“Gu Ning, it’s really you!” Jiang Yu was shocked and delighted as she saw Gu Ning: “What happened to your face?!”After saying this, her eyes quickly swept around the faces of the people at the table. Her eyes lingered a little longer on Ji JiuZe’s face. Even among the men at the table, Ji JiuZe stood out from the rest, both in terms of his cool appearance and his temperament, which made Jiang Yu take a double look at him.
“You guys eat first, I’ll head out for a bit.” Gu Ning nodded to the people at her table and informed them before getting up and told Jiang Yu and Lu JiaZi: “Let’s talk outside.”
When Gu Ning led Jiang Yu and Lu JiaZi out of the hall, the expressions of those who remained at the table were a little subtle. Although Gu Ning had just controlled her expression, that instant coldness was very obvious.
Gu Ning, Jiang Yu, and Lu JiaZi made their way out to the lobby after exiting the hall.
Jiang Yu feigned with some anger: “Gu Ning, what’s wrong with you, you didn’t even contact me when you returned.”
Lu JiaZi was more concerned about the injury on Gu Ning’s face as he frowned and asked: “How did you injure your face? How did you get into such a state.”
“It’s just a fall.” Gu Ning briefly stated.
Lu JiaZi continued: “Auntie said that you’ve started tutoring.” What he meant was that Gu Ning should be tutoring now and not dining here with a group of people that he had never seen before.
“It’s a day off.” Gu Ning remained cold in manner when answering: “It seems that you two should still have things to do, then I will head back in first.”
“Wait a minute.” Lu JiaZi called out to Gu Ning. Then he said to Jiang Yu: “Jiang Yu, you leave first, I have a few words to talk to Gu Ning.”
Jiang Yu furrowed faintly and unnoticeably before agreeing: “Hmm, okay.” Then she said to Gu Ning before leaving: “Don’t forget to come over to my house for dinner on Sunday. I’ll leave first then.”
Lu JiaZi explained to Gu Ning: “Jiang Yu introduced a new client to me and we just had dinner over here. Don’t think too much about it.” He stretched out to touch Gu Ning’s face: “Why did you fall so badly, does it hurt?”
Gu Ning took a step back, avoided Lu JiaZi’s hand that was reaching out for her face: “If there’s nothing else, I’ll go in first.”
“Who are those people?” Lu JiaZi finally couldn’t resist asking.
“My friends. It’s not like I have to report to you for making friends, right?” Gu Ning turned around, walked back to the hall after finished speaking as she had run out of patience.
Lu JiaZi frowned as he watched Gu Ning disappear behind the door, but he couldn’t help and thought back about the past when Gu Ning used to even tell him what she had eaten for lunch…… This feeling right now made him very uncomfortable. Seeing that Jiang Yu was still waiting outside, his frown tightened.
When Jiang Yu saw Lu JiaZi walking out, a smile appeared on her face while she strolled over on her high heels: “Let’s go.”
Lu JiaZi stopped in his tracks and suddenly changed his mind: “I have some sudden matters that I need to take care of, so I won’t be sending you back.”
The smile on Jiang Yu’s face paused faintly before she replied with a small grin: “That’s okay. I’ll be fine on my own.”
“Sorry.” Lu JiaZi smiled apologetically before sending Jiang Yu into a taxi.
He glanced back again before turning around and walking towards the car park.
After being seated in his car, his phone rang. He glanced at it and it was a message from Jiang Yu.
“Don’t forget to treat me to dinner after the business deal is done.” A very cute emoji was added at the end.
Lu JiaZi stared at the message for about ten seconds before replying to it: “Sure, no problem.”
Jiang Yu in the taxi stared at her phone until she saw Lu JiaZi’s message come through. A satisfied smile spread across her face but when she thought of Lu JiaZi staying behind to chat with Gu Ning, her smile faded slightly.
Gu Ning returned to her seat, and apart from giving a salute, everything else went on as normal.
When Brother San was checking out at the cashier, his heart was bleeding as this meal had cost him over 20,000 yuan. Every single digit he entered for the pin code of his card was like poking his finger on the tip of a knife.
