Chapter 46

46 | Losing Your Wits

Are you okay today? You seem a bit strange.

Gu Mingxi was still.

Li Han stood up and raised her chin to Gu Guoxiang. “It was me. What about it? I agreed to it.”

“Are you crazy?!” Gu Guoxiang was unable to contain his anger. “Why would you agree to let him film this kind of thing?! Is it an honor? Does this look good? Going on TV to let the whole city see this?! What exactly were you thinking?!”

“Have you forgotten when Gu Mingxi graduated from primary school and junior high?!” Li Han shouted out loudly, her eyes welling with tears. “He obviously scored more than the requirement, but they didn’t let him have an interview! We even went to Vast Voyage and Ninth High! Both schools rejected him just because he didn’t have arms! And that was just high school! When he goes to college in the future, he’ll have to live in the dorms too! It will be even more troublesome to admit Mingxi then! Can you guarantee that the school he wants to go to won’t reject him because he has no arms? Can you guarantee it 100 percent?!”

She pulled Gu Mingxi up and pushed him in front of Gu Guoxiang. “Look clearly, Gu Guoxiang! Gu Mingxi is our son! He’s 17 years old! Look at his eyes, his nose! Look at his height! He’s your son! Do you two look alike? I’ve never understood why you think he’s an embarra.s.sment to you! Mingxi’s already doing very well! What more do you want from him?!”

Li Han rarely shouted like this at Gu Guoxiang. She exerted her strength and pushed Gu Mingxi to Gu Guoxiang. Gu Guoxiang took two steps back, and Gu Mingxi pressed back against his mother’s strength. The three of them slowly stopped.

Gu Guoxiang wiped his face with his hands. When he dropped his hands, his eyes were red. “I will think of something to help Mingxi get to college. Whether it’s through connections (guanxi), whether we have to send gifts, I’ll think of something! But how could you agree to this kind of thing without even talking to me about it?”

With a trembling hand, he pointed to the black screen of the TV. “My, Gu Guoxiang’s, son was just shown to the entire city on TV! See how he lives his day! How fresh, using feet to eat! Isn’t it pitiful? And laughable? Which way do you want people to think?! What do you want my friends, my clients, my subordinates to think?!”

“I didn’t tell you because I knew that’s what you would think,” Li Han said coldly. “I don’t think it’s embarra.s.sing or disgraceful at all. Gu Guoxiang, I’ve already seen through you. I don’t expect anything anymore. I just want Gu Mingxi to get into a good college. I’m willing to do anything that will help him get there. Expect you to make connections? Hmph! I might as well have expectations of a dog!”

Hearing this, Gu Guoxiang raised his hand at Li Han. Gu Mingxi saw this unfolding and immediately used his body to push Li Han away. Gu Guoxiang’s palm landed on his back with a pa!

“Mingxi!”

Li Han embraced him as she cried. Gu Mingxi clenched his teeth as he tried to reign in his staggered steps. His back was in great pain. He turned back to look at his dad and said in a low voice, “Dad, the program has already been broadcast. What’s the point of saying all this now. And you’ve already hit [someone] and scolded [someone]. Stop blaming Mom. I was the one who insisted on going onto the program. It has nothing to do with Mom. I was worried about getting into college. I was wrong not to discuss it with you, and for that, I’m sorry.”

The three of them were silent. After awhile, Gu Guoxiang picked up his keys from the tea table and said, “You’ve grown up and you have your own plans. It doesn’t matter what your dad thinks about it, ah…”

He put on his coat and headed to the front door. Li Han cried out, “Gu Guoxiang, where are you going?”

“Do I need to report to you where I go?” His gaze was cold and could pierce into someone’s heart. “In your heart, I’m no better than a dog, right? Ah.”

With that, he opened the door and left.

Li Han’s body swayed, and she sat down gently. These past few months, her relations.h.i.+p with Gu Guoxiang was like walking on a tightrope in mid-air. On the surface, they appeared calm and stable, but in reality, just a slight trace of wind would knock her down to h.e.l.l.

Gu Mingxi crouched down next to Li Han. He called to her with concern, “Mom.”

Li Han sat still for a moment and then responded, “I’m fine. Don’t worry, Mingxi. I won’t leave you.”

During the winter break, she’d gone back to her parents’ home to distract herself a bit. When she came back and heard that Gu Mingxi hadn’t actually gone to his (paternal) grandparents’ house, but had instead gone to stay with Pang Qian, and even got sick from being out in the rain,  she felt extremely guilty. She swore that from then on, no matter what happened, she wouldn’t leave her son on his own again.

That night, Gu Guoxiang didn’t return home. Gu Mingxi didn’t know where his dad would have gone. Li Han returned to her room pretty early, and she even locked her door. Gu Mingxi tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep all night.

His heart was filled with confusion as he though back to when he saw himself on TV. It was the first time he watched himself moving through his day. So as he was using his feet to do things, that was what peoples saw. Was it really like his father said, pitiful and laughable?

