Gu Qingcheng only felt that the atmosphere between them was a little awkward and subtle. She didn't understand and wiped the sweat from her nose.
Her coal-shoveling hand, smudged with black, left a black mustache across her nose, like a little calico cat.
Hu Lanfang, full of anger, saw her daughter's face and suddenly smiled again, saying:
"Look at your face, it's all smudged. Go wash it and your hands, and get ready to eat."
"Eat? What are we having for dinner?" Gu Qingcheng asked casually.
"Fish-flavored shredded pork, braised beef, grilled eggplant from Laifeng Fish Restaurant, rice, and fish head soup," Hu Lanfang replied.
"Great, coming right up, let's have a hot meal."
Gu Zhaobei quickly said in a fawning tone.
Hu Lanfang shot him a glance, let out a cold snort, and left with a flick of her sleeve.
Huh? What's going on? Are the old couple playing the role of young lovers again?
You try to please me, I'm unhappy; when I'm happy, you make me angry and leave…
Gu Qingcheng couldn't keep up and was completely bewildered.
But it was good. After a day of toiling downhill, she really had no desire to cook, so she'd eat what her mother had mentioned.
Gu Qingcheng washed her face and entered the dining room, where she saw Mi Guo quietly tidying up the coffee table that had just been used. The tea was still steaming, clearly indicating that someone had just left.
Gu Qingcheng casually asked, "Brother, why did Mr. Sun leave in such a hurry? I thought he would stay for dinner."
Mi Guo was silent for a moment, then his eyes twinkled.
Seeing that expression, Gu Qingcheng thought, "Oh, this is very familiar!"
Back when she and Mi Guo were locked in Old Master Gu's dark room, Mi Guo would get this look whenever she started telling ghost stories.
Right, this was a look brimming with gossip.
Gu Qingcheng got the gist and quickly asked:
"What happened? Tell me quickly!"
In Mi Guo's simple, straightforward narration, Gu Qingcheng immediately understood what had happened.
"Wow, isn't Sun Sanniang a bit too shameless? How did she set her sights on my dad?
My dad belongs to my mom, how can she just show up and try to snatch him away like that? No wonder Mom was so angry!"
Gu Qingcheng thought to herself, who said ancient women were feudal and conservative?
When they wanted a man, they'd just show up and even discuss with the original wife about two women serving the same husband.
Fortunately, her dad held his ground; an ordinary man would have been tempted.
Mi Guo babbled on, his eyes shining with the great light of gossip, and then said:
"Dad was very firm, he directly rejected Sun Sanniang.
Sun Sanniang started crying when she ran from the main hall into the living room, then she dragged Mr. Sun away. After that, Dad kept trying to appease Mom. But Mom was clearly angry, and Dad still hasn't managed to calm her down!
That's all I saw."
Mi Guo blinked his big innocent eyes.
"Alas, this is a big deal. I don't think Mom will be appeased anytime soon. Let's eat first, don't worry about them. They'll eat when they're hungry."
Gu Qingcheng understood the reason for the situation and arranged for the hot food to be served, then beckoned Mi Guo to eat first.
Anyway, her parents could share her storage closet, so they'd know to eat when they were hungry.
Gu Qingcheng didn't see any notification about changes in the storage closet, so she knew they were probably still arguing in their room.
Perhaps one cried and the other appeased, or perhaps one fought and the other yielded.
These were adult matters, children shouldn't interfere.
They would arrange their own meals.
After eating their fill, there was still no movement from the storage closet. Gu Qingcheng knew that the matter of Sun Sanniang wouldn't be resolved quickly. Her parents were so upset that they couldn't even be bothered to eat, caught in some kind of stalemate.
Clearly, she couldn't intervene in this matter.
If she were only two or three years old, she could pretend nothing was wrong, throw a tantrum, act cute, and be a lovable child, which might appease them.
Or she could simply lie on the ground and cry and make a fuss, diverting their attention to herself, which might also resolve the conflict.
But now that she was so old, whether she acted cute or threw a tantrum on the ground, it probably wouldn't resolve the conflict. Instead, it might lead to a full-blown fight.
Then she thought, whether it was diverting attention or temporarily making them happy, the conflict would ultimately return. The knots in both their hearts had to be untangled.
Gu Qingcheng decided not to get involved. They were adults, and they had to work through it themselves.
Actually, this incident hadn't caused any substantial harm to either her father or mother, and their reactions were quite good. Her father wasn't blinded by lust, and her mother wasn't unreasonable.
She believed they would figure it out.
For now, it wasn't a big deal, it was just that their anger hadn't subsided yet.
After Gu Qingcheng finished her meal, she and Mi Guo washed the bowls and basins and put them into the storage closet.
Then, one of them continued to watch food tutorial videos on the iPad, completely engrossed;
The other took out a comic book from the children's section of the cat supermarket and read it with great interest.
Unknowingly, another hour passed, and the storage closet still showed no activity.
It seemed that angry adults lost their appetite.
"Let's go, let's work on our abs."
Gu Qingcheng called out to Mi Guo, unwilling to let the day go to waste.
Yesterday, they didn't exercise because they went downhill, so they had to make up for it today.
Mi Guo no longer considered "working on abs" a bad phrase. Instead, now addicted to exercise, his eyes lit up at the mention of it, and he showed an excited expression.
The two of them started with swimming.
After Mi Guo's swimming skills broke through that bottleneck, his progress was rapid. He had now transitioned from the energy-consuming doggy paddle to freestyle, and could also switch to breaststroke freely.
Gu Qingcheng couldn't help but sigh: A teachable student!
Next, they practiced holding their breath and diving.
Gu Qingcheng even took out a full set of diving gear and put it on to practice.
However, the depth of the swimming pool was ultimately insufficient. With the diving gear on, she could at most familiarize herself with the operation.
Gu Qingcheng felt that if she had the chance, she should practice in a real river.
After about an hour and a half of exertion, they got up, changed their clothes, dried their hair, and went to the gym to build muscle, followed by running after using the machines.
Mi Guo could now run for over half an hour, and Gu Qingcheng could run for an hour without any problem.
After completing this series of exercises, Gu Qingcheng found that the storage closet still showed no activity. She decided to ignore them, as they wouldn't starve to death from not eating for a day.
Because they were full of anger.
When anger hasn't subsided, one naturally isn't hungry.
Let them slowly calm down, she wouldn't disturb them.
After wiping off their sweat, Gu Qingcheng asked Mi Guo to go outside and learn a new skill.
When they came outside, they saw the mountains covered in white snow. Gu Qingcheng bought skis and poles from the sports goods store.
The snow on the cliff steps had been falling for several days, accumulating and filling the surrounding gaps, forming a good downward slope, perfect for skiing.
Gu Qingcheng herself wasn't a very good skier. She had only skied three times with her parents at ski resorts in the Northeast during the ski season, and was still at the stage of having just taken off the protective "big turtle" that prevented falls.