Chapter 54 When Possessiveness Reaches its Peak
They ate at a snack street not far from the school. When Chu Xiang came out of the restaurant, the street was already lined with food stalls. It proved that even if you have just eaten dinner, once you see something delicious, your second stomach will wake up.
Chu Xiang stood in front of a barbecue stall. She touched her stomach and looked at the lamb skewers with a conflicted expression. She had been eating too well lately and was afraid of gaining weight, but it would be a waste not to eat such delicious food.
A little boy walked over holding his mother's hand, pointed at the lamb skewers, and shouted, "Mommy, I want to eat these! I want ten skewers!"
The boy's mother couldn't refuse her son's request, so she bought ten skewers.
The owner, grilling lamb skewers, glanced at Chu Xiang, who had been standing there for a while, and said, "Beautiful lady, would you like some? My food is definitely the best on this street. If you don't like it, you don't have to pay!"
Chu Xiang hesitated for a long time before whispering, "I want one skewer."
The owner didn't mind that she ordered too little. After grilling the food, he gave the little boy ten skewers and Chu Xiang one skewer.
The little boy held two lamb skewers in his hands and looked proudly at the pretty older sister, as if he was angry that Chu Xiang didn't have a mother to buy things, so she could only afford to buy one skewer because she was poor.
Chu Xiang's brow twitched.
A man's voice came from behind, "Xiangxiang."
Chu Xiang turned around and saw a familiar man, her eyes instantly filled with joy.
The man must have gone home after get off work before coming to pick her up, because he wasn't wearing his usual dark-colored suits today. Instead, he was simply wearing a white T-shirt and black trousers, looking very casual, which was different from his usual serious demeanor. Even though he was walking on this street full of college students, he didn't seem out of place.
This was the first time Chu Xiang had seen Gu Heng dressed so casually and plainly. She felt a sense of novelty mixed with excitement, and her eyes shone brighter as she looked at him.
Gu Heng took her hand and asked with a smile, "Didn't you eat enough for dinner?"
Chu Xiang didn't want to say that she had a big appetite, nor did she want to admit that she was a foodie. She came up with a lame excuse, "I just saw that this shop owner hadn't sold anything for a long time, and out of sympathy, I spent some money to buy some things."
Gu Heng: "Really?"
He seemed exceptionally charming today, and Chu Xiang simply couldn't resist. In a moment of impulsiveness, she shoved the only lamb skewer she had into his hand, saying, "You can have it if you don't believe me!"
Gu Heng didn't refuse. Chu Xiang originally thought that someone as self-disciplined as him would definitely have a fixed diet and wouldn't eat barbecue from roadside stalls. But she didn't expect him to take the first bite of meat from the skewer.
Gu Heng always ate with elegance, and the lamb skewers, which seemed out of place with his temperament, did not seem out of place at all. He chewed slowly and savored the taste for a moment, and said with a serious expression, "They taste almost the same as the ones I bought when I was in school."
Chu Xiang blinked. "You used to eat lamb skewers when you were young?"
Gu Heng said with a hint of melancholy, "Xiangxiang, I'm not a caveman."
He was only a few years older than her, not decades older.
As Gu Heng walked with Chu Xiang in his hand, he said, "But it really has been a long time since I've had this kind of food. Thank you for treating me today; it made me reminisce about the past."
Chu Xiang watched helplessly as he ate another piece of meat off the skewer, and she grew increasingly anxious. "Actually, the things you buy on the street aren't very clean or hygienic. It's not good to eat too much of them."
Gu Heng's eyes curved slightly. "It's just a lamb skewer, not much."
“That’s not good either…” Chu Xiang raised her face, her expression full of worry. “You usually eat so healthily, and suddenly eating such unhealthy things, I’m afraid your body won’t be able to adapt.”
Gu Heng thought for a moment, "Hmm, what you said makes a lot of sense."
Chu Xiang's eyes were full of anticipation, "Then..."
Gu Heng glanced at the trash can next to him. "Then let's throw it away."
Chu Xiang grabbed his strong arm anxiously, "Gu Heng, we can't waste food!"
Gu Heng finally couldn't help but chuckle. He brought the lamb skewers to her lips, his dark eyes hiding a gentle mischievousness. "I won't tease you anymore."
Chu Xiang gave a frustrated "Oh," pulled her arm around his lower, and took a bite of the meat she had been longing for, following his posture. This bite touched her deeply. Afraid that this man would use his serious face to plot something bad again, she quickly snatched the lamb skewer from his hand and ate it in a few bites.
With so many people on the street, it's normal for people to touch each other occasionally as they walk by.
Gu Heng protected the girl and led her forward. He asked her with concern if she understood what was going on in class today, whether she had fun in the drama club, and whether she was happy eating with her classmates. Chu Xiang always talked about a lot of trivial things when she was with her close friends.
For example, she saw a beautiful flower at school today, or she played a game during her free time and lost.
Gu Heng would definitely lose patience with this kind of unfocused way of expressing himself in a work setting, but even if Chu Xiang just said that she saw ants carrying food, he would respond to her with a sense of amusement.
Gu Heng's car was parked across the street; they needed to wait for the traffic light to change.
