Come To My Side

4

It's not that Guan Xi has never done this sort of perfunctory confession before. She did it the first time when her company's tourism project required his subsidiary company 'U-Road Travel' to carry out a huge publicity on their homepage.

The second time was when her favourite brand released a super limited-edition product and she needed him to go reach out to the brand side. Of course, the key point is to pay using his money.

The third time was when she got wasted after drinking and insisted on painting his nails.

The fourth time was when she was interested in one car but her Dad didn't allow her to buy it because he felt it was unsafe. The fifth time was…. anyway, she has done it for many many times. She always acts coy and tells him she loves him whenever she's in a good mood or wants something.

However, everything was just all talk and no action, today is the first time for her to make an actual effort like this.

Nevertheless, Jiang Lianzhou stared at the stuff in front of him and would rather have her do what she normally does, acting all well-behaved and coquettish at one moment then return to happily minding her own business the second she succeeded in getting her way.

Because looking at all this stuff honestly made his eyes hurt.

"Limited edition bag? What's that? Baby, can you not be so realistic?" Guan Xi walked towards him,"Come, I've prepared lots of presents for you, open and see them."

They were currently inside the house, but Guan Xi actually put on a glorious black short dress.

Click clack click——the sound of her delicate high heel was approaching him.

Jiang Suizhou's swept his gaze past her back and felt that his eyes had been soothed for a little. With that, he loosened up slightly, letting her do as she pleased, he was pulled by her to sit down on the sofa.

"Know why there's twenty-eight gifts?" Guan Xi asked in high spirits.

Following her rhythm, Jiang Suizhou tossed a question,"Why?"

"Because you're turning twenty-eight this year, ah. Every single gift in here represents each of your past birthdays. It's such a shame that I can't be part of your past, that's why I'm planning to make it up for you now."

The ingenuity, the affection, each word were brimming with a strong air of avant-garde**.

(**new and unusual or experimental ideas.)

Once again, Guan Xi found that she was almost feeling deeply moved by herself.

Jiang Suizhou dully looked at her, then got his hand on one of the nearest boxes.

The box was marked with 'Twelfth Birthday', a birthday present that was meant for twelve-years-old him.

He thought about it before saying,"You've got poor memories, don't you? You participated in this birthday."

Guan Xi's smile turned rigid,"Did I?"

"Yeah, you also knocked over my cake that year."

"......?"

Jiang Suizhou put it aside and reached out to take another gift box that's marked with 'Fifteenth Birthday',"You take part in this birthday as well. You gave me a box with a dead spider inside, but persisted in saying that it was a specimen."

"......"

He then pulled the eighteenth birthday present box,"This year's birthday, you still participated in it, you eat and drink to your heart's content then. You also scratched my first car after becoming an adult in the parking lot when you went home. Oh! You didn't pay for damages either."

"..........."

He continued further,"On this year——"

"Hold on."

Jiang Suizhou stopped and turned to look at her. The smile on Guan Xi's face was almost gone, she said through her gritted teeth,"You remember all those things about me very well."

Jiang Suizhou let out a faint laugh,"It's nothing, I simply have a good memory."

Guan Xi wanted to roll her eyes at him.

When Jiang Suizhou saw that she didn't say anything, he bowed his head and tore open the gift box while saying, "Guan Xi, is something the matter?"

Cold, stoic, heartless!

Jiang Suizhou is still Jiang Suizhou, it's pointless to try to make him feel touched.

Curbing her smile, Guan Xi played dumb,"What? Nothing, I'm fine."

He opened the gift box for his twenty-two birthday. There was a fountain pen inside that was meticulously engraved with J on its body. Jiang Suizhou took a look at it, he didn't seem to be particularly surprised nor satisfied, his face merely showed two words in capital letters: 'SO-SO'.

"So what makes you so happy?" He asked.

"Right, of course I'm happy because you're back."

Jiang Suizhou paused for a moment,"One day not seeing you and you suddenly know how to talk**."

(**It figuratively means saying words that please others. It often means that one is able to say words that make others happy in various situations.)

"You won't understand, this is my true feeling."

Jiang Suizhou put down the fountain pen in his hand, "It's enough if you're happy that I came back, there's no need to do all this messy stuff."

 "What messy stuff? I personally set everything, I've spent great effort on it!"Guan Xi said this without a slight trace of guilt, as if all those people she asked for help a moment ago were nothing but air.

Jiang Suizhou naturally was not convinced that this Salted Fish** would get everything done by herself. But he didn't expose her, he simply let her go and extended his hand to loosen his necktie, "Alright, I'm going to take a shower."

(**a metaphor for people who don't want to move.)

"Not opening the gifts?"

"Help me do it, I'll be back to take a look later."

Guan Xi: "????"

Jiang Suizhou walked away.

Guan Xi stared at his back then looked at the mountain of gift boxes that took ages to arrange, her face turned green.

Did he break his hand during his business trip! He wanted her to help open them for him?

How could this person be such a dog to this level!

Guan Xi stood there angrily for two minutes, once she calmed herself down, she took out her phone and made a call to Lang Ningyi.

Seeing her call, Lang Ningyi was kind of surprised,"What's going on? Jiang Suizhou hasn't returned yet?"

"He's back."

"Then how do you still have the time to give me a call?"

Guan Xi answered in a low voice,"Don't get me started on this, it makes me angry. Sister, I devoted so much time to it. Leaving the fact that he didn't get touched by it, he actually went as far as only opening one gift! Pissing me off."

