Chapter 9: The Eldest Brother (Part 1)

  "Miss, get up quickly, the young master has already gone downstairs to have breakfast. If you don't get up now, the young master will definitely not let you into his study today."

  "Mom, I'm so sleepy!" Five-year-old Gu Huanli struggled in bed, unwilling to get up.

  "If Miss gets up early today, Mother Fang will tell Miss a story."

  "The story of Snow White, everyone has heard it many times. And Sleeping Beauty, The Little Mermaid, Cinderella..."

  "Does... Miss know that today is Young Master's birthday?"

  "What's birthday for? Can we eat?"

  "Birthdays are the day a person was born, and it only happens once a year! Although there are many holidays every year, birthdays only happen once. When celebrating birthdays, you can not only eat cake, longevity noodles, and peaches, but also receive gifts. More importantly, only the most important people will celebrate together."

  "Who's the most important person?" Gu Huanli rubbed her eyes, reluctantly sat up, and let the nanny help her put on her clothes. She pouted and said, "Brother is my most important person, can I spend my birthday with brother?"

  "Of course! Because Miss is the young master's only sister!"

  "Really!" Gu Huanli's eyes lit up, and she said with a smile, "Gifts, gifts! Little Li wants gifts, Little Li wants to eat cake, eat cheesecake!"

  "Miss, only those who have had a birthday are eligible to receive gifts."

  "Is that so!" Gu Huanli suddenly looked like a deflated balloon, listlessly going to wash up. Not long after, she suddenly ran out holding her toothbrush and loudly said, "Aunt Fang, Aunt Fang, should I send a gift to my brother?"

  "You're such a good girl."

  "What should I give to brother then?" Gu Huanli washed her face and ran out, tugging at Fang's mother's hem, saying with great difficulty, "Brother doesn't like sweets, so I can't give him a lollipop. Brother doesn't like dolls, so I can't give him Barbie. Brother doesn't like shiny things, so I can't give him a necklace..."

  "Miss, think carefully again, what does young master like."

  On this day, Gu Huanli was worried in kindergarten, worried about singing songs, worried about playing games, and even worried during nap time. Even when Fang's mother picked her up at the Gu residence, she still leaned on Fang's mother's shoulder, sighing and worrying.

  What on earth does brother like? This is really a big problem!

  Until the streetlights were all lit up, Gu Huanli suddenly thought of a gift that her brother would definitely like, so she ran to find Fang's mother. She believed that as long as she gave this gift, her brother would be especially happy!

  “……”

  What?

  "Xiao Li."

  Who is it? Who's calling her?

  With great effort, she opened her eyelids, and the light suddenly pierced into her eyeballs. Gu Huan Lian subconsciously closed her eyes again. A few seconds later, she opened them once more. The pure white ceiling, the pure white fluorescent lights, the pure white curtains, and the pure white walls made it seem as if heaven and earth were trapped in a vast expanse of whiteness, with only the faint green outside the window gently swaying in the wind.

  A ray of sunlight passed through the glass window and shone directly into the room, where even tiny dust particles could be seen in the warm yellow light. She hesitated for a moment, raised her palm, and examined it in the sunlight. After a while, she let out a long sigh, then smiled.

  It seemed like I had a dream, a long-forgotten dream. What gift did she give to her brother that time? Why didn't she have any impression of it at all? Was it because she forgot, so her brother was especially cold to her in the following years? There was a lump in her throat, although tears welled up in her eyes, her stubbornness made her want to hold back the surging trend, but it was so difficult.

  Suddenly, gently, the door was pushed open from outside.

  Gu Huan Lian slowly turned her head, as if it were a slow-motion shot in a movie, frame by frame, without any scene changes, elaborate rendering, or even camera cuts. She simply stared blankly at the door, where Gu Tian Xi stood, his impression vague yet deeply etched in her memory.

  How could he be in the country? Yesterday... yesterday when she called, he was still in his dormitory in England! Gu Huanli shook her head, wanting to get rid of these delusions. She must not have woken up yet, yes, all of this is fake, useless trash, just a fantasy she came up with to deceive herself!

  However, no matter how violently she shook her head, Gu Tianxi still stood at the door, quietly looking at her, as if he had been standing there for a thousand years, ten thousand years.

  Is he really her brother? Because she only told half of the story on the phone, and then disappeared, so he crossed mountains and seas to return home, back to her side? Or is he just returning home for summer vacation?

  Dreams and reality, past and present, kept alternating before her eyes...

  Finally, with a "pop", tears dripped onto the bed sheet and quickly spread out, leaving no trace. Words couldn't smoothly come out of Gu Huan's mouth, she just stuttered lightly for a while, accompanied by her dark, bottomless eyes that were filled with surprise, unspoken grievances, and longing.

  Gu Tianxi covered the door, walked to the window, and inserted the bouquet of flowers in his hand into the flower vase. The sun sprinkled fine golden light on him, and the fragmented shadow in the pale yellow halo was as stable as a mountain, making Gu Huanli feel at ease and comfortable.

