Gu Qianran opened his eyes and rubbed his forehead. Strange, how had he fallen asleep?
He was still wondering about it when he casually glanced up and frowned. Where was he? He remembered looking up information in the library before he fell asleep, so how had he ended up somewhere else?
This was… a café? Gu Qianran was still dazed when a voice suddenly sounded beside him.
“You’re Gu Qianran?”
The moment Gu Qianran turned his head, he was nearly blinded by the glittering jewelry before him. He nodded instinctively. “I am.”
The elegant, extravagantly dressed woman narrowed her eyes and sized him up for a moment before introducing herself. “I’m Yan Lu’s mother.”
Yan Lu? The name sounded vaguely familiar.
Gu Qianran raised an eyebrow almost imperceptibly. Then he stood and said, “Hello. Please, have a seat.”
Madam Yan walked to the seat opposite him, nodded at him, and sat down with perfect grace. “You sit, too,” she said.
Gu Qianran sat down as instructed.
“Do you know why I came to see you today?” Madam Yan’s voice was cool, with a hint of arrogance.
Gu Qianran shook his head.
Madam Yan smiled. “You’re dating my son.” It was a statement, not a question.
Gu Qianran fell silent.
“Don’t think I won’t know just because you don’t say anything.” Madam Yan stared at him. “I’ll have you know I know everything. You’ve only been dating for three days, and my son was the one who confessed.”
“He likes you very much. He spends all day hovering around you, and even when he comes home, he can’t say three sentences without mentioning you.” As she spoke, Madam Yan clicked her tongue against her teeth, her tone seeming somewhat disdainful. “As the heir to the Yan Family, he’s really not composed at all.”
Gu Qianran listened to her quietly, his expression utterly unchanged.
Madam Yan took her handbag and pulled out a bank card. “There’s five million yuan on this.”
Gu Qianran looked at the card she pushed in front of him, and his emotions finally wavered. “Five million?!” Wasn’t it supposed to be one million?
“That’s right, five million.” Madam Yan repeated herself, then looked at him with the corners of her lips raised. “What, is it too little?”
“That’s not what I meant…”
Before he could finish denying it, Madam Yan took another card from her bag. “Here’s another five million. Ten million in total. You won’t think that’s too little anymore, will you?”
“You…” Gu Qianran frowned slightly. “What exactly are you trying to do?”
What was going on here?
At his question, Madam Yan raised an eyebrow and said, “I know your father is sick and in the hospital. You need money. Take this and use it to pay for your father’s treatment, and then…”
She did not get to finish before she was interrupted by an exasperated shout.
“Mom!”
Gu Qianran followed the sound and saw a teenage boy running toward them, panting heavily.
The boy looked about sixteen or seventeen. He wore a clean white shirt, and his short hair was neat and brisk, though the loose strands falling over his forehead gave him a somewhat casual air. Looking at him, Gu Qianran instinctively thought of a name.
When Madam Yan saw the boy, she was both surprised and delighted. “Xiao Lu, what are you doing here?”
Sure enough, he was his “boyfriend,” Yan Lu. Wait, the ages didn’t match!
“Mom, how could you do this?” Yan Lu complained to his mother, then turned to Gu Qianran. His anxious gaze scanned him from head to toe as he asked, “Senior Brother, are you all right?”
Gu Qianran shook his head. “I’m fine.”
Madam Yan’s tone was full of displeasure. “What do you mean, how could I do this? What did I do?”
“You came to see Senior Brother behind my back!” Yan Lu snapped at his mother, protecting the senior brother he adored.
Seeing him like that, Madam Yan immediately felt wronged. “Sob, sob, you unfilial son. You forget your mother the moment you get a wife. How could you be so fierce with me? Your father would never be so fierce with me…”
“Don’t pretend to be wronged. This is your fault!” Yan Lu continued criticizing her.
Madam Yan felt even more aggrieved. “That’s because you’ve been hiding your future wife from us and refusing to bring him home so your father and I can meet him… I just wanted to see what my future daughter-in-law looked like, so I came to meet him…”
Future daughter-in-law?
The corner of Gu Qianran’s eye twitched. Wasn’t there far too much familiarity and acceptance packed into that term?
Could it be that she wasn’t here to break them up?
Seeing her like this, Yan Lu was instantly helpless. “I already told you, Senior Brother and I only just started dating. It’s too soon to meet the parents. Besides, Senior Brother wasn’t ready, and you came anyway. What if you scared him?”
