Chapter 115
Xiao Ping came back from shopping. As soon as he entered the room, he felt the suffocating atmosphere in the living room. It was obvious that the mother and daughter were in a stalemate again. Xiao Ping hurried over to break the silence and said, "The supermarket is having a promotion today. I bought some beef brisket and chicken. I'm going to make soup tonight and tomato beef brisket. My daughter loves it!"
"What are you still eating..." Fang Lan looked at Xiao Ping unhappily and said, "You're so careless. Such a big thing happened, and you act like nothing happened!"
"No matter how big the matter is, we still have to eat. Pei Yin, come and help me." Xiao Ping deliberately called his daughter away, walked to the kitchen, closed the door, isolated Fang Lan, and turned around to start preparing dinner.
"Peel some garlic for me!" Xiao Ping handed over two heads of garlic and smiled at Pei Yin.
After what Gu Cunxi had just revealed to her, Pei Yin seemed much more relaxed in front of her father. She stood beside Xiao Ping and silently peeled the garlic in her hand without saying a word.
"Cunxi went back?" Xiao Ping looked towards the living room and asked in a low voice.
"Yeah! She... went back to the cafe."
"That girl is pretty good! She's pretty, capable, and she's 100% sincere to you. I can tell!" Xiao Ping said calmly while cutting vegetables on the chopping board.
“!”
Suddenly hearing Xiao Ping say this to her in person, Pei Yin's heart skipped a beat, her eyes flashed with joy as she said, "You agree that we..."
"Will you give up if I don't agree?"
"You won't!" Xiao Ping asked himself and answered, "I've let you live an unhappy life for so many years. You are my daughter, and I always want you to be happy. If you believe that Gu Cunxi can bring you happiness, how can I bear to destroy you again?"
"Your life is your own, and I've figured it out. As a father, I can only give you advice on life, but I can't control your life. I should respect your final direction!"
"Dad!" Pei Yin stopped what he was doing, turned around with red eyes and looked at Xiao Ping, feeling inexplicably grateful in his heart.
"Live the life you wanted! Dad is old, and one day he won't be able to accompany you. I was worried that you would have to wait alone after the divorce. What would you do when your mother and I are gone... Now that Gu Cunxi is with you, I feel relieved. It doesn't matter whether it's a boy or a girl! As long as you are happy, that's all!" Xiao Ping choked up more and more as he spoke, and his eyes turned red. Thinking of the past, he regretted that he shouldn't have made the decision for his daughter with Fang Lan, and therefore owed his daughter happiness. Now he just hoped it wasn't too late.
…
After returning to the coffee shop, Gu Cunxi sat by the window for a long time as if she had lost her soul. Looking at everything outside, all she could think about was Xiao Peiyin. She picked up her phone and sent her a message. After waiting for a long time, there was no reply from Peiyin. The loneliness in her heart after the separation was gradually magnified.
The coffee shop was deserted and she was the only one there. The more Gu Cunxi thought about it, the harder it was to bear the separation. She hugged the rabbit doll in her arms and stood up and walked to the bar, intending to imitate Pei Yin and make herself a cup of coffee.
Gu Cunxi was at a loss as to what to do with all the different coffee machines. She only knew how to drink coffee and had only made it a few times. After a long while, she frothed some milk and made a cup of freshly ground coffee. She planned to try latte art.
The result was an obvious failure. I don’t know if it was because the milk foam was too thin, but it scattered as soon as it was poured into the cup and could not form a pattern with the coffee.
Gu Cunxi looked at the coffee in his hand, curled his lips, and placed the coffee in front of the rabbit doll, muttering to himself: "I can't make coffee as beautiful as hers. When she comes back, I'll ask her to teach me, okay? I'll barely give this cup to you!"
The little rabbit sat quietly at the bar, with a cup of latte art in front of it. Gu Cunxi laughed at herself. Missing someone was not a pleasant feeling at all, so she started talking to the rabbit doll, trying to relieve the madness of missing someone.
The phone still didn't ring...
Meanwhile, Pei Yin was busy in the kitchen, chopping vegetables while thinking about Gu Cunxi. The more she thought about him, the more worried she became. She could even imagine Gu Cunxi sitting alone in the cafe, feeling lonely and isolated...
"hiss…"
The sharp blade accidentally cut my index finger, and blood oozed out little by little.
"What's wrong?" Xiao Ping was busy stewing soup when he heard a strange noise behind him and quickly turned around to look: "Why are you so careless..."
"I haven't done it for a long time, so my hands are a little... unfamiliar..." Pei Yin pursed her lips, cleaned the blood on her index finger, and treated the wound.
