Chapter 102 Answer [VIP]
Chapter Summary: "Does Mr. Gu have a girlfriend now?"
After booking the telescope, the two headed back.
Fu Xianyin's hair was loosely tied up, and she put her hands inside her coat, basking in the warmth of the pockets.
Gu Linzhao was beside her, blocking most of the wind. Fu Xianyin, who was on the inside, was not cold anymore. Her gaze fell, and somehow, it landed on Gu Linzhao's hand hanging by his side.
The hand had distinct knuckles, with faint blue veins protruding from the back of the hand. The finger bones were long, and the knuckles protruded slightly, but not abruptly; rather, they were gently bulging in a small circle.
Fu Xianyin forced herself to look away.
Fu Xianyin had barely turned her head away when she heard Gu Linzhao ask, "They went to the hot springs, aren't you interested?"
Fu Xianyin said, "Mm."
What she really wanted to say was that it wasn't that she wasn't interested in hot springs; if she had come with Cheng Zhaozhao and Chen Nianke, she probably would already be frolicking in the hot spring pool right now.
Or if she were to come by herself, she would probably just lie down for a bit and then change into her swimsuit.
However, Fu Xianyin couldn't muster any interest when Hu Chengcheng and her group were together.
Gu Linzhao suddenly turned his head to look at her and asked, "You didn't really like this team building activity?"
Fu Xianyin actually felt that she hadn't made it that obvious.
Perhaps it's due to Gu Linzhao's "half-immortal" buff; it's not surprising that one's inner thoughts are seen through in front of him.
She said, "No, who likes going to work?"
Gu Linzhao chuckled softly.
He said, "I didn't realize he didn't like going to work, but I could tell he didn't like being honest."
Fu Xianyin felt a pang of anxiety when she realized she had been exposed.
She couldn't quite explain why, but she couldn't help but want to explain it to Gu Linzhao:
"Where did you lie?"
Gu Linzhao said, "So you really enjoyed this team building activity? You were so happy and excited that you can't even describe it?"
Fu Xianyin took a breath and lowered her voice: "Does disliking something mean liking it a lot? Doesn't President Gu have any feelings in between? He really is a person who clearly distinguishes between likes and dislikes."
His voice was much lower, but his tone had become barbed.
Upon hearing this, Gu Linzhao laughed as if he had gone mad.
It wasn't the lukewarm laugh from before, but a joyful laugh.
Fu Xianyin glanced at him.
Sometimes she really thought Gu Linzhao was a bit crazy.
When she's being polite and well-mannered, she'll nitpick endlessly, even picking out coarse fibrous bits of meat from boneless fish and insisting they're bones.
When she really got impatient and started giving him attitude or using a sarcastic tone, he suddenly became happy again.
Fu Xianyin suddenly remembered what Gu Linzhao had said in her office that day.
What he said at the time was:
"After all these years, you still get angry with me."
Throwing a tantrum.
Fu Xianyin first heard this word from Gu Linzhao.
At the time, she was training for the sports meet, and somehow, while chatting with Gu Linzhao, she got really agitated.
Back then, she wasn't like she is now. Even when she retorted, it was all very casual. Even if she didn't show any emotion, she would still vent her anger directly on Gu Linzhao.
It wasn't just venting her anger; in Gu Linzhao's words, she was throwing a tantrum at him.
She's the type who knows he won't abandon her, so she wants to cause trouble for him.
Fu Xianyin was shocked by those words. She was not only shocked that Gu Linzhao thought she was throwing a tantrum, but also shocked that she actually did throw a tantrum when facing Gu Linzhao.
So what now?
Fu Xianyin suddenly couldn't help but ask herself.
Now, when facing Gu Linzhao, she often can't hide her bad mood. Is it really because she has a bad temper, or is it the same as before?
They were thinking of making a scene.
When you step on the soft carpet with your shoes, your whole body sinks slightly with each step.
It felt like I was about to fall into it.
Fu Xianyin looked at the soft, thick carpet and suddenly thought.
It's been six years.
Six years have passed.
She has grown a lot in these six years.
