Chapter 115: Sister
Su Yu picked up the last bottle from the floor. He wiped away the spilled wine with a damp towel. It had taken him the entire morning to clean up the mess of scattered bottles and broken glass.
He stood up and looked at the neatly arranged empty bottles on the table, finding it hard to believe how much Gu Zhi had drunk last night. It must have been difficult for her to remain sober when she saw him.
He had never seen Gu Zhi in such a hysterical state. She had always been dignified and elegant, with a hint of unerasable loneliness in her long, upturned eyes. It wasn’t intentional, but rather as if she were born with a proud nature, something etched into her bones that couldn’t be erased. But Gu Zhi had hidden it well, always speaking to others in a gentle and soft tone, especially in front of him.
Su Yu sighed, put down the towel, and walked into the ajar bedroom. He gently pushed open the sliding wooden door and saw Gu Zhi sleeping soundly on the bed. He pulled the blanket, which had accidentally fallen off, back over her shoulders. She frowned prettily, as if she were having a bad dream.
“I only have you now.”
These familiar words made Su Yu feel scared. The fear was ingrained in his soul. Even if he were just a skeleton, he would still feel it instinctively. He would wake up in the middle of the night, his back drenched in cold sweat. He suddenly realized that the pain of a dagger in his stomach was nothing compared to this torment.
He could tell from Gu Chuan that Gu Zhi’s life in the so-called big family was probably not a happy one. When money piled up to an unimaginable extent, it began to be used to measure everything. Human emotions, which were invisible and intangible yet incredibly heavy, were all labeled with a price and placed on a shelf.
But Gu Zhi had never shown any weakness. She was keen on being a mature older sister in front of him, gentle yet resilient. The incident with the orange cat was probably just a trigger. Things that had been suppressed for too long needed an outlet to gush out. It was good that she had let it out. At least it wouldn’t accumulate for too long and become an incurable madness. He wouldn’t let that happen again, he was sure of it.
Su Yu turned on the bedside lamp and dimmed the light, worried that Gu Zhi would be scared of the darkness when she woke up.
Before he dimmed the light, Su Yu glanced around the room. He had been in a daze and had left in a hurry last time, let alone seen Gu Zhi’s bedroom. Although he had always considered Gu Zhi as his older sister, and even if he had asked to enter her bedroom in front of her, Gu Zhi would probably have just smiled and teased him a little. But now, peeking at it secretly, he felt a little embarrassed.
Do not look at what is improper to look at. But he was still curious. He glanced around roughly, but the room, which was as big as his dorm room at school, seemed to have nothing special in it. Logically speaking, a private bedroom should have some personal characteristics. Even if the room was messy and disorganized, or if there were just a few books on the nightstand, it could be considered a distinction.
But everything in the bedroom was very ordinary, yet indispensable. The layout was very neat, like a show flat in a new building, waiting to be sold. Living in such a room seemed to be just for the sake of living, not for life.
He left the bedroom and stood in the empty room, feeling a little cold. The large duplex villa was beautifully decorated, yet it was so empty that there was no trace of human life.
During the year after he had broken up with Xia Qian Ge, Su Yu had lived alone in a narrow rented room. It wasn’t that his salary couldn’t afford a bigger room, but the room was too big, and the loneliness that was tightly gripping his throat seemed to grow exponentially.
But Gu Zhi seemed to have lived alone like this, in a daze, for six years, living a life that was completely opposite to his. If they hadn’t met, how much longer would Gu Zhi have had to live alone?
Su Yu was curious about Gu Zhi’s life. After leaving the bedroom, he walked along the corridor on the second floor, looking at the layout of the rooms. At the end of the corridor, there was a room with a ajar door. It seemed to be a study…
He knew that Gu Zhi loved to read. The private room she used to rest in at the infirmary also had a cabinet full of books. He couldn’t understand the books back then and wasn’t very interested. Besides tutoring him with his homework, Gu Zhi would occasionally take out a novel and tell him the story in a simplified way.
Those old memories were rekindled after he met Gu Zhi again. There were always some scenes that he remembered very clearly. He would leave school in the evening and finish his homework, not wanting to go back to that empty home. The two of them would lean against each other, the afterglow of the setting sun dyeing the pages of the book crimson.
Gu Zhi would tell him stories from the book, but he didn’t quite understand. He didn’t understand why enemies would fall in love, why lovers would turn against each other… He wasn’t as tall as Gu Zhi back then. He would lean on her shoulder, only knowing that she had a pleasant neroli fragrance, and that she had promised to make him sweet and sour pork ribs for dinner.
Su Yu gently pushed open the door. The study was unlit and a bit dim.
He searched along the wall and found the light switch. The warm white light, which was easy on the eyes, lit up the entire study. He could vaguely smell the unique ink scent of books. There were as many books as he had thought. Several rows of bookshelves were filled with professional books with profound and complex names. Only a few shelves had novels that he still remembered. Gu Zhi had told him the stories in them before.
