During dinner, Gu Chenshi only realized after sitting down at the table that there were three bowls and three pairs of chopsticks set out.
But his father, who was away on a business trip, hadn’t returned.
Gu Chenshi thought for a moment and understood what was going on.
His mother wasn’t suffering from dementia, so of course she couldn’t have miscounted.
Sure enough.
After finishing her tasks, Ms. Jing Lan went to knock on the door of the neighboring room.
“Xiao Yu, it’s not easy to cook for just one person, and eating takeout all the time isn’t good for your health either. Why don’t you have dinner at our place tonight? I made plenty anyway.”
Qiao Yu hesitated. “Auntie, this… this isn’t very convenient, is it…”
Jing Lan grabbed Qiao Yu’s arm and pulled her toward her own doorstep. “It’s perfectly convenient. From now on, just treat my home as your own.”
Qiao Yu glanced at Gu Chenshi sitting at the table and felt quite uneasy.
Jing Lan seemed to sense her concern and said, “Don’t mind him. He doesn’t get a say in this house yet.”
Gu Chenshi: “…”
Mom, come on—I haven’t even said anything, have I?
Jing Lan pulled out the chair opposite Gu Chenshi and warmly invited, “Xiao Yu, come, sit right here.”
Qiao Yu obliged and took a seat.
Since Gu Chenshi’s studies were usually quite demanding and he needed proper nutrition, Jing Lan would go out of her way every day to prepare meals so he could eat well.
But if she were alone at home, she’d just grab something simple to get by.
Today’s meal consisted of rice as the staple, three dishes and one soup. The soup was seaweed egg drop soup, and the dishes were braised pork ribs, pork stewed with vermicelli noodles, and stir-fried shredded potatoes.
“Sweetie, just treat this place as your own home. Don’t hold back at all—eat whatever you like.”
Jing Lan reminded her.
Qiao Yu softly acknowledged and began eating in small bites with her chopsticks.
Whether she felt restrained or not, Gu Chenshi didn’t know, but having a stranger suddenly appear at the dinner table made him quite uncomfortable.
Fortunately, this was his own home, so that discomfort quickly faded away.
He always ate quickly. After finishing the rice in his bowl and taking the last sip of soup, he got up and went to his room to do homework.
Senior year of high school was already the most critical year, and the teachers seemed to assign homework as if their lives depended on it. Every day, he had to work until past eleven o’clock before he could sleep.
He casually closed the door behind him, but the push was light, so it didn’t shut completely, leaving a small crack.
Through the crack, he could faintly hear Jing Lan and Qiao Yu chatting softly while eating outside.
Fully immersed in his studies, he didn’t pay attention to what they were talking about.
In his previous life, like many of his classmates, he found studying too exhausting and would occasionally feel lazy.
But after being reborn, he had come to appreciate this sense of grounded effort and striving for the future.
Wasn’t having the chance to work hard also a form of happiness?
After Gu Chenshi left, Qiao Yu relaxed considerably.
At seventeen or eighteen, people tend to be sensitive. Unless someone is naturally outgoing and cheerful, feeling uneasy around an unfamiliar person of the opposite sex is perfectly normal.
“Does the food suit your taste, Auntie?” Jing Lan asked.
Qiao Yu nodded. “It’s delicious, Auntie. Your cooking is the best food I’ve ever had.”
Jing Lan laughed heartily, assuming Qiao Yu was just being polite.
Little did she know, Qiao Yu had meant every word.
From her meal, Qiao Yu tasted the full flavor of home and happiness…
That was something she yearned for but could never attain!
She herself found it incredibly unbelievable.
According to her original plan, after arriving in this city, she would find a random place to live, then shut herself in her room except for necessary outings, going nowhere, and certainly having no contact with anyone.
If a house was a tomb, then she was a walking corpse lying inside…
But when she met her new neighbor, she found herself becoming increasingly unable to speak her mind…
She wanted to get close to her new neighbor, even foolishly fantasizing about integrating into her new neighbor’s family…
Given her usual personality, she would never casually go to someone else’s house for a meal.
But now, when her neighbor warmly invited her to eat, she actually felt very happy inside.
Her hesitation was only because she was afraid that her new neighbor’s son would find her too annoying.
Unconsciously, she ate a lot of food, her stomach full and her heart feeling particularly at ease.
For several days in a row, whenever there was an opportunity, Jing Lan would call Qiao Yu over for meals.
In her words, a young girl doesn’t eat much anyway—it was just a matter of adding an extra bowl and chopsticks.
Qiao Yu no longer declined.
Sometimes she would even go to the market to buy some vegetables or fruits and bring them back.
At first, Jing Lan would complain about her spending money recklessly, but then she thought: if she refused to accept anything, Qiao Yu would surely feel uncomfortable eating at her house, so she stopped saying anything.
As Qiao Yu came and went from their home more and more frequently, Gu Chenshi miraculously grew accustomed to her presence.
But it was quite interesting to think about.
Although Jing Lan and Qiao Yu went in and out together, as close as mother and daughter, Gu Chenshi and Qiao Yu hardly exchanged a single word between them, and there was no private communication at all.
It was as if they had become invisible to each other.
This situation was actually quite strange. They were all around the same age, and with more contact, they would naturally become familiar.
But because Gu Chenshi had a resistance to beautiful women and subconsciously kept his distance from Qiao Yu, while Qiao Yu might have been too introverted, it resulted in them seeing each other every day, even often eating at the same table, yet their relationship remained stagnant and very distant.
However, Gu Chenshi’s contact with Qiao Yu was limited to mealtimes—if that could even be considered contact.
Before, he would help his mother clear the table and wash the dishes after meals, but now Qiao Yu had taken over these tasks, leaving him with nothing to do. Perfect—time to study.
He would sit at his desk for two or three hours at a time, while Jing Lan and Qiao Yu chatted happily in the living room. Sometimes, when Gu Chenshi came out to get water, he would see them laughing heartily together at something amusing, and he would instinctively think: it’s nice that Mother now has someone to chat with.
Day after day, what used to feel tedious was now a daily enjoyment.
“Old Gu, here, let me treat you to a chicken leg.”
In the cafeteria at noon, Zhou Xiangyu placed a large chicken leg onto Gu Chenshi’s tray.
Gu Chenshi quickly covered his tray: “Hey, confess honestly—did this chicken leg fall on the ground?”
Because this guy had done this before, but fortunately Gu Chenshi was smart and didn’t fall for his trick.
Zhou Xiangyu said sadly, “Old Gu, if you say things like that, I’ll really be hurt, okay?”
It was then that Gu Chenshi noticed there was also a big chicken leg on Zhou Xiangyu’s tray.
“I told you, this chicken leg is for you to eat, so just eat it without worry—there’s no poison in it!” Zhou Xiangyu grumpily tossed the chicken leg into his tray.
Gu Chenshi snorted coldly, “Before I decide whether to eat this chicken leg or not, you’d better explain things clearly to me.”
Zhou Xiangyu said, “I already told you it’s for you to eat, it’s a thank-you fee.”
Gu Chenshi was half-convinced, half-doubtful, “Since when did you become so nice?”
Zhou Xiangyu decided not to keep him in suspense any longer, “I’ve been performing exceptionally well lately, and my parents were almost moved to tears, so they voluntarily increased my allowance, hehehe…”
Gu Chenshi asked suspiciously, “What does this have to do with me?”