Lang Ningyi: "I see…. I guess it's too materialistic and has no appeal to our President Jiang."

"Then I also said I love him!"

"What happened next?"

With indifferent expression, Guan Xi said,"He asked whether I wanted any bag."

"Pfft hahaha—" Lang Ningyi let out a laugh, but she afterwards felt that it was tactless of her and quickly suppressed it back,"Then, listen…don't be discouraged, you have to keep on working hard."

"Who's discouraged? What's so discouraging about this? I'm pissed off!"

Guan Xi may not have many likeable traits, but she's pretty headstrong and persistent. It's either do the best or don't do it. Now that she has set her goal on being a perfect girlfriend, she without doubt has the confidence to excel in it.

Besides, which one weighs more between 'getting pissed off by Jiang Suizhou' or 'her parents and inheritance'? It's certainly the latter!

Lang Ningyi: "Try to figure out whether he has any hobbies. You must prescribed the right medicine**, you have to make him deeply enchanted by you. So that it's no longer an option for him to break up with you."

(**A metaphor for deciding how to solve a problem for a specific situation.)

"Hobby?" Guan Xi seriously thought about what Jiang Suizhou usually does when they're together.

After thinking for a long time, all her brain could come up with were just a bunch of those impure stuff.

"............"

However, you can barely consider that a hobby, right?

Thus, she consequently hung up the call, put out all the candles in the room, then headed straight to the master bedroom.

Jiang Suizhou was still showering inside the bathroom, aware of the fact that he never locked the door when he's taking a bath at home, she directly went in.

Misty fog spreads throughout the bathroom, Guan Xi has her eyes towards the shower glass. The man inside turned his head to look over, but owing to the water stain on the glass, the sight was blurred.

She went over, pulled open the glass door, and stood outside of it with her high heeled shoes.

Water was still falling from the shower, Jiang Suizhou stared at her, his gaze somewhat changed.

Guan Xi swept past him up and down several times, then said meaningfully,"Did you go to the gym lately? You've become more muscular, ah."

Tsk, this man is undoubtedly a dog, but he's got a really good figure.

Guan Xi lamented in her heart, she raised her eyes again and asked in a low voice, "Can I take a bath with you?"

Jiang Suizhou's eyes darkened, "Are you looking for trouble today?"

"What? I can't?" Guan Xi withdrew her hand and backed away a step, "Then I'll come back later."

Guan Xi was about to turn around, however, her hand was grabbed by Jiang Suizhou the moment she tried to do so.

Guan Xi secretly smiled in triumph.

The temperature inside the bathroom was high, engulfed with water mist, everything somewhat faded away.

Halfway through it, she suddenly asked,".....Jiang Suizhou, um.....do you want to get married....."

"What?" He stopped at once.

"Lingfan said...her life after marriage is pretty good."

"You want kids?"

Guan Xi paused and immediately shook her head, "I don't."

When she finished saying that, she then had a realisation on why Jiang Suizhou would ask such a question.

In the matter of marriage, Guan Xi was quite repulsive about it before. Because she understands the attitude of the elders of both families, when they aren't married they will rush them to get married, and if they do get married, afterwards everyone will definitely urge them to have children.

Hence she once said to Jiang Suizhou that she would never get married until she turned twenty-eight because she didn't want to have a baby so early. She also jokingly told him that if she did get married before she turned twenty-eight, it's probably because she suddenly lost her mind and wanted a child.

He remembered that, so he thought she wanted a child.

Jiang Suizhou: "Then you....."

"I'm just asking, I don't want kids!" Guan Xi's face tensed up.

Jiang Suizhou hooked her hair with his index finger, he said in a businesslike tone,"My schedule is already full this year, I don't have the time. If you have this thought, let's do it next year, I'll set aside some time."

"....Can't it be sooner? Like in the next few days maybe?"

"You think getting married is the same as going grocery shopping?"

Oh, she can tell that he didn't want to.

But that's to be expected, she can't imagine the amount of things that have to be done for their extravagant wedding itinerary. For a person like Jiang Suizhou, his schedule must have been very carefully planned, he probably hated to throw his arrangements into disorder.

Guan Xi gave it a thought,"Then you won't hesitate, right? Are you sure you'll definitely marry me in the future? You're not going to back out, are you?"

Jiang Suizhou had no time to chat about their future prospects, he was baffled and somewhat irritated at for asking such a question in this kind of situation.

"Must you talk about this now….be quiet."

"No, I just.....Ah....."

Jiang Shuzhou has plenty of ways to make her shut up.

_____

Guan Xi ended up lying down dead tired on the bed. It wasn't time to go to bed yet, so Jiang Suizhou went to his study to get some work done.

Guan Xi nestled under the quilt, holding her phone and sending a message to Lang Ningyi: [Marriage proposal rejected.]

Lang Ningyi: [What? He's unwilling?]

Guan Xi: [No, he is willing but wants it next year, he's busy this year.]

Lang Ningyi: [Next year could also work….so long as there's no unpredictable twist.]

Guan Xi inexplicably felt a little worried, however, come to think of it, there's actually nothing worth worrying about. 

Just as she was about to send another reply to Lang Ningyi, she received a message on her phone, it was a voicemail sent to her by her father, Guan Xinghao.

"Xixi, come home tomorrow. Yingying is returning early, Dad thought that it'll be best for both of you to meet first."

Yingying? Who?

Putting down her phone, Guan Xi stared blankly towards the ceiling. A few seconds later, her eyes flashed, a realisation hit her.

Oh… it seems to be that girl's name.