Chapter 29
In the living room, Fu Jing immediately retorted when she heard this. “What do you mean, relative? Qingci Princess and I aren’t relatives. We’re family members!”
Tao Xian: “…”
Gu Qingci’s movement of changing shoes paused.
Her lips moved, but she said nothing. Only after she came in and walked up to Fu Jing did she smile and ask, “Little brat, everything I say to you just goes in one ear and out the other, doesn’t it?”
Fu Jing shrank her head back, trying hard to look innocent, but the eyes looking at Gu Qingci had already curved into crescents.
“When did I…”
Her muttering tone carried a hint of arrogance from being spoiled.
She reached out to hold Gu Qingci’s sleeve and touched the cool cuff link. She could not help asking, “Sister, do you really like wearing suits, or are you preparing to look for a job?”
Gu Qingci: “…”
She raised her hand and pressed it on top of Fu Jing’s head. After a few seconds of silence, she finally said helplessly, “Children shouldn’t meddle in adults’ business.”
“It’s beautiful women’s business that I shouldn’t meddle in,” Fu Jing quickly corrected her. Then she lifted her eyes and smiled good-temperedly. “Sister, you don’t have to force yourself to work. Anyway, I have money and can support you for a lifetime. Sister can just stay home and be beautiful as a flower!”
“…”
Hearing this, Tao Xian turned her head and raised a fist to cover her lips, trying hard to hold back her laughter. “…”
Qin Zijin observed their expressions, her gaze shifting slightly.
Skipping over those words, Gu Qingci folded her arms and looked at them, then asked Fu Jing, “How did they bully you?”
Tao Xian coughed and answered seriously, “We were just briefly chatting about the things Fu Jing did before.”
Fu Jing nodded. “Mm.”
Gu Qingci then tilted her eyes and stared at Fu Jing for several seconds, feeling that the mission of helping her regain face was impossible. Instead, she raised a hand and pinched Fu Jing’s face. “And then you sent me random messages, describing yourself as so wronged?”
Fu Jing took the chance to grab her hand and held it, smiling. “I just wanted to hear you casually coax me with a few words. Who knew you wouldn’t reply, but would come here in person?”
Tao Xian smiled and commented, “Little Fu Jing, you’re lighting beacon fires to trick the feudal lords!”
Qin Zijin chimed in, “Little Fu Jing, foolish ruler!”
Gu Qingci wanted to lightly pull her hand away, but Fu Jing instead held on and naturally laced their fingers together.
With a serious expression, Fu Jing corrected them. “Not feudal lords. Princess Qingci is my Bao Si plus Daji.”
If Fu Jing had been an emperor, she felt that she probably would not have been very wise or orderly in governing the court. Maybe she really would have listened to the beauty whispering in her ear, and whatever the beauty said was good would be good.
“So do you still want to play here for a while?” Seeing that Fu Jing really could not correct this form of address, Gu Qingci did not say anything more. “Or should I send you back?”
Fu Jing had just been about to agree when she first glanced at Qin Zijin.
She could not leave her friend behind alone.
Seeing this, Qin Zijin looked at Tao Xian beside her. Tao Xian spoke directly. “You go with Gu Qingci first. I’ll keep Little Sister Qin Zijin here to play for a while longer, then send her back later.”
Seeing that her friend also nodded,
Fu Jing immediately had no worries and clung to Gu Qingci. “Then Sister, let’s go.”
She waved goodbye to them.
—
They had not yet reached the car.
Fu Jing coughed, first glanced at her phone, then pretended to say casually, “It’s still so early right now.”
“…”
Gu Qingci did not respond and took out her keys to unlock the car.
“Sister, what did you eat for dinner?” Her tone was soft and gentle.
“Noodles.”
One word simply ended the topic.
Gu Qingci opened the car door, sat inside, and raised her hand to fasten her seat belt. Without a change in expression, she waited for the child beside her to figure out a topic that could achieve her goal.
After a long while, there was still no movement.
“…”
Fu Jing’s expression was one of furrowed-brow deep thought, practically having the six big words “I still need an excuse” pasted on her face.
“Where else do you want to go?” Gu Qingci almost could not bear to watch anymore and said lazily, “Kid, from now on, just say directly what you want.”
“Oh.” Fu Jing hesitated. After all, this was something Gu Qingci had firmly refused before. “I want to go to Sister’s house to play.”
“…”
Gu Qingci glanced at her. After a long while, she said softly, “Fasten your seat belt first.”
—
Fu Jing held the seat belt in front of her with both hands. Her back was slightly straight, and her excited gaze stared straight at the road ahead.
Seeing this, Gu Qingci joked, “Are you memorizing the route to Sister’s house?”
