Nan Zhou sent him a message.
"I hope that by the time my brother reaches your age, he'll have learned to be half as quiet as you."
The other man replied with a string of ellipses.
Then, just as Nan Zhou was about to put down his phone and lie down, another message arrived. "I can tell you and your brother are close."
Nan Zhou: "..."
Was he taking a dig at me?
Nan Zhou huffed as he typed, "What, don't you have an older brother?"
"I do," the other man replied. Before Nan Zhou could respond, he added, "But we aren't close."
The older brother of a thirty-five-year-old had to be pushing forty, right?
"That's okay. Get too close to an old geezer and you'll start smelling like an old man."
"...He doesn't deserve that."
"Looks like you aren't on quite as bad terms as you said."
This time, the other man didn't reply.
Nothing particularly special happened in the days that followed; it was just a matter of actively undergoing treatment.
And because his gland was damaged, Nan Zhou fell mildly ill twice.
This worried both Gu Zheng and Nan Yuan, but Nan Zhou himself felt it was all right. He even posted about it on WeChat Moments.
"With a body like mine, if I bump into anything while I'm out, all I have to do is lie down, and the money will obediently find its way into my pocket."
Nan Yuan was about to leave for Antarctica on a two-year scientific expedition, something that had been settled long ago.
And after their father, Gu Jinchao, officially handed the company over to Gu Zheng that year, he had long since made preparations to accompany his partner to Antarctica.
After telling Nan Yuan to go without worrying, Nan Zhou