Lin Qingping and Gu Juncheng

Chapter 278 Did he get stupid from being sick?

It's Gu Juncheng...

But she only held on for a moment before letting go, so fast that Lin Qingping couldn't even stand up straight.

Everyone's eyes were on him.

Lin Qingping turned around and went to the kitchen to check on the pots.

After she left, Gu Juncheng sat down in her seat.

Gu Youlian glared at him, "Why are you here?"

Gu Juncheng coughed lightly, "There's no food at home."

"You're quite conscientious about finding food," Gu Youlian rolled her eyes. "That's the bottle's seat. Just bring your own chair and make an extra seat."

After saying that, Gu Youlian went inside to get him a bowl and chopsticks.

The pot contained a variety of staple foods, including steamed shumai, steamed dumplings, and meat buns, making it quite abundant.

Lin Qingping scooped them all out, and Gu Youlian came in and explained to her, "Bottle, I didn't call him."

Lin Qingping smiled and said, "I know, it's okay, it's alright."

Could she possibly interfere with Gu Youlian's decision not to acknowledge this younger brother? Since she was prepared to continue her friendship with Gu Youlian regardless of her status, she would inevitably have dealings with Gu Juncheng. In any case, in his eyes, she was just a stranger he couldn't remember.

Thinking of this, a thought struck her, and she asked Gu Youlian, "Has his memory returned?"

Speaking of this, Gu Youlian could only sigh, "He can't remember. He only remembers the people from Gujia Village before, Sister Zhao, Liang Jiaqi, but he can't remember them. However, that's all. Everything else is normal. He's at home now and exercises often. He goes out for a run in the morning and evening. He wants to go back to school and the army as soon as possible."

"Does he remember people from school?" Lin Qingping asked again.

“Then I don’t know. I’ve never seen him meet with teachers or classmates at school,” Gu Youlian said, then looked at Lin Qingping, seemingly hesitant to speak, “The bottle…”

Lin Qingping, holding the plate, asked, "Hmm?"

Gu Youlian looked at her and sighed, "It's alright, let's go."

When Lin Qingping returned outside, she found that Gu Juncheng had added a chair next to her seat and was sitting there openly.

Gu Youlian saw it too, and with a long face, she handed the bowl and chopsticks to her brother.

Zhiyuan suddenly stood up and said to Lin Qingping, "Mom, sit here with me. I want to sit over there and eat the Emperor's Cabbage."

Gu Youlian is quite a good cook. After living in the capital for a few years, she has learned most of Beijing cuisine. Her dish, "Emperor Qianlong's Cabbage," was called "Emperor's Cabbage" by Zhiyuan...

However, Zhiyuan's actions were clearly intended to help Lin Qingping out of a predicament, so Lin Qingping readily agreed and sat in Zhiyuan's seat.

Zhiyuan thoughtfully handed Lin Qingping her bowl and chopsticks. As for what Gu Juncheng, who was standing next to Zhiyuan, thought...

What could he think? He had never liked Lin Qingping, and even said that she had used tricks to marry him. If they sat together, wouldn't he be missing out on a meal?

Lin Qingping picked up a shumai, the aroma of mutton filling the air. She took a bite, and found the skin thin and the filling generous, incredibly delicious. She couldn't help but exclaim, "Sister, when did you learn to make mutton shumai? It's so delicious!"

Gu Youlian smiled and said, "You like to eat it? I'll take some with me on the road tomorrow. Speaking of which, credit should go to Jiaqi."

"You?" Lin Qingping glanced at Liang Jiaqi and asked with a smile.

“Yes, you mentioned it before, talking about northern cuisine, saying that mutton shumai is delicious. I don’t know how to make shumai. Jiaqi made them and brought them over to steam together.” Gu Youlian said bluntly, without any regard for the fact that her brother, Lin Qingping’s ex-husband, was present.

Liang Jiaqi smiled and touched his hair. "It's nothing. Sister Pingzi doesn't like many things. It's rare for her to want to eat something, so I just did it on the side."

Lin Qingping's heart skipped a beat. The phrase "Sister Pingzi doesn't like many things" inexplicably struck a chord with her. It seemed that she really didn't have any particular favorite food, clothes, or anything else in her life. It was as if she had given all her affections to Gu Juncheng...

"That depends on your willingness! Only by paying attention can you know what people like. People who don't care might not even remember people!" Gu Youlian said bluntly.

It's all too clear who they're talking about.

Even Zhiyuan couldn't help but glance at Gu Juncheng among the people at the table.

Gu Juncheng naturally knew that the person was talking about him, but he didn't say a word. He only paused slightly with his chopsticks, but didn't stop. He continued to reach for the shumai with his chopsticks.

He ate a mutton shumai in one bite, even though it wasn't very big.

Then, he ate them one by one. There were only about ten shumai in the plate, and in the blink of an eye, he had eaten half of them.

