The moment the door cracked open, Zhu Queqi collided with a pair of startled eyes—Gu Ansheng’s mother had somehow come back and was pressing her ear to the door, eavesdropping. Their eyes met, and besides Gu Ansheng’s calm, composed expression, both Zhu Queqi and his mother were taken aback. For a moment, nobody spoke.
Finally, Gu Ansheng broke the awkward silence. “Mom, I’m going out for lunch and will probably be back late tonight. Don’t wait for me to eat.”
Gu Ansheng’s mother, still flustered from the earlier incident, wanted to leave as quickly as possible. She cleared her throat, muttered a brief “come back early,” and left without looking back… her steps hurried and abrupt.
When Gu Ansheng led Zhu Queqi into a state-run restaurant and they were seated, he quickly called over the waiter and began ordering, dish after dish. Seeing that he showed no sign of stopping, Zhu Queqi pressed her hand over his, sighing, “That’s enough! It’s just the two of us. We can’t finish all this food!”
Rarely asserting himself, Gu Ansheng gently brushed her hand aside. “Since we’ve made up, we should celebrate properly. If we can’t finish it, we’ll take it home—don’t skimp on this.” Seeing his serious expression, Zhu Queqi gave up arguing. Fine, let him have his way—after all, it wasn’t her money.
By the time the last dish, braised pigeon, was served, the table was already overflowing with plates, barely leaving room for chopsticks. Even the waiter couldn’t help but hesitate, stepping forward cautiously: “Comrade, the remaining dishes… maybe we should cancel them? I don’t know where we’d even put them.”
Braised pork, lion’s head meatballs, braised pigeon, spicy pig stomach—did Gu Ansheng order every meat dish in the restaurant? Staring at the mountain of food, Zhu Queqi didn’t even know where to start.
“Let’s just leave it at that for now. The rest can wait,” Gu Ansheng said, beginning to serve her. Fine, she’d eat whatever he put on her plate.
It was the first time Zhu Queqi had eaten her fill since returning to the city. At home, her mother rarely bought meat, and when she did, her younger brother always ate it first. She could only drink a little broth or, on hungrier days, go without.
She wasn’t picky… until she met Gu Ansheng.
She looked up to see him removing the skin from a chicken leg and placing the meat into her bowl while he ate the skin himself.
Yes, it was all Gu Ansheng’s fault. She hadn’t been fussy about food before, but knowing him had spoiled her in this one way.
After they finished eating, Gu Ansheng asked the waiter for some boxes and carefully packed the leftovers himself. “Let me carry them—they’re heavy.” Zhu Queqi reached to help, but he dodged her hand. “No need. I’ll take them.”
The sun was still up, and the streets were quiet. Turning into a small alley, it was just the sound of their footsteps. A few steps in, Gu Ansheng suddenly stopped, body stiff, as though making a very important decision. He reached out, grasping Zhu Queqi’s wrist firmly. His fingers were warm, his voice slow, each word heavy with tension: “Let’s get married.”
“Okay.” Zhu Queqi nodded slowly, her voice clear in his ear.
Gu Ansheng froze, unable to process it. Zhu Queqi called his name a few times before he came back to his senses. The sudden surprise left him dazed, and wild joy surged through him, forcing him to clamp down hard on his expression—his face almost twisted from the effort.
Seeing him like that, Zhu Queqi couldn’t help but raise her brows and cover her mouth, laughing softly. “Look at you! If a kid saw you like this, they’d probably cry!” She even bent over laughing.
Once she’d calmed down, she turned serious again. “But I have one condition. You must agree to it, or I won’t marry you,” she said firmly.
Gu Ansheng felt like he had fallen from heaven into hell. Thinking she was teasing him, he frowned and asked slowly, “What condition?”
“After we’re married, I won’t live with your mother.” Zhu Queqi finally said what she had wanted to say in her past life but never had the chance to. Saying it now felt like a heavy weight lifting off her chest; her breathing immediately felt lighter.
Gu Ansheng clearly hadn’t expected this. He stared at her, puzzled. “You don’t want to live with my mom? Fine, we won’t.” He paused, then asked, “But I want to know—why this condition? Have you met my mom before? Did something happen between you two?”
Zhu Queqi couldn’t tell him the truth—not about living a second life—so she gave a simple answer: “Historically, mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law don’t get along. I just don’t want to live with your mom—nothing strange about that.”
Gu Ansheng pressed his lips together, sensing there was more to the story, but the goal had been achieved. He didn’t push further.
As dusk settled, Gu Ansheng finally escorted Zhu Queqi home.
“Don’t go up yet, it’s late—you might miss the last bus.” Her parents were home, and she wasn’t ready for them to know she and Gu Ansheng were dating. She accepted the boxes he handed her reluctantly—she hadn’t wanted them, worried her mother would ask too many questions, but Gu Ansheng insisted.
Seeing him linger below, unwilling to leave, Zhu Queqi couldn’t help but smile. She waved and turned into the stairwell.