Chapter 56: Marriage First, Love Later, and a Side of Scum-Bashing 34
Shen Zhiqian followed Gu Youchen’s footsteps almost instinctively, crossing the small alley and heading straight forward.
He didn’t understand why he was following him. Perhaps it was because the emotions in his heart were tearing him apart, or perhaps because he realized that although he had lost the right, he still desperately wanted to see where Ning Qingqing used to live.
Gu Youchen didn’t seem to care about being followed and walked straight ahead.
Shen Zhiqian watched from a distance until he saw Gu Youchen take out a key and open the gate to a courtyard.
The courtyard was very ordinary, yet it felt inexplicably familiar, as if he had seen it in Ning Qingqing’s photos before.
Shen Zhiqian’s footsteps came to an abrupt halt.
He remembered a few years ago, when Ning Qingqing was in high school, her grandmother fell critically ill. He had secretly borrowed his father’s private jet to send Ning Qingqing back to see her grandmother one last time.
At that time, Ning Qingqing’s grandmother was in a hospital in Nancheng. After accompanying her to see her grandmother, he heard her mother was coming, so he silently left.
From beginning to end, he had never formally met her family, nor had he ever seen the place that gave birth to and raised her.
And now, even though he could see the lights on the second floor of the courtyard ahead, even though it was so close, it was a distance he could never touch again in this lifetime!
Gu Youchen’s words kept echoing in his ears.
Gu Youchen said he had met Ning Qingqing right here ten years ago!
So, during all the time Shen Zhiqian was unaware, Gu Youchen had been waiting for him and Ning Qingqing to break up for a long time!
And because of the trauma from his own family of origin, he had missed out on the girl he loved just like that!
After all, a man like Gu Youchen would absolutely never let go…
Inside the room, the heat on Ning Qingqing’s face flared up again. She didn’t know how many times she had rolled around under the quilt.
Boohoo, I’m so nervous. What should I do?
Just as she was forcing herself to count sheep to calm her heart, there was a noise at the door.
Ning Qingqing instantly tensed up, pricking her ears to listen to the movement downstairs.
It was Gu Youchen’s footsteps. He had locked the door and was coming up.
Ning Qingqing held her breath, feeling she wouldn’t know how to face the man who had bought condoms in a moment.
The footsteps gradually got closer until Gu Youchen reached her bedroom door.
Ning Qingqing’s heart instantly jumped to her throat. She quickly closed her eyes, her fingers unconsciously gripping the bright red bedsheet beneath her.
The man arrived at her bedside, and Ning Qingqing felt the mattress depress slightly.
She breathed carefully, opening her eyelids a tiny slit, her eyelashes trembling as she stole a glance at what Gu Youchen had bought.
However, the man only held two bottles of mineral water in his hand.
Ning Qingqing was stunned.
Gu Youchen seemed to realize she was feigning sleep. He leaned down and kissed Ning Qingqing’s forehead.
“Qingqing, that shop was closed.” Gu Youchen’s tone was full of regret. “It closed so early.”
The second half of his sentence carried a hint of resentment.
Ning Qingqing hadn’t expected this outcome at all. While she suddenly breathed a sigh of relief, there was surprisingly a tiny bit of disappointment deep in her heart.
But she quickly ignored that disappointment and opened her eyes wide to confirm. “So you didn’t buy any?”
Gu Youchen nodded and made a resolution: “I’ll buy them tomorrow during the day.”
They were staying here for another day anyway before leaving.
Ning Qingqing: “…”
She seemed to see the raging fighting spirit in the man’s eyes… no, it was desire.
Gu Youchen unscrewed the cap of the mineral water bottle and drank several large gulps. The coolness rolled down his throat, making him feel a bit better.
He got up to find his pajamas and stood right by Ning Qingqing’s bed to change.
Only then did Ning Qingqing realize he wasn’t wearing anything on top.
She quickly said weakly, “Youchen, help me get mine.”
