Chapter 4

Gu Si was nothing more than a sparring partner, and for the past few days, he had been working outside as one. He sparred with the children of wealthy families, serving as a human punching bag. He could take a beating, but he wasn't allowed to fight back. For fifty coins a day, Gu Si had worked as a sparring partner for three days and taken a beating for three days, earning a total of one hundred and fifty coins. He hadn't needed to put up any capital, so it was pure profit. Gu Si was quite satisfied. What he wasn't satisfied with was his father doing this kind of work. Even if the person beating him was only a little girl, that still wasn't acceptable! "Father is still sick! How could you two do this to him?" Gu Si let out a howl and was about to go over and pull the two men apart. "This is A-Luo. She's our biological sister." Gu Er briefly explained what had happened. Gu Si, whose face was already swollen and bruised from being beaten, nearly had his eyeballs pop out. "She's our biological sister? Our sister is the one from the Yuan family?" Gu Er nodded. "Yes." "How... how did you find out?" Gu Si was completely bewildered. "Little Sister told us. She went to the Yuan family to acknowledge her relatives. Then the Yuan family's daughter came to our house." Gu Er looked at Gu Qingluo, who was still patting their father's back. He knew that Gu Qingluo wouldn't hurt their father, but what exactly was she doing? "Cough, cough, cough..." Their father's coughing became even more frightening. "Ugh..." A mouthful of thick, black phlegm landed on the ground, splattering into a small indentation. Gradually, their father's coughing began to ease. Only then did Gu Qingluo stop patting his back. She looked at the thick phlegm and let out a sigh of relief. "Bring some warm water and let him soothe his throat." "Okay, I'll go." Gu San immediately ran off to get some water. He didn't even know why he was being so obedient. After drinking the water, their father finally recovered enough to breathe normally. Only then did he look at Gu Qingluo. His eyes were misty with tears, yet he still stared at her intently. So this was his daughter! Gu Qingluo's father couldn't take his eyes off her. His gaze was so gentle it seemed as though water might drip from it. Gu Qingluo could tell that he wasn't really looking at her. Through her, he seemed to be seeing someone else. "You look... very much like your mother." The book hadn't said much about Gu Qingluo's mother. It had only mentioned that she was a woman who excelled at the four arts—music, chess, calligraphy, and painting. She was elegant, graceful, bright, and full of passion, someone who dared to love and hate. Her father, Gu Changchuan, worked as a teacher outside the home, while her mother stayed home raising the children and managing the household. The two of them looked almost like immortals who had descended to earth. During the years they spent in Liu Family Village, they had managed to turn their simple, impoverished life into something almost poetic. And their lives had only grown better over time. Their family gradually became well-off, and eventually, once they had accumulated enough money, they even bought a house in the northern part of Dexing County. Gu Qingluo's mother's childhood name was Manman, and she had named her daughter Qingluo. It was enough to show how deeply Gu Changchuan had loved his wife, and how much the couple had cherished their daughter. Seeing Gu Qingluo frown without responding, her father gave a nervous and helpless smile before leaning against the wall and turning back inside. Only then did Gu Qingluo look around at the shabby woodshed. The woodshed was actually quite tidy. Outside, the firewood was stacked neatly. Behind the firewood, a cloth curtain had been hung to separate the space. That was where her father lived. A tiny window provided the only source of light in the entire room. There was a small bed, with several books neatly arranged beside the pillow. It was quite clean. But no matter how clean it was, this was still a woodshed. When her father saw that she hadn't left and had instead followed him inside, he hurriedly covered his mouth and nose with his sleeve, afraid that she would dislike the smell of his breath. It was the first day he had met his biological daughter, yet he was already being so discourteous. This wasn't right. This wasn't right at all. "A-Luo, hurry and go outside. This place... doesn't smell very good." In the past, A-Luo wouldn't even enter this room. She wouldn't even stay at the doorway. Whenever she heard him coughing inside the woodshed, she would shout from outside that the noise was driving her crazy. Later, whenever he needed to cough, Gu Changchuan would bury his mouth and nose in his bedding, trying his best to muffle the sound so that he wouldn't upset his daughter again. And now, the current A-Luo... She had spent more than ten years as a young lady of the Yuan family. Every movement she made was elegant and refined. A father like him, sick, disheveled, and constantly coughing, should