Flash Marriage with My Ex-Boyfriend’s Nemesis chapter 26 part 1
Chapter 26: First Marriage, Then Love, and a Scum-Bashing 4 part 1
Ning Qingqing looked at the photo of Gu Youchen. He must have been fifteen or sixteen years old at the time, while she was still living with her grandmother in the town.
Although the town wasn’t small, meeting someone wasn’t easy. However, Ning Qingqing vaguely remembered the clothes Gu Youchen was wearing in the photo.
At that time, the Los Angeles Lakers were quite popular in China, and many boys liked to wear their jerseys. Almost all the boys her age in the town wore sportswear, but she remembered an exception.
She recalled that her grandmother had asked her to deliver some dried goods to her aunt, who ran an inn in town. As she walked across a small bridge carrying the goods, she met a boy wearing a white shirt.
He was much taller than her, with fair skin. Because the sun was behind him, Ning Qingqing didn’t see his face clearly at first glance.
The boys in town were usually casual in their attire – basketball vests and sweatpants – but this boy was an exception.
However, Ning Qingqing wasn’t in the habit of staring at people out of curiosity, so she walked around him.
Yet, as they passed each other, she heard the boy call out to her: “Hello.”
Ning Qingqing turned around. The boy asked her, “Excuse me, how do I get to Xu’s Inn?”
Xu’s Inn was run by her aunt. Ning Qingqing called her aunt, but they weren’t actually related by blood.
Her aunt was mute. She had married a man when she was young, and he opened the inn, and she helped him run it.
Fate was cruel, however. Her husband went out to buy goods once and was killed in a mudslide. She had to raise her infant child alone.
Although she couldn’t speak, everyone in the town took care of her. She resembled Ning Qingqing’s mother somewhat, and when Ning Qingqing’s grandmother suffered from acute enteritis, it was her aunt who carried her grandmother to catch the bus to the hospital, saving her life.
Later, Ning Qingqing’s grandmother adopted her aunt as a goddaughter, and Ning Qingqing often visited her aunt’s house, teaching her four-year-old daughter to read and sing.
Hearing the boy ask for directions to Xu’s Inn, Ning Qingqing said, “I’m going there too, you can follow me!”
She walked ahead, and the boy silently followed behind her.
They walked to the inn in silence. Ning Qingqing went to deliver the dried goods, then took her aunt’s daughter to the river to wash apples, and didn’t pay any more attention to the boy.
She wouldn’t have remembered this incident, but she overheard some girls her age talking.
They said a very handsome boy had come to Xu’s Inn, unlike the boys in the town, so many girls would go to the vicinity of Xu’s Inn frequently.
But the boy left after less than a week, having been injured in the mountains and taken away by a helicopter.
Ning Qingqing hadn’t looked closely at his face, so she only vaguely remembered his outline and his clean, refined youthful air.
Now, it seemed very similar to Gu Youchen.
Ning Qingqing turned to Gu Youchen and asked, “Ten years ago, in Qingtang Town, a boy asked me for directions to Xu’s Inn. Was that you?”
Gu Youchen never expected Ning Qingqing to remember. His hands were at his sides, and his knuckles were slightly bent from nervousness, turning slightly white from the pressure.
His throat was dry. He almost wanted to ask Ning Qingqing if she remembered anything else besides asking for directions.
However, meeting Ning Qingqing’s curious but indifferent eyes, all his turmoil surged only within his own heart.
Just as he was about to speak, Li Lan asked first, “Youchen, how did you and Qingqing get together? Who pursued whom?”
Gu Youchen’s tense breathing relaxed slightly because of this question. He said, “I pursued her. It was love at first sight.”
As he spoke, his gaze fell on the photo. After speaking, he looked at Ning Qingqing, with faint lights in his eyes.
Ning Qingqing was momentarily stunned by Gu Youchen’s gaze, her heart beating faster.
After a moment, she realized that Gu Youchen was trying to reassure his mother, so he said it deliberately!
So she tilted her head and smiled at Gu Youchen.
Gu Youchen was captivated by her smile, and almost impulsively confessed his love at first sight ten years ago.
But he knew that doing so would put more pressure on Ning Qingqing.
He also hoped that she would truly fall in love with him in time, not because of other factors, forcing herself to accept him.
Li Lan had been observing her son’s reaction. A mother knows her son best, and she understood everything in an instant.
Her son had fallen in love with this girl ten years ago, love at first sight!
No wonder after Gu Youchen left because of his injury ten years ago, he went back to Qingtang Town not long after recovering.
In the following years, he went there several times, each time excitedly going and returning with a low mood for several days.
Six years ago, after Gu Youchen returned from studying abroad, he went there again. He was in low spirits for a month after returning and never went back.
When Li Lan asked him what happened, Gu Youchen said nothing. Later, he even reduced the frequency of his return to China, focusing on his studies.
After graduation, seeing their son without a girlfriend, Gu Heng and Li Lan would take him to banquets to meet girls his age whenever he came back. However, Gu Youchen wouldn’t even add them on social media.
