"Madam! Young Master is back!" Before they reached the door, they could hear a servant calling out to the house from afar.
Gu Qimiao followed a meter behind Shen Yanchen, her eyes fixed on the mansion’s door. An elderly lady with silver hair and a face full of wrinkles walked out, looking around seventy or eighty years old, but still relatively robust.
"Yanchen!" The elderly lady waved joyfully at Shen Yanchen. Shen Yanchen walked up, reaching out to support her, then turned to glance at Gu Qimiao, who was lagging behind.
Following his gaze, the elderly lady’s eyes also trailed over, examining Gu Qimiao with a probing look.
Gu Qimiao awkwardly smiled, quickening her pace to greet politely, "...Hello, Grandma."
The elderly lady was taken aback. Shen Yanchen, hearing her spontaneous greeting, had a faint smile on his face.
"Yanchen, who is this..."
Shen Yanchen didn’t answer but guided her inside, "Weren’t you saying you were sick? The wind outside is strong, let’s go in first."
His tall figure was supporting the petite elderly lady, while still glancing back to see if Gu Qimiao had followed them in.
"Yanchen, Grandma specially asked someone to make a lot of delicious food for you." The elderly lady happily held onto Shen Yanchen, then turned to instruct the servant to start serving the dishes.
Shen Yanchen turned to look at the restrained Gu Qimiao, paused his steps, and watched her.
Seeing him waiting for her, she quickened her pace to walk over. His hand naturally rested on her back, gently guiding her, managing to neither embarrass her nor act overly affectionate. With gentlemanly moderation, it nevertheless made her face quietly flush...
Entering the inner hall, the heating was very warm. Shen Yanchen took off his windbreaker coat and hung it on the rack at the entrance.
Gu Qimiao had more "gear" and was slow in her movements. By the time he had finished removing his coat, she had just taken off her gloves.
Her hands were somewhat frozen and wrapped in a small gauze. While she was dealing with the zipper of her padded jacket, the inner lining got caught...
Struggling with the zipper, a slender hand reached over, moved her hand aside, and rested on the silver zipper head at her chest, slightly sliding up and down before smoothly unzipping it...
Gu Qimiao looked up at his handsome face. His actions seemed so natural, leaving only her feeling awkward...
"Yanchen! What are you doing? Come over, Grandma wants to introduce someone to you."
Gu Qimiao hurriedly stepped back, whispering, "I’ll manage..."
He didn’t leave; instead, he grasped her sleeves and helped her take off her padded jacket, hanging it on the rack. Then he removed her hat, casually smoothing her hair, making Gu Qimiao’s face turn beet red, feeling as if the room’s heating was too high, making her entire body feel like it was burning.
Taking off her scarf, she followed him inside, only to notice that everyone’s eyes in the inner hall were on them, making her body temperature rise several degrees again and feeling utterly uncomfortable. As he walked beside her, he leaned down and asked, "Are you cold?"
Gu Qimiao quickly shook her head.
Reaching the dining table in the inner hall, he pulled out a chair, gesturing for her to sit, then took the seat next to her.
Only then did Gu Qimiao notice a young, graceful woman seated beside the elderly lady.
With light makeup and wearing what looked like very expensive attire, the diamond on her neck was undoubtedly valuable. She exuded the aura of a pampered daughter from a wealthy family.
The woman glanced at Gu Qimiao, a momentary flash of disdain in her eyes, then quickly shifted to a gentle smile as she looked at Shen Yanchen beside Gu Qimiao...