The phone rang, and Cheng Qicai answered it under some pretext, not wanting to waste any more time chatting with the old man.
After exchanging a few words with her grandfather on the phone, Cheng Qicai hung up and saw that Gu Rongqi had also finished his conversation.
She called out to Gu Rongqi, and Gu Rongqi looked down at her.
Cheng Qicai said, "My grandfather called me back for lunch. Would you and President Wu like to come to my house for lunch?"
Mr. Wu politely declined, saying, "No, thank you for your kindness, Ms. Cheng, but the crane operator is arriving soon, and I'll be waiting for them here. You and Mr. Gu can go have dinner."
Cheng Qicai then looked at Gu Rongqi and said, "Shall we go back together? My grandpa said he stewed a chicken today and wants us to bring it to Brother Gu later."
Gu Rong nodded, "Okay."
Cheng Qicai walked up to her tricycle and looked at Gu Rongqi somewhat awkwardly.
The car seemed so out of place with him that she felt embarrassed to ask him to get in.
Mr. Wu, who was standing nearby, stepped in to smooth things over, took out the car keys and handed them over, saying, "Mr. Gu, please drive my car."
"No need, thank you, I'll just ride in her car." Gu Rongqi refused, and stepped into the back of the bright red tricycle, sitting on the small stool that Cheng Qicai had prepared for Yun Suni.
Seeing Cheng Qicai still in a daze, he looked into her eyes and asked, "Aren't you leaving?"
“…Let’s go.” Cheng Qicai snapped out of her daze and looked at Gu Rongqi’s upright posture while sitting on the stool. She felt like she was the one carrying the imperial carriage.
Then she realized that she had actually compared herself to a eunuch.
Pshaw, children say the darndest things, children say the darndest things.
Cheng Qicai got into the car, turned the key, and reminded him, "You need to hold onto the railing; the road here is a bit winding."
"Okay." Gu Rongqi's deep voice seemed to be right next to my ear.
He was practically whispering in her ear, sitting diagonally next to her, in the upper right corner of the car.
Why isn't the distance when you turn your head to speak considered to be at ear level?
Cheng Qicai rubbed her suddenly numb earlobe and twisted the handle.
The car headed home.
Swaying and rocking, Gu Rongqi's body involuntarily tilted towards the undulations of the car, and he could easily brush away the colorful strands of Cheng Qicai's hair.
Like the sunset over the mountaintop that day, Gu Rongqi couldn't help but look up at the sky.
The sky was overcast, and the sunshine was nowhere to be seen.
The car stopped, and Cheng Qicai got out and called out to Gu Rongqi, "Gu Rongqi, we've arrived."
Gu Rongqi stepped down with one foot, and Cheng Qicai sighed that having long legs was a good thing; getting off the car was as simple as lifting her foot and stepping up, unlike herself who needed to use her hands to support herself.
Cheng Qicai walked to the door and saw Gu Rongqi still standing by the car. She called out again, "Come in."
Gu Rongqi stood there, his thumb unconsciously rubbing the red mole on his index finger. Hearing Cheng Qicai's voice, he followed her inside.
Cheng Qicai called out to the two elderly people by the stove, "Grandpa, Grandma!"
Gu Rongqi, who was following behind, also called out to her, "Grandpa, Grandma!"
Grandma Cheng, seeing that it was yet another unfamiliar friend of Cheng Qicai, asked in confusion, "This is...?"
Gu Rongqi replied, "Grandma, my name is Gu Rongqi."
The voice sounded unusually solemn.
“Grandma, he’s Gu Ge’s older brother. He’s here to pick up Gu Ge,” Cheng Qicai explained.
"No wonder, he does look somewhat like Liji." Grandma Cheng looked at Gu Rongqi's face carefully for a while.
Cheng Qicai took out a paper cup and turned to ask Gu Rongqi, "Tea or water?"
Gu Rongqi replied, "Water will do."
Seeing that Gu Rongqi was still standing, she thought he might not be used to the environment. She put the water on the table and pulled out a stool. "Please sit down. Our environment is rather simple."
"No! The environment here is very nice." Gu Rong sat down and took a sip of water.
"You sit down first, I'll go get the dishes." Cheng Qicai walked towards the stove and brought over the dishes that Grandpa Cheng had prepared.
As she turned around, she almost bumped into the person behind her. Luckily, the food in her hand wasn't soup, or both of them would have been splashed.
"Careful!" Gu Rongqi grabbed her arm and asked, seeing her frightened expression, "Are you alright?"
"It's alright." Cheng Qicai regained her composure and, seeing Gu Rongqi about to serve the dishes, said, "Just sit down, I'll serve them."
"You want to serve all of these?" Gu Rongqi picked up a plate of shrimp.
Seeing that Gu Rongqi had already picked them up, she nodded, "Yes, these are all here."
"Qicai, pack some for Liji and Su Ni." Grandma Cheng took out a thermos. "Give them more chicken soup from the pot. I made it light, which is suitable for Liji."
"Okay." Cheng Qicai took the insulated box.
Cheng Qicai finished dressing and came over to eat, and saw that the atmosphere between the three of them was a bit awkward.
"Well... Rongqi, eat up, don't be shy." Grandpa Cheng thought for a moment about his name, then greeted Gu Rongqi with a polite smile.
Looking at Gu Rongqi, whose demeanor was completely different from Gu Liji's, Grandpa Cheng didn't know how to start a conversation with him.
He asked Cheng Qicai, "By the way, how's Liji's foot? Did he get any other injuries?"
Cheng Qicai replied, "No, it's just some minor abrasions, nothing serious. I have a cast on, so I need to rest."
"That's good!"
After everyone finished eating, Cheng Qicai originally wanted to wash the dishes before leaving, but Grandma Cheng told them to hurry up and take the food over so as not to delay Yun Suni and the others' mealtime.
Cheng Qicai had no choice but to drive her tricycle to the hospital. Before leaving, she took a few oranges from the orange tree in her yard.
She handed the orange to Gu Rongqi, saying, "These are oranges from our own tree. Try them; they're a little sour, but the taste is alright."
Gu Rongqi took the orange. Unlike the oranges in the mall that had a uniform color and good appearance, this one was yellow with a hint of green and had some small black spots like sesame seeds on it.
He peeled the orange with his long, slender, fair hands, carefully cleaned the white pith from the flesh, and finally broke off a segment and put it in his mouth. He casually brought up a topic, "Your grandparents seem to really like Liji."
Speaking of this, Cheng Qicai laughed, "Brother Gu has such a sweet tongue. On this day, he flattered my grandparents so much that they almost became his grandparents."
A sour taste spread in his mouth. Gu Rongqi looked down at the insulated box in his hand. "Really? He's always been quite eloquent."
Gu Liji is practically a friend to women; no wonder he had so many girlfriends before, but he still stumbled on Yun Su Ni.
Thinking of this, she said, "Haha, no, everyone has different preferences. Some people like the mature type."
Gu Rongqi broke off another segment of orange and put it in his mouth; the sour taste began to turn sweet.
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