Chapter 294

Chapter 294: 287: Really want to mess with you, make you cry (one more) Chapter 294: 287: Really want to mess with you, make you cry (one more) The sun had already set outside.

After Xie Shang took a phone call outside, he reentered the house where the Gu Family’s housekeeper invited him to stay for dinner, which Xie Shang accepted.

The Xie Family and the Gu Family were old friends, and Xie Shang had often visited the Gu Family since his youth. The housekeeper knew his taste, but she wasn’t sure about Miss Wen’s dietary restrictions. The door to the mahjong room was closed, and she hesitated whether to go in and ask.

“She can’t eat spicy food and prefers sweets,” he said.

“Alright, Mr. Xie.”

The housekeeper always found Mr. Xie to be special, as he was the only guest who remembered the surnames of all the Gu Family’s housekeeping staff.

Neither of the two “young masters” from the Gu Family had ever brought a girl home, while the two “old masters” had secretly brought back quite a few for thrills. Not one of them stayed for a meal, but they did leave behind birth control pills. It never occurred to them to remember the tastes of their female companions.

Just as the housekeeper was about to head back to the kitchen, she heard the second lady scolding someone inside.

“What on earth is this you’ve cut? So thick, are these potato sticks?”

Gu Yihuan was being pressured by Madam Guan Zhengming to learn how to cook, as she espoused being adept in both the living room and the kitchen was essential.

Lady Guan, dressed in a newly released haute couture, with fingers that looked like green onion segments and had never been touched by the plain water of chores, pinched the potato strips cut by Gu Yihuan with an expression full of disdain, “With these skills, no decent girl would fancy you.”

Gu Yihuan threw in the towel, “As a great singer, I don’t bother with romance!”

Suppressive education didn’t work on Gu Yihuan; Young Master Gu excelled at inflating his own value.

“Young Master? You dare call yourself ‘young master’ to me?”

What followed was a series of yelps and howls.

It seemed corporal education was more fitting for Young Master Gu.

In her heart, the housekeeper silently defended the young master, thinking it wasn’t entirely his fault that the potatoes were cut poorly. In many ways, the young master inherited traits from the second lady—they both couldn’t learn the business, couldn’t outfight mistresses three, four, and five, and were inept in the kitchen. Fortunately, they were both born with the fortune of wealth.

The Gu Family’s wine cellar held many rare wines. Wen Changling had a little wine that night; she wasn’t drunk, merely tipsy. Xie Shang was driving, so he didn’t touch a drop.

Xie Shang’s car was parked in the outdoor parking space of the garden estate. Gu Kaiyun’s mother was very fond of lanterns, so lanterns bearing the Gu character could be seen scattered everywhere.

The long corridor was silent, bridges spanned over running water, and the moonlight fell into the koi pond, causing the light from the lanterns to sway gently with the breeze. With upturned eaves and light tassels hanging under the Moon Cave Gate, the Flower Chamber Hall held its status as the capital’s most expensive property for good reason; such scenery was a rare treat in this world.

Wen Changling hung her head, fumbling for a while before she finally managed to insert the seat belt buckle into its slot, although the dashboard still had a red warning light on.

“Changling, it’s not fastened properly,” he said.

“Hmm?”

Perhaps due to the alcohol, Wen Changling’s movements and thoughts were quite sluggish.

Xie Shang leaned over to refasten it for her; before he could touch the buckle, she suddenly looked up, her lips brushed past Xie Shang’s neck, and her breath carrying the scent of alcohol landed softly on his ear. Her eyes brimmed with laughter as she sweetly called Xie Shang by his nickname.

“Xingxing.”

“Hmm.”

Xie Shang’s actions also became sluggish. After several attempts, the safety belt was securely fastened.

“I won money today.” Her eyes sparkled, as if the starry sky fell inside them, as if priceless gems were embedded within, “Am I not impressive?”

“Impressive.”

She was intelligent, had a good memory and strong learning ability. Apart from losing a few rounds at the beginning due to unfamiliarity with the game, once she got the hang of it, she began defeating all three sides.

The prodigy from those days hadn’t been praised for nothing.

In front of Xie Shang, she acted a bit petulant and proud, insisting on being praised: “You have to say I’m super impressive.”

Xie Shang fulfilled her emotional needs, “You are super impressive.”

Her smile curved up at the corners of her eyes.

“Are you happy today?”

“Happy,” she told Xie Shang, “Your friends are so interesting. Gu Yihuan even performed magic for me. But his hand movements were so slow, I saw through his tricks with both eyes, but I didn’t expose him. It’s very impolite to expose a magician, so I pretended to be amazed. However, I’m not good at acting; I wonder if he noticed.”

To make his girlfriend even happier, Xie Shang could temporarily backstab a friend: “He probably didn’t. He’s not very smart; you did well.”

“How can you talk about your friend like that?”

Wen Changling hugged Xie Shang, content for the moment, not wanting him to drive just yet. She wanted to cling to him, and holding hands wasn’t enough; she unbuckled her seatbelt, climbed over the center console, straddled Xie Shang’s lap, her arms swaying, her forehead pressed against his, cooing softly.

“Xingxing.”

“Hmm?”

“Do you remember the first time we met at the Gu family’s place?”

“I remember.”

At that time, Old Mr. Gu’s life was drawing to a close, and Wen Changling appeared at the Gu Family’s home as the end-of-life care nurse.

Her eyes narrowed in recollection, her thoughts pulled back to that time: “I really wanted to mess with you then.”

“...”

After a few seconds’ pause, Xie Shang asked, “Mess with me how?”

Wen Changling candidly confessed: “You know, make you cry, let you suffer, get revenge on you, hurt you.”

Wen Changling always had a way of being frankly innocent yet mischievous, with innocence and mischief being inherently contradictory, yet they coexisted harmoniously within her.

“Miss Wen, you’re a bit ruthless,” he remarked.

Wen Changling admitted it was true: “And you, what impression did you have of me?” Before Xie Shang could answer, she threatened half-seriously, “If you say you had no impression, I’ll bite you.”