When Gu Qingcheng arrived with his fiancée, Yun Liuli was still working on the cake in the kitchen with the two children.
As the hosts, Lin Nuan and Fu Huai"an stood at the entrance, welcoming Gu Qingcheng.
As Gu Qingcheng"s car got increasingly closer, Lin Nuan couldn"t help but ask Fu Huai"an, "Is this the first time you guys are meeting Gu Qingcheng"s fiancée as well?"
"En…" Fu Huai"an replied.
Gu Qingcheng didn"t go into the details, and Fu Huai"an didn"t ask about it either.
Which amongst them—who were close friends who had put their lives on the line for each other—couldn"t tell that Gu Qingcheng didn"t just harbor feelings of a senior toward a junior toward Yun Liuli?
However, Yun Liuli and Gu Qingcheng were unlike others, and it wasn"t their place to say anything about this.
Yun Liuli had grown up by Gu Qingcheng"s side. To them… she was like Gu Qingcheng"s daughter.
Despite knowing that Gu Qingcheng"s feelings toward Yun Liuli were far from ordinary, none of them could get themselves to encourage Gu Qingcheng to be with Yun Liuli. Therefore, all of them had a mutual understanding of this matter and didn"t bring it up.
Gu Qingcheng"s car stopped steadily. When the car door opened, Gu Qingcheng"s bright leather shoes stepped onto the cobblestone pavement. When his long legs wearing well-ironed formal trousers stepped out, he bent over and came out from the car.
The other door to the rear pa.s.senger seat was pushed open, and a skinny lady with her hair draping down and wearing a black woolen coat stepped out of the car, closing the door behind her. She walked with sharp strides toward Gu Qingcheng, her red lips curling up. Her clean fingers with red nail polish took Gu Qingcheng"s arm, and her beautiful and exquisite features were smiling. Her small and upright nose, as well as her skinny chin, looked very beautiful. She wouldn"t lose out to many big celebrities either. When she smiled, she looked really charming.
Lin Nuan recognized the lady who was holding onto Gu Qingcheng"s arm at first glance.
When she was brought to the United States, and Gu Qingcheng went to fetch her, while in the car, he told her to head to the restroom. After she entered the restroom, feeling uneasy, this lady was the one she saw…. She was the lady in the black dress who was seated at the sink and was smoking!
After Lin Nuan quickly concealed her surprised expression, Gu Qingcheng introduced the lady to Lin Nuan and Fu Huai"an. "Ruan Anzhi…"
"h.e.l.lo, Mrs. Fu. We meet again!" Ruan Anzhi greeted Lin Nuan in a graceful and poised manner.
"I have to thank you guys for what happened in the United States previously…" Lin Nuan nodded toward Ruan Anzhi and smiled slightly.
Lin Nuan was thankful to the young lady who had saved her before. However, due to Yun Liuli, she was unable to be too intimate toward her.
"It"s something I should do!" Ruan Anzhi"s smile became increasingly brilliant.
Fu Huai"an stood under the lights at the entryway. He had one hand in his pocket, the other holding Lin Nuan"s small hand. His disposition as a mature man was very strong. "Let"s go in! Lu Jinnan and Tang Zheng have both arrived…"
Ruan Anzhi looked at Fu Huai"an"s sharp features, his calm but deep gaze, as well as the pride he emitted as one who had been in a superior position for a long time.
Ruan Anzhi couldn"t look straight into Fu Huai"an"s gaze due to his scary disposition. She smiled awkwardly, then turned and walked up the stairs, heading in together with Gu Qingcheng.
Lin Nuan recognized that Ruan Anzhi was Gu Qingcheng"s subordinate. Fu Huai"an naturally also knew that the young lady that Gu Qingcheng brought over was someone who worked for them.
Since she was one of them, it was unclear whether Gu Qingcheng"s plan to get married was real or not…
Or maybe, it was just a fake wedding that was intended to fool Yun Liuli.
Lu Jinnan and Tang Zheng were drinking tea in the living room. When they saw Gu Qingcheng bringing a lady in, they stood up and greeted them, showing respect.
