Chapter 351: Chapter 351: One Glance, Ten Thousand Years
Xiao Zhenyu looked at his daughter, who was frowning in conflict. "Yanzi, if you don’t believe Ziquan is at his house, we can take him to make a call home right now."
Before Xiao Jiyan could speak, Su Shuochi’s voice cut in, "Director Xiao, aren’t we not supposed to make personal calls?"
"That’s normally the case, but I have special privileges."
"Then let’s make the call," Su Shuochi said, more anxious than the Xiao father and daughter.
Soon, the call connected. Xiao Zhenyu put it on speakerphone: "Hello? The missus is cooking. Who is this?"
Xiao Rui’s cheerful voice came from the other end of the line.
"Xiao Rui, why aren’t you in the kitchen helping?" Su Shuochi asked, sounding displeased.
"Oh, it’s you, brother-in-law! Aunt Jiaojiao asked Fu Guoguo to help in the kitchen, so she won’t let us in.
Oh, right! Geng called earlier and said they were busy with something, so he asked us to drive over and pick you up.
Jingyi already left with the car. He should be at the institute’s gate soon. You should hurry back for lunch.
Brother-in-law, Ziquan’s poison was cured today, so Aunt Jiaojiao said she’d personally cook a few nice dishes for us to celebrate."
"Xiao Rui, what did you just say?" Xiao Jiyan asked excitedly, standing right next to the phone.
CLICK. Xiao Rui had already hung up.
Xiao Zhenyu: ...’That nephew of mine has always been unreliable!’
"Yanzi, Xiao Rui just said Ziquan is also at Comrade Su’s house. Do you want to go to Comrade Su’s for lunch?"
"I’ll listen to Dad," Xiao Jiyan said awkwardly. "Comrade Su, let me see you back."
"There’s no need for Miss Xiao to see me out. Han Jingyi is already on his way to pick me up," Su Shuochi said, his face expressionless.
His wife was cooking personally, and he was champing at the bit to get back and help her. He was in no mood to dawdle with the Xiao father and daughter.
With that, he turned his wheelchair around and sped away. His wheelchair was automatic, nimble, and fast.
Xiao Jiyan jogged to catch up and apologize. "Comrade Su, I’m so sorry! I shouldn’t have doubted you. The truth is, I want to come to your house for a meal. Is that okay?"
"As long as you can keep up, suit yourself."
Xiao Jiyan abandoned her father, not even having time to say a word to him as she chased breathlessly after Su Shuochi.
Watching his daughter go, Xiao Zhenyu just smiled and shook his head. Without a word, he turned and went back to work in his lab.
He needed to find Su Shuochi’s file and take a good look at it. There was still an hour until lunch...
「Su Mansion」
Xiao Rui was so startled he’d hung up the phone. He immediately started yelling, "Grandpa! Aunt Jiaojiao! This is bad! I’m having hallucinations!"
"Xiao Rui, what are you yelling about?" Mu Ziquan warned in a low voice. He was sitting in his wheelchair at the kitchen entrance, watching Gu Jiaojiao cook.
After he had thrown up the Poisonous Gu, Gu Jiaojiao had fed him a Qi-replenishing medicine pill. He’d woken up from a nap feeling refreshed and clear-headed.
Xiao Rui had been afraid of Mu Ziquan since they were little. He tried to sidle past him into the kitchen to tattle to Gu Jiaojiao.
But Mu Ziquan blocked the doorway. ’Are you kidding me? I haven’t even gone into the kitchen myself. There’s no way Xiao Rui is getting in.’
"Xiao Rui, what hallucination are you having? Was that Shu Ci who called just now?"
Gu Jiaojiao had excellent hearing. She had expected Xiao Rui to come into the kitchen to tell her.
When he didn’t appear after a while, she took a moment to poke her head out the door and ask him.
"Aunt Jiaojiao, I just got a call from brother-in-law, and I heard my cousin Yanzi’s voice next to him."
Xiao Rui said with a grin, then provocatively stuck his tongue out at Mu Ziquan.
