☆, Chapter 5

When Gu Qingyue returned to the shop, Gu Simin had already finished half of her tofu pudding. She picked up a shrimp dumpling with her chopsticks and put it in her mouth, mumbling, "Qingyue, what were you talking about with Third Brother?"

Gu Qingyue narrowed her eyelashes slightly and said, "Ask him what time he will pick us up."

Gu Simin's attention was quickly diverted, and he told her where they would go for a walk later. The two of them ate and talked. They ate a lot for breakfast, and when they left the store, they were both 70% full.

Gu Simin burped and said rather embarrassedly, "Oh, I'm too full."

After eight o'clock, all the shops in the alley were open. Many tourists came and went on the bluestone slabs, and the alley was bustling with people. It was not as quiet as when they came this morning.

There were many small shops selling souvenirs here. Gu Simin was attracted and pulled Gu Qingyue in. There were young girls standing in front of the shelves, picking and choosing, which was quite lively.

Gu Simin held a porcelain kitten in her palm and held it in front of Qingyue: "Hey, Qingyue, look at this, it's so beautiful. I want to buy this, okay?"

Gu Qingyue nodded. In addition to the porcelain kitten, Gu Simin also bought a crescent-shaped sandalwood comb with a purple tassel hanging from the handle. When they reached the checkout counter, Gu Qingyue pulled out her wallet and said, "I'll pay. It's a small gift for you."

"That's not a good idea. According to seniority, I'm still your aunt." Gu Simin said half-jokingly.

Gu Qingyue laughed and said, "Then I will honor you, okay?"

The two chatted and laughed when the clerk looked up at Gu Qingyue and interrupted them: "Hello, do you have twenty coins? I don't have any change here, so I can't make the change."

Hearing this, Gu Qingyue whispered, "Okay, wait a moment, I'll look for it."

She lowered her head and searched her wallet, but there was no other change.

Gu Qingyue was about to ask Gu Simin to pick out another doll to round up the money when a hand reached out from behind her. Its slender fingers held two thin ten-yuan notes and said, "Here they are."

Gu Qingyue turned around and met the face of the owner of the hand. He had thick eyebrows and deep eyes, and was quite tall. He was wearing a black sweater and blue jeans, and looked to be about the same age as her.

A middle-aged man outside said, "Xiaoshu, it's time to go."

The young man looked at her, smiled, turned around and walked out of the store.

Gu Qingyue reacted and chased him out the door, calling out to him, "Hello, how do I return the money?"

The young man stopped, played with his phone, looked up at her, and said meaningfully, "See you later."

After saying that, he got into the car and the black sedan drove away.

Gu Qingyue was confused. Gu Simin walked up and asked, "Qingyue, do you know this person?"

Gu Qingyue shook her head, looking confused: "I don't know him."

"I thought he knew you, otherwise why would he pay for us? He's such a weird person." Gu Simin said.

The clerk behind them had already packed the items. The two of them took paper bags. Gu Simin sighed, "Hey, there are still two hours until ten o'clock. What should I do?"

"There's a cinema nearby. Do you want to watch a movie?" Gu Qingyue suggested.

Gu Simin nodded vigorously and said with a smile, "Okay, I was worried that walking around like this for three hours wouldn't be a solution."

There were only a few movies showing at that time, both domestic and foreign, and nothing particularly popular. The two looked at the posters posted in the theater, picked out a romance movie at random, and bought some drinks and popcorn.

It's purely for killing time, so the film is naturally not very attractive.

Gu Simin watched for less than ten minutes before leaning back in her chair to catch up on some sleep. Gu Qingyue was a quiet person, and although the film's plot was bland and clichéd, she still watched patiently and quietly.

As the film was coming to an end, the phone in her bag started buzzing. Gu Qingyue carefully took the phone out of her bag and walked out of the theater along the aisle.

It was an unfamiliar number. Gu Qingyue could vaguely guess who the other party was. She pressed the answer button and said hello softly.

The man's voice coming from the other end was low and had an indescribable feeling, like the unique sound quality of those male hosts on the radio at midnight, low and full of texture. In short, it sounded very nice and a bit charming.

Gu Qingyue couldn't help but think of a point her roommate Shu Miaomiao had made. Most men with nice voices weren't very good-looking. Having both a nice voice and an extraordinary appearance was truly a rare sight.

Gu Hengsheng: "Qingyue?"

Gu Qingyue regained her composure and replied softly, "Yeah."

"I'm your third uncle."

Gu Qingyue pursed her lips and said, "I know."

He seemed to laugh faintly, and then Gu Qingyue heard him ask: "Where are you and Simin? I'm here to pick you up."

