"Anlu... your father has gone back to the school."
"Mm." Qi Anlu drank the porridge in his bowl expressionlessly, showing little reaction to his mother's words.
Where Qi Wenhan went had nothing to do with him.
Qi's mother wanted to say something but didn't know how to begin. Qi Anlu had already noticed the expression on his mother's face, but he didn't want to acknowledge it.
As he reached out to pick up some food, his mother grabbed his hand.
"Cong Cong, how did you get hurt?" In her anxiety, Qi's mother reverted to using her son's childhood nickname.
"It's nothing."
Qi Anlu pulled his hand back, not intending to say more. His face remained calm, but inside he felt very irritated.
Why couldn't his mom just be like Qi Wenhan and—
Qi Anlu took another deep breath: "Mom, you should divorce him."
"That's impossible... how could we divorce?"
"Why not?!" Seemingly overcome with anger, Qi Anlu's shouted words carried a tremor.
"Why can't you divorce? I'm old enough now, we won't starve without him." Halfway through, his tone softened, "Mom, divorce isn't a big deal these days. Even if you got divorced three times, no one would say anything."
Qi Anlu's mother was a traditional housewife. As far back as Qi Anlu could remember, his impression of his mother was always centered around him and Qi Wenhan—washing clothes, cooking meals, cleaning the house, and managing the daily lives of father and son.
Qi Anlu guessed that it must be her traditional mindset preventing her from getting a divorce.
Faced with her son's questioning, Qi's mother's face reddened slightly. She wanted to explain something but didn't know how to say it.
After hemming and hawing for a while, she finally managed to say: "Your father and I have feelings for each other."
Having said that much, the rest seemed to come more easily.
"Anlu, your father actually cares for you very much. He's just too anxious, he just wants you to study hard."
Qi Anlu was disappointed once again. He threw down his chopsticks and smiled self-mockingly.
Lost in her own thoughts, Qi's mother hadn't noticed her son's unusual behavior. Her entire life revolved around her husband and son, and now that they were fighting, it was as if her world was falling apart.
She couldn't persuade her stubborn husband, so she could only try to convince her son.
"Anlu, you're still young, you don't understand. Your father is actually very good. He has a respectable job, gives me his entire salary every month, and has never raised a hand against me. You don't know, your father had a tough childhood. He suffered a lot to get where he is today. He might be a bit anxious, but it's all for your own good."
Qi's mother and Qi Wenhan were from the same place. If one were to put it romantically, they could be considered childhood sweethearts.
She hadn't gotten into university, but she managed to marry Qi Wenhan, who attended a prestigious university. Every year when they went back to their hometown for the New Year, which of her village friends wasn't envious of her?
Hearing his mother's words, Qi Anlu almost laughed in anger. Apparently, not beating one's wife was enough to be considered a good man.
As for the salary, his mother might not know, but he was well aware that his father was probably still using the salary figure from five years ago to fool his mother. Not to mention the money from his collaborations with businesses and his lecture fees—Qi Anlu had guessed all this from some documents he found in his father's study.
As for what Qi Wenhan did with the rest of the money, he didn't care. Qi Anlu wouldn't mind if he had several more children outside.
Qi Anlu also thought back to the past, when his father loved attending his parent-teacher meetings and then tirelessly explaining his educational methods.
A professor from a prestigious university, an academic expert who also cared about his son—in others' eyes, Qi Anlu should have been secretly delighted to have such a father.
He had heard these words too many times before and didn't want to hear them again. He simply pushed his bowl away and made to leave.
"Where are you going?" Seeing her son about to go out, Qi's mother said cautiously, "You'd better not go out. What if your father comes home and sees you're not here? He'll get angry again."
Qi Anlu wanted to say: What's there to be afraid of if he gets angry? Didn't you say he wouldn't raise a hand against you?
After a moment's thought, he still couldn't bring himself to say those words.
He made up an excuse instead: "I forgot to bring a book, I'm going to school to get it. I won't be back for lunch."
The school wasn't completely empty on Saturdays and Sundays. Third-year high school students didn't have weekends off, and first and second-year students could go to school with their campus cards on weekends.
So, Qi's mother didn't suspect anything, thinking her son had listened to her advice and was going to study at school.
"Mom will transfer you some money. Don't eat at the school cafeteria for lunch."
"Mm."
Qi Anlu didn't refuse. After all, it was Qi Wenhan's money, might as well take it.
After leaving home, Qi Anlu didn't go to school but wandered aimlessly on the streets.
In their group chat, Gu Zhijing was complaining that since they weren't around, the teammates he got matched with in the game seemed to have problems with their brains.
Qi Anlu glanced at it, then put his phone in his pocket and hailed a taxi.
—At the Gu family home—
"No, no, no! It's leaking!"
Gu Zhijing's hand paused as he was squeezing cream, and he looked again to see that he had pierced the fragile cream puff clean through with the piping nozzle.
Today, Nian Suian had nothing to do and turned her attention to the oven again.
Who could resist warm little cakes in winter?
Since Nanny Zhang was preparing lunch and no one else could join her in this escapade, doing it alone obviously wouldn't be much fun, so Nian Suian decisively dragged Gu Junxing down to help.
Gu Junxing had clearly gotten used to this and was now separating egg yolks from whites quickly and efficiently.
Gu Zhijing had originally been playing games upstairs, but after being matched with unreliable teammates and losing three games in a row, he angrily quit the game.
Qu Zizhou hadn't been home since the results came out yesterday, going straight to his grandparents' house to seek refuge.
Upon learning that his mother was coming to his grandparents' house in the evening to deliver some things, he fled overnight to his maternal grandparents' house, barely able to protect himself at this point.
Chu Mingyan had gone to a neighboring city to attend his cousin's wedding.
Qi Anlu hadn't said anything in the group chat.
With only him left in the gaming squad and having lost several more games, he lost interest in playing.
He went downstairs intending to annoy his father in the study, but his father wasn't there.
After finally finding the two in the kitchen, he immediately applied to join the cake-making squad.
When Qi Anlu was shown in by Butler Su, this was the scene he saw.
Gu Zhijing had been stripped of his cream-squeezing rights and reassigned to cut fruit after repeatedly piercing three cream puffs, with father and son alternating tasks.
At this moment, Gu Zhijing had been banished from the kitchen for sneaking bites while cutting fruit.
"Anlu, why are you here?!" Gu Zhijing's eyes lit up when he saw Qi Anlu.
One of his gaming partners had arrived, which was great!
"I was bored at home, so I could only come to play with you," Qi Anlu said to Gu Zhijing.
After greeting Gu Zhijing, Qi Anlu also stood at the kitchen door to say hello to Nian Suian and Gu Junxing.
"Try the cream puffs I made before you go upstairs!" The cream he squeezed, give or take, meant he made them, no problem there.
When Qi Anlu returned after washing his hands, the cream puffs were already on the coffee table.
They smelled very sweet, but... a few seemed to have... leaked.
"These few were filled by Gu Zhijing. He put too much cream, so they leaked," Nian Suian said, coming out with freshly made small cakes and sitting opposite the two.
Gu Junxing had also asked someone to brew four cups of red tea, perfect for cutting through the richness of the cakes.
