Chapter 126: Contest for Attention

Ye Jin could even read her deepest worries. Gu Qingyu felt a pang of guilt in her heart, and eyes stung a little. She rubbed her tears away and explained, "My mother passed away, she died from a strange illness. Father said there was a blue flame pattern on her arm."

She looked up at him, his face had darkened. He pursed his lips and stroked her hair gently with his hand, then he said with a soft voice, "Xiao Yu'er, I will help you find out the truth."

"Yeah." Gu Qingyu nodded and arched into Ye Jin's arms. "Xiao Zhezhe."

Ye Jin smiled warmly and calmly. "I'm here." He has always been by her side, and he would never leave her.

They walked back to the duke's mansion. From a distance, Gu Qingyu saw Qi Yichen brooding as he sat on the steps of the mansion. As soon as he saw Gu Qingyu he rushed up to her. "Brother Zhu~ I shall forgive you, even though you have hurt my heart."

Ye Jin's face darkened and Gu Qingyu immediately ducked behind him. "No, please don't forgive me. Just give up completely."

Qi Yichen froze. Then, he huffed. "Brother Zhu, you will lose me like this!"

"Fine, whatever. What can you do anyway?" Gu Qingyu looked really puzzled.

"Nothing." Ye Jin added and then took Gu Qingyu's hand and walked into the mansion.

Qi Yichen stood there, petrified. "Brother Zhu...you really don't want me anymore..."

"Relax, Qi Wan still wants you!" Gu Qingyu squeezed Ye Jin's hand slightly, and turned back with a laugh. "Where's your Qi Wan anyway?"

"You took forever, boss!" Qi Wan was in the main hall and immediately ran over when he saw her.. "You took so long, I was going to start without you!"

"Start without me?" Gu Qingyu narrowed her eyes slightly, her body exuded a cold air, "Good. Because if you had, you would be dead."

Qi Wan cringed, the only time Gu Qingyu would get serious was when food was involved. Murong Zuoyu walked out of a passage and smiled slightly at her. "Brother Zhu, come and eat."

"Yeah!" Gu Qingyu nodded immediately and pulled Ye Jin towards the dining room.

Qi Wan sighed quietly and kept up. "I'm gonna lose my appetite at this rate..."

"Then don't eat anything, I will take yours and Qi Yichen's share." Gu Qingyu smiled, the smile was extremely amiable.

Qi Wan stiffened and immediately replied, "No! I'll eat, I'll rather stuff myself!"

The "stone statue" ran over when he heard her. "Don't say that, Brother Zhu. We can talk this out!"

In the dining room, Gu Qingyu drooled over the spread on the table. Xie Zang had already taken his seat at the table, and when he saw Gu Qingyu, he smirked, "Yo, kitten, you're back?"

"Huh." Gu Qingyu nodded. Xiao Qi had taken her seat as well, right next to Qian Cheng.

"Brother Zhu, after I finish this meal, I will return to Beiying." Qian Cheng looked a bit lonely.

Gu Qingyu nodded. "Don't worry, I'll visit you once we've gathered all of the Spirit Gems."

"Huh." Qian Cheng smiled slightly.

Ye Jin sat down. "Ah, Xiao Yu'er, I really have my work cut out. There's so much contest for your attention." Gu Qingyu turned to him with utter confusion.

Contestant No.1, Qi Wan, looked at Ye Jin with dissatisfaction. "Have you ever seen anyone as handsome and flawless as I am?"

Contestant No.2, Qi Yichen, rolled his eyes. "Of course there is. People like me wherever I go, I'm much more handsome than you!"

Contestant No.3, Murong Zuoyu, slowly made his way to his seat at the table and gracefully sipped his tea.

Contestant No.4, Xie Zang, winked at her. "Kitten, I am a contestant~"

Contestant No.5, Qian Cheng, rolled his eyes disdainfully. "Brother Zhu, don't listen to his rubbish."

Contestant No.6, Xiao Qi, glanced weakly at Ye Jin, then looked at Gu Qingyu. "Um...do I count, Xiao Yu?"

Gu Qingyu sighed.

Dinner was a cheerful, comforting occasion, everyone enjoyed the meal. As the table was cleared, Qian Cheng got up and bowed slightly at Gu Qingyu. "Brother Zhu, I'll go first."

"I'll walk you out." Gu Qingyu also stood up, she stole a glance at Ye Jin, worried about his reaction. Ye Jin just hmphed softly, it seemed that he relented. Ah, at least sometimes the great Hero Jia sees reason.

Qian Cheng nodded and stepped out of the dining room, Gu Qingyu kept up with him. She turned back before she left, and saw Qi Yichen waving a small handkerchief at her. "Come back soon, Brother Zhu~"

...Why did Qi Yichen's personality change so much since he came back? Although he was not much different from this at the beginning...

Xiao Qi looked up and waved at her older brother. Gu Qingyu and Qian Cheng walked slowly along the path, and neither of them spoke. Finally, Gu Qingyu broke the silence. "Qian Cheng, don't be too sad, I will write to you often."

