“How do you intend to do that?” Jiang Shuxuan asked with an indifferent expression on his face.
Gu Xiqiao thought about it for a while. “I’m thinking about what method would look a bit more cooler.”
Jiang Shuxuan raised his brows again. “Shouldn’t you be considering how much money you need to use to look more like a tyrant instead?”
“Do I look like that sort of person?” Gu Xiqiao retorted, looking at Jiang Shuxuan.
The man took an apple and peeled, slicing it and offering to her instead of responding to her question. “Here, have some.”
Gu Xiqiao poked an apple and nibbled on it, picking up her phone and started browsing Weibo. Since getting a Weibo account, it had been her favorite pastime to browse Weibo every night.
As soon as she logged into Weibo, Gu Xiqiao was shocked by the terrifying amount of replies and likes on her account. Apart from reposting Song Guanjing’s Weibo, she hadn’t done anything else today, right? These were all mentions and tags of her, not comments directly posted under her posts.
She flipped to several of those mentions of her.
“Ahhhh, Baby Gu, hurry up and tell me whether you painted this or not! @For A Millenium”
“I can smell the pride and boastfulness of A Flowing River practically oozing out from the screen, what a b*tch! Tell me goddess, that one of the two shadows we see is not actually you, right? @For A Millenium”
“@For A Millenium There’s someone who stole your painting here @For A Millenium”
“Am I the only one who thinks they look fitting together? Just look at those shadows!”
“…”
They even spotted that? Gu Xiqiao felt her person shuddered slightly at that, and she flipped over to Jiang Shuxuan’s following list, it had soared to almost fifty thousand, and they had all crawled over from her Weibo. The comments under his post reached almost ten thousand, and it was still on the rise.
Jiang Shuxuan was also swiping Weibo silently at the side, his lowered eyes concealed the mirth in them. But then his fingers paused suddenly, he had come across the comment with ‘Baby Gu’, and it was the most popular comment by far.
His eyes narrowed, and he quickly clicked on the comment, easily pressing the ‘report spam’ button on it.
After doing this, his eyebrows remained furrowed as he continued to encounter these comments calling her ‘Baby Gu’.
WTF? When did this start?!
He meticulously reported each and every one of it.
Gu Xiqiao had intended to browse for a little while more, but then her phone vibrated and a WeChat notification popped up. She saw that the sender was Li Yu, and so tapped on it to read.
Li Yu: I heard that you want to invest in a movie, what do you think of taking me in?
It really was ‘ask, and ye shall receive!’, she hadn’t even needed to bait this big god of an actor, Li Yu himself came looking to hook up with her!
Gu Xiqiao felt that she shouldn’t be so aloof at this juncture, for fear that Li Yu would withdraw his interest if he were to think too long about it.
For A Millenium: Sure~ Sure~
Li Yu: Great, I’ll let Director Cheng know tomorrow. ‘Empire Under Siege’ is about to be done, so I have plenty of time.
After sending the message to Gu Xiqiao, Li Yu wiped the imaginary sweat off his face. In order to take up a role in Gu Xiqiao’s movie, he had turned down two other partners and lost about thirty million yuan in that.
For A Millenium: I’ll be out of town tomorrow, when I get back I’ll bring you to meet our female lead ^_^
Looking at the expression that Gu Xiqiao had sent in the message, Li Yu always felt that her smile harbored some evil designs.
Li Yu: Sure, I’m free any time ^_^
Gu Xiqiao swiped her phone a while more before lifting her head to look at Jiang Shuxuan. “Brother Jiang, Li Yu texted me just now.”
“Hm? What for?” Jiang Shuxuan responded, glancing up at her with the usual expression on his face.
“To ask for a role in my movie.” Gu Xiqiao continued to stare at Jiang Shuxuan, feeling like something was wrong with him. “What are you doing?”
Jiang Shuxuan put away his phone calmly, and ignoring her question, he said, “I know, I predicted it. Now hurry up and take a shower, we have to get up early to head into N City tomorrow.”
Gu Xiqiao replied affirmatively, and she watched as his figure disappeared from her view in a rush. She rubbed her chin thoughtfully, then shrugged, going upstairs to take a shower and sleep. While heading upstairs, she made a stop by Haha’s dwelling to wish him goodnight.
