Chapter 563 - 486: Parting
Chapter 563: Chapter 486: Parting
At four in the afternoon, Gu Qifan drove Gu Shaojun and Wei Zhenling to the train station. Xiao Man clung to Gu Shaojun’s hand. Their hearts were connected, and he could feel her sorrow and reluctance to let him go. He felt just as awful, so he simply pulled her into the car with him. A farewell on the platform might be more poignant, but any extra time together was a blessing. Uncle Gu could just take Xiao Man home later.
But before the door could be closed, a figure zipped inside, settling in right next to Xiao Man. It was Gu Shaoqin. He grinned at Xiao Man and said, "I’m going too. We can come back together later!"
Gu Shaojun: "..."
’He felt like he’d just shot himself in the foot.’ According to Xiao Man, in their past life, he had asked Shaoqin to look after her before he died. As a result, his younger brother had become a lingering shadow at her side, never marrying or settling down. Why was he still so attached to Xiao Man in this life? ’It can’t be a habit from his past life, can it?!’
The car stopped at the main gate of the Gu family home, where a crowd had gathered to see them off. Granny Gu, Zhou Hui Lan, and the others had red-rimmed eyes, forcing smiles as they waved. When Gu Shaoying saw that Xiao Man and both her brothers had gotten into the car, she burst into a wail, "Sister Manman! Big Brother! Fourth Brother! Take me with you... AAAAAAH!"
Gu Shaojun could only smile and wave from the window. Seeing that his own father and older brother had no more words to add, Gu Qifan started the car and drove away.
They had an extra third wheel—and a particularly "bright" one who couldn’t read the room at all. Gu Shaoqin completely stole his older brother’s chance to have a private word with Xiao Man. Instead, he spent the entire ride discussing a movie he’d just seen with her. It was a new film about the adventures of a few kids, but Gu Shaojun hadn’t seen it and couldn’t get a word in. All he could do was hold Xiao Man’s hand and sit quietly to the side, a look of utter helplessness on his face.
Wei Zhenling, in the passenger seat, glanced back at him several times, struggling to hold back his laughter.
After seeing them onto the train, Gu Qifan noticed that Gu Shaojun and Wei Zhenling were each carrying a large travel bag. "Shaojun," he asked, puzzled, "didn’t you already have your luggage sent ahead to G Province by plane? Why are you still carrying these? What an inconvenience!"
Gu Shaojun replied, "Zhen Ting and I are going to visit the families of three of our comrades. These are some Beijing specialties we bought for them."
Gu Qifan nodded quickly. "Oh, right. You should bring them something. It’s not easy for military families. It’s been so many years since I left the army... See if they have any urgent difficulties and do your best to help resolve them. I think I have some old comrades working in the two places you’re visiting. Call me if you need anything."
"Understood, Uncle Gu."
They had arrived just in time. Gu Shaojun and Wei Zhenling had barely found their seats before the train was scheduled to depart. As the train slowly began to glide forward, the pair of hands—one on the train, one on the platform—were forced to let go. Fearing for her safety, Gu Qifan held Xiao Man back, preventing her from chasing after it. Xiao Man hung her head as Gu Shaoqin moved closer to comfort her. From the train, Gu Shaojun watched as she grew more and more distant, finally shrinking to a tiny black dot before vanishing completely. A suffocating pain seized his chest, as if it were about to burst, and he instinctively raised a hand to pound it hard a few times.
Sitting beside him, Wei Zhenling’s face turned pale from the cold wind that rushed in through the open window. He couldn’t tell Gu Shaojun to close it, so he could only grit his teeth and bear it. They had known each other for many years and understood one another; he knew this was no time for jokes.
At that moment, he couldn’t help but feel a little resentful toward Uncle Gu for being so meddlesome. ’Who needs special treatment on a train? He just had to call in a favor with a train marshal he knew to get them empty seats. If there were other people sitting here, Gu Shaojun wouldn’t be acting so willfully.’
What made Wei Zhenling truly miserable was that Gu Shaojun seemed to have become addicted to the cold wind. It must have been a good half hour, and Wei Zhenling was starting to feel like he’d freeze solid, before Gu Shaojun finally pulled his head back inside. He then leaned back against his seat, closed his eyes, and pretended to be asleep, ignoring him completely.
Wei Zhenling slid the window closed and studied him for a moment, wondering, ’What topic can I bring up now to distract him from his parting sorrows?’ Suddenly, a person came to mind. He cleared his throat and said:
"I wonder if that news from Brother Lu is true. Bai Junfan actually wants to transfer out of the Southern Defense and return to Beijing. Do you think he can pull it off?"
Gu Shaojun’s eyes snapped open. They were bloodshot, but his gaze was level and calm. His voice was hoarse when he first spoke. "If Mr. Bai personally steps in, it’ll probably happen. But... just wait and see. Since Bai Junfan is the one asking for the transfer, the higher-ups won’t give him exactly what he wants. He definitely won’t be sent to the post he’s hoping for!"
"That’s more like it," Wei Zhenling said, lighting a cigarette and puffing out clouds of smoke.
Gu Shaojun glanced at Wei Zhenling as if he were an idiot. Wei Zhenling froze for a moment, then tapped himself on the head. "Oh, I get it now!"
"What do you get? Tell me, too!" Gu Shaojun waved away the plumes of smoke, moved closer to the window, and slid it open a crack.
A blast of cold wind poured in. Wei Zhenling, who hadn’t had time to exhale, choked on a lungful of smoke, his eyes instantly watering. He coughed and yelled, "Gu Shaojun! I’m gonna turn you into a... COUGH COUGH COUGH... a first-class smoker! COUGH COUGH COUGH COUGH!"
Gu Shaojun folded his arms, sitting calmly in the draft, his expression unruffled. "We’ll see who changes who."
Meanwhile, thousands of miles away, Bai Junfan had just stepped off a plane. The moment his feet touched the ground, he let out three massive sneezes.
The person there to meet him joked, "Well, well. Spend half a month in the Capital City, and now you can’t handle the local climate anymore?"
Bai Junfan waved a hand dismissively and glanced back at Tang Yaxuan, who was following him. She, on the other hand, seemed to be in high spirits, gazing around at everything with fresh curiosity. Two soldiers were with her—one carrying her luggage, the other dutifully escorting her away from the aircraft.
Sensing Bai Junfan’s gaze, Tang Yaxuan hurried forward a few steps to take his hand. "Brother Junfan, what’s wrong?" she asked with concern. "Are you catching a cold?"
Bai Junfan led her a little farther from the tarmac before smiling. "I’m fine. How are you holding up, Xuanxuan?"
"Mm, I’m great."
"Alright then. Follow those two and go rest for a bit in that large hall over there. There’s hot water inside if you want to wash up, and tea to drink. Once the car gets here—"
"Brother Jun Fan, aren’t you coming in with me?"
"It’s like this, Xuanxuan. You saw that man who was just talking to me, right? He was sent by a superior to pick me up and assign me a mission. See? I have my orders now, so I need to hurry and prepare to execute them."
"But... what about me?" Tang Yaxuan grabbed the corner of Bai Junfan’s jacket, her face scrunching up as she whined playfully.
’It wasn’t that she was flustered; after all, she was no stranger to this city. She just wanted to be with Junfan. ’He could even take me with him on the mission,’ she thought.’