  "Why did you sneak out of school?" Gu Tianxi's voice was soft, but his tone was very severe.

  Gu Huan Lirui shrank down and lowered her head, "I..."

  "You've always been sensible and never caused trouble for others, so why are you doing something irrational this time?" Gu Tianxi slowly walked in front of Gu Huanli, his piercing eyes as black as the night staring straight at her pale, almost translucent face.

  "My..." Her hands were rubbing the hem of her clothes under the quilt, that piece of cloth had already been rubbed into a mess by her. Gu Huanli was so tense that she couldn't speak, her throat seemed to be pulled tight, only making a low hum in her throat.

  "When your uncle and aunt come to visit later, you have to say 'sorry' and 'thank you', got it?" Gu Tianxi's voice was low and husky, yet impossible to discern his emotions.

  "Yes."

  "Six million may not be a lot for the Gu family, but it's a significant amount for the Chu family. However, Aunt and Uncle were able to come up with the money in no time. Moreover, they have been taking care of you all these years with great difficulty. You can't even repay their kindness, yet you let them get hurt because of your recklessness." Gu Tianxi's eyes were filled with darkness as he warned, "This behavior will only happen once, and it will never be allowed to happen again."

  "Yes." By now, if Gu Huanli still hadn't guessed where her brother's anger was coming from, then she really needed to go see a psychiatrist. So, she didn't dare refute him at all, and in her mind, she only remembered that when facing her brother, she must know her mistakes and be able to correct them, and do everything according to his wishes, otherwise the consequences would be unthinkable.

  Gu Tian Xi stood firm, his voice low as he asked, "Why did you suddenly call me?" His expression was extremely serious, his eyes staring straight at Gu Huan Lian, he wanted her to know that she wasn't allowed to lie to him, not a single word.

  Gu Huanli felt uneasy being stared at by him and turned her eyes aside.

  "Look at me!" Gu Tianxi grasped Gu Huanli's chin with one hand, he was very clear that she wouldn't have so-called "heartache". Something must have happened, and it was something serious, her trembling body had already told him.

  Her heart was racing wildly, her blood flowing faster, and her palms were slightly sweating. Gu Huan Lian knew that at this moment, even if she wanted to dodge, there was nowhere to escape. Moreover, his eyes were staring straight at her, as if wanting to see through her heart.

  She lowered her eyelids, and her head slightly shook as she tried to regain control of her chin. However, Gu Tianxi's hand was stubbornly unwilling to let her take back her chin. "Why should I apologize?" He lifted Gu Huanlin's chin even higher with more force.

  Gu Huanli closed her eyes, took a deep breath, "Brother's birthday is coming soon, but I haven't found a suitable gift to give to brother, so I want to ask if it's okay to send a birthday card that I drew myself." After finishing speaking, she opened her eyes, she didn't lie, so she wasn't afraid of him seeing anything from her eyes.

  Gu Tian Xi indeed didn't see any lies in her eyes, "Birthday card?" His hand wasn't as forceful anymore, "When did you learn these things?"

  Gu Huanli turned her head, took back her chin from his hand, and rubbed it without speaking. She had always been like this, always drawing by herself, always writing. For her brother, for her father and mother, birthday cards, Christmas cards, New Year's cards, Spring Festival cards, Mid-Autumn Festival cards, Easter cards, Thanksgiving cards, Mother's Day cards, Father's Day cards... In short, she had made handmade cards for every Chinese holiday and foreign holiday she could think of. She just didn't have the courage to send them out.

  Gu Tianxi looked at his sister, her chin was red, had he used too much force? He hadn't meant to hurt her, he just wanted her to know that she had to tell him the truth, not a single hint of concealment was allowed.

  "I flew back from England overnight just to see you, how come none of you are willing to call me?" he said lightly.

  Gu Huanli was taken aback, slowly lowering her head, her long eyelashes casting a beautiful arc on her eyelids, covering the thin mist of tears in her eyes. After a long time, she finally called out softly and endearingly, "Ge..."

  Gu Tianxi's heart suddenly ached, and he stretched out his hand to hold her in his arms, gently patting her back, softly saying, "Silly girl, I'm back."

  "Brother——" No intonation, no ups and downs, Gu Huanli whispered, her face full of tears without knowing it. Her hands tightly grasped the back of Gu Tianxi's clothes, with thousands of words in her heart, but she didn't know how to express them. Maybe having this hug was enough; maybe having this warmth was enough.

  Gu Tian Xi quietly held her, letting her sobbing voice be muffled in his shoulder, and then felt that Gu Huan Lian had already cried to the point of weakness and powerlessness, collapsing into his arms. He didn't even dare add a bit more strength to his embracing arms, treating her like fragile and precious glassware, only lightly encircling her from the outside.

  Although Gu Tianxi remembered that he had rushed to the hospital after receiving a call from the police station, when he entered the treatment room and saw the little girl covered in wounds like a broken doll, he couldn't believe it was his sister, who used to be white, tender and soft like a porcelain doll.

  Memories seem to have broken off at this point, leaving only many disconnected scenes that are difficult to link together.