Even her entire demeanor seemed much brighter, her eyes brimming with joy.
It wasn’t until they reached their stop and Gu Jianing and Grandma Sang got off the bus that the stream of compliments finally came to an end.
“Ningning, I’m really happy going out with you today,” Grandma Sang said. This was the first time she had received so much praise—some directed at Gu Jianing, and some praising her own good judgment.
Of course, she had good taste. She had recognized Gu Jianing as her future granddaughter-in-law right away. It was that old fool Sheng Xinhao who lacked vision, always looking down on Ningning.
Just look at how much everyone adored Ningning.
Going out with her today had been the right decision.
It took a while for Grandma Sang’s emotions to settle. Then, the two of them headed to the department store to start shopping.
They bought everything—traditional Beijing pastries, roast duck, you name it.
But as they strolled through the store, two alarm sounds suddenly rang out in Gu Jianing’s mind.
[Alert, alert! Detected an individual with hostile intent exceeding 98% toward the host. Host, be advised.]
[Alert! Enemy spy detected!]
The moment the alarms sounded in her mind, Gu Jianing shuddered violently.
What was going on? Two alerts at once!
The one about someone with over 98% hostility—that, she could understand.
She’d encountered that before.
But an enemy spy?!
Just then, Gu Jianing sensed a malicious gaze fixed on her from behind.
She turned, searching for the source of that gaze.
Actually, she didn’t even need to search.
Because the owner of that hostile stare was the same person marked by the alert system.
Through the crowd, Gu Jianing locked eyes with the person glaring at her—none other than Li Shuyao, holding a cat in her arms!
Right, it had always been Li Shuyao who harbored the most hostility toward her.
And Li Shuyao was indeed in Beijing.
So, her appearance triggering the hostility alert wasn’t surprising.
But…
Gu Jianing’s gaze shifted to the words floating above Li Shuyao’s head, marked by the system: [Enemy Spy].
Two stark, blood-red characters, large and glaringly obvious amidst the crowd.
Of course, only she could see them.
So, not only did Li Shuyao hold over 98% hostility toward her, she was also an enemy spy!
But how? Wasn’t she a member of the Li family? How could she be an enemy spy?
This enemy spy marker was actually a reward she’d received after treating Hua Zhenrong.
It would automatically tag and alert her if any enemy spies appeared within a hundred-meter radius.
She just hadn’t expected that so soon after obtaining this reward, an enemy spy would be exposed like this.
Noticing Gu Jianing’s attention, Li Shuyao, still cradling her cat, walked over.
But she approached Grandma Sang first, offering her a sweet smile.
“Grandma Sang, hello! I didn’t expect to run into you here today.” When Li Shuyao wasn’t being arrogant or unreasonable and instead wore a smile, she actually looked quite well-behaved.
Grandma Sang was also surprised to see Li Shuyao here today.
She was well aware of Li Shuyao’s feelings for her grandson.
In the past, Li Shuyao had even visited her and her husband, clearly trying to win them over.
The old couple had sensed Li Shuyao’s intentions, and their impression of her was neither good nor bad.
Most importantly, it depended on Sheng Zexi’s feelings.
Realizing that Sheng Zexi had no interest in Li Shuyao, they maintained a polite but distant attitude toward her.
After all, it was better not to give false hope if there were no such intentions.
As a result, Li Shuyao’s visits gradually became less frequent.
And ever since Sheng Zexi married Ningning, Li Shuyao had stopped coming altogether.
Grandma Sang had almost forgotten about her—until now.
Holding onto Gu Jianing’s arm, Grandma Sang turned to Li Shuyao with a polite but reserved smile.
“Oh, Shuyao. Yes, I didn’t expect to run into you here either.”
“By the way, this is my granddaughter-in-law, Gu Jianing. Ningning, this is Li Shuyao from the Li family.” Grandma Sang wasn’t sure if Gu Jianing knew Li Shuyao, so she made the introduction.
“Hello, Dr. Gu,” Li Shuyao said, forcing a smile at Gu Jianing.
Gu Jianing nodded. “Hello, Comrade Li.”
Then she turned to Grandma Sang. “Grandma, I know Comrade Li. She performed at the Northwest Military District this past Spring Festival. Her performance was… quite memorable.”
Falling during both the opening and closing acts and ending in utter embarrassment—yes, that was certainly memorable.
The moment Gu Jianing said this, Li Shuyao’s face darkened instantly.
The words dragged her back to that humiliating memory.
Those two performances at the Northwest Military District were something Li Shuyao never wanted to recall for the rest of her life. Yet here was Gu Jianing, deliberately bringing it up.
As expected, she and Gu Jianing were destined to be enemies.
[Alert, alert! Hostile intent exceeds 100%! Host, exercise extreme caution.]
Gu Jianing silently glanced at the [Enemy Spy] marker and the glaring 100% Hostility floating above Li Shuyao’s head.
Gu Jianing: One sentence from me, and her hostility level spikes?
But she wasn’t too concerned. After all, Li Shuyao had despised her from the start, and that hatred wasn’t something that could be resolved.
Li Shuyao’s malice toward her might very well be life-threatening!
So why should she hold back?
Besides, the moment she saw the [Enemy Spy] tag above Li Shuyao’s head, Gu Jianing had already mentally blacklisted her.
Grandma Sang, unaware of the conflict between the two or Li Shuyao’s embarrassing performance mishap, chimed in, “Oh? Shuyao is from the Beijing Performing Arts Troupe. If Ningning found it memorable, the performance must have been spectacular.”
Gu Jianing smiled faintly. “It certainly was.”
Li Shuyao: “……”
Her gaze at Gu Jianing grew even more dangerous.
“Comrade Li, Grandma and I still have things to do, so we won’t chat any longer,” Gu Jianing said, unwilling to engage further. She prepared to leave with Grandma Sang.
Li Shuyao nodded, but her eyes lingered on Gu Jianing’s face and noticeably pregnant belly, her expression dark and unreadable.
Gu Jianing could sense the intense malice radiating from her.
Just as she turned to leave with Grandma Sang, the cat in Li Shuyao’s arms suddenly made a sound.
When Gu Jianing caught fragments of what the cat was saying, her heart skipped a beat, and her expression shifted slightly.
“Dr. Gu, is something wrong? Are you interested in my cat?” Li Shuyao noticed Gu Jianing’s gaze on the cat and couldn’t help but ask.
“I didn’t expect Comrade Li to be such a cat lover. I heard you even brought a cat during your performance at the Northwest Military District. Now, you’re out shopping with one too.”
As if provoked by Gu Jianing’s words, the cat became even more animated, chattering away—revealing even more information that Gu Jianing could now clearly hear.
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