Chapter 46 Hidden Truth
After a moment, Han asked in a dry voice, "Why?"
"What?" Gu Ningwei asked knowingly.
"The contract in Manager Yuan's hand..." Han said softly, "I want to know how Mr. Gu wants me to thank you for your kindness?"
The shoe will eventually drop, and she thought it would be better to sign a contract to make the rights and obligations clear to each other, so that there would be no more illusions.
"I did think that I needed to sign another contract with you to clarify our relationship..." After a moment of silence, Gu Ningwei spoke. He looked out the window, not at Han Que's face, and said in a measured tone, "But I really like you, Han Que."
After saying this, he suddenly breathed a sigh of relief, turned around, looked at her deeply, and spoke fluently: "To be frank, I've dated many girls. Whether we were in love or just wanted each other, I've had it all, but you are the most special."
"Is it because I didn't rush to stick to you?" Han suddenly smiled: "Maybe I am just retreating to advance."
In romance novels, the domineering president says to the poor girl, "Woman, you have successfully attracted my attention." Retreating to advance and making a love veteran hit a wall are necessary means to seduce a man.
Because it is readily available, it becomes boring. Only by delaying gratification can one cherish it.
All men are like this, but Han smiled bitterly.
"It's not important." Gu Ningwei's voice was calm, his eyes sharp and direct: "Whether it's retreating to advance, or playing the pig to eat the tiger, it's not important."
"What's the important thing?" Han asked with a frown.
"What's important is that I like you." Gu Ningwei said directly, his eyes sparkling. "Even if you're playing some tricks, I think they're just to spice things up."
Han was silent. She turned her head slightly and looked away.
It’s not that she doesn’t believe that Gu Ningwei likes her, but this kind of love is too cheap. She has encountered this kind of love many times, just like Lu Xiaoping’s, cheap, impulsive, and disposable love.
Gu Ningwei stared at her and continued, "Han Que, I thought about pursuing you through conventional means, like giving you gifts and flowers, and being persistent, just like Lu Xiaoping or the man you met before..."
Han Que's fingers stroked the elegant lines of the coffee cup and smiled playfully: "Is it a sugar-coated bullet attack?" She shrugged: "I don't mind."
Gu Ningwei also smiled. "Sugar-coated bullet? Yes, it is a sugar-coated bullet. You will accept it after a long time. I also deceived myself into thinking that another woman was conquered by my charm."
He snorted a laugh, leaned back in his chair, put his hands behind his head, and sneered slightly, "Then after a while, I will follow my family's arrangements and marry He Lian or whoever they want me to marry. We will have a wedding that attracts the attention of the world, forming a community of interests. In front of everyone and behind the scenes, we will be well-matched, talented and beautiful, loving and harmonious, and grow old together."
He chuckled, then asked Han Que, "Isn't it interesting? Are all those reports about rich people you see in the media like this? All glamorous and hypocritical."
Han was silent for a while, put down the coffee cup, and shook his head: "I don't care about other people's lives."
"Yeah, I'm someone else." Gu Ningwei muttered in a low voice, a little unhappy.
Han patiently explained, "What I meant is that I don't understand the lives of people of your class."
Han felt that he had gone too far as he started to criticize others right after receiving a favor from them.
She spoke softly, "You see, we are not the same kind of people. My life is all about working to earn money and supporting my family. Although I also yearn to enter your class, as you know, it's too difficult."
There was a moment of silence between the two.
After a while, Gu Ningwei suddenly asked: "So, what do you want for your future?"
What do you want for your future? Han thought about it and realized that as she was now, what future could she have?
She also thought that after a few years, when her debts were paid off, she would seriously look for a man to marry, an ordinary man who was not too ugly, had moderate savings, and had a moderate temper.
They build a family together, have children, take care of the elderly, work to earn money, and may also take out a loan to buy a small house and live an ordinary life.
Over time, parents will start to quarrel, engage in cold wars, and even fight over daily necessities, children's education, and nitpicking.
This is the future she can see, and it may not necessarily come true.
In the past, men had the responsibility to support their wives and children, but this is not necessarily the case for men today.
Han Que felt desolate in his heart, but a gentle smile appeared on his face: "I will try my best to satisfy whatever future Mr. Gu hopes for me."
Gu Ningwei was stunned. He stared into her eyes for a long time before saying, "Han Que, I'm very happy to hear you say that. It's a pity... you don't like me."
Han suddenly felt his eyes sore and filled with tears. He tried hard to hold back the tears and turned his head to stare out the window. The sun was shining outside and spring was in full swing.
But her heart was almost desolate.
Gu Ningwei looked at her silently, patiently as always.
Han turned her face away, smiled with tears in her eyes and said to him: "You are right, I don't like you now, but it's not your fault, it's my own fault, because I..." She choked slightly, "It's hard to like anyone now."
"Is it because of Jiang Jin?" After a moment of silence, Gu Ningwei suddenly asked.
Han suddenly opened his eyes wide, staring at Gu Ningwei blankly, speechless, and for a moment he didn't know how to respond.
After a while, she finally reacted and instinctively scolded: "You actually investigated me?"
As soon as he said it, Han regretted it. By saying this, he was implicitly admitting his mistake.
