Chapter 38
Before Gu Xiyu could think of a way to get out of this, the quick-witted Lu Ziqing blocked his retreat further: “Don’t tell me it’s the experience you’ve accumulated over the years from solving your own physical needs.”
“I know you, little mom.” Lu Ziqing nibbled on the Adam’s of his throat and whispered in his ear, “You’re too passive.”
The energetic eighteen-year-old raised his head and kissed Gu Xiyu for a while before releasing him and nudging his fingers around the latter’s lips, “You’re good here too.”
“Do you use this place when you help yourself out?”
A question that hit the nail on the head.
Seeing that Lu Ziqing was about to ask, ‘Who else have you helped besides me’, Gu Xiyu pressed his shoulder and asked with a serious face, “What do you think of my studies in general?”
Lu Ziqing was stunned by his question, “Pretty good.”
He lowered his eyelids and added, “Better than me anyway.”
When Gu Xiyu saw that he was taking the bait, he withdrew his eyes and pushed him away: “I’m quick to learn whatever I put my mind to.”
With one sentence, he forcibly expelled Lu Ziqing’s doubts.
Gu Xiyu took advantage of Lu Ziqing’s reaction to organize his words and said, “My life is monotonous, and I don’t know many people.”
“You are the first person I’ve made such contact with.”
Lu Ziqing felt like the world had suddenly lit up.
Although there was a certain possibility that Gu Xiyu was deceiving him, he just wanted to believe it at this moment.
Gu Xiyu then received a system notification that the target’s risk value had been reduced by 1.
“……”
He was as stingy as always.
The coaxed Lu Ziqing insisted on the courtesy of helping his equally responsive body meet its longing needs. Fortunately, the bedroom Xie Chunhua had left Gu Xiyu had a separate bathroom, so the two of them didn’t have to leave the bedroom in the middle of the night to clean up the mess, which would have woken up Xie Chunhua.
After this little episode in the middle of the night, both Gu Xiyu and Lu Ziqing slept soundly and woke up in good spirits the next day.
Xie Chunhua didn’t notice the unusual atmosphere between the two and cooked a hearty breakfast, only sending them off after they were well-fed.
There was a lot of commotion when they first arrived, but perhaps Zhou Tianyi was still feeling guilty for indiscriminately blaming Lu Ziqing on the day of the parents’ meeting, so she deliberately avoided meeting them.
When they left, they bumped into Xu Chengxuan, who was carrying a bag of things. Lu Ziqing didn’t pay any attention to him, but Gu Xiyu noticed that Xu Chengxuan’s eyes looked a bit strange and complicated when they fell on Lu Ziqing.
He felt that letting Lu Ziqing maintain such a rigid relationship with Zhou Tianyi and Xu Chengxuan was not the way to go, and it would remain a knot in Lu Ziqing’s heart if not dealt with properly.
It might also be the key to getting the risk value cleared.
——
The first thing Gu Xiyu did after he returned was to contact the lawyer appointed by the original owner’s grandfather.
Grandpa Gu was probably worried that the other party had changed his phone number, so he left several online and offline contact methods, but he chose to contact him through the phone number.
Gu Xiyu picked a time in the afternoon when he had no classes and arranged to meet with the lawyer, surnamed Li, in the city center.
“Hello, are you Mr Gu Xiyu?”
Lawyer Li was a stable and sophisticated-looking man. He looked around forty years old, and he had the aura of a svelte elite like Jin Ke in the last world.
*Jin Ke was Ji Chen’s (the target’s) assistant.
The other party had asked him to bring along documents that could prove his identity, so Gu Xiyu didn’t say anything and directly showed him everything.
Lawyer Li was also very straightforward: “In fact, most of the formalities were already taken care of before your grandfather passed away, and meeting with you today only requires a final confirmation.”
With that, he pushed a document in a yellow envelope in front of him, saying, “Inside is the land deed; the holder has been updated, and it is now yours.”
Gu Xiyu was shocked to realize that the original owner’s grandfather had left him the land that Zhou Ci had mentioned to Lu Mingren when he came over that day. It was not a small piece of land, and according to Zhou Ci, its market value was now high. He never expected that the Gu family, which seemed so poor and miserable, was actually so rich.
Apart from the land deed, there was also a letter left behind by the original owner’s grandfather in the envelope. The letter mentioned that the land was owned by the Gu family’s earlier ancestor, who had gotten it as a gift from a major landowner. At that time, the choice of land was still based on its fertility and suitability for cultivation, so the landowner passed on that unused land to the Gu family. The Gu family was poor at the time, and the land was in a remote, underdeveloped village, so they put it aside for the time being, and it has been passed on to this day.
The land was of little use when it was in the hands of the Gu family’s grandfather, but in recent years, the country has been developing at a rapid pace, and what was once a remote area had grown into a first-tier city, and many of the plots of land there were in high demand.
Gu Xiyu pondered for a long time after reading it and asked, “Meaning that I have the power to transfer it to anyone?”
