Chapter 4: Homecoming

Guan Xi had done such half-hearted confessions before. The first time was when her company’s travel project needed promotion on the homepage of his “Excellent Journey” platform.

The second time was when her favorite brand released a super limited edition, and he needed to socialize with the brand, mainly for financial contributions.

The third time was when she got drunk and insisted on painting his nails.

The fourth time was when she fancied a car, but her father thought it was dangerous and didn’t let her buy it. The fifth time was… in short, many times. Whenever she was in a good mood or wanted something, she would sweetly say she loved him.

However, it was just lip service. Today’s practical action was the first time.

But Jiang Suizhou, looking at all these things in front of him, would rather she just acted like usual—being cute one moment, and then happily taking care of herself the next after getting what she wanted.

Because looking at all these things was really giving him a headache.

“Limited edition bag? What’s that? Darling, can’t you be less materialistic?” Guan Xi walked towards him, “Come here, I’ve prepared many gifts for you. Let’s open them.”

Though they were indoors, Guan Xi was dressed in an elaborate little black dress.

Click-clack—her feet in fine high heels made a sound as she walked. Jiang Suizhou’s gaze swept over her back, feeling a bit heated by the sight. So, he relaxed and let her pull him to sit on the sofa.

“Do you know why there are twenty-eight gifts?” Guan Xi asked eagerly.

Jiang Suizhou cooperatively threw out the question, “Why?”

“Because you’re twenty-eight years old this year. Each gift here represents every birthday you’ve had. Unfortunately, I couldn’t be part of your past, so I’m making up for it now.”

Artistic, affectionate, each word filled with a thick sense of non-mainstream style. Guan Xi felt herself being deeply moved by her own actions. Meanwhile, Jiang Suizhou glanced at her casually and picked up the nearest box.

The box read “Twelve Years Old,” representing the birthday gift from when he was twelve.

He thought for a moment and said, “Is your memory not very good? You were there for that birthday.”

Guan Xi’s smile froze, “Really?”

“Yeah, and that year you knocked over my cake.”

“…?”

Jiang Suizhou put it down, then reached for another box labeled “Fifteen Years Old”: “You were there for that birthday too. You gave me a box of fake spiders and insisted they were specimens.”

“…”

Taking another box labeled “Eighteen Years Old,” he continued, “You were there for that birthday as well. You ate and drank your fill before leaving. On your way out, you even scraped my first car after I turned eighteen. Oh, you didn’t compensate for that either.”

“…………”

“During this year—”

“Wait.”

Jiang Suizhou stopped and turned to look at her. Guan Xi’s smile on her face was forced, and through gritted teeth, she said, “You remember my things so vividly.”

Jiang Suizhou smiled lightly, “It’s nothing, just a good memory.”

Guan Xi wanted to roll her eyes at him.

Seeing that she didn’t say anything, Jiang Suizhou lowered his head to unwrap the gift box. While unwrapping, he said, “Guan Xi, if there’s something, just say it.”

Calm, composed, heartless!

Jiang Suizhou was still Jiang Suizhou, unmoved by such sentimentality.

Guan Xi’s smile receded, pretending to be innocent, “What’s the matter? I’m fine.”

The gift box for the twenty-second year was opened. Inside was a pen with a finely engraved ‘J’ on the body. Jiang Suizhou picked it up and looked at it. He didn’t seem very surprised or satisfied; his face only showed one word in capital letters: mediocre.

“What’s there to be happy about?” he asked.

“Yeah, I’m happy that you’re back.”

Jiang Suizhou paused, “You suddenly started missing after just a day.”

“You don’t understand, this is genuine emotion.”

Jiang Suizhou put down the pen in his hand, “Being happy that I’m back is enough; there’s no need for all these messy things.”

“How is this messy? I worked hard for this scene and put in a lot of effort!” Guan Xi said without any guilt, as if the people she invited to help not long ago were all invisible.

Of course, Jiang Suizhou couldn’t believe that the lazy Guan would personally put in effort. But he didn’t expose it; instead, he just let go of her, reached to loosen his tie, and said, “Alright, I’m going to take a shower.”

“You’re not going to unwrap the gifts?”

“Help me unwrap them; I’ll check them out later when I come back.”

Guan Xi: “???”

Jiang Suizhou left.

Guan Xi looked at his back and then at the gift mountain she had arranged for a long time. Her face turned green. Does going on a business trip mean breaking up? And he even asked me to unwrap the gifts?

How can a person be so infuriating!

After staying in the same spot for two minutes, she calmed down a bit, picked up her phone, and called Lang Ningyi.

Lang Ningyi was a bit surprised when she received the call, “What’s going on? Jiang Suizhou hasn’t come back yet?”

“He’s back.”

“Then why do you have time to call me?”

Guan Xi pressed her voice and said, “Speaking of this makes me angry. I spent so much time on this, and he’s not even touched. Worse, he only opened one of the gifts. It’s infuriating.”

Lang Ningyi responded, “Oh… probably because it was too materialistic, it didn’t attract our Mr. Jiang.”

