After thanking them, Mu Guiying quietly continued eating.
Zhang Qingqing had been expecting this country bumpkin to wolf down her food noisily and smack her lips while eating. Unexpectedly, Mu Guiying ate in a slow and graceful manner. She chewed with her mouth closed without making a single sound, displaying impeccable table manners.
Bai Lin was equally surprised.
Only Gu Yunche stared thoughtfully at the newspaper on the table, his brows growing increasingly furrowed.
It seemed he had thought of something, because he also turned his gaze toward Mu Guiying as she ate.
Feeling everyone staring at her, Mu Guiying lifted her eyes uneasily.
“Why are all of you looking at me?”
Zhang Qingqing quickly withdrew her gaze. Secretly glaring at Mu Guiying, she suddenly stepped forward and grabbed her arm pitifully.
“Sister Guiying, please help me. Could you give me your Beijing household registration spot?”
Gu Yunche paused abruptly, his sharp gaze turning toward Zhang Qingqing.
He coldly stopped her.
“Zhang Qingqing, what nonsense are you talking about?”
Bai Lin hadn’t expected Zhang Qingqing to be so impatient.
How could she blurt something like that out immediately?
Zhang Qingqing assumed Mu Guiying was an uneducated country girl who had never seen the world. In her mind, Mu Guiying only wanted to go to Beijing to find a reliable man to marry and settle down with. But she could also find someone in the provincial city and still live the good life she wanted.
“Sister Guiying, your parents can’t arrange a decent marriage for you. You only want to go to Beijing to marry a man and live comfortably. If you give the household registration spot to me, I guarantee my parents will find you a good marriage partner in the provincial city.”
The moment the words left her mouth, Zhang Qingqing’s face turned bright red.
As a young unmarried woman, openly saying words like “man,” “marriage partner,” and “marry and settle down” was rather improper.
She certainly didn’t want Gu Yunche’s impression of her to worsen.
Gu Yunche’s expression turned icy.
He never expected Zhang Qingqing to speak to Mu Guiying this way. Even if Mu Guiying truly had such thoughts, it had nothing to do with Zhang Qingqing. She had no right to belittle Mu Guiying just because she wanted a Beijing registration herself.
Mu Guiying’s clear eyes swept thoughtfully across the three of them.
Bai Lin lowered her head to stare at her leather shoes, acting completely uninvolved, while Gu Yunche clearly looked irritated. It was obvious he had known nothing about Zhang Qingqing bringing this matter up.
With just a slight turn of thought, Mu Guiying guessed that Bai Lin was the real instigator.
Bai Lin had encouraged Zhang Qingqing to come plead with her.
Was she trying to kill two birds with one stone?
Mu Guiying looked at the impatient Zhang Qingqing.
“Sister Zhang, how do you know I want to go to Beijing just to get married? Who told you that? Sister Bai Lin?”
The moment Mu Guiying mentioned her, Bai Lin’s cheeks flushed red.
“Little Sister Guiying, my cousin also wants to go to Beijing for the college entrance exam. I told her she couldn’t because Uncle Gu intended to arrange a household registration for you. She didn’t believe me, so she followed me here to the guesthouse to see for herself.”
As Bai Lin spoke, she kept looking at Gu Yunche with an aggrieved expression that made her seem especially pitiful.
Mu Guiying didn’t believe her at all.
She turned to Gu Yunche.
“Brother Gu, is that true?”
“It is,” Gu Yunche replied apologetically, his tone sincere. “Zhang Qingqing is young and immature. Don’t take what she said to heart.”
Then he added firmly,
“I came here to bring both you and Bai Lin.”
The implication was clear.
There had never been any place for Zhang Qingqing in the plan, nor had he intended to let her take Mu Guiying’s registration spot.
Mu Guiying set down her chopsticks and examined Zhang Qingqing carefully.
Zhang Qingqing looked terribly uncomfortable. Her face, which wasn’t particularly fair to begin with, had turned dark red from embarrassment.
