Before Gu Liyue could even react, Feng Lanqing had been grabbed by the attendants and thrown out. She stared at Qin Caiyin in stunned silence for a long time before giving her a thumbs - up. "Caiyin, you're really..."
Qin Caiyin clapped her hands and then patted Gu Liyue on the shoulder. "Aunt said you're timid, so I must protect you. Don't worry."
Gu Liyue smiled and took Qin Caiyin's arm. "Caiyin, thank you."
Qin Caiyin shook her head. "Don't be afraid of that kind of person. You're a daughter of the Gu family now. No one can bully you."
The three of them bought a few books and walked out of the store chatting and laughing.
A few days later, Gu Liyue received an invitation from Qin Caiyin asking her to go out for tea. She got ready and went to the appointment, but instead of seeing Qin Caiyin, she only saw Fang Min.
Fang Min affectionately took Gu Liyue's hand. "Cousin suddenly had a stomachache. Afraid that you were already on your way, she sent me here alone. You won't mind, will you?"
Although Gu Liyue felt a bit disappointed, she didn't say anything. She went for tea with Fang Min and said in surprise, "I've never been to this teahouse before. I used to go to the ones on Mingzheng Street and Qingshui Street... This teahouse seems a bit small."
Fang Min nodded vaguely. "Well, it's lively here. I like this one."
The two of them went up to a private room. This private room was also a bit smaller and rather cramped.
Fang Min asked, "What kind of storytelling do you want to listen to?"
Gu Liyue shrugged. "I've never been here before. You can decide. Anything will do."
After taking a sip of tea, Gu Liyue couldn't help but frown. She didn't like tea. Usually when she went out, she would order milk. The tea today was too bitter and astringent, and the snacks seemed a bit soggy and not crispy or delicious.
Thinking about it, Gu Liyue actually laughed.
Fang Min had ordered the storytelling and looked at Gu Liyue in surprise. "Sister Gu, why are you laughing?"
Gu Liyue said, "I used to have no feeling about the saying that it's easy to go from frugality to luxury but hard to go from luxury to frugality. Now I really understand it. I'm actually being picky about the tea and snacks here."
Fang Min laughed. She took a sip of tea, frowned and said, "The tea here is really not very good."
Gu Liyue was puzzled. "Wasn't it this taste before?"
Fang Min averted her eyes and quickly shook her head. "No... I... Ah, maybe they used old tea this time. I'll ask them to change it."
Gu Liyue stopped her. "Forget it. It's okay. We'll just make do. If the storytelling is not good later, we don't have to come here again."
They sat and listened to a couple of segments of the storytelling. The scripts here were probably a bit old. They had all heard them before and there was nothing new. Moreover, these two segments were all about heart - wrenching and moth - to - the - flame kind of love.
Gu Liyue thought to herself that Miss Fang was really naive and only liked this kind of thing.
However, Fang Min ate some snacks and covered her stomach. "Huh, I guess I ate something bad at home. I'm not feeling well. I'll be back soon."
Gu Liyue didn't pay much attention. She sorted out the snacks on the table. Only the melon seeds tasted good, but eating too many would make her thirsty. She simply pushed the snacks aside, folded her arms and sat in front of the window daydreaming.
The teahouse itself was just so - so, but the scenery was quite nice. It was beside the river and the view was very soothing. Gu Liyue remembered that when she was in Yangxin Town, in the cold winter when she had to do the laundry, the water in the well was frozen and she couldn't draw any water. She had to go to the river and break the ice to do the laundry.
Yunniang felt sorry for her and never let her do it. She just let her watch from the side. She had touched the ice - cold water. It was bone - chilling. Yunniang's hands were full of chilblains and never got better in all those winters. Even now, no matter how well Yunniang took care of her hands, once the weather was bad, they would itch and hurt.
A few days ago during the Dog Days, Grandma specially invited an old doctor to do moxibustion for Yunniang to expel the cold from her body. Gu Liyue's eyes were a bit red. Yunniang was her family, and the Gu family was also her family. She wouldn't think about or care about others anymore.
The door creaked open. Gu Liyue didn't even turn her head. "You're back? Do you want to continue listening?"
She waited, but didn't hear any sound. Gu Liyue sensed something was wrong. She quickly turned around and found that it was Feng Lanqing standing just two steps away from her.
Gu Liyue stood up and shouted angrily, "Who are you? How did you get in here? Someone come!"
Feng Lanqing shook his head. "Miss Fang helped me send all the attendants away."
"What do you want?" Gu Liyue stared at him with wide eyes and clenched her fists tightly. She used to have a dagger. When she first came to the Gu family, she also specially sharpened a small knife, but as time passed, she let her guard down. Every time she went out, there were bodyguards with her. Even if she met someone she didn't like, she just had to send them away. She didn't expect to be so careless today that Feng Lanqing found an opportunity.
Feng Lanqing sat down at the table and showed his most affectionate look to Gu Liyue. "Liyue, I want to have a good talk with you. I love you. I really love you."
Seeing that he didn't come closer, Gu Liyue let out a slight sigh of relief. She frowned and said, "We've already broken off the engagement. Now you have your own family and I have a fiancé. We..."
"No! Liyue, we've known each other since childhood. Our engagement was arranged by our parents. How can you just change your mind like this?"
Gu Liyue looked at him in disbelief. "Are you crazy? You were the one who betrayed me first!"
Feng Lanqing shook his head. "No, I never intended to break off the engagement at that time. It was you who insisted on it and even asked me to give the engagement to your cousin. In my heart, you're the one who should be my wife..."
Gu Liyue thought this man was simply crazy. She stood by the window and quickly thought about how she could get away. She couldn't count on Fang Min. It was obvious that this was Fang Min's scheme. She didn't know what she had done to offend Fang Min. Why would Fang Min want to harm her for no reason?
Before the maids and bodyguards came back, she had to ensure her own safety. If necessary... This was the second floor. If she jumped, there was a high chance that she wouldn't be seriously injured. Even if something happened... She had read so many detective stories. It said in many cases that as long as she protected her head and curled up, at most she would break her hands or feet and it could still be cured.
Feng Lanqing didn't know that Gu Liyue had already had so many thoughts in such a short time. He thought Gu Liyue's daydreaming was because she was touched by him.
"Liyue, believe me. I really love you. We should be together for a lifetime, right? You should have been the daughter - in - law of the Feng family. It's all your cousin's fault. She's gone too far. Don't worry. I'll go back and divorce her, and then go to the Gu family to propose marriage. How about it? The keepsake my mother left for your mother is still here. Look..."
Gu Liyue asked in a deep voice, "I originally thought that we would stay out of each other's way. It seems that you're not willing to do so?"
Feng Lanqing said, "What do you mean by staying out of each other's way? Liyue, do you know what kind of situation you would be in if it weren't for me?"