Chapter 18
In the evening.
The director team first praised their efforts and excellence. All three groups achieved pretty good results.
The winner was Jiang Lechuan and Gu Qi’s group. As the ‘leader’, the power to allocate the charity fund was naturally handed over to Gu Qi.
She had to choose one of the dozen charity projects provided by the director team that she was most interested in and the director team would make a charity donation in the name of everyone in their group.
Gu Qi went over them for a while before pointing to the one at the very side: "This one."
County Hua’s Rural Left-behind Children's Education Fund.
Zhizi, who had always followed Ning Xiwei and rarely spoke and was almost silent, looked up at Gu Qi with slight surprise on her face.
The director took the opportunity to ask: "Why did Teacher Gu make this choice? Can you share your thoughts with us?"
Compared with the various famous charities that were presented, the education foundation chosen by Gu Qi wasn't well-known. It was founded in S City, where resources were relatively poor and behind. Not many people knew the existence of this foundation.
Gu Qi simply replied: "I don't know much about the others. This one I have donated before, so I trust it more."
She had consulted the staff offline and participated in some offline activities to ensure that the money of this foundation could be used for children.
[Haha, Gu Qi's implication: don't know what other organizations do with the donations]
[‘Trust it more’! Elder Sister, you really dare to say that]
[Gu Qi is right. The foundation placed in the middle by the director team was exposed last year]
[The director sat up in the middle of the night: Damn it, she had already chosen it! Why did my mouth be nosy and ask that question? ]
...
The director could only laugh awkwardly and immediately skipped the topic, announcing that everyone had worked hard all day and would have a big meal together in the evening.
This big meal referred to——
There happened to be a newlywed couple in the village setting up a buffet.
The wedding had been held before they came. They happened to catch up with the last day of the three-day free flow banquet.
With the remaining money they earned today and the gift money given by the director team, the group sat in someone else's yard.
Fortunately, this was in the village and the yard was big enough. In addition to the relatives and friends of the bride and groom who originally came to eat, there was still a separate area for them.
There was no other intention, just let them find a place to eat, express their blessings to the newlyweds, and play some small games at the festive scene of the wedding banquet. Then, they could call it a day for today's recording.
Everyone was quite cooperative. When the bride and groom came over to toast, they all gave some blessings. While Gong Xuanan smiled on the surface, he secretly reached out to Jiāng Zhiyu under the table to hold her hand.
Jiāng Zhiyu froze. Then she struggled to free herself from Gong Xuanan's hand in anger. She didn't show any expression, but just kicked Gong Xuanan hard to warn him to behave himself.
After all, it was still under the public eye. So Gong Xuanan didn't dare to go too far. He took back his hand and stood up to toast, as if he had done nothing.
Disgusting. Truly disgusting.
It was difficult for Jiāng Zhiyu to describe her current thoughts in words. The scene in front of her had caused her extreme discomfort.
A rural wedding and a thin, feeble bride wearing a cheap wedding dress but with a decent appearance and timid eyes. It was obvious that if she was born in the city, she might also be a beautiful girl. But at this moment, next to her stood a husband with dark skin and yellow teeth when he smiled. His hair looked almost bald. One seemed to be able to smell the stench in his mouth without getting close.
The villagers said that they were ten years apart in age. The girl's father was a blacksmith who needed someone to inherit his craft. The groom was honest and capable, so everyone thought they were a good match.
Just the sight of the two of them standing together made Jiāng Zhiyu feel frightened. Adding Gong Xuanan's touch into the mix, she was truly sick to the point of wanting to vomit.
‘Unsuitable marriage’. These words came to Jiāng Zhiyu's mind and made her realize that it seemed like seeing her own fate.
If one day, she married Gong Xuanan or other rich young masters that the family wanted to arrange for her, it would only be more unsuitable than the two people in front of her.
None of those mediocre people was worthy of her.
Perhaps seeing that Jiāng Zhiyu was in a bad mood, Gong Xuanan still wanted to find something to cheer her up. In the game session after the meal, he took the initiative to mention things related to high school.
He looked at Gu Qi and made a thoughtful expression: "I didn't expect Jiang Qi... Oh wait, Gu Qi, you are so beautiful now. Totally different from before when you wore heavy glasses and masks."
Gu Qi looked up with a little confusion, not quite understanding why Gong Xuanan suddenly mentioned her. It was obvious that nothing good would happen.
Sure enough.
When Gong Xuanan saw that everyone’s attention was on him, it was time for him to perform. He kept talking: "Maybe you don't know, Zhiyu, Fengzhi, Gu Qi and I went to the same high school. Zhiyu and Fengzhi were in our key class, while Gu Qi and I were classmates. Putting it this way, we should be closer. However, I haven't talked to you until now. This makes my heart broken."