When they sky outside his window started glowing white, Gu Mingxi decided to get out of bed. He stood looking out his window and saw a flock of birds fly past. His gaze fixed on those little things with wings, until they flew faraway and disappeared into the distance.

That day, when Gu Mingxi arrived at school, he could feel that the students and teachers were looking at him peculiarly. A lot of people had seen the TV program. Usually, a lot of people were very curious about Gu Mingxi’s lifestyle, but since they weren’t in his cla.s.s, they couldn’t understand it. This program was able to quench much of their curiosity, and when these people saw him in the flesh, they couldn’t help their whispers.

First Year, Cla.s.s 2’s students were comparatively calm. They’d quickly forgotten about this matter, continuing on with their own studies.

The physics teacher handed out the unit test exam paper. When Gu Mingxi bent over to look at the sheet of questions, he realized that he was unable to settle down.

He picked up his pen with his foot, then stared blankly for awhile. Beside him, Pang Qian was working on the questions. She glanced over at Gu Mingxi’s paper and saw that it was completely blank. Startled, she reached out her right hand to poke him. Gu Mingxi didn’t react, which scared Pang Qian even more. No longer worried that the teacher might think she was cheating, she inched closer to him and gave him a pat. Quietly, she said, “Hey, hey, Gu Mingxi…”

Gu Mingxi suddenly turned to look at Pang Qian. The physics teacher at the front of the room shouted out a reprimand, scaring Pang Qian to lower her head. Gu Mingxi finally came back to his senses and randomly answered a few of the questions.

When school was over, Pang Qian was about to head to ping pong practice, but she was still worried about Gu Mingxi. She asked, “Are you okay today? You seem a bit strange.”

“I’m fine.” Gu Mingxi put away his things into his backpack. “I’m going first. Bye.”

Pang Qian said, “Why don’t I skip practice today and go for a walk with you?”

“No need.” Gu Mingxi stood up, bent over, and hooked the right strap of his backpack on. He shrugged back, stretching his left shoulder into the strap. Once, twice, but he still didn’t get it on.

Pang Qian stood in front of him, then helped him put his backpack on. She even pulled out and tidied his s.h.i.+rt sleeves. Gu Mingxi lowered his head, “Thanks.”

“What’s the need to say thanks to me.” Pang Qian pouted, thinking that Gu Mingxi was acting very strangely today. She watched as he walked out of the cla.s.sroom, wondering what he was thinking about.

Gu Mingxi didn’t get on the bus. With his head bowed, he walked along the road. When he got to the area by the machinery plant, he saw Shark’s barbecue shop again. Unexpectedly, Shark was standing right in front, sweeping the floor.

He was the same as before, but with fewer clothes on now, he looked more strong and powerful. He was humming a song, with a cigarette sticking out from his mouth. He turned around and saw Gu Mingxi standing in front of him.

“Ey, kid!” Shark hadn’t seen Gu Mingxi in two months. He asked, “Is your leg better?”

“Yeah,” Gu Mingxi lifted his leg slightly. “There’s just a scar left.”

“Did you run into those hoodlums again?”

“No.”

“What’s wrong? In a bad mood? Did you just get off from school?” Shark looked at Gu Mingxi, then asked, “Should I send you to the bus stop?”

Gu Mingxi shook his head. He lowered his eyes, and after a moment said, “Shark, can I sit in your shop for awhile? I don’t want to go home.”

“?” Shark was caught off guard. Then he immediately grabbed onto Gu Mingxi’s shoulders, “Of course, no problem. Eat and then go. My treat.”

He brought Gu Mingxi inside his shop. Clam and Oyster were, again, skewering meat. This pretty, armless boy had left a deep impression on them. When they saw him, they smiled. Gu Mingxi saw the two of them stringing the skewers together at a lightening pace, and was intrigued by it. He stood next to them, watching awhile. Shark asked, “Kid, what do you like to eat? Tonight, I’ll personally cook for you.”

Clam had a baby face and only looked to be slightly older than Gu Mingxi. With a smile, he said, “Shark hasn’t grilled anything in a long time. Kid, what an honor it is for you.”

Shark gave Clam a smack on the head. “Who are you to call him ‘kid’? You’re hardly any older!”

He turned with cigarette in mouth and asked Gu Mingxi, “Kid, how old are you?”

“I’ll be 17 in August.”

“Oh, only a year younger than me.” Clam was very happy, “I just turned 18.”

Oyster called out from the side, “I’m 19!”

“He’s still a student. Move aside, the two of you.” Shark squinted and reprimanded them. “Listen up. Don’t give him an cigarettes to smoke. Don’t give him any alcohol to drink. If he wants to eat some meat, give him as much as he wants!”

Gu Mingxi watched their clamoring from the side. Shark never spared these two guys when he was scolding them, but the young Clam and Oyster both seemed to take it well. Gu Mingxi found a chair and sat down. Staying in this unfamiliar barbecue shop, he suddenly felt at ease.