TW: mention of electric shock
Uncle Gu received the call, his first thought was Guo Jingyu must be in trouble. Without hesitation, he drove straight to Lincheng. Having done business there before, he knew the city center well and instructed Guo Jingyu to wait for him at a familiar spot. Almost immediately after Jingyu arrived, Uncle Gu showed up.
Uncle Gu arrived at the entrance of the downtown mall and quickly looked around. It didn’t take long for him to spot his nephew, who was standing by the steps, busily typing on his phone. Uncle Gu hurriedly rushed over and asked, “Jingyu, what’s going on?”
Guo Jingyu finished typing the last few words and called out to his uncle, “I’m sending a message to my dad and them. I rushed out too quickly, and haven’t told them yet.”
Uncle Gu cautiously asked, “Is it because your dad and mom are fighting?”
Guo Jingyu shook his head and said, “No, everything’s fine at home. This time, I came on my own accord.”
“It’s good that everything’s fine at home.” Uncle Gu breathed a sigh of relief. He only had one sister, who had married far away. He always worried that if something happened at her home, he wouldn’t be able to help in time. “Why did you suddenly come here?”
Guo Jingyu’s phone rang twice. He glanced down at the message and asked instead, “Uncle, did you drive here?”
“Yeah,” Gu nodded.
“Let’s find a place to sit down and talk. By the way, do you have your bank card with you? I’ll ask my friend from Beijing to transfer some money. I won’t have time to get a new card, so could you help me receive it for now?”
Guo Jingyu’s barrage of questions left Gu a bit dizzy. He took out his bank card and handed it to him. “Jingyu, what’s going on exactly? Is it serious?”
“Yes, we’ll talk as we go to the place,” Guo Jingyu replied.
Gu didn’t understand. “Wait? Wait for whom?”
Guo Jingyu said, “I asked someone to help gather information. He’s also in Lincheng and will come over soon. Uncle, please drive me to this hotel.”
Uncle Gu had never seen his nephew’s face look so grim. He agreed and drove him there.
Guo Jingyu sat in the back seat, making two phone calls on the way, giving out his bank card number. Uncle Gu overheard a bit and, after Jingyu hung up, cautiously asked, “Jingyu, who’s this friend of yours from Beijing? Maybe you shouldn’t have someone send you money. I have a few thousand with me, you can use mine for now.”
Guo Jingyu shook his head. “It’s nothing. It’s money I made from a business venture I did with someone before.”
He turned to look out the car window. A faint reflection of himself could be seen on the glass, his brow furrowed in deep thought.
Uncle Gu was used to his nephew’s usual cheerful demeanor. He felt anxious seeing him suddenly fall silent. Guo Jingyu had grown up under his watchful eye. Unlike his son, who seemed outwardly steady but easily influenced by others, Guo Jingyu was the opposite. While he appeared carefree and playful on the surface, he had a determined mind and once he set his mind to something, he never wavered.
The private detective’s address led them to a hotel in the city center. After Guo Jingyu checked in at the front desk using the name provided, he received the room key left by the detective and went up with Uncle Gu. Once inside the room and was sitting, Guo Jingyu furrowed his brow before speaking, “Uncle, this matter, though it sounds complicated, isn’t really that complex. Do you remember the classmate who came with me to Grandma’s tea garden last time? It’s Li Tongzhou.”
Gu thought for a moment and nodded. “Ah, the student with excellent academic performance, right? I remember him, a good lad.”
Guo Jingyu said, “He’s gotten into some trouble.”
“What happened?”
Guo Jingyu closed his eyes briefly, then slowly began to speak, “His family wants to send him to a sanatorium for treatment, but he’s not sick.”
“Why would they send him there?”
“Because he likes men.”
Gu’s eyes widened. “How could that be? I didn’t notice anything when he came last time…”
Guo Jingyu interjected, “You didn’t notice me either, did you?”
This time, Gu suddenly lifted his head, staring at his nephew in disbelief. He stuttered, “Jingyu, you’re joking, right? What’s going on? You too? You also like men?”
