Chihiro and the others' decision wasn't delayed until the last day of notification; her call came on the fourth day.

She said that Gu Lubo had agreed to invite Cheng Qicai and her family to dinner tomorrow to apologize for what happened last time.

As soon as Gu Rongqi hung up the phone, Cheng Qicai happily wrapped her arms around Gu Rongqi's neck. She tilted her head back, her eyes sparkling, and her voice filled with boundless joy, "I'm so happy, Gu Rongqi."

Gu Rongqi wrapped his arms around her waist, looked down into her eyes, and smiled. "Me too."

The two embraced tenderly for a long time. Cheng Qicai rested her head on his shoulder, smelling the woody scent on his body, and the invisible pressure in her heart lessened considerably.

She suddenly thought of something and leaned back to look at him: "Since we're not going to have him marry into the family, we don't need to get our marriage certificate now."

If it were a traditional marriage where the spouse moves into the wife's family, a marriage certificate would be required to transfer the household registration. Now that this practice is no longer necessary, there's no need to rush into marriage.

Having solved two problems at once, Cheng Qicai was in an even better mood.

She felt she should celebrate with a small cake, so she pulled her hand away from Gu Rongqi's and headed towards the kitchen, humming a tune happily. She was completely oblivious to the furrowed brows of Gu Rongqi behind her.

Cheng Qicai took out a cake and fed it to him, only to find that he seemed a little unhappy.

In just a short while, she didn't know why he was unhappy. She thought he was worried about their meeting tomorrow.

She asked with concern, "What's wrong?"

Gu Rongqi glanced at her, said nothing, but simply held the hand she was feeding him cake, and ate the entire spoonful of cake.

From the look in his eyes, Cheng Qicai could tell that his displeasure wasn't about their meeting tomorrow, but about her.

She thought back on what she had said before, and all she could think of was postponing the wedding.

Are you angry that I mentioned marriage?

Cheng Qicai kept a close eye on Gu Rongqi's expression. Compared to before when she couldn't figure out his thoughts, she could now understand most of them.

It was unclear whether Gu Rongqi's thoughts had been revealed to her, or whether her eyesight had improved considerably.

Therefore, Cheng Qicai knew that he had hit the nail on the head when he remained silent.

She continued, "Your parents just agreed to our relationship, so we should at least let them calm down a bit. Besides, our life is pretty much like married life now."

"no the same."

"How are they different?"

“Different mindsets, different identities, different forms of address…” Gu Rongqi actually pointed out a whole bunch of points, “Your evasive attitude makes me very suspicious…”

Cheng Qicai asked, puzzled, "Suspect what?"

"He didn't like me, or rather, he didn't love me." His eyes were dark, and there seemed to be sadness and loss flickering within them.

"...There's no need to escalate this much." Under Gu Rongqi's gaze, Cheng Qicai awkwardly took a bite of cake. She chewed it a couple of times without tasting it, then looked at him irritably. "Of course I like you and love you. Otherwise, why would I beg to be with you when your parents don't approve? Am I just asking for trouble?"

If she didn't like or love him, why would she have hesitated for so long?

"I just don't want to get married right now, and you're going to pin this huge burden on me..."

As Cheng Qicaiyue spoke, she began to sound a little aggrieved. Gu Rongqi, realizing that he had gone too far in showing weakness, immediately hugged Cheng Qicaiyue and apologized, "I'm sorry, I spoke too harshly."

Cheng Qicai punched him lightly as a way of venting her anger, "You're not allowed to say that next time. Besides, you haven't even proposed yet, and you still want to talk to me about marriage?"

Gu Rongqi's apology boosted Cheng Qicai's morale once again.

"Then I'll hurry?"

"No, let's take it slow." Hearing "take it slow," Cheng Qicai backed down again.

The next day, Cheng Qicai and the others went to pick up Ms. Yun by car.

Today, she wore a purplish-red cheongsam and a black shawl, her nails were clearly newly done in dark red, and her lips were bright red, giving her a menacing look.

Looking at Madam Yun, who was clearly dressed up, Cheng Qicai asked, "Mom, why are you dressed so... richly?"

Ms. Yun glanced at her and said, "What do you know? If we have a good talk over dinner, it will show that I take it very seriously. If we don't, dressed like this, I won't lose face in an argument."

Cheng Qicai gave a thumbs up, "Mom, you're really good at this."

"Alright, enough with the flattery, let's go."

The group arrived at the location Qianzhi had sent them—a magnificent restaurant, clearly a place their family couldn't afford. However, Ms. Yun's attire seemed quite normal.

Upon reaching the door, Ms. Yun gently touched her hair, patted the wrinkles on her clothes, and walked into the room with her head held high.

Cheng Qicai was a little nervous, but seeing Ms. Yun's imposing presence, she instantly felt a sense of security.

Ms. Yun walked ahead, and they followed behind, like a general leading his soldiers into battle.

Inside the room, Chihiro and Grubb immediately stood up when they saw the group of people enter.

"Hello, you must be Qicai's parents?" Qianzhi was seeing Ms. Yun and her family for the first time. She smiled politely and extended her hand. "I am Rongqi's mother, Qianzhi. This is Rongqi's father, Grubber. You can just call us by our names."

She reached out her hand, and Gulubo also reached out his hand.

Seeing that Qianzhi's attitude was good, Ms. Yun toned down her imposing manner, but she was no longer as enthusiastic as before. She nodded somewhat coldly, "Hello, I am Qicai's mother, Yun Beixiu."

She gently shook Chizuru's hand, but not Grubber's.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!