Chapter 55 Father-Son Relations Need Improvement

There was still one day left before the start of the new semester. Zhou Ziyang had originally planned to take a stroll around his dormitory, but halfway there, he received a phone call from Zhou Guowei.

To be honest, Zhou Guowei was somewhat upset. It had been agreed that he would accompany them to school together.

Yet this child, Zhou Ziyang, had actually slipped away early in the morning without even notifying his mother.

Since graduating from high school, the relationship between the father and son had eased somewhat.

Whenever Zhou Guowei invited Zhou Ziyang to participate in certain activities, Zhou Ziyang would always respond. However, for some reason, Zhou Guowei always felt that something was missing between them.

A sense of estrangement.

A politeness that should not exist between a father and son.

Just like right now, Zhou Guowei was filled with complaints, yet he didn't know how to express them to Zhou Ziyang, feeling as though he had no qualification to lose his temper with him.

He could only put on a stern face and say, "You've gone too far."

"Even if you didn't tell me, how could you leave without saying a word to your mother?"

Zhou Ziyang replied that he felt he had grown up and was capable of handling these matters on his own.

"I didn't want to cause my mom too much worry." This sentence was spoken with complete sincerity.

On the night he left home, Zhou Ziyang thought back to his college days in his previous life.

Back then, Zhou Ziyang had only managed to test into an ordinary tier-two university.

Actually, a tier-two university was considered quite decent—at least it qualified one to become a corporate cog. His mother hadn't said anything, yet there was always a sense of disappointment over an unfulfilled aspiration.

That time, he had taken a slow green-skin train all night, traveling from his hometown to Jinling.

The train departed at nine in the evening and arrived at five in the morning.

His mother had seen him off at the station, bringing a mountain of bags filled with hometown pancakes, small fish with chili, salted vegetables, and some instant salted ducks and saliva chicken.

That's right, Zhou Ziyang was about to go to Jinling, but his mother had prepared salted duck for him.

And it was even the Jinling brand.

Zhou Ziyang had told her he didn't need it.

Yet his mother had simply smiled and said, "It's fine, eat it on the way."

"Just take it all."

At that moment, Zhou Ziyang realized that his mother's seemingly pitch-black hair was actually already half-streaked with white threads, and her smile was deeply affectionate.

On the night she saw him off, his mother remained stubbornly optimistic, telling him that even at a tier-two university, he had to study hard.

Some people who went to junior college could still become big bosses!

"Don't look at how that petty woman's daughter got into Nanjing University; what good is that? She won't study well, and she's bound to amount to nothing in the future!"

Zhou Ziyang didn't like the sorrow of such parting, which was why he hadn't told his mother.

As for his father.

To be frank, no matter how much help his father offered him, he was ultimately still a stranger.

He was not family.

A decade of regret could not be mended simply by trying.

Furthermore, Zhou Ziyang's mental age was already approaching thirty; how could anyone expect him to engage in genuine filial affection with his father?

"You only ever think of your mom; you never once thought of me as your dad." There was a trace of grievance in Zhou Guowei's tone.

Yet Zhou Ziyang merely chuckled softly and said, "Old Zhou, what you're saying isn't right. My mom only has me, but don't you still have Aunt Xu and Xia Wei?"

"There's nothing between your Aunt Xu and me," Zhou Guowei vehemently denied.

However, such matters weren't really important.

In the end, Zhou Guowei sighed and said that he had originally planned to bring Xia Wei along to her university when he drove Zhou Ziyang to Jinling.

"Now that you've gone ahead, I honestly don't know how to explain it to Xia Wei."

"Then just help bring Xia Wei over now," Zhou Ziyang said.

"But my original intention was to send you."

Zhou Guowei explained himself eagerly, while Zhou Ziyang indicated that he understood.

"Dad, how could I not understand the bond between us? We're father and son by blood."

Zhou Ziyang spoke decisively, yet in his past life, Zhou Guowei indeed had not seen him off, choosing instead to drop Xia Wei off right at the gates of Nanjing University.

The father and son chatted for a long time, but the conversation felt strained and awkward.