"Is it delicious?" Gu Youlian couldn't help but tease her brother.

Gu Juncheng reached out with his chopsticks again. "It's really good."

He even started commenting, and while he was commenting, he still managed to accurately pick up the next shumai.

Gu Youlian was so angry that she picked up the plate and refused to let him eat.

"This was specially prepared by Jiaqi for Pingzi. How can you, a grown man, be so unrestrained and impolite?" Gu Youlian scolded her brother and gave the rest of the shumai to Lin Qingping, not even giving any to the child.

Then, he put all the steamed buns on the table into this plate and placed it in front of Gu Juncheng, saying, "You eat this!"

Gu Juncheng didn't react otherwise. He ate whatever was offered to him, just steamed buns, taking big bites, without eating any other dishes.

Of all the people at the table, Xiaomai was the most innocent and also felt sorry for her uncle. She quietly ran to Zhiyuan's side and whispered in what she thought was a very soft voice, but which everyone else could hear, "My uncle, has he become mentally impaired because of his illness?"

Zhiyuan: ...

Gu Juncheng: ...

Gu Juncheng swallowed a mouthful of steamed bun, but choked on it because of Xiaomai's words.

Seeing this, Xiaomai felt even more distressed and flustered. She quickly gave her drink to her uncle, saying, "Uncle, drink this, please drink this."

She even shoved the drink cup into her uncle's mouth.

Gu Juncheng was forced to swallow a large mouthful of beverage, which helped him swallow the steamed bun that was stuck in his throat and catch his breath.

Xiaomai also picked up a chicken wing for her uncle, saying, "Uncle, have some vegetables."

Then, looking at Lin Qingping, afraid that Lin Qingping would be unhappy, he gave the chicken leg that was originally his to Lin Qingping. After hesitating, he still called out to Aunt Lin, "Aunt Lin, would you like to have the chicken leg?"

The little girl is actually very innocent. She's not as sensitive as Zhiyuan. She doesn't understand why her uncle and aunt can't be like they used to be. Things were so much better before...

How could Lin Qingping eat a child's chicken leg?

She smiled and handed the chicken leg back to Xiaomai, saying, "Xiaomai, eat this. I don't want the chicken leg."

Looking at the chicken leg back in her bowl, Xiaomai was worried. How could she make her aunt, no, Aunt Lin, not angry?

The atmosphere of the meal changed because of Gu Juncheng's arrival.

Who would enjoy eating with a dull, boring person who just keeps eating the whole time?

The meal ended hastily, with Liang Jiaqi returning to the shop across the street, while Lin Qingping and the others headed home.

On the way home, everyone inevitably traveled the same way, but gradually, Lin Qingping and Sister Zhao walked together, Xiaomai and Gu Youlian walked together, and Zhiyuan and Gu Juncheng were left behind.

Zhiyuan kept looking up at his father Gu's expression, which made Gu Juncheng ask him with a stern face, "What are you looking at?"

Zhiyuan snorted.

Gu Juncheng frowned. "What do you mean by this? You dare to argue with your father like this?"

"I...I'm just worried about you!" Zhiyuan really felt like he was worried sick.

"Why should I worry about you? Have you finished your homework? Have you memorized the text? Did you get a perfect score on the exam?" Gu Juncheng frowned and asked three questions in a row.

Zhiyuan felt a lump in his throat from the question and retorted angrily, "I've finished my homework, memorized my lessons, and gotten perfect scores on all my tests! What about you? Has your wife come back? Does she still want you? Does she even want you?"

Gu Juncheng: ...

Seeing that Gu Juncheng was speechless, Zhiyuan felt bad too. At such a young age, his words already had a heartfelt tone. "Dad, even if you don't remember my mom, why don't you start getting to know her again from now on? My mom is such a good person. Before you got hurt, you were so, so good to her. You have to believe me!"

Gu Juncheng remained silent.

Zhiyuan became even more anxious, "Fine, if you really have no feelings for my mom anymore, then I won't care. There are plenty of people who like my mom. I think Uncle Liang is pretty good. Anyway, calling one dad is the same as calling two dads. If my mom finds me another dad, I'll be happy to have another person to love me."

Gu Juncheng: ? ? ?

"You like calling people 'Dad' so much?" Gu Juncheng asked with a dark face.

Zhiyuan shook his head and sighed, "You get anxious when I call someone else 'Dad,' but you're not worried when my mom is about to leave with someone else?"

"What do children know?"

Zhiyuan's concern ultimately earned him this comment from his father, which angered Zhiyuan so much that he ignored him, strode forward, walked with his mother, and took Lin Qingping's hand.

They arrived at Lin Qingping's house first, and the group said goodbye at the door.

Lin Qingping said goodnight to everyone except Gu Juncheng.

