Chapter 084 – This Miserable Stepfather – “Missed Misunderstanding” (07/08)
The former teaching assistant Gu Jing is now a professor.
Gu Shiyu watched him in class, hesitating slightly at the sight of this man who, though middle-aged, had lost none of his charm.
In his memories, his mother had often spoken about what a wonderful man his biological father was. He had harbored expectations for him, fantasizing many times that one day they would meet, that he could become his father’s pride.
But now, he felt it didn’t matter whether they met or not—having Xie Chenyang was enough.
So should he follow his current heart or fulfill the expectations of the past?
After class that day, heavy rain poured outside.
Gu Shiyu stood outside the teaching building, wondering if Xie Chenyang would come to pick him up, then thought about how his mother and Gu Jing must’ve met in a moment just like this back then.
Gradually, only Xie Chenyang filled his thoughts.
“Oh? It’s you, little brother.”
Gu Shiyu snapped back to reality, spotting a girl approaching him with two umbrellas—one open, one closed. She looked vaguely familiar, but he couldn’t place her no matter how hard he tried.
Song Zhui walked up beside him and smiled as she folded her umbrella. “Don’t you remember me, little brother? I’m Song Zhui. I live in the same building as you. I was the one who streamed you guys making snowmen back then~”
With that, he recalled her. Gu Shiyu responded indifferently, “I remember.”
“You’re a student here too? What a coincidence! Me too. I’m in the History Department, sophomore year.”
“…Freshman year.” As for which major, he was right there—no need to say it.
Song Zhui was about to say more when she spotted someone approaching from behind. Her eyes lit up, and she waved. “Dad, I’m here to pick you up!”
“I’m not some elderly man,” the familiar voice came from behind.
Gu Shiyu’s expression froze slightly.
It was Gu Jing.
Why did his daughter have the surname Song? Did she take her mother’s surname?
Gu Jing slowly walked towards them, subtly shifting his gaze to Gu Shiyu.
Song Zhui instantly understood his meaning and rolled her eyes. “He’s just someone from our building. We’ve only met twice. We’re not close. He’s not my boyfriend.”
Gu Jing’s eyes softened. “In that case, since this student also doesn’t have an umbrella, perhaps I could walk you both home?”
“No, I just came to give you your umbrella. I have plans with friends later and won’t be heading home yet.” Song Zhui shoved the umbrella into his hands.
She thought to herself, judging by Gu Shiyu’s earlier demeanor, he was clearly waiting for someone—probably his boyfriend—so there was no need for her to overstep.
“I’m off then. Bye~”
Song Zhui opened the umbrella and stepped into the rain. Gu Jing moved beside Gu Shiyu. “I remember you.”
Gu Shiyu was taken aback.
With so many students in his lectures and having just transferred, he genuinely hadn’t expected Gu Jing to recognize him.
“People always say we look alike, so it stuck with me.” Gu Jing tilted his head slightly. “Now that I look at you, you do bear a strong resemblance to my younger self.”
And, whether it was an illusion or not, he felt he could see traces of that girl in him.
Gu Shiyu: “Thank you, Professor.”
Gu Jing chuckled. “Why thank me just for looking alike?”
Usually, students weren’t afraid of him at all and even dared to joke around. But this young man before him seemed cold and distant, even a bit nervous.
Gu Shiyu: “…” He did inherit his looks, so saying thanks wasn’t unreasonable.
Gu Jing: “Want me to walk you?”
Before Gu Shiyu could refuse, Xie Chenyang strode over. The heavy rain had soaked him despite his umbrella.
Gu Shiyu’s face softened into a faint smile. “Thank you, Professor, but it’s not necessary. Someone’s here to pick me up.”
Xie Chenyang approached them. Seeing Gu Jing, who bore a striking resemblance but was clearly older, standing beside Gu Shiyu, he remarked offhandedly, “Recognized your kinship so quickly?”
Gu Jing: “?”
Gu Shiyu’s heart tightened. “Don’t talk nonsense.”
Xie Chenyang understood. They hadn’t acknowledged it yet.
Xie Chenyang extended his umbrella forward, gently ushering Gu Shiyu past him. Turning to Gu Jing, he said, “Well then, Professor, I’ll take your student now.”
