Chapter 196: Chapter 174: Double Standard Xian
Gu Yanjing took off his jacket, wearing only a white shirt.
The sleeves of the shirt were rolled up to his elbows, looking...extremely clumsy as he rolled the dough.
His physique was tall and graceful.
With a slight exertion, the power of his arms was evident.
Qiao Yuxian pointed her phone at him, recording from top to bottom.
Her heart was delighted and felt a bit heated.
She thought Mr. Gu was like a cold beauty in the kitchen, wearing a white shirt and black trousers, with an ethereal temperament and perfect body proportion.
"No wonder you’re Mr. Gu, even rolling dough looks so beautiful."
She praised him mindlessly, and just as she finished speaking, the dumpling skin in Gu Yanjing’s hand split in two.
Yuan Wei snickered.
Gu Yanjing glanced at him.
Yuan Wei lowered his gaze, wrapping air in the dumpling skin, slowly pinching it without looking at him.
Qiao Yuxian looked at the halved dumpling and said, "Even the dumpling skin couldn’t withstand Mr. Gu’s beauty, it broke under the pressure."
Gu Yanjing: "......"
The others: "......"
"Sis, my dumpling broke too," Yuan Wei suddenly said.
Qiao Yuxian glanced at the broken dumpling in his hand and complained, "You managed to break it even without filling, honestly amazed."
Meng Yan and Su Qi at the edge were secretly laughing.
Yuan Wei pouted and said woefully, "Sis, I’m not your dearest brother anymore."
"I have so many brothers, you’re hardly the dearest one," Qiao Yuxian said nonchalantly.
Suddenly, Yuan Wei clutched his chest, leaving a white flour handprint on his black hoodie, then slumped onto Aunt Zhao’s shoulder: "Aunt Zhao, did you hear my heart break? I need a head pat to recover."
Aunt Zhao laughed, "My hands are all floured."
"Come over, I’ll pat your head," Qiao Yuxian said, one hand holding her phone, while the other rested on her hip, looking at him.
Her gaze didn’t look like she was going to pat his head, but rather like she wanted to twist it off.
Yuan Wei quickly stood straight, pinching the broken dumpling skin back together: "Never mind, suddenly my heart seems patched up."
Aunt Zhao and Uncle Quan laughed.
Qiao Yuxian also chuckled, put her phone away, squeezed next to Gu Yanjing, and taught him how to roll the dough.
Gu Yanjing learned quickly, able to roll it out, though quite slowly.
Qiao Yuxian wasn’t in a rush and used the skins he rolled to make dumplings.
Make one, praise once, make one, praise once.
"Wow, I’ve never used such wonderful dumpling skin before."
"Look at these exquisite dumplings; only such skin can wrap them."
For a moment, almost twenty-nine-year-old Mr. Gu thought he was a kid under five years old.
In response to Qiao Yuxian’s constant praise, the dumplings were finished, and Uncle Quan and Aunt Zhao took them to cook.
Gu Yanjing went to the bathroom to wash his hands, and Qiao Yuxian watched his back from the kitchen before following him.
The courtyard was all flat, with the east wing’s side room being the bathroom.
Gu Yanjing was washing his hands in the bathroom when out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a figure sneaking a peek through the door crack.
He turned his head to look, finished washing his hands, and pulled open the bathroom door.
Qiao Yuxian, who was peeking through the crack, was startled and stepped back.
After meeting Gu Yanjing’s gaze, she smiled obediently and said, "I’m afraid you were using the bathroom, it’s not appropriate to walk in suddenly."
Seeing she wasn’t wearing a coat, Gu Yanjing pulled her into the bathroom and closed the door, saying, "So you peeked through the crack."
"I..." Qiao Yuxian couldn’t speak.
Gu Yanjing looked at her.
Qiao Yuxian lowered her head, stopped talking.
There wasn’t anything visible through the crack, but what if there was? He wasn’t using the bathroom, just washing his hands. But what if he had been? Wouldn’t she see...
Qiao Yuxian’s ears turned red.
Gu Yanjing looked at her reddened ears, pinched her chin gently, lifted her head, and kissed her lips.
After the kiss, Qiao Yuxian pressed her lips together, leaned in his chest, and said, "You came over, what about grandpa and aunt?"
"Grandpa has company," Gu Yanjing lowered his eyes to look at her, "My mom doesn’t want to leave the hospital."
"But as the head of the Gu Family, shouldn’t you be there for the New Year instead of running off to your wife’s family?" Qiao Yuxian said, teasingly scratching his back.
"Why not?" Gu Yanjing said calmly.
"Ugh..." Qiao Yuxian thought for a moment, then laughed at him, "Seems like it’s pretty okay."
Gu Yanjing smiled slightly and caught her mischievous hand behind him, holding it: "Behave."
"How am I not behaving?" Qiao Yuxian pouted, "I’m very good."
Gu Yanjing didn’t respond.
Qiao Yuxian said, "After we get back to the Capital City, we’ll visit grandpa and aunt first."
"Mm."
Qiao Yuxian leaned in his arms for a moment and said, "Gu Yanjing."
"Mm."
"Every New Year, I have to come back," Qiao Yuxian said softly, "I can’t spend it in Capital City."
"I’ll accompany you," Gu Yanjing uttered three words indifferently.
Qiao Yuxian looked up at him, eyes full of surprise.
She only intended to inform him she couldn’t celebrate the New Year with him and wondered if he would mind, never expecting him to say that.
They stared at each other for a moment, and Qiao Yuxian asked uncertainly, "Every year?"
"Mm." Gu Yanjing touched her face, "Unless there’s a special circumstance."
Qiao Yuxian blinked slowly, then smiled and asked, "Every year you’ll come to the Qiao Family with me for New Year?"
"Mm."
"What if Aunt wants to go home?" Qiao Yuxian asked again.
"Bring her along."
Qiao Yuxian laughed: "What about grandpa?"
"If he wants, he can come along," Gu Yanjing said.
"Grandpa probably won’t want to," Qiao Yuxian muttered softly.
Gu Yanjing raised an eyebrow slightly without expression and asked, "Why?"
Qiao Yuxian looked at him, feeling insightful.
She thought Gu Yanjing might have learned something, but it seemed not too much.
The older generation didn’t want to involve the younger ones in their affairs.
Her dad, her uncle, didn’t know.
Only she happened to find out, forced to know about previous matters.
"Mm..." Qiao Yuxian thought for a moment and said, "Possibly because of the long journey."
Seeing she didn’t explain, Gu Yanjing didn’t press further.
Today he accompanied his grandpa to Lingshi Temple’s Longevity Hall, not learning much.
He spent the day copying Buddhist scriptures with the old man, alongside countless names.
Numerous names, some real, some coded, were all in the old man’s head, penned down one by one.
Among all, Gu Yanjing only recognized two familiar names.
Qiao Huaisong and Xi Wanqing.
The elderly patriarch was exhausted after a day in the Longevity Hall, dozing off in the car back home, eating a little at Gu Mansion, and going straight to sleep.
Thus, the old man couldn’t tell him anything.
Or maybe...he still didn’t want to discuss it with him for now...
So, he also didn’t rush to inquire.