Afraid that Lu Sui might say something reckless, Gu Kuankuan let go of her mother's hand and hurried over to him.
"Mr. Lu, I… could you pretend to be my boyfriend? Please don't let my mother know about our flash marriage yet. I'm afraid she couldn't handle the shock."
Gu Kuankuan pressed her palms together in a pleading gesture toward him.
Lu Sui pressed his lips together, his eyes darkening with displeasure, saying nothing.
"Husband…" Gu Kuankuan called out softly, her face flushing red despite herself.
She felt utterly shameless.
For her goal, any means necessary.
Just then, Mother Gu walked up to them. "Kuankuan, who is this gentleman?"
"Hello, ma'am! I'm Kuankuan's… boyfriend, Lu Sui. Sui as in amiable."
Lu Sui cast a cool, reserved glance at Gu Kuankuan, then extended his hand to Mother Gu with elegant composure.
Hearing this, Gu Kuankuan secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
She complained inwardly: Amiable? Him?
He was clearly cold and aloof, terrifyingly unapproachable.
"So you're Kuankuan's boyfriend?" Mother Gu was greatly surprised, shaking his hand awkwardly.
In her forty-some years of life, this was the first time she'd ever seen such a handsome man.
More handsome than the male stars on TV.
"Mm." Lu Sui nodded faintly.
Mother Gu said excitedly, "Mr. Lu, thank you so much for being willing to lend money to our Kuankuan. Don't worry, we will definitely pay this money back. We won't take advantage of you just because you're dating Kuankuan."
Playing along with Gu Kuankuan's act, Lu Sui said lightly, "Consider this money a betrothal gift for marrying Kuankuan in the future. There's no need to repay it."
Mother Gu thought for a moment and said, "If you and Kuankuan get married in the future, then fine, it counts as a betrothal gift. But if you break up, then it counts as a loan."
Lu Sui knew that if he refused, Mother Gu would surely keep nagging.
So he replied flatly, "Fine."
"Mom, I'm going to have a word with Lu Sui…"
Gu Kuankuan hinted to her mother that she could leave it at that.
"Alright, alright, I won't disturb you two then."
Mother Gu showed the first smile she'd worn in a month.
Then she turned and walked back toward the hospital building.
Mother Gu felt her daughter had found a good boyfriend, someone with shoulders she could lean on.
She was genuinely happy for her daughter.
"Um, I didn't run off on purpose before," Gu Kuankuan explained weakly. "My father's medical fees ran out, and I rushed over to pay, or they would have stopped his medication."
"My father is in the ICU, and the daily costs are huge. But don't worry, I won't ask you for money. If we divorce within three years and have no children, I'll work hard to pay back this two hundred thousand."
Gu Kuankuan was truly grateful that Lu Sui had given her two hundred thousand as a betrothal gift without a second thought.
Lu Sui's voice was cold and deep. "This two hundred thousand is a betrothal gift. Since I've given it to you, even if we divorce in the future, even if you offer it back, I won't take it."
"Oh…"
Gu Kuankuan nodded blankly.
She secretly resolved: aside from being a bit cold and a bit older, Lu Sui was, for now, beyond reproach. Since they were already married, she would live a good life with him!
Gu Kuankuan glanced at the time. "Mr. Lu, I have to go get busy now. Goodbye!"
She had barely taken a step when Lu Sui's large hand clasped her slender wrist.
"Your phone number?"
Gu Kuankuan froze for a moment, then hurriedly gave him her number.
Immediately after, her phone rang with a call from an unknown number ending in four 6s.
"It's mine. Save it," Lu Sui said.
"Okay, got it."
Gu Kuankuan nodded quickly and saved his number into her contacts.
Note: Mr. Lu.
"Mr. Lu, as far as my mom knows, we're only boyfriend and girlfriend. So for now, I'm not going to live with you. Once I find the right opportunity, I'll talk to my mom and tell her I want to register the marriage with you, and then I'll move in with you. Is that okay?"
Gu Kuankuan negotiated with him as nicely as she could.
Lu Sui felt she was truly pushing her luck, forcing him to give ground step by step!
"Fine," he said coldly.
"Thank you!" Gu Kuankuan let out a long breath of relief.
Then Gu Kuankuan waved goodbye to Lu Sui and rode her electric scooter home.
Just after she got home, Gu Kuankuan received another call, this time from her aunt.
"Gu Kuankuan, why didn't you go meet Mr. Lu? Huh?! I kindly introduced you to a rich husband, and this is how you treat my good intentions!" Lin Shumin berated her in a fury. "Do you want your father to die or something?"
Hearing Lin Shumin curse her father to death, Gu Kuankuan got angry.
Losing control, she lashed back without thinking, "Auntie, my father is not going to die. Even if you died, my father still wouldn't die!"
With that, Gu Kuankuan hung up.
Two or three minutes later, Gu Kuankuan's mind slowly calmed down.
Remembering what she'd just said to Lin Shumin, she felt a little nervous and scared—but also thought she'd been incredibly brave just now!
Gu Kuankuan let out a breath, took off the dress her father had given her, and lovingly hand-washed it clean and hung it up to dry.
Then she made herself a cup of instant noodles for lunch.
She changed into her delivery uniform and went off to her part-time delivery job.
……
Meanwhile.
Lu Sui returned to his ultra-luxurious thousand-square-meter duplex penthouse.
"Lu Sui!"
Grandma Lu had been waiting for him a long time.
The moment she saw him, she launched into an interrogation barrage. "Why didn't you go meet the Ye family's daughter? Are you trying to cut ties with your own grandmother? Starve me? Make me run away from home?!"
"The meeting was set for ten. By ten thirty, she still hadn't shown up," Lu Sui said indifferently.
Don't be fooled by the fact that Grandma Lu was already eighty—she was still hale and hearty.
When she made a fuss, it was especially headache-inducing and exhausting.
To keep Grandma Lu from turning the household upside down, Lu Sui had no choice but to set aside a few hours for the blind date.
Grandma Lu stormed over angrily and smacked Lu Sui on the butt with her cane.
"It's perfectly normal for young people to sleep in on weekends! Girls need time to put on makeup before going out. What's wrong with waiting half an hour for her?"
Without a word, Lu Sui pulled the marriage certificate out of his trouser pocket and held it up before Grandma Lu's eyes.
Grandma Lu froze in shock, then snatched the marriage certificate from his hand…
Her hands trembling, Grandma Lu opened the marriage certificate. When she saw Gu Kuankuan's photo, her excitement instantly cooled.
Then Grandma Lu became even angrier than before.
"Lu Sui, you wretch! You get a fake certificate to humor an old lady like me—can't you at least take this seriously? Huh? This girl looks so young, one glance and you can tell she's not even of marriageable age yet."
"If Grandma doesn't believe it, you can send someone to check," Lu Sui said coldly.
"Fine! You say you're married, so I'll believe you." Grandma Lu slapped the marriage certificate against his chest through gritted teeth and declared, "If you don't bring my precious granddaughter-in-law before me within three days, Lu Sui, I'm not done with you!"
In truth, Grandma Lu didn't believe that Lu Sui had gotten married at all.
What kind of person gets married, yet comes back alone without bringing his wife home with him?
Grandma Lu only said that to force Lu Sui to produce a granddaughter-in-law for her within three days!!
Otherwise…