Chapter 3
The room Gu Yanqiu had been assigned was small, and the sofa wasn’t big enough for two people to sit comfortably. Lin Yuewei didn’t want her coming into her room, so the two of them went back down to the first-floor living room.
“Three rules?”
“Yes.” Lin Yuewei had thought it through and felt some things were better said up front; otherwise, they’d only lead to unnecessary misunderstandings.
“Go on,” Gu Yanqiu said.
“First, you know very well how the two of us ended up in this house at the same time. I won’t be staying here long-term. If I leave early and come back late, you can’t ask where I’ve been. I hate trouble; likewise, I won’t disturb you.”
Gu Yanqiu pressed her lips together.
Lin Yuewei immediately went on alert. “What? You don’t agree?” She’d just been staring blankly at her a moment ago; could it be that she’d taken a fancy to her looks?
“You’ve misunderstood, Miss Lin. I simply think…” Gu Yanqiu paused, then said, “This request is too simple. If you have other conditions, you may as well count this as an extra clause and avoid wasting one of the three rules.”
Lin Yuewei: “……”
She said, “I’m talking; you just listen. You can think it over afterward and decide whether to agree. You don’t need to think for me.”
Gu Yanqiu had been rebuffed with kindness for nothing, but she didn’t mind. She gave a soft laugh and made a gesture that she was still listening attentively.
Seeing how calm she was, Lin Yuewei couldn’t help growing a little curious.
According to her mother, Gu Yanqiu had recently lost her mother and been ostracized by her family; she ought to be bitter and resentful. Even if that weren’t true, she certainly shouldn’t look like this, as though nothing had happened.
Someone like that was either heartless or extremely restrained, able to endure what ordinary people could not.
Either way, Lin Yuewei didn’t think she should get too close to her.
“Miss Lin?” Gu Yanqiu asked, the corners of her mouth faintly curved.
“Yes, I’m continuing.”
The faint aloofness hidden in Lin Yuewei’s tone had been caught by Gu Yanqiu. Her brow twitched almost imperceptibly, then smoothed out again as her thumb gently rubbed the Buddhist beads in her palm.
“Second, I have no intention of dating. Let me make this clear first: I’m not being narcissistic. I’m only saying this to prevent problems before they happen. In our future interactions, please remember this at all times and don’t fall for me. Likewise, I won’t have designs on you either.”
“If someday you have someone you love, I won’t interfere. Our engagement can be dissolved at any time,” Gu Yanqiu said.
Lin Yuewei was stunned for a moment.
The more she listened, the less she understood why Gu Yanqiu had married her in the first place. Hadn’t they agreed that once she reclaimed her family property, they’d end the arrangement? Of course, that agreement had an expiration date of five years. If Gu Yanqiu still couldn’t achieve her goal after five years, their relationship would end.
Meeting her puzzled gaze, Gu Yanqiu took the initiative to answer the question for her. “Miss Lin helping me gain a foothold in the Gu family is already a great kindness. I have nothing to repay it with.”
Lin Yuewei understood.
What she meant was: you’ve done me this huge favor; that’s enough. I’ll handle everything after that myself.
She was being so generous that Lin Yuewei felt a little embarrassed. “Don’t worry. I always keep my word.” Even if the red thread of fate were to accidentally tangle around her, she would still uphold the agreement and carry it through until the day the contract ended.
“Then thank you, Miss Lin.” Gu Yanqiu asked, “And the third?”
Lin Yuewei’s expression sharpened.
“The third is…”
It was the most important one.
Lin Yuewei looked at her seriously and said firmly, “I won’t appear with you in any public setting as husband and wife, whether it’s a commercial event or a private banquet.”
“Why is that?”
“I have my own things to do, and my identity needs to stay secret.”
Gu Yanqiu thought of the heavy makeup she’d worn during the day. She didn’t know the reason, but that was probably for her own affairs too. After thinking it over, Gu Yanqiu said, “Does going back to the Gu family to have a meal with me count as part of that?”
She needed the Lin family’s support; there was no way she could refuse to bring her new wife home.
“How many people are there in your house?”
“My father, and two others.”
Lin Yuewei didn’t miss the fact that when she mentioned her stepmother and that cheap brother, Gu Feiquan, she used no titles at all. In her mind, the second possibility leaned even more strongly into place: the person in front of her was a beast that had hidden away its fangs, wearing a pure and harmless face while waiting for a chance to strike.
“It doesn’t count,” Lin Yuewei said calmly. “But I might be very busy, so you’d better tell me in advance.”
“Of course.”
“You agree to all three points?” Lin Yuewei asked, though in truth she already had no more doubts.
“I agree.”
Lin Yuewei raised her hand, and Gu Yanqiu lifted an eyebrow.
“Pinky swear,” Lin Yuewei replied.
Gu Yanqiu met her halfway in the air. Their palms touched; the skin was warm and soft. Her right ring finger could not help trembling slightly, tugging at her heartstrings, and then she lowered her lashes.
Lin Yuewei stood up and gave a slight bow. “Then I’ll go back to my room?”
“Good night, Miss Lin.”
“Good night.”
Lin Yuewei turned around. Gu Yanqiu’s eyes followed after her back, while her hand slowly rolled the Buddhist beads.
Lin Yuewei felt the unusually obvious gaze on her back and instinctively frowned. Just as she was about to turn around, Gu Yanqiu’s polite, gentle voice sounded faintly behind her.
“Miss Lin, I’ve just remembered something.”
“What is it?”
“We haven’t gotten our marriage certificate yet, and we haven’t taken wedding photos either.” Gu Yanqiu also stood, and from three meters away she quietly looked at Lin Yuewei, who had turned back around.
The light overhead cast lovely shadows along their profiles; for a moment, neither of them spoke.