Guo Jingyu nodded. “I like Li Tongzhou. I want to spend my life with him.”
“But, but you two…” Uncle Gu stuttered, wanting to advise, but his face turned red and he could only come up with a feeble excuse. “You two can’t have children, right?”
Guo Jingyu replied, “Well, you’re right, but it’s not a problem. My cousin can have children. When he starts a family and has kids, I’ll go visit them. Besides, I’m not really fond of kids. Right now, I just want to finish my studies with Li Tongzhou. There are so many paths ahead in the future. Uncle, you don’t need to worry about me.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Fcmif Xe’r kbgvr bo jvnlmf kfgf jii rabqqfv ys Xeb Alcuse tlwrfio.
Xeb Alcuse’r qtbcf gjcu, jcv tf rabbv eq ab jcrkfg la delfais. Coafg fzmtjculcu j ofk kbgvr, tf aegcfv yjmx ab Fcmif Xe. “Fcmif, atf wbcfs tjr yffc agjcrofggfv. P’ii ub vbkcrajlgr ab qlmx la eq. Tbe kjla tfgf.”
Uncle Gu instinctively stood up. “I’ll come with you.”
Guo Jingyu shook his head. “Someone will come over soon. Don’t leave. Just wait here. If he arrives before I’m back, ask him to wait for me for a few minutes. I’ll be back right away.”
Guo Jingyu acted swiftly, leaving Uncle Gu no time to hesitate. He immediately sprang into action. Uncle Gu was left stunned by what Jingyu had just said, still processing it all, causing him to lag behind in his movements. The towering figure of a man sat somewhat bewildered on the small hotel couch, waiting for quite some time after Guo Jingyu had left. It was only then that he remembered he should ask if Guo Jingyu’s family knew about this matter. He also thought he would talk to his nephew about it when he returned. This wasn’t just a matter of puppy love anymore, and they were still young, inexperienced with the complexities of life ahead. How can they know how difficult this road will be in the future?
Uncle Gu thought about these things, his brow furrowed in deep concentration.
There were a few knocks on the door. Uncle Gu walked over and opened it. A slim, dark-haired man in his thirties entered. He nodded in greeting and introduced himself, “Mr. Gu, right? Hello, hello. My surname is Chen. You can call me Lao Chen.”
Uncle Gu shook his hand. “Are you the person Jingyu was waiting for?”
Lao Chen nodded, smiling. “Yes, he asked me to look into something for him before.”
Uncle Gu instinctively asked, “What’s the matter? Can you tell me more specifically? I was called over here suddenly, and I don’t know the situation either.”
Lao Chen worked as a private detective. He was adept at speaking ambiguously, a skill essential to his profession. Despite Uncle Gu’s questions, he only managed to learn that Lao Chen was following Li Tongzhou. Everything else remained undisclosed.
Uncle Gu also subconsciously protected his own nephew. Although he was shocked, he had no intention of revealing Guo Jingyu and Li Tongzhou’s relationship to outsiders. He spoke vaguely to Lao Chen, ready to advise his nephew but not willing to be the subject of anyone’s ridicule. Despite their verbal sparring, neither of them managed to get to the point. After a few cups of tea, Guo Jingyu returned.
Guo Jingyu was carrying an extra backpack when entered and immediately asked Lao Chen, “How did it go?”
“I had one of my guys follow them. About half an hour ago, he confirmed that they really took him to the sanatorium, accompanied by his parents,” Lao Chen replied, glancing over at Uncle Gu and then back to Guo Jingyu.
Guo Jingyu reassured him, “It’s fine, just tell me everything.”
Lao Chen continued, “Ah, it’s not easy to get into the sanatorium near the Fourth Hospital now. They’ve set up numerous roadblocks, and many people are being checked. Luckily, our car was a pickup truck. We managed to come up with an excuse, claiming it was a maintenance vehicle, to pass through that area. After some inquiries, we found out that some time ago, there was a journalist who went there to investigate. They were planning to expose something. It was said that a child undergoing electroshock therapy inside went insane and jumped from the building, dying on the spot. The child’s family was furious and caused a scene for quite some time…”
Uncle Gu listened with a trembling heart. “So it escalated to someone dying?”
