“I feel like the atmosphere between those two has changed somehow,” Yang Shuli commented.
She watched as Zhu Niao seemed to lose the shamelessness she had around them.
That trait was supposed to be even more exaggerated when she was with Gou Yu.
But now, Zhu Niao kept her arrogance when dealing with them, but it was missing when it came to Gou Yu.
She was like a little newlywed wife who had popped out of nowhere, speaking softly beside Gou Yu and always spacing out.
Why was she spacing out?
Because she saw the ring on her hand. Then she rested her head on her arm, tilted it on the table, and stared at the ring on her left middle finger.
‘So pretty.’
‘No extra carvings. No extra colors or decorative flow.’
‘Just the simplest gold color.’
‘And not even completely gold—there’s a layer of silver underneath as the core.’
‘Its value isn’t as nice as it looks. If I showed this ring to other girls, they’d even hate it.’
‘Because the gold on the surface is fake.’
But Zhu Niao’s situation was different from theirs. Gou Yu’s situation was also different from other guys.
As far as Gou Yu was concerned, he could have easily produced a diamond ring, a solid gold ring.
And even if he did, Zhu Niao wouldn’t have been any more moved, because his family could afford it.
It would just be to make the act perfect, to ensure no key prop was missing.
But Gou Yu didn’t choose any of that. Instead, he used all he had to make a gold-wrapped silver ring.
Zhu Niao was supposed to play the role of someone loved in this act, and she had no objections.
But when the engagement ring was ready, Gou Yu suddenly showed up with both of their rings.
He said: “This isn’t an act. I’m here to love you.”
It was like a giant hammer suddenly smashing into Zhu Niao’s head. For a moment, she was dizzy, unable to even find the words.
She only felt that she should be very happy.
Someone truly, without hesitation, loved her in this world—unrelated to all the meaningless things, just purely and passionately loved her.
She didn’t even know how to respond to this love.
So she just stared blankly at the ring on her hand.
The light hit the gold edge, flashing a dazzling brilliance.
Her gaze dropped. On her left hand, where the engagement ring sat on her middle finger, a red string with a small pendant hung from her wrist.
The small pendant was engraved with a little fish pattern that represented Gou Yu.
Just like the patterns they had signed on the engagement certificate.
A bird. A fish.
These two things, now probably the most important to Zhu Niao, were both on her left hand.
Gou Yu had the same.
A bird. A fish.
‘Hmph. No matter how you think about it, the bird catches the fish. After all, the bird is the predator.’
She stared at those two things, lost in thought.
The sound of chopsticks and bowls came from her side. Gou Yu was putting food into her bowl.
Gou Yu clearly remembered that they hadn’t eaten breakfast to make it to the engagement banquet on time.
If Zhu Niao collapsed due to low blood sugar, then in an instant, his parents and his good sister would come to his side and make sure he didn’t leave the banquet site alive.
Two scraping sounds of chairs came from beside her. The table, which still had empty seats, was now filled with two more people.
Zhu Niao heard the noise and looked up.
She saw the Store Manager Lady, whose eyes were tired but still carried elegance and a young lady’s demeanor, and beside her, the Mai Che Xiaozi, whose expression was calm but who had already sat down without waiting.
“All done?” Gou Yu asked the same question Zhu Niao’s roommates had asked him and her just ten minutes ago.
“All done,” the Mai Che Xiaozi replied, speaking for the Store Manager Lady, who seemed quite exhausted.
Gou Yu glanced at the red-brown-haired girl who had her elbows on the table and her eyes closed, resting.
“Didn’t you drink for her? Why does she look so tired?” Gou Yu still had some concern for his sister.
“I did drink. But the carpet there was especially soft, and her heels were especially thin. It was like stepping on mud with spikes,” the Mai Che Xiaozi said, straightening his collar. “Plus, she had to maintain etiquette and posture. That’s how it ended up.”
“That’s really tiring,” Gou Yu said. “How about we skip the high heels next time? Look how deadly they are.”
“Then no one in our family is normal. Did you see Dad wearing basketball shoes today?” The Store Manager Lady shot Gou Yu a glare.
As for that, Gou Yu’s father explained that he had been beaten up in the morning and his eyesight was bad, so he accidentally put on the wrong shoes.
Of course, he gave that explanation just after he’d made plans with others to go fishing and not come home for the night, and Gou Yu’s mother happened to pass by and overheard.
“Actually, I think being mature is fine. You’re only one year away from adulthood,” Gou Yu immediately changed his tune.
Compared to him, Zhu Niao was clearly more human at this moment.
“Thank you both,” she said, nodding slightly to the two who had done the toasting on her and Gou Yu’s behalf.
In truth, part of the reason was that Zhu Niao and Gou Yu didn’t actually know anyone.
They just stood there like wooden posts, one holding a drink and the other holding a glass.
Then they looked to see who would stand up, and Gou Yu would drink with that person.
It was awkward, and it even lost the meaning of the toast.
The other reason was that Zhu Niao didn’t want Gou Yu to drink that much, and Gou Yu didn’t want Zhu Niao to get any negative emotions from this obviously uncomfortable and awkward situation.
So they handed it over to the Store Manager Lady and the Mai Che Xiaozi.
Still, it worked out. Neither the ones doing the toasting nor the ones receiving it had any complaints.
Some even joked that Zhu Niao was shy, and shy girls were rare.
“What are you thanking us for?” The Store Manager Lady waved her hand.
The Mai Che Xiaozi nodded earnestly. “This kind of thing is nothing to us. As long as you two have a good life, that’s what matters most.”
As soon as he said that, everyone at the table except Gou Yu and Zhu Niao started nodding subtly.
It felt like a crowd surrounding the two, applauding and congratulating them.
A bit crazy.
“We’re already living pretty well right now.”
Gou Yu reached out his left hand and, with practiced ease, directly took Zhu Niao’s right hand.