CH 101

Ruan An’an usually had dinner with her grandparents twice a week, once a week if she had a date with Gu Jue.

The private chefs hired by the Lin family had always been her favorite. In her years abroad, she had gone to top-tier Chinese restaurants, but none of them hit the spot quite like the Lin family chefs.

Ruan An’an was more or less done eating, and was just sipping on some extremely flavorful fish soup, when her grandpa spoke up from across the table, “Are you busy recently?”

“…” Ruan An’an instinctively knew she wouldn’t like what he was going to say next, “Yeah, extremely busy.”

Lin Songbai barked out: “I’ve been keeping tabs on you! You don’t even take that many classes, what have you been busy with?!”

Ruan An’an smiled, “I’m busy dating.”

“…” Every time this topic got brought up, Lin Songbai’s expression became unnatural, he asked awkwardly, “Tell me the truth, with this relationship, are you just playing around or are you serious about it?”

“Of course, I’m serious about it…” Ruan An’an glared at him, “Grandpa, this is my first relationship ever. To hell with playing around! I can’t be more serious about it!”

After a moment, Lin Songbai spoke again, “A few days ago, I was on the phone with that old man Gu, we…”

Ruan An’an immediately knew where this was going, “Oh, the Gu’s have 2 sons. Do you want me to meet with the elder or the younger one?”

“… Don’t be so quick to decline.” Lin Songbai could tell from her tone that it wasn’t going to work, and tried explaining, “It’s not an arranged date. There would probably be collaborations between the two companies sometime in the future. You’ll meet eventually anyway. It would be good to get acquainted…”

“Then, we’ll just meet when work comes up.” Ruan An’an said with a grin on her face, “It’s better to keep my work and private lives separate.”

Lin Songbai ran out of arguments, and huffed out, “My child, say, would it kill you to make a new friend?”

Ruan An’an focused on her soup and made no response. After a bit, he thought of another angle, “Oh, right, don’t you like good-looking people? His grandpa told me, the second Gu has had a lot of admirers since he was a child. There was an unprecedented number of girls who were falling for him, even more so now that he’s grown up…”

“I’m not interested even if he’s Casa Nova reincarnated.” Ruan An’an said, “You haven’t heard the rumors surrounding him, have you?”

Jiang Yi and Yin Yuan had educated her on various stories about this legendary hottie.

To be fair, he never instigated anything. It was always one-sided from the ladies. A girl from this well-known family, another from that family, and even one of his cousins… Something like his maternal aunt’s daughter, she was a known face within the socialite circle as well. Her crazed actions were broadcasting her infatuations very publicly.

Rumors were rumors for a reason. They were obviously exaggerated and even untrue to a certain extent, but from the sounds of it, this man was a walking pheromone, leaving a trail of broken hearts everywhere he went.

After summarizing the gist of it, Ruan An’an wiped her mouth and shrugged, “… See, the youngest Mr. Gu can attract this much attention even when he’s been living abroad and not shown up for any public events in Qing Cheng. I’d rather not fight against his army of fans.”

Lin Songbai wanted to interject, but Ruan An’an waved her hand dismissively, “There is too much drama in this circle. Call it PTSD, if you will… I might actually gain a fear of marriage if I get involved any further.”

Ruan An’an knew where Lin Songbai was coming from. If she was just playing around, then her boyfriend was just a boyfriend, someone she could break up with at any time.

Her grandpa wouldn’t do anything to harm her. He had already stated that the Lin family would never leverage her marriage for anything. However, Ling Songbai didn’t see eye-to-eye with her philosophies and wanted her to find a partner within the socialite circle.

There was a “no phone during meals” rule in the Lin household. Done with her meal, Ruan An’an grabbed her phone from the side cabinet, and returned to her seat as she unlocked iit.

“When I didn’t have someone I like, I met whomever you wanted me to. I was single and had no reason to refuse. That’s why I met with Cheng Yi that one time.”

“But now, I’m in a relationship, with someone I really like…”

Ruan An’an trailed over. On her screen, there were several dozens of notifications from WeChat.

She was taken aback. She opened the app only to find most of them were from Gu Jue.

Half an hour ago.