Xixi, who was left hanging at a corner, wasn’t even spared a glance. With it being left alone like that, it really was adopted, wasn’t it?
Haha glanced toward Xixi with a cold, arrogant look, and turned around to slip into the doghouse to sleep.
“…”
***
Gu Xiqiao woke up early the next day, and when she went down, Jiang Shuxuan already had breakfast bought and ready on the table.
“Beauty Qiao, good morning.” Xixi immediately flew out from his cage to greet her when he saw her come down.
Gu Xiqiao flashed it a smile, her clear voice greeting it back, “Good morning, Xixi.”
Xixi was cured and overjoyed by the greeting, and flew toward the doghouse.
“Chirp chirp chiiiiirp~” (Beauty Qiao said good morning to me~)
“Woof woof woof.” (Oh.) A cold, indifferent response.
“Chirp chirp chirrrp!” (You’re just jealous of me!)
“Woof woof woof.” (I just don’t want to waste my time talking to a retard.)
Xixi stayed silent at that, and vowed to go online more to change so that even Haha couldn’t look down on it anymore.
The bird and dog were loaded into the car together, crammed into the backseat of Jiang Shuxuan’s car.
“I haven’t seen you going to classes much.” Jiang Shuxuan suddenly remembered after he had driven onto the highway. In the beginning, he would pick her up from college, but she had been idling around the house the past few days, when she should be at her busiest. “Are you skipping them?”
“No way!” Gu Xiqiao glared at him. “Do I look like the kind that does?”
Jiang Shuxuan thought about how she lazed about usually, and even sitting on the sofa she would slump down into a puddle as though she was boneless, and then he replied to her with a straight face, “Yes.”
Gu Xiqiao: Then there’s nothing to talk about ╮（╯▽╰）╭
“You should be participating in clubs in your college days, getting along with classmates or just generally getting to know more people.” Jiang Shuxuan felt that Gu Xiqiao was too much of a loner, not socializing in groups, and he was slightly concerned about her situation in school. “When we get back from N City, go to your classes, stop skipping them.”
He had initially wanted to add on that skipping classes made it easy to fail when it came to the end of term, but then he recalled the results of her national finals, and went silent.
But he was very sure Gu Xiqiao was skipping classes.
In order to provide proper guidance to this child, he really was worried most of the time.
“Haven’t I got to know a lot of people in the capital already?” Gu Xiqiao said, holding up her fingers to count. “Director Cheng, Li Yu, Sister Song, Brother Kun, Ning Qing, Su Wu, Sister Yu…” And a whole bunch of the production crew.
Jiang Shuxuan sighed. “Those are all the people from the production crew, they’re not your classmates.”
Moreover, the fact that Gu Xiqiao wanted to study medicine was something he didn’t approve of in the first place. And it was even a five-year-long course, but she was seemingly idle the past few days. She couldn’t be tired of it already, right? She even had time to work on her oil painting.
“If you don’t want to study medicine anymore, you can switch to oil painting.” There was a toll station in front, and Jiang Shuxuan slowed the car behind the queue.
“I’m on good terms with my classmates too,” Gu Xiqiao said, pulling out her phone and going into the Tencent QQ messenger a.k.a Penguin. She swiped to the group chat for her class, and typed in, “Hi everyone! ^_^”
And then swiped down immediately.
“Hello, class pet!”
“I’ve been awakened from my sleep, hello Beauty Gu!”
“Beauty, look over here~”
“Beauty Gu, when are you coming to school?”
“You’re all on, careful not to let Professor Jiang smack you guys if he catches you!”
“Professor Jiang will wanna smack Beauty Gu more when he finds out she started it（*^__^*）”
“Beauty Gu, let me show you how depressed Professor Jiang looks [JPEG]”
“…”
At this time of the day, it was still in the middle of class. The usually silent group of classmates were busy swiping their screens the moment Gu Xiqiao had started the conversation. Although she hadn’t been in school for long, she was extremely attractive, though she looked aloof and cold. She was also friendly, if you asked her a question she would answer it perfectly.
Everyone in class knew the warmth that was underneath that cold exterior.
