Chapter 60 This person is far away at the horizon, yet right in front of your eyes

There have been quite a few family matters at home recently.

Taking advantage of a brief window of opportunity right after returning from a mission, Gu Fengji seized the chance to make a phone call home.

A phone call was naturally much faster than writing a letter; if they relied on letters, it was already a blessing to receive one a month.

Although the cost of a phone call was indeed quite expensive, it was quick and convenient, as long as one kept things brief.

"Mom, how are things at home lately? How is my brother doing? Has the divorce gone through yet?!"

As soon as the call went through and he heard his mother's voice on the other end, Gu Fengji launched straight into a barrage of questions.

Mother Gu: "......"

She had been overjoyed to receive a call from her youngest son, but her mood soured immediately after hearing his words.

Children were truly lifelong debts.

Anyway... not a single one of them was free of worry, except for the second son, who was far away beyond the horizon where she could not see him, and thus saved her the anxiety.

"Your eldest brother hasn't divorced yet. I hear it was the idea of that wife of yours—she made Lu Xiaoning complete three tasks before they go through with the divorce. Humph, she thinks she's quite something now, even acting like the master of this household."

Mother Gu harbored a full measure of resentment toward Lu Jiaor, disliking her more and more because she had somehow won over the old master and the eldest son, ignoring her own mother-in-law to follow the whims of a country woman instead.

It drove her furious.

Gu Fengji: "......"

He had no way to respond to that. No matter what, Lu Jiaor was his wife now, and anything he said would be wrong.

He did not know the specific details, but since both his grandfather and his eldest brother approved, it meant Lu Jiaor must have done the right thing.

Besides, their father was still at home, and his father was no pushover; how could he possibly allow a junior to run amok? Therefore, Lu Jiaor definitely had not done wrong.

"Mom, as long as eldest brother's matter can be resolved, that's fine. I just called to check in, so if there's nothing else, I'll hang up now."

Hearing his mother mention Lu Jiaor, Gu Fengji knew she was doing well enough, so he no longer worried about her life in the capital, and thus wanted to end the call.

As a result...

"What's the rush?! Mom hasn't finished yet. The moment I mention her, you get like this—it's like raising sons just to give them away to other families."

Although Mother Gu complained about her son, she was only saying it out of habit, while blaming everyone else in her heart.

Gu Fengji had no reply to this either; if he said anything inappropriate, his mother would get angry again.

"It's about your sister. Recently, her mother-in-law has been stirring up trouble again, scolding your sister as a barren hen. I think she's trying to push things so far that your sister and Wanning end up divorcing."

The main reason Mother Gu hadn't had the time to deal with her eldest son's situation lately was because of her youngest daughter. Besides, with the grandfather looking after the eldest son, he wouldn't suffer any losses.

But the daughter was different.

The old woman in the Wan family was getting more and more out of line lately. She was a woman herself, yet she went out of her way to make things difficult for her daughter; she was simply heartless.

Her daughter wasn't incapable of bearing children—it was just that whatever the underlying issue was, it hadn't been thoroughly investigated yet. Despite that, the mother-in-law couldn't wait to subject Mingzhi to all sorts of hardships. Every time she saw Mingzhi return home with a melancholy expression, her heart ached terribly.

"Haven't they seen a doctor? Didn't the doctor say there's nothing wrong?!"

Gu Fengji was stunned upon hearing this and couldn't help frowning. The fact that his youngest sister had been married for a while without children had always baffled them, as no cause could be found and no problem could be located.

"How could they not have looked? They've been searching all along and have never given up. Recently, I even had your second brother and second sister-in-law look for doctors over on their side. Those doctors prescribed traditional Chinese herbal medicine formulas, and Mingzhi has been drinking them for a while now, but still there's no news."

"Her mother-in-law treats Mingzhi like this every day; I don't know how much longer your youngest sister can hold on. If this goes on, the relationship between the two of them is going to be ruined. Your eldest brother wants a divorce, and you had no choice but to marry a country woman; if your sister gets a divorce too, I don't know what kind of generational karma this family incurred to be punished this way?!"

Sighing heavily, Mother Gu poured her recent worries out to her youngest son. She felt that the most agonizing headache was her daughter's childlessness. If there were children, none of these problems would be issues, and what else would that old woman from the Wan family have to say then?

After listening to his mother's endless stream of grievances, Gu Fengji felt he had nothing left to say.

When it came to women having children, what could he, an elder brother and a grown man, possibly do?

Every profession has its specialization; he was merely a soldier charging into battle, not a doctor, and he simply could not resolve such a problem.

Without waiting for Gu Fengji to say anything further, Mother Gu vented her frustrations and hung up the phone on her own initiative. After all, phone bills were genuinely expensive, and since it wasn't a matter of life and death, she didn't have the extravagance to chat for hours.