"Does it require further investigation?" Gu Ningwei chuckled softly and looked at her teasingly.
Han was stunned again.
In a panic, she didn't know why she didn't admit the emotional dispute between her and Jiang Jin in front of Gu Ningwei. Maybe she just didn't want others to peek into her inner thoughts.
Those belong to her alone and have nothing to do with Gu Ningwei.
"Jiang Jin and I..." She paused, licked her dry lips, and asked in a hoarse voice, "How did you know?"
"Do you think you can hide this from others?" Gu Ningwei expressed his disdain once again. He smiled and teased, "Didn't someone say that love, like a cough, can't be concealed? From the moment you first stepped into the reception room on the 24th floor, anyone with a discerning eye could see that you two were very close." He actually smiled slightly as he spoke. "I tested it a little more, and your reactions confirmed my thoughts."
"So, when you said that he and your sister were each other's first love, you were trying to spy on me?" Han Que's emotions gradually stabilized, but the resentment in her heart remained. She hated being peeped at.
"That's not what I said. It was your first love, Jiang Jin, who said it himself." Gu Ningwei restrained his expression and said seriously, "He told me and my sister before that he has been busy with study and work, and has too many expectations from his family. He has no time for love. Of course, it's also because his parents had a bad relationship and divorced when he was very young, so he has psychological barriers to love."
When saying this, Gu Ningwei paused again and looked at Han Que with a questioning look: "Is he really from a single-parent family?"
Han nodded. She still remembered that it was summer when Jiang Jin moved to live with Grandma Jiang.
At about dinner time in the evening, Han saw from his window a middle-aged man and a little boy knocking on the door of Grandma Jiang's house next door.
Not long after, I vaguely heard Grandma Jiang arguing with someone. The door next door was pushed open, and a little boy was standing under the eaves with his schoolbag on his back. He was wearing a white shirt, dark blue knee-length shorts, and snow-white sneakers on his feet.
The setting sun shone on the black tiles, emitting golden light. The sky was a dark pink. He stood alone in the yard.
After a while, the middle-aged man came out. He pushed his bicycle and said to the boy, "Jiang Jin, I'm asking you one last time, do you really have to stay at grandma's house and not come back?"
The little boy bit his lip and said nothing, his bright black eyes fixed on his father.
The middle-aged man continued, "Don't look at me like that. If you don't say anything, I'll take it as your consent. I'll go to your school tomorrow to complete the transfer procedures. Next week, when school starts, you'll be attending the elementary school next door. I'm telling you, this isn't a key elementary school, and you won't be able to be the squad leader anymore. Think this through."
The boy named Jiang Jin didn't speak.
Grandma Jiang opened the screen door and came out, pushing her son: "Don't threaten him. Jin'er will live with me from now on. Go away and go back to your wife. Just treat your son and I as dead and never come back again."
The middle-aged man said: "Mom, the child is disobedient, and you also join in the discussion..."
Grandma Jiang yelled angrily, "I'm helping you? My grandson is about to be beaten to death by you, and I'm still helping you? Get out, get out quickly..."
As she spoke, she picked up the broom from the corner and swung it in the air, hitting her son with all her might. The bun on the back of her head loosened, and her gray hair flew into the air.
However, Han saw through the window that the middle-aged man was pushing his bicycle away in a mess, leaving the boy standing in the sunset.
Grandma Jiang chased her son away and went into the kitchen to cook. The strong smell of chili peppers mixed with oil smoke wafted out of the window, choking people and making them cry.
Liu Suping shouted from inside the house, "Aunt Jiang, did you not turn on the range hood again? It's choking me to death."
Grandma Jiang ignored her, and the sound of ping-pong came from the kitchen.
Han Yourong handed the cut watermelon to Han Que and said, "Go, give that little brother a piece of watermelon. It's hot outside, don't get a heat stroke."
Han took the watermelon to the yard and handed it to Jiang Jin who was standing in the yard. He didn't take it, but raised his head slightly and didn't look at her.
Han came back to him with the watermelon in his hand, and stood on tiptoe to look into his eyes. The boy's dark eyes were filled with tears.
…
"I later learned that you two have known each other since childhood. You could be considered childhood sweethearts." Gu Ningwei's slightly sarcastic voice interrupted Han Que's recollection. She averted her gaze and shrugged, "What childhood sweethearts? He's already very successful."
"Yes, Jiang Jin is smart enough." Gu Ningwei gave her a sidelong glance, "Unlike someone who is stubborn."
Han Que: "..."
She asked: "Does Miss Gu know about Jiang Jin and me?"
"Maybe he knows, maybe he doesn't." Gu Ningwei could not deny it.
"What would happen if Gu Ningli knew?" Han asked again.
She didn't know whether Jiang Jin didn't know now that the Gu brothers and sisters had already seen through his relationship with her, and she also didn't know whether Gu Ningli would break up with Jiang Jin because of this and shatter his dream of wealth and glory.
"You care a lot?" Jiang Jin looked at her sarcastically. "Even if he gets hurt, you don't want him to get hurt. Do you like him that much?"
Han Que: "..."
She was silent. She saw ridicule and jealousy in Gu Ningwei's eyes.
That's jealousy from men.
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