Gu Youchen nodded. Currently wearing only boxer briefs, he went to get Ning Qingqing’s pajamas first and walked to her bedside.
The moonlight from outside the window peeked in, and Ning Qingqing saw the distinct muscle definition on the man’s body.
She widened her eyes.
Gu Youchen seemed to notice, so he leaned in close and chuckled low. “Qingqing can look a bit more carefully if she wants.”
Caught in the act, Ning Qingqing quickly turned into an ostrich, burying herself in the quilt.
Gu Youchen deliberately pinned her down, not letting her hide. “Qingqing, do you want to go swimming together?”
Here comes this joke again…
Ning Qingqing’s ears burned, but her eyes were very honest.
Right now, her mind was filled with the phrase: Looks slim in clothes, has muscle when undressed.
The moonlight plated the man’s body with a layer of silver, giving him a metallic texture that made her want to touch him.
But she held back.
Seeing Ning Qingqing’s ostrich-like behavior, Gu Youchen didn’t expose her. After hugging her, he put on his pajamas.
He went to the next room, brought over the other thin quilt, and placed it on the bed.
Meeting Ning Qingqing’s confused gaze, Gu Youchen explained, “With just one quilt, I’m afraid I won’t be able to control myself.”
Who asked about that? This guy is deliberately misinterpreting my meaning!
Ning Qingqing glared at Gu Youchen.
She clearly meant to ask why they were sleeping together at all when he hadn’t bought the necessary tools.
The man had already lain down. The bed wasn’t wide, at most 1.5 meters, so lying down meant they were shoulder to shoulder.
Gu Youchen turned to look at Ning Qingqing beside him and couldn’t help kissing the side of her face again.
Ning Qingqing discovered that even a simple kiss like this made her heart race now.
The next second, her hand under the covers was grasped by Gu Youchen.
His fingers interlaced with hers, holding tight.
Neither of them spoke, and neither was sleepy.
After a while, Gu Youchen finally spoke. “Qingqing, I was really, especially happy today.”
Thinking of Nan-Nan’s words and how Gu Youchen usually acted in front of friends, Ning Qingqing couldn’t help asking, “Youchen, have you noticed that you smile a lot when you’re in front of me?”
Gu Youchen was stunned, then his fingers involuntarily touched the upturned corners of his lips.
Instantly, the corners of his lips rose even higher. “Mm, I noticed.”
There was moonlight in the depths of his eyes. When he smiled, the light and shadow rippled like lake water, filled with dancing stars. “Because being with you brings me joy.”
Some emotions couldn’t be faked; they stemmed from the heart and flowed uncontrollably to the eyes and brows.
Ning Qingqing also curved her lips. “I’m quite happy too.”
It was rare for her to voice her inner thoughts. “Actually, the day after our flash marriage, I regretted it a little.”
She subconsciously rubbed her head. “I was a bit annoyed at the time, wondering how I suddenly got married, and to someone I didn’t understand. Plus, the things I had heard about you before weren’t very good.”
“But—” She paused. “I felt that those rumors might have had too many subjective factors. Because I had interacted with you a few times, especially the way you looked eating dessert… you looked a bit well-behaved.”
“Well-behaved?” Gu Youchen had never imagined he would one day be associated with this word, especially from his little wife’s mouth.
“Mm.” Ning Qingqing thought for a moment. “Anyway, it was a ‘gap moe’ (contrast cuteness). It made me feel like you weren’t as unapproachable as the rumors said. Instead, you gave off a very clean feeling.”
Gu Youchen didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “It seems that in the rumors you heard, I was a bit dirty?”
Ning Qingqing shook her head. “Not dirty, just described with some fierce words, like ‘deep schemer,’ ‘ruthless,’ ‘heartless,’ and so on… But the few times I saw you, I felt you weren’t that kind of person.”
Now she understood. Because he liked her, even when they were strangers, she had felt a certain warmth from him.
“So after I sobered up the next day, I comforted myself, saying that I chose this path myself. Maybe if I managed the future well with you, it wouldn’t necessarily be unhappy.”
