Chapter 39: Is He Not Up to It, or Are You Not Up to It?

Gu Yan still had the driver park the car far away, and she watched stealthily for a good while before getting out.

Just as she reached the villa entrance, she heard the sound of conversation and laughter from inside, along with the faint sound of a child. Her eyes curved into crescents, and she hurriedly quickened her pace.

Sure enough, the living room was lively.

Mother Gu, Yang Bing, sat on the main sofa, with her elaborately dressed eldest sister, Yang Xue, beside her. Cousin Qin Yue sat in a single sofa a little further away, head bowed as she wiped her daughter's hands.

The little girl looked to be four or five years old, wearing her hair in two pigtails, her eyes round and bright.

"Yanyan is back," Yang Bing said with a smile, beckoning her over.

Gu Yan walked over, first greeted her aunt, then teased her little niece: "Yuan Yuan has grown taller again."

Yuan Yuan called out "Little Aunt" in a milky voice, reaching out to be held.

Gu Yan was charmed beyond words and picked her up; the little girl immediately wrapped her arms around her neck, pressing her soft cheek against her.

Aunt Yang Xue watched them and suddenly sighed: "Yanyan, let Aunt tell you, when a girl looks for a partner, she must keep her eyes wide open."

Gu Yan blinked; in truth, she hadn't kept her eyes open when she found her partner either—she had only looked at his face.

Shen Yanhui's face was just too top-tier, and she had been utterly bewitched by him in a daze.

Her aunt was still holding forth, "You must never be like your cousin. She insisted on marrying down back then, and now? Look at how exhausting her life is."

Qin Yue kept her head down and didn't speak, merely taking her daughter back from Gu Yan's arms, her movements somewhat stiff.

Gu Yan sat down next to Qin Yue, rested her hand lightly on the back of her hand, and smiled: "Isn't Cousin doing quite well now? Brother-in-law's company is on the right track, too."

"Well? What's well about it?" Her aunt shook her head. "If it weren't for your brother-in-law pestering her relentlessly back then, your cousin would be..."

"Mom," Qin Yue interrupted in a low voice, "don't say any more."

Her aunt opened her mouth, but in the end, she didn't continue.

The living room fell silent for a moment.

Yuan Yuan seemed to sense that the atmosphere was wrong and sat obediently on her mother's lap, playing with her fingers.

Gu Yan stood up and took Yuan Yuan's hand: "Come, Little Aunt will take you to the garden to see the goldfish."

The two of them, one big and one small, went to the garden.

Gu Yan accompanied her to feed the fish for a while, then took her to the swing. The little girl giggled, quickly forgetting the unpleasantness from just before.

Tired from playing, the two sat on rattan chairs to rest.

Gu Yan used a wet wipe to clean Yuan Yuan's hands and asked casually: "Has Cousin been unhappy lately?"

Qin Yue happened to be bringing out fruit and paused when she heard this.

She placed the fruit platter on the small round table and sat down beside Gu Yan: "It's nothing, just... had a bit of a disagreement with your brother-in-law."

"Is it serious?" Gu Yan asked.

Qin Yue shook her head, her smile somewhat forced: "Not serious, just some small matters."

Gu Yan looked at her reddened eye rims and didn't press further.

She simply held her hand and said slyly: "Cousin, next time Brother-in-law makes you unhappy, just tell me."

Qin Yue was taken aback.

Gu Yan blinked: "I'll have Gu Lin go beat him up. My second brother has been stifled at the company lately and is just looking for someone to practice on."

Qin Yue let out a "pfft" of laughter, though her eyes turned even redder. She gripped Gu Yan's hand back and nodded lightly: "Okay."

At dinner, the family sat around the long table.

Gu Yan secretly observed the expressions of the few people present, preparing to get to the point.

She picked up a piece of spare rib and said, appearing casual: "Mom, Dad, I want to go out to sketch from life next week."

Gu Fanglin looked up from behind his newspaper: "Where to?"

"Not far, just in the surrounding area," Gu Yan said vaguely. "I want to see the natural landscapes and find some material to prepare for the September art exhibition."

Yang Bing ladled a bowl of soup for her: "How long will you be gone?"

"Two or three months, maybe," Gu Yan took the soup and drank it in small sips. "The signal in the mountains might be poor, but I'll call home every week."

Gu Chen put down his chopsticks and looked at her: "Going alone?"

