After Gu Qingjiu finished packing, Gu Qian asked her, “Qingjiu, are you going to look for your older brother?”
Gu Qingjiu did mention this a few days earlier.
“Mm, yeah. What’s the matter?”
“No, I’m just asking in passing.”
Qi Xiaoran, who had been quietly packing up by the side, then said to Gu Qingjiu, “If you’re going to look for your older brother, let’s go together.”
Gu Qingjiu froze for a moment, then smiled and nodded. “Sure.”
Qi Xiaoran’s older brother stayed in the same place as Gu Qingmo. Hence, it would be suitable for them to head there together.
Chu Lian and Gu Qian were rushing to take the train and catch that night’s plane. Although they didn’t stay in the same city, their planes took off at around the same time. They waved Gu Qingjiu and Qi Xiaoran goodbye, then left with their luggage.
Gu Qingjiu and Qi Xiaoran left the school with their luggage shortly after.
They had changed into casual clothes. When Gu Qingjiu and Qi Xiaoran were taking the train, she asked her a question she had wanted to ask for a long time, “Xiaoran, you’re from Dayi City, right?”
Since Qi Xiaoran came from the Dayi City military zone, she should be from there.
“Not really.”
To her surprise, Qi Xiaoran shook her head. “When I was young, I lived in another city with my older brother. It was only in my teens that we moved to Dayi City.”
“Oh…”
Gu Qingjiu nodded her head in enlightenment. In that case, she could be considered half a Dayi City citizen.
“Are you going back to Dayi City with your older brother?” Qi Xiaoran suddenly took the initiative to ask Gu Qingjiu.
Gu Qingjiu nodded. “Yeah, I promised my parents I would go back. It’s been a few months since I last saw them.”
“That’s nice. My older brother is formally starting work at a law firm during the summer break, so he can’t go back. I’m not planning to go back either, so I’m going to stay in the capital with him.”
For some reason, Gu Qingjiu felt that this sounded a tad weird. But she couldn’t quite put a finger on how so.
She merely asked subconsciously, “Don’t your parents want you two to go back?”
Qi Xiaoran’s expression turned several notches colder momentarily. “My parents passed away long ago.”
“Ah, sorry, I didn’t know…”
“Never mind.”
Gu Qingjiu hadn’t expected that Qi Xiaoran and her older brother had such a parentage. She couldn’t quite describe her feelings at that moment.
Could Qi Xiaoran’s personality be a result of her family?
Due to this incident, Gu Qingjiu tried to avoid speaking about these topics with Qi Xiaoran, lest she accidentally brought up something upsetting.
After an hour’s train journey, they arrived at the capital. But they had to take another bus to Yannan, which would be quite a long journey still.
On the way, Gu Qingmo called Gu Qingjiu and said in a meaningful tone, “Miss Gu, do you want me to find you a place to stay, or are you going to ask your boyfriend to help you find a place to stay?”
He knew Gu Qingjiu was going to go over and have fun for a few days.
Gu Qingjiu was embarrassed to say to her older brother that she would ask her boyfriend to help her find a place to stay. After all, the Chief Instructor might not even know her examinations had ended. After a moment’s hesitation, she said, “Why don’t you find me a hotel first? Just somewhere near your school.”
“Then what if you don’t need it when the time comes? You’ll be wasting my money!”
Gu Qingjiu was speechless. “Am I not worth that bit of money in your heart?”
“Of course you are. But if later on, you tell me you’re not going to stay anymore, I’ll strangle you to death. That’s it, bye.”
After Gu Qingmo hung up the phone, the Chief Instructor’s text message immediately came in.
‘I’m busy with some matters tonight, so I’ll be coming back later. Go to the place where you stayed with me last time and stay there these few days first.’
Gu Qingjiu was speechless.