In addition, she was already known as a big shot in school, and her influence wasn’t something to be underestimated.
Gu Xiqiao smiled cheekily as she turned the screen toward Jiang Shuxuan for him to read. “Aren’t I popular?” She actually didn’t know she would cause such a big impact, but everyone in class was quite harmonious, she knew this from the time in their military drills already.
Jiang Shuxuan glanced up at Gu Xiqiao, he didn’t expect that she would be so popular in class.
Having also been in university, Jiang Shuxuan knew that it was a diversified place. People in classes were usually assigned the same dormitories, and they would find their cliques there. The relationships in college were as complicated as those in society itself, and that was why he was worried about Gu Xiqiao. He feared that someone would try to make use of her with malicious intent, but it seems like there was no need to be concerned after all.
“Then what about your studies?” Jiang Shuxuan asked as the car inched forward. “Are you not interested in medicine anymore?”
“That’s not it.” Gu Xiqiao typed in a farewell in the chat before answering, “The professor granted me permission. He said that as long as the research report was done, I could take off for the rest of the semester, and just come back for the exams at the end of it!”
If Professor Jiang could hear her now, he would definitely try to find a way to go back in time and choke himself to death before he could say those words again.
“What kind of research can be exchanged to get leave for an entire semester?” Jiang Shuxuan didn’t know that A University had this kind of method.
Gu Xiqiao grinned. “Even if I told you, you wouldn’t understand.”
Jiang Shuxuan recalled the conversation she had with Luo Wenlang the other night, and he was silent. It was true, he probably wouldn’t understand anyway.
After traveling for close to six hours, the car finally left the highway. It was noon by this time.
Gu Xiqiao took out her phone, ready to give Mrs. Zhang a call. “Brother Jiang, let me ask where she stays.”
Before her finger could press the button, Jiang Shuxuan stopped her, shaking his head. “No need, I’ve already found the address. They’re holding the wedding in a hotel, the gifts have also been bought.”
“Huh.” Gu Xiqiao looked at him. “Then what about the red packet that I’ve prepared?”
Jiang Shuxuan was silent for a while, before replying, “You could buy a bowl for Xixi.” It had been jealous of Haha for a very, very long time after all.
Xixi, who was sitting behind: Fortune has come so suddenly, it could feel its soul floating toward the heavens above~
“Xixi? What does it need a bowl for, to beg for food?” Gu Xiqiao rejected the idea immediately, thinking inside that she would use the red packet to bribe Mrs. Zhang’s in-laws if she needed to.
“As long as you’re happy.” Jiang Shuxuan sighed, turning the car and driving in the direction of a hotel in the city center.
The wedding of Mrs. Zhang’s daughter was actually tomorrow, hence they didn’t head toward where she was immediately. After getting off the highway, they continued to drive for about an hour, and the entire journey took almost seven hours in total. Even though the both of them were not mentally tired, the journey clearly took a toll on their body.
It was mainly because Jiang Shuxuan saw Gu Xiqiao yawning.
Before they had set off, Jiang Shuxuan had already booked a hotel with luxurious facilities. Flashing for his ID, an attendant came up to them with a smile. “Mister and miss, please follow me this way.”
As the two followed the attendant upstairs, Gu Xiqiao hooked her finger through his. “Did you book it yourself?”
Being such an aristocratic, noble and man of a few words, it was hard to imagine Jiang Shuxuan making the call and booking a hotel in person.
“Yes.” Jiang Shuxuan glanced at her. He couldn’t believe it himself either, he had done everything that he would never have done himself in the past. It seems like whenever there were things that concerned her, he would be extra cautious and more prepared, not wanting to leave it to anyone else.
In the ancient martial arts world, he was a cold, majestic man that stood above everyone else. Everything in regards to his accommodation, food, clothing, and transportation were all handled by others for him, no one would have expected him to become how he was now.
Jiang Shuxuan had reserved a master suite. It had two bedrooms, a living room, and a bathroom. Although it wasn’t very big, it looked extremely comfortable.
After finishing up the meal that Jiang Shuxuan had ordered, Gu Xiqiao went into one of the rooms and slept immediately.
