Jiang Mo placed her phone face down on the table and pursed her lips. "He’s pretty good, after all, Senior Pei and I were our professor’s star students."
"Yeah, yeah, you’re amazing. Everyone knows you’re the 'Spicy Flower' of your law school," Gu Ye nodded in agreement.
"Spicy Flower" was the nickname Jiang Mo had earned among her law school peers, and it had even made its way onto the university’s confession wall.
Jiang Mo looked at Gu Ye and raised an eyebrow. "Huh? How did you know about my college nickname?"
Gu Ye froze for a moment. He couldn’t very well admit that he’d secretly been digging up information about her back then.
Under Jiang Mo’s intense gaze, the pressure mounted.
He closed his eyes and blurted out a lie, "How else would I know? You must’ve mentioned it yourself."
"Me? That doesn’t seem likely," Jiang Mo said skeptically. After all, "Spicy Flower" wasn’t exactly a flattering nickname.
But if she hadn’t told him, how else would he know?
"You probably brought it up casually and forgot about it," Gu Ye smoothly deflected. "That Senior Pei of yours—seems like he comes from a family of lawyers, right? Pretty well-off."
"Yeah, and he’s incredibly talented himself. He’s already making a name for himself at such a young age," Jiang Mo said, her tone full of admiration.
Gu Ye muttered under his breath, "He’s great, but I’m not so bad either. How come you never praise me?"
Jiang Mo leaned in. "What was that? Speak up, I didn’t catch it."
"I said this restaurant has great reviews. Let’s order a lot," Gu Ye smoothly changed the subject.
Jiang Mo might not have heard him, but Gu Xuan’s ears were sharp. He looked up from his phone and grinned. "Sis Mo, I heard him! Second Bro was begging for compliments."
Jiang Mo blinked in surprise.
Gu Ye refused to turn his head. "...Kid’s hearing things."
"No way I misheard. I’m not like Grandpa with his bad hearing," Gu Xuan chirped.
Gu Ye grabbed a snack from the table and stuffed it into Gu Xuan’s mouth. "Here, you must be hungry. Let your second brother feed you."
Gu Xuan tried to protest but failed, turning to Gu Baotian for help. "Grandpa…"
Gu Baotian averted his eyes, ignoring his youngest grandson—payback for the earlier "deaf and blind" remark.
Meanwhile, Jiang Mo quietly picked up her glass, glanced at Gu Ye twice, and took a sip of juice.
Zhong Xiaoqin watched the scene unfold with amusement. Ah, this was entertaining.
Romance was always more fun when you were watching from the sidelines—the classic chase, the playful evasion, the "you can run but you can’t hide" dynamic.
Wait, no. That didn’t quite fit these two.
This was more like childhood friends, secret pining, and love finally realized.
She cleared her throat. "Xiao Ye, your grandpa mentioned you still don’t have a girlfriend. Should Grandma introduce you to someone?"
"Ah, no need," Gu Ye quickly declined.
"Grandma’s just making suggestions. You can get to know them at your own pace. Kong Xue'er, for example—you already know her."
Gu Ye shook his head. "Grandma, Xue'er and I are really just friends."
"Oh, so she’s not your type? What kind of girl do you like, then?" Zhong Xiaoqin asked with a knowing smile.
Gu Ye hesitated.
Zhong Xiaoqin chuckled. "I think Jiang Mo’s lovely. Do you like girls like her?"
Gu Ye dodged the question. "Jiang Mo’s always been popular."
Tsk, tsk. Young people these days were so reserved—even less bold than an old lady like her.
"Grandma Zhong, you’re teasing me again," Jiang Mo interjected.
"Just making conversation," Zhong Xiaoqin said, sipping her tea as the waiter arrived with their food, ending the pre-meal chatter.
Since they’d planned to play mahjong back at the hotel later, the elders behaved themselves, sticking to food and skipping alcohol. The dinner wrapped up quickly.
Back at the hotel, the elders headed to the mahjong room, leaving the three younger ones in their suite.
It was still early, so Gu Ye suggested, "Feel like going out for a walk?"
"I’ll pass. You two go ahead," Jiang Mo declined. She hadn’t slept well the night before and wanted to wash up and rest early.
Gu Xuan bounced up eagerly. "Second Bro, I’ll go with you!"
"Where do you think you’re going? Go to sleep—dreams are free," Gu Ye shot back, giving his brother a look. This kid butted into everything. They still hadn’t settled the score from earlier.
The two bickered their way out, while Jiang Mo took a shower, changed into pajamas, and settled in bed to watch Strange Tales of Tang Dynasty. Just as she reached a scary part, someone pounded on her door.
She opened it to find Gu Ye standing there in his pajamas. "Sis Mo, there’s a gecko crawling around our room!"
Jiang Mo’s first thought: Seriously? Even a luxury hotel suite wasn’t safe from geckos? Those things were tenacious!
Clearly, Gu Xuan had gotten scared and sent Gu Ye to fetch her.
Armed with a tool, Jiang Mo followed him back to their room, ready to catch the gecko and release it outside.
But the little creature had vanished.
As she searched the room, Jiang Mo muttered, "Where’d it go? It was just here."
Gu Xuan whimpered, "What if it crawls on my face while I’m sleeping?"
Then—click—the bathroom door opened.
Gu Ye stepped out, fresh from his shower, shirtless and wearing only boxers, his skin practically glowing.
