☆、Chapter 33

Chapter 33

The call was not too long, lasting less than three minutes.

Gu Qingyue glanced at Gu Hengsheng's face and found that he looked normal, with no signs of change. Gu Qingyue pretended to be casual and asked, "Is there something wrong?"

"Linsheng and Liang Wan brought Gu Xin to Huai City for fun." Gu Hengsheng put his phone in his coat pocket and explained calmly, "Let's have dinner together tonight."

Gu Qingyue said "oh" and lowered her head to fiddle with her phone. Seeing this, Gu Hengsheng said, "He asked you to go too."

Gu Qingyue frowned: "Me?"

Gu Hengsheng said: "If you don't want to go, that's fine."

Gu Qingyue shook her head: "No, I'll go."

Gu Linsheng's meeting place was a private restaurant in Huai City, specializing in Cantonese cuisine. Gu Linsheng loved Cantonese soup and had chosen this location specifically. The restaurant was a small, two-story building.

Gu Qingyue and Gu Hengsheng entered the lobby. A waiter came forward, and Gu Hengsheng announced the room number. The waiter then led them upstairs. As they stepped onto the wooden stairs, Gu Qingyue recalled a past event. She held onto the railing and whispered to the man beside her, "When I graduated from high school, Shu Miaomiao and I came here once. The price per person was too high, so we left in disgrace."

Gu Hengsheng smiled and said, "Then I can have a good taste today."

As the two were talking, the waiter leading the way stopped and arrived outside the private room. As soon as the door was opened, Gu Xin, who was sitting on the sofa, ran over with small steps, stretched out his legs, grabbed Gu Hengsheng's knee, raised his face, and said crisply, "Third Uncle."

Gu Hengsheng bent down slightly, passed his hands under Gu Xin's armpits, and held her in his arms. Gu Qingyue, who was standing behind Gu Hengsheng, nodded slightly to Liang Wan, who had come over, and called her "Auntie Four".

Just as he finished speaking, the bathroom door in the box was pushed open. Gu Linsheng wiped his hands, walked out, and said with a smile, "I'm here."

Gu Linsheng was wearing a white shirt and black trousers. His sleeves were rolled up at his wrists from washing his hands. His eyes were sharp, and even with a smile on his face, he didn't seem approachable.

After they sat down, Liang Wan wanted to take over Gu Xin, but Gu Xin refused to get down and held Gu Hengsheng's shoulders tightly with her arms. Seeing this, Gu Hengsheng said gently, "It's okay, I'll hold you for a while."

Liang Wan shook her head and laughed, pouring a cup of tea for Gu Qingyue. "Third brother is still the most popular with children. This Xinxin won't even let his sixth uncle hold her. I remember Qingyue didn't get along with us elders very well back then, but now she gets along quite well with third brother."

In the fine white porcelain cup, the tea is golden yellow.

Gu Linsheng took a cigarette from the box and put it to his lips. He lowered his eyes slightly and lit it. After exhaling a puff of smoke, he looked at Gu Qingyue and said casually, "Didn't my second sister-in-law have surgery last time? How is her health now?"

Hearing this, Gu Qingyue quickly swallowed the tea that was warming her throat. She put down the cup and said awkwardly, "Not bad."

Gu Linsheng nodded, but did not continue the topic.

The door of the box was pushed open and the waiter brought the dishes to the table one by one.

Gu Xin was sitting on a chair by herself, sipping juice. Liang Wan didn't let her drink more and only poured half a cup. Gu Xin wrinkled her nose and said, "Baby loves you, Mommy, pour a little more."

The soup on the table was a pot of crucian carp and tofu soup. Gu Hengsheng picked up the wooden soup spoon, scooped a small bowl and placed it next to Gu Qingyue.

In the small bamboo bowl, a thick, milky-white soup was placed with one or two pieces of fish. Gu Qingyue disliked tofu, and Gu Hengsheng knew it. She picked up the porcelain spoon, scooped a mouthful of soup, and brought it to her mouth.

The taste is salty and delicious, and the fish is tender. No wonder the average price per person is so ridiculously expensive.

"This soup is good. Feed some to Gu Xin." Gu Linsheng instructed Liang Wan, then turned his gaze to Gu Hengsheng, "Third brother, I heard from Gu Sang that you are still working at S University?"

"It's just a favor for a friend." Gu Hengsheng said lightly.

