Qiao Yuxian widened her eyes, staring blankly at Gu Yanjing.
Gu Yanjing’s expression remained calm and indifferent, with a touch of detachment, holding steady even in an eight-level gale.
Seeing her continually looking at him, he lowered his gaze to meet hers.
Aunt Mei wiped her hands with a tissue, glanced at the two of them, then returned to the kitchen, carefree and content, hiding her achievements and reputation.
The living room was silent, and after a few seconds of eye contact, Qiao Yuxian looked away first. She squatted down, shifted closer to Gu Yanjing, until she was next to his leg, and directly sat down by his leg.
Gu Yanjing’s gaze followed her movements: "Cold."
"There’s a carpet; it’s not cold." Qiao Yuxian moved closer to him again, smiling as she looked at him, "Gu Yanjing."
Gu Yanjing lowered his gaze to look at her.
Qiao Yuxian also looked up at him, and after a while, she rested her head on his knee, cushioning her hand between his knee and her face.
Gu Yanjing’s eyelashes trembled slightly, and the hand resting on his leg also moved a bit.
Qiao Yuxian faced outwards. Seeing he didn’t push her away, she closed her eyes and said, "Thank you. I slept so well last night. So, so well."
Her voice was small and had a slight nasal sound, like a cute, soft little animal expressing goodwill in its own way.
Gu Yanjing looked at her fair little face, and after a few seconds, raised his hand to stroke her head.
Qiao Yuxian’s eyelashes fluttered at feeling the warmth of his hand; her ears grew warm, but she didn’t move.
Gu Yanjing gave her head a gentle rub, then released his hand, letting her rest against him.
"What about you?" After a while, Qiao Yuxian asked softly, "Did you stay up all night? Can you skip work and rest at home for a day?"
"Half a day is fine too." Qiao Yuxian said, "The company is there; it won’t disappear."
"Not tired," Gu Yanjing replied.
"You already drank coffee," Qiao Yuxian pointed out again.
"Habit," Gu Yanjing added two more words.
Qiao Yuxian: "......"
Gu Yanjing watched as she opened her eyes and smiled again. He could sense the subtle implication in her smile.
Sure enough, the next second he heard her say with a bit of regret, "Ah—what a pity. I slept so soundly last night, I didn’t even notice such a handsome guy beside me."
"Alone all night, with such a handsome man next to me," Qiao Yuxian’s tone became even more regretful, "and I slept so peacefully, without taking advantage of the situation."
Expressionless, Gu Yanjing grabbed the back of her collar, lifting her head off his leg.
"Hey," Qiao Yuxian yelped softly, sat up straight, adjusted her collar, and pouted, "What was that for?"
Gu Yanjing glanced at her but didn’t respond.
Seeing his cold demeanor, Qiao Yuxian couldn’t help teasing him, propping her elbow on the sofa, her chin resting on her hand, she raised her eyebrows and said, "Mr. Gu, really, we’re married, you’re still so distant. You could just lay down next to me..."
As she spoke, she suddenly met Gu Yanjing’s gaze.
In a swoosh, like an icy needle, it pierced straight into her heart, freezing her.
Qiao Yuxian instantly clammed up, falling silent.
Seeing she behaved, Gu Yanjing withdrew his gaze.
But as soon as he looked away, Qiao Yuxian quickly, and loudly, shouted at him, "Lying next to me is legal too!"
With that, she jumped up and ran towards the dining room.
When she reached the dining room door, she turned back and cheekily stuck her tongue out at Gu Yanjing before heading into the dining room.
Looking at her disappearing figure, a while later Gu Yanjing sighed, lightly shaking his head, but a hint of a smile crept into his cold and sharp eyes.
After breakfast, Gu Yanjing once again arranged for Shang Chen to take her to Jing University.
At Jing University, Qiao Yuxian got out of the car and said to Gu Yanjing, "Don’t overwork yourself."
Gu Yanjing handed her a cup filled with tea: "It’s good for the throat."
"Thank you." Qiao Yuxian accepted it, initially thinking it was his own cup; she didn’t expect it was for her, "Don’t work too hard, remember to rest."
Gu Yanjing looked at her, paused, and said, "If you feel unwell, have Shang Chen pick you up."
"Okay." Qiao Yuxian smiled and promised, "I’m off."
Qiao Yuxian happily entered the school, and as she approached the teaching building, she ran into Jiang Shouzhuo.
The injuries on Jiang Shouzhuo’s face had mostly healed, with only a slight bruise remaining. His wrist was bandaged, but otherwise, he seemed fine.
After getting hurt, he hadn’t been to school for a week.
Today, having just arrived, he ran into Qiao Yuxian.
The two locked eyes from a distance, and Qiao Yuxian rolled her eyes at him before walking happily into the teaching building.
Jiang Shouzhuo stood there, his mouth twisted in anger.
Any intention of attending class vanished; he turned and walked back off campus.
Once outside, he got into his car and pulled out his phone to make a call: "Haven’t you found it yet?!"
"Useless! Give him more money," Jiang Shouzhuo said irritably, "He’s a hacker and can’t even find the school’s surveillance footage."
The other party paused and advised, "Young Master, no matter how much money you give, he can’t find it. His skills aren’t as good as theirs."
When Jiang Shouzhuo was beaten that day, upon returning, he contacted a hacker to investigate the surveillance footage of the Foreign Language Institute’s hallway.
He wanted to use the footage to blackmail Qiao Yuxian.
But nothing could be found.
The footage had been replaced. A whole week had passed, and there was still no trace.
"Contact the Hacker Alliance," Jiang Shouzhuo said sinisterly, "No matter the cost, as long as they take the job."
"Young Master, this..."
"Stop with the excuses, do what I say!" Jiang Shouzhuo shouted.
"Yes," replied the other.
"Also, did you arrange a meeting with Qiao Yu?" Jiang Shouzhuo asked.
"Tomorrow morning at nine," the other party replied, "At the Qiao Group."
"Got it, I’ll go personally," Jiang Shouzhuo said.
Hanging up, Jiang Shouzhuo tossed his phone onto the passenger seat, cursing, "A lousy Qiao Family, making an appointment takes a week, what the hell."
He cursed again and slammed the steering wheel, "Qiao Yuxian, just wait, you’ll beg me crying one day."
At five-thirty in the afternoon, after Qiao Yuxian’s class ended, she packed up her things and left the classroom.
As soon as she stepped out, she saw Qiao Lech waiting outside.
Since Qiao Yu’s birthday, she hadn’t seen Qiao Lech.
Qiao Lech had waited outside the classroom early; seeing her come out, she smiled immediately: "Sis."
Qiao Yuxian walked up to her: "Is there something you need?"
To be honest, Qiao Lech was also very pretty, and the two of them looked somewhat alike in some way. Sometimes there was a sudden resemblance, but upon closer inspection, Qiao Lech looked more like Chen Hui.
Meanwhile, Qiao Yuxian resembled Qiao Yu more, or rather, she looked more like her grandmother when she was young.
Qiao Lech clenched her fingers a bit, somewhat nervous, and said, "My mom wants to see you."
Qiao Yuxian looked a bit puzzled.
"She’s outside the school," Qiao Lech added quickly, "If it’s inconvenient, I’ll have her leave first, it’s not a problem."
"It’s not inconvenient, let’s go," Qiao Yuxian said.
Qiao Lech’s smile relaxed a bit: "Okay."