After finishing the phone call, Gu Fengji walked out of the office just as Ling Fenglin came over to invite him to lunch.

"Old Gu, how are things at home? I heard from my family that your eldest brother is getting a divorce. Has it gone through yet?"

Ling Fenglin had also received word of Gu Fengrui's impending divorce earlier, so he asked with some concern.

Gu Fengrui used to be one of the ace figures in their military unit; had he not been severely injured, paralyzed, and discharged, he would at least be at the deputy brigade level by now.

It was such a pity.

"Not yet, but it should be this month."

There was nothing Gu Fengji couldn't share with his close friend. Even if he hadn't spoken of it, his friend would have learned about it through his own family anyway, and besides, it wasn't his eldest brother's fault.

"It's better for Eldest Brother Gu to divorce. Why keep a woman like that around?!"

Ling Fenglin looked down on such women the most—burning bridges after crossing the river. Eldest Brother Gu had treated her so well, yet she was ungrateful and unsatisfied, making a fuss over a divorce for the sake of another man.

This incident had even instilled a slight sense of dread in Ling Fenglin regarding women, terrified that he might encounter someone like that himself, in which case he would be completely ruined.

Gu Fengji remained silent.

"Old Gu, do you have something else on your mind? Could it be about Lu Jiaor...?"

As his friend walked with him into the cafeteria to get their food, Ling Fenglin noticed that Gu Fengji still wore a blank expression, and instantly guessed that he must have other troubles weighing on him.

"It's not her. It's about Mingzhi."

Ling Fenglin had grown up with him since childhood, being neighbors in the same residential compound, so there was nothing they couldn't discuss; besides, it wasn't a secret.

"What's wrong with Mingzhi? Wanning is a good guy. Could it be Wanning...?"

Ling Fenglin knew the couple Gu Mingzhi and Wan Ning inside and out. Could it be that their relationship had run into trouble? Ling Fenglin guessed inwardly.

"Mingzhi hasn't been able to conceive a child, and her mother-in-law has strong opinions about it. But both Mingzhi and Wanning went to the hospital for check-ups, and neither of the couple has any problems. Mingzhi has also taken plenty of medicine, but still no results. My mother says her mother-in-law puts immense pressure on Mingzhi, so she had my second brother and second sister-in-law find traditional Chinese doctors elsewhere to prescribe more herbal medicine for Mingzhi to drink, but I can tell it probably won't have any effect either."

Gu Fengji poured out this vexing matter to his friend in one breath. He was truly at his wit's end, completely unable to offer the slightest help and utterly clueless about what to do.

Ah?!

So it was about this?

Ling Fenglin was well aware that Gu Mingzhi had been married for three years without children, but he had no idea that Wan Ning's mother would pressure Gu Mingzhi so severely, nor did he know that it wasn't even due to physical health issues.

That was strange.

No physical problems, yet unable to have children?!

Ling Fenglin was also helpless. The Gu family must have searched everywhere for renowned doctors for Gu Mingzhi, and since even doctors could find no solution, two rough-and-ready soldiers like him and Old Gu stood even less of a chance.

Shaking his head with resignation, Ling Fenglin could not find any comforting words to say, so he simply lowered his head to eat. However...

The next moment, Ling Fenglin suddenly slammed his hand heavily onto the table, looking at Gu Fengji with excitement.

Gu Fengji was startled by the sound of the table being slammed, and looked up at his friend in bewilderment, wondering what kind of madness he was about to throw.

"Old Gu, why are you still looking for other doctors? Your wife—isn't Lu Jiaor studying medicine? The medicine she makes has such incredible effects; perhaps she has a way to treat Mingzhi. Why didn't you guys think of her? Why didn't you go ask her?!"

Good grief! A capable person was right before their eyes, yet they were ignoring the close at hand to seek far and wide!

Lu Jiaor was thoroughly suited to treat his younger sister Gu Mingzhi; perhaps she actually had a way!

The more Ling Fenglin thought about it, the more capable he believed Lu Jiaor to be, harboring a blind and absolute confidence in her.

Lu Jiaor?!

His wife?!

Reminded by his friend, Gu Fengji suddenly remembered this wife of his. The medicines she produced were indeed astonishingly potent. Right now, the military unit had even taken her medicine to research and develop at a pharmaceutical factory; it was said they had already successfully replicated it, though the effectiveness still fell short of Lu Jiaor's original medicine, it was vastly superior to anything currently available on the market.

The medicinal efficacy was superb, with zero side effects.

Because the military urgently needed such medications, after obtaining Lu Jiaor's consent, she had generously and freely provided the formula without asking for any demands or conditions whatsoever.

"I'll go ask her right away."