Chapter 130: Dowry

Shen Yanhui carried a food tray and pushed open the bedroom door.

The curtains in the room were drawn, leaving it dim and dark. If one sniffed carefully, one could still smell an indescribable, lingering scent in the air.

He set the tray down and walked to the bedside.

The young girl was sleeping very soundly, her entire body curled up in the quilt, with only a small part of her face exposed. Her hair was scattered across the pillow, messy and tangled, with a few stray strands sticking to her cheek.

Shen Yanhui raised his hand and gently brushed that strand of hair away from her face.

Her brows furrowed, and she shrank further into the quilt, her face full of impatience.

She had been exhausted last night.

She had been quite brave when she started taking the initiative, but later, when she was pressed against the bathroom glass door, she had cried with such grievance.

He remembered her finally lying in his arms, her body trembling, while she muttered curses at him.

Shen Yanhui chuckled softly, leaned down to plant a kiss on her temple, and called to her in a low voice: "Baby, wake up."

Gu Yan did not move.

He kissed the tip of her nose again: "Eat something before you sleep."

Gu Yan frowned and reached out to push his face away: "Don't want to eat..."

Shen Yanhui tilted his head to dodge, smiling as he helped her sit up: "Did you eat too much last night?"

She finally opened her eyes, glaring at him groggily: "Bastard."

He had the nerve to say that.

Yesterday, he hadn't acted like a human being at all.

Shen Yanhui let her scold him, picked up the bowl of porridge, scooped a spoonful, blew on it, and held it to her lips: "Open your mouth."

Gu Yan glared at him.

But she still opened her mouth and drank the porridge. Spoon after spoon, she drank nearly half the bowl.

"No more..." Gu Yan covered her mouth and yawned.

Shen Yanhui put the bowl down and wiped her mouth. She leaned into his arms, her eyes about to close again.

"Still sleepy?"

"Mm..."

"Then sleep."

He laid her back onto the pillow and tucked the quilt in for her. In just that short moment, she had already fallen asleep.

By the time she woke up again, Shen Yanhui was no longer in the room.

Gu Yan stretched, turned over, and reached for the phone on the nightstand.

Three-seventeen in the afternoon.

Her hand paused, she stared at those numbers for several seconds, then sat up abruptly.

Three o'clock? Three in the afternoon?

She had slept until now?

That was a bit too exaggerated...

It was all Shen Yanhui's fault.

There were a few WeChat messages on her phone; she tapped them open, they were from Jiang Yu.

Jiang Yu: 【Gu Yan, I've added you to the judges' group, take a look.】

Below was a group chat invitation.

Gu Yan tapped it and joined. There were already over a dozen people in the group, and Professor Chen was there too. She sent a greeting, and everyone welcomed her very warmly.

Jiang Yu messaged her privately again: 【Next Monday at three in the afternoon, we're holding the first judges' meeting, is that convenient for you?】

Gu Yan: 【Convenient, I'll come over then.】

Jiang Yu: 【Alright, the conference room on the third floor of the Jingzhou Academy of Fine Arts Art Museum. Send me a message when you arrive, and I'll come down to get you.】

Gu Yan replied with a "Good" and put the phone down.

She threw off the quilt and got out of bed.

As soon as her feet touched the floor, her knees went weak. She hurriedly steadied herself against the nightstand, barely managing to hold her stance.

Gu Yan was so angry she laughed.

After getting herself ready and walking downstairs, it was already nearly four o'clock.

There was a sound in the living room, and Gu Yan quickened her pace downstairs. When she reached the entrance, she saw it was Yang Bing. She was sitting on the sofa, holding a cup of tea, looking down at something.

Her steps faltered, feeling a bit guilty.

Waking up at three in the afternoon... if she said nothing bad happened last night... even she wouldn't believe it.

Yang Bing heard the movement, looked up, and saw her daughter standing at the entrance of the living room, the subtle expression on her face plain to see.

She found it amusing and beckoned her over: "Come here."

