Chapter 1569: Wings Have Hardened

The day that was supposed to be a family reunion turned into a unilateral gathering.

Lao Qi met with his son and his son's adoptive parents separately, then met with his wife separately.

Lao Qi returned with gifts for both Yulong and Nianyin, and he did not reproach his son even once; he only urged his son not to resent his mother, and that he himself could also live a brilliant life!

Everyone thought that with age and experience, Lao Qi had become mature and steady.

But only he himself knew what kind of life he had been living all these years!

He felt the bitterness in his son's heart deeply.

He went to see his wife at the hospital, but the couple did not have the joy of a reunion after a short separation; they did nothing but complain to each other the moment they met.

Although Lao Qi advised his son not to resent his mother, he himself could not help but complain.

He complained that his wife only had her mother in her heart, and had no room for her children or her husband.

Nianyin also had grievances; she blamed her husband for not showing enough respect to her mother, complaining the moment he arrived at the hospital and not even sparing her mother a glance...

When people are not on the same wavelength, even half a sentence is too much; in the end, the couple parted on bad terms.

Summer vacation.

Zichen and Guyuxin returned.

The Gu Family was already lively, and now it was even livelier!

The first thing Zichen asked upon arriving home was, "Where is Zihan? Where is he?"

In the past, whenever he came home, Zihan would always be waiting at home early, affectionately asking for gifts!

Today, the gifts were almost all handed out, yet he still hadn't appeared; something was wrong.

"Big Brother, I'm here, come on in." Zihan pushed the bedroom door open a crack and whispered a greeting.

"Stop acting so sneaky, come out."

The door closed silently; Zihan locked himself in his room and refused to come out.

Zichen prepared to take the gifts inside, but was pulled back by his mother: "Don't go; let's see how long he can keep himself locked up."

"How long has he been locked in?"

Shi Youxuan calculated it and then told her eldest son: "Seventy-two hours and forty-three minutes."

In other words, Zihan hadn't stepped out of the house for three whole days.

Zichen was puzzled: "He's been locked in his room for so long, is he alright?"

You have to know, Zihan is a chatterbox by nature; he would go crazy if he couldn't talk to people.

And yet he had actually locked himself in his room for three days without going crazy—this was a miracle!

Shi Youxuan stifled a laugh and said, "The path under one's feet is one's own to walk, and the same goes for the blisters; since he chose this path, he must have the courage to bear the questioning and sarcasm of others."

"You don't need to sympathize with him, he deserves it!"

This year's Top Scholar, relying on his proud, top-tier grades, went to a Film Academy with much lower score requirements; not only did Teacher Tian not understand, but many others didn't either!

Especially the people in the village.

They didn't understand, but instead of asking, they just guessed wildly.

Consequently, no matter where Zihan went, there were people pointing fingers behind his back.

They would smile to his face, but as soon as he walked past, they would gossip behind his back.

"The Sheng Family's boy is a Top Scholar, right? Did he go off to act in plays?"

"Bullshit Top Scholar, he's probably just bragging."

"I heard he didn't get into university, and his dad spent money to get him in..."

"His family seems quite rich; do they have a company in the city?"

"Rich my foot; if they were rich, they wouldn't have built such a shabby house..."

They said all sorts of things, and the more they talked, the nastier it got.

At first, Zihan couldn't take it and tried to debate with them.

But he soon discovered that he couldn't win against these people at all; instead, it only invited more questions and more trouble.

So he hid at home, closing his door and refusing to go out.

He was a person who loved excitement, but he had already stayed in his room for several days without coming out; now that his big brother and future sister-in-law were back, he really couldn't hold it in anymore and came out.

He just wanted to talk to his brother, but ended up being questioned all over again.

"Zihan, tell me, what were you thinking?"

"I beg you, Big Brother."

Zihan put his hands together and bowed to beg for mercy: "Stop asking, I've been asked so much these past few days that my ears have grown calluses."

Shi Youxuan said, "You should have thought about this day when you applied; you should have been mentally prepared. This is all what you deserve; whatever choice you make, you must bear the consequences, good or bad."

As his own mother, she had an expression of schadenfreude on her face.

Zihan made a bitter face: "Is this the kind of 'bearing the consequences' you meant when you talked to me back then?"

"Otherwise? Should I have talked about decades later?"

Zihan:...

Indeed, he had thought it meant later.

He just hadn't expected that in just a few short days, it would cause such a stir, and he would have to endure such immense pressure.

Zihan put on a "nothing to lose" act and shouted with his arms raised: "Let the storm rage even harder!"

The bold words had barely left his lips when he hugged his big brother, his face tearful as he pleaded: "Big Brother, save me; you have to protect me."

Everyone burst into laughter.

Zihan's reason for applying to the Film Academy was because there were many beautiful women there.

This reason was not hard to guess at all, and Zichen guessed it immediately.

Zichen and Zihan are actually the most alike.

He has a simple mind, his thoughts are not that complicated, and he lacks meticulous thinking.

"That's right."

Zihan affectionately draped his arm over his eldest brother's shoulder: "It has to be my eldest brother who understands me best; apart from Mom, it's you."

"You guys have no idea how I survived a life without seeing beautiful women, do you know that? I was just thinking, in the future, I want to look at beautiful women whenever I want, however I want, so I studied desperately to stay away from Tian Yuanyuan; she is my nightmare, and there is no other..."

He has finally spoken his true feelings now.

Having sat at the same desk as Tian Yuanyuan for three years of high school, looking at a flat, round face every day, he was afraid he would lose the ability to discover and appreciate beauty, so he secretly kept thinking about applying to the Film Academy.

This is making up for what one lacks, and this is also something Teacher Tian could never understand.

Perhaps these words sound too frivolous to others.

But for Zihan, beautiful women are his lifelong pursuit, and his choice is the right one!

Everyone has a ruler in their heart to measure right and wrong, but everyone has different standards; as long as it doesn't affect others and doesn't cause harm to others' interests, one's own choices are fine.

To each their own, I suppose.

……

Zirui has always been the child who worries the Sheng Family the least, and this time is no exception.

He got into Jiang University, which met everyone's expectations, as well as his own, but in his choice of major, Zirui did not choose the same major as his eldest brother, but instead chose the Economics Department.

Business Administration and Economics can be considered different paths leading to the same destination; they are about the same.

Zichen brought his girlfriend back, and the Sheng Family children were chatting happily, bursting into laughter from time to time; seeing the children who had all grown into young men, Sheng Hanyu and his wife were also very happy.

In other families, people scheme and struggle to the death for the sake of the Clan's interests.

That their children can grow up happy and healthy, and that the brothers are close, is all thanks to the Madam's guidance.

Sheng Hanyu draped his arm over his wife's shoulder: "Thank you, you've worked hard all these years."

"Is a light 'thank you' all there is?"

"What do you want?"

"Next time, keep hooking fish onto my fishing line!"

Sheng Hanyu: ……

"You knew all along?"