Chapter 26 He Wants to Be Brave For Once

Gu Chengze hadn’t expected Song Yiyi to run so fast. By the time he chased after her, she was already gone.

He searched around outside the house and finally found her by the flower bed next to the training field. Song Yiyi had her back to him, her small shoulders trembling. A pang of guilt suddenly hit Gu Chengze.

It was he who had brought up the topic about Cen Bowen; he should have discussed it privately with Song Minghui. He also hadn’t expected Song Minghui to react so strongly. In the past, although Song Minghui had been a bit strict with Song Yiyi, he was never so unreasonable. Song Yiyi, for her part, never used to talk back to him either.

It seemed that his long absences—only returning home once a year—meant he really didn’t understand his family as well as he thought.

Gu Chengze pulled out a handkerchief and slowly crouched down in front of her. “Yiyi, don’t cry…”

Before he could finish, he froze at the sight of her.

Song Yiyi’s cheeks were puffed out, and when she saw him, she blinked and silently set down the spoon in her hand.

“Big brother, you actually followed me?” she asked.

Glancing around warily, she relaxed only after confirming that no one else was there. She was… eating cake.

And she didn’t look sad in the slightest.

Gu Chengze was caught between laughter and exasperation. He had thought she’d been so upset after being hit by her father that she’d run off somewhere to cry. But thinking about it carefully, perhaps he’d been overly worried—after all, when she’d stormed out, she’d made sure to take the enamel basin she’d prepared herself, hardly the behavior of someone in a blind rage.

Under the dim yellow light, he noticed a smear of white at the corner of her mouth. Chuckling, he asked, “Where’d you get the spoon?”

At his words, Song Yiyi pulled another spoon from beside her and handed it to him. “I passed by the kitchen on the way out and swiped it.”

Gu Chengze: “…”

He had definitely overthought things.

He stood and moved to sit beside her, but when he got closer, he had to stifle another laugh.

“Yiyi, since when did you get so chummy with the stray cats in the courtyard?”

Song Yiyi glanced at the plump orange tabby sitting beside her while shoving another bite of cake into her mouth. Speaking indistinctly, she said, “We just met. It’s cute, and I’m cute—we’re kindred spirits.”

The drowsy orange cat lifted its head to glance at Gu Chengze, then rose with elegant grace, stretched, and slipped into the flower bed.

“It is cute,” Gu Chengze said, settling down next to her.

Song Yiyi turned and pushed the enamel basin toward him. “Big brother, let’s eat this side. I’ll take the other half back to Mom later.”

Amused, Gu Chengze asked, “Not giving Dad any?”

“Not a chance,” she replied without hesitation.

After running out here and sitting down, she realized she might have overreacted. Thinking it over, she figured it was probably the original owner’s emotions bleeding through. Otherwise, she didn’t really care about Song Minghui—so why had she still felt hurt when he hit her?

But since he had hit her, she was holding a grudge. So, no cake for him.

Gu Chengze nodded. “Alright. If Yiyi says no, then no it is.”

He took the spoon she’d given him, scooped up a bite, and popped it into his mouth.

Yiyi tilted her head at him. “Well? Big brother, don’t I have talent? When I have money in the future, should I open a cake shop like this?”

He looked genuinely surprised. “Thinking that far ahead? But yes—it would definitely make money. It’s delicious.”

Song Yiyi was pleased. As she ate, a thought struck her and she asked, “Big brother, what did Mom ever see in Dad?”

She was baffled. From her perspective, Gu Heng was far better than Song Minghui in every way. Song Minghui lacked Gu Heng’s gentlemanly refinement, his status, and his background.

Although she didn’t know exactly what Gu Heng’s status was, judging from the grand reception at the compound today, it was obviously not something ordinary. Why would Cai Mengjun give up a good life in the city to marry Song Minghui, a man from the countryside whose background had never been great and who could now only work as a teacher?

Most importantly, she thought Song Minghui was emotionally unstable for an adult man and extremely chauvinistic. Despite being a teacher, his thinking was as old-fashioned as an antique.

Gu Chengze was silent for two seconds before speaking softly, “Yiyi, some things aren’t as they appear.”

His words were vague and left hanging.

Song Yiyi put her spoon down in the enamel basin and looked at him seriously. “Big brother, are you still mad at Uncle Gu?”

Gu Chengze paused.

“Big brother, I know divorce is hard on kids,” she said earnestly. “And I know that even if you’re an adult now, you can still feel unhappy because of your parents. It’s okay—you can talk to me about it.

“Don’t worry, I’m very tight-lipped. You can tell me anything.”

Gu Chengze looked at her—her eyes were clear and bright, shimmering in the evening breeze.

“Yiyi, I’ve always felt like he was the one who gave up on me and Mom,” he said at last. His gentle smile faded a little. “If he had tried to keep her, our family of three might never have split apart.”

In truth, Gu Heng and Cai Mengjun hadn’t become complete strangers after the divorce—on the contrary, both had remained calm about it.

When it happened, Gu Chengze had been thirteen years old. He couldn’t understand why his parents had to separate and kept asking over and over. Yet Gu Heng never even took the time to give him an answer—he was always busy, endlessly so.

Cai Mengjun, on the other hand, would hold him, stroke his head gently, and patiently explain, “Chengze, even if Dad and Mom separate, we’ll always love you. You’ll understand when you grow up—it’s a matter between adults.”

Now, at thirty years old, Gu Chengze still didn’t understand. He couldn’t fathom why, when his father clearly still had feelings for his mother, he had agreed to divorce without a word when she brought it up.

After all, he’d seen his father stand in front of her flowerbeds late at night, staring and sighing.

Song Yiyi set the enamel basin aside, propped her chin on her hand, and asked, “If they hadn’t divorced, would Mom still smile gently every day like she does now?”

While she couldn’t figure out what her mom had ever seen in Song Minghui, she could tell that Cai Mengjun genuinely enjoyed her life after marrying him.

Gu Chengze was momentarily stumped. If they hadn’t divorced, probably not—because in his memories before age thirteen, his mother rarely smiled.

He soon smiled again and reached out to ruffle her hair. “Yiyi, how are you so smart and so cute?”

She dodged and tried to push his face away, but clearly overestimated her arm length. Gu Chengze simply extended his own arm, keeping well out of her reach.

She resorted to mock whining. “Big brother, this is my new hairstyle—if you mess it up, my money will be wasted! You’ll have to pay for me to redo it.”

Her words lifted his mood considerably. But inwardly, he still made a silent vow: he wouldn’t be ‘cowardly’ like his father. He wanted to be brave—just once.

Stopping his teasing, he looked seriously at the girl beside him.

“Yiyi, I have something to tell you.”