bookcurios Chapter 2037: Exactly the Same
Chapter 2037: Exactly the Same
Lin Jianzhou stood frozen beneath the hanging flower gate, like a sculpture forgotten by time.
The commotion, exclamations, and discussions at the entrance of the courtyard house were like muffled noise coming through thick glass, buzzing in his ears but unable to truly enter his consciousness.
That belated, icy regret was freezing his limbs and bones inch by inch.
Just then, a familiar and light footstep sounded behind him.
"Dad? What are you doing here?"
Lin Chuqiao's voice came over with a hint of doubt and concern.
She was just inside talking with Qin Ruobai, Song Yi, and the others, and she even held and played with little Xitang for a while.
The little one's soft, cuddly touch, pure eyes and brows, and how much he resembled Li Xiangnan when he was a child, filled her heart with both tenderness and a touch of indescribable bitterness.
Later, seeing that his father hadn't returned for a long time, and vaguely hearing a series of loud noises coming from the front yard, he felt uneasy and decided to find an excuse to go out and take a look.
Who knew that as soon as I walked out of the central courtyard's hanging flower gate and reached the front yard, I saw my father, Lin Jianzhou, standing motionless under the hanging flower gate.
Upon hearing his daughter's voice, Lin Jianzhou trembled as if he had been jolted awake from a nightmare, and abruptly turned around.
Seeing his daughter's beautiful yet haggard face, and those cold eyes that now held a hint of warmth for her family, looking at him with worry, his heart felt as if it had been squeezed hard by an invisible hand, the pain almost suffocating him.
"Xiao Qiao... why are you out here?"
He subconsciously shifted his body to the side, trying to block his daughter's view towards the rear room. His voice was terribly dry, and he forced a smile that looked more like a grimace. "I'm fine. Look outside... there are so many people, it's a bit noisy, I'm getting confused by the noise!"
Lin Chuqiao's delicate eyebrows furrowed slightly.
My father looked a little off; his face was pale, and his eyes were unfocused unless I pointed it out. There was even a fine layer of cold sweat on his forehead.
It's the dead of winter, and it was snowing yesterday. How can you be sweating so much in this weather?
Moreover, his father's hands, hanging by his sides, seemed to be trembling. Although he tried his best to hide it, he still caught a glimpse of it for a few moments!
These behaviors are definitely not the kind of reaction one would expect from someone who is just being a little noisy!
The key point is that I clearly asked why my father was here, not what happened to him.
In his haste, the father gave somewhat irrelevant answers!
"Dad, what's wrong with you?" Thinking of this, Lin Chuqiao stepped forward, her voice filled with an undeniable stubbornness, "Did something happen at the back room? Is it related to him?"
The word "him" rolled on her tongue, but she ultimately didn't say the name directly. However, the father and daughter clearly understood each other perfectly.
Lin Jianzhou panicked and quickly waved his hands, "No, no! What could possibly happen on such a joyous day? It's just... it's just that a few old comrades came, and the occasion was quite grand! I just got a bit of a headache from all the noise, you know, I have a heart condition!"
He made an excuse, even rubbing his temples, "Xiao Qiao, there are too many people around here, let's go back!"
Go back? Now?
The doubt in Lin Chuqiao's eyes deepened.
She remembered very clearly that her eldest sister, Lin Muyu, had quietly told her that her father had heard that an important guest had arrived and had gone out to greet him on Li Xiangnan's behalf.
The guests haven't even been welcomed in yet, and Father is still standing under the moon gate. We haven't even had a proper meeting yet, and we're already going back?
This is too abnormal!
"Dad, didn't you say... some old comrades are coming and you should go and say hello?" Lin Chuqiao looked at her father's somewhat evasive eyes, and the unease in her heart spread quickly like ink drops into water.
She knew her father all too well: upright, strong-willed, and even somewhat old-fashioned, with a strong emphasis on etiquette.
There must be a very special reason why he would do something so impolite, like giving up halfway through.
And this is the reason that the father is trying his best to hide right now, as if... he is taking care of his own feelings?
A suspicion that weighed heavily on her mind began to surface.
"As for greeting them... Weimin and Xiangnan have already dealt with them. There are so many people around, and I think Cijiu handled it well. It seems I won't be needed!" Lin Jianzhou avoided his daughter's gaze, his tone carrying a hint of barely perceptible anxiety and urging. "Let's go, Xiao Qiao, listen to your dad, let's go in first! Didn't your mother say she wasn't feeling well when she left? Let's stay with her and take care of her!"
The more he urged her, the more abnormal his behavior became, and the deeper the doubts in Lin Chuqiao's mind grew.
She stood still, her gaze passing over her father's slightly trembling shoulders and landing on the front yard separated by the moon gate.
Although the specific details could not be seen, the clamor of voices and the occasional bursts of exclamations all indicated that something extremely unusual was happening.
Just as the father and daughter were at an impasse, and Lin Jianzhou was about to reach out and leave with his daughter, several relatives and friends who had just come in from outside, their faces still flushed with excitement, passed by the two of them while discussing animatedly, their voices drifting clearly over.
"My goodness, did you see that? That ivory pen holder, it's as white as jade! The Song family really went all out, it's even from the Ming Dynasty!"
"The Song family is indeed generous! But that set of books the Jiang family gave us, wow, it's the Song edition! I heard from Xiao Zhang that each page of it is worth an ounce of gold!"
"Gold is nothing! Didn't you hear what Old Master Yu said? That letter of commitment paves a golden path for Xiao Xitang! Whatever she wants to research in the future, the Yu family will take care of it all!"
"Incredible! Absolutely incredible! This girl of Xiao Li's, haha, she'll probably be just like her father in the future, a female scholar, no, a female scientist!"
"Who says otherwise! These three gifts are all jaw-dropping! This full moon celebration is destined to be the talk of the town!"
"Sigh, it's such a pity about that Lin family girl... If only she had... I heard that she seemed to have feelings for Doctor Li back then?"
"Shh, stop talking..."
The murmurs abruptly ceased. The neighbors and relatives had clearly noticed the Lin father and daughter standing under the hanging flower gate. Their faces immediately showed a complex mix of embarrassment and sympathy. After a hurried nod, they quickly walked around them.
However, those few words were like thunderclaps, striking Lin Chuqiao's ears without missing a single one!
Ivory pen holder... Song Dynasty edition of ancient books... The Yu family's promise... The road to heaven...
Every word that came out felt like a heavy hammer, striking her heart like a drumbeat.
Thump thump thump, thump thump thump.
The knocking startled her, and she froze, completely stunned. It was a perfect replica of her father, Lin Jianzhou, just moments before...