Chapter 41
“Yes, your current condition isn’t a major issue. Your mother’s problems are more serious. If possible, have her see a psychiatrist. If that doesn’t work, then temporary separation might be necessary.”
“Thank you, Dr. Gu.”
The female high school student wearing a mask opened the door and left. The hospital system prompted the next patient to enter.
“Ms. Wen Xinyi…”
Gu Tang’s hand paused slightly: “Please come in.”
Although people with the same name existed, in this city, there weren’t many who would specifically come to him for treatment.
Wen Xinyi sized up the room as she entered, then sat down on the single sofa.
She was dressed elegantly as usual. After sitting down, she asked: “You work in such a small place? How much do you earn per hour?”
Gu Tang said: “Ms. Wen, that’s the doctor’s private information, I cannot disclose it.”
“Don’t you provide psychological counseling services? I can pay.”
She looked around the room for a payment QR code. After Gu Tang returned, his old phone number was still active. Jiang Huaisheng had been paying the phone bill all these years.
After Gu Tang left, Jiang Huaisheng, worried that the phone would be deactivated and considering the high cost of international roaming, topped up the account with 50,000 yuan. With Gu Tang’s monthly plan of 100 yuan, that was enough for not just five years, but even twenty.
However, because the number was only receiving payments but not being used, Wen Xinyi, after being deleted and blocked, tried to add her eldest son using an alternate account, but failed.
“I can just transfer the money directly to you, no need to go through the hospital. You have to pay a handling fee for earning this little bit of money.”
Wen Xinyi’s words clearly showed her disdain for this small amount of money, but she didn’t receive the desired response.
Gu Tang’s tone was polite but distant: “Psychological counseling provides professional services to patients, not paid private chats where the doctor divulges personal information. If you have no other questions, please take the door on your right. This is a hospital, a place for seeing patients.”
Although both were trying to buy his time with money, his attitude towards Wen Xinyi and Jiang Huaisheng was clearly different.
Wen Xinyi’s voice rose a few notches: “I’m your mother! If I want to be here, the hospital wouldn’t let you kick me out, would they?”
She was Gu Tang’s biological mother, and regardless of anything else, she had raised him. Whether they went to court or to the media, she had the upper hand.
And Ms. Wen wasn’t a fool, she knew how to use her advantage.
Gu Tang glanced at her and then, just like she used to do, completely ignored her.
Unless Wen Xinyi made a scene and disrupted order, he wouldn’t kick her out. But since she hadn’t paid for a consultation, he wouldn’t force her to leave either.
But he also knew that Ms. Wen was a respectable person, meaning that her so-called verbal threats and exposure wouldn’t work.
If a respectable person went to the media crying, firstly, Old Master Jiang would never let the news get out, and even Jiang He, Wen Xinyi’s current husband, wouldn’t agree.
And she herself cared about her image, she was the kind of woman who always had to appear glamorous on the outside, no matter how uncomfortable she felt inside. She wouldn’t do anything that would embarrass her.
Wen Xinyi was fifty years old now, not yet destitute. Legally, alimony payments only began at sixty.
Once he saw through Wen Xinyi’s true nature, she had no leverage over him.
Or rather, her past control over Gu Tang stemmed from him being a young and naive child who cared about his mother and longed for her love, approval, and attention.
As expected, after encountering resistance, Wen Xinyi quickly changed her tune.
“You haven’t contacted us for five years, and you won’t even let me say a few words. I just wanted to show my concern.”
She rambled on for a long time, but Gu Tang didn’t respond.
Gu Tang listened quietly, then asked politely: “Are you finished? Is there anything else?”
He printed a bill: “The consultation fee is 500 yuan per hour, charged by the hour.”
“Of course, if you’re unwilling to pay, considering our blood relation, I can pay for you.”
Gu Tang said: “Don’t worry, when you turn sixty, I will fulfill my filial duty and pay you alimony according to the legal standards in City A. If you feel it’s not enough, we can discuss it. If we can’t reach an agreement, I’m also willing to go to court and respect the legal judgment.”
But if it really came to that, Wen Xinyi would be in a very difficult situation.
Out of normal concern for his mother, Gu Tang wouldn’t want Wen Xinyi to be destitute and miserable.
