diymy Chapter 080 Crack
Chapter 080 Crack
Zhou Lun and Gao Yingxiang chatted for more than an hour, and only after they had settled all the arrangements for Fugu did they take their leave.
After leaving the county government office, Zhou Lun headed towards Li Wanqing's residence.
Zhou Lun knew perfectly well the purpose behind Gao Yingxiang's arrangements during today's meeting. He needed to have a serious talk with Li Wanqing about this matter to prevent any rift between the brothers. He had originally planned to go right after the meeting, but Gao Yingxiang had stopped him, which delayed it until now.
Li Wanqing's residence wasn't far from Zhou Lun's house; Wang Tieniu had already pointed it out to Zhou Lun on the way to the county government office. Zhou Lun hurried to the location, and before he could even enter, he saw Wang Tieniu leading several people, carrying large and small bags of things out of the courtyard. Zhou Lun frowned slightly and quickly stepped forward.
"Tie Niu, what are you doing?"
"Brother Lun, you're here." Hearing the voice, Wang Tieniu looked up and saw Zhou Lun. He grinned and said, "Moving! Big Brother told me to move all the stuff to Gushan Fort."
Upon closer inspection, Zhou Lun saw that Wang Tieniu had packed everyday items, including tables and chairs. His brow furrowed even more. It was true that Gao Yingxiang had arranged for Li Wanqing to be stationed at Gushan Fort, and had also instructed Li Wanqing, Wang Er, Zhao Sheng, and others to depart as soon as possible. But this was after a meeting that had just concluded, and it was almost dark. Seeing Wang Tieniu carrying so much stuff, and the several large carts at the gate fully loaded, was he not even going to stay overnight? If everything was moved, how would they spend the night?
Zhou Lun had a vague sense of unease. Could it be that Li Wanqing was dissatisfied with this arrangement? Or perhaps, did he have some opinion about him?
With that thought in mind, Zhou Lun ignored the busy Wang Tieniu and stepped inside.
"Brother Lun, where are you going?" Wang Tieniu asked from behind before he even stepped over the stairs.
"Where else can we go? Of course, we'll go find our eldest brother." Zhou Lun answered without turning his head, stepped over the threshold with his right foot, and continued walking inside.
"Big brother? Big brother's not here! He left a long time ago."
Zhou Lun had barely stepped inside when he heard Wang Tieniu's voice. He froze, turning around sharply to look at Wang Tieniu.
"What did you say? Big brother isn't here? He left? Where did he go?"
"Didn't I say earlier? The rebel leader ordered us to garrison Gushan Fortress." Wang Tieniu put down what he was holding, wiped his sweat, and explained, "As soon as my elder brother returned, he handed over the instructions. He didn't even have time to drink a sip of tea before heading to the camp with Shoutian and leading his men out of the city. I reckon they've already traveled almost ten miles by now. He left me here to manage things, and I'll send the equipment over to my elder brother later..."
At this point, Wang Tieniu paused for a moment before realizing, "Brother Lun, you didn't know? Really?!"
Wang Tieniu's words struck Zhou Lun like a thunderbolt, leaving him stunned on the spot.
He never expected that Li Wanqing would leave the county government office and then head straight to Gushan Fort without a second thought. Moreover, he didn't even see him before leaving, nor did he give him any explanation. This left Zhou Lun in a state of utter confusion.
Zhou Lun rushed here, intending to have a heart-to-heart talk with his elder brother, Li Wanqing, but to his dismay, he didn't even get to see Li Wanqing. Li Wanqing left immediately after the meeting, so decisively and cleanly, without even a word to him. What did this mean?
Zhou Lun felt a deep bitterness in his heart.
It seems that his elder brother not only had this idea all along, but his dissatisfaction with Gao Yingxiang, and even with him, had reached its peak.
Zhou Lun knew Li Wanqing's personality all too well. He was a man of few words, extremely loyal, and sincere. But it was precisely this kind of person who, once he made a decision, was as stubborn as an arrow.
Zhou Lun didn't even know how he got back to his residence.
After leaving Li Wanqing, he kept thinking about the incident, feeling guilty towards Li Wanqing.
Li Wanqing left too hastily and too quickly. The sun was already setting, and even if Zhou Lun immediately spurred his horse to chase after him, he definitely wouldn't catch up before sunset. Besides, knowing Li Wanqing as he did, Zhou Lun knew he was definitely angry. Too much explanation would only widen the rift.
Even with Zhou Lun's wisdom and resourcefulness, he couldn't come up with a good solution for the time being. He could only put the matter aside for the time being, thinking that he would find an opportunity to have a proper talk with Li Wanqing after Li Wanqing's anger had subsided.
