Chapter 55: I Miss You

Gu Yannan, Gu Yanbei, and Gu Wenlin—father and sons—stepped into the house together. Seeing Pan Huijuan sitting at the table wiping away tears, Gu Wenlin asked, “What’s wrong this time? Who upset you again?”

Pan Huijuan snapped irritably, “Who else could it be? Your precious son, of course!”

Only then did Gu Wenlin realize Gu Yan’an wasn’t home. Had they argued again? What was it about this time?

“Yanting, tell me what exactly happened.”

Gu Yanting glanced at her mother, who now seemed completely unbothered, and whispered, “Dad, Sister Wei and the others just came to our house, and Mom told me to call Elder Brother out to give Sister Wei an explanation.

My brother made everything clear to Sister Wei. After he turned her down, he packed his things and moved in with Grandfather.”

Gu Wenlin felt both exasperated and disappointed with Pan Huijuan. He let out a long sigh. “Pan Huijuan, you… what am I supposed to say? Yan’an has absolutely nothing to do with that Bai Wei. What kind of explanation did you expect him to give her?”

Although Yan’an was angry enough to move in with the old man, at least the matter was finally settled. Bai Wei probably wouldn’t come stirring up trouble at their house again, right?

Pan Huijuan gently dabbed the tears at the corner of her eye and explained, “I’d promised Weiwei earlier that when Yan’an returned, I’d have them share a meal together. This time, Weiwei showed up unannounced, catching me completely off guard.

She wanted to stay for dinner. I figured since Yan’an already has someone, I might as well let him give Weiwei a chance to get closure.

Who knew he’d explain things and then run off immediately? I worked so hard stewing a big pot of pig’s trotters for him, and he didn’t even get a single bite…”

What was the use of saying all this now? When faced with such situations, shouldn’t she have taken the initiative to clarify things with Bai Wei herself?

What was the point of dragging her son out as a shield?

Gu Yanbei walked over to Pan Huijuan’s side and comforted her, “Mom, Elder Brother probably isn’t angry with you. Don’t overthink it. If Elder Brother isn’t eating the pig’s trotters, then we’ll eat them! I’m starving. Mom, can we eat now?”

Pan Huijuan stood up and turned to Gu Yanting, saying, “Tingting, go set the table first. I’ll stir-fry a couple of vegetable dishes, and then we can start eating.”

Gu Yan’an really had it rough. Not only did he miss out on the pig’s trotter soup, but when he got to Grandfather’s place, there wasn’t even any leftover rice to eat.

It couldn’t be helped—Grandfather Gu lived alone. He had simply cooked a pot of sweet potato porridge and eaten it all day with some Beef Sauce and pickled vegetables.

“Grandfather, is there any food? I’ve moved in to live with you now.”

“I’ve already eaten. There’s still a bowl or two of sweet potato porridge in the pot if you want it. The east wing rooms are all tidied up—you can take any one you like.”

He could have stayed home and enjoyed pig’s trotter soup, but now he was stuck with sweet potato porridge. Women were really troublesome!

Early the next morning, Gu Yan’an took his demobilization documents and reported to the Material Reserve Bureau.

Originally, he still had a month of leave left, but now that his superiors saw his leg was almost fully healed, they urged him to return to work early, saying there was a task they needed him to complete.

The cotton planted by the Xinjiang Construction Corps had yielded a bumper harvest this year, and it was currently the peak harvesting season. The Jingshi Material Reserve Bureau wanted to send people over to purchase the cotton as soon as possible, to avoid being beaten to it by other provinces.

Tan Xiaoru, aware of Gu Yan’an’s capabilities, decided to send him to Xinjiang along with a team of others.

“Director Tan, may I borrow your phone? After making the call, I’ll give you my answer, alright?”

“You rascal, who are you planning to call? If you want to discuss it with your family, I’ll give you two days to go back and think it over carefully.

You know, you were parachuted in from above and given this deputy director position. Do you know how many eyes in our unit are watching you right now?”

If he hadn’t demobilized, he would have been promoted to full regiment commander by now, after all, he had earned many merits in the army. A deputy director position at the Material Reserve Bureau wasn’t something he particularly cared about.

To give Momo a good life, he would work hard and strive to climb higher.

“Thank you for the reminder, Director Tan. I will work diligently and try my best to avoid giving others cause for gossip. May I call my partner?”

Tan Xiaoru stood up and offered his seat, patting Gu Yan’an on the shoulder as he said, “Good lad, you’ve already got a partner so quickly? I was actually planning to introduce you to my niece. Come on, I’ll give you my seat, take your time with the call.”

“No, no, no! Please, sir, don’t go around playing matchmaker.”

Right now, he just wanted a peaceful life. He didn’t want to end up in a situation where he couldn’t even afford sweet potato porridge because of other female comrades.