Gu Jing watched their figures walk closely together into the rain, his gaze narrowing slightly.
Colleagues had joked before about his resemblance to Gu Shiyu, suggesting they might be father and son. But the man’s tone just now had clearly been anything but playful.
Seeing them standing together, the man’s first reaction was that they had acknowledged their relationship—and so quickly at that.
And Gu Shiyu’s behavior…
He recalled how he’d once glimpsed traces of that girl in his features, dismissing it as a mistake…
Could it be?
Gu Jing paled. He swiftly opened his umbrella and hurried after them. The usually refined professor abandoned all pretense of composure, running through the rain without noticing his soaked shoes and trousers.
Fortunately, Xie Chenyang was holding Gu Shiyu close, strolling as if in a gentle mist, moving at a leisurely pace. The umbrella was slightly tilted, leaving half his body drenched without a hint of concern.
Gu Shiyu murmured to him, “Next time, you can’t just blurt things out like that. He already has a daughter. Me showing up to claim parentage now would just be annoying, right? Having you is enough for me…”
Xie Chenyang: “Okay, I’ll be more careful next time.”
Gu Shiyu: “I’m not blaming you either, it’s just–”
“Gu Shiyu!” The voice from behind cut him off.
Gu Shiyu’s footsteps halted. Xie Chenyang swerved around him.
Gu Jing, having run too fast, found his umbrella useless. Even his hair was damp, making him look somewhat bedraggled. “Can we find somewhere to talk?”
Xie Chenyang: “…” Oh crap. Did that earlier remark make him suspicious?
Gu Shiyu’s expression was tense.
Xie Chenyang quickly interjected, “I was just joking earlier! I’ve heard Shiyu say he looks like the professor, ha ha ha. With this downpour, maybe we shouldn’t chat now? He has class to attend anyway. If you two want to talk, there’ll be plenty of chances later.”
Gu Jing fixed his gaze on Gu Shiyu. “Song Mian… is she your mother?”
This point, he couldn’t deny. If he’d asked anything else, he could have deflected, but he couldn’t deny his mother’s identity.
“So it’s true…” Gu Jing tightened his grip on the umbrella handle. “We need to talk, please.”
Xie Chenyang sensed this matter couldn’t be swept under the rug. “Did the professor drive?”
Gu Jing: “Yes.”
“We were just about to hail a cab. Would the professor mind giving us a ride home? We could grab a shower at home, have some ginger tea, and chat properly.”
All three of them were damp to varying degrees.
Gu Jing led them to the parking lot and drove them to their apartment with skillful familiarity.
Once home, Xie Chenyang handed some of Gu Shiyu’s clothes to Gu Jing since they were close in size. He suggested he shower in the living room bathroom while he took Gu Shiyu to the bedroom bathroom.
Xie Chenyang: “Nervous?”
“Not nervous.” Gu Shiyu spoke the truth.
If anything, he was worried. He feared his presence might disrupt Gu Jing’s family life.
Gu Shiyu tossed his clothes into the laundry basket. “Shower first. You’ll catch a cold.”
As they washed beneath the showerhead, their bodies drifted closer until they kissed.
Gu Shiyu’s voice was slightly breathless. “Song Zhui. She’s the professor’s daughter.”
Xie Chenyang gently stroked his back to help him catch his breath. “The one who did the livestream? It’s fine.” Xie Chenyang turned off the shower, grabbed a towel, and helped dry Gu Shiyu’s hair. “Just tell him the truth. Tell him you have no intention of claiming him as your father, so he shouldn’t worry.”
When they came out, Gu Jing was already sitting on the sofa waiting.
Xie Chenyang: “I’ll make some ginger tea.”
Gu Shiyu nodded and sat across from Gu Jing.
Gu Jing couldn’t hold back and spoke first, “Your mother is Song Mian, you have the Gu surname, and you look so much like me… Could you be…”
Xie Chenyang, who hadn’t gone far: “…” Having the Gu surname was pure coincidence. What a coincidence that the guy Song Mian hooked up with also had the Gu surname.
“Professor, barring any surprises, I am indeed your son. But I never intended to disrupt your family…”
Before Gu Shiyu could finish, Gu Jing cut in, “I never married. I’ve always been single.”
