Setting up a gaming room at home to play games together had been their dream for a long time, so the three of them were excited for quite a while after entering the room.
"Look at you guys, so easily impressed. Come over and eat some cake first," said Gu Zhijing. He wouldn't admit that he was so excited about his dad's agreement that he couldn't sleep half the night, but he still had to keep up appearances in front of his friends.
"Zhijing, did your dad really make this cake?" Chu Mingyan tried to imagine Gu Junxing making a cake in the kitchen and was frightened by his own imagination.
"Of course it's real. The cake is so ugly, no one else in the family could make it except him," Gu Zhijing said as he cut a piece for each of his buddies.
"I think you must have been deliberately badmouthing your dad to us before. He's such a good father, even making you cake. My dad would never do that," said Qu Zizhou. He thought that if he asked his dad to make a cake, his dad might whip him up like cream instead.
"Who knows what's gotten into him today," Even Gu Zhijing couldn't figure it out, but he decided not to dwell on it. They only had this afternoon to play together this week, so it was better to focus on gaming.
After Gu Junxing's cake was taken away by Gu Zhijing, Nian Suian made another smaller one herself, spreading thick cream on it according to her own preference.
"What are you looking at?" Nian Suian found Gu Junxing in the yard, holding the cake. "Try the one I made."
"Nothing in particular," Gu Junxing didn't know Nian Suian had gone back to the kitchen to make a new one. "Why didn't you call me?"
"What, have you gotten addicted to baking?" Nian Suian scooped a large spoonful of cream into her mouth and sighed with satisfaction. "It's so delicious! I used the strawberries you cut, so you helped too."
"There's a banquet tomorrow night. Do you want to come with me?"
"Not interested," Nian Suian refused. She had attended some kind of dinner party before and her face had been stiff from smiling all night. She found it boring and had no interest.
"It's Old Mr. Yan's 70th birthday. The Xiao family and the Qiao family should be there too," Gu Junxing knew what Nian Suian was interested in. The Yan Group was a top-ranking company in Jinjiang City and even nationwide. Many important people would attend Old Mr. Yan's 70th birthday celebration.
"How come I haven't heard Peipei mention it?" She had been in touch with Qiao Peipei since coming back, but hadn't heard about this.
Nian Suian sent a WeChat message to Qiao Peipei but hadn't received a reply yet.
"Just the two of us going? What about Zhijing?"
"We're not taking him. Don't worry, he's still excited about his new game these days. He won't have time to go out with us."
"Let me think about it," Nian Suian was a bit conflicted. On one hand, she really didn't like such occasions and wasn't very comfortable with them. On the other hand, Gu Junxing rarely made requests and had been quite accommodating to her lately, so she felt a bit bad about refusing.
"It's okay if you don't want to go," Gu Junxing could see what she was thinking and reassured her, "It's just a birthday banquet, not that important."
"Who did you go with to these events before?"
"By myself, alone."
"Then I'll go with you. Just... just because you made cake for Zhijing today," Nian Suian thought that everyone else would be in pairs, and Gu Junxing going alone seemed a bit pitiful.
Hearing this, Gu Junxing smiled and took a bite of the cake, "Looks like I've benefited from Zhijing after all."
Sure enough, just as Gu Junxing had said, when Nian Suian told Gu Zhijing that evening that she would be attending the banquet with Gu Junxing on Sunday night, Gu Zhijing had no reaction and didn't say he wanted to go too. He was preoccupied with his new gaming equipment and had no interest in any banquet.
Nian Suian didn't receive a reply from Qiao Peipei until just before bed. Qiao Peipei herself didn't know about the banquet as she was traveling with Shen Huaizhi. She only asked Qiao Yan about it after Nian Suian inquired, and informed Nian Suian that Qiao Yan would be representing the Qiao family at the event.
Although Nian Suian was a bit disappointed that Qiao Peipei wouldn't be there, she had already agreed to go with Gu Junxing, so she didn't think too much about it.
After his friends left, Gu Zhijing ate dinner and then went upstairs to play for a few more hours. He even brought Tangyuan (his pet) to sit on the desk and watch him play.
It wasn't until eleven o'clock, when Tangyuan had fallen asleep, that Gu Zhijing carried it back and prepared to go downstairs to sleep himself.
Before entering his own room, Gu Zhijing saw that the light in the study was still on, so he knocked and went in.
"Dad, you're not asleep yet?"
"Mm, there's a sudden issue with an overseas project. I'm dealing with it. Did you need something?"
This kid Gu Zhijing usually tried to stay as far away from the study as possible and wouldn't come in without a reason.
Gu Zhijing didn't answer, but instead ran over and bent down to hug his dad.
"Dad, thank you for making me the cake."
Gu Junxing was stunned for a moment before patting his son's back. "Alright, let go now."
"It was your Aunt Nian's suggestion. Dad thought she had a point. She's more thoughtful than me. I've overlooked many things in the past."
Gu Zhijing could more or less guess that this must have been Nian Suian's idea, after all, his dad hadn't thought of doing anything like this for him in the past dozen years.
"Dad, I think she's really great. What do you think?"
They both knew who "she" referred to.
"What are you trying to say?" Gu Junxing didn't answer his son's question, but asked him instead.
"I'm not trying to say anything. I just want to know if you like her."
"Kids shouldn't pry into adult matters," Gu Junxing wasn't the type of parent who believed in being friends with his child, and he certainly wouldn't discuss matters of liking someone with a child.
But Gu Zhijing had been his dad's son for over a decade after all, and he had the necessary understanding. For someone like his dad to listen to someone else, and even do something as previously unthinkable as making a cake, was quite telling in itself.
"If there's nothing else, go to bed early." Gu Junxing looked up to see his son standing there motionless, lost in thought, occasionally chuckling to himself, and found it a bit unbearable.
"Dad, do you think if I called Aunt Nian 'Mom', would she agree?"
"If you want to call her that, go ahead. If not, no one's forcing you. Don't overthink it."
"I think she would agree. But..." Gu Zhijing paused, leaning on his dad's desk, "I think if you called her 'wife', she definitely wouldn't agree."
"Gu Zhijing."
"Yes!"
"Get out."
"Okay!"
Gu Zhijing bounced out happily. Ah, he could sleep well after being a bit naughty.