Chapter 81: Plan
“Brother, come here. Let’s hide here. They’ll never catch us.”
Xiao Meng bent down and rushed into a low bush. Su Yu chased after her and grabbed the girl’s chubby wrist. He said with some concern, “It’s not safe in here. You’ll get scratched.”
“No, I won’t. I often hide here. Come with me, Xiao Meng.”
The girl was stubborn and held on to him, refusing to let go. Su Yu sighed helplessly. He bent down first and brushed aside the overgrown branches for her, creating a clear path with his body, and led the girl deeper in.
The courtyard of this mansion was in disrepair. The corners were already quite dilapidated. These places, which were close to the high walls made of red bricks, were as desolate as an uninhabited ruin.
The surroundings were overgrown with messy and withered flowers and grass. The faint chirping of insects echoed in his ears. The little girl was obviously still a little scared. She looked around, and she was accidentally tripped by a withered branch at her feet. Her small body swayed, and she was about to fall. She let out a cry of surprise, and her waist was held by a powerful arm, which pulled her back.
She landed steadily, but Xiao Meng was still a little shaken, her face pale. She trembled and pulled at Su Yu. “Th-Thank you, big brother. Let’s go back. It’s almost time for dinner.”
But Su Yu was as still as a block of wood. His dark black pupils were contracted, and he was staring blankly at the somewhat peeling red wall behind the bushes. A large area of the wall near the corner was empty, and a few old and loose bricks had fallen out, revealing the dim daylight behind the wall. He could vaguely see the asphalt road they had taken when they had come.
“Xiao… Xiao Meng, do you usually hide here when you play hide-and-seek?”
“Yes, yes. No one has found me yet.”
He swallowed, and his heart was pounding in his chest. His voice was trembling. “Do you go out and hide behind the wall?”
“Huh? No. Lu Ma said that we are not allowed to run out without permission. There are big bad wolves outside, and they will eat people with one bite. But I don’t want to tell them that there is a hole here. Otherwise, I will no longer have a secret base where I can hide and not be caught.”
Xiao Meng did not notice the strangeness of Su Yu next to her at all. She pulled his hand and pulled him out. “Let’s go, let’s go. I don’t want to play this anymore.”
Su Yu squatted on the ground without moving. He took off the knitted hat on his head, and a mass of dark black messy hair fell down. He brushed away the dust on the hat and put it on the girl’s head. He said with a smile, “Yeah… how about we play another game, brother? If you win, there will be a reward.”
“Okay, okay. Can you give me this hat too?” The girl was very happy and touched the hat on her head. It was clear that she had been tempted for a long time.
“Of course you can.”
Su Yu restrained the unstoppable throbbing in his heart and forced a smile.
His neatly trimmed nails were deeply embedded in his palm, as if they would pierce his flesh and blood and bleed.
Gu Chuan… you can’t lie to me again.
…
“Lu Ma, thank you so much for taking care of the children for so long. If you need anything, just let me know. I’ll have someone send it over.”
The children’s excitement had passed quickly. After a while, they had all scattered to play hide-and-seek. Gu Zhi was finally free. She held the woman with graying hair, and her amber pupils were contracted as she stared at the other party’s already-aged face. Her heart was instantly at ease. She still remembered this nanny, Lu Ma, who had been in charge of her food and clothing when she was a child.
“Sigh, Miss Gu, you’ve given us a place to live. I’m already very grateful. How can you say it’s a trouble? The Gu family has been changing from generation to generation. We are already old people of the past.”
Lu Ma shook her head with a nonchalant expression. She took off the apron that was tied around her waist and was stained with grease. Her calloused fingers gently caressed the long corners of Gu Zhi’s eyes, and the corners of her eyes were covered with dense wrinkles. “You’ve lost weight again. You child, you’re always not eating well.”
“Not at all. I’ve been a little busy with work at the company recently. It will be over soon.”
“Just take care of yourself. Your parents passed away early. You should live a good life for them.”
Gu Zhi lowered her long and curled eyelashes, hiding the dim fluctuation in her eyes. A smile was still on her lips. She nodded in agreement. “Yeah, I know.”
“Why don’t you look at the photos the children took a few days ago? They’ve been saying they miss you very much.”
Lu Ma took out a few very thick photo albums from the drawer and flipped through them. She chose the most recent few and showed them to Gu Zhi.
“The children have all grown up. The oldest is in junior high, right?”
Gu Zhi took the few photos, and her dark brown pupils were a little unfocused as she stared at the group photo in her hand. Perhaps it was because the children had grown up too fast. She couldn’t tell their faces apart for a moment. She thought for a long time, and a cramping pain was aroused in the depths of her brain.
She rubbed her temples without a trace and pointed to a little boy in another photo and said with a smile, “Shuai Shuai is getting more and more handsome. He’s still naughty. How many little girls will he harm in the future?”
“Miss Gu…”
“Hmm?”
Gu Zhi looked up at Lu Ma with confusion, and her heart was a little flustered. She was a little regretful that she had come here. It was as if she were just a cheap substitute, and she was always facing the risk of being exposed.
“This is not Shuai Shuai. This is Xiao Hui. He was just sent over last year. You were also there that day.”
“Xiao Hui…”, Gu Zhi murmured and then immediately corrected herself. “Yes… Xiao Hui. I remember. I’ve probably been too busy recently and accidentally got them mixed up.”
“Gu Zhi, I know you’ve been a deep-thinking girl since you were a child. I’ve taken care of you for so long, but I still can’t figure you out. I won’t hide it from you anymore. Tell me honestly, are you seriously ill and refusing to be treated?”
“Lu Ma, you…”, Gu Zhi was stunned for a few seconds, and her heart suddenly clenched. She lowered her dark eyes, and her voice turned cold. “Who told you this? Auntie Jing? How do you have contact with her?”
“That’s not important. What’s important is that you should go and see a doctor as soon as possible. You have to have the surgery as soon as possible. You should know your body better than anyone else. If you delay any longer, you’ll forget even me sooner or later, let alone the child you brought downstairs.”
Lu Ma held Gu Zhi’s wrist, and her words were full of pity. “How can you treat your life like this? Don’t be silly, child. If you go on like this… what’s the difference between you and your mother back then?”
“That’s what she taught me. Before I die, I’ll never let him go. If he leaves, then I’d rather die now!”
Gu Zhi shook Lu Ma’s hand off. Her beautiful and unparalleled face was cold, and her amber pupils were so dark that not a single ray of light could penetrate them. They were as cold and obsessive as the bone-chilling ice shards in the north wind of deep winter.
Lu Ma still refused to give in. She tried to persuade her with kind words. “Have you thought about the Gu family? If you die… are you going to let those jackals take over? What will happen to the Gu family then? What about these children?”
“S-Sister Xiao Gu…”
A little girl with a knitted hat on her head suddenly appeared at the door. She was holding on to the door and looking at her with a trembling hand. Her already red and swollen eyes were filled with fear and apprehension, as if she had been startled by Gu Zhi’s appearance at this moment.
She wiped her tears and said with a cry, intermittently.
“Big brother, he… he’s gone. Could it be that he ran out and was dragged away by a big gray wolf? Sister, hurry up and save him.”
