“Don’t panic. We’ve known about this from the very beginning,” Gou Yu’s mother waved her hand, trying to calm Zhu Niao, who had just stood up.
Zhu Niao froze for a moment, then turned to look at Gou Yu, who was still stroking the kitten he had just tossed into his arms.
After hesitating for a while, she blurted out, “We were ready to fight to the death—why did Your Majesty surrender so soon?”
Gou Yu raised both hands high. “I didn’t say a single word! Don’t slander me.”
“We know our own children well, and I can tell you two are close,” Gou Yu’s mother said, “but you haven’t reached the level of being a couple yet.”
At this, Gou Yu’s father looked surprised. “I could tell?”
Then, as if coming to a realization, he said, “So they’re not really a couple yet.”
He was about to say something to save face as a father but thought better of it. It wouldn’t make much difference anyway.
So, he sat back down, looking completely spent.
“Uh.” Zhu Niao glanced at Gou Yu, who shrugged as if to say, ‘Do as you please.’
“Although I know my son has many flaws—like needing you to pretend to be his girlfriend and bring him home—I’m really glad he has a girl like you by his side…”
Zhu Niao was still stunned when the noblewoman pulled out a handkerchief and began pretending to wipe away tears.
Of course, everyone except the little bird present recognized this as a practiced act.
Zhu Niao felt uneasy, knowing she should say something but unsure of what exactly to say.
“Can I entrust my son to you?”
Before Zhu Niao could even think of a response, the woman continued.
“Uh, ah?” Zhu Niao looked helplessly at Gou Yu again.
Gou Yu whistled and averted his gaze, looking everywhere but at her.
“He’s the one we worry about the most. If it’s you, we’d feel more at ease.”
“This…” Seeing Zhu Niao’s hesitation, the noblewoman raised the handkerchief again. “Of course, if you don’t agree, we won’t force it, but please, pity our family a little…”
She then started coughing.
Gou Yu’s eye twitched at the scene.
For Zhu Niao, this overly cliché act was too crude to believe or accept.
A strategy—whether he was courting the little bird or one day she decided to court him—it had to be a slow and steady process, not something that could be rushed.
The old-fashioned matchmaking and parental arrangements were relics of a bygone feudal era.
Zhu Niao would never agree to this.
“I agree.”
“Huh?”
Not just Gou Yu, but his father suddenly looked up sharply.
The boy looked at the girl beside him, momentarily unable to read her expression.
“I’ll look after Gou Yu. No other bad women will take him away.”
A relaxed smile blossomed on the girl’s face, bright and radiant.
Gou Yu’s expression tightened.
What the girl promised was not to take their relationship any further but…
“Until I have a boyfriend, he won’t either,” Zhu Niao said with a kind smile, glancing at Gou Yu once more.
Hearing this, Gou Yu relaxed and leaned back, resting his hands behind his head, letting Zhu Niao take charge.
Unlike the inexperienced Gou Yu, the noblewoman in front of them narrowed her eyes slightly.
She observed Zhu Niao’s feigned calmness and the occasional glance toward her son, as if afraid of being caught.
Good. It seemed her son wasn’t all deceitful after all. At least, he had honestly won the girl’s heart.
How much of that heart he had won was another matter.
“After all, Gou Yu is a sturdy and kind young man with decent prospects,” the noblewoman smiled without hiding it. “If it really doesn’t work out, as a backup plan, that wouldn’t be bad either.”
Zhu Niao didn’t know why Gou Yu’s mother described him as “sturdy and kind.” Perhaps her description was down-to-earth, or maybe those were the only two positive qualities she could find.
His prospects were decent, after all—with a living room big enough to bump cars in, if that’s not good enough, few would pass.
She understood her mother-in-law’s meaning—knowing they weren’t a couple yet, she wanted to push them together.
But…
She looked back at Gou Yu.
He was a good person, and his one lacking external condition was completely resolved after this trip home.
Though she hated to admit it, Gou Yu was indeed not bad in many ways.
The problem was only with her.
She simply couldn’t bring herself to deceive Gou Yu’s feelings just to regain her male body.
Or rather, she never could—and now, she was even more certain of it.
Maybe it was after that autumn rain—she could no longer do anything to deceive Gou Yu’s feelings.
He treated her like family. They had a little home for just the two of them and their cat, snuggling together for warmth.
She couldn’t fake feelings.
But what if her feelings were real?
Gou Yu was great. He would play and laugh with her, cry and dance with her.
Even including his parents, no one understood her better in this world.
He took care of her emotions, rescued her whenever she was in danger or lost.
Whether at the milk tea shop entrance, that banquet, or during the autumn rain, it was always Gou Yu pulling her out.
If she were to choose someone for companionship, no one would be more suitable than him.
But he was her brother.
Zhu Niao’s mind felt chaotic, like two conflicting thoughts wrestling inside her head, unable to decide which was stronger.
Maybe she just needed time. Time would be enough.
She didn’t know what kind of heartbeat she had for Gou Yu right now; she only knew she was probably going to be locked by this guy for life.
She forced a smile and sat back down next to Gou Yu.
“You must be tired from the trip. How about you get familiar with your room first?”
Gou Yu’s mother kept her kind expression.
Zhu Niao nodded, secretly poking Gou Yu’s side before standing.
For the first time, she shifted her gaze away from the sofa and the people on it, looking deeper into the mansion.
Someone was slowly approaching.
Her pupils suddenly contracted.
It was a head of beautiful reddish-brown long hair.
She couldn’t be mistaken.
Premium Chapter
Login to buy access to this Chapter.