Mu Guiying thought to herself—
This girl really had chosen the wrong path.
Then she glanced sideways at Gu Yunche.
With that outstanding face, incredible physique, and tall handsome appearance, he was the very definition of a dream man.
Who wouldn’t lose their head over him?
Clearly, Zhang Qingqing already had.
Mu Guiying pressed her lips together tightly.
If her previous life hadn’t been so miserable, she might’ve already reached out and messed with Gu Yunche herself.
Coming back to her senses, she asked again,
“Sister Zhang seems to know quite a lot about me. You know my parents can’t arrange a marriage for me, so I supposedly want to go to Beijing to marry into a good family. But today is our first meeting. How exactly do you know all this?”
Her single sentence plunged the room into dead silence.
Gu Yunche’s cool gaze landed on Bai Lin.
Bai Lin, who had been staring at her shoes, finally lifted her eyes to meet his. Tears brimmed in them instantly.
Gu Yunche froze.
Bai Lin struggled to keep the tears from falling, but her trembling voice still sounded heartbreakingly pitiful.
“Little Sister Guiying, please stop being so aggressive. I only shared my guesses with Qingqing. I never thought she would have ideas like this.”
Zhang Qingqing, however, was surprisingly loyal.
She stood up with her hands on her hips and faced Mu Guiying directly.
“Stop making things difficult for my cousin. I was discussing this with you properly. Weren’t you already planning to go to Beijing to climb the social ladder? Was I wrong?”
Mu Guiying curled her lips in disdain.
She hadn’t expected Zhang Qingqing to be such a naive fool. Bai Lin was clearly using her as a weapon, yet she was happily playing along.
Resting her chin on one hand, Mu Guiying glanced at the white rice inside the aluminum lunch box and said sarcastically,
“So this is how city people beg others and negotiate with them? What an attitude.”
She sneered again.
“Sister Zhang and Sister Bai Lin are truly polite. One shamelessly wants my household registration spot, while the other spreads gossip behind my back. I, Mu Guiying, have really broadened my horizons today.”
Bai Lin and Zhang Qingqing both flushed crimson with embarrassment.
Gu Yunche rubbed his temples.
He suddenly felt that three women together really were unbearably noisy.
In a deep voice, he said,
“Xiao Mu, no one can take your household registration away. Rest early. We’re leaving.”
Mu Guiying had assumed Gu Yunche would defend Zhang Qingqing and Bai Lin. After all, he looked down on her from the bottom of his heart and clearly didn’t want her living with the Gu family.
Yet he had just said no one could take her registration away.
“Wait, I’m not finished talking.”
Mu Guiying stood up.
Her tone was calm and unhurried, yet carried a quiet authority.
“It’s true that I want to leave Gucheng Village. But I’m not looking to climb the social ladder through a man, nor do I want to marry someone just to live comfortably. So don’t bring up those things again.”
Then she looked at Zhang Qingqing and the teary-eyed Bai Lin.
“I can give up the Beijing household registration. But I want a Shenzhen household registration instead. If you can arrange for me to settle in Shenzhen, I’m willing to exchange it.”
Shenzhen?
The coastal city at the forefront of economic reform and opening-up?
Gu Yunche thoughtfully glanced at the newspapers on the table before turning back to Mu Guiying.
“You want to go to Shenzhen?”
Mu Guiying nodded.
Shenzhen was the cutting edge of the new era, a place overflowing with opportunity and wealth. She wanted to go there, seize the momentum of the times, and strike gold.
There was nothing wrong with that, was there?
Thinking about it, the corners of Mu Guiying’s lips lifted uncontrollably, unable to hide her delight at gaining the upper hand.
A trace of astonishment flashed through Gu Yunche’s eyes.
No matter how hard he tried, he had never expected Mu Guiying to be someone with such ideas and ambitions.
But… was she really illiterate?