"Oh." Gu Qi stuffed a piece of meat into her mouth and seemed to have no interest in the topics he talked about. She answered perfunctorily: "I was busy studying at that time and didn't have much of an impression of you."
Gong Xuanan was a little embarrassed, but the show had already started and he could only bite the bullet and continue: "I have an impression of you. By the way, there was a rooftop in the teaching building of our school at that time. Occasionally some young couples who were dating would hide there during evening self-study. I saw you once and was surprised. I didn't expect that a good student like you would go up there."
Gu Qi flipped through the fragments related to the rooftop from her memory and uttered, "Memorize words."
"How is that possible? You went there to study?" Gong Xuanan showed an expression of disbelief and continued, "We are all old classmates, don't you know what that place is? I heard that sometimes there wasn’t only one male and one female going there. Some are quite wild..."
Gu Qi raised her head and looked at him without any expression: "What else do you want to say? Are you going to make up a dirty rumor about me?"
Silence instantly cut the scene.
Gu Qi put down her chopsticks and continued to ask, "Then why did you go to that rooftop again? Was it teen love? Was it a man and a woman?"
Gu Qi's three questions made Gong Xuanan's face pale instantly, because he didn't know how to answer. His mouth opened for a long time without saying a word.
Ye Zhiqing couldn't hold it anymore. She just laid on Ning Xiwei's shoulder and burts out laughing. She raised her head and praised Gu Qi: "You are a good speaker."
[Hahaha, the most embarrassing 30 seconds in the history of domestic entertainment is born]
[My toes are almost digging out a villa for Gong Xuanan]
[No need for your help. Looking at Gong Xuanan's expression, he can dig it out by himself hahaha]
[Ye Zhiqing, don't join in the fun at this time. Can't you see that Ning Xiwei's eyes are twitching at you! ]
[Ning Xiwei: I really can't save this situation]
Someone finally realized it.
[Is it my imagination? Why do I feel like Gong Xuanan has been approaching Gu Qi a lot these past two days?]
[Sister above, don't doubt your instincts. I noticed from the beginning because they were classmates. It's true, but Gu Qi didn't pay much attention to him]
[Gu Qi must have had little presence in high school. This stinky man regretted missing out on a beautiful girl and is now pretending to be familiar with her]
Gong Xuanan quickly adjusted his facial expression, "I was just casually chatting and joking. Why are you reacting so strongly?"
He wanted to take the initiative to strike; label Gu Qi as someone who couldn't take a joke and wasn't sociable. This way the matter could be trivialized.
Jiang Lechuan directly defended Gu Qi with a cold face: "She didn't think it was funny, nor did I. May I ask who here thinks it's funny?"
Although Jiang Lechuan didn't quite understand Gong Xuanan's implication and didn't understand what he was thinking now, Elder Sister had such a good personality. In these years, except for occasional quarrels with him, she never showed displeasure to others!
Who was Gong Xuanan? Why should he be compared with him... Pah, pah, pah, gone astray! Anyway, Elder Sister must have her reasons for being angry! It was Gong Xuanan in the wrong!
"Anyway, I don’t." Wen Renjing answered Jiang Lechuan's words, turned to Hang Ze beside him, nudged him with his elbow, and asked, "Do you find it funny?"
Hang Ze buried his head in his food, not expecting how this hot potato was pushed to him. But remembering Gu Qi's ‘great kindness’ in giving him the bed, he cooperated and added a sentence: "Although I am a little crude, I am definitely not vulgar."
[Hahaha Wen Renjing! Hang Ze! I can't stand you two! Can you debut as a crosstalk artist immediately?]
[Being friends really means having something in common]
[Director Hang, what hidden daggers are behind your words, hahaha! Truly hurting the enemy a thousand times and hurting yourself eight hundred times!]
[Director Hang: My movies may be crude, but your life must be vulgar! ]
Ye Zhiqing also immediately frowned and tried to suppress the raised corners of her lips, expressing her innocence: "I only laughed because I thought Gu Qi was very humorous, not because I thought your joke was funny."
Even Zhizi remarked with some disapproval. Though her voice was as gentle as always but her tone was stern: "I don't think any girl would like to be joked about like this."
Things reached this point.
Jiāng Fengzhi put down the cup in his hand. His forever-calm expression only had a little condemnation in his eyebrows and he looked at Gong Xuanan: "Your brain is so muddled after drinking a few sips of wine. Lost your basic manners? Why don't you apologize?"
His words lightly floated. On the surface it seemed that he was also speaking for Gu Qi and condemning Gong Xuanan, but in fact he attributed Gong Xuanan's malicious thoughts to drunken speech and excused him.
