Chapter 25: Cocktail Party Part 1

“Sorry, I have money. I don’t need free lodging.”

Ji Huaqing refused.

Gu Yining pressed the elevator button, then walked back out. She turned to look at the woman at the door and waved with a smile.

That was the first meeting. Gu Yining was young and wild; Ji Huaqing was pure and lovely.

The dreamer’s eyes flew open. Beneath that cool mask, her eyes were unusually deep. She looked into the empty air, long not returning to herself.

“Feel better?” Fang Bei smiled. “You slept for half an hour.”

Gu Yining exhaled sharply, like waking from a great dream, still dazed. She held her head as the elevator scene replayed in her mind.

Fang Bei said, “You can’t move on because you feel guilty. You think tormenting yourself is a way of making it up to her. Right?”

Gu Yining looked up sharply, her eyes focusing, looking at the smile on the other’s lips. “What did you say?”

“I said, you’re using so-called love to trap yourself.” Fang Bei kept her eyes on Gu Yining, her voice warm. “Are you thinking that since she’s no longer in this world, if you grow fond of anyone else, you’d be betraying her?”

The cold, icy woman now seemed utterly helpless. She felt her shame magnified infinitely. Her expression did not change, but her heart suddenly ached.

She gasped for air, like a drowning fish opening its mouth.

“You should understand: your relationship with her has ended, dear.” Fang Bei coaxed gently. “No one thinks you shouldn’t have a life of your own.”

“I like her.” Gu Yining opened her mouth, “It has nothing to do with guilt. I… like… her. The kind that’s locked in my heart.”

Fang Bei frowned. Topic over. She turned to look at the medical record on her computer and said, “Sorry. Let’s change the subject.”

“No need. I’m perfectly normal. Is it an illness to keep one person in your heart and reject everyone else?” Gu Yining stood, put her mask back on, and offered the other a friendly smile. “I’m fine. I don’t think I’m sick.”

“I have a form here. Would you like to fill it out?” Fang Bei, seeing her strong resistance, tried another direction.

Gu Yining refused. “No need. I want to leave. The smell of disinfectant in this place makes me want to throw up.”

She turned and opened the door. Fang Bei was puzzled. Disinfectant?

Where was there disinfectant?

She chased after her, trying to call her back. “Miss Gu, don’t resist so hard.”

Ji Huaqing waited on the sofa by the door. She watched Gu Yining come out step by step. From her angle, the other woman was visibly angry, her jaw line tight. Ji Huaqing instinctively stood.

Gu Yining was in a bad mood.

Ji Huaqing stepped forward, blocking Fang Bei. “Doctor Fang, what happened?”

“She’s very resistant.” Fang Bei said patiently. Her gaze shifted from Gu Yining to Ji Huaqing’s features. After a moment, she said, “Why don’t you try to talk to her?”

“Alright, that’s enough for today. We’ll book another time.” Ji Huaqing thanked her. “What about the fee?”

“No need. I’ll settle it with the coordinator.”

Ji Huaqing smiled her thanks, turned, and took Gu Yining’s arm. “Let’s go.”

Looking at the smile on the woman beside her, Gu Yining let out a relieved smile, like a little fox, her eyes bright—and most importantly, they held only one person.

The two left together.

After the long drive back to Jing City, at eight in the evening, they returned to the Gu family villa.

Entering the house, Ningning was practicing piano. Gu Yining didn’t disturb her; she went quietly to find her mother. Ji Huaqing caught her. “Eat first.”

“I’ve asked Auntie Wang to cook. Wait. I’ll come down when it’s time to eat. I’m sending you a link—pick whichever you like.”

Gu Yining tapped on her phone screen, her dull eyes quickly recovering their clarity. “Pick one.”

Then she went upstairs.

She pushed open her mother’s bedroom door. “Mom?”

Lu Xi jumped, and her phone fell to the floor. She fumbled to pick it up.

Gu Yining walked over to the window seat and picked up the medicine there—sedatives. She suppressed her anger and said, “You don’t need to worry about Third Uncle’s matter anymore. From now on, don’t deal with the Gu family at all. I’ve enrolled you in a senior citizen college; go take classes when you have time.”

“I know. I shouldn’t have called you today…” Lu Xi said with guilt, rubbing her forehead. “There’s a voice in my head that kept telling me to call you. I regretted it right after. Don’t worry, I won’t have anything to do with them anymore.”

Gu Yining took a deep breath, as if plummeting from the clouds. She hurriedly hugged her mother and said softly, “It’s fine. It’s over. They don’t dare come. Go out and have fun—don’t think about the past. Look how adorable Ningning is. She calls you Grandmother, and you’re her grandmother. I’ll have Little Song take you to the hospital tomorrow. If this medicine makes you uncomfortable, switch to another.”

“Don’t worry about me, I’m fine. What’s your relationship with that young lady?” Lu Xi quickly stepped out of her fragility, her face full of concern. “Are you two going to get married?”

“I haven’t thought about it.” Gu Yining bent down, sitting. Her mind was blank. She looked down at her feet. “Right now is good.”

“If it’s good for you, then it’s good. Have you eaten?” Lu Xi mustered her spirits and patted her daughter’s thin shoulder. “Go on down. I’m going to sleep.”

Gu Yining nodded, hugged her mother, and left the room.