With that thought in mind, Zhou Lun returned to his residence.
While he was away, Gao Guiying and Gao Yigong had already cleaned the house spotless and even prepared dinner, waiting for Zhou Lun to return.
"Honey, you're back!" Gao Guiying rushed to greet Zhou Lun as he entered, her voice filled with concern. "Why are you back so late? Are you hungry? Dinner's ready, come and eat."
"You guys eat first, I'm not hungry. I'm going inside to rest..." Zhou Lun forced a smile and then walked straight towards the side room.
"Brother-in-law!" Gao Yigong couldn't help but call out when he saw him like this.
Zhou Lun waved his hand, said nothing more, walked into the side room, and casually closed the door.
Gao Yigong, who was standing at the door, wanted to go over and ask what had happened, but Gao Guiying stopped him. Gao Guiying whispered a few words to her younger brother, Gao Yigong nodded, and turned to leave. After he left, Gao Guiying stared at the closed door, her expression lost in thought. After a long while, she sighed and also turned to leave.
The sky gradually darkened.
Zhou Lun, too lazy to light the lamp in the side room, sat alone in a chair, like a wooden sculpture.
In his mind, he recalled how he and Li Wanqing met, how they became friends, and the days they spent together.
From Li Wanqing's accident to his own daring rescue with Li Shoutian and Wang Tieniu, and finally raising the banner of rebellion... the past flashed by like a revolving lantern.
These two brothers, bound by deep loyalty and camaraderie, have now parted ways. This deeply saddened Zhou Lun.
Although Zhou Lun believed he hadn't done anything to wrong Li Wanqing, a rift had unknowingly formed since Gao Yingxiang joined forces with them and started trying to win him over.
Today's events may be the result of many accumulated events in the past; or perhaps, Li Wanqing himself has come to understand and even mistakenly believes that Zhou Lun has already decided to completely submit to Gao Yingxiang.
Li Wanqing's decisive departure, though stemming from his dissatisfaction with Zhou Lun and Gao Yingxiang, was also a way of leaving room for the brotherhood between him and Zhou Lun.
Perhaps Li Wanqing felt this was better, avoiding a complete falling out with his brother. He simply used the arrangement of guarding Gushan Fort as an excuse to leave cleanly and decisively. Perhaps this move was the best outcome for both himself and Zhou Lun.
Regardless of Li Wanqing's true intentions, Zhou Lun felt very uneasy about this matter.
He knew that at this point, he couldn't escape his responsibility. If he hadn't advised Li Wanqing to join forces with Gao Yingxiang, or if he had refused Gao Yingxiang's order to be the vanguard, or if he had decisively refused when Gao Yingxiang wanted to marry Gao Guiying to him... or even if...
There are too many "what ifs".
Zhou Lun knew that today's outcome was the result of a multitude of seemingly insignificant little things accumulating together. Now, he had no power to undo the damage. All he could think of was finding an opportunity later to properly explain things to Li Wanqing and mend this rift.
Zhou Lun also knew that once a crack appeared, even if it could be repaired, it would never be able to return to its original, intact state.
Zhou Lun understood that there were various reasons why things had come to this point. Even with Gao Yingxiang's attempts to win him over, he believed that without his own selfish motives, things wouldn't have come to this.
He sighed silently, his heart filled with melancholy and self-reproach.
After some time, a soft knock sounded on the door.
Zhou Lun then snapped out of his thoughts. He looked up and saw that the room was pitch black, and it had been dark outside for quite some time.
With a creak, the door to the side room was pushed open.
Gao Guiying walked in, holding a candlestick in her hand.
The candlelight flickered, illuminating the room. Gao Guiying saw Zhou Lun sitting upright in his chair, his gaze fixed on her, and she secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Without saying a word, she walked straight to Zhou Lun, lit the oil lamp on the table with the candlelight in her hand, blew out the candle, and set it aside. Then, she turned and walked towards the door, took a plate from the person waiting in the corridor, and returned to the room.
"Honey, have something to eat. We can't let them go hungry."
Gao Guiying placed a plate on the table containing a bowl of noodles. The noodles were slightly steaming, and the aroma was very tempting. She didn't say anything else, nor did she try to persuade Zhou Lun. She simply placed the noodles in front of him, then took a pair of chopsticks and gently placed them in his hands.
Zhou Lun subconsciously looked up at Gao Guiying.
Her face remained as calm as ever, and her eyes held no other thoughts than concern for him.
Zhou Lun hesitated for a moment, then nodded silently. He pulled the bowl of noodles closer to himself, picked up his chopsticks, and began to eat heartily.
Seeing that Zhou Lun was finally willing to eat, Gao Guiying, who had been worried, finally breathed a sigh of relief and smiled.