Gu Yan’an had previously inquired about the phone number for the Haishi First People’s Hospital director’s office from Director Qin and had memorized it specifically, waiting for an opportunity to call and hear Momo’s voice.

Now, wasn’t the opportunity here?

Liang Guozheng was quite startled when he received Gu Yan’an’s call, thinking it might be some directive from above.

Upon learning that it was Doctor Lan’s partner looking for Doctor Lan, he quickly instructed his secretary to go to the Orthopedics Department and fetch Lan Mo.

Gu Yan’an hung up the phone, planning to call back after waiting a quarter of an hour.

Tan Xiaoru returned to his seat and asked with a smile, “Xiao Gu, how come your partner is in Haishi? It seems she’s a doctor too, that’s good! But how do you manage a relationship living apart like this?”

He didn’t want to live apart either, but they had just started dating, and Momo wasn’t ready to come back to Jingshi with him yet. He would have to wait until their relationship was more stable before discussing that.

“Director Tan, originally I wasn’t supposed to report for duty at your unit for another month or so, right? Now that you’re asking me to start work early, could you possibly arrange to give me back some of that leave? I don’t even need to be paid for it! You know I’m in a relationship now, and I’ll need to find time to visit her in Haishi in the future…”

“Are you planning to travel back and forth between Haishi and Jingshi? That’s going to cost quite a bit in travel expenses, isn’t it? Haven’t you thought about getting your partner transferred to a hospital in Jingshi sooner? Your father should have connections at the Railway Bureau Hospital, right?”

It’s all rather disheartening to talk about. Didn’t he want Momo to come over quickly? The problem was that Momo only wanted to take things slowly for now. She would only agree to move to Jingshi once she was truly ready to get married.

Gu Yan’an frowned and sighed deeply, “Ah… that’s all for the future. We’re not at the stage of discussing marriage yet, so let’s take it step by step.”

Then he lifted his left wrist to check his watch. Confirming that enough time had passed, he quickly picked up the rotary phone again and swiftly dialed the number.

“Hello, Director Liang!”

“Hello, who is this?”

“It’s Xiao Gu, the one who called earlier. Could you please help me find Doctor Lan again?”

“Alright, please hold on!”

Liang Guozheng put down the telephone receiver and said to Lan Mo, who had hurried over, “Doctor Lan, your partner has called for you again. Come and take it quickly, but you two can’t talk for too long…”

“Alright, thank you, Hospital Director Liang.”

Lan Mo took the phone and said, “Hello, Comrade Gu Yan’an?”

“Momo, it’s me! How have you been these days?”

“Mm, everything’s fine. Comrade Gu Yan’an, how is your grandfather now? Is he doing well?”

“Him? He’s fine! I’ve moved in to live with Grandfather now. Momo, I reported back to the unit today, and I might have to go on a long trip in a few days. I might not be able to visit you in Haishi this month.”

“It’s fine, your work comes first.”

“We’re going to Xinjiang to collect cotton, and the return date is uncertain. I’ll write to you once I get there.”

Going to Xinjiang to collect cotton? She still had five tons of cotton in her Space Warehouse that she hadn’t sold yet.

But if the Material Reserve Bureau was collecting cotton, they’d surely be hauling it by the trainload. Her small amount of cotton wouldn’t even be enough to fill a gap in their teeth.

“Alright, I understand. It’s a long journey, so take care of yourself. We can get in touch again when you have time!”

Gu Yan’an glanced at Tan Xiaoru, who was busy writing something at another desk, and whispered into the receiver, “Momo, I miss you.”

He had originally wanted to ask if Lan Mo missed him too, but he thought better of it. With someone else around her, she probably wouldn’t answer even if he asked.

The words “I miss you” made Lan Mo’s heart flutter. Her face flushed as she looked up at Hospital Director Liang and noticed he was staring intently at her.

She knew this meant the hospital director didn’t want her to occupy the phone for too long. If there was something to say, say it; if not, hang up quickly!

“By the way, Comrade Gu Yan’an, Lin Xiangqian and the others’ case has already been decided… Lin Laogou paid thirty yuan in medical compensation to your cousin Yang Wei. If there’s nothing else, I’ll hang up now. The hospital director is still waiting to use the phone!”

“Alright, then let’s keep in touch by letter. Goodbye, Momo!”

“Goodbye!”

Gu Yan’an reluctantly hung up the phone and took two yuan from his pocket, handing it to Tan Xiaoru. “Director Tan, here’s the phone fee. Please take it.”

Tan Xiaoru didn’t stand on ceremony either, since the guy had made a long-distance call across provinces. “Xiao Gu, have you decided to make the trip to Xinjiang?”

“Yes, give me two days to prepare my luggage and say goodbye to my family.”

“Alright, you must return to the unit to work in three days. Before going to Xinjiang, we need to hold a big meeting.”

“Okay, I understand.”

…