The girl across from him didn’t hesitate for a second—she dropped her woven bag.
And rushed toward the man…
No embrace, no tears.
The girl simply stood still, just one step away from him.
Panting heavily.
Then, “Uncle Gu, I’m so hungry—”
Lin Xiaojiao was both thirsty and starving…
For breakfast, she’d only nibbled half an apple.
Gu Tingzheng chuckled softly, lowering his arm and casually ruffling the girl’s slightly messy hair.
“Let’s go! Uncle will take you to eat.”
…
Inside the state-run restaurant.
Lin Xiaojiao unapologetically ordered three meat dishes—braised pork, soy sauce ribs, and steamed chicken—before handing the menu to Gu Tingzheng.
“Uncle Gu, did I order too much?”
“As long as you like it.” Gu Tingzheng added two vegetable dishes and a soup, then passed the menu to the waiter.
After a moment’s thought, he called the waiter back and ordered a bottle of orange-flavored soda for the girl.
The moment she took a sip of the ice-cold soda, Lin Xiaojiao felt completely revived.
Uncle Gu really understood her too well!
The dishes arrived one after another.
Lin Xiaojiao was genuinely famished.
In her previous life, to maintain her figure, she had basically avoided these high-calorie foods.
But now, she wished she could mix rice with meat sauce!
Across from her, Gu Tingzheng ate quickly and soon set down his chopsticks.
Watching the girl eat with such unpretentious focus, he couldn’t help but curl the corners of his lips. He naturally ladled a bowl of soup for her and handed it over.
“Take your time, no rush.”
Lin Xiaojiao swallowed the meat in her mouth and accepted the soup bowl. “Does Uncle Gu take care of his own children like this too?”
After asking, she nervously lowered her head, pretending it was just an offhand remark.
Heaven knew how long she’d been brewing this question.
This uncle was just too unfair!
He was like walking hormones!
Back at the mall earlier, she had almost lost control and lunged at him.
The little flame she’d suppressed for a week was now flaring up again…
What to do, what to do?
Hearing this, Gu Tingzheng raised his eyes to glance at the girl.
He leaned back slightly in his chair, a faint, teasing smile playing on his lips.
“I couldn’t possibly have a child as old as you.”
Lin Xiaojiao: ….
A textbook answer.
Absolutely flawless!
He neither confirmed having children nor denied having a family.
Lin Xiaojiao was utterly frustrated!
Since she’d already started, she might as well ask outright.
Give herself a clear answer!
She took a deep breath, pretending to be nothing more than a curious junior asking about family matters, and smiled with an “innocent” expression.
“Uncle Gu, why did you come back to the village alone this time? What about Auntie? Didn’t she come back with you to visit?”
Gu Tingzheng looked at the girl’s “I’m just innocent and curious” expression, the amusement in his eyes deepening.
He tapped his fingers lightly on the table, his gaze fixed directly on her as he bluntly exposed her little game, his voice low and clear.
“Jiaojiao, after going around in such circles, what you really want to ask me is—” He paused slightly, enunciating each word deliberately, “Am. I. Mar. Ried?”
“Pfft—cough, cough, cough!” Lin Xiaojiao choked on a mouthful of soup, her face turning bright red as she coughed violently!
H-h-how could he just say it outright like that?!
Was she really that obvious?
Lin Xiaojiao coughed so hard that tears welled up in her eyes.
Gu Tingzheng timely handed her a glass of water.
His tone shifted, dropping the earlier playfulness.
“Little girl, don’t go prying into grown-ups’ business.”
With a light touch, he firmly placed their relationship back where it belonged.
Then, he added another sentence, tinged with distance: “Don’t worry, if I really do find a little auntie, I’ll send you wedding candy.”
Lin Xiaojiao understood.
He currently had no partner.
Even if he did in the future, it had nothing to do with a junior like her.
She was just one of the many juniors who would receive wedding candy.
He was dousing her with cold water in his own way.
Cooling things down.
“…Who cares about your wedding candy,” Lin Xiaojiao muttered quietly, lowering her head to stubbornly pick at a piece of pork belly.
Suddenly remembering something, she raised her arm and took off the luxury watch on her wrist.
“Here, take it back.”
Gu Tingzheng glanced at the clearly irritated young girl and accepted the watch.
The meaning behind the smile in his eyes was unclear.
…
The atmosphere in the car on the way back wasn’t as bad as Lin Xiaojiao had imagined.
In fact, she felt a sense of relief herself.
What was the big deal?