[Damn, Damn, Jiāng Fengzhi, this is too handsome! ]
[What kind of a domineering president story is this? The hero saves the beauty! ]
[Still those words! Jiāng Fengzhi is a true domineering president male lead who has come to life! My ideal type! ]
[Can I say it? There is something in Jiāng Fengzhi’s gaze toward Gu Qi. I seem to have vaguely ship something]
[The strategizing business bigshot x his golden canary. He wants her to grow up but can't bear to see her suffer...]
[Above sister, here's a pen for you! You write it! ]
[The new CP has appeared. How can it stand still and not feed on it! ]
[Jiang Lechuan: Arranged my elder brother-in-law already? You all think I'm dead! ]
[That’s right! It’s obviously our Younger Brother who was the first to stand up to protect Elder Sister! What are you all doing! ]
Gong Xuanan didn't expect that the jokes he could make casually on most days would be magnified and he would get targeted by these people. They were all entertainers in the entertainment industry. Why were they putting on airs here?
If it were in private, his status and self-esteem wouldn't allow him to apologize to people like Gu Qi. But everyone was currently standing on her side?
The most important thing was that even Jiāng Fengzhi had spoken. Even if he was unwilling, he could only swallow his anger. He doesn't have the courage to disobey Jiāng Fengzhi.
At this moment, Gong Xuanan could only take the steps provided by Jiāng Fengzhi and apologize to Gu Qi reluctantly: "I'm sorry I drank too much. I'm not a good drinker. Don't mean anything else. I just miss our high school days. I don't mean to offend you."
Gu Qi took a sip of the juice in her hand and said, "I hope there will be no more such jokes in the future. It will only offend people."
"Yes, yes." Though unwilling, Gong Xuanan could only continue to apologize on the surface and then drank half a glass of wine to express his ‘apology’.
Damn it.
He never anticipated that he would have to suffer in a variety show. The most important thing was that there was a camera watching him almost all the time during the live broadcast. After the live broadcast, Jiang Lechuan always followed Gu Qi like a dog. He couldn't do anything?
So until the next morning and until returning to the villa, Gong Xuanan wasn't in a good mood.
However, no one cared whether he was happy or not.
After the second recording.
Gu Qi unexpectedly received the support of her fans and received a lot of gifts--
Bumper cars, pizza restaurants, hamburger restaurants, everything.
All were toys.
Looking at the recommended age written on each toy, there were 3-6 years old and 6-12 years old. Anyway, none of them were for adults to play.
Of course, this was obvious without looking at the recommended age.
Gu Qi's smile was a little complicated.
What was with all of this?
But...
It seemed that she somewhat liked it.
Hands were a little itchy. Her heart was also itching.
Jiang Lechuan poked his head out from behind Gu Qi like a happy puppy, holding all the gifts for her, and had even started planning: "Which one should we start playing with when we go back? How about this pizza shop? I like this onion!"
Jiang Lechuan's fans couldn't stand it anymore after watching for a long time-
"Are you a robber? That's not for you!"
They were there, okay? Those were Gu Qi's fans!
Jiang Lechuan responded confidently: "I'm just helping Elder Sister hold them! How can she play alone? Of course I have to accompany her!"
Jiang Lechuan's fans were speechless.
They were a professional fan club. Unlike Gu Qi's new fans, they have a website to collect funds and buy all kinds of luxury goods as gifts. They were much more valuable than those toys!
But since Jiang Lechuan came out, he hadn’t accepted any gifts they prepared. Instead, he snatched Elder Sister's gifts?
The anti-black station had the loudest voice and directly shouted: "Jiang Lechuan! Take your sneakers, bags, perfumes and everything! It's so hot! We are leaving!"
Jiang Lechuan also shouted back: "I don't want sneakers, bags, and perfumes! Take them back and return them! I said I don't accept such expensive things! Why do you always buy them? Isn't it better to save the money for yourself to buy a set of toys?!"
Jiang Lechuan's fans: "?"
Who wants to buy toys like him!
Gu Qi covered her ears. After repeatedly enduring it, she reached her limit. Grasping the last straw of her temper and said, "Jiang Lechuan, I have told you many times, don't yell. Speak nicely."
Jiang Lechuan pointed at his fans and complained to Elder Sister, "It was clearly them who yelled at me first!"
Jiang Lechuan's fans: "???"
Jiang Lechuan! The top person in the domestic entertainment industry in passing on the blame!!!
It was unknown who among Jiang Lechuan's fans reacted first.
A delicate female voice sounded: "Elder Sister! Look, we have prepared gifts and had been waiting here for him. What's wrong with us hollering at him a bit?"
"Yes, Elder Sister! He's too much!"
"Elder Sister, please lecture him for us!"
"Elder Sister..."
Jiang Lechuan stared at his fans. His face was full of confusion, and said: "Are you kidding me? You're telling on me to my Elder Sis? This is my Elder Sis!"