Finally, his father sighed and asked where Zhou Ziyang was currently staying.

Zhou Ziyang replied that he hadn't booked a hotel yet.

"Then come stay with us tonight. Coincidentally, I've invited a few old acquaintances to have dinner together," Zhou Guowei said.

Zhou Ziyang remembered that among those acquaintances was the vice dean of a college under Nanjing University.

The reason Xia Wei had been able to sail through Nanjing University smoothly and secure certain resources in his past life was precisely due to the help of this vice dean.

Since Zhou Ziyang was now also studying at Nanjing University, he had no reason to refuse his father.

With that thought, he agreed.

By this time it was already around two in the afternoon, and since his father would be arriving at the school soon, Zhou Ziyang figured it would be best to return to the Heiyuan campus at Nanjing University to change his clothes.

So he doubled back midway.

At that moment, Qi Tao sent a message asking if Zhou Ziyang had arrived at the school yet.

Zhou Ziyang replied that he hadn't.

"Me neither, I just got on the train and reckon I'll arrive by evening. I was originally planning to grab a drink with you!"

Zhou Ziyang said tonight wouldn't work as he already had plans.

"Going out with some girl? (Evil smile)"

"I'm meeting Wang Na." It was no secret that Qi Tao and Wang Na had been flirting in the group chat for days.

"Are you taking a jab at me too?"

Qi Tao was left speechless, insisting that things between him and Wang Na were completely innocent.

"Still, Wang Na is really pretty."

"She's gorgeous with a sweet voice, she even sent me a private photo (Baring teeth)."

Zhou Ziyang replied, "Alright, I get it, keep looking at it then."

"I have some matters to attend to, so I'll stop chatting."

Qi Tao possessed a typical extroverted personality, loved making friends, and was full of anticipation for college life; he looked forward to both romance and friendship.

Having left his hometown to come to Jinling, which was fifteen hundred kilometers away, he believed that escaping his parents' constraints would mark a brand-new beginning.

Zhou Ziyang returned home and changed into a presentable outfit—a polo shirt paired with light-colored trousers, accessorized with a Jaeger-LeCoultre wristwatch. His entire aura was now completely different from the casual, carefree look he had worn earlier.

By the time he finished everything, it was already four in the afternoon. Driving over to the hotel his father mentioned brought him there right around five o'clock.

The gathering place arranged by his father and his friends was a private room at the Central Hotel in the Xuanwu District. It was a somewhat older five-star hotel; although its facilities had aged considerably, its prime location spoke volumes of its status, and provincial officials sent here for training basically all stayed here.

Before Zhou Ziyang even arrived, his father called him repeatedly to urge him along.

Yet when Zhou Ziyang finally walked in, he discovered something unexpected.

Good grief, the guests hadn't even arrived yet.

There were only three people there.

His old man, Zhou Guowei.

Xu Qing, whose relationship with Zhou Guowei remained ambiguous.

And Xia Wei, who had come here for her studies.

"Ziyang, long time no see." How should one put it—the adult world was truly hard to understand.

The last time they met, Zhou Ziyang and Xu Qing had fallen out so bitterly.

Yet meeting again now, Xu Qing could still greet Zhou Ziyang with a smiling face.

Knowing she was going to meet someone today who could be helpful to her daughter, Xu Qing had dressed up specially. She wore a dark blue hip-hugging dress paired with a shawl, her long hair pinned up in an elegant bun, adorned with pearl earrings. There was not a trace of the small-town woman left about her.

In this setting, she indeed bore a striking resemblance to Zhou Guowei's legitimate spouse.

Zhou Ziyang glanced at her twice. Facing Xu Qing's smiling visage, he only spoke after a long pause: "Oh, Aunt Xu, looking prettier again?"

"This child, always teasing your Aunt Xu." Xu Qing covered her mouth with a light laugh for a moment, then turned to Zhou Guowei and said, "Old Zhou, look at your son, his mouth is as sweet as if it's been smeared with honey."

Zhou Guowei didn't see anything wrong with his son's remark. With his mind currently preoccupied with the honored guest, he certainly had no spare thoughts for other matters, simply wondering when the guest would finally arrive.