Fu Jing nodded and admitted it. “Mm, of course.”
“…”
Gu Qingci did not know what to say. While waiting at a red light, she lightly tapped her fingers on the steering wheel, seeming somewhat impatient. Yet her face still had an expression as calm as water.
She had not originally planned to bring this child home.
Nor did she know what she was bringing her back for.
The red light soon ended, and the car continued forward.
“This stretch of road is pretty good. There aren’t any troublesome lanes or difficult roads, and you don’t even need to get on an overpass,” Fu Jing suddenly said. “Sister, from now on, let me drive you home.”
“…”
So she had observed the roads on both sides so carefully just now because she had been thinking about this.
The corner of Gu Qingci’s lips moved slightly. She glanced at Fu Jing’s serious expression and neither agreed nor refused. “We’ll talk about it later.”
—
Fu Jing finally got her wish and followed Gu Qingci to her home.
It was an ordinary mid-to-high-end residential complex. After the car was parked in the underground garage, a right turn led directly to the elevator. Fu Jing followed closely beside Gu Qingci step by step and asked curiously, “Sister, how long have you lived here? What do you like about this place?”
Gu Qingci swiped the elevator card and said flatly, “Not that long. I thought the rent was fairly suitable, so I rented here.”
Fu Jing made a sound of acknowledgment and endured again and again before she stopped herself from repeating her previous suggestion that Gu Qingci live with her.
Because she knew Gu Qingci would not agree.
“Sister.” When Fu Jing walked to the door, she vaguely sensed something and asked, “Do you dislike other people coming to your home?”
She lifted her eyes and looked at Gu Qingci.
When Gu Qingci heard her suddenly sensible tone,
she could not help laughing softly. Out of habit, she raised her hand and knocked Fu Jing on the head, then rubbed it as she said, “You’re asking this when we’re already about to enter?”
“…”
Fu Jing pressed down a smile and gave an “mm.”
—
The home Fu Jing had imagined for Gu Qingci should have been similar to Tao Xian’s home, but the result was completely different. She did not know whether it was because the space was large or because there was little furniture and few objects, but the entire place looked empty.
In the dark, it seemed even lonelier.
It was almost like a new home someone had just moved into.
Gu Qingci casually turned on the lights. “I also don’t know what to use to entertain you.”
Fu Jing smiled and said, “Sister Anjiu already entertained me. Sister, just show me around casually.”
Gu Qingci was speechless.
Following her into the study, Fu Jing saw at a glance the large picture frame hanging on the snow-white wall.
It seemed to be the only decoration in the entire room.
It was the universe and stars on the day Fu Jing was born, which Fu Jing had given her.
“…”
The starry sky was brilliant, and the universe was boundless.
The flickering stars were set off by the endless black void, silent, romantic, and tranquil.
Gu Qingci lifted her eyes and glanced at the picture, deliberately saying lightly, “That frame really is quite pretty. I couldn’t find a painting in the right size to replace the photo for the moment, so I hung it there for now.”
So the frame was pretty…
so she had only… hung it there for now…
Fu Jing could not help curling her lips and gave a soft hum through her nose.
Then she muttered, “Really? I don’t believe it. Sister, you hung up the gift I gave you, so you must love me deeply!”
Hearing that soft, milky little whining in her voice, the corner of Gu Qingci’s lips curved slightly, and she laughed softly. “Then you really are quite confident.”
“You still haven’t unwrapped all the previous gifts?” Fu Jing’s attention was suddenly drawn to another corner. In the compartments of a cabinet around the corner, the things she had given Gu Qingci were stacked neatly.
Gu Qingci followed her gaze and glanced over.
Among these gifts, there was a small doll with Fu Jing’s a cappella song hidden in its belly, though the singing was a little off-key. There was also confession code she had programmed, though the words that appeared after running it were terribly outdated. There was also a handmade robot that lit up heart-shaped LED lights, though its appearance was ugly-cute…
Gu Qingci had placed these things in the study and had not been in a hurry to unwrap them all.
Only when work left her very tired, or when something not very pleasant happened, in the dead of night, would she walk over and open one, looking forward to what she might see inside.
No matter what kind of gift she opened,
it seemed to improve her mood greatly.
She had even once regretted saying that Fu Jing should stop giving her things.
“…”
Gu Qingci tilted her face and lifted her eyes, looking at Fu Jing beside her, who had no self-awareness at all. Her eyes were bright and clear, and she tilted her head, seeming not to understand why Gu Qingci was suddenly staring at her.
Gu Qingci suddenly fell silent.
This child seemed very capable of spoiling people without even noticing.
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