Beggar

Seeing Gu Yuechen enjoy the meal so much, Yu Yaochen's mood lifted along with his.

He set down his knife and fork and said to Gu Yuechen, "Let's come here often from now on."

Gu Yuechen was about to nod in agreement when he suddenly remembered his wallet. His expression turned indifferent as he shook his head.

"I'd get sick of it if I ate it too often. We can try somewhere else next time."

He couldn't let Yu Yaochen pay every time they went on a date. If they ate at this restaurant regularly, his wallet simply couldn't cover the expense.

"Fair enough." Yu Yaochen smiled. "You really would get tired of it if you came too often. Every now and then is enough."

After they finished eating, Gu Yuechen picked up his glass and took a sip of water, then wiped his mouth with a napkin.

He looked up at Yu Yaochen. "How is your mother?"

"She'll be admitted to the hospital next week. If everything goes smoothly, she can have the surgery."

Gu Yuechen nodded, but he still couldn't shake his unease.

He continued probing, "The New Year is coming up soon. Is it really a good idea to bring up breaking off the engagement now?"

"Even with the New Year coming up, I have to bring it up. The longer I drag it out, the greater the losses for both our families."

After receiving Yu Yaochen's firm answer, Gu Yuechen finally felt relieved. Once Yu Yaochen's mother finished her surgery, he would no longer have to see Yu Yaochen.

"When are you off this week?" Yu Yaochen asked.

Gu Yuechen looked slightly stunned. "Monday next week. Why?"

Yu Yaochen turned bashful. "I want to take you to see a musical. It's this Sunday night. They rarely perform in the country, so I wanted to take you."

Gu Yuechen had no interest in this sort of performance at all. Back then, he had only pretended to enjoy it in order to get close to Yu Yaochen.

"What do you think?" Yu Yaochen asked again, his eyes full of anticipation.

Gu Yuechen looked rather listless and gave him an apologetic look.

"Probably not. Sundays are usually busy, and I want to go home early and rest."

A flash of disappointment passed through Yu Yaochen's eyes, but he did not show it. He still wore a smile.

"It's okay. There will be plenty of chances like this."

Once they got married, Yu Yaochen would take Gu Yuechen traveling abroad. They would still be able to see performances like this then.

"Let's head back." Yu Yaochen lowered his head to check his watch. "It's getting late."

"Mm."

The moment they got into the car, Yu Yaochen suddenly seemed to remember something. He said mysteriously to Gu Yuechen, "Wait here for ten minutes. I'll be right back."

Before Gu Yuechen could say anything, Yu Yaochen turned and got out of the car, running off toward the rear.

Gu Yuechen did not care about it. Leaning back in his seat, he closed his eyes to rest.

A few minutes later, the car door opened and a gust of cold wind swept in, waking Gu Yuechen from the chill.

He frowned and looked over, then his expression froze for a moment.

Yu Yaochen held a huge bouquet of pink roses in his arms, shyness appearing on his handsome face.

"These are for you." Yu Yaochen held them out before Gu Yuechen, his gaze tender as he said, "Yuechen, come to think of it, I've never formally confessed to you. Yuechen, I really like you. Once my engagement with Pei Huanyi is called off, let's get married."

The blazing love in his eyes scorched Gu Yuechen, making him feel guilty and uncomfortable as he averted his gaze.

He did not reach out to take the roses. After pressing his lips together, he said, "Isn't this too fast?"

After hearing that, Yu Yaochen also felt that he might be pushing too hard.

He hesitated for a moment. "Then let's date for a year first, and get married after that."

Naturally, Gu Yuechen could not agree, but Yu Yaochen had said he would break off the engagement, so he could not dampen his spirits either.

So he gave an ambiguous reply. "We'll see."

"Okay." Seeing that he would not take the roses, Yu Yaochen asked nervously, "You don't like them? What flowers do you like? I'll go buy you some different ones."

"It's fine. I like them."

Gu Yuechen did not want to wait for him to make another trip. He took the flowers and held the large bouquet in his arms, though it blocked part of his view.

Yu Yaochen noticed it too and could not help laughing.

"Put them on the back seat for now."

"Okay."

On the road, Yu Yaochen felt that the car was too quiet, so he took the initiative to start a conversation.

"Can your parents accept you dating a man?"

The expression on Gu Yuechen's face changed abruptly, and he instinctively gripped his seatbelt tighter.

He had falsified his resume. The names and phone numbers listed for his family relations were all made up, betting that Pei Huanyi would not have the time to investigate.

"They're okay with it, I guess. We've never talked about it."

In any case, they would never make it to the end, so continuing the lies would not cause much trouble.

"I hope they'll like me." Yu Yaochen smiled, his lips curling upward.

After hearing that, Gu Yuechen felt a little stifled inside.

Ever since he could remember, he had never seen his parents. There was only one photograph of his mother at home, hidden in a cabinet by his grandmother.

Whenever he brought up his parents, his grandmother would refuse to talk about it. Later, Gu Yuechen stopped asking too. His parents had never wanted him in the first place, so there was no point in asking more.

Afraid that Yu Yaochen would continue the topic, Gu Yuechen simply closed his eyes.

"I'm a little sleepy. Let me know when we get there."

"Okay."

Afraid that he might get cold, Yu Yaochen deliberately turned up the heat in the car.

There had originally been soft, soothing music playing in the car, but Yu Yaochen had turned it off.

Gu Yuechen could not fall asleep at all, and his mood was somewhat low.

There was one thing he had to admit: Yu Yaochen truly was a gentle person who knew how to care for his friends.

But if he had grown up in an environment like that, he could have been a good person too.

If anyone was to blame, it was Yu Yaochen for being too unlucky to have met someone like him.

When they arrived beneath the upscale apartment building, Yu Yaochen parked the car and nudged Gu Yuechen's shoulder.

"Yuechen, we're here."

Gu Yuechen pretended to have just woken up, looking around with a dazed expression.

"I'm going now. Drive carefully."

After saying that, Gu Yuechen got out of the car and left.

As usual, he intended to walk slowly before casually turning back to see whether the car had left.

But this time, he spotted a familiar figure by the garbage-sorting station beside the apartment complex.

A hunched, thin old woman was pulling drink bottles from the trash bin and tossing them onto the ground, then slowly stepping on them twice.

At the sight, Gu Yuechen felt as though he had fallen into an ice cellar. Heartache and rage surged up at once.

Without caring whether the car behind him had left, he strode toward the old woman.

"Grandma, what are you doing!"

His grandmother had not expected to run into Gu Yuechen here. Looking flustered, she said, "I saw that there were lots of empty bottles here. I can take them to the recycling station and sell them."

"How much can you even get for this stuff?" Gu Yuechen raised his voice, growing emotional. "If you get sick from the cold, I'll have to spend even more money on your medical bills."

"I won't. I'm dressed very warmly." His grandmother did not dare look at Gu Yuechen's ashamed and furious face. "I thought selling them could help cover some household expenses."

Was this a matter of being dressed warmly?

He could not accept his grandmother rummaging through trash cans like a beggar in the dead of winter. It made him seem utterly useless.

Gu Yuechen's eyes reddened. He moved his lips, about to say something else, when Yu Yaochen's voice came from behind him.

"Yuechen."

Gu Yuechen's pupils contracted as he turned around stiffly.

Yu Yaochen stood behind him, still holding the pink roses Gu Yuechen had forgotten in the car.