Many of the past grievances and resentments have dissipated.
Things that were previously impossible or difficult to face, I can now face with equanimity.
And those answers and facts that you wanted to escape from and didn't want to admit before.
Now it seems easier to admit it.
Unfortunately, the night they went there was overcast, and they couldn't see any lights, let alone stars.
Fortunately, the telescope was only available for two days.
The hotel has many entertainment facilities. Fu Xianyin suddenly became interested the day before and climbed up the mountain path that the hotel had created.
There was a ski resort on the hill next to the hotel, about a 20-minute drive away. Since Fu Xianyin had nothing better to do, she decided to go skiing for the afternoon. She ate something at the hotel that evening and went to bed early.
Hu Chengcheng and the others seemed to have played until very late, and when they returned, Fu Xianyin was already asleep.
She only met Hu Chengcheng the next day when she woke up.
Objectively speaking, Hu Chengcheng is actually a very typical female leader. She is adept at navigating social situations and is incredibly shrewd; she even gets far less sleep than the average person.
She probably didn't get back until the early hours of the morning last night, but by the time Fu Xianyin got out of bed at dawn, she was already awake.
"morning."
She nodded and greeted Fu Xianyin. Fu Xianyin rubbed her eyes and replied, "Good morning."
Hu Chengcheng was applying a face mask. She was wearing pajamas and had her hair tied up with a ribbon. She said to Fu Xianyin, "There's a ski resort next to the hotel. Would you like to go skiing?"
For the first time ever, she took the initiative to invite Fu Xianyin: "Let's go together, how about it? I heard that most international students in America know how to ski."
“What a strange stereotype,” Fu Xianyin said with a smile.
Hu Chengcheng shrugged and asked, "So, do you know how?"
Fu Xianyin said, "Yes."
Hu Chengcheng laughed and said, "Then it seems there's a reason why stereotypes can remain stereotypes."
As they were talking, there was a knock on the hotel room door. Fu Xianyin opened the door and saw Song Jiaqi.
Song Jiaqi was one of the girls who reported to her. In the past two weeks, her relationship with Fu Xianyin was slightly better than that of the other members of the project team.
She was still in her pajamas when she saw Fu Xianyin and asked with a grin, "Teacher Fu, can you ski?"
Hearing the noise from inside the house, Hu Chengcheng called out, "American exchange students all know how to ski. I just asked her if she wanted to go skiing together over there."
Upon hearing this, Song Jiaqi said, "Then let's all go together, Teacher Song. Let's all go together."
Having said that, Fu Xianyin felt there was no need to refuse, so she agreed.
After quickly changing her clothes, Fu Xianyin went downstairs with Hu Chengcheng.
There were seven people going skiing, but Fu Xianyin specifically looked around and found that none of them were there.
The seven people took the hotel shuttle bus there and started by renting equipment. After putting on their gear and carrying their heavy skis, they went into the ski resort.
Fu Xianyin is the type who can skate on both snowboard and ski, but her skill level isn't particularly high. She's the type who can skate, has guts, and can stop well enough to avoid being a torpedo, but she's also prone to falling.
She practiced skiing on two boards yesterday, and today she went to rent snowboarding equipment.
After gliding around the beginner slope for a while to get used to it, Fu Xianyin was about to head to the intermediate slope when she saw Hu Chengcheng still struggling to get on the magic carpet.
She was a little surprised, paused for a moment, but still slid across.
Hu Chengcheng could barely maintain her balance; she was wobbling and about to fall when Fu Xianyin quickly grabbed her and helped her stand up.
"Thank you." Hu Chengcheng helped her to her feet and finally managed to stand up before saying this.
Fu Xianyin said, "You're welcome. Do you need any help?"
Hu Chengcheng smiled and said, "Really? That's great!"
Fu Xianyin helped her onto the magic carpet.
The beginner track wasn't steep. Fu Xianyin reached out and pulled Hu Chengcheng along, teaching her how to control the board, how to apply force, how to tilt her center of gravity, and most importantly, how to brake.