disgust her even more, shouldn't he? The light in his eyes was almost completely extinguished. At that very moment, just as the last glimmer was about to fade, Gu Qingluo spoke. "It really doesn't smell very good. You're not well, so you shouldn't be staying somewhere like this. The sunlight is nice outside. Getting some fresh air and spending more time in the sun will be good for you. Let me help you outside to get some sunlight." Gu Changchuan: "..." Even though Gu Qingluo's father was extremely learned, he couldn't find the words to describe how overwhelmed and pleasantly surprised he felt at that moment. Gu Er, Gu San, and Gu Si didn't even get a chance to lend a hand. Gu Qingluo had already helped their father outside herself. Their father was excited as well. "Since your sister has returned, let's go out and eat at a restaurant. We'll have a family reunion dinner." Eat at a restaurant? How long had it been since their father had even thought about leaving the house? And now he was actually taking the initiative to go out for a meal. The only thing that had changed his mind was Little Sister. Gu Si was a simple-minded fellow. He fiercely pinched Gu San. "Did I hear that right? Did I see that right? It doesn't hurt... Am I really dreaming?" Gu San nearly jumped from the pain. Tears immediately welled up in his grape-like eyes. "Fourth Brother, what are you doing? Pinch yourself! Why did you pinch me?" Gu Si hurriedly released him and scratched his head guiltily. "Third Brother, I'm sorry. Really sorry. I pinched the wrong person." The tears in Gu San's eyes were still threatening to fall. He had naturally rosy lips and fair features, and without even putting on makeup, he was already remarkably beautiful. If he wore women's clothing, he would undoubtedly be breathtaking. "Hmph!" Gu San turned his head and walked away. Gu Si scratched his head, then cautiously approached Gu Er. "Second Brother, I suddenly have a thought." Gu Er glanced at him. "What are you thinking about with that blockhead of yours again?" "Actually, I think it's not bad that our sister has been switched back. This sister... she's really good." Gu Si was straightforward to the extreme. Whatever came into his mind, he said. Whatever he said was exactly what he meant. He never beat around the bush. "I've never seen anyone else's daughter dislike her own biological father!" Gu Er said nothing. When they had moved from the northern part of the city to the western part, the person who had been most unhappy about it was Little Sister. The moment she arrived here carrying her luggage, her face had been full of disgust. Then she chose the largest room, the one with the best sunlight. There were only two rooms in the entire house. Originally, they had planned for Fourth and Fifth Brother to share a room with Little Sister for a while, with a curtain dividing the space. Little Sister would stay inside, while Fourth and Fifth Brother would sleep outside. But Little Sister absolutely refused. She said that men and women should maintain their distance, and that this applied even to siblings. So the six men in the family had to squeeze into a single room. Later, their father began coughing day and night. Little Sister, sleeping in the room next door, became furious and complained that she couldn't sleep and was going crazy. So their father moved into the woodshed, the room farthest away from her. Whenever he coughed at night, he would cover his mouth and nose with his bedding, afraid that he would disturb Little Sister's sleep. Little Sister had said that his coughing would infect her. So their father didn't dare come outside. Only when Little Sister wasn't home would they dare help their father outside to get some sunlight and breathe some fresh air. Normally, they absolutely avoided appearing in front of Little Sister with their father. But now... The Little Sister they had met for the first time hadn't shown the slightest disgust when their father coughed. Instead, she had patted his back at such close range and helped him outside to enjoy the sunlight. Under the warm sunlight, their father sat down in a chair with Gu Qingluo supporting him. There was no wind outside, and the sunlight was even warmer. A smile remained on their father's face, brighter than the sunlight itself. The Second Brother had always believed that Fourth Brother wasn't very bright. He was too blunt, his words often unpleasant to hear, and he was just a big, simple-minded fool. But this time... His words might have been crude, but there was truth in them. Take himself, for example. He had never disliked his father for coughing, disturbing his sleep, or potentially infecting him. Instead... Whenever he saw their father coughing so badly that he couldn't sleep night after night, watching the once strong and upright man visibly waste away, he wished he could suffer in his father's place. If only the illness could be passed on to him. Then their father would get better. It was obvious that no biological child would ever dislike their own father or brothers. So Little Sister...