"Really?" His eyes lit up.

"Of course." Gu Qingyu smiled, "When did I ever lie to you?"

Qian Cheng's face stiffened as memories of her tricks and pranks on him appeared in his mind, especially her payback prank after his failed attempt at teaching her how to fly. Gu Qingyu also realised what Qian Cheng was thinking, and coughs unnaturally. "Ahem, let bygones be bygones, eh? We should look to the future!"

Qian Cheng laughed after hearing that. "Got it."

Within moments, they arrived at the stables. The stablehand brought Qian Cheng's horse to them, and Qian Cheng got onto the saddle.

"Take care, Qian Cheng." Gu Qingyu also smiled. He turned the horse around and left the mansion in a gallop. Take care, and see you again.

Gu Qingyu turned to head back, but Xiao Qi was behind her. Gu Qingyu laughed. "Don't want to leave your brother? You can still catch up to him."

"I've already decided to go with you." Xiao Qi stood by her side and watched her brother's silhouette disappear into the setting sun. "He's actually a really gentle and caring person."

"Yeah." Gu Qingyu concurred, then held Xiao Qi's hand. "Let's go."

The pair strolled back to the main hall, only Qi Wan was there, slumped in one of the chairs and twiddling his fingers.

"Why are you alone?" Gu Qingyu asked, "Where's everyone else?"

"They all went back to their rooms to rest." Qi Wan raised his head and looked at Gu Qingyu, "Boss, it's New Year in a few days."

"Eh? Really?"

"Really." Qi Wan smiled. "Why, are you excited?"

"Yeah!" Gu Qingyu chimed, "It's the New Year!" Xiao Qi stared at the two of them with a quizzical look, they were so excited and enthusiastic, it would not surprise her if either of them had never celebrated the New Year before.

"Oh, what about Ye Jin?" Gu Qingyu looked around again to confirm that Ye Jin was not seen.

"He probably has something on." Qi Wan nodded thoughtfully.

Xiao Qi glanced worriedly at Qi Wan, then finally decided that it was better to tell Gu Qingyu the truth. "He looked very unhappy after you left, and he went back to the room that Duke Zuoyu prepared for him." and she looked down as soon as she finished her sentence.

Gu Qingyu nodded, then glanced at Qi Wan. "Take me there."

"Ah? Oh, okay..." Qi Wan touched his nose, didn't look at Xiao Qi and walked away on his own.

"Well, Qi Wan, you've got guts." Gu Qingyu looked at Qi Wan with a smile, "Did Ye Jin mention what he was busy with?"

"Boss, I'm wrong..." Qi Wan's expression looked like, "Don't get mad, I was just kidding..."

He stopped in front of a door and pointed at it. Gu Qingyu huffed lightly and signaled him to leave before she knocked on the door.

Ye Jin opened the door after she knocked a few times. He looked at her flatly. "What's the matter?"

Gu Qingyu did not expect such a lukewarm response. "Xiao Zhezhe, I'm back..."

"Why are you back? I thought you were leaving with Bei Cheng, you still make it if you go now." Ye Jin turned away and closed the door.

"No! Don't!" Gu Qingyu immediately reached out and blocked the door with her hand. "Xiao Zhezhe, let me explain!" He glanced at her hand, and instead of closing the door, he walked back into the room. She immediately slipped into the room and closed the door. Once the door was closed, she turned around and a light cologne filled her senses, and something soft was pressed against her lips.

Gu Qingyu stared wide-eyed at Ye Jin, who had closed the distance between them. She could see each of his eyelashes, his eyes were even bluer than she remembered. Her heart raced at their proximity. Seeing her like this, Ye Jin gently nipped at her lower lip, obviously a little unhappy. "And you're distracted when I'm kissing you?"

She looked at him weakly and chose to tell the truth. "I'm distracted by you..."

He seemed to be very pleased with her answer and kissed her again. It was not until she grew breathless did he break the kiss, he pressed Gu Qingyu into his arms. "Xiao Yu'er, I don't want you to see other beautiful men."

His words made Gu Qingyu cry and laugh at the same time. "I'll have to look at them when I talk to them, right?"

"Do you still want to talk to them?" His tone raised by a few notes as he leaned down to kiss her yet again.

"Fine, fine, fine! I won't talk to them, I won't look at them!"

"Hmph, that's more like it."

He ran his fingers through her soft hair. "Xiao Yu'er, what do you want to do after collecting all of the Spirit Gems?"

"Live with everyone, in peace." She answered matter-of-factly.

"In peace..." Ye Jin nodded. "Alright then."

"Eh?" She blinked and blinked, and looked up at him.

"Okay, Xiao Yu'er, it's getting late, let's go to bed." Ye Jin had a devilish grin on his face.

She took a step back, but her back was against the door. "Aha, haha, then I shall not bother you..."

"Where do you think you're going?" He gazed into her eyes softly.