The whole journey back, Brother San was doing psychological comfort of his own. With Gu Ning plus the other two in his team, he would receive the 300,000 yuan bonus, this helped to heal the bleeding heart a lot. Upholding the principle of never wasting anything, that leftover food was packed up for late-night supper.
Gu Ning took the time to go to the washroom and called Mother Gu, informing her that she had the day off while mentioning briefly that she had been out to dinner with friends and met Lu JiaZi with Jiang Yu.
Mother Gu was very happy that Gu Ning was willing to go out for dinner with her friends, but she was a little surprised to hear that Lu JiaZi was with Jiang Yu. In her opinion, these two should not have gotten along at all. She even asked sensitively if the two of them were in a relationship?
Gu Ning only answered that she didn’t know and hung up after chatting a bit more. The main reason she called was to prevent Jiang Yu or Lu JiaZi from mentioning this to her parents. What Gu Ning was doing now was to give a head up to Mother Gu and prevent any trouble from brewing.
Lu JiaZi was still a little distracted when he had returned home. Lu Mama noticed and asked him yet he just brushed it off as a work-related matter.
Lu Mama also whined that Gu Ning had promised that she would come over for dinner yet failed to do so these days: “Did you two fight? Last time at the hospital, I’ve noticed that Gu Ning was treating you a little differently.”
Without thinking, Lu JiaZi answered: “Nope.” After a pause, he sighed and glanced at Lu Mama helplessly and continued: “We didn’t quarrel but it seems that Gu Ning is angry with me.”
Lu Mama couldn’t help but complained: “Gu Ning is so good-tempered, don’t always bully her all the time. Sometimes you have to coax her and don’t wait for her to make up with you every time. Gu Ning is slowly getting older, her thinking is naturally more mature. Do you think that she will still be the little girl in the past when you just wave at her and she will come over instantly?”
Lu Mama looked like an experienced person who had gone through the situation: “Also look, that day at the hospital, I think that the relationship between that young man and Gu Ning was certainly not that simple. To accompany her to the hospital, that’s relationship was not ordinary.”
Lu Mama continued with a heartfelt manner: “I’m a woman too and when women said they like you, they really like you a lot. However, when they said they don’t like you, they really don’t like you anymore. Sometimes women are even more heartless than men. You shouldn’t rely on her liking and don’t take her seriously. If she really doesn’t like you anymore, then it will be too late for you to do anything about it. Anyway, I’ve watched Gu Ning grow up and your father even treated Gu Ning as his daughter. If you don’t like her then don’t delay them. She is already twenty-three this year, and for you, she didn’t accept anyone for so many years, so…….”
Lu JiaZi listened to Mother Lu’s words and frowned more tightly. After thinking back the several meetings with Gu Ning ended up unhappy, as well as Gu Ning’s attitude towards him after she had returned was always so distanced and cold…… He was inexplicably annoyed, even though Lu Mama was trying to impart her love lessons to him. He simply got up and went back into his room. In the end, after a few considerations, he took out his phone and dialled Gu Ning’s home number.
The phone was picked up after a few rings.
Mother Gu’s voice came from the other end of the phone; “Hello? Who is it?” She also informed Father Gu to lower the TV volume a little.
Lu JiaZi replied: “Auntie, it’s me, JiaZi.”
“Eh?! JiaZi? Why are you calling us, is there something wrong?” Mother Gu asked while gesturing to Father Gu who was sitting on the sofa.
Lu JiaZi answered: “It’s nothing. Just that I haven’t seen you for a long time so I’ve wanted to call and check how are you doing.”
Mother Gu replied: “Oh, yes, we are fine. Thank you for thinking about us. Oh yeah, NingNing called just now and told me that she saw you.”
Lu JiaZi’s spirit lifted and the corners of his mouth couldn’t help but rise slightly: “Really?”
Mother Gu asked tentatively: “Yes. She said that you’re with Jiang Yu. JiaZi, are you dating Jiang Yu?”
