Back Then, I Adored You

Qin Zhi’ai didn’t know how long she had stood there absent-mindedly, but when she recovered, it was already dark outside the window.

She threw the envelope in the drawer of the dresser, then turned around and walked downstairs.

When she entered the dining room, she didn’t expect Gu Yusheng to still be eating at the table. Hearing her coming, Gu Yusheng raised his eyes to look at her, with not even the slightest change showing on his face. As if she didn’t exist, he lowered his head and continued to tap on the screen of his phone to check the news over a bowl of soup.

“Miss, which do you prefer?” The housekeeper pulled out the chair opposite Gu Yusheng for her. “Noodles like Mr. Gu, or rice?”

Since she had moved into his villa three months earlier, she hadn’t sat at the same table with him except when they had meals together in the Gu Mansion. Her steps paused for a second, then she walked toward the table and sat down, saying gently to the housekeeper, “Rice.”

“Okay, Miss,” the housekeeper responded and quickly carried over a bowl of rice for her.

Qin Zhi’ai said thanks to her in a very low voice, then picked up her chopsticks and started eating with her head slightly down.

The dining room was quiet. There was no other sound except the subtle, crisp sound of the chopsticks colliding with the plate.

When Qin Zhi’ai had entered the room, there was not much soup left in Gu Yusheng’s bowl. He stared at his phone’s screen for a while and drank the soup up, then put down the bowl, stood up, and left.

Perhaps because Qin Zhi’ai had eaten too much at lunch, or because of Gu Yusheng’s presence, her appetite was low. She sat at the table alone and forced herself to eat half of the bowl of rice, then put down the chopsticks.

She didn’t immediately get up. When the housekeeper came in, she whispered, “What… is he doing?”

She had meant to ask if he was gone, but when the words rose to her throat, she realized how improper she would sound, so she changed her question.

“Mr. Gu? He’s watching TV in the living room.”

Upon hearing the housekeeper’s answer, Qin Zhi’ai nodded calmly without saying anything, but a sense of anxiety arose in her heart.

She remained sitting there for a while, then left the dining room after suppressing her anxiety with much effort.

Gu Yusheng was on the sofa, his feet propped up on the ottoman, watching the Olympic Games.

The TV was broadcasting a table tennis game at a very low volume, bursting out a blast of applause from time to time.

Gu Yusheng was so fascinated by the game that he didn’t notice that Qin Zhi’ai had walked out of the dining room.

Standing not far away, she stared at him for a while, and saw no signs that he would leave. She tilted her head to look at the clock.

It’s nine o’clock in the evening, but he’s still here… Is he going to stay at home tonight?

The room where she slept was his bedroom… If he slept at home tonight, did she have to sleep with him in the same bed?