Gu Zhijing had thought of everything, but he overlooked one crucial detail: someone online had mentioned that the military training at this school was extremely rigorous!
On the second day of school, they were taken to a remote mountain area. The beds were shaky, the food was barely enough, and by the end of it, everyone was tanned and skinny.
A whole month of this!
Gu Zhijing felt like he wasn’t attending university but training to be a special forces soldier.
After the military training ended, the "Iron-blooded Soldier King" Gu Zhijing decided to secretly return home without telling anyone, planning to surprise (or shock) his family.
However, he didn’t expect to be the one who ended up shocked.
"Where is everyone???"
When Gu Zhijing got home, he found the house completely empty.
If the door code hadn’t been changed and the furniture was still there, he would have thought his father had gone bankrupt and sold the house during the past month.
Gu Zhijing rushed to the third floor and found that even Tangyuan, their pet, was gone!
Young Gu felt like crying…
When he called Nian Suian, his voice couldn’t hide the frustration.
"Why is there no one at home? Where did you all go? Why didn’t you tell me?"
Nian Suian was also surprised to receive Gu Zhijing’s call. She knew he couldn’t use his phone during military training, but she had assumed he would contact her as soon as it ended. She hadn’t expected him to go straight home.
"Why did you go straight home? Your father and I have been staying at the house I bought these past few days. I gave Su the butler, Zhang Ma, and the other staff some time off."
"Sorry, Zhijing. We planned to return home after your training ended. But I did send you a WeChat message. Didn’t you see it?"
Only then did Gu Zhijing remember to check WeChat. When he first got his phone back, there were too many messages, so he hadn’t bothered to look.
"I didn’t check WeChat earlier. I’ll come to you now." The moment Gu Zhijing arrived home and saw the empty house, his emotions were indescribable.
After hanging up, Nian Suian went to the kitchen to reheat the soup she had made the previous night.
Since it was just her and Gu Junxing staying there, they had to handle all the cooking themselves.
Lately, Gu Junxing had been trying to leave work earlier, stopping by the supermarket on his way home to buy groceries and a bouquet of flowers.
When he returned, the two of them would cook dinner together and do household chores, finding a different kind of happiness in these simple routines.
The night before, they had made a pot of yam and pork rib soup, which hadn’t been finished. At noon, Gu Junxing ate at the company, so Nian Suian had just boiled some dumplings for herself.
Thinking about the grueling month of military training, Nian Suian reheated the soup and took out some meat from the fridge to prepare a few dishes for Gu Zhijing.
In her busyness, she forgot to inform Gu Junxing that Gu Zhijing had returned home.
When Nian Suian opened the door wearing an apron, both of them were stunned.
—Who is this tanned boy? Where is my sunny, handsome son?!
—Why is my mom wearing an apron? Has our family really gone bankrupt?!
Nian Suian was the first to recover. "Are you hungry? There’s just one more dish to finish. Go wash up first."
She pointed to a room, "That’s your room. There’s a bathroom inside. Go take a shower."
After saying this, Nian Suian returned to the kitchen… wondering if washing would make him look a bit fairer.
Gu Zhijing pushed his suitcase into the room. It was much smaller than his previous room and sparsely furnished.
But he didn’t have time to dwell on it. He quickly grabbed some clothes and headed to the shower.
By the time Gu Zhijing finished showering, Nian Suian had already set the dishes on the table. Seeing him now, Nian Suian felt her eyes ache a little.
He had put on a white T-shirt after his shower, which only made him look even darker.
"Is it good?"
"It’s delicious!" Gu Zhijing was too busy eating to talk.
Once he was about 70% full, he cautiously voiced his concerns.
"Why did you move here? And why are you doing all the work? Did Dad go bankrupt?"
Nian Suian hadn’t expected her cooking to lead to such wild speculations.
"I’m an adult now. If we’ve gone bankrupt, don’t hide it from me. I have some savings. You can use it to hire a maid."
Nian Suian was about to explain but decided to ask, "How much do you have?"
