There were only four words written on the note: Wait for me at the entrance.
Even though it had no signature, Xu Nansheng’s immediate gut feeling told her this was a note slipped to her by her uncle.
Clutching the note tightly in her palm, she found an excuse and walked casually toward the main entrance.
Little did she know that what she considered casual was completely exposed to her parents and brother, whose sharp eyes easily read right through her anxious and hurried expression.
Actually, one couldn’t really blame Xu Nansheng either. The act of secretly slipping a note for a clandestine rendezvous carried such an overwhelmingly intense stealth vibe.
Coupled with the fact that she was meeting her uncle, someone she had looked upon as an elder since childhood, Xu Nansheng couldn’t help her heart hammering wildly against her ribs, her very footsteps unconsciously speeding up and growing hurried.
Once outside, she practically broke into a light jog as she headed toward the outer courtyard.
Standing by the courtyard gates, she craned her neck left and right, but caught no sign of Gu Beiyan anywhere.
Xu Nansheng frowned. Had she misinterpreted the note? Wasn’t it her uncle after all?
She was just about to turn around when a hand shot out from behind a tree and yanked her straight into the shadows.
Her eyes widening in shock, Xu Nansheng was about to cry out for help when a large, wide palm covered her lips, carrying a faint trace of tobacco and woody musk.
Gu Beiyan’s chiseled, handsome face drew close, stopping just a breath away from hers. His voice dropped remarkably low, thick with a husky undertone that was devastatingly alluring.
Shh, your brother just came out.
Xu Nansheng turned her head slightly to catch a glimpse of Xu Jingze standing barely two steps away.
Standing straight and tall at the doorway, he scanned the surroundings before muttering to himself in confusion.
Running off this fast, who on earth is this girl going to see?
Reaching into his pocket, Xu Jingze fished out his phone, preparing to call Xu Nansheng.
Yet the moment he bolted outside, Gu Beiyan had already anticipated his move, having instructed Xu Nansheng to switch her phone to silent mode beforehand.
Staring at her brother’s incoming call glowing on the screen, Xu Nansheng didn’t even dare to breathe too loudly.
When the call finally ended and she lifted her gaze, she locked eyes with Gu Beiyan’s deep, piercing stare.
The moment their lines of sight collided, she guiltily averted her eyes, letting them fall instead upon the firm, muscular chest right before her.
They were standing far too close. The potent, heavy aura of his masculinity enveloped her, stirring an uncontrollable wave of intoxication and bewilderment.
Previously, she had only known that Gu Beiyan was devastatingly handsome. After all these years apart, she had no idea he could still be this bewitching without even lifting a finger.
Noticing her rapidly flushing cheeks and her eyes darting around with nowhere to land, Gu Beiyan couldn’t help the corner of his lips curling upward in secret satisfaction.
Uncle, are you looking for me…
Is your hand hurting?
Before Xu Nansheng could finish her sentence, Gu Beiyan reached out, taking her hand and turning it over to inspect her palm.
It’s all red.
Xu Nansheng: “…”
Was her uncle actually feeling sorry for her?
Just a moment ago as well, he had suddenly stood up to block Gu Hongyu, repeatedly interrupting the argument as if he were taking her side.
Yet the next second, Xu Nansheng dismissed the thought as highly improbable. He was the universally feared living Yama, someone even her eldest brother treated with a three-point reverence.
Yet…
He was clearly showing distress over her injured hand right now.
Completely oblivious to Xu Nansheng’s internal turmoil and her head shaking like a rattle-drum, Gu Beiyan gazed down at those slender, delicate hands. Seeing her palm still flushed from the slap, he couldn’t resist lightly stroking and gently kneading the skin.
That mud-spattered wretch had skin so thick she practically bruised Sheng Sheng’s palm.
No, it doesn’t hurt. Xu Nansheng quickly withdrew her hand, shyly pulling it behind her back as she instinctively took a step sideways to widen the distance between them.
Gu Beiyan glanced at his hand, where the residual warmth still lingered. Lowering his hand, he gave a low acknowledgment.
Mn.
The two of them stood in silence like this for a brief moment. She kept her head down, kicking pebbles on the ground, while he stood beside her, his gaze locked unblinkingly upon her form.
A moment later, she spoke up. Uncle, is there something you wanted to see me about?
