A week ago, before this storm stirring up public opinion in Jindu had even begun, the afternoon at the Bai residence was this quiet—
Sunlight cut diagonally across the carved wooden window lattice of the study, casting rows of diamond-shaped light patches onto the dark gray brick floor. The air floated with the microscopic dust scent of aged Xuan paper, mixed with the tea aroma of this spring’s freshly picked Mengding Ganlu.
Bai Jianjia lowered her gaze to look at the character “Boat” just written on the paper, and gently let out a breath.
Seven years.
The last time she saw Gu Yuzhou, she had just entered university, wearing a simple ponytail, and obediently called him “Brother Yuzhou” at a banquet.
He was only seven years her senior. At that time, he had just finished his studies and returned from abroad, yet he had already taken over parts of the family business. Wearing a well-fitted suit, he sat among the elders chatting and laughing with composure, clearly belonging to a different world from her.
“Jianjia.”
Her father Bai Muzhi’s voice pulled her back from her memories.
Today, he had specially worn a dark gray cashmere cardigan with a light-colored mandarin collar shirt inside, his expression behind silver-rimmed glasses gentle: “Your Uncle Gu and his family have arrived, come with me to the front hall.”
“Coming.” She acknowledged, placing her brush on the celadon brush rest. When she stood up, her skirt hem brushed against the chair surface without making the slightest sound.
Passing through two moon gates, the murmuring voices from the front hall could be vaguely heard.
Bai Jianjia followed half a step behind her father, her gaze falling first on the pots of spring orchids blooming just right in the center of the hall, and then slowly shifting toward the guest seating—
Gu Yuzhou was sitting there.
Early spring in Jindu still carried a chill. He wore a dark gray wool coat of exquisite texture with crisp shoulder lines, inner-layered with a matching suit and a light gray shirt, his tie knotted impeccably.
This composed and proper attire, for some reason, popped the words “senior cadre” right into her head.
His facial features were sharper than they were seven years ago, his jawline clear and defined, and a pair of gold-rimmed glasses rested on the bridge of his nose—something she had never seen before.
The next second, however, she saw him take off his glasses and put them aside. Because there was an empty seat between them, he turned slightly to listen to Bai’s mother, Lin Shuying, talking. His profile was sharp and his nose bridge high.
The afternoon light plated a soft border around him, causing that innate sense of detachment to fade a bit.
Seeming to notice the gaze, he turned his face toward her.
The moment their eyes met, Bai Jianjia’s breathing hitched slightly.
Time had settled a more composed temperament upon him.
His brow bones were deep, yet his gaze was gentler than in her memory—perhaps it was just an illusion.
He stood up, his movements unhurried, and nodded toward her.
“Jianjia is here.” Gu’s mother, Su Wenying, beckoned with a smile, “Come over and sit, we were just talking about you.”
Bai Jianjia smiled and walked gracefully toward the seat reserved for her between her mother and Gu Yuzhou.
She wore a light apricot-colored cashmere cheongsam, overlaid with a matching knit cardigan, the neckline adorned with pearl buttons.
Passing by him, she caught a faint fragrance, like the lingering trace of some aftershave.
She sat down as instructed, her spine unconsciously straight.
This outfit was not her usual style, but her mother had explicitly instructed her this morning, saying today’s occasion was different.
Once seated, her cuffs shrank slightly with her movement, revealing a slender wrist. The suet white jade bracelet on her wrist was warm and glowing, also put on by her mother early this morning. It echoed from afar with the red string on her other wrist.
She dutifully greeted the Gu elders: “Uncle Gu, Aunt Gu.” Finally, her gaze fell onto the face of Gu Yuzhou beside her, her lips parting slightly:
“Brother Yuzhou.”
She used the same address as seven years ago, her voice very soft, like spring willow catkins brushing across the water’s surface.
Gu Yuzhou’s movement of sitting down paused imperceptibly.
He raised his eyes.
The tail end of that “brother” was soft, like a feather, landing precisely deep within his ear canal.
Seven years ago, she had called him that too. At that time, she wore a ponytail, still not reaching his shoulder when standing beside him, tilting her face up, obedient and proper.
Yet now it was different.
The girl sitting beside him now was his soon-to-be bride, and her name would be listed alongside his on the marriage certificate.
The little girl of the past would be the person sharing his life’s journey.
This thought barged into his chest without warning, heavy and carrying a certain gentle weight.
