Chapter 649
Wish
"No."
Han Zhou looked around the room and casually said, "I just suddenly remembered there was such a place, so I came to see if that bastard was still alive."
"You want to ambush him here?" Gu Zheng asked, puzzled.
Why would we ambush him?
"Arrest him and take him back to pay back the money."
Gu Zheng rubbed her hands together, looking eager to try. "Don't worry, with me here, he can't escape."
“I never intended to arrest him, and I didn’t bring you here to do that kind of thing.”
Han Zhou was both amused and exasperated. "His business is his business, and mine is mine. The moment he abandoned me, we had nothing to do with each other anymore."
Gu Zheng hesitated for a moment: "What if he hadn't abandoned you back then?"
Han Zhou was taken aback, as if he had never thought about this question before, then chuckled: "Then I guess I'll have to ask you to help him quit gambling."
"How would I know anything about this..." Guzheng muttered.
"All you need to know is how to beat someone up."
"Why don't you beat him up yourself?" Gu Zheng rolled her eyes at him, annoyed.
“He is, after all, my biological father. I can’t bring myself to do it,” Han Zhou shrugged and said in a matter-of-fact tone.
As he spoke, he turned around, pushed open a bedroom door, glanced inside, then pushed open another door before saying, "Come in with me."
Gu Zheng followed curiously inside, only to discover that this room was the only one in the entire house that had been cleaned.
Unlike the thick layer of dust outside, the floor here was only covered with a thin layer of dust. The tables and chairs, though old, were neatly arranged, indicating that someone occasionally came to tidy them up. There was no musty smell in the air; instead, there was a faint scent of sandalwood.
On the altar in the center of the room, a black and white portrait of the deceased was quietly placed.
The woman in the photo is gentle and serene, silently watching the intruder.
At just one glance, Gu Zheng recognized that this was Han Zhou's mother.
She immediately changed her aggressive demeanor, lowered her head, and respectfully said "Hello, Auntie." But then she felt it was inappropriate. Who would greet a portrait of a deceased person?
Just as he was at a loss, he heard a "click" and the door behind him was closed. Han Zhou walked to the offering table, took out a few apples from his pocket, and placed them one by one in front of the portrait.
I really don't know how he managed to hide so many apples on his person.
Gu Zheng's eyes widened. Although she felt it wasn't appropriate to dwell on this in front of the portrait, she couldn't help but ask, "This isn't the apple I sent you, is it?"
She recognized one of the apples; it was the biggest and reddest one she had carefully selected from several fruit stands. It was a whole size bigger than a regular apple and quite eye-catching, so she would never mistake it.
"Yes."
Han Zhou readily admitted, and before Gu Zheng could react, he continued, "Today is also the anniversary of my mother's death. I've never been here before, so I'll make up for all the years I've missed."
Gu Zheng was taken aback. So Han Zhou's mother passed away on Christmas Day?
Even so—
She took a deep breath, her voice rising unconsciously, then suddenly remembered something and whispered to the photo, "Auntie, I'm sorry," before lowering her voice and muttering, "...Even so, you can't give away the things I gave you."
"What is the meaning of the 'peace apple'?" Han Zhou suddenly asked.
"Of course, it's to pray for peace."
"Then tell me, if I use it to ask my mom to bless us, wouldn't it be more effective?"
Gu Zheng was taken aback, and after a long pause, she muttered, "You always have so many fallacies..."
She couldn't very well say "no" in front of her aunt, could she?
Han Zhou smiled and said, "Actually, the main reason I brought you here this time was to let my mother meet you."
Guzheng paused for a moment.
"This Christmas, I want to fulfill everyone's wishes as much as possible. Originally, this wasn't supposed to be part of the program, but since it's here..."
Han Zhou paused, his gaze falling on the portrait. "I want to fulfill my mother's last wish."
"What is your wish?"
