Inside the Gu family’s villa, one person and one cat were fighting again. A few days ago, Xiao Taiyang and Gu Ciyan had just started to ease their relationship, but Gu Ciyan insisted on making the cat’s ears fold, which caused everything to fall apart.

In the living room on the second floor, Xiao Taiyang’s pupils became vertical due to the tightly closed curtains. His yellow-green eyes looked a bit eerie. Gu Ciyan grabbed him by the back of his neck and brought him to his face. With his other hand, he unlocked his phone and placed it in front of Xiao Taiyang, “Why can’t the ears be folded? Look, other kittens can fold their ears.”

On the screen was a kitten with folded ears.

As a stray three-colored cat, Xiao Taiyang swiftly and fiercely slapped at the phone. Gu Ciyan let go and dodged. Xiao Taiyang jumped to the armrest of the sofa, then bounced back and left two bloody marks on Gu Ciyan’s hand, with blood flowing out.

“Little thing,” Gu Ciyan leaned forward to catch the cat, but Xiao Taiyang nimbly jumped at him, yowled, and slipped away.

Zhang Bo came upstairs holding his phone and just happened to witness the scene. He quickened his pace for two steps before calming down and handed the phone to Gu Ciyan, “Sir, today is the day for a video call with Madam.”

Gu Ciyan tucked his bitten hand into his pocket and took the phone with his other hand.

The woman on the other side was wearing a new Chinese-style pure white short-collared dress, her long hair draped over her shoulders with the ends lightly curled, half of her hair gathered into a simple bun at the back of her head, exposing a full forehead. Her appearance clearly reflected the taste of Old Master Gu. Though she was in her forties, she seemed to be in her early thirties. The camera beautified the fine lines around her eyes and mouth, and her oval face was full and radiant. However, her skin was excessively pale, giving her a somewhat fragile look. This slight frailty only enhanced her classical beauty, like a pure white jasmine flower high on the branch, untouched by the harshness of the world.

Ignoring the woman’s calm and soulless gaze, anyone would envy the beauty and softness built with gold and silver.

The woman remained silent, only looking at Gu Ciyan. In the depths of her eyes, like a vast ocean, there was a trace of amusement. Gu Ciyan spoke first, “Have you been taking your medicine on time?”

“Yes,” the woman replied.

Gu Ciyan gave a faint smile. It wasn’t really a smile, just a slight upward curve of his lips, though the gloom between his eyebrows didn’t subside. But the woman seemed to sense it, “I took half a sleeping pill last night. I felt fine.”

“Isn’t the chrysanthemum in the yard about to bloom?” Gu Ciyan raised his hand a little higher and adjusted the angle against the backlight. “I’ll tell Old Master in a few days, and we’ll come take a look.”

“Bring the phone closer. I can’t see clearly.”

Gu Ciyan drew the curtains open, “Anyway, we’ll be back in a few days.”

“Yanyan, do you have someone you like?” The woman asked, sounding like a mother asking about her son’s love life.

Gu Ciyan replied, “Yes, many.”

The woman nodded, “It’s good to have hope. I’m tired.”

“Sleep a little less. Otherwise, you won’t be able to sleep at night,” Gu Ciyan smiled deeper, his tone more accommodating.

After hanging up the phone, Gu Ciyan twirled it in his hand, and Zhang Bo reached out to take it. “Madam is like this. She calls once a month, and she can’t say more.”

“She’s like this, and it’s good,” Gu Ciyan’s gaze drifted out of the window.

The mist was rising from the mountain behind, and the mountain peaks were hidden in the sea of clouds. In a few days, the accumulated moisture would turn into heavy rain, cold and soaking, falling on the skin.

It reminded him of the weather when he first met his mother at the age of three.

Before he turned three, he only vaguely felt that his father didn’t like him. He was always with Zhang Bo, an old man, and his father rarely appeared.

On that rainy night, his father went out and brought him to his private villa, telling him they were going to meet his mother.

At that time, he couldn’t quite understand it, and in his flustered state, he didn’t know how to prepare. He only took his favorite toy car model as a gift.

He was brought to a personal property that was more luxurious and spacious than his villa, with large gardens both in front and back. He asked his father, “Is mom a princess? Does she live in a palace?”

His father didn’t answer. When they arrived, the woman who was called his mother stood in the center, wearing a black tight-fitting raincoat and flat leather boots. The hem and shoulders were dripping water, and a puddle had formed at her feet. He didn’t know how long she had been standing there. Her long hair was tied back with a white ribbon, and a few strands of hair hung messily in front of her forehead. She didn’t look at him, only at his father, with a gaze full of stubborn hatred, sharp enough to pierce his eyes. It was vastly different from the gentle image he had imagined for his mother, and also different from her current gentle, watery appearance.

People can be tamed. His father’s teacher was the strongest horse trainer in the military.

Back then, Old Master Gu was still young, just retired from the army, tall and strong. He waved his hand to dismiss the two people standing behind his mother, pushed Gu Ciyan toward the woman, and said, “If you run again this time, I won’t stop you. I won’t hurt you, and I won’t hurt him. But if you leave, you’ll never see him again.”

Gu Ciyan didn’t understand what that meant. His father’s tone was no different from usual. He held his mother’s hand and shook it. “This is for you.”

He held up the toy car model.

Only then did the woman look down at him. The moment their eyes met, the bond of blood seemed to have a magical effect. The woman slowly placed her hand on his eyes and closed his eyelids. She squatted down and told him, “Don’t be so stubborn.”

That was the first and only time he gave a gift.

Later, every time he went to that palace, his mother would open the gifts he brought and look at them before returning them to him. Except for that toy car model, which was always placed at her bedside.

It seemed that after that rainy night, his mother became calm.