Ning Qingqing thought of the anxiety she felt back then. But now, all that anxiety had been smoothed over by sweetness.
Beside her, Gu Youchen pulled her into his arms through the quilt. “For you, it was a gamble back then. For me, it was a long-cherished wish coming true. But I didn’t dare tell you at the time, for fear of scaring you away.”
Ning Qingqing pouted. “Am I that timid?”
Gu Youchen smiled at her again. “Mm, actually, I mostly hoped you would fall in love with me without any psychological burden, rather than feeling obligated to like me back just because you knew I liked you.”
He preferred feelings to stem from the heart, rather than being catalyzed by something else or constrained by responsibility, which would make them less pure.
The rose quartz and aquamarine sat side by side on the table. Looking at them under the moonlight, Ning Qingqing whispered, “Then if I say it now, is it not too late at all—”
She withdrew her gaze, turned to the man beside her, and said, “Gu Youchen, I like you too.”
In an instant, Gu Youchen heard the grand sound of fireworks blooming in his heart!
He didn’t know how to express the emotion in his chest at this moment. He simply tightened his grip on Ning Qingqing’s hand and responded with a low nod. “Mm, I heard it.”
That teenager of sixteen or seventeen heard it too.
“We’ll go see Grandma and Elder Zhang early tomorrow morning,” Ning Qingqing said. “They are both on the back mountain, so we have to walk a bit of a mountain path.”
“Okay.” Thinking of the past, Gu Youchen explained, “Actually, I wanted to confess to you back then. I had everything planned. I found that plant pigment in the mountains for my mom, and I was just waiting to see you. As a result, I was bitten by a snake in the mountains.”
Ning Qingqing asked, ” was it serious? I heard a helicopter was used.”
Gu Youchen said, “It seemed okay at first. I squeezed out the blood near the wound in time and walked down the mountain myself. It wasn’t until I got back to the inn that I felt something was wrong. My whole body was cold, my head was dizzy, and the injured foot started to swell.
“So I called my family immediately. When they learned about it and knew the medical standards here might not be enough, they applied for a temporary flight route to take me to Nancheng for treatment.
“When I was feverish and cold all over, I heard you singing to Nan-Nan. You were singing a folk song from around here—the same one you sang to me that night.
“During my hardest moments, I held on by listening to your voice.
“Until you said goodbye to Nan-Nan and were about to leave. I was anxious and chased out wanting to call you, but my foot was swollen and I couldn’t walk. You had already gone far.
“I didn’t expect we would be apart for so long after that.”
Hearing this, Ning Qingqing proactively leaned over and kissed the corner of Gu Youchen’s lips, comforting the injured teenager from years ago.
She asked, “After you got better, did you go to Nan-Nan to ask about me several times?”
Gu Youchen nodded. “But the times I went seemed unlucky. Although you hadn’t gone to high school in the Imperial City yet, it was during the holidays. You must have gone out of town with your mother?”
Thinking back to that time, Ning Qingqing nodded and replied, “Yes, during holidays, sometimes my mom took me out to play for a while, and sometimes my dad would have me stay at his place for a few days.”
Gu Youchen said, “So we missed each other every time. Until later, Nan-Nan said you went to school out of town. I asked her where you went, but she was small then and couldn’t explain clearly.”
Ning Qingqing said, “My mom said taking the college entrance exam in the Imperial City would be easier and the teaching quality was good, so I transferred there for high school. That day at Yanyue’s school, Teacher Zhang said you looked for me?”
Gu Youchen nodded. “Mm. I was already abroad at that time and saw a gathering photo in my WeChat Moments. You were in it.”
He didn’t know how to describe his mood at that time.
The girl he had been longing for and searching for for two years appeared in his Moments. Her familiar features made his blood run backward!
So, after finding out which school Ning Qingqing was at, even though he heard she was Shen Zhiqian’s girlfriend, he flew back to the Imperial City immediately.
