After sending Gu Wenxi off, Du Yunyan encountered the village chief on his way back. Since their last unpleasant meeting, Du Yunyan hadn’t seen him. This time, the village chief walked with his head slightly lowered, coughing softly, clearly not eager to engage.

However, Du Yunyan couldn’t ignore the well-meaning old man. He got off his motorcycle and removed his helmet. “Village chief, are you going out?”

“Yes,” the village chief responded gruffly, continuing to walk forward. After a few steps, he turned back, asking somewhat reluctantly, “That, uh, that person…”

“Are you asking about Wenxi?”

“Yes,” he replied, sounding peeved. “Is he at the inn?”

“No,” Du Yunyan answered truthfully. “He went back home. I just saw him off.”

The village chief’s expression changed, and his voice rose abruptly, “He abandoned you?”

Du Yunyan was startled by the loud voice but quickly realized the misunderstanding. He smiled faintly. “Of course not. His family has some issues that need his attention, so he’ll be gone for a while. But we haven’t broken up; we’ll stay in touch.”

The old man’s brows remained furrowed, and he sighed. “He’s from the outside. Can he really stay here for a lifetime? If he finds success out there and doesn’t want to come back, what will you do?”

The village chief’s concerns were ones Du Yunyan hadn’t considered before. Gu Wenxi was fond of new experiences and had plenty of temptations around him. However, Du Yunyan believed that if a relationship required one person to eliminate their own world to maintain it, it would be both pathetic and unfair. Gu Wenxi shouldn’t live solely for him.

“Village chief, you don’t need to worry about me,” Du Yunyan replied indirectly. “I’ll wait for him and live my life well.” As long as he remained true to himself, there was nothing to fear.

The village chief might not fully grasp the younger generation’s values, but at least his tone indicated that he no longer had strong objections to their relationship.

“Don’t think I’m being naggy,” the chief said, looking away awkwardly. “At my age, I can’t do much or control anyone. The village’s development over the years and in the future relies on you young people. What’s the point of me worrying? You probably don’t even appreciate it.” His tone turned a bit resentful, like a child sulking.

Du Yunyan chuckled, and the village chief glared at him in embarrassment.

“Village chief,” Du Yunyan suppressed his laughter, “you’re not that old yet. You still have a lot to contribute.”

“You’ve gotten slick!” The old man smirked, half-amused, half-embarrassed. “Alright, stop wasting time here. Don’t you need to get back to your inn?”

“Yes, I’m heading back now.” Du Yunyan mounted his motorcycle and only started it after the village chief had walked a distance away.

The canola fields surrounding him were the same as they had been months ago, but by this time of year, the yellow flowers had faded, replaced by long, slender pods containing oil seeds, stretching out in a sea of green.

Du Yunyan parked the motorcycle under the shed. Inside, several employees were busy with their tasks.

“Boss, you’re back?” Du Hong greeted him with a cleaning cloth in hand.

“Yes.”

“Did Gu ge… leave?”

“Yes, he needs to be away for a while.”

“Then you—”

Du Yunyan was about to step inside to help but noticed Du Hong still standing at the doorway, looking dazed. “What’s wrong?”

“Huh? Nothing,” Du Hong replied, following him inside. “Let’s get started with cooking.”

---

The day after Gu Wenxi returned home, he visited the hospital where Gu Yuching was staying. His father had chosen a hospital known for its excellent conditions and high costs. The hospital room was a fully equipped suite, more luxurious than an average apartment.

Gu Yuching disliked being disturbed, so the area outside his room was very quiet. His brother had mentioned that visitors needed to schedule their visits in advance, so Gu Wenxi had notified them before coming back.

“Wenxi, you’re here?” Zou Hui got up as Gu Wenxi entered, allowing him and his father to talk privately. “Yuching and Wenheng have been talking about you.”

Gu Wenxi smiled. Gu Yuching gave her a sideways glance, as if slightly annoyed by her chatter.

“Dad,” with only the two of them left in the inner room, Gu Wenxi sat down and noticed that Gu Yuching seemed to be recovering well. “How are you feeling?”

“Quite good,” Gu Yuching pulled the covers aside and sat up a bit. “Assistant Zhou already told you; it’s not as serious as the reports made it out to be.”

Gu Wenxi carefully observed his father’s expression. Gu Yuching, sensing a chance to tease, said, “Are you disappointed?”