Gu Yan immediately put on a smiling face, trotted over, and sat down beside her.

"Mom, you're back!" She hugged Yang Bing's arm and rubbed her face against it, "I missed you so much."

Yang Bing couldn't stay mad while being rubbed like that and poked her forehead: "It's only been a day."

"A day is a long time, okay? They say a day apart is like three autumns, and we've been apart for three autumns."

"You're just a sweet talker."

Gu Yan chuckled and leaned on her shoulder.

Yang Bing set down her teacup and picked up a small velvet box from the side: "Come, try this."

Gu Yan followed her hand and looked over; inside was a white jade bracelet. The bracelet was lustrous, and when held against the light, faint cloud patterns could be seen flowing within.

"Where did this come from?"

"Your father came across this in Xinjiang years ago; it's Hetian jade. He thought it looked nice, so he bought it, saying it was to be part of your dowry. I remember, you weren't even born yet, were you?"

The bracelet slid over her wrist, feeling slightly cool, but it was soon warmed by her body temperature.

Gu Yan raised her hand to look at it against the light; the faint cloud patterns appeared and disappeared in the glow.

"It's beautiful," she said. "Especially beautiful."

Yang Bing smiled. "Your father has saved up quite a lot of dowry for you over the years. We originally thought it wouldn't be needed so soon, but who knew you'd be in such a rush."

As she spoke, she couldn't help but poke her daughter's forehead again.

Gu Yan whispered, shifting the blame: "It's Shen Yanhui who's in a rush, not me..."

Yang Bing didn't call her out and continued, "Your father and I think the wedding should definitely be after your older brother's. Time is tight before the New Year, and it would be too rushed to arrange everything, so it's better to wait until next year."

Gu Yan listened obediently; in truth, she wasn't in a rush either.

The marriage certificate was already obtained, so the wedding was just a formality.

What she found more surprising was: "Dad doesn't object anymore?"

Heaven knows how much Gu Fanglin disliked Shen Yanhui—complaining about the age gap, saying his good looks meant he was a playboy, and even calling him calculating for transferring shares to her.

Gu Yan let it go in one ear and out the other; she didn't argue, just let her father talk to his heart's content.

Shen Yanhui didn't care at all; he called him 'Dad' as he should, neither humble nor pushy, but he wouldn't yield an inch.

Honestly, watching the two of them like that was actually quite interesting.

But Gu Yan didn't dare say it out loud; she only dared to watch the show on the sly.

Hearing this, Yang Bing shot her a sidelong glance and said crossly, "He never really objected in the first place."

Gu Yan blinked.

Yang Bing continued, "He was just deliberately picking flaws in his new son-in-law. He wanted him to know that our Gu Family daughter was raised in the palm of our hands; if he wants to marry her, he naturally has to put in some effort."

She paused.

"Otherwise, he'd think he could just marry you off so easily. How could we let him off that cheaply?"

Gu Yan felt her heart soften as she listened.

She buried her face in Yang Bing's shoulder, her voice muffled: "Mom..."

Yang Bing smiled and patted her back.

"How old are you, still acting like a spoiled child."

Gu Yan ignored her, holding onto her shoulders and refusing to let go.

Yang Bing let her make a fuss, the corners of her mouth curved up, her eyes full of doting affection.

Her gaze shifted down from her daughter's face and suddenly stopped.

On Gu Yan's collarbone, there was a small patch of red marks, hidden at the edge of her neckline, appearing and disappearing.

Yang Bing raised an eyebrow. "The mark on your collarbone, cover it up."

Gu Yan was stunned for a moment.

"Don't let your father see it," Yang Bing said with a very calm tone. "He'll explode again in a moment."

Gu Yan: "..."

She clutched her neckline, cursing that damn man ten thousand times in her heart.

But in truth, Shen Yanhui had already been very careful; having been warned too many times before, how would he dare leave marks again?

It was just that yesterday, the young girl was too proactive, and he was truly...

Unable to restrain himself.