Lao Chen continued, “Exactly! What’s most confusing is those who set up the roadblocks to stop cars for inspection are actually the parents who sent their children in. I couldn’t understand their mindset. It’s like they’re possessed, voluntarily defending the sanatorium. When I saw it, I felt my scalp tingle. They were like a group of unreasonable people.”
Guo Jingyu had only seen similar reports on TV or in newspapers before. Several years later, when the sanatorium was exposed, a short segment of surveillance video leaked, sending shivers down everyone’s spines. In the footage, in a corridor, a middle-aged couple went to pick up their child. Just a few steps out of the treatment room, the child’s first reaction after seeing them was to kneel down and slap himself repeatedly, crying and shouting apologies while bowing to them. The couple then knelt down beside him, embracing him in tears. Several doctors in white coats and students with blank expressions applauded nearby.
The surveillance video had no sound, only visuals. One couldn’t hear what they were saying, but just watching it sent shivers down one’s spine.
What kind of experience could drive someone to make such a drastic change in such a short time? Just thinking about it makes one angry.
Guo Jingyu closed his eyes briefly. He couldn’t wait another minute. The thought of Li Tongzhou entering that sanatorium was driving him to the brink of madness. He struggled to suppress the trembling in his voice as he spoke to Lao Chen, “Finding the place is one thing, but we need to act quickly. You’re familiar with this area. Help me hire a few people.” He pulled out several bundles of money from his backpack, a thick stack totaling tens of thousands. “As we agreed before, the more people, the better, and they should be strong.”
Lao Chen nodded, taking the money and left.
Uncle Gu tried to stop him, but Guo Jingyu grabbed his arm. There were bloodshot streaks in Guo Jingyu’s eyes as he said, “Uncle, please don’t stop me. I won’t hurt anyone. I just want someone to break down the door and get him out.”
Uncle Gu insisted, “We should discuss this thoroughly and come up with a plan…”
Guo Jingyu shook his head. “I can’t wait. You heard just now, what’s happening inside is no different from vigilante justice. If we wait any longer, people will be harmed.”
“What about your parents? And where did you get all this money from?” Uncle Gu was filled with questions, not knowing which one to ask first. Just as he spoke, he suddenly saw his nephew kneel before him. Startled, he reached out to help him up, saying, “Jingyu, get up. Uncle didn’t say I won’t help you. There’s no need for this!”
Guo Jingyu kept kneeling. “Uncle, it was me who took my cousin to sell computers to make money for his tuition fees, so he could study game development abroad. My cousin ran away, and it’s my fault for letting you down.”
Uncle Gu looked at him, feeling a mix of emotions. He had already guessed the truth. Gu Yu alone couldn’t have earned so much money. At first, he had wanted Gu Yu to learn more skills, which led to the situation unfolding like this.
Guo Jingyu continued, “I also have a shop in Beijing. I opened it in partnership with someone while I was studying painting. I took my cousin with me, so he didn’t ask you for living expenses.”
“Uncle, the money in this card is what I earned in a year. I’ve taken out a few thousand for myself, and the rest, around two hundred thousand, is for you to give to my parents. I know this path is difficult, but I’m prepared. I have the ability to take care of myself. Please let them rest assured.”
Guo Jingyu knelt down and knocked his head a few times, startling Uncle Gu. “What are you doing, kid? This isn’t necessary!”
Guo Jingyu declared, “These knocks are for my parents. Since they’re not here, it’s the same if I give them to you. I have to go get him. His parents don’t want him, but I do. He’s so good at everything, shouldn’t be enduring this here. I can’t stand it. Uncle, if you think I’m sick or embarrassing, it’s okay not to contact me. Just pretend I’m not your nephew, pretend I’ve also been caught and subjected to electroshock therapy…”
Uncle Gu immediately got angry, his eyebrows furrowing. “Nonsense! Who said you’re sick? I’ll break their legs!” He grabbed Guo Jingyu’s arm. “Get up first. Kneel to the heavens, kneel to the earth, kneel to your parents. From now on, stand firm, don’t bow down easily.”
