My father said, "I felt a connection with him."
It was this simple reason that made him and his sister a family.
In fact, everyone in the orphanage younger than him was his younger brother or sister, but Gu Xingyue was different.
He watched Gu Xingyue grow up. Later, his younger sister was always sick, coughing, catching colds, and having fevers. She was weak and the doctor said she needed a good environment to rest.
So her father took her on a trip, but unexpectedly, a car accident occurred.
He didn't even get to see his sister one last time.
Looking back now, Gu Zhaoyuan feels as if those days with his sister were a lifetime ago.
He stroked the photo with his fingertips, a bitter smile on his face as a tear rolled down his cheek.
Then he put the photos down and got up to go to his father's room to look at them.
A dim yellow light was always on in my father's room, and he was fast asleep.
He sat by his father's bedside, staring blankly for a while.
In the middle of the night, my father suddenly frowned and began talking in his sleep.
"Stars and moon..." the father murmured, "Stars and moon..."
Gu Zhaoyuan smiled wryly, "So you miss the stars and moon too."
The father suddenly opened his eyes and burst into tears like a child.
Gu Zhaoyuan immediately patted his back and whispered reassuringly, "It's alright, it's alright..."
The father cried as he asked, "Zhaoyuan, did you see Xingyue? Did she go up the mountain? I dreamed that she went up the mountain and never came back."
“She didn’t go up the mountain.” Gu Zhaoyuan was used to this situation. “She’s sleeping in her room.”
“But I dreamt that she was kidnapped by a wicked woman.” The father wept bitterly. “My Xingyue, she is suffering.”
Gu Zhaoyuan comforted her softly, "No, Xingyue is asleep."
“Then I’m going to see her.” The father said, getting up and wiping away his tears like a child. He walked straight out, but Gu Zhaoyuan immediately grabbed him. “Father, Xingyue has grown up. She’s a young lady now. You can’t go into her room.”
“But I dreamt she was being beaten.” The father raised his hand, his eyes red and swollen. He raised his arm high, then brought it down heavily. “Like this, my Xingyue, she didn’t even dare to cry when she was being beaten…”
Gu Zhaoyuan was startled upon hearing this, "Who hit you?"
My father went mad again, repeating the same few phrases over and over, the one he uttered most often being: "My stars and moon..."
Gu Zhaoyuan sighed helplessly and sadly.
//
As dusk settled, the streetlights along the street began to illuminate the scene one by one.
Zhou Yi'an drove to the Su family villa, carrying a cake in her hand.
Sheng Yu was the first to see her, jumped up high, and shouted, "Sister An!"
Zhou Yi'an smiled slightly, put the car keys in her pocket, handed the cake to the maid, then picked up Sheng Yu in one swift motion. She then lowered her arm and frowned at Sheng Yu, asking, "Have you gained weight again?"
Sheng Yu pouted, "No!"
"Children are growing," Zhou Yi'an said. "I'm not scolding you."
"But you said you wouldn't hug me anymore after I got heavier." Sheng Yu hugged her neck and acted coquettishly. "Please hug me more."
"Hug me, hug me—" Zhou Yi'an said helplessly, "But please don't pull my hair, okay?"
Sheng Yu's eyes darted around. "Oh dear, we've been found out."
Zhou Yi'an: "..."
"Nonsense." Zhou Yi'an slapped her on the butt. "You're hurting me."
"Waaaaah~" Sheng Yu said pitifully, "Sister! Sister An hit me."
Su Meiqi happened to come downstairs, wearing her caterpillar-like onesie pajamas and a hat. She glanced at Sheng Yu, who was faking tears, and said, "Why did you call me? I can't beat her."
Sheng Yu: "..."
Zhou Yi'an sat down with Sheng Yu in her arms, then politely greeted Su Zhe and his wife, and inquired about Su Yao's condition.
Before Su Zhe could speak, Su Yao came out of the room. Her face was still a little pale, but she was much better than in previous years.
Unlike previous years, I didn't spend this time in bed with nightmares.
"Teacher Su." Zhou Yi'an greeted her, and Su Yao nodded. "You've arrived."
Afterwards, the Su family had dinner. Sheng Yu sat clingily on Zhou Yi'an's lap, with Su Meiqi on the other side.
Zhou Yi'an hadn't eaten yet, so she fed Sheng Yu first.
Su Meiqi couldn't help but ask, "Sheng Yu, how old are you? Can't you eat by yourself?"
Sheng Yu pouted, "I want Sister An to feed me."
Zhou Yi'an fed her a spoonful of rice: "You're really bothering me right now."
Su Meiqi looked at her and said, "Your patience has also grown significantly."
Zhou Yi'an: "Really?"
Su Meiqi immediately lowered her head, "Please continue."
Seeing that Sheng Yu was constantly bothering Zhou Yi'an, Su Yao coldly called out Sheng Yu's name, telling her to eat by herself, which finally gave Zhou Yi'an her freedom.
Su Meiqi wore her hat even while eating; the brim was loose, and when she lowered her head, the hat almost fell into her plate.
