But since she had already met him, You Ran had no choice but to accept it. After all, she couldn't live without him.
So, he could only wave goodbye magnanimously and carry his luggage home.
In the elevator, You Ran took out a small mirror to carefully examine her lips, which had just been kissed. Fortunately, they were only a little red, and she could cover them up with a little lip gloss.
With everything prepared, You Ran took out the key and opened the door.
Hearing the sound, her parents turned around and saw their daughter returning. They were overjoyed and rushed over to help You Ran with her luggage, hand her her shoes, and repeatedly asked her if she was tired from the journey.
But at this moment, You Ran had no mind to answer any questions. She saw that on the coffee table in the living room, there were many tonics, snow frog, bird's nest, and some precious Chinese medicines.
It looks like a gift, and one that was recently delivered.
Of all the people You Ran knew, only one had the ability to do something so grand, and that person was also the one she had been avoiding for the past two years—Gu Chengyuan.
"Gu Chengyuan has been here?" You Ran asked bluntly.
You Ran's father, Li Mingyu, frowned: "The older she gets, the less polite she becomes. She can't even call him 'brother' anymore."
"When did he leave?" You Ran asked. Of course, her biggest concern was whether Gu Chengyuan would come again tomorrow.
Bai Ling placed her daughter's luggage on the sofa, hesitated for a moment, and finally decided to tell the truth: "Chengyuan went to the supermarket to buy chicken essence for me. He'll be back in a bit."
This fact shocked You Ran, and she immediately wanted to take a step forward and run outside.
Bai Ling squatted on the ground, helping You Ran take out her clothes one by one.
You Ran always just crumpled her clothes up in her suitcase, so every time she came home, the first thing Bai Ling did was to rescue her daughter's pitiful clothes.
At that moment, with her back to You Ran, she packed her suitcase and whispered, "Mom just wants the whole family to have a happy meal today."
You Ran admitted that these words completely defeated her. No matter what happened between her and Gu Chengyuan, her mother was innocent.
Remembering how good her mother had been to her, You Ran decided to be patient and try her best to fulfill her small wish.
"Alright, go sit down first, dinner will be ready soon." Li Mingyu ran into the kitchen with a smile and continued to demonstrate his cooking skills.
Thinking about meeting Gu Chengyuan again soon, You Ran felt uneasy and couldn't sit still, so she went to the balcony to get some fresh air.
The neighborhood where they live is nice. You often see elderly people walking their grandchildren or young people walking their Samoyeds on the pebbled paths. The sight makes you feel a little lazy for no reason.
But when his leisurely gaze fell on the entrance of the residential area, the relaxed and lazy feeling he had just had vanished in a fright.
Because she saw Qu Yun and Gu Chengyuan talking at the entrance of the residential area.
Although they were far apart, these two men were the men she knew best, so You Ran naturally wouldn't mistake them.
You Ran remembered that Qu Yun had said that Gu Chengyuan was his classmate, so it was not surprising that they knew each other. But how could Qu Yun explain his appearance here?
A carefree heart is like yarn that has been scratched by a cat, tangled and in disarray.
What to do? What to do? If Qu Yun really confesses her relationship with Gu Chengyuan, then...
You Ran didn't know what would happen, but her intuition told her that Gu Chengyuan wouldn't give up.
Although it was late autumn, You Ran's back was still covered in a cold sweat.
Just as she was about to scream in a frenzy, the two figures in her vision separated.
You Ran quickly hid in the bathroom, took out her phone, and quickly called Qu Yun.
Without a single wasted word after the call connected, You Ran asked directly, "Did you just run into Gu Chengyuan?"
There was a pause on the other end, a slightly unusual silence, but soon Qu Yun's reply came: "Yes, he told you?"
"I saw it myself from the balcony!" You Ran quickly asked, "Did you tell him about our relationship?"
Qu Yun's answer relieved You Ran: "No, what, you don't want him to know?"
"If he finds out, he will definitely... he will definitely tell my parents. I will die a terrible death, and you will die a terrible death too. So, no matter what, you cannot reveal our relationship to him before you receive my instructions, understand?" You Ran lied. What she feared most was not her parents, but the person she had just been talking to Qu Yun.
Qu Yun agreed.
You Ran felt relieved. She had originally wanted to take this opportunity to ask for a kiss, but considering that it was in the bathroom, the atmosphere wasn't very pleasant, so she gave up on the idea.
As soon as she hung up the phone and opened the bathroom door, You Ran exclaimed "Oh!" because Gu Chengyuan was sitting on the living room sofa, waiting for her.
"Long time no see," Gu Chengyuan said.
His face still carried a rugged, heroic air, and his tall, imposing figure made people feel as if they were always living under his gaze, while the indifference in his eyes signaled a distance between them.
He is good-looking, and therefore should be kept at a distance.
But You Ran couldn't do that back then, because Gu Chengyuan always made her feel that she was different to him.
All the tenderness seemed to be reserved only for her.
At least... that's what she thought before that incident.
Just then, Li Mingyu came out of the kitchen carrying freshly cooked dishes and said with a smile, "Xiao Yuan, go wash your hands with your sister, we're about to eat."
You Ran went into the kitchen, poured hand sanitizer on her hands, but before she could start rubbing, Gu Chengyuan grabbed her wrist from behind.
He not only held her wrist, but his body was also pressed tightly against her back.
You Ran felt like she had been caught in a mousetrap; momentarily flustered, she suddenly cried out.