Chu Xiang hugged his arm and asked expectantly, "Will you come to our school anniversary celebration?"
Gu Heng nodded. "I will come."
Chu Xiang laughed out loud with joy.
For no apparent reason, Gu Heng felt an urge to kiss her again.
There are many people coming and going on this street, including young couples and friends chatting arm in arm.
When Gu Heng was still a student, he would occasionally try to integrate into his classmates' circle, but he tried once and found that compared with those vibrant and youthful peers, he was too dull and boring and still out of place.
But he never forced himself to accommodate others, so he eventually stopped caring.
Perhaps it was because the girl's smile, so bright and dazzling, was so captivating when she looked at him that his usually quiet heart would often flutter wildly. He felt as if he were back on the 3,000-meter track in high school, or perhaps he was describing himself as he was back in high school, but even that wouldn't be enough.
Suddenly, a kaleidoscope of colors burst into view.
A middle-aged woman was holding a large bunch of balloons, which were printed with various cartoon pictures. The balloons were flying in the air and successfully attracted the attention of a large number of children.
A boy, who hadn't even finished eating his skewers, tugged at his mother's hand and said, "Mom, I want a Doraemon balloon!"
The boy's mother bought a balloon and put it in his hand. The boy beamed with joy. He looked up and saw Chu Xiang, then glanced at Gu Heng, who had been looking at the balloon earlier. Like a proud little prince, he stood smugly next to them and deliberately tugged on the string of the balloon, his intention to show off was obvious.
No one buys kebabs for this older sister, and no one buys balloons for this older brother. They are so pitiful.
Gu Heng didn't pay attention. The red light turned green, and he took Chu Xiang's hand to move forward. However, Chu Xiang stood still. He lowered his eyes and asked, "Xiangxiang?"
Chu Xiang, seemingly wealthy, said to the balloon seller, "Auntie, how much are these balloons? I'll buy them all!"
Upon hearing this, the little boy stopped in his tracks. He looked at Chu Xiang with a shocked expression. Not only him, but everyone around Chu Xiang looked at her with strange eyes. They had seen children begging to buy balloons before, but they had never seen an adult buy them all at once.
Chu Xiang scanned the code and paid, then took a bunch of balloons from the aunt who kept thanking her. She deliberately walked around the little boy, then glanced disdainfully at the lone Doraemon in his hand. After she had shown off enough, she grabbed Gu Heng's hand and tied all the strings of the balloons to his hand.
Gu Heng quietly let her do as she pleased.
Chu Xiang snorted, "Of course, Ah Heng should have what others have too. What's so special about one Doraemon? Ah Heng has three Doraemons and four Bikachus!"
The boy was so upset that he burst into tears. His mother frantically tried to comfort him and dragged him away.
To be honest, it looked rather incongruous and comical that Gu Heng, a tall and muscular man, was carrying a huge bunch of balloons.
He didn't feel embarrassed that something so completely mismatched with him had fallen into his hands. Instead, he looked at the girl who was bending down to wind the thread for him, and his heart felt heavy because it was so full.
When he was nine years old, he went shopping with his mother. When his mother asked him what he wanted, he looked at a blue balloon.
Two-year-old Gu Jue was too young to understand. He hugged his mother's leg and said softly, "Mommy, I want this!"
He was also talking about the blue balloon, but there was only one blue balloon left. Chen Wanrou smiled and said to her quiet eldest son, "Aheng, your younger brother is younger than you, so give this balloon to him. That purple balloon is also very pretty, shall I buy it for you?"
So much time has passed that Gu Heng has forgotten many details, and he has even forgotten whether he wanted the purple balloon in the end. He originally thought it was an unimportant memory that he would never recall in his life.
But now, looking back, he realized that the Doraemon on the blue balloon wasn't drawn very well and was quite rough. He then realized that he remembered things from when he was so young very clearly.
In many people's eyes, Gu Heng, who was too precocious, had no childhood. Even he himself felt so. So when his childlike heart, which had been buried for so many years, suddenly felt cared for, the feeling of his soul being warmed and soaked by the sun made him suddenly feel that everything in this world had such a strong sense of reality.
Chu Xiang held Gu Heng's hand and led him through the city on the zebra crossing with the green light on. The huge bunch of colorful balloons made the man the most dazzling focus in the crowd.
But neither of them seemed embarrassed at all.
Gu Heng opened the car door first and let the girl get in. He stood outside, holding a bunch of light balloons in one hand, leaning against the car, and said to the person on the phone, "Assistant Yin, please move my dinner with Mr. Chu to tomorrow."
Assistant Yin said on the other end of the phone, "Okay, I'll contact their assistant. But, Mr. Gu, wasn't dinner scheduled for the day after tomorrow? What happened?"
Gu Heng lowered his eyes slightly, and when he saw the girl in the car window smile at him, he couldn't help but curl the corners of his lips and return her a gentle smile.
"I want to be with her legitimately, and I don't want to wait even a day longer."
Just thinking about Gu Jue's name and how it was always associated with her casts a shadow over his world.
When possessiveness reaches its extreme, it foreshadows danger.
Gu Jue must break off his engagement with Chu Xiang.
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