If she stayed any longer, she feared she might suffocate.
The scent clinging to her uncle was simply too intense. Inhaled into her lungs and branded onto her heart, it stirred an inexplicable flood of emotions swirling deep within her.
It made Xu Nansheng feel thoroughly ill at ease.
You still haven’t accepted my friend request.
Xu Nansheng could hardly believe her ears.
He had gone through all the trouble of sneaking her out here like a thief, just to get her to accept a friend request?
Still, listening to Gu Beiyan’s words had become a conditioned reflex. She uttered an oh, fished out her phone, navigated to the friend requests tab, found Gu Beiyan’s profile, and tapped accept.
As she clicked to edit the contact’s nickname, the words Uncle barely typed out when Gu Beiyan’s elegant, mellow voice drifted down from above. He drew out his tone with a strange, lingering tenderness.
My last name is Gu, and yours is Xu. When did I ever become your uncle?
Just as Xu Nansheng opened her mouth to offer an explanation, she heard him add, You surely haven’t been senile enough to forget what happened last night by today, have you?
A wave of guilty panic washed over Xu Nansheng. …Then, what should I set your nickname as?
What nickname? Naturally it should be Husband, Baby, or Darling!
Though she shrieked those words internally, Gu Beiyan maintained his habitual, solemn expression on the outside.
Do you not know what my name is?
Oh.
Right before his very eyes, she obediently typed the three characters Gu Beiyan into the box.
Gu Beiyan thought to himself that perhaps, as Guo Yueze claimed, he really was a bit of a psycho.
Just watching her type out his own name was enough to send a wave of secret euphoria blooming across his chest.
Once finished, she looked up and caught him wearing an inadvertent smile.
She froze for a split second.
Gu Beiyan possessed deeply chiseled features, and he was usually devoid of smiles, keeping everyone at a respectful distance.
Yet just now, had he actually smiled?
Furthermore, when he smiled, he looked surprisingly gentle, enough to trick someone into a fleeting illusion of deep affection.
Is there anything else, Uncle?
Gu Beiyan: “…”
He wanted to correct her form of address, but considering how many years she had called him that, failing to switch over immediately was only natural.
He couldn’t rush it; he had to take it slow.
Nothing else.
He stepped back and raised his hand, initially intending to brush a stray lock of hair away from her forehead. However, the moment his cold, slender fingertips touched the skin of her forehead, he distinctly felt Xu Nansheng give a slight, involuntary flinch.
Gu Beiyan paused slightly, his expression chilling in response.
Afraid of me?
Xu Nansheng pressed her lips together, forcing a strained smile as she shook her head. No, not at all. It’s just… your fingers are a bit cold, Uncle.
Gu Beiyan curled his fingers inward. Even when his body temperature was normal, his hands tended to run cold.
Perhaps he had startled her with his chilliness.
Pulling his hand back, he gave a very soft mn. Before leaving, he made a point to drop a reminder.
You have two days left.
Two days left…
That morning, she had blurted out a three-day deadline purely out of panicked impulse.
Now, it felt like a death-row countdown, torturing Xu Nansheng with agonizing anxiety as her mind raced without a clue of what she ought to do.
After Gu Beiyan departed, Xu Nansheng didn’t rush back inside immediately. Feeling as though those forty-odd minutes spent interacting with him had completely drained every ounce of her strength, she slid down against the courtyard wall in a boneless crouch.
Once she regained her composure and hurried back inside, she found that her older brother had already left the house on an errand.
Xu Nansheng let out a long sigh of relief, feeling as though she had miraculously cheated death once again.
Lying on her bed, she messaged Qi Yue, recounting every single detail of today from the Gu family’s arrival to plead guilty down to the permanent cancellation of the marriage.
Once she finished rattling off her lengthy paragraphs, Qi Yue replied with a non-sequitur.
Seven Treasures: [Gu Beiyan? What did he go there for? Did he go specifically to have your back because he was afraid Gu Hongyu would bully you? Wait, that doesn’t make sense. That’s your house, no matter how bold Gu Hongyu is, he wouldn’t dare bully you right in front of your family.]
Seven Treasures: [I get it now. Gu Beiyan likes you, and he went there purely to watch with his own eyes as your engagement to Gu Hongyu was officially voided.]