My Mister Ostrich

Chapter 29

Gu Mingxi said, “From what you’ve said, it hasn’t been that long. I don’t know if the formalities have all been taken care of yet. How about this, when I get home, I’ll ask my dad if there’s any way to repair this.”

Pang Qian looked at him, pleasantly surprised. “Really? Will your dad help?”

“My dad and your dad have been good friends for a long time.” Gu Mingxi said with assurance, “My dad’s position at work is pretty high up. He should be able to help with this.”

Pang Qian was extremely happy, her heart able to hope again. She said, “Gu Mingxi, you’re really great! You’re really too great!”

That evening, Gu Mingxi stood outside Gu Guoxiang’s study. He lifted up his foot and knocked twice on the door.

Gu Guoxiang, “Come in.”

Gu Mingxi pushed open the door with his shoulder, and then walked inside. Gu Guoxiang was sitting behind his desk, a computer in front of him. He’d found someone to build that computer six months ago, and it had cost more than ten thousand dollars.

Gu Guoxiang didn’t even look at Gu Mingxi, his fingers typing away busily on the keyboard. Gu Mingxi walked over to his side, and saw the article he was working on, packed densely with words.

He asked, “Dad, did you type all this?”

Gu Guoxiang flipped the page of the book beside him, and without looking up said, “Yes, I typed it all.”

“That’s amazing.”

Hearing Gu Mingxi’s genuine praise, Gu Guoxiang looked up and asked, “What are you looking for me for?”

“Mm.” Gu Mingxi stood beside Gu Guoxiang meekly, just like a very obedient student standing in front of a tough teacher. He asked, “Dad, am I bothering you?”

“No.” Gu Guoxiang took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. He said, “I’m also a little tired of doing this.”

Gu Mingxi smiled and said, “It’s like this, Dad. Today, Pang Qian told me that Uncle Pang has been laid off. Pang Qian looks very upset, so I wanted to ask you if there was any room for change with Uncle Pang’s case.”

Hearing his son’s words, Gu Guoxiang was shocked, so much that he forgot to put his glasses back on. After a moment of surprise, he smiled and asked Gu Mingxi, “Did Pang Shuisheng tell you to ask me, or was it Pang Qian?”

Gu Mingxi was looked at him and shook his head, “They didn’t ask me to. I was the one who thought of it.”

Gu Guoxiang looked at him coldly, and said, “You think that I have a bit of a position at the factory now, so it’s easy to reinstate your Uncle Pang?”

“That’s not it…” Gu Mingxi realized that his father was a bit angry, but he wasn’t about to give up like that. So he continued, “I just think that Uncle Pang is really amazing. Wasn’t he awarded “advanced worker” many years? He was the one who helped weld together my bike too. It’s still in great condition…”

“What is it that you want to say?” Gu Guoxiang put on his glasses, and got up to get a folding chair from the corner. He unfolded it and put it down, “Mingxi, sit down.”

Gu Mingxi sat down a bit apprehensively. Gu Guoxiang took a sip of tea from his cup on the desk. Then he said, “I haven’t had a [heart to heart] talk with you in a long time. And in the blink of an eye, you’ve already grown this big.”

He touched Gu Mingxi’s shoulder. Through the cloth, he gently felt those rounded shoulders. Under his palm, he felt the truncated bones and then the flesh that grew under it. From his little boy frame, he had grown up.