It wasn't that she was petty; it was that he simply didn't like her, so there was no point in making a fool of herself!

Lin Qingping led Zhiyuan and Sister Zhao home together. The Gu siblings and Xiaomai stood outside the courtyard gate, watching the Lin family gate close and the lights come on.

Gu Youlian started walking home, but when she turned around, she saw her younger brother still standing at the door, looking at the light in the window.

Gu Youlian was furious. "Aren't you leaving? Aren't you annoying people standing here?"

Gu Juncheng remained silent.

So Gu Youlian strode forward, and her brother followed silently behind.

Xiaomai gently squeezed Gu Youlian's palm, "Mother, why doesn't everyone like Uncle anymore?"

Auntie doesn't want Uncle anymore, Mother scolds Uncle from time to time, and Zhiyuan sighs whenever he mentions his father, Gu.

Gu Youlian rolled her eyes. "Because he's blind!"

Xiaomai frowned even more, puzzled. "But a skilled doctor has already cured him."

Gu Youlian then said something particularly philosophical: "Some people may be blind, but they can see everything; others may be able to see, but they are truly blind!"

Gu Juncheng: ...

Xiaomai was even more confused by this statement.

Gu Juncheng then spoke up for his sister, saying, "Sister, it seems you haven't wasted these past few years following Lin Qingping; you've become like a philosopher."

Gu Youlian snorted, "That's why I said you're blind!"

Although her younger brother was blind, Gu Youlian couldn't bear to see him and Pingzi break up like this. She scolded him and got angry. The next morning, Gu Youlian steamed the remaining raw shumai and then knocked on Gu Juncheng's door.

Lying on his back staring at the ceiling, Gu Juncheng asked in a muffled voice, "Who?"

"Me!" Gu Youlian said from outside, her voice full of energy.

"sleeping."

Gu Youlian didn't believe it. "You get up earlier than the chickens every day, and you're still sleeping at this hour? If you don't open the door, I'm going to barge in!"

Gu Juncheng knew how fiery his sister was, and he was a little annoyed, but he still got up and opened the door.

"Why didn't you go for your morning run today?" Gu Youlian stared at him, noticing that he was dressed neatly but didn't go out.

"Tired." Gu Juncheng answered with a single word, then tried to lie back down, but Gu Youlian grabbed his ear.

He's already over 1.8 meters tall, and Gu Youlian still has to stand on tiptoe to pull him up.

"You're tired? Are you afraid of running into Lin Qingping? I never expected that my Gu family would produce such a coward!"

"Why would I be afraid of this? Sister, let go first!" Gu Juncheng was twisted so hard he bent over.

"Get down here!" Gu Youlian grabbed his ear and dragged him downstairs.

Gu Juncheng was both amused and exasperated. His sister was getting more and more fierce. From childhood to adulthood, he had always been the center of the family, and his sister had always revolved around him. She had never been this fierce before.

Dragged downstairs, Gu Youlian shoved a bag of shumai into his hands. "Take this and give it to Lin Qingping so she can eat it on the way."

Gu Juncheng opened it, took a look, and immediately threw the things aside, saying, "I'm not going!"

"You're not going? You're going today whether you like it or not! Let me tell you, if you dare bring that Chen Xia into our house, my brother and I are finished. From now on, don't ever set foot in our house again!"

While the Gu siblings were making a ruckus early in the morning, Lin Qingping had already packed her things and was preparing to head back for her research trip.

The train journey back was still more than nine hours. Sister Zhao boiled eggs and steamed buns for her, and also brought her dried meat and pickled vegetables to eat on the way.

She recognized the pickled vegetables; they were definitely made by her mother-in-law, Liu Fen. Every year, every so often, her mother-in-law would send packages filled with various pickled and preserved vegetables to their home. These must have arrived recently. The old lady didn't know about her relationship with Gu Juncheng yet...

Lin Qingping said nothing, packed her things, and prepared to leave.

There was a car parked outside.

As soon as she appeared, the car door opened, and a person got out of the car—He Xin.

"Lin!" He Xin waved to her with a smile.

She hadn't expected He Xin to come pick her up. The car wasn't a taxi; it looked like He Xin's family car. She really didn't know what He Xin's family did.

He Xin strode over and took the luggage from her hands. "I'll pick you up one by one. First you, then Zhong Xiaoxiao, and finally our group."

It turns out he was picking up each of them...

Lin Qingping did not refuse to get in the car, but she did not want to trouble He Xin to carry her luggage. She smiled and said politely, "No need, it's very light, I can carry it myself."

Just then, a voice rang out: "Lin Qingping".

The voice was familiar, but Lin Qingping felt a strange sense of déjà vu.

It's been a long time since that voice called her that...

She turned her head and saw Gu Juncheng walking over with a package wrapped in brown paper.

"My sister gave this to you." Gu Juncheng handed the package to her free hand.