While Jiang Shuxuan stayed outside, first feeding Haha, then feeding Xixi, and reminding Xixi to not let Haha run around too much. Xixi’s spirit wilted upon hearing that.
Gu Xiqiao slept all the way until the evening, and when she got up, she saw Haha lying down beside her bed. “Haha, let’s go out for a stroll.”
There was a pedestrian street not far off from the hotel.
Gu Xiqiao took Xixi and Haha to the night market for a stroll. Although it was called a night market, there were only three commercial streets which were filled with food, clothing, and some other gadgets, and there was still quite a crowd.
Jiang Shuxuan walked beside her, staying close. There were a lot of people on the streets, and you could see his furrowed eyebrows, but there was nothing to be impatient about here.
He wore his usual white shirt, the contour lines on his face as deep as usual, an indifferent expression on that attractive face of his. The lights of the night market were dim, and you practically couldn’t see two meters in front of you, but the people who were walking back and forth couldn’t help but take a second glance when they passed him.
Gu Xiqiao went into a ten yuan shop and bought Xixi a bowl.
Xixi: … I really want to die right now.
Jiang Shuxuan didn’t understand the mirth that threatened to bubble out of him, but he held it back when he thought about how Xixi might feel sad about it.
Gu Xiqiao pretended not to see the resentment in those beady eyes, and she handed Haha over to Jiang Shuxuan, and proceeded to buy a big kebab for it.
Biased! Xixi feels wronged, but it didn’t say anything.
Suddenly, a loud shout came from the middle of the crowd.
“Brother Jiang, hurry,” Gu Xiqiao said as she took Haha back into her arms. “Catch that thief!”
Jiang Shuxuan looked at her, but didn’t move. After waiting a while, a faint light flashed on his fingertips, and a figure fell beside him.
It was a man, Jiang Shuxuan thought as he leaned down to pick up the bag that the man was holding with ease. The mighty unstoppable thief in the crowd was just a weak little chicken in his hands.
There were people gathering around among the excitement. Although they didn’t see clearly what Jiang Shuxuan had done, he had caught the thief, and it was enough to garner their adoration for him.
“That’s my bag, thank you kind…” The thief had stolen the bag from a young woman, and the makeup on her face looked quite exquisite, it was no wonder the thief picked her as his target. The things in her bag were extremely valuable, and she was almost on the verge of despairing when she saw someone stop the thief for her, and the gratitude in her heart swelled when she saw the scene unfold.
Before she could finish speaking, she caught sight of the man’s outstanding profile, and her words were caught in her throat, stopping abruptly.
Jiang Shuxuan was not looking at her, but he handed the bag to Gu Xiqiao, taking Haha in exchange. There was no change in the expression on his delicate face.
“Your bag.” Gu Xiqiao handed the bag over to the woman.
The woman finally came back to her senses. She smiled sweetly to Gu Xiqiao, but the corner of her eyes never left Jiang Shuxuan’s face. “Thank you, is that your brother?”
Gu Xiqiao raised an eyebrow. “Miss, where are your eyes, and how on earth did you come to that conclusion?”
She wanted to continue her insult, she couldn’t be showing weaknesses at this sort of time after all.
But then Jiang Shuxuan took out a handkerchief from his pocket and slowly wiped the hand that she had used to hold the bag just now, and then having done that, he pulled Gu Xiqiao away. He lowered his head to look at her face, the light reflection in his eyes as he spoke with a low and gentle voice. “Baby, don’t be so nosy in the future.”
He didn’t even spare a glance at the woman, and it was obvious that he was not the least attracted by her appearance from head to toe.
The smile on the woman’s face was frozen stiff as she looked at the two figures in disbelief. This was the first time in her life that someone had ignored her so thoroughly.
Gu Xiqiao, who was being pulled away, felt like she was floating on air.
***
The next day, Gu Xiqiao got up early, greeted Jiang Shuxuan calmly, and then proceeded to call Mrs. Zhang, saying that she wanted to come over to see them in person.
Mrs. Zhang was startled for a long while, before giving her an address. She ended the call by telling Gu Xiqiao not to come.
Naturally, she ignored it.
The place that the wedding was being held was not too far from the hotel they were at, and they arrived soon after Jiang Shuxuan drove them out. There were a lot of people today, and there were also various high-end cars in the parking lot.