Gu Zheng gripped the hem of her clothes tightly, and in her heart, she already had a vague answer, the answer she had longed to hear countless times.
This time, Han Zhou finally gave her the answer she wanted—
"Of course, it's seeing me get married and have children."
He turned to look at me, a smile in his eyes, yet also a hint of hesitation. "Guzheng, can you help me fulfill this wish?"
Although it wasn't a formal confession, in a sense, those words were no different from one. A gust of wind rustled through the bare branches outside the window.
"What...what should I do?" Gu Zheng asked, her head bowed, her voice as soft as a bell.
"Take off your clothes."
"OK?"
She looked up abruptly, her cheeks instantly burning. "Here...here?!"
"Where else could it be?"
Han Zhou gave her a strange look, and as he spoke, he had already unzipped his coat. "Actually, I should have taken a shower, but I don't have the time now, so I'll just have to make do."
"bath……"
Gu Zheng's mind went blank for a second, completely crashing.
Does it really mean we should let the aunt "see" Han Zhou get married and have children, just as the words suggest?
No...they're not even married yet, isn't it a bit too fast to do this now...?
Besides, there isn't even a bed in this place...
"But...you...I...this..."
She stammered, and after a long while, she gritted her teeth, steeled her resolve, and resolutely pulled off her coat, saying in a trembling voice, "Then...then at least close the window, okay?"
Why did you close the window?
Han Zhou was even more puzzled. He took out a lighter from his pocket and a pack of incense from his coat before taking off his coat and hanging it on the wall along with the guzheng's coat.
“Let’s light some incense for my mother together,” he said softly.
Gu Zheng froze, only then realizing that she had misunderstood. Her cheeks instantly turned red to her ears. Suppressing her shame, she took the three incense sticks from Han Zhou's hand.
"Can boys' clothes really hold this much stuff?" she asked through gritted teeth.
"You want the link? I'll send it to you in a bit."
Gu Zheng's small chest heaved slightly. Not wanting to make a bad impression in front of her aunt, she forced back her embarrassment and forced out through gritted teeth, "You should send it to someone else..."
Han Zhou lit the lighter and lit the three incense sticks in his and Gu Zheng's hands. His expression became more solemn. He stood silently in front of the portrait for a moment, saying nothing, but bowed three times earnestly, and then put the incense sticks into the incense burner.
Gu Zheng dared not slack off, standing side by side with Han Zhou, imitating him by bowing, inserting incense, and placing her hands folded over her lower abdomen, looking extremely obedient.
It wasn't until she stood in front of the offering table that she could truly see what the woman in the photograph looked like.
Even in this black and white photograph, the tenderness almost overflows. She seems to be looking at the two of them, with a faint but eternal smile on her lips, as if no matter how the world changes, she can be tolerant and give the quietest comfort.
She must be a very gentle mother, Guzheng thought to herself.
But the thought that Han Zhou had lost this tenderness so early made her heart ache.
Six incense sticks stood side by side, their smoke drifting slowly upwards. The faint sandalwood scent in the air grew stronger, and the room quieted down, with only the sound of incense ash falling.
After a long while, Han Zhou put on his coat, turned around, and walked towards the door.
"Let's go."
"Didn't you ask Auntie to bless you with safety?"
Gu Zheng followed him out of the room, and only after the door was gently closed did she unable to resist asking, "Why didn't you say a word just now?"
"I've said everything I wanted to say in my heart."
"What did he say?" Gu Zheng asked curiously.
"May you be safe and sound."
Is that all?
"I can only make this one wish for now."
Han Zhou smiled and said, "After all, I haven't visited my mother in so long. It would be too greedy to make so many wishes on my first visit."
"You know you're greedy, don't you..."
Gu Zheng muttered something, then her eyes crinkled into a smile, "Then come every year from now on, I'll come with you."
Han Zhou hummed in agreement and turned to look out the window; the snow seemed to be falling heavily.
“If there’s another chance,” he said. (End of Chapter)