Chapter 33: What a Shame

Xu Si put down her chopsticks, a look of disappointment on her face. “You can’t just bring it up yourself, of course!”

“You need to attract him, guide him, and then give him a little nudge at the right moment.”

Jian Yao blinked, unsure.

Just as she was about to ask Xu Si to elaborate, a message popped up on her phone.

It was from the very person they were discussing, Gu Zhiyan.

Jian Yao’s heart skipped a beat.

What a coincidence!

They were just talking about him, and here he was.

She looked around, making sure there were no other diners, before nervously opening the message.

Gu Zhiyan: “Are you off work? You didn’t drive today, so I’ll pick you up?”

Jian Yao glanced at the time on her phone, it was exactly twelve o’clock.

He must have sent the message right after getting off work.

Even though she knew Gu Zhiyan was probably just being polite and she shouldn’t be reading too much into it, Jian Yao couldn’t help but be touched by his thoughtfulness.

A smile touched Jian Yao’s lips as she typed a reply, “I finished things up at Lu’s, and I’m having dinner with Xu Si. She’ll drive me home later.”

After sending the message, she held her phone, waiting for Gu Zhiyan’s reply.

Across from her, Xu Si picked up a shrimp dumpling and put it in Jian Yao’s bowl, her smile full of meaning. “Whose message is that? Your lips are practically flying off your face.”

Was she really?

Jian Yao unconsciously touched her lips, then realized Xu Si was just setting her up.

Her phone vibrated, a new message arrived.

Jian Yao glared at Xu Si “fiercely” before looking at her phone.

Gu Zhiyan: “Okay, have fun. Let me know when you get home safely.”

Jian Yao stared at the message for a few seconds, replying with a cat nodding emoji, but she didn’t immediately exit the chat.

She stared at Gu Zhiyan’s two messages for a long time, whispering softly, “So, not all men are straight-up clueless?”

Even someone like Gu Zhiyan could notice if she was driving or not, if she might have trouble getting home, and ask to pick her up.

He knew she was out with her friend and told her to let him know when she got home safely.

Jian Yao pursed her lips. What about all those times she got sick and drove herself to the hospital to get an IV, or the nights she was left by Lu Chengze on the side of the road to take a taxi home?

Was she just blind?

Jian Yao remembered Li, the secretary, subtly suggesting she go to an eye doctor… Was that what she meant?

Jian Yao: …

Although Jian Yao was now unemployed, Xu Si still had the entire company to manage, so being able to take a break to spend a morning with her was already the limit.

So, after dinner, she dropped Jian Yao off at home and went back to the company to be a workhorse.

Jian Yao went home, changed her shoes, and took out her phone to message Gu Zhiyan.

She took a picture of her cactus and sent it with the caption, “I’m home!”

After sending it, she put her phone on the counter, keeping an eye on it while she took a bottle of AD calcium milk from the fridge and put a straw in it.

Her phone buzzed twice. Jian Yao took a sip of milk and picked up her phone.

Gu Zhiyan: “Good to hear you’re home.”

Gu Zhiyan: “You like cacti?”

Jian Yao bit on her straw, a little embarrassed.

Jian Yao: “Not really, it’s just the only plant I can keep alive.”

She had tried many plants, even green vines and water hyacinth, which are known to be easy to care for, but she killed them all. Only the cactus survived.

After sending that message, Jian Yao regretted it for a moment.

She had killed the plants in Lu Chengze’s office before, and he had forbidden her from touching any plants in his room after that.

She wondered if Gu Zhiyan would think less of her.

She shouldn’t have mentioned that.

Gu Zhiyan: “Really that amazing?”

Gu Zhiyan: “Suddenly I really want to hire you to work for our competitor. You don’t have to do anything else, just kill all their money trees.”

Jian Yao: …

Thank you!

Gu Zhiyan: “Just kidding.”

Gu Zhiyan: “It’s enough to have one person at home who can keep plants alive.”

Jian Yao: ?

Is that what he meant?

She couldn’t feel his tone through the phone screen, only the cold text, and she wasn’t sure if she was overthinking.

Jian Yao casually threw the empty milk bottle into the trash can, holding her phone and pondering how she should reply.

But Gu Zhiyan had already changed the subject.

Gu Zhiyan: “Do you have time in the next few days?”

Jian Yao looked at the messages he sent, the two together were very easy to misinterpret.

Asking if she had time, did he want to meet up?

Jian Yao clutched her phone tightly, hesitating to send a few words.

“I have time.”

After sending it, she stared intently at the screen, waiting for Gu Zhiyan’s reply, her heart pounding.

Doesn’t he like men? What did he mean by sending these messages?

He wouldn’t really want her to be his “same-sex wife,” would he?

Jian Yao’s eyes widened.

What if he really asked her out, how could she politely and not offend him to refuse?

While Jian Yao was lost in thought, Gu Zhiyan’s message came in.

Gu Zhiyan: “Remember that game event I told you about after we got our marriage certificate? Today is the first day.”

Gu Zhiyan: “If you have time, we can start tonight. If not, it’s okay to wait a couple of days.”

Jian Yao looked at the message Gu Zhiyan sent, her whole body “jumped”  as if she had been set on fire.

She must have been driven crazy by Lu Chengze recently, her mind was full of all sorts of things!

She actually thought Gu Zhiyan wanted to meet up?

It was so embarrassing!

Thankfully she was at home, no one else saw, otherwise she would have wanted to find a hole to crawl into.

Jian Yao turned on the air conditioner, feeling the cool air from the air conditioner, the heat on her face finally subsided a bit, she stood in front of the air conditioner holding her phone and replied.

Jian Yao: “I have time, we can start tonight. Do I need to prepare anything?”

She really didn’t know much about games.

Her only experience was back in school.

At that time, there was a particularly popular shooting game, Lu Chengze and Wu Yue would team up to play after class every time.

To fit in with them, she tried to download the game and play with them, but she died as soon as she landed, and Wu Yue mocked her for a long time.

Then she uninstalled it and never touched it again.

Jian Yao’s fingers unconsciously tapped on her phone, she remembered that Gu Zhiyan had become a professional e-sports player because of this game.

Her understanding of Gu Zhiyan at that time came from the campus forum, confession wall, and word of mouth from classmates.

He probably matched with a famous streamer in the game, his skills were so impressive that he was accused of cheating, and he even recorded the video and posted it online.

In the end, the cheating incident ended with Gu Zhiyan live streaming arrogantly and telling everyone who suspected him of cheating to send him a private message and pull him into a room to PK.

He single-handedly beat a bunch of game streamers, becoming famous overnight.

Because the incident involved many streamers, it caused a huge stir at the time, which is how he was discovered and recruited by the club.