The surprise she gave him today paled in comparison to the shock and intensity of this one. Gu Qili was so excited and emotional that she couldn’t speak. She had thought it would take ten or dozens of years of hard work to get the winery back, but now he told her, this winery was hers.
Holding back the tears in her eyes, her knuckles glided over the piano keys, tuning them simply without a word, and then she started playing the birthday song directly.
Mu Shuoqian was leaning against the piano, a half glass of red wine appearing in his hand at some point. He assumed a lazy but attentive listening posture, seemingly intoxicated in the sound of her playing.
It’s been years since Gu Qili played the piano, and her hands had become quite rusty, but the birthday song was simple and one of the few tunes she could still remember how to play.
She used to have many hobbies, all of which were abandoned due to her capriciousness in her youth.
Noticing her gaze, he put down his wine glass and lightly applauded.
Gu Qili chuckled, "Don’t flatter me, I know my own level."
She stood up and wandered through other rooms. After a round of inspection, she was surprised to find that everything was impeccably maintained, even the mirror in the bathroom she used to like so much had been wiped clean.
She pulled open a drawer on the dressing table, inside were many things she hadn’t taken with her at that time, each placed very neatly, without a speck of dust.
When this villa was sealed up back then, they left in such a hurry that they hardly took anything with them. However, returning after a few years, it was as if locked in a time capsule, hardly changed despite the passing of time and the shifting of the years.
Standing here felt like being in a dream, an unrealistic sense of travelling through time.
A familiar presence approached from behind, and a slender hand landed on her shoulder. She shuddered, as if waking from a dream.
"Mu Shuoqian, thank you." These words of gratitude seemed to have been brewing in her heart for a long time, thank you for marrying me.
Thank you for liking me.
Thank you for helping me fulfill a wish that was nearly impossible.
Mu Shuoqian tightened his grip on her shoulders, his hot palm rubbing against her bare arm.
"When did you buy it?" Gu Qili turned around, her eyes clear as she looked at him.
He hesitated for a moment and did not answer right away. A dream, he dreamt again of that vineyard, Gu Dezhong sitting under the shade of a tree drinking, and she called out to him from afar, "Dad."
Gu Dezhong’s face was full of smiles when he saw her, but as his gaze shifted to Mu Shuoqian standing beside her, he suddenly became agitated, his expression turning fierce as he shouted: "Don’t touch my daughter, don’t touch my daughter."
She anxiously stepped forward to explain, "Dad, we are already married."
It was as if Gu Dezhong couldn’t hear her. He picked up the wine bottle and threw it furiously. As the bottle was about to hit him, she hugged him without hesitation, and the bottle hit her back firmly, the dull pain jolting her awake.
"Daddy." She suddenly opened her eyes, tears uncontrollably falling, one drop landed on the pillow towel and quickly disappeared.
"Did you have a nightmare?" A clear and concerned gaze was fixed on her, and a warm hand cupped her face,
Gu Qili, with the remnants of the dream still haunting her voice, said, "I dreamt of my father."
"Isn’t there a saying, ’daytime thoughts lead to nighttime dreams’? Perhaps seeing this garden made you dream of your father." Mu Shuoqian patted her back, then turned on his side, holding her close with his long arm, "It’s alright now."
Not until that year when he stood outside the grand hall and saw her speaking on stage, her features still youthful, her voice crisp and sweet, saying things he didn’t understand.
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