Gu Zhijing sat next to Nian Suian and opened his mobile banking app.
"!!! Are you a money-hoarding dragon? How do you have so much?"
"This is what I’ve saved up since I was a kid. No one knew about this money, but now you do." When Gu Zhijing was in elementary school, a close friend suddenly told him that his father had gone bankrupt and that he and his mother were moving away.
This incident left a deep impression on Gu Zhijing, and from then on, he started secretly saving money. Over the years, he had accumulated quite a bit.
Nian Suian was touched and told him to keep the money.
"Don’t overthink it. Your dad hasn’t gone bankrupt. We just wanted to stay here for a while since the place was recently renovated. It’s a bit of a romantic gesture. You wouldn’t understand yet."
After much explaining, Gu Zhijing finally believed her.
"So your romantic gesture is sneaking away to have some alone time while I’m not home?"
"…"
Nian Suian fell silent. It did seem like that was part of the reason.
Gu Junxing, as usual, bought groceries and flowers on his way home. As he entered the building, he ran into an elderly woman who lived upstairs.
"Xiao Gu, you’re back with groceries again! Oh, by the way, you have a relative visiting. He looks like a foreigner!"
"A relative? A foreigner?" Gu Junxing racked his brain but couldn’t think of any foreign relatives.
"Yes, he’s quite dark-skinned. Probably from Africa."
When Gu Junxing walked in, he saw his wife serving soup to a "dark-skinned" person and froze.
It wasn’t until the person spoke Chinese and called him "Dad" that he realized who it was.
"Dad! You’re back!" Gu Zhijing flashed a bright smile and rushed over to hug Gu Junxing.
He was so relieved that his father hadn’t gone bankrupt. His savings were safe, and they might even grow in the future.
Gu Junxing gently pushed his son away. "Don’t wear white. It doesn’t suit you."
Gu Zhijing nodded blankly. It seemed like a lot had changed in the month he was away. His dad was now giving fashion advice.
"How long are we staying here?"
"Just a few more days. We’ll go back when we get tired of cooking."
Nian Suian was still enjoying the novelty of the place and wasn’t ready to return. Everything in this house, from the beds and sofas to the smallest cushion, had been chosen by her. To her, it felt more like home.
After dinner, Gu Zhijing offered to do the dishes, but Nian Suian wouldn’t let him. Seeing him so tanned and skinny while doing chores made it look like they were exploiting him.
Just then, Gu Zhijing received a message from Qu Zizhou, who had also returned home. Gu Zhijing headed over to Qu Zizhou’s place. When they met, they hugged and then burst out laughing at how equally tanned they both were.
Back at home, Gu Junxing cleared the table and loaded the dishwasher.
Nian Suian’s favorite part of the house was the large window in the master bedroom and the tree outside. After finishing the chores, Gu Junxing walked in and found Nian Suian sitting by the window on a recliner, quietly gazing outside.
Gu Junxing walked over, picked her up, sat down, and let her sit on his lap, just like they had been doing every day recently.
"Actually, we could just live here from now on. We can hire a part-time helper for cooking and cleaning." Gu Junxing could tell how much Nian Suian loved this place.
But Nian Suian shook her head. "I like it here partly because it’s new. After a while, I’m sure I’ll want to go back."
"Then let’s buy a bigger house, one with a tree outside the window too."
Nian Suian couldn’t help but laugh. "Gu Junxing, now I really see you as a domineering CEO."
"Honestly, as long as I’m with the person I love, anywhere is a good place to live."
No matter how beautiful a house is, the novelty will eventually fade. But love is different—it never grows old.
Nian Suian leaned against Gu Junxing’s chest, watching the swaying branches outside. In the lushness of summer, her heart kept falling for Gu Junxing all over again.
The way he clumsily did housework, the flowers he brought home after work, his serious side, his gentle side…
"Gu Junxing, I love you."
"Suian, I love you too."
They smiled at each other, silently making plans for the future.
**The End**