Chapter 952: Chapter 951: Marry Her If Anything Happens—With a Dowry to Boot

He walked over and sat down, glancing at the mess of clothes and chuckled. "What’s all this?"

"None of your business." Gu Mingzhu started packing again, but she really couldn’t manage it. She couldn’t even get the suitcase to close. Finally she got mad, flung the suitcase away, and the clothes scattered all over the floor again.

Qin Siyuan just watched her the whole time, apparently with no intention of helping.

Only when she sat on the sofa in a huff did he finally go over and, in a good temper, help her fold all the clothes and put them into the suitcase. When his big hand picked up those thin little pieces of her clothing, she finally felt embarrassed. She went over, biting her lip. "I’ll do it myself."

Qin Siyuan smiled faintly. "Let me finish, otherwise you’ll be crying again in a bit."

"I’m not that into crying." Gu Mingzhu tipped her chin slightly. "I hardly cried at all growing up."

Qin Siyuan looked at her quietly. She dropped her head and stuffed clothes in in a messy way, and finally managed to get everything in.

With her brows lowered and eyes down, she looked very docile, but from that delicate little face he could still tell she’d been pampered and spoiled once upon a time.

Back in the days of the four great families, even the Qin family had wanted to climb up by marrying into them. He’d never imagined that one day he’d be the one taking care of Gu Mingzhu... Lost in thought, he didn’t notice Gu Mingzhu sitting right beside him, staring at him the whole time.

"What is it?" Qin Siyuan gave a mild smile.

Gu Mingzhu pressed her lips together, hesitated a bit, but still asked, "You’re so good—how come Gu Anxi still liked someone else?"

Qin Siyuan froze, not expecting that question.

He was silent for a long time before saying hoarsely, "I was the one who liked someone else first."

Then he ruffled her hair. "I’m not as good as you think."

Gu Mingzhu asked with almost childlike bluntness, "Is it that maid’s daughter?"

Qin Siyuan: utterly speechless.

That was just how Gu Mingzhu was. Those kinds of harsh words came out of her mouth perfectly naturally. Fortunately Wanqing wasn’t here, or she’d die of anger.

After a long while, he finally smiled. "More or less. Anyway, it was my fault."

Gu Mingzhu stared straight at him. "Do you still like her then?"

Qin Siyuan: once again speechless.

Couldn’t this girl be a little more tactful?

In the end, he didn’t answer that question. Instead, he picked up the luggage. "I’ve got a meeting this morning. Should we head out?"

Gu Mingzhu faltered for a second, then asked softly, "How long are you staying in Jiangcheng?"

Qin Siyuan looked at her. "About half a year, I guess. Why?"

Gu Mingzhu let out an "oh," then after a while asked again, "Then will you buy a place here?"

Qin Siyuan paused, frowning. "Buy a place?"

"Yeah, buy an apartment, so you don’t have to stay in a hotel." Gu Mingzhu bit her lip, her voice getting smaller and smaller. "If they give me another room, it’ll be really expensive... I can’t be living with you the whole time, right?"

"Does it bother you?" he asked her quietly.

Gu Mingzhu shook her head at once. "No, no, it’s not that, I just..."

She lowered her head. "I just think it’s not good. Sister Si Lan won’t be happy about it."

Qin Siyuan suddenly laughed.

So she did know how to gauge people’s moods.

Good. Not completely dumb.

Gu Mingzhu trailed after him and spoke in a small voice. "It’s just... She looks like she doesn’t really like me. If it were some other girl living with you, she’d probably be thrilled."

Qin Siyuan suddenly reached back and gently pushed the door shut with his foot. His body tipped forward, and Gu Mingzhu’s back hit the wall. Then his warm body pressed up against her.

She tensed up a little, staring at that handsome face, her heart beating a bit too fast.

He, he... really does look a lot like Brother Congwen.

But he’d been involved with the maid’s daughter. She was not going to like him.

Besides, he’d once liked Gu Anxi. She couldn’t like him.

Qin Siyuan lowered his head, his lips brushing the soft skin behind her ear as he spoke in a husky voice. "How could you say that?"

Gu Mingzhu was pinned against the wall, not daring to move at all. Her whole body trembled slightly despite herself, and her voice shook too. "I..."

"You just said it’s fine even if we’re together?" He smiled. "Did you mean that?"

"Of course not." Gu Mingzhu denied it extremely fast, then snapped back fiercely, "You liked Gu Anxi. I’m not going to like you. And besides, you were with that Wanqing. I... I’m not that desperate."

She stammered, but still sounded very sure of herself.

To be honest, Qin Siyuan had also been raised being doted on. His temper wasn’t that great either. With a girl saying something that nasty to his face, usually he’d have turned around and left long ago. But right now, he didn’t seem that angry. On the contrary, he found her kind of interesting.

He chuckled low. "I thought no one cared about that anymore these days."

"I care." Gu Mingzhu glared at him, saying very seriously, "Your body is dirty."

Qin Siyuan laughed and tugged lightly at her hair. "Okay, I’ll shower more often from now on."

"That’s not what I meant." She let out a little hum. "You’re just... not clean anymore."

Qin Siyuan’s gaze grew a bit deeper. He silently looked at her for a moment, then finally took the suitcase from her hand, opened the door, and walked out.

She didn’t know why, but with that topic ending, she should have felt relieved. Instead there was this faint emptiness in her chest, like they should’ve talked it through a bit more...

When they went out, Gu Anxi was outside, already changed into a tracksuit—long sleeves and long pants. In this heat, it looked really out of place. Gu Mingzhu stared at her, and in a moment her eyes were brimming with tears.

Gu Anxi walked over and looked up at Qin Siyuan. "Sorry to trouble you. She’s got a bad temper and she’s spoiled. Please look after her."

"It’s not really a hassle." Qin Siyuan paused for a second. "It’s just, if anything happens... I can take responsibility, but I’m not taking responsibility for getting punched."

Gu Anxi waved her hand with a look of utter disdain. "Fine, if anything happens, just marry her. I’ll even throw in a dowry."

Gu Mingzhu jumped up. "Gu Anxi, I’m not that easy. I’m not like you, shacking up with Brother Xichen after just a month."

Gu Anxi jumped up too. "That’s because Uncle looks good!"

(Updates tomorrow)