Chapter 367 - Chapter 367: Chapter 367: A Detailed Conversation with Gu Xinlan_1 (1/2)
Chapter 367: Chapter 367: A Detailed Conversation with Gu Xinlan_1
“Get up, don’t kneel anymore. You people from the secular world are delicate; how can you endure kneeling for such a long time!”
Although the meditation cushion was soft, indeed it was not suitable for someone like me who had never kneeled for so long before; after a while, my entire lower limbs had already become numb.
She reached out to pull me up, and only then did I manage to struggle to my feet.
“Sit down!”
Gu Xinlan’s reaction was quite calm.
However, upon closer inspection, one could see that the tips of her newly grown hair at the temples were somewhat white, and her face was also creased with wrinkles.
It seemed that the blow she had received was far greater than I had imagined.
She poured me a cup of clear tea.
“In the sacred grounds of the Buddhist Sect, there’s not much with which to entertain guests, only simple tea …”
“Thank you!”
I picked up the rough porcelain cup and took a sip.
Bitter and astringent.
I let that bitter taste linger on the tip of my tongue, slowly seeping down my throat.
Yet, even the most bitter tea was not as bitter as my heart at that moment.
“Go ahead, what do you want to ask me?”
“Uh, I want to know about Gu Yuanzhou’s background …”
Gu Xinlan sighed,
“The man is gone, what good does knowing do?”
“A goose leaves its call behind; I want to know the clear causes and effects.”
“Ah!”
Gu Xinlan walked to the window and glanced out at the lush green mountains.
Another long sigh.
“He was the only male in the Gu Family … Many years ago, our Gu Family was flourishing. At least when I was young, our family was quite reputable in the entire city. The schools I attended were the best, and my elder brother always chose the finest things for our food, clothing, housing, and transportation. The only shortcoming was that our Gu Family had a sparse lineage; starting with my grandfather’s generation, there was only one male heir.”
It was then that I noticed a small memorial photograph placed on the table.
It was Gu Yuanzhou’s.
No bigger than the size of a palm, it lay in an inconspicuous corner.
Had Gu Xinlan not reached out and caressed that photograph, I wouldn’t have noticed it at all.
On that photograph, his voice and smile were still present.
As if just yesterday he was standing lively before me, calling me Ayun.
I really didn’t quite want to believe that Gu Yuanzhou was truly dead.
“It’s not because the men in the Gu Family had any hidden illnesses; in fact, they were all very healthy. The difficulty lay in the fact that they were rather infatuated, monogamous, too fond of their wives, unwilling to have their wives bear more children. Thus, each generation had fewer people than the last. Ah!”