“But he wasn’t scared when he met me just now!” Madam Yan still felt wronged. She was clearly such a kind and considerate future mother-in-law!
Yan Lu did not believe her. He turned and asked Gu Qianran, “Senior Brother, what did my mom say to you?”
Gu Qianran stared at the two cards on the table. “She wanted to give me money.”
“Give you money?” Yan Lu looked suspiciously at his mother.
Madam Yan hurried to explain. “I heard your father-in-law was sick, so your father and I discussed it and decided to give you money for his treatment!”
“Ten million for his treatment?” Gu Qianran asked skeptically.
“The extra can count as a meeting gift for my daughter-in-law.” Madam Yan beamed.
Do rich people give such huge meeting gifts? Gu Qianran wondered inwardly.
After hearing the explanation, Yan Lu nodded. He picked up the two cards and handed them to Gu Qianran. “Senior Brother, then just take them.”
Seriously, don’t you think there’s anything strange about this, dear?
Looking at the cards held out to him, Gu Qianran refused firmly. “No, I can’t take them.” If he took them, breaking up would be impossible.
Yan Lu tossed the cards back to his mother. “Mom, Senior Brother isn’t a vulgar person. He doesn’t care about money.”
Gu Qianran wondered how he had failed to realize he was so above worldly concerns.
Madam Yan’s face flushed as she hurried to explain, “That’s not it, daughter-in-law, you misunderstood! I wasn’t trying to insult you with money. This is just a token of my affection. If you don’t like it, we can exchange it! What do you like? Jewelry? Antiques? Luxury cars? Famous watches?”
Gu Qianran did not even know what expression to make anymore. He could only look at Yan Lu.
Yan Lu automatically interpreted his gaze as a plea for help. He smiled gently at him and gave him a reassuring look before saying righteously to his mother, “Mom, you don’t have to do this. Senior Brother doesn’t like those things.”
“Then…” Madam Yan turned to her son for help as well. “What does your future wife want?”
Yan Lu said, “You don’t need to give him anything. Senior Brother knows you care about him and understands your intentions.”
“Yes, Auntie, I appreciate your kindness.” Gu Qianran smiled. “But I have no use for the things you mentioned, so really, there’s no need.”
Madam Yan was deeply moved. “Daughter-in-law, you’re such a good person!”
Gu Qianran was just about to protest and ask her to stop calling him that when his phone rang. The caller ID read “Mom.”
“Excuse me, I need to take this call.”
Gu Qianran gave them an apologetic smile before answering. The moment the call connected, he heard a fit of miserable sobbing from the other end.
“Sob, sob, Xiao Qian, sob…” a woman’s voice whimpered through her tears.
Gu Qianran frowned. “Mom, what’s wrong?”
“Sob, sob, Xiao Qian, your father… sob…” She broke down crying again halfway through the sentence.
Gu Qianran comforted her. “Mom, don’t panic. What happened to Dad?”
“Sob, sob, the doctor just said your father needs surgery…” Mother Gu finally managed to get the words out, but then she started crying again, so hard she could no longer speak to him.
“Surgery?!” Gu Qianran repeated.
Hearing that, Yan Lu and Madam Yan could not help becoming tense. They pricked up their ears, trying to overhear what was being said.
“Mom, don’t just cry. Explain what happened.” Gu Qianran spoke into the phone for quite some time, but still received no response.
“This won’t do. My mom’s too busy crying to explain anything.” Gu Qianran lowered the phone and said to the two of them, “Looks like I need to go to the hospital. I’m sorry, but I’ll have to take my leave.”
Gu Qianran had just finished speaking and was about to leave when Yan Lu grabbed his wrist first. He gazed at Gu Qianran, his eyes filled with tenderness, and said, “Senior Brother, I’ll go with you.”
Gu Qianran had intended to refuse, but when he saw the determination and gentleness in Yan Lu’s expression, he hesitated before nodding. “All right.”
He turned to Madam Yan and said apologetically, “Auntie, I’m sorry, but we have to go.”
“Wait!” Madam Yan called after them.
“Mom, what is it now?” Yan Lu asked.
“My car’s outside. I’ll drive you there!” Madam Yan stood up with her handbag. “Your future father-in-law is in such danger. I have to go see him! Oh, and I need to call your father, too!”
Although he was anxious, Gu Qianran was still speechless when he heard that. Had their relationship even reached the point of being called relatives by marriage? She was throwing around “future father-in-law” and “daughter-in-law” with such enthusiasm. If they broke up later, wouldn’t that be horribly awkward?