Chapter 82 Part 1

Except for Gu Cheng, everyone present flashed a trace of shock in their eyes.

Bai Wenran reacted the most strongly: “Is it a classmate from your school or something?”

“Mom, I don’t want to talk about it.” Gu Yuan said straightforwardly: “I don’t want to interact with others precisely because of this reason.”

“Then why didn’t you tell the family?” Bai Wenran frowned with a smile: “Are you afraid we wouldn’t agree?”

Gu Cheng looked up and noticed a sneaky figure appearing outside the crack in the Study Room door.

“Mom, I have my own considerations.” Gu Yuan’s words were sincere as he nodded toward Gu Lao: “I know you’re planning a marriage for my own good, Grandpa, but I don’t want to let the other person down.”

Gu Lao’s anger subsided by more than half, but his tone remained sharp: “Since you won’t tell us who he is, I guess you’re afraid we won’t approve.”

Gu Yuan lowered his gaze to the clear tea swirling in his teacup, his pale knuckles gently clenching into a fist.

Bai Wenran spoke up for him: “Dad, since Little Yuan has someone he likes, just let it go.”

“What’s the other person’s family background like?” Gu Lao’s aged voice rang especially clear in the silence.

Gu Yuan caught Bai Wenran’s worried expression out of the corner of his eye and said softly: “Sorry, Grandpa, I’m not in a position to reveal that right now.”

The anger in Gu Lao’s eyes slowly coalesced into doubt: “Boy or girl?”

“Dad!” Bai Wenran laughed in surprise, trying to ease the atmosphere: “There’s no way Little Yuan likes boys, right?”

Gu Lao said nothing, but the depths of his murky pupils still held intense scrutiny and suspicion.

Outside the door, Zhou Chiyu hung his head low, his hands feeling terribly cold.

He took a deep breath, the unease and panic surging in his chest nearly bursting his heart.

He gripped the handrail lightly, and for a moment, he even wanted to rush into the room and tell Gu Lao that the person Gu Yuan liked was him.

“Dad.” Gu Cheng stood up and swapped out Gu Lao’s tea for a calming one: “Since Little Yuan doesn’t want to say, let’s not force him.”

“He’s only eighteen, and life is long. Who doesn’t have a crush when they’re young?”

Gu Lao took the tea from Gu Cheng, deliberately suppressing his emotions: “I’m just asking about his sexual orientation. Is that so hard to answer?”

Bai Wenran didn’t understand why her father was so fixated on this. In her eyes, there was no way Gu Yuan could like boys.

“Little Yuan couldn’t possibly like—”

“Grandpa.” Gu Yuan interrupted Bai Wenran: “My sexual orientation is perfectly normal. I’m not interested in other boys.”

This statement struck Gu Lao as a bit off, though he couldn’t pinpoint exactly why.

His tone softened somewhat: “We don’t require your marriage partner to have some illustrious background, but ability and character are the baseline.”

“Got it, Grandpa.”

Gu Yuan stood up: “I’m heading to bed first.”

“Little Yuan, Mom wants to talk to you for a bit.”

Hearing the people inside preparing to come out, Zhou Chiyu quietly slipped behind a pillar to hide himself.

Bai Wenran stroked Gu Yuan’s arm, speaking earnestly: “Little Yuan, Mom heard that Little Fish likes boys. This won’t affect you in any way, will it?”

“Mom.” Gu Yuan frowned: “Even if I liked boys, that would be my own choice. How could it possibly have anything to do with Little Fish?”

The light brown jacket was crumpled with varying depths in Zhou Chiyu’s grip.

His eyelashes trembled uneasily as he hunched his shoulders tightly.

Bai Wenran spoke with apology: “I’m just worried this might affect you. Nowadays, lots of people are gay. Even though the law allows it, two people still can’t have kids together.”

“Mom.” Bai Wenran had been suffering from severe morning sickness lately, worn out and exhausted by the baby, so Gu Yuan didn’t want to say anything harsh. He gently helped her back to her room: “When I was little and seriously ill, you always prayed quietly by my ear, telling the gods in heaven that as long as I was healthy and happy, nothing else mattered. Since I managed to survive, can’t you let me find someone I truly like, whether they’re male or female?”

Her earrings swayed slightly with her surprised glance back, casting a faint shadow at her moistened eye corner.

She furrowed her brow slightly, gazing at the porcelain bowl Gu Yuan handed her, and fell silent for a long time.

“People are always greedy.”

Bai Wenran’s cheeks, glowing softly, revealed a trace of worry: “Seeing you healthy, now I want you to have both sons and daughters too.”

“Mom, whatever choice a person makes, they have to bear the consequences.” Gu Yuan’s fingers stirring the milk bird’s nest porridge slowly stopped as he fed her a spoonful: “For me, having both sons and daughters can’t compare to a lover I truly like. Whether they can bear children doesn’t matter to me. You always told me when I was little that boys need to be devoted and responsible. If I meet a girl I like but she can’t have children, should I leave her just because of that?”

Bai Wenran’s mouth stiffened: “Of course… not.”

Gu Yuan smiled: “Since you can understand that, then what does it matter if I end up with a boy or a girl?”

The floor-to-ceiling window framed the deepening night.

Bai Wenran looked gently into Gu Yuan’s tender yet resolute eyes, as if sensing something.

She rubbed her brow, a flicker of worry crossing her previously composed features.

“I’ll think about it some more.”

Gu Yuan helped her lie down: “Okay, you rest early.”

…

Zhou Chiyu didn’t return to the bedroom. Instead, he went to the Astronomy Hut, sat on the floor, and stared blankly at the stars in the sky.

The heavy soundproof door was pushed open at that moment. He turned back and, upon seeing that familiar figure, slowly withdrew his gaze, finding a comfortable position to sprawl on the cushion.

Gu Yuan sat beside him, bending his knees to gaze at the sky alongside him: “Why aren’t you asleep yet?”

Zhou Chiyu didn’t speak, merely gently pulling back the blanket that Gu Yuan had sat on.

Seeing him wrapped up like a little rice dumpling, amusement flickered in Gu Yuan’s eyes: “What’s wrong? You don’t seem too happy.”

Zhou Chiyu didn’t want to pay him any attention and deliberately closed his eyes, his refusal to communicate all too obvious.

“Who upset our Little Fish?”