As expected—Zheng Xinghe's expression was strange and stiff.
To some extent, this reaction greatly satisfied her vanity. Even though she knew it shouldn't be, a faint sense of pride still rose up in her heart.
After a moment of silence.
Zheng Xinghe quickly composed himself, a sliver of hope still clinging to his lips: "It's clear that Miss Gu is quite dependent on you..."
“I know Mr. Zheng might not understand.” Shen Wuqiu knew he was having a hard time accepting it, but she didn’t intend to give him any extra time to process it. She directly waved to the person by the barbecue grill and called out, “Lingyu, is the fish ready?”
"Almost there, almost there." Gu Lingyu had been secretly watching them, thinking she was urging them to eat the grilled fish. She quickly flipped the fish in her hand to check it, picked out the best-grilled one, and brought it over, saying ingratiatingly, "It's still a little hot, how about I remove the bones for you first, sister?"
Shen Wuqiu nodded and then asked, "How's the fish you grilled for Mr. Zheng?"
Gu Lingyu's expression immediately fell, and she glanced at Zheng Xinghe, saying, "Go and see for yourself, it should be better soon."
His tone was completely different from before.
Zheng Xinghe felt as if a tiny needle had pricked his heart. In fact, she had always had the same attitude towards him. It was just because she liked him that she was happy to hear him say even a few words to her, and she never thought that he disliked her.
Now, listening with a different perspective, he realized he had been deluding himself.
He did have a fleeting thought of growing old together during that moment of infatuation, but he never intended to cling to her desperately. Yet, at this moment, he still felt a lingering sense of resentment.
So, looking at Gu Lingyu, he asked again, unwilling to give up, "Miss Gu, if I may ask, do you have someone you like?"
"Of course," Gu Lingyu replied without hesitation, then looked at him curiously after a couple of seconds. "Why are you asking me this?"
Zheng Xinghe forced a smile. "I'm just very curious about what kind of person Miss Gu would like."
Gu Lingyu naturally looked at Shen Wuqiu, "Is that even a question? Of course, it's someone like my sister."
The girl's eyes sparkled instantly, as if inlaid with real starlight, and her voice became incredibly light and cheerful, as if real butterflies were fluttering around her.
He hadn't even had time to truly appreciate the beauty of liking someone, but he had already witnessed that beauty.
This can probably be considered a kind of luck.
Zheng Xinghe suddenly felt relieved, and the dark resentment in his heart gradually turned into wisps of smoke and disappeared into the clear night sky.
He couldn't help but say, "This is wonderful..."
Gu Lingyu didn't understand his complicated thoughts. "What's so good?"
Zheng Xinghe glanced at Shen Wuqiu and said with a smile, "Miss Gu is so kind."
Gu Lingyu gave an exaggerated shudder, as if only then realizing what was happening, "You're so strange, why are you asking me such a question?"
Zheng Xinghe lowered his eyes, and the thousands of words he hadn't had time to say were instantly reduced to a few ordinary sentences: "I guess it's because I think Miss Gu is the most special girl I've ever met, so I'm very curious about what kind of person a special girl like you would like."
Gu Lingyu pursed her lips, a strange thought flashing through her mind, "Why do I feel like you're praising me?"
Zheng Xinghe: "Wasn't my praise obvious enough?"
Gu Lingyu shook her head. "It's just a little strange." After hesitating for a moment, she couldn't help but voice the thought that even she found somewhat shocking: "You don't think my sister won't like you, so you're trying to seduce me, do you?"
Zheng Xinghe felt embarrassed for a moment when his little secret was exposed, but he quickly regained his composure and said, "Miss Gu's thought process is indeed quite unique."
Gu Lingyu didn't reply, but leaned closer to Shen Wuqiu and whispered, "Sister, let me tell you, he's praised me more than once, and he even brought me chicken legs today. I always feel like he has ulterior motives towards me. So, you see how unreliable he is..."
Zheng Xinghe, who heard every single word perfectly, was extremely embarrassed. "Miss Gu, my hearing is actually quite good."
Gu Lingyu shrugged, not caring at all that he had heard. "Oh. Since you heard it, let me just say this: give up. I'm definitely not the kind of woman you can win over, and neither am I."
"..." Zheng Xinghe suddenly realized something and tentatively asked, "Miss Gu has always been so hostile towards me, could it be that you really think I like Miss Shen?"
Gu Lingyu kept her eyes down, pretending not to hear. In any case, she would never admit it in front of her partner.
Shen Wuqiu glanced at her, then looked at Zheng Xinghe and spoke for her, "My little one is narrow-minded, so please, Mr. Zheng, refrain from any words or actions that could cause misunderstandings in the future."
This statement is very meaningful.
Zheng Xinghe was a smart man and understood the implication in her words.
Gu Tiehan didn't understand and was still smugly pleased with himself, "See? I told you my sister wouldn't like you."
Looking at her smug little face, Zheng Xinghe couldn't help but chuckle. Since that's how it is, let her continue to misunderstand.
Perhaps for her, a love rival is more noticeable.
Thinking about it this way, Zheng Xinghe felt much more relaxed. "Well, then I've decided I don't like Miss Shen anymore."
Gu Lingyu: "You talk as if you like things to be useful."
Zheng Xinghe said, half-jokingly and half-seriously, "Miss Gu's bluntness makes it easy for me to doubt myself."
Gu Lingyu wasn't sure if his melancholy was genuine. After putting herself in his shoes, she felt sorry for him, thinking that it would be inhumane to continue to hurt him like this. So she softened her tone a little: "Actually, you're not such a bad person. At least you have good taste, right? I think it would be easy for you to find a partner, as long as it's not your sister."
Zheng Xinghe: "..."
