Gu Yuching was discharged from the hospital a few days ago and was currently recuperating at home. Du Yunyan had plans to visit him even before he set off for S City, thinking that if Gu Wenxi hadn’t decided to come out yet, he would go as a friend; if he already knew, he should visit more solemnly.

Normally, he wasn’t afraid of meeting elders. Having lived in the mountain village for many years, he had more contact with elders than peers. Perhaps due to his mature personality, he rarely felt any barriers when communicating with elders.

Before meeting Gu Yuching, he just took a bit more care in grooming than usual, showing no major emotional changes.

“Are you nervous?” After the car entered the villa area, Gu Wenxi asked.

“I’m okay.” Du Yunyan looked out the window. The neighborhood where the Gu family mansion was located was lush with trees, and the spacing between the villas was quite large, giving the feeling of entering a forest.

Gu Wenxi had already greeted the family in the morning, and when the family saw Du Yunyan, they weren’t very surprised. Zou Hui invited them to the tea room to rest, while she went downstairs to call Gu Yuching.

Du Yunyan had seen Gu Yuching in the media, and seeing him in person felt more intimate, without the seriousness when facing the outside world. In his fifties, he took good care of himself, and even though he had just recovered from a serious illness, his complexion was not bad.

“Uncle Gu, hello.” Du Yunyan still felt a slight panic when he stood up, his eyelids twitching twice.

“Please sit down,” Gu Yuching was good at observing body language, “You don’t have to be nervous, I basically know everything.” He signaled to his son, Gu Wenxi, who although reluctant, made an excuse to make tea and left the room.

Gu Yuching had heard from Gu Wenxi about Du Yunyan’s family background and also felt sorry for this child. He wouldn’t touch upon sensitive topics, just gently saying, “Wenxi has a good eye.”

“I’m sorry,” Du Yunyan felt embarrassed instead, “I should have come to see you sooner.”

“Haha,” Gu Yuching patted his leg, “Our family doesn’t have such a strong sense of hierarchy. The most important thing for you young people is to live your own lives well. You know Wenxi’s temperament, right? He’s not that easy to control.”

Although Gu’s father appeared tolerant and magnanimous, Du Yunyan didn’t take it for granted.

“He’s a person of loyalty and righteousness,” he said solemnly, “He cares a lot about you.”

“Yeah, I know,” Gu Yuching looked slightly embarrassed, “To say this may sound a bit hypocritical, but I’m not a competent father. His mother passed away early, and he started to rebel from that time, but his heart is not bad.

“I’ve told him this, and I can tell you, what I hope most is not how successful he is in his career, or how much he can help me, I would rather he has things he wants to do, a life he wants to live, rather than aimlessly drifting through life. Last time when he said goodbye to me… I felt strange. He rarely shows such persistence towards anything, even when I used conditions to negotiate with him, he wasn’t angry,” he smiled and shook his head, “He probably thought he hid it pretty well, right?”

Du Yunyan was somewhat surprised. “You already guessed about us—”

“Not exactly,” Gu Yuching waved his hand, “I guessed that he might want to pursue someone, but I didn’t expect it to be—you.” His gaze turned to Du Yunyan, “Actually, whatever kind of person he chooses isn’t something I can control. It’s just one less bond to the next generation for you both, and since you both don’t mind, what do I have to worry about? I was just waiting for him to tell me in person.”

Du Yunyan could understand the old man’s feelings, the simplest love of a father. He himself had never received such love, so he felt even more precious. He stood up again, bowing slightly. “Thank you.”

“What are you two talking about?” Gu Wenxi helped with the tea.

Gu Yuching tapped the table with his finger and said slowly, “Just some kind words.”

“I don’t believe it.” Gu Wenxi replied in the same tone.

The tea room faced east, and even with the white gauze curtains, the bright August sunlight couldn’t be blocked. The curtains had many hollowed-out patterns, and after the sunlight filtered through, it scattered into sparkling golden fragments.

Listening to the laughter of the father and son next to him, Du Yunyan raised his hand, irregular golden spots jumping on his fingers, lingering.

At noon, the two stayed for lunch at the Gu family’s house. Aunt Mei’s cooking was excellent. In a short time, she prepared a table full of delicious home-cooked dishes. Treating Du Yunyan as if he were family, they had a harmonious meal together.

Leaving the Gu family, the two drove back to the apartment and picked up half a watermelon at the fresh supermarket downstairs. Gu Wenxi found spitting out watermelon seeds bothersome, so he always bought seedless ones. Just as he saw that the store had two halves of watermelon already cut, with their bright red flesh looking juicy and refreshing, he bought them without hesitation.

