RPAGF Chapter 1387 Incoming Call
Chapter 1387 Incoming Call
That night, his wife, Wenwan, came to his study with red eyes and obvious signs of crying.
Instead of offering him hot tea or reminding him to rest early as usual, she stood in front of his desk, nervously twisting the hem of her clothes with her hands. Her lips moved for a long time before she finally spoke in a choked voice the fear she had been pondering and suppressing for who knows how long:
“Jianguo… I’ve been feeling really anxious these past two days, and my eyelids keep twitching… I… I dreamt that Chengyun was covered in blood and calling for my mom… I can’t fall back asleep after waking up. Old Gu, you tell me… our Chengyun, he… he’s probably already…”
Before she could finish speaking, tears streamed down her face, and the rest of her words turned into broken sobs.
At first, Gu Jianguo was taken aback, then instinctively denied and comforted him:
"What nonsense are you talking about! You're just scaring yourself! Chengyun is on the front lines in Jinling. They're regular troops with tight protection, and Chengyuan will take care of them too. Dreams are always the opposite of reality. Don't overthink things and ruin your health."
He helped his wife sit down, speaking calmly and rationally, listing many reasons why the transport should be safe, and even bringing up his eldest son, Gu Chengyuan, as a guarantee.
Under his comforting words, Wen Wan's emotions seemed to have calmed down temporarily, but the fear and despair deep in her eyes had not completely disappeared.
And what about Gu Jianguo himself? He certainly hoped that his wife's speculations were just unfounded worries.
At first, he did believe it.
Cheng Yun was his youngest son, who was clever but also mischievous from a young age, and was the apple of his and Wen Wan's eye.
Chengyuan arranged for him to train in the army. Although he was a little reluctant, he believed it was the right path. Boys should experience hardships. He had confidence in his eldest son's abilities and skills and believed that he could protect his younger brother.
However, as time went on, especially in the last twenty-four hours, some unusual “signs” began to creep around his keen intuition as a senior official, like cold vines.
As the head of the province, although he did not directly intervene in military affairs, he still had access to some non-public and ambiguous information flows within his authority.
For example, non-essential communications to Nanjing seem to have been subject to stricter controls in the past two days; also, he vaguely heard that the allocation priority of certain core resources within the war zone has changed drastically, with the direction pointing directly to the southeast...
These fragmented and partial pieces of information may have reasonable explanations when viewed individually, but when put together, especially when combined with his wife's terrible premonition stemming from the bond between mother and child, they cast an ever-expanding shadow over Gu Jianguo's mind.
Something big must have happened in the Nanjing area!
This was his judgment based on fragmented information and his political instincts.
So, in this major event, was his youngest son, Cheng Yun, who was personally arranged by his eldest son to serve on the front lines in Nanjing and was said to be serving in the most elite "Skull-Breaking" brigade... involved?
Is he unharmed, injured, or... as his wife's nightmare foreshadowed?
Once this thought becomes clear, it's like a persistent, intractable infection that can never be dispelled.
It lingered in his mind, flashing through his mind as he reviewed documents, wandering through his meetings, and piercing his nerves sharply when he tried to concentrate.
What used to be a quick start to the workday has now become incredibly difficult.
The reconstruction scene outside the window, which had once given him boundless strength, now seemed pale and powerless, unable to resist the increasingly heavy, chilling premonition in his heart.
He knew he couldn't go on like this any longer.
As the leader of Night Province, with the livelihoods and hopes of countless people resting on his shoulders, he must remain calm and focused.
But the identity of "father" at this moment is like an unhealable wound, with blood flowing out in the form of "worry" and "fear," which is gradually eroding his reason and composure.
He stood by the window, motionless for a long time.
As the last rays of the setting sun completely disappeared into the distant mountains, the city lights gradually came on, and the beams of searchlights on the construction site pierced through the twilight.
But that light could not penetrate the increasingly thick gloom deep in his eyes.
The tea in the teacup had long since gone cold.
Ding ding ding ding ding——————
Suddenly, a piercing doorbell rang out, sounding particularly abrupt and sharp in the overly quiet office, like a needle piercing the stagnant, anxious air surrounding Gu Jianguo.
He shuddered almost imperceptibly, his gaze shifting from the dim twilight outside the window to the red internal telephone on his desk with an almost frightened bewilderment.
He composed himself, trying to regain his usual composure, and stepped back behind the table, but his movements were slower than usual.
I sat down, took a deep breath, and then reached out and picked up the receiver.
"Hello, this is Gu Jianguo from the Provincial Party Committee..."
However, the voice coming from the receiver the next second made him freeze instantly.
It was the eldest son, Gu Chengyuan.
"dad."
Upon hearing just one address, Gu Jianguo's hand gripping the receiver tightened instinctively, his knuckles turning white.
"Chengyuan?" Gu Jianguo tried his best to make his voice sound steady:
"Why are you calling at this hour? Is something wrong?"
...
There was a two-second silence on the other end of the phone, which felt like an eternity to Gu Jianguo.
He could faintly hear extremely slight electrical noise coming from the receiver, as well as... the other person's suppressed, slightly heavy breathing.
“Dad,” Gu Chengyuan spoke again, his voice deeper and slower:
"I'll be going home tonight. There are some things I need to tell you, Mom, and... Wanying in person."
As soon as he finished speaking, Gu Jianguo's heart sank, sinking into a cold, bone-chilling abyss.
In a flash, his wife's gentle, terrified, tearful face, his own unease over the past two days, and those fragmented, unusual pieces of information...
At this moment, all the clues were suddenly tightened by Gu Chengyuan's words, like invisible ropes, binding them tightly together and pointing to the answer he dared not touch, yet had vaguely sensed countless times!
He felt a violent dizziness, and his vision went black. He had to stretch out his other hand to support himself on the table to keep his balance.
The microphone seemed to weigh a ton, pressing down on his arm and causing it to tremble slightly.
He opened his mouth, wanting to ask more questions and confirm, but his throat felt like it was blocked by scalding sand, dry and burning, and he couldn't make a sound.
Finally, he could only manage to squeeze out a few words through gritted teeth, his voice hoarse and completely distorted:
"...Okay. What time...will you be back?"
"Around... nine o'clock." Gu Chengyuan's voice was filled with deep exhaustion, as if speaking even a single word required immense effort.
"Dad...you and Mom...please prepare yourselves mentally."
"Mental preparation"...
Those last four words were like four icy daggers, mercilessly piercing through Gu Jianguo's last shred of hope.
He held the receiver, listening to the busy tone of "beep...beep..." The other party had already hung up.
He didn't hang up the phone immediately; he just sat there stiffly, maintaining the posture of answering the call, like a stone statue that had instantly lost all its life.
The bright office lights shone on his face, which had aged considerably in an instant, illuminating the rapidly expanding, almost lifeless blankness and emptiness in his eyes.
Her once neatly parted hairstyle now had a few strands of silver hair falling uncontrollably down her forehead, making her look somewhat messy.