When Shi Guantao was eating, Dr. Guo had no mood for work either. She asked Sister-in-law Gu to go to the hospital and help her request an afternoon off, claiming she had a heatstroke.
At her age, and with the weather so hot, it was easy to understand.
After Sister-in-law Gu, Gu i, and Gu Min left, Dr. Guo’s eyes were all on Shi Guantao.
The more she looked, the more she felt Shi Guantao really resembled her husband Gu Datou, not in appearance but in deanor, expression, and every move. Cheng Baoguo and Sister-in-law Gu were right; at a glance, he looked like Gu Datou.
Gu Datou wasn’t actually nad Gu Datou, but compared to his real na, the nickna Gu Datou was more widely known.
After finishing eating, Shi Guantao wiped his mouth and looked up to see five children sitting in a row on the bamboo mat, staring at him. Especially the one who had helped him call others, his head tilted. Shi Guantao felt a bit embarrassed.
Feng Qingxue took the bowls and chopsticks away.
Shi Guantao turned his gaze to Dr. Guo, hesitated for a long ti, and finally spoke, "In 1935, thirty-nine years ago, did you stay at a farmhouse while following the army to join other troops and give birth to a child?"
Dr. Guo did not deny it. "Yes, it was my son Gu Qing. I rember it was the Mid-Autumn Festival."
Shi Guantao swallowed, "I was born on the Mid-Autumn Festival too. There was a pogranate tree full of fruit in the yard, and a cluster of roses under the window."
Dr. Guo’s eyes widened, "How do you know the scene of that farmhouse?"
Cheng Baoguo and Wang Cuilan were shocked and said in unison, "Shi Guantao, do you know what you are saying?"
Dr. Guo suddenly couldn’t catch her breath, almost fainting.
Feng Qingxue happened to co back into the house, quickly stepped forward to unbutton her collar and rubbed her chest.
Dr. Guo regained her breath and stared at Shi Guantao, "What do you an by that?"
Shi Guantao did not answer her question but started talking about sothing else, "I was never liked by my mother and sister-in-law since childhood. My elder brother above, younger brother below, they were all more favored than . Whether it was food or clothing, I was always last. So I joined the army at an early age. A few years ago, I transferred back ho and worked in the Capital. My elder brother’s family still wouldn’t let go, living with dozens of people in the courtyard assigned to by the police station. Others said I was easy to bully, but it was actually because my mother’s orders were hard to defy. She said a big brother should act like a father, a sister-in-law like a mother, and made swear on her deathbed to take good care of my elder brother’s family and never forget my roots, or she’d curse from the grave."
Feng Qingxue knew this; after Lu Jiang t Shi Guantao, "He wasn’t lying. The first ti I t him was in the Capital, where his sister-in-law was snatching his ticket to buy food."
"Yes, that year those were the grain tickets issued to by a factory, not my workplace." Shi Guantao rembered vividly.
An unbelievable suspicion popped into Dr. Guo’s mind. Even if it could shatter her whole life’s beliefs to pieces, she still asked, "What do you an? Your aning is..."
Shi Guantao gave a bitter smile, "Perhaps it’s true that people’s words beco kind when they are about to die. My elder brother died last month and couldn’t swallow his last breath, dragging to tell a huge secret. He said I wasn’t his biological brother, and that my father was called Gu Datou, my mother was a battlefield doctor nad Guo Xia, and the whole family were doctors."
Feng Qingxue had a sudden inspiration and blurted out, "Switching the pillar with the roof beam?"
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