His throat tightened slightly, and it was a moment before he spoke, his voice lower and deeper than in memory:
“Jianjia.” His voice was deeper than in memory.
Pausing.
“……Long time no see.”
Everyone sat down again.
The housekeeper quietly stepped forward to refill the tea, amber tea soup pouring from the celadon teapot with a babbling sound.
Bai Muzhi and Gu’s father, Gu Haiyuan, were longtime friends, so the topic naturally started from an upcoming cultural relic exhibition and gradually turned to serious business.
Bai Jianjia listened quietly, but her gaze couldn’t help drifting to the side—
Gu Yuzhou held a teacup in one hand while his other hand rested on the armrest of the Tai Shi chair.
His fingers were slender, distinct in joints yet not bony, and his nails were trimmed neatly and cleanly.
At this moment, his fingertips were tapping unconsciously on the wood grain of the rosewood, his wrist bone slightly prominent, revealing the edge of a silver watch strap from his cuff.
The sunlight happened to fall upon that patch of skin, revealing the faint greenish hue of blood vessel pathways.
Bai Jianjia felt her heartbeat skip a beat.
She had never had much resistance to members of the opposite sex with nice hands; this was a secret she had known since childhood.
She just hadn’t expected that after seven years apart, this weakness would flare up so quickly when facing Gu Yuzhou.
It really was… exceptionally good-looking.
If holding a cup looked this good, then holding a pen…
“I still remember too, the first time Yuzhou came to the Bai family, Jianjia must have been six, right?” Gu’s mother Su Wenying’s gentle voice interrupted her train of thought. “Hiding behind her father, only poking out a little head to peek.”
Lin Shuying took over the conversation: “Indeed. Later on, somehow they got close, and every day she followed behind Yuzhou, calling him Brother Yuzhou this and Brother Yuzhou that. Once, when Yuzhou was practicing calligraphy in the study, Jianjia peeked through the door frame, and when I caught her, she stubbornly insisted she was looking for a cat.”
Bai Jianjia’s earlobes flushed suddenly.
She certainly remembered that afternoon.
Thirteen-year-old Gu Yuzhou was copying rubbings in the study, his profile focused, his brush-holding fingers as steady as a pine.
At the time, she thought this older brother not only had nice hands, but even the way he wrote looked so wonderful.
“Mom…” She protested in a small voice.
“Yuzhou was only thirteen or fourteen back then, acting like a little adult,” Bai Muzhi recalled from over there as well. “Every time he came, he remembered to bring candy for Jianjia, and instructed her that she could only eat one a day lest she get cavities.”
At that moment, Gu Yuzhou at the edge suddenly leaned in, pouring her tea while asking, “Does she still like candy?”
The question came abruptly, and coupled with the sight of that tea-pouring hand, Bai Jianjia started, then put on a proper smile and shook her head: “Not anymore.”
Actually, she still did.
She hid various snacks in her study drawer, and fruit candy was one of them, but in an occasion like this, she naturally couldn’t say so.
As her words fell, out of the corner of her eye, she caught the corners of Gu Yuzhou’s lips curving slightly.
A very faint smile, vanishing in a flash.
Gu Haiyuan sipped his tea and looked at Bai Muzhi: “Muzhi, the engagement set between them when they were little should now be formally put on the agenda. Yuzhou is thirty-two this year, and Jianjia is twenty-five, both at the right age.”
The hall fell silent for a moment.
Bai Jianjia felt everyone’s gaze land upon her.
She lowered her eyes, staring at the tea leaves slowly unfurling in the celadon cup, listening to her own heartbeat drumming loudly against her eardrums.
This was something she had known all along.
Ever since she could remember, she knew the Bai family’s only daughter would marry the Gu family heir.
A union of two surnames, a covenant of matching families, a bond of eternal fate, well-matched and proper.
Nor had she ever resisted it.
Yet when this moment truly arrived, there was still a sense of unreality.
Just as her friend Wen said: “Knowing the script and performing on stage yourself are ultimately two different things.”
“What does Yuzhou think?” Bai Muzhi looked at the young man before him, his gaze holding an elder’s scrutiny as well as a close friend’s trust.
Gu Yuzhou raised his eyes, his gaze sweeping past Bai Jianjia’s lowered profile first before turning to Bai Muzhi: “Uncle Bai, although Jiangjia and I haven’t seen each other for many years, I’ve known of the engagement between the Gu and Bai families since childhood. If Jianjia is willing,” he paused, his voice steady, “I will do my utmost to ensure her life is safe and smooth.”