Shen Wuqiu couldn't stand it anymore and sent the person away to continue grilling fish.
Gu Tiehan, who was completely obedient to his partner, had no choice but to go again, albeit reluctantly.
Zheng Xinghe stood there watching her back for several seconds before looking away and muttering, "That's strange."
"Um?"
"I actually think that you two look perfectly natural together, and even find it beautiful."
Shen Wuqiu appreciated his frankness and sincerity even more, and sincerely wished, "Mr. Zheng will surely find his beautiful wife."
Zheng Xinghe didn't seem to care. Leaning against the stainless steel railing with his hands on either side, he looked up at the night sky. "Love and marriage are not necessities for me, and I don't force them."
Shen Wuqiu used to have the same outlook on life, but after inexplicably having a child, her mindset underwent a subtle change. She didn't preach any grand principles like someone who's been through it all.
As they talked, Shen Wuqiu actually asked him for advice on house design.
The house they live in now isn't exactly dilapidated, but it's an old-style building with outdated decor; secondly, with their large family living together, many things are inconvenient...
In short, after considering various factors, Shen Wuqiu decided to rebuild a house for herself.
She didn't know much about civil engineering and only had a general idea in mind, so she took advantage of the opportunity of the two chatting to ask the other person some more professional questions.
So that evening, their conversation went from being tense to being quite pleasant, and they even exchanged WeChat contacts.
It wasn't until around midnight that Zhang Jin and his friends sobered up from playing cards, and then they drove to town to find a place to stay.
The cat, who had been given a whole night to grill fish, was quite unhappy about it. After everyone left, it kept pestering Shen Wuqiu, complaining, "My sister doesn't talk to me this much, but she talks so much to him..."
Exhausted, Shen Wuqiu could no longer bear it and pinned her down, silencing her incessant chatter with his mouth.
It turns out my sister only wanted to kiss me, but didn't want to talk about it.
The cat, now obedient after being kissed, licked its lips and said seriously, "Okay, I'm not angry anymore."
Shen Wuqiu was both amused and annoyed. "I really don't know what you're thinking about all day long."
Gu Lingyu wrapped her arms around her neck and said sweetly, "I missed you, sister~"
Shen Wuqiu glared at her, but ultimately couldn't resist her sweet talk and explained, "Zheng Xinghe is a designer, and I don't know anything about this area, so I took the opportunity to ask him some questions tonight."
Gu Lingyu hummed in agreement, "I can too."
Shen Wuqiu just smiled and didn't take it to heart. "I'm serious, I want to build a house in Huashan."
"I'm serious... building a house?"
Shen Wuqiu slowly lay down, supporting her waist with one hand. "You and the children have special identities. We need to have our own home to feel more secure and at ease."
The word "us" is so gentle.
Gu Lingyu's heart melted completely, and she turned her head to look at her.
Her intense gaze was too much to bear, so Shen Wuqiu deliberately avoided meeting her eyes. "Why are you looking at me like that?"
"My sister blushed."
Shen Wuqiu spat at her softly, "You're the one who's blushing."
Gu Lingyu nodded, "Yes, I blushed because I like you, sister. Does your sister blush because she likes me?"
Shen Wuqiu turned her head, reached out, and with a "snap," the last bit of warm yellow light in the room went out.
Gu Lingyu was slightly disappointed at not receiving a response, but not too disappointed. After all, in her opinion, making her sister like her and willing to form a bond with her was a long and arduous task.
To everyone's surprise, two seconds later, a clear "hmm" came from the darkness.
"..." Gu Lingyu was stunned for two seconds. "What did you just say, sister?"
Shen Wuqiu: "You said before that I would call you Mianmian, why should I call you Mianmian?"
"...Because of my tribe, partners address each other by the nickname 'little one'."
"Well, I don't have a nickname, but my parents said my nickname is Qiuqiu."
"..." Gu Lingyu was stunned.
"Gu Lingyu, let's form a pact."
Chapter 69 The Bridal Chamber
At first, it was like a dazzling firework exploding overhead, breathtakingly beautiful; as the fireworks turned into dust and fell, this visual feast came to a hasty end, its fleeting speed making it seem as if the fireworks were nothing more than a dream.
Amazing yet uneasy.
Gu Lingyu's heart was in turmoil, but her body remained as still as a statue.
After a long while, she finally got up and turned on the light. She knelt beside Shen Wuqiu, cautiously leaning in to smell her, but the familiar scent made her quickly recoil. Looking at Shen Wuqiu's expressionless face, she nervously clasped her hands together, muttering, "I thought something strange was impersonating my sister..."
"..." During the silence just now, Shen Wuqiu had anticipated many different reactions from the cat, but she never expected that the other party would not be overjoyed, but would instead doubt that she was human.
When it comes to being unromantic, this cat will never let her have her way.
"Thank goodness it's not." Gu Lingyu breathed a sigh of relief, then smiled sweetly at her, "I heard you."
Shen Wuqiu didn't receive the response she expected, and feeling somewhat frustrated, she deliberately turned her head away.
Gu Lingyu didn't try to coax her. He remained kneeling beside her and said, "By forming a pact with me, you will give me your entire future, and of course, I will give you my life as well. A human's life is short, but for us spirit cats, it may be long, so long that everything around you will feel unfamiliar. Perhaps it will be fifty years, perhaps a hundred years. Your aunt, uncle, and other relatives will all be gone, but you will remain young and healthy."
Her tone was gentle and devout.
Shen Wuqiu subconsciously turned to look at her, "Are you trying to discourage me?"
Gu Lingyu smiled at her, shook her head, lowered her head, took her hand, and hooked her little finger together. "I love you, sister, and I want to spend my life with you, but I don't want to deceive you. So, sister, are you still willing to form a bond with me?"