A few days ago, he suddenly announced his marriage over the phone. Although he seemed serious, Li Lan could hear the excitement in his voice, though he tried to restrain himself, every syllable carrying joy.
Her son was never impulsive. Li Lan was puzzled at that time, but now she understood—
It was a ten-year secret love finally fulfilled.
She didn’t know what methods he used to bring Shen Zhiqian’s ex-girlfriend home, but he was quick and decisive, quite like his father.
It’s a pity, though, that the girl didn’t seem to like him yet.
Li Lan decided to help her son.
“Youchen, the boy who asked the girl for directions was you, right?” she asked with a smile, “Did you have any impression of Qingqing at the time?”
The storm in Gu Youchen’s heart hadn’t subsided. He picked up Li Lan’s words and said to Ning Qingqing, “I stayed at Xu’s Inn for a few days and saw you then.”
Ning Qingqing was surprised: “You remember?”
Gu Youchen nodded, his eyes too deep, appearing unusually calm. He swallowed, controlling himself and saying, “Yes, I remember the girl who guided me was particularly beautiful.”
Ning Qingqing was embarrassed by the compliment. She smiled, “You must know it’s me now, so you said that on purpose.”
Gu Youchen didn’t correct her. He thought, one day, he would show her, from his perspective back then, the whole story of their encounter.
“That’s not entirely true.” Gu Heng, who had been reading a financial magazine, looked up and interjected, “Qingqing, Youchen definitely had feelings for you back then, so—”
Before he could finish, Li Lan stuffed a piece of sunshine rose grape into his mouth.
Gu Heng stared at Li Lan with a speechless expression, and Li Lan, with her back to Ning Qingqing, gestured to Gu Heng, as if saying—
Will you die if you don’t shut up?
Why haven’t you been so talkative before!
Gu Heng had no choice but to remain silent.
Li Lan immediately changed the subject: “Qingqing, haven’t you taken your wedding photos yet?”
Ning Qingqing nodded.
Li Lan smiled, “We’ll discuss the wedding with your parents when they come. You two can take whatever wedding photos you want. But I can paint a portrait of you two now.”
Ning Qingqing had seen Li Lan’s paintings online, and she was flattered. “Oh, wouldn’t that be too time-consuming? Mom, you don’t have to go to such trouble…”
“No trouble at all.” Li Lan got up and called Gu Youchen, “Youchen, go prepare in my studio.”
Ten minutes later, Ning Qingqing and Gu Youchen were sitting in front of the easel.
Li Lan looked at the two who were sitting upright, “Relax, you’re not time travelers from the 1950s and 60s.”
Hearing this, Gu Youchen put his arm around Ning Qingqing’s shoulders.
Ning Qingqing felt stiff, especially with Li Lan watching.
Li Lan sketched the outline with a pencil, “Relax more, I need time to sketch, you two will be tired if you sit like this for less than ten minutes.”
“Qingqing—” Gu Youchen turned and called Ning Qingqing.
Ning Qingqing subconsciously raised her eyes, “Hmm?”
The next second, the man’s hand slid from her shoulder to her head, then gently pressed down.
Ning Qingqing’s head rested on Gu Youchen’s shoulder.
Her breath hitched, and the tension caused a momentary blank in her mind.
She and Gu Youchen had never been this close before. Her arm was against his ribs, and his hand, having returned to her shoulder, meant that half her body was practically in his arms.
“Is this more comfortable?” Gu Youchen asked.
Ning Qingqing took two seconds to reply, “Yeah.”
She didn’t dare move, just quietly leaning against Gu Youchen’s shoulder.
And the man looked down at the girl on his shoulder. Because he was suppressing his racing heart, his breathing was a little heavy.
Slowly exhaling, Gu Youchen also leaned his head slightly towards Ning Qingqing, so her head fit perfectly against his shoulder and neck.
Li Lan pretended to get up to get her painting supplies. As she passed Gu Youchen, she gave him a thumbs-up.
Although Li Lan’s painting skills were excellent, since she painted realism, she was meticulous in her sketching, striving for a one-to-one likeness.
Sketching took about an hour, adjusting every detail, so that the final painting would be more realistic.
Ning Qingqing was stiff at first, but her neck began to ache, and her back couldn’t hold any longer.
So, she relaxed and leaned against Gu Youchen more tightly.
At that moment, she vaguely sensed that the man’s heartbeat was a little faster, but before she could discern it, he took her hand with his other hand.
He held her hand in his palm.
Ning Qingqing was completely distracted, and then she became nervous too, wondering whose heartbeat was faster.
When Li Lan finished sketching, Gu Youchen gently released her, looking down and asking, “Are you tired?”
They were still very close, and Ning Qingqing could even see Gu Youchen’s clearly defined eyelashes.
She still smelled his fresh pine scent, which inexplicably made her blush.
Ning Qingqing shook her head, “Not tired, is your shoulder numb?”
Gu Youchen smiled, “I might be numb if you lean on me for another day.”
A day…
Ning Qingqing imagined, a day is 24 hours, including nighttime?