Lawyer Li didn’t expect him to be that direct and thought he wanted to sell it, “Yes, when the time comes, you can just negotiate the terms with the receiver and do a transfer.”
Gu Xiyu smiled, “I might want to give it to my mother.”
This was something given to the original owner after all, even though Gu Xiyu had now taken over his identity, he wasn’t the original. There was no way he would dispose of the land with peace of mind, and Gu Sichuang was so prodigal and unreliable that he could only leave it to Xie Chunhua.
Only after finishing the land matter with Lawyer Li did Gu Xiyu return to the Lu family with the information in his pocket.
Lu Ziqing had not yet returned and Auntie Zhang was preparing dinner in the kitchen.
There were a few more packets of health supplements scattered on the kitchen counter. Gu Xiyu pondered over them for a few seconds and said to Auntie Zhang, “Give me these; I’m free now, so let me make a pot of herbal soup for you.”
“Is there any chicken left at home?”
Auntie Zhang blushed and nodded at him before gesturing in the direction of the sink. Inside the basin lay freshly processed bone-in chicken meat, presumably brought back from a trip this morning.
Gu Xiyu smiled at Auntie Zhang: “It seems I’m really lucky.”
Auntie Zhang gave him a shy smile, took the knife, and went back to the cutting board to continue chopping vegetables. Gu Xiyu didn’t say anything more and concentrated on preparing what he needed. When Auntie Zhang finished chopping the vegetables, she couldn’t help but sneak a glance back at him again, her expression a little relieved.
When Gu Xiyu first arrived, she was quite worried that the atmosphere in the Lu family, which was already not very good, would get worse and that there would be another cold and indifferent member. At that time, she thought that the boy looked quite gentle, but he gave the impression that he was even colder than Lu Ziqing, who always had a blank face.
It was good to see his lively side.
Lu Ziqing came home from school and smelled the aroma coming from the kitchen, there was some Chinese herbal medicine mixed in with it, and he couldn’t help but frown and say, “It smells like it’s going to be bitter.”
He was just complaining out of habit, but to his surprise, someone replied, “Then don’t drink it later.”
When Lu Ziqing heard this voice, his mood instantly improved, especially when he walked over and saw Gu Xiyu busy in the kitchen and wearing an apron again.
The apron was a dark color, which contrasted strongly with Gu Xiyu’s milk-white skin.
Lu Ziqing stared at the side profile of the man in the kitchen for a long time.
He would definitely buy his own house in the future and hide his “little mother” in it, doing whatever he wanted with him in every corner.
“Lu Ziqing.” The person who was lost in thought suddenly heard his name being called out, and he came back to his senses, only to realize that Gu Xiyu might have called out to him several times, but he had been lost in thought and didn’t respond.
“The bottom left compartment of the dresser in my room holds the gifts from your uncle. Go and help me bring them down, there should be quite a few supplements in there that we can eat, I also want to give some to Auntie Zhang and her family.”
Lu Ziqing did not refuse.
His little mother’s room wasn’t a place one could go into at any time.
He threw his school bag into his room before pushing the door to Gu Xiyu’s room open and going to the dresser. There were quite a few items inside, all of which were neatly arranged, and he quickly found the bag Gu Xiyu had mentioned.
Lu Ziqing accidentally bumped into the dresser when he got up, and several things in the top compartment were accidentally knocked down.
He could only squat down to gather the clothes that spilled from the big white bag, and he was halfway done before he gradually realized that the material was wrong.
…… Why would Gu Xiyu have such pink and lacy outfits?
Lu Ziqing held them in his hands with a face full of skepticism and kept the same pose for a long time as he contemplated.
——–
The food in the kitchen was almost ready when Gu Xiyu got the items from Lu Ziqing’s hand.
“Thanks.” He checked the unopened gifts inside and handed them all to Auntie Zhang. “I heard from Mr. Lu that Grandpa Lu had someone send me another bunch of supplements. There are too many of these for me to finish myself, you can cook the extra ones for Ziqing and the others to eat during the week, and you can take the rest to your family when you go home.”
Auntie Zhang waved her hand in panic at first and refused, and only after Gu Xiyu kept insisting did she gratefully accept.
Before the meal started, Gu Xiyu received a message from Lu Mingren.
Lu Mingren: [It’s her birthday today; I’m taking her out for dinner, so you don’t need to wait for me to start eating].
Gu Xiyu looked at Lu Ziqing and asked: [Why don’t you try to bring her back and let Ziqing get used to her?]
[It just so happens that we prepared quite a sumptuous meal today.]
If Lu Mingren was determined to be with that woman, he would have to go through Lu Ziqing sooner or later. It would be better to let his son get acquainted with her first, rather than suddenly announcing the matter. Even if they won’t live under the same roof for the rest of their lives, to Lu Ziqing, she would be his stepmother after all.
Lu Mingren hesitated for a long time before making a reply: [Okay.]
Seeing that Lu Ziqing was paying attention to him, Gu Xiyu hurriedly deleted the conversation between him and Lu Mingren to avoid getting discovered by this rebellious boy.