On the first floor, she found Zhou Hui sitting in the living room, pinching Ji Huaqing’s cheek. Ji Huaqing, annoyed, slapped her hand away. “Are you done?”

“Ji Huaqing, did you take a nap and wake up in 2024?” Zhou Hui felt the pinching wasn’t enough. Coming back from the dead, identical to fifteen years ago—who would believe that?

Gu Yining smiled.

Ji Huaqing moved to sit across from her. Zhou Hui pulled out her phone. “How did you two get back? I heard the Hang City airport was sealed off a few days ago, and tons of passengers were stuck, everyone saying it was some infectious disease. You didn’t fly back, did you?”

“Little Song drove us.” Ji Huaqing smiled faintly, her face snow-white. Zhou Hui stared at her face again. “How do you maintain your skin?”

Ji Huaqing didn’t answer, remembering the officer’s warning. She looked up and spotted the figure in the corner. “You’re down.”

The “you’re down” made Zhou Hui frown. Such a flat, cold tone—what was up?

Gu Yining walked over, stopped at the fish tank to sprinkle some food, then sat down beside Ji Huaqing.

Zhou Hui looked at the two of them, held back some secret questions, and instead asked about the robots.

“I can’t make that call. Buy them yourself. If it’s a sponsorship, at most one.” Gu Yining stated her position first, her tone indifferent—strictly business.

“I have such a big school, and you’re giving me one? She has nothing to do—give her one?” Zhou Hui pointed at Ji Huaqing, who was choosing styles.

Ji Huaqing’s screen showed robots in many colors. She’d been overwhelmed by the choices and was thinking of asking Zhou Hui’s opinion, but instead, Zhou Hui had sold her out.

Not loyal.

“Hers is my personal purchase. Yours goes through the company process—that’s a sponsorship. But after-sales aren’t fully developed yet; things might go wrong.” Gu Yining was honest, a proper smile on her lips.

Zhou Hui gave in. “Fine. One it is. Oh, right—where are you staying?”

She asked Ji Huaqing.

Ji Huaqing had been renting in Jing City. Where she’d stay now was a delicate question.

“No need to worry, Teacher Zhou. She won’t stay in your faculty dorms, and she won’t go home either.” Gu Yining smoothly explained.

Hearing her domineering tone, Zhou Hui pressed her lips. “You’re back now. How about we organize a class reunion?”

“No… no need.” Ji Huaqing refused. Right now, she didn’t want to see familiar friends. Facing Zhou Hui had taken enormous courage. What she could do was go to a place full of strangers and teach, trying to rediscover the joy of her old work.

” Why not?” Zhou Hui was puzzled. “You don’t know how your students cried when you died. When you come back, they’ll be overjoyed.”

“Let’s wait until she’s settled.” Gu Yining deftly freed Ji Huaqing, steering the topic toward Zhou Hui. “I heard your enrollment drive has started. Busy? Found any good students this year?”

Zhou Hui’s school took on repeat students—students who buried their heads in study for a year, then emerged reborn, destined for good results the next year. Those high scorers became their golden signboard. Their repeat-student fees were sky-high, yet they couldn’t stop the anxious hopes of parents who wanted their children to soar.

Gu Yining had set up a hardship fund at Zhou Hui’s school for students from poor families.

At the mention of the school, Zhou Hui couldn’t hide her delight. She said, “I’ll take you to the school tomorrow. It’s stronger than No. 1 High, and our teachers’ salaries are higher. Come observe a couple of classes, study for a while—how about it?”

“Let’s wait.” Ji Huaqing refused again. “I still have some things to do. Once I finish my personal affairs, I’ll come find you.”

Zhou Hui couldn’t insist. She turned to Gu Yining: “Your third uncle’s daughter didn’t get in?”

“She found you?” Gu Yining brushed it off. “Pay to make up the difference.”

Zhou Hui pushed up her glasses, hesitating: “She’s short by too much. The amount isn’t small.”

“Then don’t bother.” Gu Yining had no intention of handling it. She’d had nothing to do with the Gu family for years. When she’d split from them back then, she’d said she was severing ties with the old Gu house.

A son supporting his mother was natural law. No one said a daughter-in-law had to.

Zhou Hui nodded: “I understand your meaning. Suit yourself. Don’t forget my robot—I want the black one. White gets dirty too easily.”

Gu Yining agreed and saw Zhou Hui out.

Leaving Ji Huaqing behind, Zhou Hui grabbed Gu Yining’s hand and asked quietly, “Where did she come back from? Look at her—not a single change from fifteen years ago.”

Gu Yining laughed. “Myanmar.”

She hadn’t told the truth. Zhou Hui found it deeply unsettling. “I think there’s something wrong with your head.”

“Is that so? Do you still want my sponsorship?” Gu Yining laughed openly, her skin glowing white under the streetlight. She went on, “Don’t tell her old classmates she’s back. She’s alive; that’s enough. Why spread it to everyone?”

“Why are you two hiding and sneaking around? Is she really Ji Huaqing?” Zhou Hui began doubting again. Gu Yining had kept Ji Huaqing in her heart all these years, never once forgetting.

Had she thought her way into madness?

“If you doubt it, have her do a DNA test with Ningning—how about that? After she handles her personal affairs, she’ll come to your school. She needs a job; she needs to catch up with this era. Do you understand?” Gu Yining said earnestly.