Su Zhe glanced at her and was about to scold her when Zhou Yi'an directly took off her hat, revealing Su Meiqi's frizzy curly hair.
Everyone: ?
Su Meiqi: "!"
"What are you doing?!" Su Meiqi hurriedly put on her hat. "Zhou Yi'an, can you please stop hitting me?"
Zhou Yi'an was also surprised, "What did you do today?"
Su Meiqi: "...Playing with friends."
"What kind of shady friends are you hanging out with this time?" Su Zhe said coldly. "I told you to join the company, but you wouldn't. All you do is run around outside all day, hanging out with your bunch of cronies, wearing weird clothes and running around like that!"
“I didn’t,” Su Meiqi retorted. “I just went to a comic convention.”
"In short, you should do less of those things in the future. Give them to my company next week," Su Zhe said.
“I’m not going,” Su Meiqi said. “I’ve already found a job and will be starting soon. If you don’t like seeing me, I can just move out.”
Su Zhe said sternly, "Don't try to threaten me with this. Do you think I don't know what kind of person you are? You're probably going to lie to me again and say you found a job, but then you go out and hang out with your bunch of scoundrels."
“What do you mean by ‘bad friends’?” Su Meiqi said. “They’re all legitimate friends. If you don’t understand the world of young people, then don’t make unwarranted criticisms of others, okay?”
"Yian is also a young person, how come she got the RT New Designer award? How come she found a job? What about you? What can you do all day except mess around?"
"Uncle." Seeing that things were not going well, Zhou Yi'an kicked Su Meiqi under the table, signaling her to say less.
Just as Zhou Yi'an was about to speak up for Su Meiqi, Su Meiqi jumped up like a mouse whose tail had been stepped on, stood up and kicked Zhou Yi'an back, saying, "Zhou Yi'an is so nice, why don't you just recognize her as your daughter? You don't like me anyway."
She pulled out a chair. "If you like her, then make her your daughter. Besides, she's an Alpha, more suitable than me to inherit your family business. See if she'd even want you to be her dad! As for me, I'm useless. I'll move out this week as soon as I get my job offer. I definitely won't be in your way!"
He was so emotional that his hat fell off.
Her frizzy hair reappeared in everyone's sight. She reached out and smoothed it down, then turned to go upstairs, only to be grabbed by the tail of her pajamas by Zhou Yi'an.
Su Meiqi: "...!!!"
"Let go of me!" Su Meiqi yelled at her, "Don't pull my tail!"
Zhou Yi'an: "..."
She let go of his hand, and saw Su Meiqi stride confidently upstairs.
Sheng Yu, who was engrossed in eating, looked up blankly at Su Zhe and said, "Uncle, you scolded my sister again."
Su Zhe was so angry he almost had a heart attack. "It was your sister who scolded me! She called me old-fashioned, autocratic, and inflexible."
Sheng Yu: "...What do you mean?"
Su Zhe also put down his chopsticks and comforted her, saying, "You should eat quickly, your sister is a little rascal now."
Sheng Yu: "Aww."
Zhou Yi'an said in a low voice, "Uncle, Qiqi is indeed looking for a job now, and her resume is quite impressive. You can be more lenient with her. Many people like anime and manga these days."
"Don't say anything to her either," Su Zhe said. "She's just a little rascal now, spoiled rotten."
Zhou Yi'an: "..."
She chose to keep quiet.
In the past, when they argued, Su Meiqi would let it go in one ear and out the other, and it would end after Su Zhe said a few words.
Today, Su Meiqi was with a cat whose fur had stood on end; she probably wanted to find an excuse to move out of the house.
Zhou Yi'an glanced upstairs, then lowered her head to eat.
Su Yao was not in high spirits. She ate a little and went back to her room to rest, but before she went back, she said to Su Zhe, "Don't say hurtful things to Qiqi. She's already been good enough. You have such a bad temper. You always belittle her."
Su Zhe waved his hand, "Alright, go back to your room and rest. I'll think about it some more."
“If she doesn’t want to join the company, then let Su Nan join.” Su Yao said, “Why should Qi Qi give in to Su Nan’s dream just because he’s a dream?”
Su Zhe frowned: "If either of these two were willing to join the company, would I need to go to such lengths?"
Su Yao sighed: "Anyway, don't push Qiqi too hard."
Su Zhe said impatiently, "I know."
//
After dinner, Zhou Yi'an played with Sheng Yu on the sofa for a while, then, thinking about what happened during the day, she instructed Sheng Yu to bring cake to Su Meiqi, who hadn't eaten enough, and called Su Zhe to the study.
As soon as they entered, Su Zhe said, "You don't need to plead for Qiqi. Her temper is getting worse and worse. She needs to be disciplined, or she'll cause chaos sooner or later."
"No." Zhou Yi'an's attitude was also very gentle when facing her elders. She said in a low voice, "I came to you to ask about other things."
"What is it?" Su Zhe asked.
Zhou Yi paused for a moment, then asked, "Did you know that Teacher Su has another daughter?"