By the time Meng Yao returned home by cart, it was already past five o’clock.
As she pushed open the gate and entered the courtyard, she happened to see Meng Yu and Chen Hong standing together, whispering quietly about something.
Occasionally, words like “television” and “watch” drifted over.
Meng Yao didn’t think much about it and simply walked past them toward the living room.
Instead, Meng Yu looked startled and immediately exchanged glances with Chen Hong.
Seeing that it was Meng Yao, Chen Hong forced a smile and greeted her.
“Ah Yao, selling vegetables again today?”
Meng Yao disliked Meng Yu, and by extension, she couldn’t bring herself to like Chen Hong either.
There was no special reason beyond the fact that Chen Hong wasn’t favored at home. Because her parents preferred sons over daughters, Meng Yao had seen her more than once taking advantage of her family’s absence to beat her little brother until he cried loudly.
Preferring sons over daughters was wrong, but Chen Hong hitting a three or four-year-old child still left Meng Yao deeply unimpressed.
When Chen Hong greeted her, Meng Yao merely gave a slight nod without saying a word.
Watching Meng Yao walk into the house with her schoolbag, Chen Hong scratched her head in confusion.
“Meng Yu, don’t you think your sister seems different lately?”
The last few times she had come to visit Meng Yu, Meng Yao barely acknowledged her. In the past, whenever she came over, Meng Yao would not only greet her warmly but would also bring out snacks from the house to share.
Meng Yu curled her lips disdainfully.
“We had a fight. We’ve barely spoken for half a month.”
Chen Hong inhaled sharply.
Even someone as good-tempered as Meng Yao could get angry?
“And you two are just staying like this without making up?”
Meng Yu sneered.
“Who cares about making up with her? If we don’t talk, then we don’t talk! Let’s see who suffers in the future!”
In the future, she would not only become a university student, but also the wife of an official. Even if Meng Yao begged her later, she still wouldn’t reconcile.
Seeing that Meng Yu was genuinely angry, Chen Hong wisely stopped interfering between the sisters.
She firmly believed the two would eventually reconcile anyway. After all, Meng Yao’s love for her younger sister was famous.
The two arranged another trip to the city together before Chen Hong finally left.
Back in her bedroom, Meng Yao first took out the hairpin and stared at it quietly for a while before eventually pulling out a mirror.
The delicate peacock hairpin rested against her hair, making her already beautiful face appear even more radiant. She curved her lips into a smile, warmth filling her brows and eyes.
Carefully putting the hairpin away, she then took out an English novel to read.
Technically, it wasn’t truly a novel, but rather a collection of short stories chosen specifically by Gu Jingcheng so she wouldn’t get bored while developing her reading habits.
Recently, her vocabulary had improved significantly. Reading no longer felt difficult, though she still hadn’t reached the point where she could translate everything after a single glance.
Using the spare time, she picked up the yarn she had bought earlier that day and began knitting a scarf while reading.
Meanwhile, over at the Gu residence, inside Gu Jingcheng’s bedroom—
After showering, Gu Jingcheng lay in bed tossing and turning, unable to sleep.
His mind was filled entirely with the image of the girl.
After thinking for a while, he suddenly got up and began pacing beside the bed.
Did she like the hairpin?
Would she throw it away?
Why had she suddenly become so cold toward him?
Although he always acted carefree and unruly, he was actually very sensitive inside. He had noticed Meng Yao’s changed attitude toward him immediately today, but he couldn’t understand the reason.
Could it be that she simply didn’t like his type?
For the first time in his life, Young Master Gu fell into confusion.
Unable to sleep anyway, he made himself a cup of coffee and prepared to go downstairs for some fresh air.
As he descended from the second floor, he noticed that the study on the first floor was still lit.
Gu Qiweng and Kang Peiyu both lived upstairs, while only Old Master Gu, whose legs were inconvenient, stayed downstairs.
Pushing open the study door, he saw Old Master Gu wearing reading glasses and squinting at financial reports in his hands. Beside him sat a notebook packed densely with notes.
Gu Jingcheng swaggered inside and clicked his tongue.
“Still studying this late instead of sleeping?”
