Eavesdropping on Her Heart (1)
"Er Ya, let's have some wine too. Here, let me pour you some," Gu Wanning said with a smile.
The wine is fruit wine, with little alcohol content; it's just for the festive atmosphere during the Chinese New Year.
"No, let me do it. Zhi Nu, Zhi Nu?"
"He shouldn't come," Gu Wanning said, patting Zhi Nu's head. "He needs to study; drinking is bad for his brain."
"Then you shouldn't drink it either."
"I'm not afraid, I'm not exactly smart anyway," Gu Wanning laughed. "Here, give me the wine jug."
Hearing her laugh heartily, Xu Weibei couldn't help but smile as well.
That idiot.
Who would admit they aren't smart?
She's so smart, knowing so many crops that others don't. Regardless of what the future holds, just the knowledge of Corn alone is enough for her to live off her achievements.
"This servant is here, please drink less, don't get drunk and act crazy, or you'll blurt out the truth." Er Ya muttered, pouring Gu Wanning a full glass of fruit wine.
"The truth? When have I ever lied?"
"This servant is speaking the truth."
"What's the truth?" Gu Wanning picked up her wine glass, sniffed it, and then took a small sip.
"My Marquis."
Gu Wanning paused, a bitter taste spreading across her tongue, making her frown. "... Me and the Marquis? I was telling the truth before, that's all, that's all. Why is this wine so awful, such a failure."
Xu Weibei, whose name was mentioned, pricked up his ears.
Thank you, Er Ya.
Unexpectedly, the person who hurt him the "deepest" was willing to mention him again at this crucial moment.
Thanks!
If Er Ya hadn't mentioned it, this heartless woman probably wouldn't have remembered her even if the seas dried up and the rocks crumbled.
Xu Weibei felt a pang of sadness.
She cut herself in the heart, then turned and walked away as if nothing had happened. Gu Wanning, that wicked woman.
"Miss, tell me, why do you insist on separating from the Marquis? If he had treated you to eight meals a day when Marquis first returned, I could understand..."
Er Ya was genuinely puzzled.
Two such wonderful people, why can't they be together?
"But you've seen it yourself, Marquis. He's all bark and no bite. He's always making a fuss, even more so than Little Flower, but he's never really done anything to you! You get along well with Marquis, and you don't want to hear anyone speak ill of Marquis. You even defend Marquis..."
Even so, when she left, Gu Wanning was decisive and resolute, showing no reluctance whatsoever.
"If we can't be husband and wife, we can always be friends. Although now it seems that was just wishful thinking on my part." Gu Wanqing sighed and downed the wine in her glass in one gulp.
Xu Weibei was the first to be interested.
Even if he wasn't smitten, she was already in his eyes.
Gu Wanning wasn't sure if she was just imagining things, but she hoped she was just overthinking it.
You can owe any kind of debt, but not emotional debt; I can't repay it.
"Is there something wrong with the Marquis? Is it just that he's unkind to you, and we servants don't know?" Er Ya asked sincerely.
"No, the Marquis is perfectly fine." Gu Wanning picked up a piece of tofu and placed it in her bowl, her face hidden behind the steaming pot, her smile blurred. "He's just unlucky to have run into me."
This is the truth.
"Pah, pah, pah! It's the New Year, who's talking about bad luck?" Er Ya said. "You should spit twice. Besides, the Marquis is lucky to have met you, I wouldn't say his ancestors' graves are emitting auspicious smoke, but it's still a blessing from heaven. If it were any other woman, what a mess the harem would be in! There's no one like you, not even a little bit jealous."
Gu Wanning says every day that Gu Wanqing has been spoiled by the Gu family's upbringing.
But isn't she herself?
Every woman would get jealous.
She was so virtuous and generous that Er Ya was getting anxious.
--Madam, please wake up! All the virtue and gentleness others display is just an act for others to see.
You, on the other hand, have a reputation for being jealous, yet you genuinely don't compete or fight for anything. Is that acceptable?
"Because being jealous means taking it to heart; but I didn't," Gu Wanning said softly.
These words were incredibly hurtful to Xu Weibei, like being pierced by a thousand arrows.
Gu Wanning finally admitted that she had never cared about her.
What's a world of ice and snow?
Xu Weibei's heart is now even colder, as if he has fallen into an ice cave and is in a state of despair from which he cannot climb out.
"That's why I said the Marquis is quite pitiful," Gu Wanning said with a wry smile, "He's really good to me, although..."
Although he can be a bit silly and clueless at times, his way of expressing his feelings is so clumsy and his way of showing them is both funny and exasperating.
But love can be felt.
"Although what?" Er Ya was Xu Weibei's mouth stand-in at this moment.
Xu Weibei thought to himself, "As long as you tell me, I'll change it if I can."
"Although the Marquis is somewhat clueless when it comes to matters of the heart, I know he tries his best to treat me well."
"Even someone as oblivious as me could see it, how could you not know? If you say you don't know, what about all those ice blocks in the courtyard? What about all that gold and silver jewelry on the kang (heated brick bed)?"
"Perhaps the Marquis thinks I'm blind."
No matter how much Gu Wanning pretended to be relaxed, she couldn't truly relax deep down.
She left, and she didn't regret it.
She felt apologetic for not finding a better way to minimize the harm caused to Xu Weibei, but she also didn't have a better way to avoid dragging things out.
If all the love they had felt before was hazy, then on her birthday, Xu Weibei presented her with his whole heart.
"Madam, please don't say such irrelevant things. It's fine if you don't tell the Marquis, but please don't hide it from me. I have no idea what you're really thinking..."
"Er Ya, what I want, the Marquis cannot give me."
They wouldn't even understand.
"You asked the Marquis for it? The Marquis refused?" Er Ya put down her chopsticks and stared at Gu Wanning.