Hu Chengcheng actually has a strong learning ability. When they reached the last part of the road, Fu Xianyin let go of her arm and said, "Just push down the slope slowly like this. You can go straight down a little further down, and then try to stop."
Hu Chengcheng nodded. Although she still stumbled a bit, she managed to get down.
Fu Xianyin took her skating for two more laps. On the third lap, Hu Chengcheng seemed a little embarrassed and said, "You go skate. I can practice by myself for a while."
Fu Xianyin nodded and said, "Should I find you a coach?"
Hu Chengcheng shook her head and said, "No need, I can skate by myself."
So Fu Xianyin left.
She skied from about 10 a.m. until a little after 3 p.m., only stopping briefly at the ski resort for a light meal. She wasn't in great shape and was tired after skiing for so long, so she decided to pack up and leave.
Before leaving, she thought about it and sent a message to Hu Chengcheng.
I thought she was still practicing, but Hu Chengcheng replied very quickly.
She said, "Wait for me, I'll go back with you."
So Fu Xianyin waited for her at the door.
The two took a shuttle bus back, and on the way, Hu Chengcheng took the initiative to strike up a conversation with her.
Hu Chengcheng said, "Thank you again, Teacher Fu. If it weren't for you, I think it would have taken me a long time to figure things out."
Fu Xianyin said, "I only know a little theoretical knowledge, and at most I can lend a hand. My skills are also very average. But why doesn't Manager Hu hire a coach?"
Hu Chengcheng paused for a moment, then looked at Fu Xianyin and said frankly, "The coach is too expensive."
Fu Xianyin opened her mouth, but didn't say anything.
Hu Chengcheng is in her early thirties and has already reached the position of project manager, which is quite impressive for someone so young. Fu Xianyin didn't know her exact salary, but she certainly couldn't afford expenses like hiring a ski instructor.
The reason is quite easy to find.
It can only be said that every family has its own problems.
Fu Xianyin didn't want to ask any more questions. She didn't have any particular liking or dislike for Hu Chengcheng. All the little tricks Hu Chengcheng had pulled behind her back had disappeared after Fu Xianyin had given her a good scolding to her face. Fu Xianyin had felt good about scolding her at the time, and didn't hold a grudge afterwards.
She simply didn't have any intention of building a deeper friendship with Hu Chengcheng.
The two went back to their room together. Fu Xianyin took a shower and went to sleep. She slept until after 7 p.m. When it got dark, she got out of bed, tidied herself up quickly, went downstairs to have a meal, and then prepared to go stargazing together.
The weather today is quite nice; you can see the lush starry sky clearly even without a telescope.
Hu Chengcheng had somehow managed to build a bonfire and get a lot of alcohol. She was grilling marshmallows on skewers when she saw Fu Xianyin arrive, so she gave her one.
"Here, have a taste, it's quite good."
Fu Xianyin thanked her and accepted the gift.
Gu Linzhao was the last to arrive; by the time he got there, everyone had already been drinking for a while.
He was wearing a beige sweater, dark jeans, and his black windbreaker was zipped up, just left open.
Hu Chengcheng warmly invited him over, and Gu Linzhao did not back down. He took a cotton candy and sat down next to Fu Xianyin.
With someone sitting next to her, the whistling wind approaching her was instantly weakened by more than half.
Fu Xianyin was taken aback. The cotton candy had been in the fire for too long, and suddenly flames shot up.
Before she could react, she watched helplessly as the flames rose with the wind, when suddenly a warm sensation touched the back of her hand.
Fu Xianyin lowered his head.
Gu Linzhao placed his hand on hers and led her away from the fire to carry the cotton candy.
She had been outside in the wind for a while, and the back of her hands were already icy cold.
His hands were warm and dry, and they rested on her hands.
Fu Xianyin felt as if she had been parched and had finally received some sweet rain. She even couldn't help but want to burrow into his palm and deepen the contact.
She heard Gu Linzhao say, "It's burnt, you can't eat it."
In his other hand, he held a stick and dipped it into the firelight, the tip of which was covered with a marshmallow that was slowly turning a dark brown.
He said, "Eat this."
The rising campfire blocked this clandestine contact.