Objectively speaking, she was his mother. After his father’s death, as his legal guardian, although she controlled his father’s inheritance and neglected him after his younger brother was born, legally, Wen Xinyi’s actions were irreproachable. A mother, facing hardship and finding a better partner, getting married and having children, starting a new family, was normal behavior.
No one could blame her for remarrying to pursue a better life, and she also had the freedom to have more children with her new husband. After all, there was a nanny at home, and she didn’t make Gu Tang take care of his younger brother.
Just for this, Gu Tang didn’t resent Wen Xinyi.
But the mother-son bond was gone. The obedience, consideration, and filial piety Wen Xinyi wanted from her son were also gone.
The current Gu Tang was like a mirror to Wen Xinyi, reflecting back whatever she gave him.
So, there was no need for awkward politeness, and he wouldn’t yell or attack her, because overreacting meant caring.
But Gu Tang was very calm, truly indifferent.
He had read somewhere that the opposite of love wasn’t hate. Hate, in a sense, was also a twisted form of love. The true opposite of love was indifference.
Gu Tang’s attitude towards Wen Xinyi was very standard, a stranger with a blood tie, maintaining their relationship according to the minimum legal standards.
When he was young, he had repeatedly wondered if he wasn’t good enough, if he was asking too much of his mother?
But after Jiang Cheng’s arrival, Gu Tang clearly realized that he hadn’t done anything wrong. If anyone was at fault, it definitely wasn’t him. If anything, it was his father’s fault for dying too early and marrying such a woman.
The air conditioning was on in the hospital, but Wen Xinyi felt inexplicably cold sitting on the sofa.
Her initial performance today was actually a test. After all, as a woman who could navigate social circles smoothly, how could she not know how to appear harmonious and loving?
But she wanted to know how much affection her eldest son still had for her. His sudden departure and blocked contact five years ago, was it tough love, deep hatred, or something else?
However, the situation was clearly worse than she thought. Looking into those beautiful eyes so much like his father’s, she couldn’t see any of the emotions she wanted.
No anger, no pain, no struggle, and of course, no longing. He was no longer at the age where he needed his mother’s protection.
Some people, lacking love in their childhood, would desperately try to buy their parents’ approval with material things when they grew up, deceiving themselves that their parents loved them.
But Gu Tang clearly didn’t have this problem. He seemed to have recovered and didn’t need any superfluous or fake love, nor would he deceive himself.
It was as if she wasn’t Gu Tang’s mother, but just a stranger seeking treatment.
Gu Tang was always polite and gentle to strangers, especially to women, and even more so to an older woman. But he refused to let her interfere in any aspect of his life, let alone his relationships.
Jiang He wanted her to mend her relationship with her eldest son. A broken mirror could be pieced back together, even if it was full of cracks, at least it would appear whole.
The premise was that the relationship was broken.
But Gu Tang seemed to have repaired the broken pieces with something else. His mirror was already whole, so he didn’t need the glue she brought.
He was complete, and her belated maternal love was superfluous, useless.
Realizing this, Wen Xinyi suddenly became speechless. She truly understood what it meant for a child to grow up.
Her younger son was twenty-two this year, legally an adult, but her Xiao Cheng, physically, was still a chick reliant on its mother.
But Gu Tang was different. He had flown away and clearly wouldn’t return.
She was silent for a moment, her voice seeming to be squeezed out of her throat: “Actually, Mom has always hoped for you to have a good life.”
Gu Tang said: “Thank you, I also hope you have a good life.”
If Wen Xinyi’s life was terrible, what good would it do for him, her son? She would definitely try to latch onto him, like a bloodsucking leech.
So Gu Tang didn’t wish for Wen Xinyi to have a terrible life, but it wasn’t likely she would have a particularly good one either.
Wen Xinyi finally opened the door and left, her gait somewhat unsteady.
When she returned, Jiang He naturally asked about the situation.
Wen Xinyi snapped at him: “Don’t ask me anymore, he doesn’t have me, his mother, in his heart anymore. If you want to mend your relationship with him, go yourself!”
She clearly realized that she had completely lost her eldest son.
At this moment, she thought coldly, she actually didn’t want Gu Tang to have too good of a life, at least not better than her younger son and husband. Otherwise, she would feel like she had made a wrong choice.
