Chapter 79 I Don't Want You to Be Alone

There are actually quite a few younger members of the Gu family, but several of them happened to stay abroad this year as if by prior arrangement. Gu Sui, on the other hand, had just returned after many years, so he naturally became the focus of attention, being pulled aside by a group of relatives who asked him all sorts of questions, leaving him no free time.

Gu Sui responded with a somewhat weary smile, and when it was her third aunt's turn, she was finally rescued by her cousin Gu Xi.

"Mom, you can have some tea with Aunt and the others, and let me chat with my cousin for a while too." Gu Xi tapped Gu Sui's shoulder, gesturing for her to get up.

Gu Xi is the only daughter of her third uncle and aunt. She is in her early twenties and has just graduated from university. Because she was born late in life, they were very happy. Since she was born in winter, they named her Gu Xi, which means "peace in spring, summer, autumn, and winter".

Her personality is indeed endearing. She was pampered and spoiled growing up. She is a mischievous and clever girl with a famously sweet tongue. When she was little, she loved to pester the Gu sisters who came back to China for the New Year to play with her, regardless of whether she knew them well or not. In short, she was never shy.

Gu Sui last saw her three or four years ago, and she looked completely different this time. Her shoulder-length short hair was curled into big waves and highlighted with two strands of hazy blue. One side was tucked behind her ear, revealing several ear piercings, but she wasn't wearing any jewelry.

“Alright, ask your cousin for advice more often,” Auntie glanced at Gu Xi, then turned back to Gu Sui and said, “Xiao Xi has become too wild these past few years in California. All she does is run her band and doesn’t study properly. Can you talk to her about it?”

"Oh my god, how can you expose someone's shortcomings during the New Year? Cousin, let's go, let's go." Gu Xi said with a grin as she pulled Gu Sui away.

Stepping out of everyone's sight, Gu Sui followed Gu Xi to a side hall.

"Thanks." Gu Sui sat down on the sofa, tilted his head back slightly, and closed his eyes.

"Hehe, no problem," Gu Xi crossed his legs, took out his phone and glanced at it. "Yesterday was a mess, I didn't even have a chance to talk to you."

After laying the groundwork, she tossed her phone aside and asked in a cryptic tone, "Cousin, are you dating someone?"

Gu Sui opened her eyes, subconsciously frowned, glanced at Gu Xi without saying a word. Her mind was a little dull right now, and she didn't know what to say. She was also afraid of saying too much and making a mistake. After all, it was just a sentence without any beginning or end. She decided to wait and see.

But in Gu Xi's view, silence speaks louder than words at this moment, and she didn't beat around the bush: "I saw you two in Coloane that day, but don't worry, I didn't say anything. I'm very tight-lipped."

She did indeed bump into them by chance. After all, her cousin was so strikingly beautiful, and her girlfriend was just as attractive. It was hard not to take a second look at the couple on a deserted street.

"Oh," Gu Sui replied cryptically, then picked up his phone and looked at Shang Shu's messages.

"Hey," Gu Xi pulled her denim jacket tighter around her neck, her boots clicking rhythmically on the ground, "cousin, can I ask you for a favor?"

Gu Sui curled his lips into a smile, his chest heaving slightly: "Waiting for me here?"

Both the rescue attempt and the subsequent confrontation suggest that he needs something from her.

Gu Xi chuckled awkwardly, stopped shaking her leg, and tried to smooth things over: "How could I possibly try to trick you?"

She was determined to reciprocate with sincerity.

"Let me hear it first." Gu Sui replied to the message, then crossed his legs and waited for what was to come.

"Um, could I borrow Scarlet for a day to celebrate my girlfriend's birthday?" Gu Xi, who had been so unruly just moments before, said this and then shyly touched her leg a couple of times.

Gu Sui glanced at her with interest, then pursed her lips and remained silent.

“Cousin, I’m really at my wit’s end, caught in a dilemma, and completely desperate. My family is cutting off my allowance,” Gu Xi began to wail and rant. “You heard it too, my mom is really unhappy with me now. Before the New Year, she almost forced me to dye my hair black, but luckily it was only two strands, so she let me go. Before I came here, she even made me change my clothes, saying that I should look more honest. And look, I took off all my earrings. All that Helix I just got is wasted.”

Gu Xi kept rambling on and on, unable to stop once she started: "So cousin, please have pity on me, I just bought a gift and I really don't have any money left to book the venue. I know your place has a top-notch environment and facilities, so please lend it to me, please."

Gu Sui couldn't stand her nagging any longer and laughed, "Whatever, just don't smash up my place."

"Hehe, I promise I won't! You're the most beautiful, kind, and generous cousin in the world." Gu Xi was overjoyed and immediately took out her phone to start typing.

"Stop joking," Gu Sui turned on her phone, glanced at the blank message bar, and saw that the girl had just said she was going to rest for a while, so she guessed she was asleep now. She then locked the screen, looked at Gu Xi, and asked, "Do your parents know?"

Judging from Gu Xi's appearance, she doesn't seem like someone who can keep things to herself. Besides, her third aunt usually dotes on Gu Xi to an extreme degree, so she probably only says it casually. In reality, even if she knew, it probably wouldn't matter.

"My girlfriend? I don't know. How could I dare tell them? If they knew I was a lesbian, they'd probably force-feed me Chinese medicine in the ancestral hall. Besides, I don't want to be the first person in the entire Gu family to come out." Gu Xi's mouth started running again, and only after finishing did she belatedly glance at Gu Sui, "Then, then you..."