"I'm having Xu Yuan go with me," Gu Yan said without changing her expression.

Fortunately, she had a strategy ready; dragging Xu Yuan along greatly increased her credibility.

Besides, she owed Xu Yuan a vacation; if they couldn't go to Hong Kong, going to the mountains was the same thing.

Gu Chen wanted to ask something else, but Su Jin touched his hand lightly under the table. He looked at his fiancée, and Su Jin shook her head at him.

The words on the tip of his tongue were swallowed back down.

Gu Yan breathed a secret sigh of relief inside, her smile growing sweeter: "Don't worry, I'll take good care of myself."

Gu Fanglin nodded: "Stay safe. Tell Dad if you need anything."

"Got it!"

Coaxing people was just that simple.

——

The day before departure, Gu Yan's bedroom was as messy as if it had been ransacked.

Three suitcases were spread out on the carpet, and Xu Yuan was putting things inside according to her instructions.

Painting tools, pigments, sketchbooks, various silk pajamas, and those few new cheongsams.

Her phone was propped up on the vanity, on speakerphone.

Lin Wei's voice popped out from the receiver, carrying undisguised surprise: "Summer retreat? You rich people really know how to play."

Gu Yan corrected her, "Not me, it's Shen Yanhui."

Lin Wei: "It's all the same."

After a pause, her tone became unhurried, "Living together for two months, Miss Gu? With that little frame of yours, can you handle it?"

Gu Yan: "?"

"Lin Wei! Why is your head full of such smut!"

"Eating and sex are human nature, it's only natural," Lin Wei said righteously. "Don't put on an act with me."

Gu Yan was stubborn: "Who's putting on an act?"

Fine, she really was a bit greedy for Shen Yanhui's body.

"Hey, tell your sister, is he... especially vigorous in bed?"

Gu Yan's hand shook, and she almost threw her palette into the suitcase.

"I... don't know." Her voice was as small as a mosquito's hum.

There was silence on the other end of the phone for two seconds.

Then, earth-shattering laughter erupted.

"No way, Gu Yan?!" Lin Wei laughed until she couldn't catch her breath. "You still haven't eaten the meat? Is it him who's no good, or you?"

"Lin, Wei!" Gu Yan grabbed her phone and hung up, gritting her teeth.

The world was quiet again.

What "no good" or whatever...

She just hadn't had the chance, alright?

The phone vibrated.

A WeChat message from Lin Wei popped up: 【Angry? Alright, I won't tease you anymore.】

A few seconds later, another one: 【I had Xu Yuan prepare something good for you; it's in the suitcase compartment. Sister, I can only help you this much. Win over Shen Yanhui soon~】

Gu Yan stared at the line of text, alarm bells ringing in her head.

She immediately crouched down and flipped open the suitcase compartment. Sure enough, underneath a stack of silk pajamas, she felt a palm-sized velvet pouch.

She opened it.

Inside were... two pieces of lace fabric so thin they were almost transparent.

Calling them clothes was giving them too much credit; they were as thin as cicada wings, and she didn't know what they could possibly cover.

Gu Yan's ears burned instantly; she scrambled to stuff the items back into the pouch and threw it far away.

"Miss?" Xu Yuan walked over, carrying a folded cashmere shawl. "Should I pack this? It's cold in the mountains at night."

Gu Yan glared at her in feigned anger; the small mole at the corner of her eye turned slightly red from shame and annoyance, like a drop of rouge fallen onto snow.

Xu Yuan was confused. "What's wrong?"

Gu Yan said crossly: "What did Lin Wei give you? And you just put it in my suitcase?"

Xu Yuan looked blank, her eyes innocent. "I didn't look. Should I not take it? I'll take it out now."

She said this and started to crouch down to retrieve it.

"Don't!" Gu Yan stepped in first, clutching the items back in her hand, her fingertips tightening.

"Forget it." She turned her face away, her voice somewhat unnatural. "Go rest first, I'll pack the rest myself."

Xu Yuan looked at her hesitantly: "Miss, you really don't need me to..."

"No need, go." Gu Yan waved her hand.

Xu Yuan looked at her reddened earlobes and suddenly understood something. Miss Lin really knows how to play.

In the room, Gu Yan threw that bundle of things into the wardrobe.

She lay back on the bed looking at the ceiling, and after a while, she sat up abruptly. Driven by some impulse, she took that bundle back out of the wardrobe.

She put it back into the suitcase.