Gu Jiuci held in her smile. After she climbed into the car, she handed a gift bag to Zhan Ying."I saw a tie in a vintage shop that I thought would suit you."As she finished speaking, she immediately saw a change in the face of the person next to her and she quickly added, "Brother Che said we should gift it to you."As expected, the man's expression returned to normal after hearing her words.Gu Jiuci let out a long sigh of relief in her heart."Master, I..."The rainclouds immediately cleared from Zhan Ying's heart. He even looked at Gu Jiuci more favorably."Back to the Phoenix Lodge," Huo Mingche ordered as he looked away uncomfortably."All right!" Zhan Ying answered immediately as he carefully put away the gift bag.He seemed to vibrate with energy.On the way, Huo Mingche opened his laptop and dove into his work. Phone calls came in one after another.During this time, Ye Kan also called. Gu Jiuci repeatedly heard "calamity", "idiot", and other such words. She immedi
The man continued to stand behind her and she wanted to try once for his sake."But I wish for us to receive the blessings of all your relatives and family."Hearing these words, Huo Mingche's deep eyes trembled slightly and it took him a few seconds to recover his initial calm."Relax, how could I allow myself to suffer grievances? I can take anything, but will not be taken advantage of!"Gu Jiuci smiled at Huo Mingche brightly and swung his hand."Let's go.""Mhm."Huo Mingche led the way in. The living room was filled with talk and laughter, which stopped the moment they walked in.Gu Jiuci's swept her gaze across the room. It looked like some people had arrived ahead of them.Standing to the left of Mother Huo were Huo Mingche's aunt and his cousin, Huo Meimei. Although they weren't closely related, they visited often and were on good terms with Mother Huo.Standing to the right of Mother Huo and intimately holding her hand was the daughter of Mother Huo's good friend. Sh
Huo Mingche furrowed his brows slightly but didn't say anything.Gu Jiuci saw Mother Huo was growing unhappy and quickly pushed the devil gently."Go, I'll be fine."Huo Mingche stared at her deeply before going upstairs.The moment he left, the oppressive atmosphere immediately disappeared. The women in the living room all let out a sigh of relief.Huo Mingche's mother, Fang Aijia, swept a light glance over Gu Jiuci and said in a distant tone, "Come sit down.""All right."Gu Jiuci didn't care about Mother Huo's tone and replied naturally in a loud voice as she headed to the living room. Nevertheless, the relatives who had come earlier had already taken the places closest to Mother Huo. All that was left was a position in the corner.Gu Jiuci's eyes flashed and she calmly went to sit down."Humph!"Huo Meimei purposely huffed coldly in Gu Jiuci's direction and turned away to speak intimately with Xu Yun'er.Gu Jiuci's gaze swept lightly over them. It was only now she rememb
"Ci, look at them, even they brought gifts. How could you, the daughter-in-law, come empty-handed?"Her lowered voice actually attracted everyone's attention in their direction and everyone heard what was said. Mistress Huo's expression immediately became unhappy."Who said I didn't bring a gift?"Gu Jiuci's lips curved up slowly. "I've been expecting this from you."She immediately picked up the bag from beside the sofa and took out a scientific-style packaged box and handed it to Mother Huo with both hands."Brother Che and I picked this out together for you. I hope you'll like it.""You chose it together?"Mother Huo had wanted to put on a stern expression, but when she heard this, her expression immediately warmed. After all, her son was naturally a cold person and it was rare for him to personally pick out a gift for her.She immediately opened the gift. Everyone stretched out their necks to have a look and saw a complicated metallic Rubik's cube inside. It didn't look exp
Before Gu Jiuci could speak, Mistress Huo had already smelled the aroma of the tea and voluntarily picked up the teacup to take a sip. Then she looked in satisfaction toward her."You made it well."She had actually secretly been keeping an eye on Gu Jiuci this whole time. From when Gu Jiuci came in until now, she hadn't done anything unusual. Furthermore, she had not reacted in any way to either favor or insult and had remained calm. Her skill with the traditional tea making could not be achieved without a decade of teaching and influence.Mistress Huo was even doubting the evidence of her own eyes. "Am I looking at a fake Gu Jiuci?"Or were all of Aunt Ming's earlier observations correct? Had Gu Jiuci truly changed her bad habits and become good?""Ever since Mother left, I haven't practiced in three years."Gu Jiuci spoke lightly. Just then, she had just had an itch to make tea. She didn't like tea so she had just casually passed it to Mistress Huo."Very good."Mistress Huo
"Ci, you should listen to what everyone's saying. Even if you don't understand, you should participate."In a few words, she had shaped Gu Jiuci into an ignorant idiot. Everyone thought about it and agreed that if Gu Jiuci did understand, then why didn't she say anything?Everyone's gaze once again landed on Gu Jiuci, however, they still carried a weighty disdain.Huo Meimei immediately took the opportunity to mock Gu Jiuci."That's right! What's so interesting about a few boring pieces of paper? She probably doesn't understand anything and purposely found something to do so she would look busy, right?""Who said they're a few boring pieces of paper?"A slightly cold voice rang out. Everyone immediately thought that Gu Jiuci was arguing back, but unexpectedly, the speaker was Mistress Huo."Those are the newest sudoku puzzles from the Mensa Club. Normal people probably couldn't solve a single one. Since you don't understand anything, then don't pretend to!"Mother Huo looked to
"This..."Even Jiang Siyan, who had been calm the entire time, showed traces of panic. "How did things become like this?"Xu Yun'er's eyes also widened in disbelief. "Just an hour ago, Mistress Huo still disliked Gu Jiuci, right? Why was she protecting her like an old mother hen now?"Gu Jiuci was also speechless for a moment. Had she... passed the test so easily?"Aijia, what are you saying? Who dares to slander your daughter-in-law? No one said anything."At this time, Huo Meimei's mother immediately laughed to smooth things over.The relatives all agreed and lied through their teeth to praise Gu Jiuci.However, Mistress Huo waved her hands and said impatiently, "Enough, enough, let's change the topic."Then she looked warmly toward Gu Jiuci and added, "Ci, Grandfather has been missing you these few days. Go upstairs to see him.""Ah! I'll go up now. I brought a gift for Grandfather too!"Gu Jiuci felt like she had just been pardoned of a great crime. If she had to remain w
Gu Jiuci froze when she heard this. "So back then, it was the devil who took my punishment... No wonder I don't remember the event. It's because I was never punished."She vaguely remembered that year. "I was about seven years old. So from when I was seven, the devil was already protecting me..."Gu Jiuci's heart was filled with complicated emotions. She had missed many small details in her last lifetime that were appearing one by one in front of her now."How about I play chess with you? Don't be angry anymore, okay?""That's more acceptable!""Can you tell me stories from the de... from Brother Che's childhood?""All right, all right. Hurry up and play!"Grandfather and granddaughter lost themselves in chess and didn't even go down for lunch. As the devil was having a meeting with Father Huo, Gu Jiuci and Grandfather Huo had a simple meal of noodles for lunch.After 4 p.m., Grandfather Huo became tired and Gu Jiuci finally left his room."Huo Mingche's room is on the third f