Chapter 443: There Are Some Things I Should Tell You

Gu Sen didn't blame him; instead, he gestured for him to get in the car, and said to Li Dan, "Thank you for coming all this way late at night. When you have time, I'll treat you to a meal."

Li Dan was actually a bit worried that Gu Zhiyan would be criticized, but this was a matter between father and son, so he shook his head and said it was nothing, watching the father and son leave.

The next second, a message of thanks from Gu Zhiyan came through on his phone.

Turning off his phone, Gu Zhiyan asked his father, "Why did you come?"

Gu Sen didn't hide it either, saying two words: "To bail you out."

Gu Zhiyan: "I'm fine."

Gu Sen didn't speak. Gu Zhiyan thought for a moment and then said, "This time I was impulsive, making you come all this way late at night too."

"No." Gu Sen glanced at his son, "At least in some ways you're braver than me. Bravery and impulsiveness are like two sides of the same coin, and so are steadiness and cowardice."

When you toss a coin, you see the front side, but not the back side, but that doesn't mean the back side doesn't exist—it's always there.

Gu Zhiyan understood that his father was talking about himself. He picked up the bottle and took a drink of water, making a decision: "I'm not participating in the selection anymore, and I don't want an arranged marriage either."

Gu Sen's expression was calm: "Then what do you want to do?"

Gu Zhiyan: "Isn't the Gu clan planning to open up the A City market? Let me join the project team, Dad. I've passed the bar exam; I can independently handle the legal work involved in the market expansion process."

Gu Sen wasn't angry. He looked seriously at his son: "Have you thought it through clearly?"

Gu Zhiyan actually didn't know what he liked, but he knew what he didn't like. He loathed politics and arranged marriages.

A person raised in a mold finds it hard to have independent thoughts. Gu Zhiyan had followed the Gu family's arrangements his whole life, his goal being to complete what the Gu family ordered. By the time he grew up and realized it, it was already very difficult to resist.

It wasn't that it was hard to resist the family; it was hard to resist the habits he had been raised with.

To the point where he had no idea at all what he truly liked or wanted, and after breaking free from this control, he would face a loss of purpose.

But it's fine now. He didn't know his long-term goal, but a phased goal was still a goal.

At least now he knew a little about what he wanted to do.

Gu Sen looked at his son's resolute gaze: "As long as you've thought it through clearly."

Gu Zhiyan nodded: "I know that to make my political career go smoothly, you greased the wheels with the Zhao family, and Mother carefully selected the Qu family's second daughter."

"Qu Er Xiaojie was indeed carefully chosen by your mother, but the relationship with the Zhao family wasn't handled by me—it was your grandfather." Gu Sen's expression gradually turned cold. "This trip to G Province wasn't in vain. You've taken the blow, you've vented your anger. There are some things I should tell you now."

"All these years, our Gu clan and the Zhao family have been closely connected, but why didn't a single person from the Zhao family come when your sister came back? Your grandfather didn't invite them, and didn't dare to invite them. So what is it that secretly binds our two families together?" Gu Sen's thoughts drifted far away. "It's exactly that incident twenty-eight years ago when your mother abandoned your sister."

Zhao Zheng saw it.

Not only did he see it, he also knew which direction Song Shiwei had taken the child.

At the time, Zhao Zheng said to Gu Sen with a smile, "An hour ago, I saw Mrs. Gu and said hello. Congratulations on your precious daughter. But didn't she just give birth? And in such heavy snow, leaving the hospital would not only chill the child but also harm her own body, right? Still, it's not too bad. The swaddling cloth I saw Mrs. Gu using to wrap the child was quite thick, but the color might not be to a girl's liking."

Every word Zhao Zheng said carried another meaning.

At the time, the two were each other's biggest rivals. Zhao Zheng knew he couldn't compete with Gu Sen in political achievements or family background, so he kept a close watch on Gu Sen's private life, never expecting to actually find an opportunity.

Hearing these words from Zhao Zheng, Gu Sen knew something was terribly wrong. Coupled with his wife's constant longing for a son day and night, he figured out what had happened. He rushed back to the hospital room but found no trace of his daughter, only his wife curled up at the head of the bed.

Gu Sen interrogated his wife about what she had done and where the child had gone. Song Shiwei remained silent, constantly biting her own thumb.

Seeing that he couldn't get anything out of her, he had no choice but to go look for her himself.

Hearing this, Gu Zhiyan couldn't help but question, "Why weren't you by Mother's side when she gave birth?"

"I was." Gu Sen sighed. "I went when I could spare the time. After the child was born safely and your mother was fine, I had to rush back to deal with unfinished official business. That stage was also very important to me; I couldn't afford to be careless."

He was only away for one afternoon, and things had already reached an irreversible point.

"I don't know if it was Zhao Zheng or Wang Peng who contacted your grandfather. Zhao Zheng probably wanted to use this incident to get himself promoted. Wang Peng has always been your grandfather's man."

Gu Zhiyan looked at his father's clouded eyes and suddenly didn't know what to say.

His phone rang again.

It was his mother.

Father and son both looked at the contact name and familiar number on the phone screen, neither knowing what to do.

Gu Zhiyan didn't know how to face his mother.

Rebuke her?

Pretend it never happened?

He couldn't do either.

Gu Sen took his son's phone, swiped to answer, and before he could say anything, Song Shiwei's cautious voice came through from the other end, laced with worry and urgency.

"Zhi Yan, where are you? Are you with your father? Your father seems to have been very busy lately. Did your father call you to help?"

"Zhi Yan, I think you should still focus on the selection, and on building a relationship with Qu Mei."

"Zhi Yan, you bear the heavy responsibility of bringing our family back to the right path. I've told you this before, haven't you forgotten? What your father didn't accomplish, you have to achieve. You are our son."

"If you're with your father, tell him to remember to call me back, okay?"

Gu Sen listened to his wife's incessant chatter to his son. It seemed like she was showing weakness, but it still carried an invisible pressure and desire for control.

"Shiwei, it's me." Gu Sen spoke up.

The other side was surprised for a moment, then laughed: "So you two father and son are together after all. When are you coming back, Gu Sen? I've sent your parents off; no one's home."

"It's not right for you and your son to never be home. You're the head of the family; the family needs you, and the Gu clan needs you to hold things down. Mrs. Qu said the two kids are getting along well. I'm thinking about when to have the two kids get engaged. First the engagement, then pick a date for the wedding. After the wedding, we'll almost be ready to hold a grandchild. Look at Gu Hai and Tang Yun—their grandson is already so big..."

"Mom." Gu Zhiyan suddenly spoke up. "I'm not coming back. I already have my own plans. As for Qu Mei, I'll call her and tell her I have no intention of an arranged marriage."

"Gu Zhiyan!" The anger on the other end ignited instantly. Song Shiwei raised her voice, "What nonsense are you talking! Qu Mei likes you so much and says nothing but good things about you. Such a good girl, and you don't want her? What do you want?"

"Gu Sen, are you allowing your son to be so reckless?"

Gu Sen: "He's thirty. I can't control him forever."

Song Shiwei: "Why not! We've already planned out the path; our son must walk it!"

"Is it because of guilt, Mom?" Gu Zhiyan's tone was flat, his face weary. "Because you think what you did back then ruined Dad's future, so you want to make it up to Dad through me?"

Clatter.

The phone in Song Shiwei's hand fell to the ground.