Gu Sui pondered. She had never intended to come out of the closet. She never had the habit of explaining things to her family, and she didn't think there was any need to explain this matter. Whether she knew or not, whether she accepted it or not, it wouldn't change her mind in any way.

“Same,” Gu Sui replied calmly, then stood up. “I’m going out for some fresh air.”

Standing in the courtyard, Gu Sui took out her phone, opened her chat with Shang Shu, tapped on the voice message Shang Shu had sent, and then held the phone to her ear. She had only been able to read the message while sitting inside; now she wanted to listen to it properly.

"I ate something earlier, but I haven't had much of an appetite since you weren't here. Hmm... I'm feeling a bit sleepy now, I'll go lie down for a bit..."

The little girl's voice was sweet and soft, which made Gu Sui smile involuntarily. Although she knew Shang Shu might not reply for a while, she still couldn't help but send her a message asking: "Are you sleeping?"

In less than a minute, Shang Shu replied with an emoji of a cat wrapped in a blanket crying.

Gu Sui chuckled softly. She never sent emojis and didn't have any in her phone, but for the first time ever, she moved her fingers and saved this one because she really thought it was cute and resembled the person who sent it.

After saving the file, Gu Sui called Shang Shu.

"Are you free?" When the call connected, the girl's voice was still soft and sweet, but with a slight hoarseness. She spoke slowly, as if she had just woken up.

"Hmm, did I wake you up?" Gu Sui asked softly.

Shang Shu whimpered softly and teased her, "Yes, she's secretly crying in bed."

She was indeed woken up by the noise. She was worried about Gu Sui, and she hadn't been sleeping very soundly to begin with. She had her phone next to her ear with the ringer turned up to the maximum, so she woke up as soon as the message came in.

"You didn't touch any bars today? Is your stomach upset? It's been a while since lunch, have you eaten anything?"

"Yes." Gu Sui drew out the sound.

"Which one?" Shang Shu felt she had asked too many questions at once and chuckled softly.

Gu Sui smiled and answered each question again.

Hearing Gu Sui's muffled laughter, Shang Shu sensed her fatigue. She sat up, rubbed her eyes, and asked gently, "Are you exhausted?"

Thinking about it, it makes sense. She just got back last night and got up so early today. She barely had time to reply to messages. Even if she didn't ask her to do anything, she must have smiled a lot and said a lot of things. Shang Shu felt so sorry for her.

"Just a little bit." Not wanting her to worry, Gu Sui mustered her spirits and said.

"You're lying," Shang Shu muttered to herself. "You should rest well these next couple of days and not come back again, okay?"

She was afraid that Gu Sui would secretly come to see her again and go back home very late. Although it wouldn't take that long to come and go, she didn't want Gu Sui to go through all that trouble.

Gu Sui kicked a piece of red paper on the ground with her toe, held her phone in silence for a while, and said in a breathy voice even lighter than the paper scraps, "I don't want you to be alone."

Shang Shu also fell silent.

They are the most perceptive lovers, and they both care deeply for each other.

After listening to each other's breathing for a few rounds, Shang Shu gently sniffed and broke the silence: "Okay, it's only a few days. I'm not a child anymore. Do you think I can't be separated from you for a moment?"

"Who are you."

"Okay, that's me."

After some coaxing and teasing, they both laughed.

On the second day of the Lunar New Year, Gu Sui returned to her parents' home. She met with Zhou Ling's relatives and then went to the mountain to pay respects to her maternal grandparents. Facing the tombstone, she felt a long-lost sense of loneliness. She understood the existentialist concept of "living towards death" and knew better than others how to understand and face death. That's why she was even more grateful to Shang Shu for leaving behind those vivid and colorful traces called "love" in her life, which could have been plunged into nothingness.

After burning the paper gods for the door gods on the third day of the Lunar New Year, Gu Sui said she had to leave. Zhou Ling was extremely dissatisfied. First, she criticized her for not going with the welcoming and sending off of the gods, and then she used the custom that it was not advisable to go out on the Red Dog Day to keep her there. Later, Gu Sui said that she should at least go and spend the New Year with Gu Qi's family, and Zhou Ling finally agreed to let her leave later.

Gu Sui waited for nightfall at the Gu family home, and Shang Shu also waited for nightfall by the water. She stood by the window, feeling like a stone waiting for her wife, and she could hardly imagine how she had managed to get through these past few years alone.

Fortunately, she had found something to do these past few days: to plan and implement things for Yunxiu Manor while dreaming about it. If it weren't for the fact that it's a completely different field, Shang Shu would have liked to design it herself. So now, she was sitting in the sofa chair by the window, waiting for Gu Sui to return while communicating with the designer about the furniture. She was secretly pleased that foreigners didn't celebrate the Spring Festival, otherwise she would have been too exploitative.

It was past ten o'clock when Shang Shu finally saw Gu Sui's car. She ran downstairs, just as Gu Sui came in from outside.

"You're not wearing shoes again." Gu Sui smiled, squatted down, took Shang Shu's feet, put slippers on her, and then took another pair for himself.

After everyone stood up, Shang Shu hugged her neck and said, "I missed you so much."

Two days apart feels like six autumns.

"I know." Gu Sui hugged her back and gave her a light kiss on the lips.

“You should say ‘Me too.’” Shang Shu narrowed her peach blossom eyes, clearly displeased.

Gu Sui chuckled and patted her lower back twice: "You're already finding fault with me as soon as you get back?"

"Hmm, do you admit it or not?"

"I admit it," Gu Sui said indulgently, "So how do you want to punish me?"

Shang Shu was slightly taken aback upon hearing this, then smiled and said, "I'll owe you for now."