He had just cut the watermelon into large triangular pieces when his phone rang. He asked Du Yunyan to bring it out and went outside to answer the call.

“Gu ge, what about tomorrow? Are you coming?” It was Lu Yunchu calling. The art exhibition they had agreed on was starting tomorrow, August 30th, and lasted for three days. Due to limited capacity each day, Lu Yunchu wanted to confirm when he was coming so he could inform the staff.

“Yeah,” Gu Wenxi glanced towards the kitchen where Du Yunyan hadn’t come out yet, “But, um… my boyfriend is here. Let me ask him.” Du Yunyan enjoyed writing and drawing, so he would likely be interested in such an event. Gu Wenxi hesitated on how to explain Lu Yunchu’s identity.

“Oh, your boyfriend’s around?” Lu Yunchu’s voice perked up, “That’s great, tell him to come too, you can come any day these few days.”

“Yeah, we’ll discuss it.”

Gu Wenxi hung up the phone, then went back to the kitchen, a bit curious why Du Yunyan hadn’t brought out the watermelon yet.

“Are you done—” as he entered, he found that the large pieces of watermelon he had just cut were gone, replaced by smaller pieces plated neatly, with all the rinds removed. “Why did you cut it again?”

“It’s all cut,” Du Yunyan looked satisfied at the two plates of watermelon flesh in front of him, taking two forks, one for each plate, “It’s more convenient this way.”

Gu Wenxi was speechless. “It’s even more troublesome to cut it.”

“So I helped you cut it,” Du Yunyan smiled, “Your way of eating it makes your mouth full of seeds, and even gets on your clothes.”

Gu Wenxi remembered how Du Yunyan even peeled pomegranates and ate them with a spoon, so it wasn’t surprising. With the watermelon all cut into small pieces and ready to eat with a fork, it was indeed convenient.

Gu Wenxi thought about the phone call earlier and casually said to Du Yunyan, “A friend gave me an invitation to an art exhibition. Are you interested? We can go together.”

“Sure,” Du Yunyan didn’t hesitate, but seeing Gu Wenxi’s expression, he seemed hesitant to speak, “What’s wrong?”

Gu Wenxi didn’t want to hide it. “But, that friend’s identity… is a bit special. I’m afraid you might mind.”

“What’s so special about it?”

“He’s not just my friend, he’s—” Gu Wenxi hesitated, “But he’s a good person.”

Du Yunyan smirked, “Stop beating around the bush.”

“He’s Lu Changming’s son.”

In other words, Du Yunyan’s half-brother.

As soon as the words were out, Du Yunyan’s smile seemed forced for a moment, but soon relaxed again. “What kind of person is he?”

“I told you, he’s a good person,” Gu Wenxi explained quickly, “Completely different from Lu Changming.”

Du Yunyan pursed his lips. “Then let’s go.”

“Aren’t you feeling awkward?”

“No, you said he’s a good person, so it’s okay.”

Gu Wenxi chuckled. “You trust me so much?”

“Yeah, I trust the friends you make,” Du Yunyan no longer hesitated, “And you promised him, so we shouldn’t break that promise.”

“Okay, then it’s settled.”

The night before, Du Yunyan had just gotten off the train, and Gu Wenxi had drunk quite a bit at a party. Both were a bit tired, so after chatting for a while, they decided they would sleep early.

That night, they had nothing to do, so after dinner, they took a leisurely stroll. After coming back and washing up a bit, it wasn’t too late to get into bed, and naturally they cuddled up, one thing leading to another.

Just as Gu Wenxi was about to take off his pants, he suddenly realized something was missing: because they had been living apart for so long, he hadn’t prepared any supplies at home, and he had forgotten to buy them earlier. His face immediately paled. Skipping the condoms was one thing, but without lubricant, wouldn’t it be a problem?

“What’s wrong?”

“I don’t have anything here,” Gu Wenxi’s hand was on his chest, feeling dejected and embarrassed, “Can we use hair oil instead?”

Du Yunyan burst out laughing, “I brought some.”

“You brought some?” Gu Wenxi was surprised, thinking that Du Yunyan didn’t usually pay much attention to this kind of thing.

“Yeah, it’s still in my suitcase, I haven’t taken it out,” he added before getting off the bed, “I was worried you might not have any, so I packed it.”

Gu Wenxi: “…”

Gu Wenxi lay back on the bed with relief, glanced at the balcony, and saw that the curtains were tightly closed, reaching down to the ground.