Cheng Yu, smiling, asked from the other end, "Mr. Gu, would you like to play a game with us?"
Gu Linzhao asked, "What game?"
Cheng Yu said, "Let's play a simplified version of Truth or Dare, Mr. Gu. Everyone is quite curious about Mr. Gu."
Gu Linzhao wasn't disappointed. He nodded and said, "Okay."
The weather was terribly cold, and with Gu Linzhao's arrival, anything too risqué was out of the question. So, while it was called Truth or Dare, it mostly consisted of slightly gossipy questions; the actual dares were largely omitted.
Before Gu Linzhao arrived, they had already played several rounds of card games, including "Miss Cards," and everyone had drunk a little, just enough to keep them from going crazy but also to be able to relax a bit in front of the boss.
There were many of them, and asking each one individually seemed rather pointless. Since the hotel couldn't borrow that many dice, they used the deck of cards and counted the sum of the points.
Gu Linzhao fell for the trap in the very first round.
He drew three Aces, the lowest score of the entire game, without exception.
Hu Chengcheng said with a smile, "President Gu is having bad luck."
Gu Linzhao was quite willing to take the challenge. He smiled and said, "Then ask away."
Fu Xianyin's gaze remained fixed on the cotton candy that was turning inside out in the fire.
Gu Linzhao had just baked two and handed them both to her.
If the first reason was compensation for the previous one being burnt, then Fu Xianyin really couldn't find any reasonable explanation for the second one.
But she ate it anyway.
Hu Chengcheng had the highest score. After thinking for a moment, she asked, "Since everyone is here to see the stars, let's ask some questions related to the stars."
"Mr. Gu, what is the most memorable time you've ever seen the stars?"
Fu Xianyin's heart suddenly tightened.
Gu Linzhao handed her the third cotton candy. She was choked up and couldn't speak, so she could only accept it.
The outer shell of the marshmallow had hardened from the baking. Fu Xianyin held the skewer, her fingertips touching the shell, but she had no appetite for it and just left it there.
Gu Linzhao barely had time to think; the moment Hu Chengcheng asked the question, he answered:
"It was New Year's Eve in high school, during the senior year."
He curved his lips into a smile, and his gaze became somewhat distant.
He said, "I also saw a shooting star that time, which happened to be in the constellation Centaurus."
This is an event that sounds like it has a story to tell.
Everyone's curiosity was piqued, and Cheng Yu asked, "Then, Mr. Gu, why is this the one that left the deepest impression on you?"
Gu Linzhao said, "This is the second question."
Everyone said they would try to get Gu Linzhao to answer that question in the next round.
But things didn't go as planned.
At least it didn't meet the wishes of most people.
Gu Linzhao drew the highest-value card in the second round.
And coincidentally, the note with the smallest score happens to be the Fu string note.
If Fu Xianyin hadn't seen the cards shuffled with her own eyes, she would have suspected that the cards had been tampered with.
Now it was Gu Linzhao's turn to ask her.
Fu Xianyin shifted her body slightly to the side, holding the cards in one hand and the wine bottle in the other.
The wine bottle was already frozen cold in the snow and ice. Fu Xianyin pressed her palm against the cold surface, but she couldn't calm her mind.
Gu Linzhao pondered for only a few seconds before asking, "Then I'll ask the same question as Manager Hu."
"When was the most memorable time that Teacher Fu saw stars from childhood to adulthood?"
"Is Mr. Gu asking for the same thing?"
"President Gu, you're so unoriginal, hahaha."
"Yes, Mr. Gu, why not choose another one?"
Everyone teased her, but Fu Xianyin's heart remained suspended in mid-air, unable to settle down for a long time.
Everyone assumed that Gu Linzhao was too lazy to think of a new problem, so he simply picked up the existing one and used it.
Only she knew that Gu Linzhao was forcing her.
This was the first time since their reunion that Gu Linzhao had so openly revealed his thoughts to her.
He wanted to dissect her heart, to make her confront it herself.
I want her to see what's hidden in that heart.
His breathing was somewhat unsteady.