Gu Youchen said, “I went to your class but didn’t see anyone, so I asked a teacher. It must have been that Teacher Zhang. Seeing I wasn’t from your school, he lied to me saying you were going to his office and told me to wait there. I waited for a whole class period and didn’t see you, only then did I realize he did it on purpose.”
Ning Qingqing: “…”
She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry; she had no idea such a past existed.
Gu Youchen continued, “I saw your class schedule in Teacher Zhang’s office and saw you had P.E., so after coming out, I waited for you at the playground.”
Speaking of this, he paused slightly, his voice becoming a bit lower. “But I saw you had a boyfriend. Your relationship was very good, just as my friends described.”
He couldn’t remember how depressed he felt when he left.
Ning Qingqing hugged Gu Youchen, suddenly thinking of something. “Did you also approach me to ask for directions then?”
Gu Youchen was surprised. “You remember?”
Ning Qingqing said, “That day during P.E., we were on the playground with the grade above us. I was on my period that day and my stomach wasn’t feeling well, so I didn’t exercise much.”
Shen Zhiqian had found out that day and specially went to get her hot water, taking her aside to rest.
Gu Youchen probably saw all those scenes.
But Ning Qingqing remembered another scene: “After P.E. class dismissed, I was in a rush to go to the restroom. A tall, handsome boy came over to ask for directions. Because I was in a hurry, I was a bit impatient. I pointed quickly and left without even waiting for his response. That boy was you?”
Gu Youchen nodded. “It was me.”
He didn’t know why he insisted on asking for directions, randomly asking Ning Qingqing where the sports equipment room was.
He wanted Ning Qingqing to see him.
However, the girl was in a hurry. Her gaze stayed on him for only half a second before moving away. Her speech was also tinged with impatience as if she disliked him very much.
He suffered a heavy blow.
Plus, she already had a boyfriend, and he couldn’t bring himself to be the third party, so he could only leave sadly.
After that, however, he couldn’t control himself and kept paying attention to her news.
Yet every time he heard about her, it was about how good her relationship with Shen Zhiqian was.
They graduated one after another. Shen Zhiqian went to his family company, and then Ning Qingqing graduated and went to Shen’s company. Their relationship was stable, their jobs were stable, and perhaps they were ready to discuss marriage.
Gu Youchen had always been an outsider, watching others’ joys and sorrows, never thinking of returning to China.
Until one gathering, someone casually mentioned that Shen Zhiqian, that guy, didn’t seem to plan on getting married.
Hearing this sentence, Gu Youchen’s heart raced.
He didn’t know if he was rejoicing or feeling sad for Ning Qingqing.
He arranged the matters of the overseas project and told his father that he had trained enough and could return to China to take over the company projects.
So, he flew back to the Imperial City. But he hadn’t expected to meet her on the very first day.
After meeting a few times, he found that she was indeed not as happy as before, and the eyes she looked at him with held no disgust or rejection.
So the dormant feelings reignited, and he began to actively appear in her world…
Thinking of this, Gu Youchen looked at Ning Qingqing. “So the second time I asked for directions, it wasn’t that I wasn’t handsome, but that I didn’t choose the right time?”
Ning Qingqing laughed. “Mm, if I hadn’t been on my period and rushing to the restroom that day, maybe I would have been so charmed by you that I wouldn’t know what to do!”
Gu Youchen knew she was joking intentionally, but these words still pleased him.
He couldn’t help but hug Ning Qingqing through the quilt again and asked, “Are you charmed now?”
Ning Qingqing blinked, looking solemn. “Of course! In my heart, you are the ceiling of male visuals!”
Gu Youchen leaned in to kiss Ning Qingqing. Kissing and kissing, his breathing became unstable again.
He had to let her go, forcing himself not to get too close, and only said, “I’ll go buy them as soon as we get down the mountain tomorrow.”
Ning Qingqing: “…”
She suddenly didn’t really want to see tomorrow’s sun.
T/n: Almost to the end! Happy reading!
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