Lu JiaZi immediately rejected: “No, auntie. Jiang Yu just introduced me to a new client and we went for a meal together. Please don’t misunderstand us.”
“Aiya, it’s alright. It’s none of our business if you youngster falls in love. If you are dating Jiang Yu, I, as your aunt, will be happy for you two.” Mother Gu replied.
Lu JiaZi repeatedly emphasized that he was not in a relationship with Jiang Yu before hanging up the phone.
Lu JiaZi felt very bad after hanging up the phone. The changes in Mother Gu’s attitude towards him were too obvious. She clearly knew that Gu Ning liked him, so how could she possibly set him up in a relationship with Jiang Yu?! Unless it was Gu Ning’s attitude towards him had obviously changed and also revealed it to Mother Gu…… Lu JiaZi held the phone and sat on the sofa, and his heart suddenly felt empty. It was like he wanted to grasp onto something but he was helpless about it.
When they were on the way returning, Zhuang Chen sat specifically near Gu Ning and introduced with excitement: “Gu Ning, it seems we haven’t officially met yet. My name is Zhuang Chen.”
When Gu Ning saw Zhuang Chen introducing herself, she inevitably thought of how she seemed to have introduced herself the same way in the post-apocalyptic world. The depressed mood brought on by Lu JiaZi and Jiang Yu just now was instantly swept away, and she couldn’t help but smile: “Hello, my name is Gu Ning.”
After staring at Gu Ning for a while, Zhuang Chen suddenly stated: “I don’t know why, but I always feel that you like me especially.”
Yi ShaoQing, who was sitting near them, couldn’t help but roll his eyes and said somewhat unbearably: “Zhuang Chen, this is the first time I’ve known you to be so narcissistic.”
When Zhuang Chen gestured a fist, Yi ShaoQing immediately kept quiet.
“Let me tell you, I’m may not be the best in close combat but I know how to use all types of guns. I can even use rocket launchers and stuff, do you want to learn and try? Or do you want to learn how to drive a tank? Or a helicopter or something like that? I can teach you all those.” Zhuang Chen was trying to sell herself to Gu Ning with great enthusiasm.
Hearing this, Yi ShaoQing rolled his eyes again but didn’t dare to voice it out as his fighting power was not a match for Zhuang Chen at all.
It was a bit envious for Zhong Xu, Zhang XiaoBai, and Chen Gen to hear this self-promoting They were sighing that Gu Ning was really extraordinary that even those proud and arrogant Five Stars Brigade team wanted her so badly. However, they were sobbing in their heart that no one asked and concerned about them.
Ji JiuZe sat against the corner, closing his eyes while listening to Zhuang Chen’s non-stop self-promoting and Gu Ning’s occasional reply.
When getting off the truck, Yi ShaoQing dawdled at the end near Gu Ning and mysteriously lowered his voice and whispered: “Gu Ning, I have to remind you kindly. If you really want to learn the best close combat skill, our captain is the most powerful of all.” After saying this, he raised his chin and gestured at Ji JiuZe who had already gotten out of the truck then he alighted too.
After bidding goodbye to the Five Stars Brigade team, Brother San, Gu Ning, and the others joked and laughed as they headed back to their dormitory.
Before the Five Stars Brigade split up with Gu Ning, Yi ShaoQing didn’t forget to wink at Gu Ning.
Gu Ning went back to her room in the family building alone. Lying on her bed and thought about the Five Stars Brigade’s captain Ji JiuZe. He was about thirty years old and looked very serious. He didn’t even smile nor showed any interest in her in the slightest. If it was true that Ji JiuZe was the best in close combat as Yi ShaoQing had claimed, then what would she need to do to convince him to teach her?
Gu Ning thought about it all night, yet she couldn’t come up with any solution.
The next day after breakfast, she found an opportunity to chat with Yi ShaoQing alone.
Gu Ning got straight to the point: “What do I have to do to get him to teach me?”
“Hehehe.” Yi ShaoQing chuckled before answering: “To deal with someone like Ji JiuZe, there’s just one word. That word was to pester. If you pester him a hundred times a day, maybe he’ll agree to your request.”