"Pa——"
He was slapped on the back of his head again.
Gu Qi stopped Jiang Lechuan from clamoring. First, she expressed her gratitude to the fans who gave her gifts and then walked to Jiang Lechuan's fans.
The fans knew that Gu Qi had something to say and they spontaneously quieted down.
Gu Qi smiled at them and explained on behalf of Jiang Lechuan to his fans: "He is thick-skinned and easy to raise. He is perfectly fine with wearing T-shirts that are three for 50 yuan at the street stall. So he doesn't want you to lower your quality of life to buy him expensive gifts. As long as you continue to support and love him, that's enough. Even if you don't spend money, he will know that many people support him."
Jiang Lechuan affirmed with an ‘hmm’, and added: "No, you still have to buy the album and come to the concert!"
The fans were very moved, but of course they also disliked him for ruining the atmosphere.
So they could only discuss together that next time they would buy the coolest ‘children's educational’ toys in the world for Jiang Lechuan.
Jiang Lechuan, holding the toys that originally belonged to Gu Qi, blatantly caught a ride with her.
Of course, Mu Yuan was brought along. Gu Qi was going to send him home.
After watching Jiang Lechuan open the passenger door and sit in, Mu Yuan stopped his instinctive steps.
After two seconds of silence, he took the initiative to open the back door and got in.
All the way, Jiang Lechuan kept chattering.
Jiang Lechuan was really noisy. From the viral restaurant he saw online a few days ago that looked very tempting, to his strict devil-like team leader Xu Yanyue actually told him to go for extra practice on weekends, and a series of trivial and extremely boring things.
But...
Gu Qi listened carefully to all this nonsense.
Jiang Lechuan said he was interested in the restaurant, so she asked what the special dishes were and expressed they could go to eat together when they were free. Jiang Lechuan said the team leader was strict and cold, so she asked what Jiang Lechuan thought and enlightened him little by little.
Although Jiang Lechuan kept turning back to talk to him and was a thick-skinned man who didn't realize anything, he instinctively wanted to take care of Younger Brother's feelings.
Even so, Mu Yuan could still truly feel that there seemed to be an invisible and transparent net separating the front and back seats of the car as well as separating him from their world.
He thought of the game session that day again.
When faced with ‘danger’, Gu Qi chose him instead of Jiang Lechuan.
If she could choose him once.
Would she be able to... choose him a second time?
So when Jiang Lechuan began to plan: "Our training should end early on Wednesday. are you free that day? Let's go to that restaurant for dinner then!"
Gu Qi pondered about it and agreed: "It depends on the situation. It should be okay if I don't have work."
At this moment, Mu Yuan heard himself speak.
His voice was very soft, with a slight tremor that he didn't realize: "Elder Sister, next Wednesday evening... our school will hold a parent-teacher meeting."
Jiang Lechuan asked curiously: "Does a genius like you also need to attend a parent-teacher meeting? What does Paternal Aunt do every time? Just sit there and make other parents envious?"
Silence for three seconds.
After half a beat, Jiang Lechuan blurted out ‘Damn’. He turned back to look at Mu Yuan, and exclaimed: "You spoke? You actually spoke! Hurry up! Call me Elder Brother!!!"
His shock and joy at this time were no less than a father who was eager to hear "Dad" after hearing his child say the first word.
"... He isn't a mute."
At the red light, Gu Qi speechlessly reached out and pressed Jiang Lechuan's head, which was almost twisted into a knot due to shock, back to its original position.
Although she was surprised that Mu Yuan took the initiative to talk, she realized that he had something else to say and asked: "What’s going on with the parents' meeting?"
Mu Yuan continued to explain: "An auntie in the neighborhood is in the hospital. Dad and Mom are helping to take care of her."
He seemed not to be used to communicating with people and speaking such long sentences as his voice was a little stiff.
"I understand, Paternal Aunt and Uncle are being good people again." Sighing, Jiang Lechuan shook his head. He even seriously remarked: "Mu Yuan's IQ is so high. I guess it's also because Paternal Aunt and Uncle does too many good things and it's a blessing from Heaven."
Gu Qi could understand.
Paternal Aunt and Uncle were both very good people. Over the years, they have not only treated her like their own daughter, but also helped to take care of everyone around them to the best of their ability.
But Gu Qi still didn't understand what Mu Yuan wanted to say. So she could only turn around and look at him with confusion.
The boy closed his eyes slightly.
He finally made up his mind and spoke the last sentence: "So, Elder Sister, can you come to our school as my guardian on Wednesday?"
Thank you for the extra chapters!
ReplyDeleteLe Chuan: Eat dinner with me, sister!
Xiao Yuan: Parent-teacher meeting, I need Sis!
This is too funny!