Gu Linsheng put down the soup bowl and wiped his hands with the towel beside him. "When the old man found out, he got mad for a while. He intended for you to take over the family affairs. I have the will but not the ability to handle Macau alone. Look at that guy Yisheng. He eats, drinks and has fun all day long. He won't amount to anything."

Hearing this, Gu Hengsheng's face turned calm and his tone was calm: "Linsheng, you know my temper well."

"I know you don't like to ask about family matters, but the old man's health is not as good as before."

Gu Hengsheng interrupted him calmly: "Alright, Linsheng."

His tone was unusually cold and serious, which surprised Gu Qingyue.

Gu Xin let out a loud cry of surprise. It turned out that she had knocked over the juice in the glass. Liang Wan used a tissue to wipe the spilled drink on the table. This little episode suddenly improved the cold atmosphere at the table.

When the dinner was over, Gu Qingyue and Liang Wan went to the bathroom. Liang Wan mentioned what had happened at the table: "Didn't that scare you?"

Gu Qingyue shook her head and said truthfully, "I've never seen him get angry."

"Third brother has always been calm. The only times he got angry were with the old man," Liang Wan said.

"Don't Third Uncle and Grandpa have a bad relationship?" Gu Qingyue thought of the last time she went back to Yanjiang with her mother at the old man's birthday party, and the scene she witnessed outside the door.

"It's not that he's bad, it's just that Third Brother has always had a distant relationship with his family. Even among his brothers, they don't have a very close relationship." Finally, Liang Wan sighed, "In a large family, the relationship between siblings is usually quite weak. However, Third Brother has taken good care of you. I guess it's because he used to have a good relationship with your father."

Gu Qingyue remained silent until Liang Wan asked, "Did you meet your sixth uncle the last time he came to Huai City?"

"I've met him once, at Third Uncle's house." Gu Qingyue said deliberately, "Sixth Uncle even asked me some questions then."

"What's the matter?" Liang Wan lifted her long hair.

"She asked me if I saw anything that night in Yanjiang. It was so strange."

Liang Wan glanced at Gu Qingyue thoughtfully, wanting to speak but stopping herself. During the Yanjiang incident, Liang Wan had been drinking a bit, and because she had argued with Gu Linsheng that night, she had lost control of herself and nearly made a mistake.

After using the restroom, the two of them left the lobby and walked to the parking lot. It was a ten-minute walk from here. Gu Linsheng's car was two spaces away from Gu Hengsheng's, with Gu Linsheng's parking slightly ahead. They stopped, and Liang Wan asked Gu Xin to say goodbye to Gu Hengsheng and Gu Qingyue.

As Gu Linsheng's car merged into the traffic flow, a pair of taillights illuminated the license plate. Gu Qingyue frowned slightly and said, "This car looks familiar. I think I've seen it somewhere."

"Oh, really?" Gu Hengsheng looked at her and asked.

"I can't remember it at the moment." Gu Qingyue was annoyed. The two of them walked to the parking lot. Gu Qingyue bent down and got into the passenger seat. Gu Hengsheng walked around the front of the car and got into the driver's seat. After she saw him close the car door, she turned to him and said slowly, "Just now, Fourth Aunt asked me if I had seen Sixth Uncle."

Gu Hengsheng started the engine, turned the steering wheel, and said, "What do you say?"

"She said she met me at your place. She seemed to just want to confirm whether I had seen that scene." Gu Qingyue was playing with her phone, thinking of the impression Liang Wan had given her. She still didn't think such a gentle and elegant person who went along with the times would do such a thing. She tilted her head slightly, stared at Gu Hengsheng, and said, "Could Fourth Aunt really do such a thing? I can't believe it."

"The two of them do have some contact, but it hasn't really come to that." Gu Hengsheng held the steering wheel with a hint of indifference between his brows.

Gu Qingyue remembered what Liang Wan had said before, "Third Uncle has never been a warm person, but he is an exception to you, perhaps because of your father." She felt like there was a ball of cotton in her heart, unable to move forward or backward, and she felt inexplicably depressed.

She tilted her head to look at the man in the driver's seat. The hazy yellow light from outside the car flickered across his outline, his features shrouded in the light, revealing a gentle and peaceful quality. At that moment, she sincerely hoped that Gu Hengsheng would treat her well simply for her sake, not for her father's sake.

_____________________________________

Jinjiang Literature and the authors wish our dear readers and friends a safe and happy Spring Festival holiday! We also kindly remind everyone to wash hands frequently, wear masks, ventilate the room frequently, and avoid gatherings.

The author has something to say: Well, I accidentally posted a bit of Chapter 34 and deleted it.