The system’s voice came over unexpectedly, [What are you doing?]
Gu Xiyu became fierce, and immediately lashed out at the system: “…… Why are you so nosy? You don’t know the things you should know, but are very interested in the things that do not matter.”
[As your system, of course I must always be concerned about you.]
Gu Xiyu finally answered its query, [Sending a message to Lu Mingren.]
[He found a woman he wants to spend the rest of his life with, but I heard that the target is particularly against him finding someone new, so he’s struggling with how to introduce her.]
The system took a few seconds before replying, [Maybe Lu Ziqing isn’t that unreasonable, he must have had his reasons for refusing.]
“Maybe he saw something negative in his father’s love objects, or……he still had some hope for Zhou Tianyi’s return.”
The system did not say anything, as if it were silently echoing his speculation.
[The solution to this matter is actually quite simple.]
[As long as Lu Ziqing stops being obsessed with gaining his mother’s approval and affection one day, perhaps he can talk to Lu Mingren about this matter properly.]
Gu Xiyu smiled and said, “Yeah, I’m also thinking about untangling this aspect of his heart.”
The system said, [Didn’t you succeed in reducing his risk value by several points? Then you just need to make him like you a little bit more, and surpass his obsession with Zhou Tianyi, won’t the knot in his heart get untied naturally?]
This proposal was a tempting trap, Gu Xiyu listened but felt that …… it was quite reasonable.
The target in the previous world also said similar things to him.
Lu Mingren returned half an hour later with his new partner. Gu Xiyu originally thought that Lu Ziqing would be surprised or show a very repulsed expression, but to his surprise, he calmly greeted her after Lu Mingren had introduced the other party’s identity.
His attitude was neither cold nor hot, but to Lu Mingren, it was already a big surprise.
Lu Mingren thought Gu Xiyu had given Lu Ziqing a precautionary shot in advance or helped to say something nice, so he gave him a grateful look.
Gu Xiyu didn’t know how to explain, so he kept quiet for the time being.
During the meal, Lu Ziqing didn’t make trouble, but he would ask the woman questions that sounded like small talk, but were in fact questions about her character and perceptions.
Gu Xiyu couldn’t tell what Lu Ziqing was thinking, but as Lu Mingren thoughtfully served food to the one he liked, Lu Ziqing sat next to him and kept calling out, “Brother, can you peel some shrimp for me?”
“Brother, I want to eat fish ……”
“Aunt Zhang said that you cooked the soup today, brother is a great cook.”
Gu Xiyu’s heart trembled, deeply afraid that Lu Mingren would notice something was wrong.
Fortunately, Lu Mingren was really too oblivious, and his mind was only on the person he liked and how Lu Ziqing treated her, so he didn’t notice anything unusual.
After dinner, the family sat in the living room and talked for a while until Lu Mingren was ready to send his girlfriend home, and then Lu Ziqing went upstairs with him.
Gu Xiyu had just pushed the door to his room open when the boy behind him forced his way in and “thoughtfully” locked the door for him.
He was held against the door and could not move his body, so he could only ask helplessly, “What is it?”
Lu Ziqing asked him, “My father obviously likes the woman he brought today. If I remember correctly, you two are still married in name, my dad is clearly cuckolding you, aren’t you angry?”
“Your father and I only have a marriage of convenience.” Gu Xiyu said.
Lu Ziqing seemed quite satisfied with this answer, and the movement of touching his cheek carried an aggression that was hard to ignore.
There was a sudden knock on the door of the room, and Lu Mingren’s voice came from behind him: “Xiyu, are you there?”
Gu Xiyu opened his mouth and was about to respond when Lu Ziqing suddenly lowered his head and forcefully blocked his answer with his mouth.
He was stunned and wanted to push him away, but Lu Ziqing raised his eyes and gave him a look full of warning.
“If you open the door now, my dad will find out what we’re doing.” Lu Ziqing’s voice was a whisper, leaning softly against his ear so that only he could hear it.
The lights in the room hadn’t even been turned on yet, and the touch on his body became clearer in the darkness, as did the scorching heat belonging to another person.
Gu Xiyu’s emotions were complicated, even with indescribable guilt.
Lu Ziqing’s father was right outside the door, and yet the two of them were …… making trouble.
The rebellious youth apparently liked this kind of excitement, and his hand even restlessly picked those sensitive places on Gu Xiyu’s body and touched them, deliberately wanting to see Gu Xiyu’s ascetic heart fail to restrain the conflicting feelings of his body.
“Forget it, he’s probably busy, I’ll take you home first and give him the stuff later.” Lu Mingren called out a few times without getting a response and quickly gave up, his voice going farther in the direction of the stairway.
Lu Ziqing’s movements also became more unscrupulous.
“The final exams are coming up soon.”
Lu Ziqing’s voice, filled with lust, suddenly came over.
“I’ve already thought of the reward I want, little mom. Don’t cheat when the time comes and fail to keep your promise.” There was a seductive smile in his tone.
It was quite similar to Ji Chen’s when he was ready to pit him.