Gu Xiqiao found Mrs. Zhang with her daughter upstairs in the dressing room. When Mrs. Zhang caught sight of Gu Xiqiao, she was clearly surprised, before quickly wiping her eyes. “This child, really. Why have you come? Don’t you have classes?”
“To see you, of course.” This was her daughter’s dressing room, so Jiang Shuxuan was waiting outside. Gu Xiqiao looked at Mrs. Zhang’s red-rimmed eyes. “Mrs. Zhang, what happened?”
“Nothing happened.” Mrs. Zhang responded with a weak smile. “I’m just sad that my daughter is getting married.”
Mrs. Zhang’s daughter looked delicate and graceful. When she saw Gu Xiqiao, she was taken aback. She never expected that the ‘Miss Gu’ that her mother talked about would look so beautiful and refined, and didn’t even look like any ordinary person.
“I’m going to get the wedding dress. Qiao Qiao, wait here for a while.” Mrs. Zhang said to Gu Xiqiao, and hurried out of the room.
She was surprised to bump into Jiang Shuxuan outside, and was still surprised as they exchanged a few words.
“Mrs. Zhang has left, can you tell me what’s going on now?” Gu Xiqiao said, turning around after closing the door. She looked at Liu Ying, Mrs. Zhang’s daughter.
Seeing the gentle expression on Gu Xiqiao’s face, Liu Ying couldn’t help the tears that pooled in her eyes, the grieve in her heart as she burst out, “I don’t want to get married anymore.”
She was getting married to Qi Hao, who owned some assets in the country. The two had known each other since high school, and it had been seven years since then. The wedding had been delayed until this day.
Qi Hao’s parents disapproved of her family who came from a line of farmers, especially when they heard that Mrs. Zhang was working as a domestic helper slash nanny. They disagreed with the match immediately, and Qi Hao had worked on them for a long time before finally being able to hold this wedding. However, there was a condition, that was no one from her family would be able to attend, for fear that someone would recognize her as the daughter of a servant.
Qi Hao had actually discussed this with Mrs. Zhang a few times, asking her to change her job, but Mrs. Zhang didn’t agree.
He had actually already done a lot, and although Mrs. Zhang was sad, she didn’t say anything. Qi Hao sincerely loved Liu Ying after all.
However, now when it was time for the wedding, Liu Ying had a change of mind, she didn’t want to see her parents being wronged for something like this.
“At this time, we should solve the problem.” Gu Xiqiao took out the gift that she had brought, it was a diamond necklace. She put it on her and whispered, “You have great parents. Don’t worry, they won’t be on the receiving end of the short stick today.”
Mrs. Zhang soon returned with the dress, and helped Liu Ying into it. After she changed her clothes, her eyes turned red again.
The beginning of the ceremony came then, with Qi hao waiting outside, two children walked in first. A bridesmaid came after to lead Liu Ying out.
The wedding was held directly in the hotel lobby, and a T-shaped red carpet was rolled out. At the head of the carpet, Qi Hao’s parents would be there.
On the other side, it was Liu Ying and her bridesmaids. It should have been Liu Ying’s father who would hand her to Qi Hao, and her parents should also have been standing with Qi Hao’s parents.
However, Papa Liu and Mama Zhang could only stand at the side with a bunch of waiters, like ordinary spectators.
“Madam, there seem to be two relatives from Miss Liu’s side.” A middle-aged man in a suit said to Madam Qi.
Thinking it was Liu Ying’s poor relatives that had come to take advantage of the wedding, Madam Qi frowned and said coldly, “Watch them. Don’t let them suddenly appear in front of the guests.”
The middle-aged man had wanted to say that they didn’t look like ordinary people, but Madam Qi suddenly stood up. “The distinguished guests have already arrived, hurry and proceed with the ceremony.”
Papa Qi was leading a young man over, a completely respectful attitude being displayed. Madam Qi straightened her clothes and stepped forward with a big smile on her face.
Those that gathered here today were all partners from the Qi family business, and some politicians. This guest especially, was even more important than every single person combined here. Madam Qi didn’t have time to think about those poor relatives from Liu Ying’s family.