Well, at least if classmates saw her getting into a Buick, it wouldn't cause too much speculation.
He was always so thoughtful about her.
The car sped along.
Little Lian Xia was nervous: "You're really taking me to your place? Not dropping me at the dorm?"
"Yep."
Gu Xichen glanced at her: "As far as I'm concerned, we're already married. Are you really going to leave me all alone again?"
"You're the one running wild out there, not caring about how lonely I get at home."
That shut her up.
Gu Xichen drove her home. The first thing he did was dig out his notebook and show her the old photo tucked inside.
"Recognize this person?"
"Huh?"
When she realized the grim-faced, red-cheeked little girl in the photo was herself, Lian Xia flushed crimson and reached for it: "Give it back!"
"Nope, not giving it back!"
Gu Xichen was tall with long arms. She jumped and still couldn't reach—instead, she fell straight into his embrace. He scooped her up and tumbled backward with her onto the sofa.
Their eyes met, and both welled up with tears at the same time.
"Thank you for coming back."
There was no corner in the world warmer than a lover's arms. Curled in his mint-scented embrace, Lian Xia inhaled deeply: "You smell so good."
Gu Xchen imitated her, nuzzling the top of her head: "So do you."
Though this was their first meeting in reality, their scents were familiar and deep. The two of them sniffed at each other, trying to memorize each other's unique pheromones.
They were adults, yet at this moment they were like two silly kids, complimenting each other's body odor.
They murmured quietly for a long time. Lian Xia nuzzled into his chest, her eyes half-lidded.
"I'm sleepy. Are you?"
"I'm not. I'll watch you sleep."
"Then I'm going to sleep?"
"Sleep. Daddy's right here."
That familiar teasing line, delivered in the same familiar tone.
She gave a drowsy, blurry smile, closed her eyes, and was out like a light.
Gu Xichen did watch her for a long time, until he drowsed off himself...
The next morning, both of them let out groans of agony—they hadn't changed position all night.
"Don't move!"
"Aaaah, my arm!"
"...You have to drive me to school."
Lian Xia awkwardly climbed off him, standing stiffly to the side, her face burning.
Her shirt-dress was bunched up from sleep, and her medium-length hair was a mess. She looked thoroughly rumpled, yet Gu Xichen found her unbearably cute.
Like a slice of cream cake—soft and sweet.
"Okay."
When they were ready to leave, he suddenly felt something was off...
He looked at her outfit again—it looked like she'd been through a battle. She might as well have had "didn't come home last night" tattooed on her forehead.
"My mom's about your size. Just wear this."
His mother occasionally stayed over, so he rummaged through the closet and found a lotus-pink dress, practically forcing her to change into it.
In class, Lian Xia arrived late, wearing her new outfit and carrying her bag.
The girls stared—at her dress, at her bag—in unison, their eyes went wide.
Wasn't that a limited-edition Hermès? Made from three small crocodiles?!
In fact, she hadn't come home the previous night, and the dorm had already erupted.
Ava felt like she'd misjudged the situation. They'd only met once, and this girl had already spent the night out.
Was her pedigreed white-rich-beauty status no match for a small-town social climber?
The crisis was real.
She needn't have worried—Lian Xia couldn't even recognize designer brands.
Gu Xichen had just seen her carrying a ratty cloth tote bag and casually handed over one of his mother's bags—anything was better than that scruffy thing.
Whatever that Chanel or Hermès was, Lian Xia neither knew nor cared. She knew her scholarship categories better than anyone, and she'd recently found a platform to write columns, counting down the days until her next payment.
She'd completely forgotten that her boyfriend was a trending-topic king—a CEO who could live off traffic alone for the rest of his life.
Chapter 56
That evening, unable to withstand Gu Xichen's Weibo bombardment, she went home with him again.
When he walked in, he surveyed the living room as if seeing it for the first time, talking to himself: "So we'll live here from now on. Is the house too small?"
"Once we have kids, it'll be even more cramped."
"Where are these kids coming from..."
Halfway through, she realized she'd walked into a trap and shot him an accusatory glare: "In your dreams."
"I am dreaming, and if you cooperate, the dream could come true by the end of the year."
Standing arm in arm at the window, gazing out at the stream of traffic below, Gu Xichen couldn't help but shake his head: "We still need to upgrade—something bigger, more convenient, preferably in a good school district. Good for the kids' education and a solid investment."
Businessman through and through—always thinking ahead.
"No, this place is already nice."
What she loved most was throwing open the casement windows and gazing at the wall of lush green ivy on the small building across the way, with the neon glow of the distant high-rises beyond. There was something serene about it—a quiet oasis amid the bustle.
Before she could lose herself in the view, her editor sent a nudge about her deadline.
Compared to their sweet romance, Lian Xia seemed more focused on achieving her own goals.
Gu Xichen watched her hammering away at the keyboard, wanting to distract her. The words reached his lips, then he swallowed them.
After a moment's consideration, he wandered off, looking slightly restless.
After his shower that night, he came to her side, fresh and clean.
"Director Lian, keep writing. When you make it big, I'll do the laundry, cook, and take care of the kids. You'll be the breadwinner."
His earnest delivery made her laugh.
"Okay."
Drop out and what, become a kept woman? "I'll support you"—would Gu Xichen ever say something like that? Of course not.
Before he gave Lian Xia love, he knew what she needed even more was equality and respect.
A person supporting herself, finding her own place and value in society—that had nothing to do with gender and everything to do with living with purpose.
Everyone had their own aspirations, not always tied to money. The logic was simple—as long as she liked it, he liked that she liked it.
After finishing her day's quota, she turned around to find him holding a book, already fast asleep slumped against the side of the bed. Lian Xia slipped under the covers and yawned against his shoulder.
In her heart, Gu Xichen was already her husband. They'd gotten their certificate, recognized by national law—there was nothing improper about any of this.
Sleeping together, waking up together—that was simply what married couples did.
They woke once in the night, saw it was still early, embraced each other groggily, and fell back asleep.
When they woke again it was almost noon. Gu Xchen got up and went straight to the kitchen.
Their couple routine was more placid than an old married pair.
After washing up, Lian Xia settled by the scenic window to work, but the doorbell rang insistently downstairs. A moment later, Gu Xichen's phone buzzed.
The message was four cool characters.
"Come let me in."
The woman at the door wore a silk scarf paired with a qipao—elegant, though the deep nasolabial folds made her look somewhat stern.
Seeing the young girl in the simple white T-shirt and pants, she frowned: "Who are you?"
"Ah?"
Seeing Lian Xia's confusion, the middle-aged woman seemed to have caught a whiff of something and waved her hand in distaste: "Which cleaning company are you from? If you're here to clean, you should be in uniform!"