Reporting to my girlfriend, just finished tutoring

I’ve gotten off now

Waiting for the bus

…

This was the norm since a week after they started dating.

One night, Gu Jue had the bright idea of live reporting on WeChat where he was and what he was doing. From then on, every few days, she would get a “live broadcast”.

…

I just passed by this girl. She was staring at me.

Why is she staring? Do I have something on my face?

It’s my stop. She stopped walking and pretending to be looking for something… Sigh, I know she’s just using it to stare at me longer.

Don’t worry, I only noticed her because I have sensitive peripheral vision. I wasn’t staring back. It’s unreciprocated.

Do you realize, how attractive I am now? You should really treasure me.

Ten minutes ago.

I got home

Feeding the cat first. Oh, my feline lord.

He’s meowing, telling me to find him a mommy.

So, my cat just told me, he can’t wait to see you

Just now.

If my girlfriend hasn’t been kidnapped, please reply with “love you, hubby”.

It was all normal until the very last message. Ruan An’an burst out laughing.

She couldn’t help but picture him as she read those words.

Maybe that person had just finished feeding his cat and was now splayed out on his couch, staring at his phone, a circle of shadows on his face cast by his lashes, patiently waiting for her reply.

Suddenly, those words seemed to radiate warmth. Ruan An’an replied with a “love you” reaction. She raised her head to look at Lin Songbai.

“Grandpa, even though I haven’t known him for long, but when I imagine getting married in the future…” She flashed a bright smile at the old man, “I can’t think of anyone other than him.”

The midterm season at University C lasted 3 days. Gu Jue only needed to be there on Thursday.

The questions were too easy, and most of them were multiple-choice. He was done only 20 minutes in, but since Ruan An’an was writing in the same exam room, he waited until she was finished and handed in his papers along with her.

His girlfriend was coming over to see his cat this Saturday, so after spending Friday morning at the office, he cleared his afternoon schedule to prepare.

When Gu Jue first saw the pre-furnished home, he was less than satisfied with it. The furniture colors and styles were way too gaudy: the leather couch had light green with golden legs, the coffee table was also rimmed with gold, the walls were filled with cheap-looking mass-produced art prints with golden frames… overall ladened with gaudiness and extremely ugly.

Gu Jue had a fairly high standard for his living spaces. Whether it be within the Gu Villa or his own place, he would flip if the furnishing style clashed with any of his ideals. Thus, almost every piece of furniture in this new place was replaced by something clean, simple, and cheap – not the bed though.

The second son of the Gu family could be unrefined in certain ways, but he was just as pampered in others. He spared no money when it came to his sleeping setup. He bought the same model of mattress as the one he had in his condo.

Once everything was ready, he took pictures of the bedroom, living room, kitchen, and bathroom with pride, and shared them in his group chat with the caption, “Doesn’t this look like a normal broke university student’s place?”

[Xue Zhao Is Not A Dog]: ? Those 3 mugs on the table are yours? If I recall correctly, those are 8888 RMB each? F̲u̲c̲k̲ being “broke”

[Zhou Chenchu Is Human]: The bathroom is even worse! Which normal university student uses shower sets that cost thousands? F̲u̲c̲k̲ being “broke”

[Ji Qian Is Also Human]: F̲u̲c̲k̲ being “broke”

“…”

And so, with the help of his “sons”, the oversights were spotted and dealt with.

Gu Jue decided to get Dummy accustomed to the new place beforehand and brought him over in the evening. Everything was fine on the way, but several unpleasantries happened after they arrived.

To summarize, Dummy was spoiled rotten and had never lived anywhere this humble except during the incident when he was a year old.

Dummy the Spoiled was not adjusting well when he first arrived.

After his nightly bath, Gu Jue dried him with a towel.

The air conditioning was new, so it took a while to heat up. Dummy was shivering furiously, accusing his owner loudly even with a shaky voice. “Meow meow meow~!”

Where’s my bathtub?! Where are my bath toys?! Where’s my expensive drying machine?!!!

“I’ll blow you with a hairdryer later…” Gu Jue furled his brows, “You’ll get used to it… You need to be here if you want to see Mommy. Your toys and stuff… they’re too expensive, we can’t have them here. I’ll buy you more later.”