Not worth dwelling on~
She even pestered Gu Tingzheng, asking if she could drive for a while.
For a moment, Gu Tingzheng doubted whether he had made himself clear.
But seeing that the girl truly had no other intentions—she just genuinely wanted to get her hands on the steering wheel—he replied, “Don’t mess around. I’ll take you to a professional place to learn how to drive when there’s a chance. It’s not safe on the main road.”
Lin Xiaojiao thought: I already know how to drive! My hands are just itching…
Unfortunately, she only dared to grumble inwardly.
When the officer uncle put on a stern face, he was still a little intimidating.
The car turned onto a country road.
The road narrowed.
Gu Tingzheng was even less inclined to let the girl take the wheel.
At that moment, a military jeep approached from the opposite direction, moving at a considerable speed with no intention of slowing down.
This stretch of road was barely wide enough for two vehicles to pass each other.
Gu Tingzheng instinctively slowed down first, preparing to pull over to the right.
However, the oncoming vehicle showed no courtesy, even accelerating slightly in an attempt to pass first.
“Who is that? So domineering!”
Lin Xiaojiao frowned and complained.
Road bullies existed in every era.
She instinctively glanced toward the driver’s seat of the oncoming vehicle—
Then, her gaze suddenly froze.
Her face instantly paled, and her fingers unconsciously tightened around the hem of her clothes.
Sitting in the passenger seat of the oncoming vehicle was none other than Xu Deyou!
This body reacted with instinctive anger.
The other side clearly saw her too, a look of obvious surprise and a hint of barely concealed embarrassment flashing across his face.
Gu Tingzheng was the first to notice the girl’s unusual reaction.
The politeness in his eyes vanished instantly.
He was about to ask what was wrong.
But the girl beside him gritted her teeth and said, “Don’t give way!”
Hearing this, Gu Tingzheng asked no questions and immediately turned the steering wheel, driving the car to the center of the road.
He even stepped on the accelerator.
“Ah!” The sudden inertia made Lin Xiaojiao gasp softly.
The front ends of the two vehicles were almost about to collide!
The oncoming car slammed on the brakes.
The driver next to Xu Deyou leaned forward to take a look—
When his eyes fell on the white license plate with red characters on the other vehicle, starting with the character 【Jia】, his face turned ashen!
He knew all too well what this kind of license plate represented. This wasn’t just a dispute over the road—this was trouble!
Xu Deyou’s father, sitting in the back seat, impatiently urged, “Honk the horn! Make them move! How dare a car from this backwater block our way!”
“Sir, take a closer look at their license plate! This… this is a vehicle directly under the central command!” The driver’s voice trembled.
He had been temporarily assigned to drive for this leader who had just returned to the city and hadn’t yet been given a position.
How could he have run into such a tough opponent?!
How could their yellow-plated vehicle possibly compete for road rights with a black-plated vehicle featuring the character 【A】?!
Local vehicles and those directly under the central command…
This isn’t a matter of whether you can cut in line—it’s about whether you dare to provoke someone and whether you can afford the consequences!
He patiently explained to the Xu family.
But Gu Tingzheng clearly had no patience.
He stepped on the accelerator again.
The car moved forward precisely by half a foot.
Almost touching the license plate of the car opposite.
Lin Xiaojiao’s face remained pale as she stared intently at the visibly anxious Xu Deyou in the opposite car.
Biting her lip.
She knew all these reactions were the original owner’s subconscious instincts, but she couldn’t control them.
The driver opposite was already terrified.
Without bothering to explain further.
He hurriedly shifted gears and reversed.
For every inch they retreated, Gu Tingzheng advanced an inch.
The other driver quickly steered to the side of the road.
But Gu Tingzheng remained squarely in the middle of the lane.
A stalemate ensued.
The driver opposite was already drenched in sweat.
As he continued to reverse, he asked in frustration, “Did you offend the officer in the other car?!”
After backing up nearly a hundred meters, he finally spotted a fork in the road.
Only then did the driver breathe a sigh of relief and quickly steer the car onto the side road.
Gu Tingzheng slammed on the accelerator, and the BJ212 sped away.
As the car disappeared into the distance.
The physiological stress brought on by the original owner slowly faded.
For a long while, Lin Xiaojiao remained immersed in the adrenaline of the moment, unable to snap out of it.
So cool!
Utterly satisfying!
The original owner’s taste was truly terrible! How could she have fallen for such a scumbag!
Gu Tingzheng, noticing the clear spark returning to the young woman’s eyes, tentatively asked:
“Do you know the people in that car just now?”