"Po City?" Gu Zhijing thought for a moment, then gave Nian Suian a confident answer.
"Yes, there is such a place, but it's in Southeast Asia, not in our country. I've never been there. The visa seems very difficult to obtain. Very few people from our country can go there."
Upon hearing Gu Zhijing's words, Nian Suian couldn't help but think to herself: Of course the visa is difficult to get, she had to go through a lot of trouble to get there before. If everyone could go there easily, the whole world would be in chaos.
No wonder! No wonder she could stumble upon such familiar drama at a simple parent-teacher meeting. So this was the stronghold of tycoons! The old cliché plot of her running and him chasing, him unable to escape even with wings - how had she not thought of it before?
Gu Zhijing noticed that Nian Suian had fallen silent after asking that question. He guessed she might have some acquaintance in this Po City. But seeing her complicated expression, he suspected it might be an ex-boyfriend, so Gu Zhijing thoughtfully kept quiet.
During dinner that evening, Nian Suian was still pondering the day's events. So what kind of script had she been given here?
She ran through all the tycoon drama scripts in her mind.
The tycoon's first love? Clearly not.
Pregnant wife running away? She hadn't even met her convenient husband, so no chance of being pregnant.
Raising a child in a wealthy family? The kid was already this big, probably didn't need that anymore.
Marriage first, then love? This was possible, but she hadn't met Mr. Gu yet, so she'd keep this possibility in reserve.
"Young Master! Eat slowly, eat slowly!"
Nian Suian's thoughts were interrupted by this cry. She looked up to see Gu Zhijing, sitting across from her, seemingly choking on something and rolling his eyes. Butler Su and Auntie beside him were patting his back and fetching water.
Seeing Gu Zhijing almost choke to death, Nian Suian stood up, exasperated.
What's going on? Hasn't the Heimlich maneuver been popularized in tycoon circles?
Under Nian Suian's "rescue," Gu Zhijing finally coughed up the culprit - a piece of spare rib.
"Wuwuwu, Stepmother, you're my lifesaver."
"Madam is really amazing with that move!"
"Young Master, please eat slowly, no one's going to steal your food. You really scared me today."
Nian Suian found herself unable to move, her arm tightly held.
Fifteen years old, almost choked to death on a spare rib...
She suddenly realized what kind of script she had been given.
That's right, she was the extra character taking care of a wealthy family's low-intelligence child. After all, in the tycoon world, geniuses already show traits at three years old. A fifteen-year-old who could choke while eating was definitely below the average IQ range of the tycoon world.
"There, there, eat your food." Poor thing, so young and already not right in the head. Nian Suian suddenly felt a surge of cyber maternal love, patting her convenient son's forehead and pushing him away.
After sitting back in her seat, she ladled a bowl of soup for Gu Zhijing.
"Eat slowly, have some soup."
Gu Zhijing felt that Nian Suian appeared particularly gentle and loving now, her whole being radiating maternal love. In his childhood dreams, this was exactly how he imagined his mother would be, patting his head and ladling soup for him.
He just didn't quite understand the sympathy in her eyes.
What was she sympathizing with?
That his mother wasn't by his side at such a young age?
Yes, that must be it!
Nian Suian had no idea that in this short moment, Gu Zhijing's thoughts had already gone through a complete cycle.
That night, after showering, Nian Suian sat on the balcony of her room, pondering recent events.
This world was strange and new to her, but she had no intention of returning to her original world. Setting aside whether she could return or not, her original world held little appeal for her now - no family, few friends, nothing but endless overtime and a mediocre salary.
But this place was different! Although her future here was uncertain, at least she had money! She didn't have to spend on food, clothing, shelter, or transportation now. She had even checked her bank account balance - while it might not be much for rich people, it was a large sum for a poor office worker like her. And wasn't there something about a trust fund? She'd check how much that was in a while.
Money was one aspect, but another important reason was...
This place was interesting!
Jinjiang City - just hearing the name, she knew there would be endless drama here. She decided to go out for a stroll tomorrow. Drama wouldn't come knocking if she stayed at home all day!
After planning her next moves, Nian Suian went to bed contentedly.
Before falling asleep, Nian Suian's last thought was: Find time to travel to Haitang City.
The next day, Nian Suian also got up early. When she went downstairs, Gu Zhijing was still eating breakfast.
First day of school, no need for early self-study yet.
"I'll take you to school today," Nian Suian said, picking up a xiaolongbao.
"I'm not a kid anymore. Who gets dropped off by their parents in high school?" Gu Zhijing disagreed. Being escorted by a parent would damage his high school image.
"It's your first day of high school! It's an important day, you know? You'll see, I'm sure other parents will be dropping off your classmates too." The drama with Xu Licheng and Teacher Cen wasn't over yet, and she didn't believe other parents wouldn't show up. Xu Licheng's niece was even in Teacher Cen's class. However, Nian Suian didn't plan to tell Gu Zhijing about this. It was fine for adults to gossip, but how could students gossip about their teachers?
Gu Zhijing was half-convinced and got into the car with Nian Suian to go to school.
Seeing this, Butler Su was very moved, even secretly wiping away a tear. He then took out his phone and sent a WeChat message to his boss.
[Boss! Mother's love, son's filial piety! Madam and Young Master are getting along so well! Today Madam is taking Young Master to school. Our Young Master finally has a mother's love, wuwuwu] He even added two trendy crying emojis.
Gu Zhijing's doubt turned to confusion when he saw Qu Zizhou standing with his mother at the school gate.
"Qu Zizhou!" Gu Zhijing called out to his buddy, wanting to ask what was going on.
"Gu Zhijing!" Qu Zizhou was quite surprised to see Nian Suian dropping off Gu Zhijing too. This stepmother seemed pretty nice. He also greeted Nian Suian: "Hello, Sister!"
"What kind of address is that!"
Before Gu Zhijing could blow up, Qu Zizhou's mother had already given him a smack on the head. "Mrs. Gu, you're dropping off your child at school too?"
"Yes, you can just call me Suian or Xiao Nian." The thought of being called Mrs. Gu made her skin crawl.
"So you're Qu Zizhou. You two are desk mates, so make sure to look out for each other." It turns out Qu Zizhou was one of the little friends who had greeted Gu Zhijing yesterday, the one who said, "Mother and son can't hold a grudge overnight."
"Of course, of course."
"Mom, we're heading in now," Qu Zizhou said goodbye to his mother, ready to go in with Gu Zhijing.
"Go on, go on." Qu Zizhou's mother waved her hand impatiently. She hadn't really come specifically to send him off, and she hadn't even gotten any gossip out of it.
"I'm off! Little Mom-sis," Gu Zhijing waved to Nian Suian.
"Go on then, and pay attention in class!" At this moment, Nian Suian felt a bit like a parent seeing a child off to school.
"You two seem to get along quite well?" Qu Zizhou's mother said with a smile.
"Zhijing is a good kid," Nian Suian replied simply.
This trip hadn't yielded any juicy gossip, so it was better to hurry home and catch up on sleep.
Haitang City.
"Quick, book me a flight ticket. I want to go home," Gu Junxing couldn't stand the local customs of Haitang City anymore. As soon as the contract was signed, he immediately asked his assistant to book a flight ticket.