Qi Anlu also told his mother that he had ranked first in his final exams.
Zhou Xinfang was overjoyed when she heard this and said she would go out to buy more groceries to cook him sothing special for dinner.
"I'll go with you."
"No need, no need. I'll be back quickly. You stay ho and rest, play so gas."
Recently, Zhou Xinfang had been encouraging him to watch TV, play gas, and go out to have fun, rather than telling him to study. Qi Anlu knew his mother was trying to cheer him up in her own way.
When Zhou Xinfang returned from shopping, she brought back not only groceries but also a small cake.
"To celebrate your first place finish."
"Thank you, Mom." Qi Anlu opened the cake. Though it was ant to celebrate his academic achievent, the ssage written on it simply read: "Wishing my son happiness."
During dinner, Qi Anlu noticed his mother seed to have sothing she wanted to say.
As he ate, he tried to guess what was on her mind.
"Son... tomorrow, let's go see a doctor together."
Qi Anlu froze...
"I asked at the hospital, and the doctor said it's better for parents to accompany their children... The doctor said this is an illness too. I'm so sorry, son. You were sick, and I didn't even notice."
"Don't cry, Mom."
Qi Anlu stood up, walked to the other side of the dining table, and bent down to hug his crying mother.
Zhou Xinfang's tears seed endless as she kept repeating "I'm sorry."
Eventually, Qi Anlu started crying too, and mother and son held each other, crying for each other and themselves.
The next day, Qi Anlu went to the hospital with Zhou Xinfang. With a parent present, he received a more detailed diagnosis, and the doctor prescribed dication.
Afterward, the doctor spoke privately with Zhou Xinfang, telling her that the root of Qi Anlu's illness lay in his family situation.
After their emotional breakdown the previous night, Zhou Xinfang had remained very calm, even after leaving the doctor's office. Even Qi Anlu couldn't tell what she was thinking.
On their way ho, Zhou Xinfang asked Qi Anlu just one question.
"Anlu, do you trust Mom?"
Though Qi Anlu didn't know what she had in mind, he nodded without hesitation.
"Yes, I trust you."
Qi Wenhan had spent half a month in their hotown this ti, attending to ancestral graves and hosting ceremonial banquets.
After finishing these matters, instead of returning imdiately, he called Zhou Xinfang and told her to bring Qi Anlu directly to their hotown for the New Year.
In the car ride to their hotown, Zhou Xinfang took out her phone and showed Qi Anlu a photo.
"Mom has arranged with the pet shop to bring it ho after the New Year."
The photo showed a Ragdoll kitten with beautiful blue eyes.
Though the cat was cute, Qi Anlu felt inexplicably uneasy.
"Mom... don't do anything foolish."
Zhou Xinfang just smiled and said,
"What are you talking about! What foolish thing could Mom do?"
After returning to their hotown, when Qi Wenhan learned of his son's first-place finish, he rely said flatly, "Now that's more like it."
However, outside the ho, he boasted extensively, enjoying when others flattered him with comnts like "like father, like son" and praising his teaching thods as befitting a professor.
Qi Anlu noticed that after returning to their hotown, his mother seed to revert to her forr self.
At his grandparents' house, she was the timid, quiet daughter-in-law; at her parents' house, she was the filial, gentle daughter.
But he couldn't shake the feeling that sothing was about to happen...
After a week of fun in the Snow Town, Gu Zhijing returned ho, still full of excitent.
He brought back loads of things, mostly food.
"There were so many delicious things there - mushrooms, sausages, little chickens."
After spending a week in Snow Town, he'd even picked up a slight northeastern accent.
He made a special trip to Qu Zizhou's house to deliver so gifts, only to have Jiang Yun insist on sending him ho with plenty of items in return.
Learning that Chu Mingyan and Qi Anlu were still in their hotown, Gu Zhijing ssaged their group chat to say he'd keep their shares until after the New Year.
Two days after Gu Zhijing returned ho, Nian Suian ca downstairs in the morning to find the entrance hall filled with packages of various sizes.
"Did you buy these?" she asked Gu Zhijing, who was eating breakfast.
"No, I didn't. I thought you bought them," Gu Zhijing had seen the deliveries when he ca down but assud his stepmother had ordered them.
"I'll take a look."
"PeterGu... Peter, isn't that my grandfather!" Gu Zhijing exclaid after checking the sender's na on the packages.
"?"
This was also the first ti Nian Suian learned that Gu Junxing's father's English na was Peter.
While the packages had arrived at ho, there was no word about where the sender was.
It wasn't until Gu Junxing returned ho that evening that he explained the situation.
"They've returned to the country, but instead of coming directly here, they went to visit friends elsewhere. Mom and Dad said these are gifts for us."
Nian Suian was stunned, looking at the "mountain" of packages, thinking how generous the elderly couple was.
"They're gifts for us? Then I'll start opening them!" Gu Zhijing found a box cutter, sat down on the floor, and began opening packages with more excitent than if he were unboxing mystery toys.
Most items were collectibles the elderly couple had gathered from around the world. There weren't specific designations for who should receive what, except for one box that contained a note. It explained that these items were brought for all of them, including so for Nanny Zhang and Butler Su, and they hadn't bothered to sort them - everyone could choose what they wanted from the collection.
There was a sapphire bracelet specifically designated for Suian.
And for their grandson Gu Zhijing, there was a basketball with an authentic signature from a famous player.
Gu Zhijing let out an excited yelp when he saw the signature.
"Grandpa and Grandma are amazing! They even got the signature!"
They hadn't forgotten Gu Junxing's gift either - a watch bought in Switzerland.
It was quite an effort for the elderly couple to buy all these things and ship them back.
The empty delivery boxes alone could fill a tricycle used by recyclers.
On New Year's Eve, the elderly couple finally returned from their travels. Gu Junxing went to pick them up from the airport while Nian Suian and Gu Zhijing waited at ho.
"Oh my, Suian grows more beautiful every ti I see her!" Gu Junxing's mother gave Nian Suian a big hug as soon as she entered.
After hugging Nian Suian, she went to embrace her grandson Gu Zhijing.
"My grandson, so handso!"
The elderly couple looked very energetic and spoke in strong, clear voices. Gu Junxing looked exactly like his father, and Nian Suian couldn't help but steal a few glances, imagining that this must be how Gu Junxing would look when he grew old.
During the New Year's Eve dinner, when Nian Suian finally called them "Mom and Dad," the elderly couple responded with great joy and each gave her a red envelope.
After dinner, the family sat together drinking tea and listening to Gu Junxing's parents share interesting stories from their travels.
It was then that Gu Zhijing suddenly stood up and announced he needed to go out.
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