Guo Jingyu responded, “In my heart, you’re just like my parents.”
Uncle Gu felt a pang in his heart as Guo Jingyu’s words hit him right in his soft spot. He raised his hand and gently touched Guo Jingyu’s head, sighing, “You, kid, why…” He paused, then asked, “You haven’t told your parents yet?”
Guo Jingyu shook his head. “My dad is emotional and loves to cry. He’ll lose it before I even finish. And you know my mom. It’s not easy to explain things to her. I can’t afford to waste time. Not even a minute.”
“Then, are you sure about Li Tongzhou?”
“Yes, I like Li Tongzhou, only him. No one else.”
Uncle Gu nodded. “I understand. I’ll help you out today, but when we return, you have to tell your parents yourself.”
Uncle Gu agreed to help without hesitation. He had already sensed Guo Jingyu’s intention to snatch someone away. But this approach wasn’t foolproof and could easily lead to trouble. Uncle Gu had previously done business in Lincheng for some time and knew some people. He quickly contacted a few old friends and arranged for a construction team to come over, along with three excavators and a bulldozer.
Having made the arrangements, Uncle Gu turned to Guo Jingyu and said, “Tell Lao Chen not to rush into finding people. If those he finds barge in, the police could catch you guys. Didn’t we say the construction team could go over? Wait until tonight, then tear down their courtyard walls and gates. It’ll take them a while to fix that. Find some journalists, have them interview during the day, make a big fuss. At the very least, when your friend’s parents see this, if they have any conscience, they’ll know to take their child out.”
Guo Jingyu was stunned. “Tear down the walls and gates?”
Uncle Gu raised an eyebrow. “Yes, if it comes to a fuss, just say it was demolished by mistake. We’ll fix it later. At most, we’ll have to pay some more money. But the speed of repair is uncertain, at least ten days or half a month.”
Guo Jingyu thought for a moment before saying, “Alright, I’ll arrange it right away.”
Uncle Gu’s plan seemed more thorough than Guo Jingyu’s original one. When Guo Jingyu heard the plan, he was focused on one thought: to do whatever it takes to rescue his person.
He patiently waited until nightfall, following Uncle Gu’s instructions.
In his younger days, Uncle Gu had roughed it out, so he knew how to handle these matters well. In the dead of night, he led the construction team over. Several large vehicles rumbled along, causing the ground to tremble. At this hour, there was no one guarding the road to the Fourth Hospital Sanatorium. Only a few yellow roadblock signs were left on the roadside. The group smoothly passed through and arrived at the sanatorium. Without hesitation, they began dismantling the bricks and iron wire!
At the entrance gate, the security guard was already dozing off. After hearing the commotion, he hastily ran over and waved to them to stop. “Hey, hey! What are you doing? Stop right there! Why are you demolishing the gate of our sanatorium?”
Not to mention the gate, the bulldozer roared with full horsepower, scraping away a large chunk of the ground at the entrance. It charged forward recklessly with a thunderous crash, smashing a huge hole through the iron gate!
The security guard couldn’t stop them on his own. He hurried back with a flashlight to call for help. But just as he took a few steps, he heard a loud bang not far away. A bucket of an excavator emerged from the top of the surrounding wall. The towering wall seemed like tofu in front of it, with wires and green bricks being dug out one by one!
And that wasn’t all. With the excavator’s move, it seemed to have triggered a signal. The area reverberated with roaring sounds all around, even behind the sanatorium where there were continuous sounds of walls being demolished!
The security guard was dumbfounded!
Not far from the gate, Uncle Gu sat in a construction vehicle, puffing on a cigarette, holding a freshly made “contract” in his hand. His old friend happened to have just contracted the demolition of a small paper mill not far from the sanatorium. Uncle Gu borrowed the necessary procedures. If they happened to take a wrong turn at night and demolished the wrong place, it would be perfect.