His gaze swept over the bookshelves and slowly landed on the desk. The desk was very neat. A few exquisitely shaped fountain pens were placed in a dark green bamboo tube. Next to it was a bottle of black ink. A few sheets of letter paper were stacked on the desk, with faint traces of long-dried handwriting.
Su Yu didn’t go closer to look. Entering Gu Zhi’s study without permission was already a bit presumptuous. He didn’t want to pry into her privacy either. He turned to leave, but he was startled by a figure outside the door. He took a few steps back, his voice shaky.
Out of guilt, Su Yu’s voice was a little low, and he didn’t dare to look at Gu Zhi. “S-Sister? You’re awake.”
“Yeah… I woke up when you covered me with the blanket.”
Gu Zhi’s eyes were a little unfocused, and a trace of weariness still lingered in her pure black pupils. She smiled, as if she had seen through Su Yu’s thoughts. “You used to look for manga on my bookshelf all the time. Why are you so shy now?”
“If you want to read, just find a book. It’s a good way to pass the time. It’s a bit old-fashioned here, there’s nothing interesting.” Gu Zhi’s lips, without lipstick, were particularly pale. She was still alluring, but she showed the fragility that was usually hidden under her exquisite makeup.
Su Yu watched as Gu Zhi threw him this sentence and then turned and left the study. He looked back at the family photo on the desk, which he had missed just now, as if he wanted to remember all three people in the photo.
After he finished looking at the photo, he immediately followed her out of the study and walked up to Gu Zhi, asking carefully, “Are you feeling okay? Why did you drink so much yesterday? Gu Chuan said you often have to drink a lot at family banquets. Why do you drink in private too? It’s not good for your health.”
“So? Are you worried about me, Xiao Yu?” Gu Zhi glanced at Su Yu, the long corners of her eyes slightly upturned. “Haha, you’ve really grown up.”
“So, you’re better now, sister?” Su Yu asked tentatively.
“What? Are you planning on going back to school so late, Xiao Yu?” Gu Zhi stared at Su Yu, seeing through his thoughts.
Su Yu scratched his forehead. “Uh… it’s a bit inconvenient to stay here overnight. And it’s not good to not go back to school every day.”
“Then I’m not better. I’m in a bad mood… and I’m not feeling well. Are you still going back, Xiao Yu?”
Gu Zhi blinked, a hint of playfulness in her eyes. She puffed out her cheeks and acted spoiled, teasing Su Yu. “Hmm? Are you still going back?”
“Since you’ve already said so, sister, then…” Su Yu shrugged helplessly and said with a smile, “Then I can only listen to you.”
“Okay, so good.”
Gu Zhi forced a smile and hugged Su Yu, ruffling his messy hair. The sadness in her eyes was diluted a lot by joy. She went downstairs happily. “I’ll go make dinner for Xiao Yu. What do you want to eat? Do you like sweet and sour pork ribs, Xiao Yu? But I don’t have any pork ribs at home…”
Gu Zhi smiled and ran to the kitchen downstairs. Her hair was still messy, but she kept muttering about what to make, a happy smile on her face.
Su Yu watched… and felt much more at ease.
…
“Is it good?”
Gu Zhi looked at Su Yu expectantly, a hint of regret in her eyes. On such a beautiful night, she should have made a sumptuous meal, but in the end, because of the limited ingredients, she could only hastily make a plate of pasta.
Su Yu swallowed the sweet and savory noodles in his mouth and nodded vigorously. “Mm-hmm, your cooking seems to be getting better and better, sister.”
“Is that so? I’m glad you like it.” Gu Zhi was overjoyed, her tired face still filled with a taste of happiness.
She put a lot of DVDs on the table, chose an indie romance film, and asked Su Yu for his opinion. “What do you think of this one, Xiao Yu?”
“I’ll listen to you.”
Su Yu had no opinion. He hadn’t expected this villa to have a basement that was used as a screening room. He watched as Gu Zhi put the disc into the player. A few mechanical clicks sounded, and the projector cast a beam of light onto the white screen. The movie began.
Gu Zhi turned off the lights. Outside the movie, the screening room was dark and quiet. The sound surrounded them, and the mottled light and shadow in the darkness were as brilliant as a starry sky.
The flickering light reflected in Su Yu’s eyes. He suddenly felt as if time had gone back to that early winter evening. The sky had darkened very late, and the sunset had dyed the pages of the book crimson. Gu Zhi and he were leaning against each other, and she was telling him the stories in the book that he didn’t understand.
“Sister… let’s go to the cemetery together tomorrow. Let’s go see Xiao Chan.”
“Hmm?”
Gu Zhi gently leaned on Su Yu’s shoulder. The boy was now much taller than her. She seemed to have understood something. Her dark pupils shone in the darkness. The silence lasted for a moment.
Her slightly cold fingertips touched the boy’s slender hand bone. She suddenly felt a little cold and leaned closer to the boy.
“Yeah, tomorrow… let’s go together.”
In the darkness, she replied softly.
