Keywords: Gu Residence.
Therefore, she has reason to believe that he fell down the stairs due to the actions of the two young masters of the Gu Family.
Yet, even under such circumstances, she canāt ask him about the truth.
"Yes," Gu Liancheng laughed, "I was a bit clumsy when I was little, often getting hurt."
"Thatās it?"
"Gu Qianxun, what else do you want to know about the ways I was abused?"
Before Eleven could answer, he admitted: "Fine, Iāll tell you something harsher. One year, I went to the Ghost Gate."
Upon this comment, silence descended.
Eleven held her breath, even the faintest sound of her breathing disappeared.
After a while, she complained: "Itās late at night and Cute is asleep. Iām sitting alone in the living room. Are you telling me these stories to scare me?"
Is what he refers to, that incident?
"Donāt worry, itās not scary. Do you remember the secret room you entered? The photographs you saw."
Is he about to discuss past events with her?
Eleven deliberately avoided it: "Stop trying to scare me with those photos. With todayās technology, anything could be fabricated. Even without Photoshop, good makeup skills can create the illusion of reality. Donāt think that I would actually fall for that."
"Actually, you should be aware that those are all true."
"..."
Gu Liancheng knew she wasnāt foolish.
That day, when he acted so unusually, she should have guessed it.
"I thought one day you would inevitably discover those, but I didnāt expect it would be so soon. When I hadnāt prepared myself at all, you rushed into my inner world. Thatās why I lost my temper that day. Even today, I still owe you an apology."
In anger, she moved away and started dating others.
The situation didnāt develop as heād hoped, so he couldnāt sit still anymore.
"No," Eleven interrupted him, "I am the one who should apologize. Ahem... Iām a bit sleepy. Letās not talk anymore and go to sleep, okay?"
She wasnāt sure if he was going to talk about their past. It would be better not to listen further.
It wasnāt the right time.
She just heard all about it from Jin Xiangnan; in such a short period of time, she really couldnāt listen to it a second time.
"...Alright, sleep well. Goodnight."
"Goodnight."
Her voice, gentle, came faintly from the other end of the line, flowing into his heart.
He pressed the phone against his chest. The entire room was dark, save for the faint moonlight passing through the curtains, just enough to make out each of his fingers.
Perhaps it was too early, he thought. The relationship between them wasnāt strong enough to bear her hearing his story in full.
At least, she doesnāt want to know about him and Wen Qianxi yet.
Letās talk about it later then.
That night, he couldnāt sleep because some memories inevitably resurfaced.
If only he could selectively lose his memory and forget everything from before he was twenty.
...
"Eleven... are you having insomnia?"
Eleven opened her eyes and found Cute looking at her, eyes groggy from sleep. She hugged her and said, "Whatās wrong, baby? Did I disturb you?"
"I saw you tossing and turning..."
"Iām sorry, Iāll stop and settle down."
Cute snuggled up to her and said, "Are you missing Mr. Gu, is that why you canāt sleep?"
Eleven knocked lightly on her little head, "Little Devil, what are you thinking? Go to sleep."
...
It was quiet inside the car; no one spoke a word.
The car drove at a uniform speed in the dark.
The dilapidated street lights, left to decay over time, made this road in the Broken City District pitch black.