Gu Qingheng looked up, "That hurts..." Then he felt a bit improper, as that didn’t sound like his usual manner of speaking at all. He hurriedly lowered his head.
Yang Ruxin paused for a second, then suddenly burst into laughter, "Gu Qingheng, are you jealous?"
"No." Gu Qingheng denied it halfheartedly, though by then, he had already recognized his true feelings—he was jealous.
"Really not?" Yang Ruxin raised an eyebrow and pressed on, "But your ears are all red..."
Gu Qingheng immediately brought his hand to his ear, which was indeed quite hot.
"You’re actually jealous of a twelve-year-old kid, Gu Qingheng. You’ve really achieved something impressive..." Yang Ruxin was in a great mood.
"He’s only two years younger than you," Gu Qingheng still felt somewhat awkward.
"I’m not a pedophile," Yang Ruxin chuckled, then leaned closer to Gu Qingheng’s ear, "I like men who are older than me..."
"Xinxin..." Gu Qingheng turned abruptly, "If I get better one day, will you marry me?"
"No," Yang Ruxin stood up straight.
"Why not?"
"What if you never recover? Am I supposed to never get married?" Yang Ruxin frowned, "Wouldn’t that be too selfish?"
"I..."
"I’ll give you one year." Yang Ruxin didn’t let him finish and assertively made a decision, "We can talk about this in a year."
"But what if within this year you... you fall in love with someone else?" Gu Qingheng felt particularly uneasy.
"Well, that’s on you, isn’t it? If you’re afraid I’ll fall in love with someone else, then keep an eye on me," Yang Ruxin pinched Gu Qingheng’s cheek, "Make sure I don’t have the chance to fall for someone else... Your cheek feels so good."
"Okay," Gu Qingheng reached out to hold Yang Ruxin’s hand that was teasing his face, "I won’t give you the chance to fall in love with someone else."
"We’ll see," Yang Ruxin nodded, then suddenly exclaimed, "Oh my fish soup..." She quickly withdrew her hand and went to add more soup to the fish stewing in the clay pot.
Gu Qingheng laughed, but inside he felt a tad gloomy. Weren’t women supposed to be shy and coy in relationships? But why did it feel like the situation with this girl was the exact opposite? She seemed not to know what shyness was, while his own heart raced at the slightest thing. At least he had managed to confess, and she had accepted, hadn’t she?
Actually, Yang Ruxin was also feeling gloomy. Was her heart too bold? She had never been in a relationship in her previous life and truly lacked experience, but she had read novels and watched TV dramas. Weren’t women supposed to behave shyly? Why did it feel like her interactions with Gu Qingheng were less like a romance and more like they were performing a comedy or skit? It felt almost like a negotiation.
Having too bold a heart is a problem too—one that needs to be fixed!
"By the way, Gu Qingheng, was it you who spoke to the County Magistrate on my behalf?" She had been searching for that feeling of shyness, but suddenly remembered the remark the County Magistrate had made earlier.
"You found out?" Gu Qingheng smiled.
"But, that County Magistrate told me what a ’Light’ meant," Yang Ruxin frowned, "Could it be..." An idea flashed through her mind like lightning.
Gu Qingheng nodded affirmatively: "Qi Yong’s ’Light’."
"That ’Qi Yong’ isn’t a real name, is it?" Yang Ruxin understood, and this time she had even asked Uncle Han and learned that ’Qi’ was a royal surname.