"It's at the cinema in the 11th Building. Simin and I will go down by ourselves. You don't have to come up to pick us up."

"Okay." Gu Hengsheng said, "I'll be in the same position as this morning."

Gu Qingyue hung up the phone, looked at the call log, thought about it, and saved his number in the address book.

She tiptoed back to the theater. The movie had just ended and the overhead lights came on one by one, making the theater as bright as day.

Gu Simin was awakened by the noise around her. She woke up dazed and saw Gu Qingyue coming back. She asked, "Qingyue, where have you been?"

Gu Qingyue: "Third uncle called and said he has arrived. We should go back."

A black car was parked under a tree.

Gu Hengsheng stood outside the car, wearing a white shirt and trousers, with a thick green crown on his head. He lowered his eyebrows and replied to the message, attracting the attention of many passers-by.

Gu Simin stepped forward: “Third brother, you are finally here.”

Gu Hengsheng put away his phone, put it in his pocket, and said, "Sorry for the wait."

The two got in the car, and Gu Hengsheng handed over a cowhide bag from the driver's seat. Gu Simin asked curiously, "What's that?"

"There are some glutinous rice dumplings near the meeting place. Many girls like to eat them, so I brought some for you."

Gu Simin's eyes curved, "Hey, thank you, Third Brother."

As the car approached the old house, Gu Qingyue received a call from her mother, asking when she would be back. The mother and daughter exchanged a few words, and the car arrived at the door of the old house.

In addition to their car, there was also a black car parked against the white wall.

When Gu Qingyue got out of the car, she subconsciously glanced at it. She felt that the car looked somewhat familiar. Gu Simin took her hand and said, "What's wrong? Is there something wrong with the car?"

Gu Qingyue retracted her gaze and shook her head: "No."

When she went to the side hall to find Gu's mother, she unexpectedly ran into the young man, or rather, young boy, who had just paid for her.

Mother Gu was chatting with a man in his fifties. When she saw Gu Qingyue, she raised her hand and beckoned her over, saying, "This is your Uncle Song. Say hello."

Gu Qingyue called him uncle politely.

The man has an elegant appearance. Even though he is middle-aged, one can tell that he had an extraordinary face when he was young. He looks a bit similar to the young boy outside in his eyebrows and eyes.

Song Zhixun smiled amiably and, after asking a few questions as usual, pointed at the man standing under the eaves with headphones in his ears and said, "That's my son, Song Xiaoshu. You saw him a few times when you were little. Do you remember him?"

Gu Qingyue thought about it carefully, but had no impression at all, so she shook her head truthfully.

Song Zhixun smiled and said, "That's right. It's been more than ten years. You should not remember it anymore."

Gu Qingyue chatted with him for a few more words, and when she left, Song Xiaoshu took off his headphones, slowly stood up straight, and a determined smile on his face: "I said I would see you again."

Gu Qingyue pursed her lips and said, "Hello, Gu Qingyue."

Song Xiaoshu also looked more serious: "Song Xiaoshu, we met a few times when we were kids, do you remember?"

Gu Qingyue pretended to think for a moment, then said awkwardly, "I'm sorry, I don't quite remember."

"It's okay." Song Xiaoshu didn't care and raised his hand to point at the corner of her eye. "I will remember you because of this."

He was referring to the teardrop mole at the corner of his right eye.

Gu Qingyue subconsciously touched the corner of her eye, then realized something. She lowered her eyes and reached into her bag to pull out her wallet: "Thank you for paying for us earlier. I'll give you the money back."

Song Xiaoshu gently held her hand, stopping her from taking her wallet. Gu Qingyue looked at the hand on her wrist, then raised her eyes to look at him.

"Sorry." Song Xiaoshu realized his abruptness and quickly withdrew his hand. "It's only twenty yuan. Our fathers knew each other. There's no need to be so distant. What do you think?"

Gu Qingyue nodded and thanked him solemnly.

Song Xiaoshu was amused by her serious look, and said with a sigh, "You're too polite."

"Hey, why are you here?"

A voice came from behind, it was Gu Simin.

Gu Qingyue looked in the direction of the voice and saw Gu Simin walking towards her with a cat in her arms.

Song Xiaoshu smiled and said, "Hi, nice to see you again."

Gu Qingyue explained for him: "He is Uncle Song's son, Song Xiaoshu."

Song Zhixun is a student of Mr. Gu and worked under him in his early years. This time, there were no outsiders at Mr. Gu’s birthday party except the Song family. This shows that Song Zhixun is highly valued by Mr. Gu.