Hearing Gu Linzhao's slight smile, Fu Xianyin gently reminded him, "Teacher Fu, you can't lie."
lie.
In this context, in this situation.
She couldn't possibly utter even a single lie.
The wind made the campfire in front of us dance wildly.
Fu Xianyin heard her own slightly distorted voice say, "It was also in high school, on New Year's Eve of my senior year."
A question that's not original at all, plus an answer that's been repeated over and over again.
Everyone looked a little disappointed.
Only Gu Linzhao.
Even in the firelight, Fu Xianyin could clearly see the smile gradually widening on his face.
Her heart was pounding, and amidst the drumming of her heartbeat, Fu Xianyin vaguely heard someone ask, "Teacher Fu, why do you also like to look at the stars on New Year's Eve?"
Fu Xianyin said, "The Centaurus meteor shower happens around the time of Lunar New Year's Eve, which is basically the same every year."
The man nodded as if he had just realized something.
Everyone was convinced by this answer; it was a rather uninteresting but very reasonable one.
Only Gu Linzhao.
He smiled, his face filled with certainty, as if he were saying to her:
Look, Fu Xianyin.
You really can't forget me.
The game continues.
Fu Xianyin had a bad run of luck these past few rounds, and after managing to escape a few rounds, she drew the lowest card again.
Fortunately, this time, Gu Linzhao didn't have the highest score.
She wasn't familiar with anyone, and when she asked questions, she didn't know what to ask.
So the person who drew the highest number randomly found a truth-or-dare question bank online, clicked on the first one, and asked:
"Does Ms. Fu have a boyfriend now?"
It's a very simple, unoriginal, and uninteresting question.
But Fu Xianyin inexplicably felt that a gaze seemed to fall on her.
She shook her head and answered decisively, "No."
Song Jiaqi was a little surprised to hear this answer: "Huh? Teacher Fu doesn't have a boyfriend? I saw a handsome foreign guy picking Teacher Fu up from get off work before, and I thought he was Teacher Fu's boyfriend, and that he was the one who came back to China with Teacher Fu."
Fu Xianyin said, "No, he is my friend. He graduated from university last December and was planning to come to China for a while, so we came together."
The gaze, which seemed almost tangible, shifted away.
Instead, the person next to him relaxed slightly.
The game continues.
The next few people who asked and answered questions were all from their project team, so they were naturally much bolder in their questions.
If someone can't answer, they'll take a big gulp of wine.
As Fu Xianyin listened to the stories and gossip, she didn't stop drinking.
Several empty bottles were placed beside her as she warmed herself by the fire and reached out to draw another hand of cards.
This time, the tables have turned.
She had the highest score, while Gu Linzhao had the lowest.
All eyes were on the two of them, and Fu Xianyin's hand gripping the playing cards tightened slightly.
One corner of the card was squeezed so hard that it folded slightly, and the flames were whipped up by the wind, baring their teeth and claws as they tried to approach Fu Xianyin, but quickly retreated before they could touch her.
Fu Xianyin felt the entire room fall silent.
It was so quiet that she could only hear the wind, her breathing, and her own strong heartbeat.
She spoke, her words distorted by the wind.
She asked, "Does Mr. Gu have a girlfriend now?"
This is another question that has been asked before.
Everyone exclaimed that there was nothing new, and someone laughed and said, "Teacher Fu and President Gu are quite in sync. They're too lazy to think of anything new and just use what they already have."
Everyone echoed this sentiment.
But Fu Xianyin knew clearly in her heart that although they might have a tacit understanding, it was not because they were too lazy to think of new ideas.
Gu Linzhao wanted to test her heart.
She faced Gu Linzhao directly with her heart, which had been laid bare.
The answer you've been trying to escape can no longer be avoided.
Those facts that have been denied will eventually need to be acknowledged.
She has faced herself directly.
Now, they need to confront Gu Linzhao directly.
The wood burned, crackling and popping.
Amidst the cacophony, Fu Xianyin heard an answer, clear and distinct, that reached her ears:
"No."
[Author's Note]
Two chapters in one! There will be one more chapter today, posted at 9 PM tonight!
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