That afternoon, Gu Xingzhao sent the uncle and nephew from the Xu family on their way.
Xu Shisan was the first to get in the car, but he noticed his uncle was still lingering outside. He honked several times.
Gu Xingzhao glanced at Xu Zian, puzzled. Why was he still here? He couldn’t be waiting for dinner, right?
Xu Zian asked quietly, “Miss Gu, are you very close with that Uncle Lu inside?”
Gu Xingzhao raised her eyebrows at the strange question. “Closer than I am with my own father.”
Xu Zian hesitated before saying, “I’ve heard he’s leaving soon. Miss Gu, you should spend more time with those around you.”
After leaving this ambiguous remark, Xu Zian got into the car.
What he didn’t say was that if she didn’t spend time with her loved ones now, she might not get another chance to see them in the future.
Gu Xingzhao took his words to heart. That evening, she invited Lu Suo over for dinner. She bought a lot of meat and vegetables, tied on her apron, and took out the frying pan she rarely used, planning to show off her cooking skills.
Lu Suo waited in the living room. He rarely came to her apartment on the second floor, as it was a young woman’s private space. But looking around, he saw she didn’t lack for anything.
Hearing the clatter of pots and pans from the kitchen, he stood up several times from the sofa, walking to the kitchen door. He knocked lightly. “Xiao Zhao, how about I take over?”
Lu Suo knew full well how limited Gu Xingzhao’s cooking skills were.
Through the glass door, Lu Suo could see Gu Xingzhao had prepared all the ingredients—meats, vegetables, seven or eight bowls filled with various chopped herbs, garlic, and sauces. It looked like she was doing everything properly.
At that moment, she was frantically following an online recipe, trying to heat the oil and sauté the vegetables, clearly struggling.
Hearing Lu Suo’s voice, she waved him off with a spatula, shouting through the door, “You just sit and wait! It won’t take long for me to cook up a few dishes!”
Seeing how excited she was today, he didn’t want to interrupt.
He returned to the sofa, and soon the scent of food wafted from the kitchen, occasionally followed by Gu Xingzhao’s coughing from the smoke. After a while, he took out his phone.
An hour later, Gu Xingzhao emerged from the kitchen. The two sat across from each other on the sofa, with three meat dishes, one vegetable dish, and a soup spread out before them.
After all that effort, Gu Xingzhao was starving and quickly devoured a bowl of rice.
Lu Suo handed her a bowl of soup. “This restaurant’s food is pretty decent, and here’s your favorite lotus root and pork bone soup. Next time you’re hungry, just call and order takeout. No need to tire yourself out in the kitchen.”
“Okay,” Gu Xingzhao chuckled awkwardly. She had intended to cook a full meal herself, but the meat ended up burned, the vegetables charred, and nothing was edible.
Luckily, Lu Suo had anticipated this and ordered takeout beforehand. Otherwise, they would’ve gone hungry.
Lu Suo placed more meat in her bowl. “Eat more, you’re too skinny.”
“Once I’m gone, no one will be around to make sure you eat properly. You really need to cut back on those instant noodles and junk food. They’re terrible for your health.”
Gu Xingzhao nodded while eating, amused by how much Lu Suo reminded her of her grandfather.
The more she thought about it, the more she laughed. It was nice to have someone around to nag her.
Lu Suo watched her, knowing that no matter how much he lectured, his words would go in one ear and out the other.
He sighed. “I know you won’t take what I say seriously, but when I’m no longer here, you’ll be on your own.”
Gu Xingzhao, sipping her soup, blinked. “Aren’t you only going away for a few months?”
Why was he worrying so much about a few months? If he were gone for a year or two, wouldn’t he be even more anxious?
Lu Suo
was momentarily speechless and dropped the subject, afraid she’d notice something off.
Half a month passed quickly.
Thanks to some successful promotions, Gu Xingzhao’s new supermarket saw a steady increase in foot traffic. The second floor, with its unique features, attracted many travel bloggers and local influencers, even landing a feature on the local news. Business was booming.
With the initial rush over, Gu Xingzhao found herself busier than ever, often working from early morning to late at night. She barely had time to drop off essentials and food for the Lu family every few days.
Now that the supermarket was running smoothly and profits were stable, she could finally take a breather.
The lawsuit against Lei Ping was settled, with Lei Ping paying a meager 250 yuan in compensation for emotional distress and publicly apologizing across all social media platforms.
This lawsuit briefly stirred up online attention when an insider revealed that Gu Xingzhao had spent over ten thousand yuan on legal fees but had only asked for 250 yuan in compensation.
Her college friends found the 250 yuan settlement hilarious.
As for Lei Ping, the case garnered her attention online, and she started livestreaming. Within just two weeks, she had transformed into a small influencer with over 200,000 followers.
The internet had a short memory, and soon enough, no one talked about the lawsuit anymore.
The lawsuit against Guan Shun was still ongoing. It was said that Gu Chengzhang had shifted all the blame onto his wife and son, leading to a falling out between the couple. Their business had been exposed for tax evasion and embezzlement, so prison time seemed inevitable.
Gu Xingzhao heard bits and pieces about these developments but didn’t pay much attention. After all, they had nothing to do with her anymore.
Lu Suo had left for his trip more than a week ago. Though he repeatedly told her not to see him off, Gu Xingzhao went to the station anyway, only to find that he had already left. Since then, he had been sending her scenic photos from his travels almost daily.
With the supermarket taking up her time, she hadn’t had the chance to visit the antique street, though Xu Shisan occasionally dropped by with luxurious Xu-family meals or invited her to join them for dinner at the old Xu family estate.
Sometimes, she’d run into Xu Zian, and over time, they became more familiar.
Gu Xingzhao found Xu Zian quite mysterious. He spent his days reading in his attic or feeding fish and rarely left the house. He had almost no social life or hobbies.
According to Xu Shisan, he was as bland as chrysanthemums—dull and unambitious.
While Gu Xingzhao’s life had been stable, things in ancient times were different.
Since the ancestor’s visits had become less frequent, the Lu family had fewer hearty meals, and the night guards had nothing special to eat, even with Lu Xingyao around as their good-luck charm.
Lu Yang, who had volunteered to take night shifts in hopes of special meals, had been disappointed for half a month now. Not a single meal materialized, and he was thoroughly frustrated.
It seemed that after indulging in luxury, the bland and scarce meals only made the lack of indulgence harder to bear. Even Xu noticed that her husband had lost some weight!
This atmosphere of disappointment lingered over the Lu family— after all, it is easy to go from frugality to luxury, but it is difficult to go from luxury to frugality.
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