Gu Shiyu froze. “Then what about Song Zhui?”
“She’s my adopted daughter. She dislikes the title ‘godfather’ and insists on calling me ‘Dad’ all the time.” Gu Jing seemed slightly uncomfortable facing his son. “I’ve never…forgotten your mother.”
Gu Shiyu was bewildered. “But my mom said you had a fiancée…”
Could it be that his mother’s desperate gamble—sleeping with Gu Jing—had ruined his engagement?
Gu Jing took a deep breath. “After realizing my feelings for your mother, I ended the engagement.”
That fiancée had been an arranged match. They’d both been working at the time with little interaction and shallow affection. They’d simply agreed to the engagement because neither saw any major issues, complying with their families’ wishes.
Once Gu Jing developed feelings for Song Mian, he immediately explained everything to his fiancée and dissolved the engagement.
“That night, I was actually clear-headed. But seeing the woman I loved right before you… I could tell Song Mian was doing this deliberately. I even asked her to confirm her feelings before…” Gu Jing gave a bitter smile. “Who knew that when I woke up, she was gone.”
Gu Shiyu’s heart felt incredibly complicated.
This was awkward.
If Song Mian hadn’t kept avoiding Gu Jing… Could they have ended up together? Would they have avoided missing their chance?
“She was ruthless—deleted all contact. We had no mutual friends. I asked students and discovered she wasn’t even from B University, so naturally none of her classmates knew her true story…”
Gu Jing’s voice grew hoarse as he continued, “When I finally tracked down the student who lent her the ID, I found she’d already left the city. And she had no idea where Song Mian had gone…”
Though Xie Chenyang remained in the kitchen, he’d been quietly observing the room. Hearing this, he couldn’t help but sigh deeply.
[This is the classic missed-connection plot we see in dramas, right?]
You Huang: “…Exactly. Their story could fill an entire abusive romance novel.”
[Mysterious girlfriend ran off with the baby?]
[After she ran off, I looked everywhere for her?]
“I searched for so long, but I didn’t know her hometown, didn’t know her friends. I…never imagined that in the blink of an eye, so many years had passed.”
Gu Shiyu said with difficulty, “My mom didn’t know you and your fiancée had broken off the engagement. She didn’t want to be the other woman, so she went back to her hometown.”
“It’s my fault. I never found the right moment to explain it to her. By the time everything happened, I couldn’t find her anymore.”
“After returning home, she… married someone else for my sake.”
Gu Jing was shaken. After a long silence, he said, “Well, at least this way she doesn’t have to struggle alone.”
Gu Shiyu felt both awkward and ashamed.
Gu Jing forced a smile. “The man who was willing to marry her while she was still pregnant with you, and who raised you so well… he must be a good man.”
This thought brought him some peace.
Gu Shiyu replied coldly, “No. He didn’t know I wasn’t his son. On their wedding night, he got drunk. Nothing happened, but he thought it did.”
Gu Jing: “…”
Gu Shiyu: “Later, my mother used her savings to persuade him to go out and do business. They were never intimate again after that. That man only returned once after I was born. He was dazzled by the world outside, never coming home or sending money. My mother raised me alone.”
Gu Jing’s lips twitched, unsure what to say.
Gu Shiyu continued, “I won’t judge who was right or wrong here. My mother deceived him into marriage, and he took her money to start his business.” Whether that even balanced things out was unclear.
But Gu Wenyi never knew until his death that Gu Shiyu wasn’t his biological son…
Gu Shiyu said softly, “But that man was scum. After his business failed and he was in debt, he returned to his hometown. He deceived an innocent person, killed their parents for their inheritance, staged a car accident himself, and swindled away their 200,000 yuan inheritance.”
Gu Jing’s fingers tightened slightly at this. “How could he do that? And what about… your mother?”
Gu Shiyu: “My mother passed away over two years ago.”
Gu Jing’s face paled.
Gu Shiyu: “That man was sentenced to death.”
Gu Jing’s mind went blank.
Forgive our delay, our whole team has been sick this week with whatever bug is going around…
Edit: Krone
Proofread: Choux_choux
