Chapter 5: A Visit

◎ Don’t see him. Tell him to get lost ◎

Gu Ying suddenly turned back, startling the girls who were still seated at the breakfast table.

Ming Xue frowned slightly. She felt a bit displeased—Gu Ying’s behavior struck her as rude.

Who demands something back with such confidence and no sense of propriety?

But with so many people around watching, Ming Xue couldn’t make a scene. Suppressing her irritation, she calmly untied the Chinese knot from her waist, placed it on the table, and said blandly, “Here. Take a look.”

Ming Xue still wanted to appear well-mannered in front of others, so she held herself back. However, the girls sitting nearby had long disliked Gu Ying, and their faces now clearly showed disdain.

Gu Ying paid no attention to their expressions. Her focus was entirely on the Chinese knot on the table.

She had first learned how to make Chinese knots from her grandmother in the countryside. Over time, she had developed more intricate designs and created her own unique system.

If she gave a knot to a girl, she would make a Ping’an (Safety) Knot.
If she gave one to a boy, she would make a Xiangyun (Auspicious Cloud) Knot.

But the one she gave to Zhang Kuo was a Tongxin (Heart-to-Heart) Knot.

To distinguish her knots from ordinary ones, she would always use her own unique tying technique to finish each one she gifted.

Gu Ying stared at the familiar weaving and finishing technique in front of her, and the color drained from her face.

She bit her lip hard, and squeezed out a question through gritted teeth: “Who gave this to you?”

Even after seeing with her own eyes the Chinese knot she painstakingly made for Zhang Kuo ending up in Ming Xue’s hands, Gu Ying still couldn’t bring herself to condemn Zhang Kuo. She wanted to hear it from Ming Xue’s own mouth.

But Ming Xue felt that Gu Ying was deliberately trying to embarrass her.

Gu Xiwen was sitting not far away at a nearby table—how was she supposed to answer in front of him?

Everyone knew her engagement with Gu Xiwen no longer counted. A man like him, proud and hot-tempered, wouldn’t easily let go of his resentment. If she were to admit, right in front of him, that another man had given her something, wouldn’t that be the same as grinding Gu Xiwen’s face into the dirt?

Who knew what outrageous thing Gu Xiwen might do in a fit of anger?

Ming Xue was certain Gu Ying was stirring up trouble. She glanced sideways and noticed Gu Xiwen’s eyes fixed on her—this only confirmed her suspicion. Gu Ying was definitely trying to make her lose face.

Her gaze toward Gu Ying now carried a trace of hatred. But Ming Xue was good at hiding her feelings, and in an instant, her expression returned to one of calm grace.

“A friend,” she replied lightly.

Ming Xue deliberately avoided specifying the gender. Anyone with some tact wouldn’t press further—but Gu Ying seemed hellbent on proving the rumors about her lacking sense were true.

“What kind of friend? A male friend?” Gu Ying pushed.

Ming Xue was becoming increasingly irritated by her persistence. The frustration she’d been suppressing was about to burst out.

“What does it have to do with you?” she snapped, her voice low and tinged with anger.

As she spoke, dissatisfied with Gu Ying’s attitude, Ming Xue reached out to take back the Chinese knot on the table, intending to put it away and end the conversation.

Seeing her Chinese knot being taken away, Gu Ying panicked and instinctively reached out to grab it.

Unfortunately, she wasn’t as tall or strong as Ming Xue. Despite her effort, it was in vain.

This action completely enraged Ming Xue. She hadn’t expected Gu Ying to be so aggressive as to actually try to snatch it from her. Shocked and instinctively trying to protect her belongings, Ming Xue reacted forcefully.

What Ming Xue considered forceful was just a hard push. She simply wanted to shove Gu Ying away.

But she had overestimated Gu Ying’s physical strength.

Gu Ying, frail and light as a willow branch, staggered back several steps from the push and looked like she was about to fall.

No one noticed exactly when Gu Xiwen moved, but with sharp reflexes, he quickly caught her with one strong arm, steadying her small frame.