“I even said I loved him!”

“And then what happened?”

Guan Xi, with a cold expression, replied, “Then he asked me if I wanted a bag.”

Lang Ningyi couldn’t help but burst into laughter, then quickly stifled it, feeling it inappropriate. “Well, don’t be discouraged, just keep at it.”

“Who’s discouraged? There’s nothing to be discouraged about. I’m angry!”

Guan Xi might not have many strengths, but she was stubborn and persistent. If she wasn’t going to do something, she wouldn’t bother at all; but if she did, she aimed to do it best. Having set a goal to be a five-star girlfriend, she certainly believed she could achieve it.

And what’s more important, being “angry with Jiang Suizhou” or “the family inheritance”? Obviously, the latter!

Lang Ningyi suggested, “Maybe think about what other hobbies he has. You need to address this directly, make him fall deeply for you, so he’d never think of breaking up with you.”

“Hobbies?” Guan Xi thought hard about what Jiang Suizhou liked to do most when they were together.

After a long while, all she could think of were a bunch of useless things.

“…………”

But, that could be considered a hobby, right?

So, she hung up the phone, extinguished all the candles in the room, and went straight to the master bedroom. Jiang Suizhou was still in the bathroom taking a shower. Guan Xi knew he never locked the door when showering at her place, so she just went in.

The bathroom was filled with steam, and through the foggy shower glass, Guan Xi saw him turn his head. His gaze was blurred by the water-stained glass.

She walked over, slid the glass door open, and stood outside in her high heels.

The shower was still running, and Jiang Suizhou’s gaze shifted slightly upon seeing her.

Guan Xi scanned him up and down, implying deeply, “Have you been lifting weights recently? You seem to have bulked up.”

Tsk, this man might be annoying, but he really did have a great body.

Feeling this inside, Guan Xi then softly asked, “Would it be inconvenient to shower together?”

Jiang Suizhou’s gaze darkened, “Are you looking for trouble today?”

“Why? Is it inconvenient?” Guan Xi withdrew her hand, taking a small step back, “Then I’ll come back later.”

She pretended to turn around, but before she could, Jiang Suizhou grabbed her hand.

Guan Xi secretly smirked in triumph.

The temperature in the bathroom was high, and the steam made it hard to see clearly.

Midway through, she suddenly asked, “…Jiang Suizhou, um… marry me?”

“What?” He stopped immediately.

“Ling Fan said… her married life is not bad.”

“You want kids?”

Guan Xi paused, then immediately shook her head: “I don’t.”

After saying that, she also realized why Jiang Suizhou would ask that.

Guan Xi had previously been very resistant to the idea of marriage because she knew the attitudes of the elders from both families. Before marriage, they would rush them to get married, and once married, surely a bunch of people would start urging them to have children.

So, she had told Jiang Suizhou early on that she absolutely would not marry before she was twenty-eight, because she didn’t want to have a child so soon. She even joked that if she did get married before twenty-eight, it would probably be because she had a sudden bout of madness, wanting a child.

He remembered that, so he thought she wanted children now.

Jiang Suizhou: “Then you…”

“I was just asking, I don’t want kids!” Guan Xi looked nervous.

Jiang Suizhou hooked a finger around her hair, speaking in a business-like tone: “My schedule is full this year, no time. If you have this idea, let’s plan for next year, find some time.”

“…Not sooner? Like, in a few days or something?”

“Do you think getting married is like buying vegetables?”

Oh, she knew he wouldn’t be pleased.

But it makes sense, the scale and schedule of their wedding would require a lot of planning. Someone like Jiang Suizhou, with a meticulously planned schedule, probably hates being thrown off rhythm the most.

Guan Xi thought for a moment: “Then you’re not even hesitating? You’re sure you’ll marry me in the future? You won’t change your mind?”

Jiang Suizhou didn’t have the patience to discuss the future or chat about life at this moment. Being asked this out of the blue, he felt somewhat annoyed.

“Do you really have to talk about this now… Be quiet.”

“It’s just that I was… mm…”

Jiang Suizhou had his ways to keep her quiet.

**

At the end, Guan Xi lay sprawled on the bed, not yet time to sleep, so Jiang Suizhou went to his study to work on his projects.

Guan Xi, curled up in the blankets, sent a message to Lang Ningyi: [Marriage proposal rejected]

Lang Ningyi: [What? He doesn’t want to?]

Guan Xi: [No, he’s willing, but only next year, he’s too busy this year]

Lang Ningyi: [Next year is fine too… as long as there are no changes]

Guan Xi felt inexplicably uneasy, but on further thought, there seemed to be no reason for it. Just as she was about to reply to Lang Ningyi, a message came through on her phone, a voice message from her father, Guan Xinghao.

“Xi Xi, come home tomorrow. Ying Ying came to the house early, dad thinks it’s better for you two to meet sooner.”

Ying Ying? Who’s that?

Guan Xi put down her phone, staring blankly at the ceiling. A few seconds later, her eyes flickered as she remembered.

Oh… it seems to be that girl’s name.

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