Lin Yuewei somehow read a trace of mischievous amusement from those ink-dark eyes as still as a dead well, and said irritably, “What are you laughing at?”
Gu Yanqiu was wronged to death.
“I didn’t laugh.”
She really hadn’t smiled on her face, but she had laughed in her heart. She was always adept at hiding her true emotions; that Lin Yuewei could see through what she was thinking surprised her a little as well.
Lin Yuewei quickly reined in her annoyance and said in an equally cool voice, “The day after tomorrow, then. I’ll make an appointment with the photographer.”
Gu Yanqiu nodded.
This time, Lin Yuewei no longer put on airs. She hurried upstairs and back to her room. Gu Yanqiu’s gaze followed her all the way until she disappeared around the corner of the second-floor hallway. Standing where she was, Gu Yanqiu fell into a daze for a moment; the exquisite smile that seemed as though it had been painted on her face gradually faded.
She climbed the stairs slowly, her steps heavy; a nearly inaudible sigh drifted apart in the air.
***
They had agreed on the three rules, and the other side had answered so readily; by rights, all the knots should have been untied by now. And yet Lin Yuewei still couldn’t sleep. Every time she closed her eyes, Gu Yanqiu’s face appeared before her.
The curve of that smile; every expression seemed carefully designed. Beautiful, yes, but full of the marks of human artifice.
Wasn’t it exhausting to live like that?
Lin Yuewei abruptly opened her eyes and scolded herself: what did it have to do with you whether she lived tiredly or not? Mind your own business.
She forced herself to sleep and turned her thoughts back to the important matter at hand.
For the past few months, she had been secretly attending auditions behind her parents’ backs, passing one round after another. Now she was only waiting for the final notice. If she really made it, how was she supposed to persuade her parents to let her take a path completely different from the one they had arranged for her?
On one side was the unknown, full of danger and uncertainty, with no telling whether it would end in success or failure; on the other side was the company heir with a bright future. Any normal person would know to choose the safer, more profitable path. But Lin Yuewei refused to.
She pulled the blanket up under her chin and covered her eyes; before long, she fell asleep soundly.
She slept in late, and by the time she got up, the sun was already high overhead. Rubbing her eyes, Lin Yuewei shuffled downstairs in her slippers, calling out for the household aunt. No one answered. Only after looking around the furnishings did she realize she wasn’t at home, but in the bridal suite.
Pressing at her temple, Lin Yuewei descended the last few steps, and out of the corner of her eye caught a different color.
She peeled a sticky note off the stair railing. Bright yellow, very eye-catching. Rubbing her eyes, Lin Yuewei made out the neat, forceful fountain-pen handwriting belonging to a woman:
“Red bean and barley porridge was made in the kitchen. If you don’t mind, feel free to try some.”
What a coincidence; red bean and barley porridge was Lin Yuewei’s favorite.
Her lips curved. She yawned and didn’t go to the kitchen first; instead, she went looking for the fridge.
Her elegant brows rose sharply. Her hand on the refrigerator door paused, and she carefully read the sticky note on the fridge, written in the same hand:
“Drinking ice water first thing in the morning isn’t good. I suggest switching to milk. If you insist on drinking ice water, then drink less.”
Lin Yuewei’s temper flared at once. How did she know she liked drinking ice water when she woke up? It had to be her mother, that big-mouthed woman, who had handed over all of her personal preferences and dietary habits in a neat bundle.
And that Gu Yanqiu—who did she think she was? Who gave her permission to meddle in her business? A dog meddling in a cat’s affairs.
Lin Yuewei stared at the little rabbit at the end of the note for a long time, then let out a snort. Big deal, so she could draw a rabbit? She tore off the sticky note, crumpled it into a ball, and threw it into the trash can, then opened the fridge and took out a bottle of ice water, gulping down half of it in one go.
She strode toward the kitchen. When she passed the trash can, she glanced inside.
Lin Yuewei: “……”
In any case, no one was home. Lin Yuewei stopped for two seconds, fished the sticky note back out of the trash, and studied the “little rabbit” very seriously. The rabbit was drawn unlike any style she’d seen before; its ears were especially big, but it was vivid, funny, and somehow friendly.
Ten seconds later, she tore the sticky note into pieces and scattered the scraps into the trash.
The porridge in the kitchen was still warm. She served herself a bowl and, following the reminder on the sticky note, found the side dishes that went with it in the proper place; every single one was something she liked. She suspected Gu Yanqiu was some sort of sticky-note fanatic, sticking them everywhere she went.
Her gaze swept over the large house. Where had Gu Yanqiu gone? According to the first rule of their three rules, she wasn’t allowed to ask about the other’s whereabouts, so Lin Yuewei dispelled the question that had suddenly surfaced.
A faint sound of a door lock reached her ears; Lin Yuewei looked toward the entrance in alertness.
“Good morning, Miss Lin.”
Gu Yanqiu stood in the entryway with a bag of groceries, wearing a white belted lightweight coat over black trousers that wrapped around her long legs. The door was still open, and the light from outside followed her all the way in, warm as if she were glowing.
Lin Yuewei, who had thought she’d gone out to work, froze for a moment before answering, “Good morning.”
Her throat moved; she swallowed once before adding in a daze, “…Miss Gu.”
“Is the breakfast to your taste?” Gu Yanqiu asked.
First she had catered to Lin Yuewei’s preferences, and now she spoke in such a gentle voice. No one flatters without a reason; if there’s no theft, there’s fraud. Did she like her?
The thought flashed through Lin Yuewei’s mind. She looked at her nose, her nose at her heart, and pretended not to hear.
When she didn’t answer, Gu Yanqiu actually didn’t ask again. She bent down to change her shoes, then walked past her from behind with the bag of groceries in hand.