Seeing his daughter's absent-minded look, Xiao Ping knew that she had probably been distracted while cutting vegetables and cut her finger. "Leave it there, I'll cut it." Xiao Ping took the knife from his daughter and said, "Don't worry, she will take care of herself and wait for you to come back!"
Pei Yin was stunned. She didn't know whether her expression was too obvious or her father knew her too well.
Fang Lan had been sitting on the sofa in the living room, with a dull look on her face. She couldn't hear the faint voices in the kitchen clearly, and didn't know what the two of them were whispering about behind her back. Fang Lan vaguely felt that Xiao Ping was changing sides. From his attitude, it seemed that Xiao Ping had no intention of standing on the same side with her about his daughter finding a woman. He hadn't said a single word of opposition from beginning to end.
Isolated and helpless... Fang Lan became more and more depressed the more she thought about it.
The two of them worked in the kitchen for more than two hours and cooked a table of dishes. Xiao Ping, as usual, called Fang Lan to eat after the meal was ready, but the atmosphere at the table today was very different from before.
The three of them were all preoccupied with their own thoughts. Besides the clatter of dishes, no one spoke at the table. After a long moment, Fang Lan couldn't hold it in any longer and asked, "When are you planning on leaving that woman?"
“…”
"I have no plans to leave!" Pei Yin frowned, and the food in front of him suddenly lost its taste, swallowing it was like chewing wax.
"Alright! Let's stop here. My daughter is grown up now, let her be!" Xiao Ping took over the conversation, interrupting Fang Lan, frowning, and speaking in an unquestionable tone.
Fang Lan became even angrier when she heard this. She threw down her dishes and demanded, "Four years ago, she wanted a divorce, and I let her do it. But today, she's brought another woman back, and I absolutely cannot accept that!"
"Dad, I'm done eating! I'm going back to my room first..." Pei Yin put down his bowl and chopsticks, not wanting to listen to Fang Lan anymore, and hurried away
"Can't we just have a good meal... why do we have to bring up all this?" Xiao Ping lost the desire to eat anymore. He looked at the table full of food and complained unhappily.
"If I don't mention it, will I let her go? If she's with a woman, there will be so much gossip and criticism behind her back. Who can understand such a thing?"
"Are you afraid of your daughter being criticized, or are you afraid of yourself being criticized?" Xiao Ping asked what was in his heart, breathing heavily, and his expression became increasingly unhappy.
"I agreed to their relationship. As long as my daughter is happy, nothing else matters. That girl is excellent in every aspect. So what if she's not a man? Chen Feng is a man who suits your taste. But in the end, you forced my daughter to divorce. Have you ever thought about Pei Yin? You keep imposing your ideas on her. You only care about your own face. Can you eat face?"
Fang Lan stood there in shock, angrily saying, "I just hope she can live a normal life!!"
Pei Yin returned to the bedroom and could vaguely hear the conversation outside. Fang Lan's words about a normal life made her feel depressed.
Three unread messages appeared on the phone screen. Pei Yin's first reaction was that they were from Gu Cunxi, so he quickly opened it to check.
A photo and two paragraphs of text... In the photo, Gu Cunxi was lying on the table with a little rabbit in his arms, and in front of him was a cup of coffee with a failed latte art.
[The little rabbit is keeping me company! I made it a cup of coffee, but it's not as good as yours! Can you teach me when you come back?]
I miss you so much!
Pei Yin looked at the photo again and again, and then enlarged it to look at her lover's beautiful eyebrows and eyes. The smile on her lips became more and more intense, and the longing in her heart could not be controlled and burst out in an instant. She did not reply to the message, but called directly because she wanted to hear Gu Cunxi's voice.
The other end was picked up almost instantly, and her beautiful and magnetic voice came
"Cunxi!" Pei Yin's breathing hitched, and after calming down, he said, "Just now... I was having dinner with my family, so I didn't see your message in time. Did you... eat? Does your face still hurt? Did you apply ice? There are ice packs in the refrigerator at the bar. I put some ointment in your car to reduce swelling. Did you see it?"
Pei Yin said a lot in a row, and Gu Cunxi listened quietly. Her words were full of her concern. Such plain sweetness and delicacy were more touching than those vigorous emotions.
"I just ate too. We didn't have time to eat the breakfast you made this morning, but I finished it all, including yours... My face doesn't hurt anymore. I'll just apply ice to it later. Don't worry! I've got the ointment back from the car!" Gu Cunxi answered Pei Yin's questions one by one, and then asked: "Is that cup of coffee ugly? I tried to imitate you and follow your steps, but I can't make it right..."
