also treating him kindly in the same fatherly way, little by little pulling him out of a world where he had to “carry everything alone.”
No one ever said a person could only have one father.
Gu Chengfeng and Lu Xiao’ai taught the young Gu Yebai how to love, how to hate, and how to grit his teeth and keep living.
If they could see him from heaven, they surely wouldn’t want their son to push away every hand that reached out to help him.
Gu Yebai gradually understood that locking his heart shut and letting no one in was not loyalty to his departed parents.
Perhaps it was just another kind of cruelty…
Cruel to himself, and cruel to those willing to treat him kindly.
Gao Hongzhi had brought him that exquisitely packaged Peking duck from Yanjing, and the Yanjing dessert gift box.
Today, despite having so much work to do, he had set everything aside and come personally to the café to rescue him.
Even matters like enrollment interviews—things he could have left to an assistant or butler—he insisted on accompanying him personally.
All these things piled up together, like a handful of warm charcoal, slowly burning into Gu Yebai’s icy chest.
“Dad, I haven’t had it hard all these years.”
“It’s all in the past.”
Gao Hongzhi nodded contentedly, then patted his shoulder again heavily, smiling like a father who had finally waited for his child to come home.
“You finally called me Dad. Haha. This stubborn little donkey is finally willing to turn around.”
He stood up, tilted his chin toward Bai Xialin, and his tone became relaxed yet carried a gentle refusal to be denied.
“Come on, son.”
“The reason I came to find you at the café really was about enrollment.”
“To start school, you need some decent clothes.”
“Um… Bai Xialin, you’ll come with us, won’t you?”
Bai Xialin had been looking down at her phone, secretly adding herself to Gu Yebai’s reader group, waiting for her request to be approved.
Hearing Gao Hongzhi’s words, she jerked her head up, her eyes wide like a small animal suddenly called out.
“Me?”
“I can come with you two as well?”
“I can be part of this family atmosphere too?”
Gao Hongzhi smiled, his gaze soft, carrying the calm certainty unique to an elder.
“Yes, of course you can.”
“Your father and I are close friends who talk about everything.”
“And moreover, back in Yanjing, I already made him a promise—to let his daughter get along well with our two children and become lifelong friends.”
He paused, his gaze sweeping over Gu Yebai, his voice carrying a faint hint of regret.
“It’s a pity that girl Hongyi still seems a bit resistant.”
“But you can start by being friends with my son first.”
“From the looks of it now, you two already seem to have become friends…”
“In the future, you’re welcome to come to our house anytime. The Gao family is willing to open its doors to you.”
This time, Gao Hongzhi didn’t say “Xiao Gu.”
Instead, beaming brightly, he said “my son” openly and proudly.
Bai Xialin was frozen for half a second.
Then she bounced up.
“Waah (Yay)~ Thank you, Uncle Gao!”
Her arm naturally linked through Gu Yebai’s, like a clingy little puppy.
Gu Yebai’s body stiffened.
He instinctively wanted to shake her off, his face instantly turning red to the ears, but in the end, he didn’t actually pull away.
“Let’s get along well~ Little Guogu~”
“Or would it be better to call you Uncle Bai?”
“Would that make you feel like your girlfriend and I are more alike?”
Bai Xialin teased him with a hint of mischief, drawing out her words, her ending tone almost coquettish.
Watching this scene, the smile in Gao Hongzhi’s eyes deepened.
The three of them walked out of the café together.
He casually signed the bill.
In the parking lot not far away, a Mercedes-Maybach S680 sat quietly.
“Xiao Gu, for your eighteenth birthday, Dad will give you a Maybach.”
He paused mid-sentence, then suddenly smiled.
“Ah, is this considered a spoiler?”
“Normally, I should cover it with a white cloth and reveal it on your birthday as a surprise.”
“I’m getting old and senile.”
He chuckled self-deprecatingly and got into the driver’s seat.
“You two get in too.”
“Sit in the back. You young people have common interests.”
“Okay!”
Bai Xialin cheered and pulled Gu Yebai into the back seat.
Their next destination was Plaza 66 on West Nanjing Road.
Although Gu Yebai had previously bought all his clothes on Pinduoduo, times had changed.
Plaza 66 was widely recognized as the ceiling of luxury goods—LV, Chanel, Hermès, Dior, Gucci, Prada—almost all the top brands were there, including many Asian and even China flagship stores and exclusive concept boutiques.
It was also where Gao Hongyi often went.
A place for those who pursued top-tier luxury, wanted classic formal wear, had no budget limit, or wanted a one-stop solution.
Of course, Gu Yebai knew nothing about those brands.
He leaned back in his seat, his mind still on how to continue his novel’s plot today.
Basically, he still earned over a hundred yuan a day in royalties.
Even though in his current life, that amount might not even buy a button for a custom suit, Gu Yebai didn’t plan to give up.
He quickly typed a rough outline on the “Writer’s Assistant” app.
Bai Xialin, meanwhile, gazed at the streetscape of Donghai, her eyes sparkling.
Gao Hongzhi drove, enjoying the pleasure of driving, and even deliberately played a Korean song.
A lighthearted melody echoed through the car, adding a soft background soundtrack to this brief moment of warmth.
Just as Gu Yebai was about to pour out the inspiration that had just popped into his head—
His phone buzzed.
Yi: Uncle Bai, half an hour is up~ Where’s the selfie? Hurry, let me see what you’re doing~
Yi: Just now in the group, there was a Korean ID, a female group member. Is she Bai Xialin or not?
Yi: Uncle Bai?
Yi: [Smiley face]
Where was I again?
Gu Yebai stared at the screen, his fingers instantly frozen.
Yi: Are you with Dad?
Gu Yebai aimed the camera at himself and took a selfie.
If Gao Hongyi called for another video call right now like she had earlier and demanded a full 360-degree rotation on the spot, things would really blow up.
As if sensing her boyfriend being checked up on again, Bai Xialin had even prepared to duck down at a moment’s notice, pressing her face against Gu Yebai’s leg to avoid the camera.
Luckily, after sending the selfie, Gao Hongyi didn’t continue to be suspicious.
Crisis averted, for now.
Baiye Duxing: [Selfie]
Baiye Duxing: Stop staring at me and focus on class.