Chapter 287: I Refuse

Zhu Yuan was waiting outside. On the small table in front of her was a structure made of free candies, stacked up like a house of cards.

And she was still adding to it.

By now, she had already stacked it up to four layers.

The only pity was that one of the candies in the first layer, serving as the foundation, wasn’t sitting straight.

If she kept stacking like this, the whole tower might come crashing down at any moment.

’Damn it, as expected, I can’t do anything right, can I?’

Zhu Yuan let out a sigh, as if trying to swallow all her frustration.

Then her shoulder was tapped.

It was a deep male voice: “Kid, what are you doing?”

Zhu Yuan was so startled that her delicate frame trembled, and she immediately pulled out the few candies she had just stuffed into her pocket and placed them on the table in front of her.

“I found ’em.”

“How come a Jiangxi person is pretending to be a Henan one?”

Gou Yu couldn’t keep up his low voice anymore: “Even if you took the whole plate of these candies back, it wouldn’t matter, right?”

Zhu Yuan snapped back to reality and turned around to grab Gou Yu’s face.

But Gou Yu was clearly quicker. He stepped back twice, dodging her attack.

At the same time, he let Zhu Yuan take a good look at his brand-new suit.

It was white.

Neat, crisp, perfectly accentuating Gou Yu’s tall figure, and even adding some refining touches.

For example, Zhu Yuan had never noticed before that Gou Yu’s legs were this long, or that his shoulders were this broad.

“Aren’t your upper and lower body supposed to be the same length?” Zhu Yuan stretched out her hand to compare.

“That’s probably because I used to wear loose tops that gave you that illusion,” Gou Yu said, adjusting himself a little uncomfortably. “I still prefer those long, loose clothes. They’re more comfortable. When I sweat, I can just lift the hem to wipe it off.”

Wearing such formal clothes made Gou Yu feel strangely itchy all over.

Zhu Yuan found it weird too—it was as if Gou Yu ought to wear these formal clothes even when he wasn’t wearing a shirt.

It was worth mentioning that before, when he was at home, whenever summer came or it got hot, he really did wander around shirtless.

But after Zhu Yuan became a girl, that never happened again.

That guy would rather pay the electricity bill himself than let Zhu Yuan save money by not using the air conditioner.

But when it came to using the air conditioner, he had to save money too. He would only turn on the air conditioner in Zhu Yuan’s room, leaving his own off.

Then he would slip into Zhu Yuan’s room to freeload off the cool air.

Zhu Yuan looked him up and down.

Gou Yu straightened his back.

She always felt like people would say slouching came from playing on your phone too much, but clearly, Gou Yu played on his phone even more than she did, yet he could still walk with his head high and chest out when he went out.

Actually, the main difference was inferiority and confidence.

Zhu Yuan was very self-conscious. She had heard countless people say that about her—she knew it herself.

Gou Yu was confident. He never showed timidity in any situation, never felt like he had done anything wrong.

Kind of like the Great Sage Equal to Heaven.

“That tie of yours…” Zhu Yuan stared at his mint-green tie with a frown.

Maybe it looked a bit fresh under other circumstances, and maybe what an engagement banquet needed wasn’t necessarily super formal attire.

But Zhu Yuan’s dress was black and white. That green came out of nowhere.

In other words, the color of that tie didn’t match.

“Oh, this one? Mai Che Xiaozi gave it to me.” Gou Yu fished around and pulled out a rolled-up tie.

This time it was black, with no extra patterns.

Then he reached up to untie the green tie around his neck.

Imitating the suit-wearing men in movies, he yanked hard.

It turned into a sturdy noose, perfect for hanging.

“I saw them do it like that in the movies,” Gou Yu said, still holding the tie with one hand, looking innocent.

Mai Che Xiaozi, standing nearby, couldn’t take it anymore.

He walked over and lifted the tie off Gou Yu’s head like taking off a garrote.

“Do you know how to tie a tie?” Zhu Yuan rested her hand on the edge of the small table, looking at Gou Yu suspiciously.

“Don’t worry, I definitely know how,” Gou Yu said with his usual confidence.

Then he tugged hard and tied a red scarf.

“What is that supposed to be?”

“I forgot everything else, but I remember this.”

Zhu Yuan sighed, stood up, reached out, and grabbed Gou Yu’s tie.

Her movements were gentle, as if she were stroking something precious.

Occasionally, her fingertips brushed against his neck, bringing a slight tickle.

Gou Yu turned his head slightly, looked at Mai Che Xiaozi behind him, and smiled faintly.

Mai Che Xiaozi just lifted his chin, signaling Gou Yu to keep going.

“What are you looking at? Watch carefully how I tie this tie and learn properly.”

“I’m not learning. You can just tie it for me forever,” Gou Yu said, still shamelessly cheeky.

Zhu Yuan pushed the finished tie all the way up, choking Gou Yu’s neck.

Gou Yu pretended to be suffocating, then pulled out a small item from his pocket.

It was a tiny pendant—a golden heart.

Zhu Yuan’s hand stopped abruptly.

Her pupils trembled as she stared at what Gou Yu was holding.

Her grip on the tie tightened.

But she didn’t reach out to take it. Instead, she backed away, as if trying to avoid it.

“So this is what you’ve been…” Zhu Yuan said.

She looked up at Gou Yu, feeling like he was both far and near.

“It’s for you.”

Gou Yu seemed about to place it in Zhu Yuan’s hand.

Zhu Yuan put her hand on his wrist, pushing the shiny object away.

As if it were instinctual disgust.

She really did hate that this thing made Gou Yu work so hard.

She also liked it, but not for its value. She liked it because Gou Yu was willing to spend time and effort for her.

“I’ve already received it.” Zhu Yuan hugged Gou Yu tightly and said, in his embrace, “Let’s go return this, okay?”

Gou Yu’s pleading expression landed on Mai Che Xiaozi, who had been watching in a daze.

He believed it now—his big brother’s judgment was indeed flawless.

“It was a gift for buying the car. He just grabbed it from me.” Mai Che Xiaozi walked over to Gou Yu and took back that small, golden heart.

“Huh?”

Zhu Yuan froze.

Then she started attacking Gou Yu with a storm of blows.

“Don’t do that anymore! And don’t buy me expensive things either!”

Gou Yu just dodged while stuffing the free candies from the table into his pocket.

He certainly wasn’t going to listen.

He had to be able to show his feelings.