Gu Jue’s condo had a spiral shelf that was specifically made of Dummy. It was lined with a fuzzy blanket and a bit like the slides at a children’s park. Every night after taking a bath, Dummy would exhaust himself on it before sleeping.

But tonight, there was nothing.

Dummy: “Meow meow meow~!”

I want my slide! I want a big home! My big home!!!

Dummy had been meowing nonstop tonight. Gu Jue held the cat’s mouth shut with his hand. “Shh… stop.”

He tried to reason with the cat, “There’s nothing good about a big home. Look at how cozy this small place is. Plus…” Gu Jue rubbed the cat’s head and smiled, “Mommy will be here too.”

Dummy: … qwq

Dummy turned on his tail and walked away.

At least the cat bed was custom-made and showed no indications of its ungodly price, so it was approved for the small home.

The cat was akin to his owner in that no money could be spared where sleep was concerned.

…

The next day, Gu Jue slept until he woke up naturally and randomly grabbed some food outside.

This new place was within the university area, but it was at an awkward distance that was between walkable and needing to drive. After looking around, Gu Jue settled for the bike share that was available in the vicinity.

There was a row of white, a row of green, and a row of yellow bikes. Only the white bikes had a passenger seat. He picked the one that appeared the cleanest.

The couple had arranged for a time to meet. Ruan An’an was already waiting by the school gates when Gu Jue arrived at the promised time.

The weather grew colder and her clothes grew thicker. Her outerwear had changed from a fall jacket to a fluffy winter coat. She was also wearing form-hugging jeans. White with blue – simple and stylish.

Ruan An’an always gave off the energy that she didn’t put much thought into her looks, but upon closer inspection, one would find that her clothes are well-styled and suited her comfortably.

Ruan An’an trotted over after noticing Gu Jue. Seeing that he was riding a bike, she somehow became excited, “You can ride a bike?!”

“Yeah, Gu Jue raised an eyebrow. “What, is it hard?”

“I think it’s hard. Learning it didn’t work for me…” Ruan An’an naturally sat on the backseat. “So, your place is really close? I was expecting us to subway there.”

“It is close.”

“Hold on.” Gu Jue tilted his head and warned her, “The roads are a bit bumpy. You might want to grab onto me.”

“…”

“Oh,” Ruan An’an circled her arms around his waist.

Gu Jue was probably wearing only 2 layers including his jacket. She could feel his muscles whenever she held him a little tighter.

She was reminded of all the limericks from the forums. Occasionally, she took advantage of her position to feel his waist. Before they had exchanged many words, Gu Jue brought the bike to a stop.

“We’re here.”

Parking the shared bike was no hassle. Ruan An’an watched as he locked up the bike. Then, he led her into an apartment building and up the stairs.

Ruan An’an grumbled softly, “Liar… there wasn’t a bump in the road.”

Gu Jue smiled and pretended not to hear.

Gu Jue lived in the rightmost unit on the 3rd floor. Ruan An’an followed him inside. As she was about to take off her shoes, she noticed an orange cat walking towards them.

Cushioned by the meat pads, the cat’s steps were very soft, almost silent.

Ruan An’an blanked out for a moment. The cat didn’t seem to mind that was a stranger with Gu Jue. And so, the girl and the cat stared at each other.

This cat was very cute. When his eyes were staring wide, he resembled those really popular reaction memes on the internet. The serious-looking but adorable ones.

However, there was a faint white scar in the corner of one of his eyes.

Suddenly, memories flooded Ruan An’an’s mind.

Ruan An’an was still blanked out when Gu Jue squatted down and petted the cat. In a joking manner, he said, “Dummy, this is Mommy.”

Ruan An’an regained her senses and laughed out loud, “Dummy? Ahaha, who would name their cat Dum—” Her laughter ended abruptly.

Dummy…

Oh f̲u̲c̲k̲, Dummy?!

Ruan An’an stood there, looking at the cat that was purring at Gu Jue, and subconsciously let out a gasp.

She squatted down beside Gu Jue, in disbelief, “… This is your cat?”