“Disappointed about what?” Gu Wenxi asked, puzzled.

“That it’s not serious and you came back for nothing?”

“Dad, how can you say that?” Even knowing it was a joke, Gu Wenxi pretended to be displeased. “I came back determined to help you.”

“Nice to know you care,” Gu Yuching responded quickly. “But you’ve broken our one-year agreement, so don’t think about going back.”

“Dad!” Gu Wenxi was anxious, unsure if he was being teased again. “Are you serious?”

Gu Yuching paused and gave him a subtly nuanced look. “Wenxi, this isn’t like you. Can’t you take a joke?”

“Who told you to say something like that all of a sudden…”

“What’s so special about that mountain valley that has you so restless?”

“There is something special,” Gu Wenxi said, pursing his lips slightly. “Dad, do you want to know?”

His probing question made Gu Yuching suspicious. He seemed to sense something and gave Gu Wenxi a deep look. However, before he could speak, there were two knocks on the door.

“Who is it?”

“Yuching, Assistant Zhou is here,” Zou Hui replied.

“Let him in.”

“I asked Assistant Zhou to come over,” Gu Yuching told Gu Wenxi. “He’ll explain some company matters to you. Wenxi, I trust your ability, but you haven’t been at the company for a few months. It’s best to understand the ongoing projects and current policies thoroughly. Ask Zhou if you have any questions.”

Gu Wenxi felt a weight lift off his chest and replied softly, “I understand.”

Back in S City, Gu Wenxi realized how much hotter it was compared to the mountains. It wasn’t noticeable indoors, but stepping out into the open air from an air-conditioned room in the afternoon made the soles of his shoes feel scorching hot, the heat seeping through to his feet, and sweat immediately drenched his back.

He turned on the car’s air conditioning in advance, but it was still too late to cool down the vehicle quickly under the sun. He rested briefly in the driver’s seat until the stifling heat dissipated before driving out of the parking lot.

After showering at his apartment, he received a call from Du Yunyan.

“Hmm, not bad… I know…” Gu Wenxi answered the phone while opening the refrigerator. He hadn’t eaten enough at lunch and was feeling hungry. “Did you rest at noon?”

“I’m not as fond of sleeping as you are.”

“Resting doesn’t necessarily mean sleeping,” Gu Wenxi took out two tomatoes. “Besides, I didn’t sleep either.”

Du Yunyan said. “I just picked some tomatoes. The plants we grew have produced a lot, and most of them are ripe. They look much better than the ones sold outside.”

Gu Wenxi glanced at the tomatoes in his hand and smiled. “What do you plan to do with them?”

“Cook, of course. Tonight, we’ll use them in a stir-fry with eggplant.”

Du Yunyan particularly loved tomatoes and eggplants. His cooking skills were impressive, and even simple vegetarian dishes could be incredibly appetizing. Just thinking about his cooking made Gu Wenxi’s mouth water, especially since he was currently hungry. Unaware of this, Du Yunyan continued, “I also made some meat sauce this morning. It’s great for pasta, especially for the weekend. And we can make the remaining tomatoes into sauce…”

“Yunyan, stop talking about food.”

“You didn’t eat enough?” He guessed correctly. “Why didn’t you have a proper meal?”

“I was discussing things with my dad’s assistant during lunch, so I just grabbed a quick bite at the hospital cafeteria. How could that be satisfying?”

“Oh,” there was a brief pause on the other end. “Is it tough?”

“I haven’t done anything yet, so how can it be tough?” Gu Wenxi weighed the tomatoes in his hand. “Hey, is there any simple dish I can make?”

“You’re cooking—” Du Yunyan’s tone was full of doubt. “And it has to be gourmet?”

“What do you mean by that?!”

“You should just order takeout,” he added. “It’s convenient and saves you the trouble.”

Gu Wenxi didn’t have much enthusiasm for cooking either. He had cooked a few times during the New Year, and while it was a bit novel at first, the interest quickly waned. The food he painstakingly made was just passable, giving him no sense of accomplishment, so he usually preferred takeout. The two tomatoes he had taken out were promptly returned to the fridge.

After ending the call, Gu Wenxi opened a delivery app to choose his “extra meal.” Unfortunately, it was an awkward time—too late for lunch and too early for dinner. The restaurants he usually ordered from weren’t delivering yet. He eventually settled on a Western-style light meal restaurant and ordered a serving of spaghetti Bolognese.