It was not a promise of passionate romance, but every word was steady and landed with weight.
Bai Jianjia looked up, catching his gaze precisely.
Those eyes were deep, like autumn pools without a visible bottom, yet inexplicably comforting.
“And Jianjia?” Lin Shuying gently held her daughter’s hand.
She looked at her mother, feeling the warmth of her mother’s palm and also sensing the gaze from beside her.
Taking a deep breath, the corners of her lips curved into a proper arc: “I’ll listen to the elders’ arrangements.”
The moment the words left her mouth, she caught sight of Gu Yuzhou’s eyelashes trembling imperceptibly.
The marriage certificate had been drafted long ago.
Sprinkled-gold red paper, upright ink characters written in Gu Yuzhou’s own hand—Bai Jianjia recognized that regular script, full of bones and structure, carrying the inherited backbone of the Gu family.
Gu Yuzhou took the fountain pen and signed his name in the “groom” section.
The nib glided across the paper with a soft rustling sound.
His posture holding the pen was as standard as ever, index finger slightly curved, thumb lightly pressing down—a habit formed from years of practicing calligraphy.
Bai Jianjia watched him finish signing and hand the pen over.
The moment their fingers brushed, she felt the slightly cool temperature of his fingertips and the roughness of his thin calluses.
The string in her heart twitched lightly, and she quickly took the pen, signing “Bai Jianjia” right beside her own name.
Her regular script was neat, elegant, and composed—the proper demeanor taught by the Bai family for twenty years.
Su Wenying took the marriage certificate and looked it over carefully, misty with gratified tears: “Truly wonderful… The daughter raised by the Bai family is truly one in a hundred.”
“Yuzhou is the truly accomplished youth,” Lin Shuying smiled and exchanged pleasantries, though her hand never stopped holding her daughter’s.
The topic returned to wedding details.
Dates, venues, itineraries—both families discussed everything with mutual consultation, the atmosphere so harmonious it didn’t feel like a negotiation regarding the dignity of two major wealthy families, but rather like the preparation for an ordinary family’s joyous wedding.
Bai Jianjia occasionally chimed in, mostly listening quietly.
She noticed Gu Yuzhou didn’t speak much, but every sentence hit the mark.
When discussing the style of the wedding, he said: “We’ll do whatever style Jianjia likes, and the Gu family will cooperate fully.” His tone was flat, yet carried an unquestionable weight.
After three rounds of tea, the sun outside was slanting westward.
Gu Haiyuan glanced at the time and smiled: “We’ve unknowingly chatted for so long. Muzhi, what time do you think is suitable to set the wedding date?”
Bai Muzhi exchanged a glance with his wife, then their gaze landed on Gu Yuzhou and their daughter: “Do you two have any thoughts?”
Gu Yuzhou didn’t answer immediately.
He turned toward Bai Jianjia, his gaze gentle: “I looked into it beforehand; the eighth of next month is an auspicious day. Although the time is a bit tight, the Gu family can arrange it well. Only…” He paused, “Would it be too rushed?”
He was asking for her opinion.
The eighth of next month.
Bai Jianjia mentally calculated: that was a month from now.
A month from now, she would become Gu Yuzhou’s wife.
She looked up at him.
Gu Yuzhou was also looking at her. She suddenly recalled that afternoon years ago when teenage Gu Yuzhou looked at her just like this, asking if she wanted the osmanthus candy he brought.
Her heart skipped another beat.
She shook her head slightly: “No.”
Gu Yuzhou nodded and turned back to the elders: “Then let’s set it for the eighth of next month?”
Bai Muzhi clapped his hands and laughed: “Good! Then that’s settled!”
Dust settled.
At that time, the room was filled with the fragrance of tea, and no one expected that seven days later, this marriage blessed by their families would break into the public eye in such a sharp manner.
Yet at this moment, as dusk grew heavier, Bai Jianjia picked up her lukewarm tea and took a sip.
Out of the corner of her eye, Gu Yuzhou was lowering his head to adjust his cuffs. Under the dim yellow light, those hands had distinct joints and were too striking to look away from.
She gently averted her gaze, the corners of her lips curling into the slightest arc.
At that time, she didn’t know that a week later, those very hands would hold up twenty-year-old photographs in front of the entire internet to shield her from all the wind and rain.