"How old is your cousin Yanzi? Is she pretty?" Gu Jiaojiao decided to tease Xiao Rui.
It was his own fault for making a big fuss over nothing and disturbing her while she was cooking.
"My cousin Yanzi is pretty enough. She’s twenty-two this year. She’s wanted to marry Ziquan since we were kids, so she’s never been willing to date anyone else."
Mu Ziquan: ...’I’ll thank your entire Xiao family tree for that one!’
"Haha... Shu Ci must have told her Mu Ziquan was at our house, and your cousin Yanzi didn’t believe him, so she called back with him to confirm."
After saying her piece, Gu Jiaojiao went back into the kitchen to continue her work, leaving an embarrassed Mu Ziquan sitting at the entrance.
Hearing Xiao Rui’s voice, the old men all came out of the lab, still rolling medicine pills in their hands.
Countless accusing gazes landed on Xiao Rui, especially Mu Ziquan’s, which was like a sharp knife.
When Xiao Rui saw that the two bodyguards were also giving him a complicated look, he nearly lost it on the spot.
"What did I say wrong? Why are you all looking at me like that?" Xiao Rui asked, rubbing his left arm with his right hand.
"You didn’t say anything wrong. Your voice was just too loud and disturbed us while we were rolling medicine pills," Elder Xiao reminded him helplessly.
Then he went back into the lab to continue rolling pills. Old Mu gave his grandson a meaningful look.
’He had always been fond of that girl from the Xiao family. It was just that his grandson had always been in a war zone before, so he hadn’t had many chances to meet Yan.
Later, when his grandson came home injured, Yan didn’t mind at all. She came running to the Mu Family home every day, trying to get close to him.
But his grandson had this attitude of ’I’m a cripple, I’m not worthy,’ and wanted nothing to do with anyone!’
That look from his grandfather made Mu Ziquan shudder. Though his childhood had been difficult, it had also been happy.
’His father had been a hero, but he was also an undercover agent on the enemy’s side. He had sacrificed his life before the war was won.
Afterward, hostile forces found a weakness to exploit, and his family was dragged through the mud for many years, unable to clear their name.
When he was fifteen, his grandfather asked an old comrade-in-arms to send him to the army under a different name to toughen him up, which spared him from much of that hardship.
That was why he fought so hard, shedding more tears than the average person. It wasn’t that he didn’t know about Xiao Jiyan’s feelings for him.
But he hadn’t yet achieved the success he aspired to and didn’t want to be tied down by romantic entanglements, let alone start a family.
Then he got injured and began to have frequent fits of rage, becoming irritable and difficult to control. He felt even less qualified to be in a relationship.
But ever since he met Gu Jiaojiao, he realized all of that had just been an excuse.
He simply hadn’t met the girl who could make his heart flutter. He finally understood what the books meant by "a single glance, ten thousand years."
At that time, he had been in the middle of a manic episode, but her gentleness had captured his heart. Even in his madness, his heart was moved.
But, in the end, she could never belong to him!’
Mu Ziquan quietly gazed at the busy figure in the Su family’s kitchen, his heart a whirlwind of emotions.
The thought that he would have no right to see such a scene in the future made his heart ache with a pain more intense than when the Poisonous Insect had been inside him.
Hearing the sound of a car at the gate, Mu Ziquan struggled to turn his wheelchair around. He faced the door, as if anticipating someone’s arrival.
Xiao Jiyan followed behind Su Shuochi, and as soon as she entered the house, she saw her Ziquan looking at her.
Her heart began to pound like a drum. THUMP-THUMP, THUMP-THUMP. She stopped in her tracks, looking affectionately at the man who was always on her mind.
After a long moment, she looked at her Ziquan again, but his eyes were unfocused.
The realization was like a bucket of cold water extinguishing all her passion. "Ziquan, are you not feeling well?"
"I’m fine," Mu Ziquan replied calmly. "What brings Miss Xiao to the Su family’s home?"