---

That evening, Gu Wenxi arranged to meet with Gu Wenheng and returned to the family mansion.

With Gu Yuching’s recent illness, Gu Wenheng had been helping manage a lot of company and household affairs. Now that Gu Wenxi was back, Wenheng felt a lot more at ease. However, knowing why Wenxi had left home, Wenheng’s curiosity about the would-be “sister-in-law” was reignited.

With their parents absent, Aunt Mei prepared dinner for them but declined their offer to join, heading upstairs to do her work. Left alone at the large dining table, Gu Wenheng felt more comfortable speaking freely.

“Ge, did you end up with that girl or not?” he asked nervously, fearing that if things hadn’t worked out, he might hurt Wenxi’s pride.

Wenxi didn’t follow his line of thought. “What girl?”

“The girl you said you were going to pursue!” Wenheng wondered if his brother had gotten bored so quickly that he had already forgotten about her.

“Did I say I was going to pursue a girl?”

Wenheng felt tricked. “If you weren’t pursuing a girl, were you chasing a fairy or something?”

“Exactly,” Wenxi couldn’t help but laugh, slapping his thigh.

“Are you messing with me?”

“Look, is this a girl?” Wenxi pulled up a photo on his phone. Since he had decided to come out to his family, starting with Wenheng seemed appropriate. He confidently placed the phone screen in front of Wenheng.

“This—” Wenheng’s eyes lit up at first, but upon closer inspection, his mouth dropped open. “Damn, that’s a guy?!” His voice was so loud that Wenxi instinctively used the silencing technique he had learned from Du Yunyan to cover Wenheng’s mouth.

“Keep it down!” Aunt Mei might hear that kind of scream from upstairs.

Wenheng drank most of a glass of grapefruit juice to calm down. After setting the glass down, he asked, “Ge, when did you start getting into this?”

“Is this something to ‘get into’?” Wenxi corrected him seriously. “We’re in a normal relationship.”

“Considering you spent three months in the mountains, I’ll believe it’s a normal relationship.” The phone was still there, so Wenheng picked it up and continued looking through the photos. He found that the pictures before and after were of the same person, some even showing him and Wenxi together. “This person you found…”

“What about him?”

“Is there really someone like this in the countryside?” Wenheng exclaimed. “He’s really good-looking!”

In the photos, even though the person wore simple white shirts and jeans and struck basic poses, there was an otherworldly elegance about him. No wonder Wenxi had called him a fairy.

“Marrying into his family wouldn’t be a loss for you.” Wenheng added.

Wenxi slapped him on the back. “Watch your words.”

“I meant you have good taste,” Wenheng said, continuing to flip through the photos. “He runs a guesthouse, right?” Some of the pictures were taken at the entrance of the guesthouse.

“Yeah.”

“So, are you the boss lady now or something?”

“Why are you making such a big deal out of it?” Gu Wenxi grew impatient seeing him continue to stare. “I didn’t ask you to look that much!”

“What’s wrong? Did you capture something inappropriate for minors? I’m not a minor anymore!”

“I just wanted you to take a quick look!”

“You’re being stingy, ge,” Gu Wenheng detected something off in his tone. “My orientation is definitely towards women. Even if a man is good-looking, I can only admire him.”

“That’s good,” Gu Wenxi shrugged. “So, you shouldn’t have any objections to me being with him, right?”

“Why would a millennial university student like me have any opinions on this kind of thing?” Gu Wenheng said nonchalantly. “But whether Dad has any objections is hard to say.”

Gu Wenxi paused with his hand poised to pick up food, unsure of what to say.

“Ge,” Gu Wenheng said cautiously, “maybe you should take it slow… At least wait until Dad’s next checkup before… testing the waters?”

Gu Wenxi felt a bit uncertain after his suggestion. “What do you think the likelihood is that Dad would get sick from being upset?”

“Well… let’s not think so pessimistically,” Gu Wenheng said. “I don’t think he cares much about who we marry. Maybe he could even come to terms with a man? Why don’t you give him some signals and let him mentally prepare?”

Gu Wenxi pondered silently.

He had eaten an extra meal in the afternoon, so he wasn’t too hungry. With something on his mind, his appetite was even worse. He just picked out some dishes he liked and ate casually. After a while, his natural optimism kicked in, gradually pushing aside his worries.

There’s always room for maneuvering.