Chapter 31 He Lian (Part 2)

Han did not raise her glass. She looked at He Lian quietly and frowned.

He Lian stared at her face with provocation and teasing in her eyes. Her bright red lips opened slightly and she smiled at Han.

Han turned away and ignored her.

He Lian waited for a while, but Han Que didn't respond. Feeling quite bored, she continued to talk to herself, "Hey, Han Que, why don't you raise your glass? You're not thinking about getting close to our A Wei, are you? Don't act so dismissive. I'm speaking the truth. Our A Wei has a lot of money, but he's not stupid. Not only is he not stupid, he's also very smart. He knows how to read people's minds and can see through other people's thoughts at a glance. How many women have fallen for him? Your little tricks can't be hidden from him. I advise you not to piss him off. It will be a waste of time and effort."

She laughed and said something in a roundabout way, which was very offensive and rude.

Gu Ningwei frowned. "He Lian, don't go too far." He stood up and took He Lian's arm, pushing and shoving her towards her door. "You must have had too much to drink. Go back and be with your little wolfdog. Stop talking nonsense in front of me."

He Lian stumbled as he pulled her, and she finally managed to keep her feet steady in her high heels. Her face was pale, her eyes were red, and she glared at Gu Ningwei angrily, "Ah Wei, don't be so ungrateful."

Gu Ningwei ignored him. She snatched the red wine glass from He Lian's hand, placed it on the table, and pushed her out the door. After thinking for a moment, she said, "I'll send someone to pick you up later."

With that he slammed the door.

"This woman..." Gu Ningwei frowned and snorted, then sat down at the table again. He looked at the food on the table and lost his appetite for a moment.

After a long while, he finally calmed down and picked up his phone to call someone, "Come and pick up He Lian. She's drunk again. Um, take her back to her own house..." He then instructed, "Keep it a secret. Don't let her family know."

After arranging these things, Gu Ningwei looked at Han Que, sighed slightly, and explained: "He Lian has no bad intentions, don't mind it."

"I don't mind." Han shook her head and said frankly, "It's not the first time someone has said that to me. There have been more serious things than this." She paused and smiled, "I was called a bitch a few days ago."

Gu Ningwei frowned: "Who is it?"

Han shrugged nonchalantly. "It doesn't matter who it is. It's someone with a higher social status than me. I don't care anyway."

Gu Ningwei looked at her, hesitated for a moment, and said, "Actually, He Lian didn't mean to target you. She just heard the rumors about us recently and was a little upset."

"Irritated?" Han smiled and said, "Then she really likes you, otherwise she wouldn't be like this."

"Do you like me?" Gu Ningwei repeated, and he shook his head to deny it.

He lowered his head and continued to drink the soup and eat the vegetables. Han was speechless for a moment, and the two of them ate in silence.

Gu Ningwei pointed at the steamed knife fish and said, "This fish is also very delicious. It will be fishy when it gets cold. Eat it quickly." As he said this, he took the serving chopsticks to pick up some for her.

Han dodged and said, "I don't want it."

Gu Ningwei raised his eyes to look at her: "Girls all love to eat fish, why don't you like it?"

Han smiled faintly and said, "I have no patience for eating. I'm impatient." After a pause, he added, "I have a lot of things to do."

Since she was a child, she has spent little time on eating. When she was in school, she had a lot of homework to do. After eating in a hurry, washing dishes and doing housework, she had to do homework. When she was in college, she lived on campus and ate in the cafeteria. There were only two dishes and a bowl of rice. She ate and left without any nostalgia. After graduating from college, life was better for a few days. Liu Suping would often buy some fish and shrimp to try. Later, her father fell ill and Liu Suping was busy. She could not spend time on eating. Every meal was like a battle. There were many things to do in a hurry.

It has become a habit now.

Gu Ningwei gave her a deep look, picked up the serving chopsticks, and placed the knife fish on the empty plate in front of him. While carefully picking out the fish bones, he continued, "Perhaps you could say that He Lian really does like me, because she sees me as a lifeline."

A lifeline? Han was slightly surprised.

Gu Ningwei's attention was still on the fishbone. He said nonchalantly, "Her family has been trying to match us up recently, and she might not be too opposed to it. She's so desperate now anyway, she'd marry anyone, and she'd feel more at ease marrying me. But I disagreed. I told her privately that I didn't want to marry her. Her pride couldn't stand it, and she heard some things about you, so she came here today to cause trouble for you."

Han frowned: "...Then am I innocent?"

Gu Ningwei looked up at her meaningfully: "You're not that innocent, are you?"

Han Que: "..."

The two looked at each other, and each knew what the other wanted to say.

Han paused and avoided his gaze.

Gu Ningwei moved his lips, wanting to say something but didn't, and continued to lower his head to pick the bones from the knife fish.

The bones of knife fish are small and thin, almost invisible if you don't pay attention. No matter how good Gu Ningwei's eyesight is, he has to lower his head and get closer to concentrate his attention.

Han lowered his eyes coldly, looking at the spiky tips of his hair and the part of his neck hidden in his shirt, which was slender and white.

The waiter knocked on the door and came in, carrying a bowl of bird's nest. He placed it in front of Han Que respectfully, opened the lid, and poured milk on it. "Your bird's nest, eat it while it's hot."

Han nodded, took the golden spoon and sipped the bird's nest bit by bit. In fact, she didn't taste anything except the rich sweetness of papaya and the frankincense of milk, which went smoothly in her mouth.

Gu Ningwei pushed the deboned saury fish to Han Que's hand and said gently, "Well, try it. The chef in our hotel's restaurant is very good at making this dish, but there are too many bones in the saury fish, so I can only remove them roughly. You still have to be careful and eat slowly."