His father was very skilled at taming people, of course, with his own assistance. He had always expected that he could go to see his mother every month, providing the best whip for his father’s taming.

Gu Ciyan kept those vivid memories in his heart and closed his eyes. “Keep the phone.”

“Okay, young master,” Zhang Bo replied.

Gu Ciyan glanced sideways at him, and Zhang Bo quickly corrected himself, “I’ll keep it safe, sir.”

The child who was once neglected by his father and ignored by his mother had now grown into someone no one could figure out. Zhang Bo always remembered that little boy, who every month tightly held his hand and walked toward that golden birdcage.

He had no right to enter there and could hardly wait outside for long. It was as if the monthly meeting was just a procedure. Within an hour, the child would be sent out. Sometimes, the gifts brought in wouldn’t even be unwrapped before the child was sent out with them still in their original condition.

Zhang Bo followed Gu Ciyan out of the old Gu family home. Gu Ciyan never showed excessive trust or intimacy with him, nor promised him wealth and fortune. Zhang Bo never expressed any expectations of Gu Ciyan either, but did his job diligently, which included regularly reporting Gu Ciyan’s movements to Old Master Gu.

However, Gu Ciyan still entrusted Zhang Bo with the management of his personal phone.

“Sir, let me call the doctor to bandage it. I will contact the animal trainer for the cat to fix its aggressive behavior.”

“No need,” Guan Ciyan wiped his hands with a napkin. “Xiatian has already been trained well, no need for a doctor. He got vaccinated the last time he scratched me. Give me the keys to the motorcycle.”

“Sir, the master won’t allow you to ride the motorcycle, it’s too dangerous. You still have injuries on your hand,” Uncle Zhang also took the keys to Guan Ciyan’s motorcycle.

“Just report the truth to him, he won’t say anything.” Guan Ciyan whistled, “Xiatian, go play.”

Xiatian jumped out from behind the sofa, wagging his tail like a propeller, opened the drawer, and brought Guan Ciyan’s keys.

“Really smart,” Guan Ciyan praised.

“Then you should put on a jacket.” Uncle Zhang, who was older, wobbled to get a jacket for Guan Ciyan, but by the time he came back, Guan Ciyan had already disappeared.

Uncle Zhang stood at the villa’s gate for a while. “So many years, nothing has changed.”

Every month, on the day he calls his wife, Guan Ciyan dresses very casually and humbly, like a son who’s easy to approach, just like the gift he could never give, stubbornly bringing it every time, even though he knew it was in vain.

In the late autumn, how can a black short-sleeve shirt keep you warm?

In the underground garage, Guan Ciyan swung his long legs over the motorcycle. “Let’s go, good boy.”

The back mountain of the villa had been developed by Guan Ciyan into a motorcycle mountain track. It wasn’t very high but steep enough. He arrived first, waiting at the foot of the mountain for a while, but Xiatian had already entered a full sprint and was ten minutes late. Guan Ciyan patted his head. “You’re slower.”

The roar of the motorcycle echoed through the sky as it entered the track. Xiatian jumped over the fence and into the bushes, disappearing from sight.

Uncle Zhang was already in the kitchen preparing dinner. The modified motorcycle engine’s roar made it hard for him to keep hold of the recipe for the day, its sound like thunder. He told the maid, “Prepare more meat. The master will be back tonight.”

It was already six in the evening. The sky was gloomy, with only a little dark light. The track became narrower the closer it got to the mountain top. The sounds of small animals became colder, and mountain mist spread down from the peak. Midway, Guan Ciyan’s motorcycle collided with Xiatian. Xiatian crossed the track, heading up the mountain path, while Guan Ciyan sped by. Neither of them disturbed the other.

At the top of the mountain, there was a sloped grassy area. Guan Ciyan and Xiatian almost arrived simultaneously. The gray sky pressed down, and Xiatian dashed excitedly while Guan Ciyan lowered the body of the bike, carving parallel curves with Xiatian. The sharp grass scraped his right shoulder, leaving irregular scratches. The cold of late autumn numbed his nerve endings, and Guan Ciyan seemed not to feel the pain.

At the end of the arc, Guan Ciyan turned the bike around, forcing Xiatian to turn as well. They chased each other, blocking from the left and right. The roar of the motorcycle created immense pressure and harm to Xiatian’s sensitive hearing, forcing him to the edge of the grass field.

Guan Ciyan hit the brakes, putting one foot on the ground, with the bike leaning. “You lost, Xiatian.”

The shepherd dog’s instincts were triggered. Xiatian lowered his body, ears flattened, with his back arched, showing his teeth. Guan Ciyan suddenly stopped smiling. “Sit.”

Xiatian bared his teeth and growled. Guan Ciyan took out a piece of chicken jerky from the storage box and tossed it to Xiatian. Xiatian reflexively jumped to catch it. When Guan Ciyan took out a second piece, Xiatian came wagging his tail. Guan Ciyan patted his head. “Good boy.”

They had played this game countless times.

The scar from where Xiatian bit Guan Ciyan’s left leg was still there. That time, Xiatian had been left on the mountain top and starved for three days.

Jian Yang, after dealing with Guan Jingyu’s dinner request, felt drained when he returned home.

In the book, Guan Jingyu’s attitude toward Jian Yang was simply a tool. As long as his goals were achieved, he didn’t care about the original person’s well-being. Today, Guan Jingyu, perhaps due to some sense of crisis, played the emotional card heavily with Jian Yang.

Jian Yang was exhausted from handling it. When he returned home, Uncle Zhang politely asked him to go pick up Guan Ciyan. Jian Yang collapsed on the sofa, “He’s old, not going to pick up garbage outside. He knows to come home when it rains. Uncle Zhang, stop worrying so much.”