"What's wrong?" Bai Ling peeked out from the kitchen doorway.
“It’s nothing,” Gu Chengyuan smiled, “They’re just trying to steal her things.”
As he said this, Gu Chengyuan wiped most of the green hand sanitizer off You Ran's hands.
"Stop fooling around, come and eat." Bai Ling smiled and left the kitchen.
As soon as her mother left, You Ran immediately hid in a corner of the kitchen, watching Gu Chengyuan warily.
Gu Chengyuan went straight to the tap and slowly sucked his hands in the water. The water flow was small and gentle, just like his voice: "Do you remember? When you were little, I always helped you wash your hands."
I remember, I remember naturally.
Back then, Gu Chengyuan would come to her house every weekend.
Back then, You Ran was still very young and couldn't reach the faucet. Gu Chengyuan would stand behind her, pour hand sanitizer into her hands, hold her hands, and gently rub them together.
At that time, she could only reach his ribs.
You Ran remembered, but she still answered, "Really?"
He spoke in a questioning tone, as if he had forgotten everything.
Gu Chengyuan washed the foam off his hands, dried them with a clean handkerchief, then turned around, a smile slowly spreading across his face: "What you remember... is just as I will always remember."
A chill ran through my heart, then a warmth.
"If you don't come soon, we'll finish all the food," Li Mingyu shouted.
Not wanting to linger any longer, the two left one after the other.
The dishes were plentiful, but You Ran couldn't taste them.
Her parents and Gu Chengyuan seemed to have talked a lot, but You Ran didn't pay much attention. She only gave a few perfunctory answers when asked about herself.
As they were talking, Li Mingyu suddenly asked, "Xiao Yuan, why did it take you so long to get to the supermarket? Did you get lost?"
"Oh, I just ran into an acquaintance at the entrance of the residential area," Gu Chengyuan said.
Upon hearing this, every cell in You Ran's body, who had been pretending to be a fossil, came to life. Although she knew that her rash question might attract Gu Chengyuan's attention, she still couldn't help but ask, "Who is it?"
You Ran's wishful thinking was to see if she could get some information out of Gu Chengyuan about Qu Yun's time at school, such as whether he was a playboy back then.
However, her question was misinterpreted by her father: "What your sister means is, is that person a man or a woman? If the man is good-looking and has good character, then introduce him to her. If the woman is good-looking and has good character, then quickly pursue her and make her your sister-in-law."
"Hehe," You Ran chuckled wryly, "Dad, you're so funny."
Upon hearing this, Gu Chengyuan's lips curled into a slightly ambiguous smile: "You Ran, is that really what you mean?"
You Ran stuffed a piece of boiled pork into her mouth, mumbling to mask her true feelings: "If you say so, then so be it."
"By the way, who exactly is it?" Li Mingyu asked.
“An acquaintance from the past.” That was Gu Chengyuan’s answer.
Yes, an acquaintance.
We're all acquaintances.
This was the ninth lesson Qu Yun taught her—acquaintances are everywhere in the world.
[Lesson 10] Ice cubes sometimes melt a little.
Gu Chengyuan described Qu Yun as an acquaintance, but You Ran couldn't extract any other information from him.
"Look, it's been so long since we've all gotten together like this since You Ran went to university." Seeing the rare sight of the four of them together, Li Mingyu couldn't help but sigh, "In the blink of an eye, you've all grown up, and you're all so busy, rarely home. Sometimes, I really wish you could stay young forever, and we could stay young forever!"
"Then let's wish for time to turn back and let us live our lives again." You Ran shoveled rice into her mouth while daydreaming: "Go back to my elementary school days, but without losing my memories, so I can become a once-in-a-century genius, skipping grades in no time, and Harvard and Yale will be a piece of cake."
"You Ran, given that you unfortunately inherited my intelligence, even if you went back three more times, this dream would still be very difficult to achieve," Li Mingyu analyzed objectively.
Faced with such a disrespectful father, You Ran didn't know whether to be angry or amused.
This friendly banter made the atmosphere at the table much more harmonious, and the meal finally passed in a relatively relaxed manner.
After finishing her meal, You Ran washed the dishes and went to her room. She turned on her computer and played games to avoid contact with Gu Chengyuan.
But she was already aware that this method wouldn't be very effective.
Sure enough, not long after, Bai Ling and Li Mingyu suggested that the elderly couple wanted to go out for a stroll and buy some small things so that You Ran and her brother could play at home.
Although You Ran's eyes were fixed on the computer screen, her ears were constantly listening to the sounds outside.
Her parents opened the door, changed their shoes, and closed the door. Not long after, footsteps approached her—Gu Chengyuan came in.
"I will not attack unless attacked," he said, keeping his head down and pretending not to know anything.
But then, You Ran began to regret her inaction—at the very least, she should have moved over.
Because she was sitting on the bed with a notebook on her lap, on the inside of the bed, when Gu Chengyuan sat down next to her, You Ran suddenly realized that she seemed to be the turtle trapped in the jar.
But since things have come to this, it's best to stay calm.
He remained calm and composed, pretending to be engrossed in his game.
But Gu Chengyuan reached out and closed her notebook.
“If you’re not focused, what’s the point of playing games?” Gu Chengyuan said.
You Ran didn't answer, opened her laptop, and prepared to continue playing, but Gu Chengyuan snatched the laptop away and placed it on the bedside table.