Nian Suian didn't take this small provocation seriously at all. Gu Junxing chuckled and said, "I can do it, but do you dare?"
Normally, Nian Suian would have gotten emotional at this point and shouted: "What wouldn't I dare to do?!"
But she didn't. She knew better than to engage in empty talk, as she had always been a cautious person. True, she was very attracted to Gu Junxing's face and physique right now, but that didn't mean she wanted to be his real wife.
"Haha, you dare, but I don't," Nian Suian said without a hint of embarrassment. "If you're so eager to build a real family, just let me know. We can get divorced immediately, as long as you return my money."
"You're thinking too much," Gu Junxing stared into Nian Suian's eyes, enunciating each word. Nian Suian could clearly see the meaning in his eyes: Coward, I knew you wouldn't dare.
Recently, Gu Junxing had been resting at home, which meant that Nian Suian and Gu Junxing would be spending every day together in the same house. Fortunately, this "house" was very large. Even if ten more people were to join them, everyone would still have their own independent space.
For example, this afternoon, after their "friendly discussion" about the "dare or not" question, Gu Junxing went to the study to read, while Nian Suian returned to her room to watch TV shows.
They had dinner together, after which Gu Junxing went out for a walk, and Nian Suian continued watching her shows in her room.
At 9:30 pm, Gu Junxing returned to his room to rest, while Nian Suian waited downstairs with bright eyes for Gu Zhijing to return home from his evening self-study session.
"You're back! Are you hungry? Tired? Should I ask Nanny Zhang to make you a bowl of noodles?" Nian Suian "gently" inquired as soon as Gu Zhijing entered the door.
Gu Zhijing had just come home and was about to greet Nian Suian when he heard this unexpected welcome. He stood frozen in place, scratching his head in confusion.
"Little Stepmother, what kind of act are you putting on today?"
"Your father told me to correctly recognize my role. I'm now your legal mother. So, how was that? Did I give off the vibe of a loving mother?"
"Please don't do this. It's scary," Gu Zhijing said with an awkward laugh as he took off his backpack and sat down.
"What's scary about it? Don't I make a convincing mother?"
"You were just fine the way you were before. Besides, my real mom never acted like that either," Gu Zhijing replied.
"What was your mother like then?" Nian Suian asked Gu Zhijing, her tone quite serious without a hint of joking.
"My mom... she doesn't really keep in touch with me," Gu Zhijing said calmly, rubbing his knees. He had realized very early on that his mother was different from others. The ten-year-old Gu Zhijing would have been sad and upset, but the current Gu Zhijing no longer felt that way. He was grateful to his mother for giving birth to him, and that was all. He came into this world unexpectedly, and without his mother, he wouldn't exist. So he was grateful to her and didn't resent her current choices.
"I'm sorry. I probably don't know how to be a mother. And I believe that even if I were your real stepmother, I couldn't replace the position and feeling of a biological mother," Nian Suian felt that she couldn't even assume the role of an elder to Gu Zhijing, let alone be his mother. She had never been a mother, nor had she experienced maternal love. In her understanding, "maternal love" was profound and great, beyond words, and she dared not touch this concept.
"Little Stepmother, marrying my dad doesn't mean you have to be my mother. My dad is my dad, and I am myself. My mother doesn't necessarily have to be my dad's wife, and my dad's wife doesn't necessarily have to be my mother."
"Gu Zhijing, I can't believe you just said something so philosophical! Didn't Teacher Cen say your Chinese scores were only average?" Nian Suian was amazed to see Gu Zhijing speaking so seriously, almost like a "man."
"I've read plenty of extracurricular books, you know. Besides, the Chinese exams don't test this kind of thing."
"Chinese exams always have those stupid reading comprehension questions. How am I supposed to figure those out? I'm not a mind reader, how should I know what the author was thinking when they wrote the article?" Once the topic of Chinese scores came up, Gu Zhijing couldn't help but complain endlessly, as if the serious person from a moment ago wasn't him at all.
"Last month's exam, I was just two points away from beating that annoying four-eyes who sits in front of me! It's just because I did so poorly on the Chinese part!" It seemed Gu Zhijing was still hung up on his exam results. Nian Suian remembered her chat with Teacher Cen; a new monthly exam was coming up soon, but this guy was still fixated on the last one.
"Don't give your classmates nicknames. You can't call someone names just because they scored better than you."
"He's annoying! He's been gloating in front of me for a whole month just because he scored higher than me once." Gu Zhijing felt he was simply distinguishing between right and wrong. He didn't dislike people who got good grades; he disliked those who weren't the best but still liked to show off.
Nian Suian thought this was more like how a first-year high school student should behave. He was still a child after all, and that earlier depth didn't suit him.
She comforted him, "Maybe he's just jealous that you're more handsome than him. Don't take it to heart. There are techniques for Chinese reading comprehension; you don't need to actually try to guess what the author was thinking. For high school reading comprehension, the themes are pretty repetitive. You can usually guess the main idea just by looking at the overall topic. I'll buy you a '53' exercise book later, and if you practice more, you'll get the hang of it."
"Of course, no one in our class is more handsome than me," Gu Zhijing said smugly.
Nian Suian laughed. So after all her talk and even sharing exam tips, he only caught the first sentence? His father wasn't this vain; she wondered where he learned it from.
"Be more modest. Girls won't like you if you're like this. Young girls prefer boys who are handsome but unaware of it, not those who constantly brag about their looks."
"How can someone be handsome and not know it? They'd have to be stupid. If you don't know you're good-looking, either there's something wrong with your brain or you're just pretending," Gu Zhijing scoffed. He knew he was very handsome, how could he not be aware of it?
"Alright, alright, suit yourself. If you want a late-night snack, cook the noodles yourself. The soup base is ready-made. I'm going upstairs now." They had been chatting for quite a while, and it was getting late. Nanny Zhang might already be asleep, so there was no need to wake her up. The soup base was prepared anyway, and Gu Zhijing should be able to cook it himself unless he was an idiot.
Nian Suian waved her hand and was about to go upstairs.
"Little Stepmother," Gu Zhijing suddenly called out to her.
"What is it?" Nian Suian turned back, wondering what else he had to say.
Gu Zhijing stood in front of the sofa, looking up at her: "Don't listen to what my dad says. He has no right to demand that you be a real mother, and neither do I. No one in the world has that right. The only person who has the right to choose whether to be a mother or not is the mother herself."
Nian Suian turned her back to him, "If you could write like that in your Chinese compositions, you'd be the model essay for sure."