A soft sigh came from the phone, the tone was a little childish and coquettish, Pei Yin couldn't help but chuckle and said, "It's not ugly at all. Although the latte art looks a bit abstract, it's quite unique. I like it!"
"If... Mr. Gu wants to learn, how about I teach you when I get back? It's free!" Pei Yin smiled and added
"Not charging money...are you planning to ask me to pay it off with something else?" Gu Cunxi took a sip of the coffee he made and asked meaningfully.
"If so, is Mr. Gu willing?" Pei Yin did not answer directly, but asked in a low and seductive tone.
“…”
Gu Cunxi didn't answer Pei Yin about this question in the end. She chose to skip it, which made Pei Yin feel a little disappointed. She thought that Gu Cunxi was rejecting her indirectly, and she couldn't help feeling depressed. The two chatted for a long time. Just before hanging up the phone, Gu Cunxi said to her: "I'll wait for you to come back and ask me in person if you are willing! Then I will answer you!"
After hanging up the phone, Pei Yin leaned against the window and wrote Gu Cunxi's name on the foggy window. She couldn't wait to go back and hear Gu Cunxi say with her own ears: She does!
…
Early Tuesday morning, after having dinner at home, Pei Yin planned to go back to the coffee shop. Two days had passed, and Fang Lan had unexpectedly kept silent about Gu Cunxi's matter, as if nothing had happened. This abnormality left Pei Yin puzzled, but she didn't think too much about it... Yesterday, she took Fang Lan to the hospital for a physical examination. After all the tests came back clear, she felt relieved. She had to go see Gu Cunxi today. These past two days had been too difficult...
Pei Yin searched for several sets of clothes in the closet, secretly guessing which one Gu Cunxi would like her to wear. Finally, she chose a dress, and paired it with the windbreaker that Gu Cunxi had given her four years ago. She changed into a pair of high heels and smiled at the mirror with satisfaction. She seldom wore high heels, but thinking that she could see Gu Cunxi today, she naturally wanted to do something different.
"Mom! I need to go out for a bit!" Pei Yin walked quickly to the door with her bag, ready to leave. As soon as she opened the door, Fang Lan came running over and stopped her. "I have a dinner appointment with your Aunt Wang today. If you don't have anything urgent, could you please take me there?"
Pei Yin was stunned for a moment, thought for a while and nodded in agreement.
Time passed by minute by minute. Pei Yin waited and waited. It was almost noon. She had originally planned to have lunch with Cunxi yesterday. It was almost eleven o'clock, and Fang Lan still didn't show any signs of leaving. Pei Yin was getting anxious. She knocked on the bedroom door and asked, "Mom! How long will you take? It's already noon, and I... have a lunch date too!"
As soon as the words fell, Fang Lan came out, straightened his clothes and said, "Okay, okay, let's go."
"Why did you suddenly make an appointment with Wang Lan? And you're eating out?" Xiao Ping asked puzzledly while sitting on the sofa and looking at the hurried Fang Lan.
"It's been a while since we last met...Okay, I'm leaving now. You can have lunch by yourself!" Fang Lan said, pulling Pei Yin out of the door in a hurry.
Along the way, Pei Yin looked at the time, feeling anxious. She wanted to send her mother there as soon as possible so that she could go see Gu Cunxi. However, after Fang Lan's guidance, Pei Yin was stunned when she arrived at her destination.
The Oak Western Restaurant... was the place she and Gu Cunxi had agreed to meet. The more Pei Yin thought about it, the more puzzled she found it. Fang Lan never liked Western food, so why would she choose to eat here? Could it be... that Aunt Wang had booked it?
"This is it!" Fang Lan looked at the house number and the address on her phone and said, "Your Aunt Wang wants to eat Western food, so let's book here. Let's go!"
"?"
"Mom... I won't go in with you!" Pei Yin was about to send a message to Gu Cunxi to change the dining place temporarily. She didn't want Gu Cunxi to meet Fang Lan.
"I didn't ask you to eat! Your Aunt Wang hasn't arrived yet. Please accompany me in and help me order some dishes. Mom doesn't know how to eat Western food!" Fang Lan said, then pulled Pei Yin out of the car, locked the car door with her, and walked straight to the Western restaurant.
Gu Cunxi chose a spot on the second floor, in the corner, by the window. She knew Pei Yin liked quiet, secluded places, so she had been waiting here an hour in advance and had drunk three glasses of lemonade. As time was approaching, she sat on the second floor, staring at the door, anticipating Pei Yin's appearance. She felt excited and nervous, but the scene in the next second made her frown slightly and freeze.
She saw Fang Lan pulling Pei Yin into the doorway and heading straight to the window seat on the first floor, where a man was sitting...
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