Sitting in the car, Uncle Gu listened to the noise, suddenly feeling something was amiss.
He brought a small construction team with him, but a few vehicles couldn’t create such a commotion.
Furrowing his brows, he got out of the car to take a look. The lights in the sanatorium were already on, and their people were at the entrance, arguing with the other side. They were shouting at each other at the top of their lungs, dragging each other around, allowing the construction vehicles to continue demolishing the walls. But the noise wasn’t just from the front. it surrounded them in a cacophony, as if five or six demolition teams were working simultaneously.
Uncle Gu thought for a moment, then slapped his thigh. “Oh no, that rascal!” Immediately, he went to find Guo Jingyu, but the car behind was empty, and when he tried to call, there was no answer. Shortly after, he heard a commotion coming from the sanatorium, as if a group of people had stormed in, making a commotiong.
Uncle Gu rushed over to find them, but now it was chaotic, with people rushing in and out, sanatorium staff trying to catch people, and others taking advantage of the confusion to smash things… It was all in a mess!
Using his height to his advantage, Uncle Gu squeezed in and looked around, but he had no idea where to start looking. He pushed toward the area with the most commotion, but the further he went, the more chilling it became. Apart from the rooms that had been broken into, there were beds with restraint straps, and nearby were electric shock devices…
After searching around, Uncle Gu couldn’t find anyone.
There were sanatorium staff who didn’t recognize him and thought he was another runaway, reaching out to grab him. Uncle Gu was already furious, and pushed them away with a shove, saying, “Get lost!”
The person widened their eyes and said, “You better go back, or I’ll throw you in Room 8, into solitary confinement, and you’ll taste what treatment feels like!”
Uncle Gu’s large hand slapped across the person’s face, knocking them down. He then kicked them twice, saying, “Mind your own business!”
He searched two floors continuously when his phone rang. Sure enough, it was Guo Jingyu on the other end. Uncle Gu anxiously asked, “Jingyu, where are you?”
On the phone came the reply, “Uncle, I found him and already got him out. I can’t bring him back right now. Let’s find a place to hide for a couple of days. I’ll remember today’s favor for the rest of my life. Also, I left a letter in the hotel room. I won’t say more. You’ll understand once you read it.”
He hung up after saying that.
On Uncle Gu’s end, he was about to make another call, but then his phone rang again. This time it was Mother Guo calling. She asked, “Brother, Jingyu said he’s with you and will be back later. It’s almost midnight. Why hasn’t he returned yet?”
Uncle Gu replied, “Didn’t he tell you he came to Lincheng?”
“Lincheng? No, he didn’t!”
“He clearly said he messaged you in the afternoon…” Uncle Gu realized it now. When he arrived, Guo Jingyu was standing at the mall entrance saying he had informed his family himself. With so much happening today, he hadn’t had the chance to ask again.
It seemed the brat hadn’t told his family at all!
On the other end of the phone, Mother Guo bombarded him with questions. Uncle Gu forced a bitter smile, “I have some matters to attend to here. I’ll explain everything to you later. Jingyu was with me just now, but things have taken a turn and it’s hard to say now.”
The staff from the sanatorium had come out, and Uncle Gu went to assess the situation. As expected, it was just as he thought. Guo Jingyu had once again enlisted Lao Chen to bring in a few construction teams to tear down the walls. But those people were quick to flee, leaving behind only broken bricks, much like the previous group that barged in to snatch people. It seemed Lao Chen was quite skilled at these tasks.
Uncle Gu left behind a smooth-talking foreman to negotiate, telling the sanatorium’s responsible person that they would help rebuild the walls and gates.
The staff at the sanatorium were especially angry, constantly complaining. But their words, as educated as they were, meant nothing to the foreman. He shrugged and shouted back, “There’s nothing we can do if we accidentally went the wrong way and tore down the wrong thing! We’ve stopped now. You guys are a sanatorium, not a mental hospital. It’s your responsibility if the people under your care run away. It’s not our problem! Besides, we only tore down some walls…”
The foreman shrugged again and said, “If you’re not satisfied, call the police and let’s see how we can compensate. We’re willing to take responsibility!”