Old Master Gu adjusted the glasses on his nose and glanced at the coffee in Gu Jingcheng’s hand.
“What are you doing here?”
Because of the engagement matter, the two had barely gotten along these past few days. Yet tonight, things were unusually calm.
Seeing the old man still reviewing company reports so late at night made Gu Jingcheng feel uncomfortable.
He placed the coffee beside him.
“Imported stuff. Freshly brewed. You’re lucky.”
Old Master Gu snorted coldly and glanced at the dark liquid. It looked almost like traditional Chinese medicine, making him frown instinctively.
“Another gift from those foreign fox-friends of yours?”
“Can you stop calling them fox-friends? They’re overseas students. Can’t you keep up with the country’s changing times?” Gu Jingcheng complained.
“I’m old. I can’t keep up anymore.”
Old Master Gu removed his glasses and stared at him for a moment before asking,
“So, have you thought about the marriage arrangement with the Meng family? Have you figured things out yet?”
Gu Jingcheng rolled his eyes and turned to leave.
“Go to bed early if there’s nothing else. The factory won’t collapse without you. Don’t stay up all night like us young people.”
Old Master Gu: “…”
As Gu Jingcheng walked out, he sighed deeply.
That rare moment of warmth had been wasted. Who knew when the old man would finally change his mind?
The moment he returned to his bedroom, his eyes suddenly landed on a small packet of candy sitting on the table.
He slapped his forehead.
Crap!
Downstairs, Old Master Gu stared suspiciously at the steaming “medicine” in front of him. He lifted it and sniffed it carefully, catching the roasted fragrance of beans.
Determined to keep up with modern times, he took a sip.
The next second, he spat the coffee straight out.
Coffee splattered all over the desk. Old Master Gu’s blood pressure nearly shot through the roof in anger.
That brat definitely did it on purpose!
The scarf for Gu Jingcheng was quickly finished and stored inside Meng Yao’s schoolbag.
Today, while solving problems, she encountered a particularly difficult question. Unable to figure it out left her so frustrated she couldn’t even eat properly, so she packed her bag and headed to the educated youth center to ask Ji Ming for help.
As expected, Ji Ming was there.
At noon, he was alone in the courtyard turning over peanuts with a rake.
For some inexplicable reason, Meng Yao suddenly thought of Gu Jingcheng again. Feeling as if she was becoming obsessed, she hurriedly shook her head to clear her thoughts.
“Meng Yao? What brings you here?” Ji Ming noticed her.
“There’s a question I can’t solve. I wanted to ask you for help.”
After speaking, Meng Yao looked around curiously.
“Why are you the only one here today? Where are the others?”
“The village chief took them to work in the fields.”
Ji Ming set down the small rake in his hand and said,
“Come on, let me take a look.”
The two lowered their heads together beneath the large tree in the courtyard, studying the problem side by side.
The front gate remained open. Aside from the sound of discussing questions, the courtyard was completely quiet.
As Meng Yu passed by the entrance, her gaze accidentally caught sight of something.
She immediately backed up.
From her angle, Meng Yao and Ji Ming’s figures appeared almost overlapped together, practically leaning against each other. Ji Ming was even smiling while looking at Meng Yao.
They looked exactly like a couple deeply in love.
Meng Yu narrowed her eyes and slowly smiled.
She decided not to visit Chen Hong for now.
Instead, she would head home first.
After finally solving the difficult problem, Meng Yao felt refreshed and relaxed. On the way home, she happily thought about what to cook for lunch.
But the moment she arrived home, she sensed something was wrong.
Inside the living room, Meng Zhihong and Zhao Meilan were sitting stiffly together. They had returned home earlier than usual.
Meng Yao walked in, set down her schoolbag, and spoke to them.
“Father, Mother, why are you home so early today? I’ll go make lunch now.”
Hearing her voice, Meng Yu emerged from the bedroom and walked into the living room, giving Meng Yao a smug smile.
Meng Yao immediately felt something strange.
Zhao Meilan looked at her worriedly.
A bad feeling rose inside Meng Yao’s heart.
“Father, Mother… what happened?”