Han Que: "..."

"It's really delicious, you should try it, hmm."

His barely audible "hmm" sound caused Han Que's body to tremble slightly.

Listening to his gentle tone and smiling eyes, Han felt a throbbing surge from the most private part of his body to his heart.

Maybe it's instinct. No woman can completely resist the tenderness of a man like Gu Ningwei.

Even if it's just a little bit.

Han Que's cheeks were hot, and the red mole on his earlobe became even redder, more like a coral bead.

Gu Ningwei's gaze fell there, his eyes darkened slightly, his mouth felt dry, and his throat tightened slightly. He picked up the teacup, lowered his eyes, and took a big sip of tea.

The sweet and slightly bitter Longjing tea lingered in his mouth for a while before sliding down his throat. He coughed lightly and said, "Eat it while it's hot. It will taste fishy when it gets cold."

Han pushed the plate aside and said, "Mr. Gu, this isn't good. Please eat by yourself..."

Gu Ningwei looked at her, silent for a few seconds, then suddenly became impatient and pushed the plate over again, "Eat if I tell you to. I have to host a banquet here tonight, and I've already eaten too much. It doesn't seem like..."

"It's not like I haven't eaten it before," Han continued quietly.

Gu Ningwei was slightly startled and lowered his voice: "I'm sorry, that's not what I meant."

Han nodded and said, "It's okay, that's not what I meant." After that, she lowered her head and picked up a little bit of knife fish with chopsticks, put it into her mouth, and sipped it slowly.

The delicate and soft fish meat, with its delicious and sweet taste, lingered between his lips and teeth, but Han squinted his eyes and savored it carefully.

She really hadn't eaten it.

Han Que finished the entire plate of steamed knife fish by himself.

During the meal, Gu Ningwei once again tried to help her remove the thorns, but Han refused. She had gained experience in eating, "Actually, there's no need to go through so much trouble. I can eat it slowly by myself. Look, just lick it with your tongue and the thorns will come out..."

As she spoke, she demonstrated, gently licked the tip of her tongue, and spit the fishbone she had bitten off into the bone dish.

"The tongue is very flexible." Gu Ningwei said, and as soon as he said it, he suddenly thought of a beautiful scene and pursed his lips slightly.

Han didn't hear clearly, and looked at him with a slightly red face, confused.

Gu Ningwei coughed lightly and changed the subject. "He Lian, she really didn't mean it..." He pointed to his forehead. "She was a little upset. When she was studying in France, she had a boyfriend, but her family didn't agree and forced her to break up. She made a fuss for a long time, but she couldn't get over it. In the end, she had no choice but to compromise. Unexpectedly, the day after the breakup, her boyfriend died."

Han looked at him in surprise, "Dead?"

Gu Ningwei nodded: "The one who committed suicide by jumping off the building was in front of her."

Han was so shocked that she was speechless. How could there be a man in this world who would commit suicide for love? She couldn't imagine it and she didn't believe it.

Gu Ningwei sighed deeply. "It's hard to believe, right? But it's true. He Lian collapsed at the time, believing she was the murderer and even contemplating suicide. Later, the police came forward and told her that, according to their investigation, her ex-boyfriend had been suffering from depression for a long time and had kept it a secret from everyone."

"Oh my god." Han was stunned for a long time and muttered, "But she still feels guilty, right?"

"Yes, she went through a long period of psychological treatment." Gu Ningwei's eyes dimmed. After a moment's silence, he said, "Luckily, she studied oil painting and was able to heal her trauma through art. A long time after this incident, she began to make a name for herself in the art world and even won several newcomer awards. As time went on, she stopped talking about it. She just ate, drank, and had fun every day, dating many boyfriends. No one could do anything about her, but she went to Paris every spring." He glanced at Han Que, "This is the eighth year. I went with her. We just got back the day before yesterday."

Gu Ningwei lowered his head, smiled, and drank his soup.

The room was very quiet, and the only sound was the clinking of dishes and chopsticks.

After a while, he lowered his eyes, his eyes red, and whispered: "Her dead boyfriend was also my best friend. If they get married, I should call her sister-in-law."

Han looked at him.

Gu Ningwei closed his eyes and turned his head away. He recalled the night when He Lian called him from overseas. She had cried so hard that she couldn't even speak. He didn't dare hang up, so he just held the receiver and listened to her tears, unable to say anything to comfort her. The next morning, he booked the earliest flight to Paris. When he got off the plane and rushed over, He Lian had fainted from shock due to excessive grief and had been taken to the hospital by her landlord.

During that dark period, Gu Ningwei was alone in Paris, running back and forth between the police station and the hospital. On the one hand, he had to take care of He Lian, on the other hand, he had to accompany the family of the deceased to handle various procedures, and on the other hand, he had to prevent the news from leaking out, which would cause great trouble.

The He family sent people to fly over to help, but they were all blocked by He Lian. She cursed and cried at everyone she saw, and wanted to commit suicide again. She would not listen to anyone except Gu Ningwei.

Gu Ningwei could only stay by her side day and night. After her emotions stabilized, he contacted a secret high-end sanatorium and found a famous local psychological rehabilitation expert to provide her with psychological treatment.

Gu Ningwei had never mentioned this exhausting experience to anyone, but for some reason he told Han Que today.

"Perhaps, everyone has had a past that is not worth mentioning, and has had their own sad and miserable days. We, He Lian and I may have more money than you, but it does not necessarily mean that we live an easier life than you." After a moment of silence, Gu Ningwei said.