The staff at the sanatorium were furious, but they didn’t dare to actually call the police, standing there and cursing them shamelessly.
The foreman angrily retorted, “Who’s being shameless here! We’re willing to stay and compensate for the damages, how is that shameless!”
Those rascals who tore down the back wall were the shameless ones, popping out of nowhere, tearing down and running off, not even bothering with the aftermath, just shifting all the blame onto them!
After returning to the hotel, Uncle Gu really found the letter left by Guo Jingyu on the table in the room.
The letter was short, with Guo Jingyu’s bank card that Uncle Gu had confiscated during the day. Guo Jingyu wrote about his situation with Li Tongzhou in the letter, explaining everything he could, only mentioning that they were going to leave together for a while. The handwriting was a bit messy, either due to writing in haste or trembling fingers. He ended with, “Uncle, I’m leaving. Please pass this money to my parents and apologize to them on my behalf.”
When Uncle Gu saw the letter, his first thought was, no wonder his nephew had bowed to him in the afternoon.
That single bow was truly precious, equivalent to leaving him to tie up loose ends.
But then, Uncle Gu got angry and frustrated again, slamming the letter on the table. “Am I supposed to apologize to them in your place?!”
Meanwhile, on the train.
Guo Jingyu bought tickets for a sleeper train. At that time, there was no real-name ticket purchasing system, so they boarded the train smoothly without any documents.
The sleeper carriage was quiet, with few people around. The lights in the corridor were turned off, occasionally someone would cough once or twice.
Guo Jingyu lay on the lower bunk, tightly wrapped in a thin blanket along with Li Tongzhou, holding onto each other unwilling to let go. He wanted to speak, but his throat tightened, unable to produce any sound, like a wounded animal.
Li Tongzhou was found in a room at the end of the second-floor corridor. As a newcomer, he was bound in the “small dark room” to receive treatment, a customary way of intimidating newcomers.
When he untied the restraints, Li Tongzhou’s wrists were already rubbed raw.
Guo Jingyu held him tight, trembling all over. The person in his arms was a bit calmer than him. He reached out and gently stroked his back, saying in a hoarse voice, “Jingyu, I’m fine, it’s not that painful.”
Guo Jingyu tried to calm himself down, and after a while, he said, “How could they send you to such a place? How could they…”
“My dad found the ring,” Li Tongzhou moved, lifted his hand to touch his face, and after finding it, he leaned down to kiss him gently, as if to comfort him. “Sorry, the ring was taken.”
Guo Jingyu bit down on his coat, gripping it tightly to suppress the urge to cry.
K: YA ALL OUR POOR BABY JASDAJSD WAS LITERALLY ON TEARS READING THIS DSKAJDAS
AND IMAGINE ON THEIR LAST LIFE NO GJY TO THE RESCUE ( ꒦ິ ཀ ꒦ິ ) ༼;´༎ຶ ༎ຶ༽ (;´༎ຶٹ༎ຶ`)
WILL NEVER FORGIVE BOTH PARENTS ESPECIALLY THE DAD NEVER HE DOESNT EVEN DESERVED TO BE CALLED A FATHER
I think his father is the one that should go to the sanatorium
Aaaaa good thing he was saved. This horrible father even has the nerve to say he “has no son” in the past tense. I can’t even imagine Jingyu’s head right now. Probably blaming yourself for life
From now on you will be happy, if not I will freak out hahahaha
Your child is not doing what you tell them, so send them to be tortured, traumatized and scarred for life – or die. Great parenting. I still hope the police would be called and all these 🤬🤬🤬 parents along with the “sanatorium” staff will be locked up for child abuse. But seriously…the last life must have ended so horribly for poor Li Tongzhou 🥺😭 even I am shaken, Guo Jingyu must be absolutely out of it 🥺
😭 I’m relieved that he was saved