"You'd better not get too close to other men in the future," Xie Jiuan said seriously, his face remaining calm without a hint of shyness.
Gu Jiangyue let out a soft chuckle. She thought Xie Jiuan was acting strange today.
"Does the Ninth Prince have so much to mind?"
It was the first time Gu Jiangyue had seen Xie Jiuan like this, and she found it quite novel. So she stared straight at him, not wanting to miss any of his subtle reactions.
"Just not allowed," Xie Jiuan murmured, his thin lips parting slightly. It was almost a subconscious blurt. Realizing that his words sounded a bit unreasonable, he quickly tried to make up for it.
"Anyway, publicly, you're my princess-to-be now. You should act more realistically. So you can't get too close to other men except me."
Looking at Xie Jiuan's serious expression, Gu Jiangyue burst out laughing. Her eyes curved into crescent moons. She always felt that the Xie Jiuan in front of her now was somewhat similar to the one in the rumors: arrogant and willful.
However, she didn't dislike this side of Xie Jiuan. She didn't know why, but Xie Jiuan gave her a feeling similar to that of the mysterious masked man. No matter what he was like, as long as it was him, she would be extremely patient and could show her true self without any hesitation.
Gu Jiangyue stopped laughing and nodded at Xie Jiuan several times. Only then did Xie Jiuan let go of the hand that had been holding hers.
She and Xie Jiuan were just pretending for the public. They were just in a cooperative relationship. Thinking of this, half of the smile on Gu Jiangyue's face faded away. But she remained rational. Revenge was the most important thing now. As for Xie Jiuan, she had plenty of time to get to know him. They had a long way to go.
The Ni Shang Xian Dress that Xie Jiuan had given her last time was already extremely valuable. Now, Gu Jiangyue guessed that the hairpin on her head was also worth a lot of silver. So she simply took it off and handed it back to Xie Jiuan.
"I'll return this to you. I've already accepted your dress. I can't take this anymore."
Gu Jiangyue had always been like this. She didn't want to owe anyone anything, not even her closest relatives.
Xie Jiuan looked at Gu Jiangyue but didn't take the hairpin back.
"This is a token of love. Many people just saw me put it on you with my own hands. What if someone finds out that you returned it to me?"
Xie Jiuan pretended to be thinking about Gu Jiangyue's situation, but in fact, he had his own little plan.
"So you must accept this hairpin and wear it all the time."
After saying that, he snatched the hairpin lying quietly in Gu Jiangyue's palm and put it back on her head. This time, he deliberately held down Gu Jiangyue's head to prevent her from struggling or refusing.
Gu Jiangyue could only glare at Xie Jiuan angrily. After all, every word he said made sense. So she could only silently sigh in her heart that this sly fox, Xie Jiuan, was really cunning.
After Gu Jiangyue's expression softened, Xie Jiuan took out a piece of paper from his bosom and handed it to her.
Gu Jiangyue looked at the paper in her hand. When she saw the words on it clearly, her eyes widened in shock.
"Is this the deed of the Qin Family's restaurant?"
Xie Jiuan nodded.
Only then did Gu Jiangyue realize that this sly fox was afraid that Qin Anjie would go back on his word, so he had sent someone to get the deed early. Gu Jiangyue looked at Xie Jiuan, and the corners of her mouth twitched involuntarily. In this capital city, except for Xie Jiuan, there probably weren't many people who were so untrustworthy.
"This was originally what you deserved. It was Qin Anjie who didn't want it and insisted on showing it off. I, the prince, don't lack money, so I just bought it," Xie Jiuan said matter-of-factly.
Looking at Xie Jiuan, who was acting so self - assured, Gu Jiangyue felt that she could hardly hold back her laughter.
Qin Anjie didn't want this restaurant?
Impossible. Gu Jiangyue clearly saw that when Xie Jiuan said he wanted to buy the Qin Family's restaurant, Qin Anjie was almost on the verge of tears from anger. After all, the location of the Qin Family's restaurant was really good, and the profit was quite substantial. But if they sold it to Xie Jiuan, considering Xie Jiuan's status, the Qin Family would never dare to ask for a high price. For the Qin Family, this was a complete loss - making deal.
It turned out that the Ninth Prince had found a high - sounding excuse for his "robbery".
Looking at the light but weighty deed in her hand, Gu Jiangyue didn't know why, but she felt a rare sense of being valued for Xie Jiuan.
This feeling rarely appeared in front of Xie Chengrui in her previous life because Xie Chengrui never valued or cared about her.
"I'm giving this restaurant to you. Aren't you going to open a shop? This is just perfect," Xie Jiuan said.
Gu Jiangyue looked at Xie Jiuan and asked playfully, "Was it bought specially for me by the Ninth Prince?"
Xie Jiuan felt a bit guilty, so he averted his eyes and didn't dare to look at her.
"No. I just couldn't stand Qin Anjie's attitude and wanted to teach him a lesson."
Looking at Xie Jiuan's arrogant and adorable appearance, a warm feeling gradually welled up in Gu Jiangyue's heart.
This time, she didn't refuse because she really needed this restaurant. There would be many places where she needed silver in the future. The silver they had extorted from the Gu Mansion with the masked man last time was almost used up in these two days.
She had to come up with a way to earn silver quickly so that she could gain a foothold in the capital.
As the sky gradually darkened, although they were already engaged, they left the place tacitly before it got completely dark.
Before leaving, Xie Jiuan specifically told Gu Jiangyue several times, fearing that she would get too close to other men again.
After all, the arrogant and adorable Ninth Prince didn't want to encounter another Nian Zhengqing or Yue Zhengqing.
Gu Jiangyue hesitated. In the end, when Xie Jiuan left, she still didn't ask the question that had been buried in her heart for a long time.
Whether their engagement was really going to happen or not.
Gu Jiangyue was a bit afraid to ask. By now, she still didn't know what kind of relationship she had with Xie Jiuan. It seemed that they were just in a cooperative relationship, but there seemed to be many unclear threads binding them together.
The threads were not tight. They could be easily broken with a slight tug, but they both tacitly didn't move, as if they were reluctant or unwilling.
Since her rebirth, this was the first time Gu Jiangyue had encountered such a headache - inducing problem. She simply shook her head and forced herself not to think about it.
Her top priority was to open the shop. But just having the deed wasn't enough. She didn't plan to open a restaurant. Instead, she wanted to open a rouge shop.
In her previous life, when Gu Jiangyue was surviving in the palace, she wasn't completely without a confidant. There happened to be an assistant who was good at making rouge, Xi Yun. Xi Yun was saved by Gu Jiangyue when she was outside and was a capable subordinate of Gu Jiangyue in her previous life.
Thinking of this, Gu Jiangyue immediately asked Zhiyuan to arrange a carriage for the next day. She couldn't wait any longer. This time, she must find Xi Yun in advance.
Xi Yun's family background was not good. She had suffered a lot before she came to Gu Jiangyue. In this new life, she must rescue Xi Yun from suffering.
After arranging what she needed to do the next day, Gu Jiangyue took out a jade flute as thick as a little finger from her bosom. Standing by the window, she blew the flute.
This was given to her by the masked man. He said that as long as she blew the flute, he would appear by her side within three days.
Now there were still many things to do for opening the shop. She couldn't trouble Xie Jiuan anymore. So she wanted to discuss it with the masked man first.
In any case, the matter of opening the shop must not be discovered by the Gu Family. If they found out, the shop might not be hers.