Once she stood firm, Gu Xiwen immediately let go, then looked coldly at Ming Xue. “Was there really a need to push that hard?”

Ming Xue felt extremely wronged.

It was Gu Ying who had been rude and tried to snatch something from her! It was clearly Gu Ying’s fault—there was no way Gu Xiwen hadn’t seen what happened!

She wanted to explain herself, but the unreadable emotions in Gu Xiwen’s eyes made her suddenly understand—this wasn’t about Gu Ying at all. Gu Xiwen simply wanted to find an outlet to vent.

He had never let go of the engagement being canceled. He’d just been holding it in, and now found a chance to let it out.

So Ming Xue gave up trying to defend herself. With a knowing air, she looked Gu Xiwen in the eyes and said, “You’re just unhappy with me, aren’t you?”

Gu Xiwen saw how Ming Xue suddenly shifted into a superior, righteous stance and couldn’t help but laugh angrily.

“So you do know.”

“You…” Ming Xue hadn’t expected him to be so blunt and ruthless. She was furious and momentarily speechless.

Li Qing, standing nearby, jumped in loyally to support her friend. She took a step forward and publicly scolded Gu Xiwen, “You’ve been following Ming Xue here—what exactly do you want?”

“Hah? Following?”

Before Gu Xiwen could even speak, Zhang Tao couldn’t hold back anymore. He jumped up and looked at Li Qing as if she were from another planet. “Your imagination is amazing! You should go work at a newspaper—you’d be perfect for making up stories. If you started writing novels, maybe our country would’ve won a Nobel Prize already.”

Li Qing turned pale with anger. “Zhang Tao! Get lost! I was talking to Gu Xiwen—not you!”

Zhang Tao gave her a sarcastic once-over. “And what’s it got to do with you? Ming Xue hasn’t said a word—are you really that eager to play pawn for her?”

“You…”

Li Qing couldn’t outargue Zhang Tao. He had been raised in a house full of sharp-tongued women—his grandmother, aunt, and mother were all skilled talkers. From a young age, he’d grown up in the middle of constant verbal sparring. Clean or dirty, he could handle it all.

Except for occasionally being silenced by a single sentence from Gu Xiwen, he had never lost an argument.

The atmosphere instantly turned tense.

The scene now had two clear camps. The real conflict was between Gu Xiwen and Ming Xue, but Zhang Tao and Li Qing had already lit the fireworks.

Squeezed aside by Zhang Tao, Gu Xiwen, even amid this high-strung confrontation, found his thoughts drifting to Gu Ying.

That fragile little frame of hers probably couldn’t take a shove like that from Ming Xue.

He looked around but didn’t see Gu Ying.

She must’ve left.

Left quietly, without a sound.

Gu Xiwen suddenly found it absurd—why had he even stepped in earlier?

If Gu Ying had fallen, so what? What did it have to do with him?

They weren’t even close.

See? Meddling gets you nothing. Not only did he not get a single thank you, but he also got pulled into this ridiculous mess.

Looking at Zhang Tao, red-faced and spitting fire, Gu Xiwen couldn’t help but find it all a little funny.

“Pretty boring.”

He nudged Zhang Tao’s arm. “Let’s go.”

Zhang Tao had just struck a pose, ready to go all out against Li Qing, when he was suddenly told by Gui Xiwen to retreat.

Zhang Tao was stunned. He hesitated for a long while between continuing the argument to vent his anger or following Gui Xiwen and leaving in style. In the end, watching Gui Xiwen’s retreating figure, he dropped his aggressive stance and quickly followed after him.

And just like that, a tense confrontation ended without much fanfare.

Although the onlookers didn’t get to see a more intense scene, the spectacle was already enough to become neighborhood gossip for the next ten days or half a month.

Everyone had already forgotten how the conflict began. The whole situation seemed to match everyone’s suspicion that Gui Xiwen wanted revenge on Ming Xue. So, the story turned into: Gui Xiwen was upset about the broken engagement and deliberately picked a fight.

When Sun Lan came back from running errands, she hadn’t even entered the house yet when she heard the story spreading like wildfire throughout the courtyard.

