"Qichen, you're here," Gu Yan said with a smile as she came out of the kitchen. "Sit down for a while. The last dish is almost ready. Gu En, pour your Uncle Ye some tea."
"Okay," Gu En quickly picked up another cup of chocolate milk cap milk tea from the table and, copying what he had seen, handed it to Ye Qichen. "Uncle Ye, drink your milk tea before the milk cap melts."
Seeing this, Duoduo immediately snatched the milk tea.
"What's wrong?" Gu En asked.
"You can't let him drink this," Duoduo whispered.
Gu En was confused and asked in a low voice, "Didn't you say this would increase their affection if they drank it?"
"I..." Duoduo was a bit conflicted, feeling like she had just shot herself in the foot.
She really didn't want to be siblings with Gu En, but she had promised to help him.
She suddenly thought, "My uncle doesn't like sweet things."
"But you said this was an important prop for tonight?" Gu En retorted.
If he didn't drink it, how could it have any effect?
Duoduo: "You didn't say the person to be 'conquered' was my own uncle!"
"..." Gu En was silent for a moment. Not mentioning it beforehand was his fault, but what did that have to do with who the target was?
"What do we do now?" he asked.
Just as Duoduo hesitated, Ye Qichen mistook her intention and said, "If Duoduo wants to drink it, let her. I can have something else."
Duoduo saw Ye Qichen put down the fruit basket and, fearing he would reach for the other two cups of milk tea on the table, quickly handed him the milk tea in her hand. "No, no, Uncle, you drink it."
She thought that since her uncle didn't like sweets, he probably wouldn't drink it.
Unexpectedly, Ye Qichen took the milk tea, then the straw Gu En handed him, inserted it, and took a sip.
Duoduo: "..."
Uncle, you said you didn't like sweets!
Gu En looked at Duoduo, his eyes questioning, "Didn't you say Uncle Ye didn't eat sweets?"
"When you're a guest at someone's home, you should drink the tea offered by the host. That's basic politeness, understand?" Ye Qichen seemed to see through the children's little thoughts, placing his hand on Duoduo's head and saying.
Duoduo's face was a little embarrassed, but seeing that he only took one sip and didn't drink more, she breathed a sigh of relief and silently prayed that it was just one sip and wouldn't have much effect, as it was traditional Chinese medicine, which took a while to work and was weaker in small doses.
"The food is ready. Wash your hands and prepare to eat," Gu Yan's voice came from the kitchen at this moment.
"Okay." Ye Qichen stood up, went into the kitchen to wash his hands, and helped carry the dishes.
Five dishes and one soup. Gu En had never seen such a rich dinner at home in his life, and eating it with someone he liked made him feel very happy.
It was Ye Qichen's first time eating Gu Yan's cooking. He didn't expect her culinary skills to be so good; it had a very homey taste, and he couldn't help but eat a little more.
He often had to attend banquets and ate hotel food, which contained many seasonings and additives. He disliked it. If he wasn't starving, he'd eat a little to fill his stomach, but he rarely touched his chopsticks when out.
Seeing him eat so heartily, Gu Yan felt that her efforts all afternoon were worth it.
She had actually cooked for Ye Qichen before. When she lived in his house back then, she had made him food, but he hadn't eaten it and told her not to bother with such things.
Now, seeing him eat so much, she couldn't help but feel a little secretly pleased, and she unconsciously ate a bit more herself.
Only Duoduo, with her mind preoccupied, didn't enjoy the meal.
At 8:30, Qin Beiting arrived punctually to pick up Duoduo. The dinner here had just finished, and they were clearing the dishes.
Duoduo saw that her uncle had no intention of leaving, and she didn't want to leave either, but Qin Beiting wouldn't allow it. "If you're not back on time, you can't go out to play at night anymore."
Duoduo had no choice but to obediently leave with him. Before going out, she whispered to Gu En, "You have to keep an eye on my uncle and your mom!"
Gu En nodded. "Okay, I will."
He would make sure they interacted more and spent more time together.
Seeing the two of them getting so close, Qin Beiting frowned slightly. He quickly took Duoduo's hand and left. On the way, he reminded her, "Duoduo, you're ten years old now. Boys and girls are different. You can't be as close to boys as you were when you were little."
Duoduo was a little displeased. "Daddy, didn't you fall for Mommy when you were very young?"
Qin Beiting didn't think he was wrong. "I'm a man, and you're a girl. It's different! Girls are easily taken advantage of."
Duoduo didn't listen. "Hmph, you're just allowing officials to set fires but forbidding common people from lighting lamps!"
Qin Beiting: "..."
...
At the rental apartment.
After Gu En helped his mother clear the dishes into the kitchen, he came out to chat with Ye Qichen.
Gu Yan washed the dishes and cut some fruit. Gu En, saying he had homework to do, vacated the living room for the two of them to have some private time.
"Don't you have to work tonight?" Ye Qichen asked, looking at the time.
Gu Yan: "I took leave."
"Mm," Ye Qichen responded, then asked, "Do you still work part-time at the mall near the company during lunch?"
Seeing that nothing could be hidden from him, Gu Yan somewhat self-consciously replied, "Mm."
Ye Qichen saw her sitting there reservedly. The pride she once had had long been worn down by life, and he felt a little regretful. "Gu Yan, you shouldn't be like this."
"Hm?" Gu Yan couldn't understand his meaning for a moment and looked up at him.
Perhaps it was the glow of the small lamps and candles, but she found the man before her exceptionally handsome. Her heart began to beat a little faster, her throat felt dry, and her body seemed to be faintly warming up?
"You could actually live a much better life. There's no need to spend your time on such strenuous work," Ye Qichen said.
Gu Yan's lips moved, wanting to explain something, but she didn't know how to explain it to him.
She understood what Ye Qichen meant. Under her mother's forceful tutelage, she had a solid academic background in accounting.
To be honest, as a senior accountant, working as a junior accountant in the current accounting firm was indeed beneath her.
However, what Ye Qichen didn't know was that ever since the Gu family went bankrupt, she had been intentionally ostracized by many companies, especially those that had offended the Gu family in the past.
They had banded together and deliberately excluded her, making it impossible for her to establish herself in Beishi.
Later, she had Gu En and moved to the capital. To make a living and support her child, she couldn't get into large companies, so she could only choose small companies and earn meager wages.
As long as she was thrifty, she could still raise her son.
But she had another burden, her disabled brother, Gu Ze.
Gu Ze would often use familial ties and moral blackmail to ask her for medical expenses, living expenses, and the like, adding to her already precarious financial situation.
But Gu Yan had no intention of telling Ye Qichen any of this, lest he pity or feel sorry for her.