"Well, well, Mr. Gu out shopping with the missus?"
As Nian Suian and Gu Junxing were walking home, they suddenly encountered a man face-to-face. Nian Suian didn't recognize him and assumed he was just a neighbor saying hello. So she didn't speak first, waiting for Gu Junxing to respond.
"Mr. Xu," Gu Junxing nodded at the man, not saying much else. He didn't even bother answering the question and was about to walk past him.
Even Nian Suian, slow on the uptake as she was, sensed something was off. Gu Junxing was always a polite man; he could even exchange a few jokes with Fang Anzhi. How come with this guy, he acted like saying one more word was too much?
However, the other man didn't seem to want to let it go at that. "I always thought Mr. Gu was a career-focused man, but look at you now, all lovey-dovey with your wife in your arms." He then cast a meaningful glance at Nian Suian. "But then again, with such a beautiful woman, it's only natural for Mr. Gu to dote on her."
This comment disgusted Nian Suian. She realized that this man had clearly come to cause trouble today.
Gu Junxing stepped forward, positioning himself in front of Nian Suian to block her from the man's offensive gaze.
"Tsk, is your company performing poorly again, Mr. Xu? Is that why your mouth is so foul?"
"You!" The other man seemed not to have expected Gu Junxing to be so direct and undiplomatic.
Gu Junxing shifted everything he was carrying in both hands to his left hand, then grabbed Nian Suian's wrist with his right and started walking forward.
"Mr. Xu, let me give you a piece of advice: stop projecting. Just because you're a man who doesn't respect women doesn't mean everyone else is like you."
The man seemed to have lost his composure. Even after Nian Suian and Gu Junxing had walked quite a distance away, he was still cursing behind them, his language becoming increasingly vulgar.
"Gu Junxing! I used to think you were something special. Now I see you're just like the rest. Stop pretending to be such a gentleman. I bet you can't keep your eyes off young girls, and who knows how many you've played around with behind closed doors!"
This time, Nian Suian didn't let Gu Junxing respond. She turned around and cursed right back.
"Go to hell! Shut your filthy mouth!"
Simple profanity, ultimate satisfaction.
The man wanted to say more, but by this time, people on the street had started to notice the commotion and were coming over to see what was happening.
No matter how shameless one is, there's always a limit. So, seeing people gathering to watch, he didn't say anything more and stomped off angrily.
"Who was that guy? What's wrong with him?" Nian Suian said. It was strange, someone running out in the middle of the road to go crazy like that.
"Mm, there is something wrong with him. His company is a competitor of ours. We recently won a big project that they didn't get. He's always been unscrupulous in business, often using underhanded tactics. He has a very bad reputation in the industry." After a pause, he added, "It's not just his business practices; he's a garbage human being too. If you encounter him in the future, don't engage with him." It was clear that Gu Junxing really despised the man; his brows were furrowed as he spoke.
Nian Suian had never seen Gu Junxing dislike someone so much. It seemed this Mr. Xu was truly despised by all, so she asked curiously, "How exactly is he garbage?"
"No humanity, no morals," Gu Junxing said these six words and didn't elaborate further. He generally didn't like gossiping about others behind their backs, and as for someone like Xu Feng, he was afraid that speaking about his deeds would not only dirty his own mouth but also Nian Suian's ears.
So he changed the subject to talk about clothes, "The store had already delivered the clothes before you came back."
"So quickly?" Nian Suian hadn't expected such high efficiency, not much different from food delivery.
"They charge so much, shouldn't they be quick?"
Hearing this, Nian Suian looked up at him: "You actually think it's expensive? I thought people like you wouldn't bat an eye at spending money."
"What kind of talk is that? I'm not oblivious to the value of money, and I don't have mountains of gold and silver. Besides, what do you mean by 'people like you'? What kind of people are we? Aren't we the same kind of people as you?"
"Of course we're not the same kind of people. After all, I don't have a black card," Nian Suian said. As she finished speaking, she freed one hand, took out the card Gu Junxing had given her from her bag, and slipped it back into Gu Junxing's breast pocket.
"Why are you giving it back? If you want to buy something in the future, use this card. It was meant for you in the first place." Gu Junxing was about to reach into his pocket, but Nian Suian stopped him.
He intended to give it, but Nian Suian really didn't intend to take it.
"What are you doing? Our relationship isn't at the level of giving cards yet. I only used this card today to buy things for you and your son. The dress I bought for myself can be considered a thank-you fee, but I don't want anything else." Nian Suian liked money, but she wouldn't take what she shouldn't. Transferring thirty or fifty thousand was different from this; Nian Suian knew that Gu Junxing could casually give away thirty or fifty thousand, just like she would often casually give Gu Zhijing three or five hundred...
Apart from occasionally giving Gu Zhijing some pocket money, she also added things to the house from time to time. After all, the original decor of the Gu house was so dated it made her want to enter menopause on the spot. Except for her own room, staying in other places for too long made her feel like she was about to practice ancient tomb-dwelling martial arts. She couldn't help but gradually add quite a few things to the house. Although Nian Suian didn't like the original decor, the quality was indeed good, so buying ordinary things wouldn't match. She had to buy expensive items, and the red envelopes and transfers Gu Junxing occasionally sent before, in fact, Nian Suian had spent seven or eight tenths of it on this.
"You really don't want it?" Mainly because Nian Suian usually seemed to like money so much, Gu Junxing still didn't understand why she wouldn't take the card if she liked money.
"Accepting favors makes one indebted. I don't want that." If she took the card, things would become complicated later, and Nian Suian didn't like that.
"But aren't you already eating my food and living in my house?" Gu Junxing didn't understand. She was usually so happy, why was she drawing such a clear line now?
"I could move out, you know. Just because we can't divorce doesn't mean we can't live separately. It's your son who can't bear to part with me..." Nian Suian said gleefully.
"Being liked by Gu Zhijing isn't something to be proud of. He likes everyone."
"Mm, yes, he likes everyone except his father," Nian Suian twisted the knife without mercy.
"..."
The two of them bickered playfully as they walked home together. To an observer who couldn't hear their conversation, their expressions and body language made them look like a perfectly matched couple in love.