The neighbors added fuel to the fire, vividly describing Gui Xiwen’s ferocious behavior. Sun Lan’s slightly improved impression of him—due to that one bag of sugar—plummeted sharply.

Sun Lan remembered she had told Gu Ying that morning to go eat breakfast at Old Chen’s stall. Apparently, the clash between Gui Xiwen and Ming Xue had happened there too.

Could Gu Ying have been caught up in it?

Sun Lan rushed home and, upon entering, saw Gu Ying sitting dazedly by the window.

“Where did you eat breakfast today? Was it at Old Chen’s?”

“I heard Gui Xiwen picked a fight with Ming Xue today—also at Old Chen’s stall. Did you see it happen?”

“Sigh, look at Ming Xue. Her father is also a deputy factory director, a position no lower than Gui Xiwen’s father. Yet Gui Xiwen didn’t show her any respect at all and embarrassed her in front of everyone.”

“If someone with Ming Xue’s background can get bullied, imagine what would happen to you if you offended Gui Xiwen. I’ve always told you not to cause trouble or offend anyone—not just because I’m worried it might affect your dad’s job, but also because I’m afraid we wouldn’t be able to protect you. If you got bullied, you’d have no choice but to swallow the insult.”

Sun Lan rambled on for a while before realizing Gu Ying hadn’t responded at all.

“Gu Ying? Gu Ying?”

She called twice, but Gu Ying remained silent.

Sun Lan walked to the window, squatted down, and waved her hand in front of Gu Ying’s blank face, asking with concern, “What’s wrong with you? You look lost.”

Gu Ying didn’t look well and only replied weakly, “It’s nothing. I just want to sit alone for a bit.”

Back in Nancheng, when Gu Ying was feeling down, she would often sit by the window like this, sometimes for hours without moving.

Sun Lan used to worry her butt would get sore and sewed two cushions for her. She was used to Gu Ying zoning out like this.

But today felt different.

Sun Lan couldn’t say exactly what it was—just a vague sense that something was off. She got up and didn’t disturb Gu Ying any further, instead heading to the main room to tidy up.

About fifteen minutes later, Sun Lan returned, still worried, and asked, “Xiao Ying, you weren’t bullied out there today, were you?”

Gu Ying shook her head, her voice barely audible. “No.”

Sun Lan looked her over but didn’t see anything unusual. Only then did she feel somewhat relieved. “That’s good, then.”

Gu Ying continued sitting there for most of the day. By afternoon, as Sun Lan was about to start preparing dinner, Gu Ying was still at the window, like a lonely wooden statue.

“What’s with this child?” Sun Lan muttered inwardly.

This was the first time Gu Ying had zoned out like this since moving to Beicheng. What could have made her so upset?

Sun Lan was too distracted to focus on cooking. She filled a basin with water and placed it by the front door, washing vegetables while frequently craning her neck to peek at the window.

From the outside, Gu Ying’s small head just peeked over the windowsill, like a dark, round ball.

Sun Lan sighed, full of worry.

Just as she looked away, a shadow suddenly appeared in front of her.

She looked up and saw Zhang Kuo standing there, asking a little shyly, “Auntie, is Gu Ying home?”

This was Zhang Kuo’s first time coming over to look for Gu Ying. Sun Lan had never seen him visit before.

She immediately understood.

Could it be that Gu Ying had a fight with her good friend Zhang Kuo?

Zhang Kuo seemed like an honest, mild-tempered boy—definitely not the type to start arguments. Knowing her daughter’s personality, Sun Lan figured it was probably Gu Ying’s fault.

She quickly stood up, wiped her wet hands on her clothes, and said politely, “She’s home. Wait a moment, I’ll call her.”

Sun Lan turned and walked into the house, raising her voice as she called, “Xiao Ying, Zhang Kuo’s here. Come out and see him.”

The girl who had been sitting motionless finally stirred.

Gu Ying slowly turned her head toward Sun Lan and said, “I’m not seeing him. Tell him to go away.”