Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
Gu Fei was quite good-looking, especially when he smiled. He had a dimple on his left cheek, which made him look younger than his age and rather cute. He smiled at Shi Xiu and said, âI understand, but I want to ask you for a favor.â
Shi Xiu was a person more open to softer approaches and rejected forceful ones vehemently. Seeing Gu Feiâs genial attitude, she yielded slightly and replied, âIâll listen, but I make no promises.â
Gu Fei was unfazed by Shi Xiuâs attitude and chuckled, âI want you to sit with me like this for a while so our elders inside will think weâre having a good chat. This way, they wonât bother me about this matter anytime soon. The next time
I go out to do something, Iâll say I went on a date with you.â
âWhat?â Shi Xiu looked at Gu Fei in shock. âYou mean, lie to them?â
Gu Fei shrugged. âWhy not? After some time, when their enthusiasm wanes, weâll find an excuse to say that our personalities donât match and that we canât get along. Isnât it better to break up peacefully than to go against them directly?â
Shi Xiuâs eyes widened. âYou seem like you have a lot of experience with this!
Gu Fei laughed and quickly waved his hand. âNo, this is my first time doing something like this.â
âNo way! Thatâs too well-thought-out for your first time. Itâs clearly a lesson only learned from much experience! And it sounds very feasible, too, â Shi Xiu commented.
Gu Fei cracked up and laughed. Shi Xiu gave it some thought and told him, âHowever, you donât have to do this. My family respects my decisions. My grandfather, parents, brothers, and sisters-in-law wonât force me if I say I donât want this matchmaking.â
Gu Feiâs smile crumbled, and he uttered, âThatâs why I said Iâm asking for your help. I know you donât need to go through all that trouble to get your relatives to drop this matter, but my relatives are a different story. Please take pity on me and help me get through this. Your act has to be convincing, though. My peers and my familyâs elders arenât easy to fool.â
âMy relatives arenât easy to fool either.â Shi Xiu set him right. âMy relatives arenât stupid! Though it sounds like his relatives are quite dumb.â
Gu Fei hurriedly apologized, âNo, no! Thatâs not what I meant. *Sigh* I donât want to do this, but there are too many people in my family, and itâs really too tiring to reason with them one by one.â
âI have no choice but to do this. I tried my best to think up a plan where no one would get hurt as well as satisfy everyone. For this plan to work, I need your help, so I had to be upfront with you, no matter how unsightly I may now seem to you. I chose this plan because convincing you alone is much easier than convincing that whole group of people, after all. Itâs just⦠I originally thought that you would have the same pressure as me. That way, I wouldnât need to waste too much effort convincing you as weâll benefit mutuallyâitâll be a collaboration. Since thatâs not the case, I can only ask for your help now.â
Gu Feiâs honesty instantly gave Shi Xiu a favorable impression of him. âItâs not a big deal; I donât have a problem with helping you out,â she stated, âIâm just curious; arenât you afraid Iâll sell you out?â
Gu Fei smiled and shook his head. âI can tell that youâre a very kind girl. Thereâs no way youâd be so cruel.â
Shi Xiu nodded. âAlthough youâre only being polite because you want something from me, I still accept your praise. Alright; Iâll do as you sayâI wonât undermine you. However, you have to tell me in advance if you need to use going on a date with me as an excuse. Otherwise, it wonât look good for us both if they find out weâre lying to them.â
âOkay, sure.â Gu Fei nodded repeatedly. âThatâs good thinking. Youâre better at this than I am.â
Shi Xiu didnât believe that Gu Fei hadnât thought of this. â This guy looks quite honest and well-behaved, but heâs very cunning. Iâd better stay away from him,â Shi Xiu thought.
At this moment, the Shi family and the Gu family members were also happily chatting happily inside, sharing embarrassing things about their kids and grandkidsâspecifically Shi Xiu and Gu Fei.
âWhen Gu Fei was young, he said that he would marry Shi Xiu when he grew up,â Gu Feiâs aunt told the others before she imitated the tone of a child and said, âSheâs prettier than any of the girls in our family! I want a wife like her!â
Everyone laughed. âThatâs right. There are many girls in our family. When they heard that Shi Xiu was quite good-looking, they were all unconvinced and unhappy at the comparison. Because of that, the girls beat him up quite often, but the more they did, the more Gu Fei felt that Shi Xiu was the best, all soft and cute,â Gu Feiâs other aunt added.
Gu Feiâs mother, Bai Jie, smilingly said to Xu Yun, âWe havenât seen each other for more than ten years. Shi Xiu has grown even more beautiful. She still looks more like you than her father and has a good temperament.â
Xu Yun modestly replied, âSheâs a little spoiled, though. Iâm afraid Gu Fei will have realized by now that the soft and cuddly girl he imagined doesnât exist. Shi Xiu is clearly a little tyrant. She even bullies her two older brothers, and now she has two sisters-in-law who dotes on her, making her even more spoiled.â
Bai Jie chuckled, âThereâs nothing wrong with that. Girls should be pampered.
Otherwise, theyâll grow up to develop an easily bullied and manipulated personality. That wouldnât do, especially for families like ours. Shi Xiu has two older brothers, so itâs only right for them to spoil her. I took a peek at Shi Xiu and Gu Fei from afar, and they looked like they were chatting quite happily.. Iâm afraid weâll inconvenience you for a while as weâll be staying here to let those two spend more time together!â