It was probably because he had heard that this young lady was going to get married to Gu Qingcheng that Tang Zheng was polite when he spoke. However, Lu Jinnan"s gaze was judgmental when he looked at the young lady. It was as if some other lady was harboring ill intent toward his brother.
Lin Nuan looked at Lu Jinnan"s picky and a.s.sessing expression. She guessed that the reason Lu Jinnan stood up earlier was that Tang Zheng had pulled him up!
Lin Nuan couldn"t help but think of the strange hostility that Lu Jinnan had toward her when she first became a couple with Fu Huai"an.
In this world, some people had complexes for younger sisters, younger brothers, elder brothers, and elder sisters. Lin Nuan wondered if Lu Jinnan had a complex for his close friends.
"Dr. Bai"s girlfriend just called me to say that when they were about to leave, Dr. Bai was suddenly a.s.signed an additional surgery. She told us to eat first and not wait for them…" Lin Nuan watched as a servant served Gu Qingcheng and Ruan Anzhi tea. She then glanced at the grandfather clock and said, "Dinner will be ready in another half an hour. I"ll go take a look to see if the two children and Xiao Liuli are finished with what they"re doing!"
After Lin Nuan left, Lu Jinnan lit up a cigarette, crossed his legs, and looked toward Gu Qingcheng. "Which team is she from?"
Gu Qingcheng, who was seated on the sofa, unb.u.t.toned and removed his suit, then casually placed it on the sofa"s backrest. "Team B…"
"I thought she looked familiar." Lu Jinnan tapped the cigarette"s ash.
Tang Zheng was surprised. To think that Gu Qingcheng had looked for a lady in the team, planning to get married to her. Was this for real?
Tang Zheng was the one who was the least involved in this dirty business, after Bai Jinyu. He hadn"t met the few teams before, unlike Lu Jinnan.
Ruan Anzhi wasn"t awkward at all, keeping up her smile all the way. She picked up the teacup and took a sip. She seemed to be interested in the snacks that the servant had served. She pinched a small piece, taking a bite of it. It dissolved in her mouth right away, and the soft sweetness extended out in her mouth with the fragrance of osmanthus. It was very delicious.
She just occasionally glanced toward Fu Huai"an, who was seated on a single-seater sofa and wearing a calm expression while reading the finance section of the newspaper. She was astonished by the daunting feeling that Fu Huai"an emitted.
…
When Lin Nuan entered the kitchen, Yun Liuli and the two children were nowhere to be seen. The chef said that Yun Liuli had taken the two children upstairs.
The three of them were playing with toys in Tuan Tuan"s room.
Yun Liuli, being a big child, sat down on the ground together with Tuan Tuan and Little Candy, playing house with them…
Little Candy was the mom, Tuan Tuan was the dad, and Yun Liuli was a newborn baby. Yun Liuli"s role wasn"t difficult at all. She only needed to sit down on the carpet, wrap her arms around her knees, and not do anything. That was the best performance she could do.
The door was half-opened, and Lin Nuan could hear Little Candy"s bright voice coming from inside. She didn"t enter but looked through the opening to see what fun they were having inside.
However, Lin Nuan guessed wrongly.
Yun Liuli"s arms were wrapped around her knees, and she had turned her head and was looking toward the dressing mirror in Tuan Tuan"s room. It was as if she was immersed in her own world. Her gla.s.s-like eyes, which were like her name[1], had lost focus.
Yun Liuli looked at her reflection in the mirror, attempting to ask her own heart if she could keep up a smile when she saw Gu Qingcheng"s marriage partner later, not letting herself appear repulsive.
She kept on enacting the scene where she"d meet Gu Qingcheng"s marriage partner. However, the blurry figure that she came up with in her mind wasn"t the actual person, and she couldn"t feel anger towards it. She only felt her heart aching. Every time her heart beat, she would feel pain.
Gu Qingcheng never had a woman by his side. Even though he kept on rejecting Yun Liuli, as long as there wasn"t another woman by his side, she felt that she would have a chance.
[1] Liuli can be translated to colored gla.s.s or ceramic glaze