Before Jiang Mo could speak, Li Zheng was already being reprimanded by Li Daming.
"What's wrong with you, ruining your sister's reputation?" Li Daming directly sent voice messages in the group chat, spouting off. "Talking nonsense all day here. If you keep spouting nonsense, I'll cut your allowance."
Jiang Mo, clinging to her dad's support, chimed in, "Yeah, cut his allowance."
Li Zheng immediately surrendered. "Dad, Sis, I was wrong."
Anyway, he had already reminded them several times. It was a pity the family was a bit dense. They couldn't blame him later.
However, Wang Xia sensed something a bit unusual.
These two siblings were close. For her son to say such things, did he know something?
She probed, "Sweetie, have you started seeing anyone recently?"
Li Daming was still leading the charge. "No, our daughter works every day, stays home after work, and we haven't seen any other boys around her."
"Yeah, Mom. If I had a boyfriend, I'd definitely tell you when the time is right," Jiang Mo replied in the group chat, scratching her head.
Wang Xia didn't know if she believed it or not, but she fell silent in the family group chat.
The next day, Jiang Mo's heart was itching to see the kitten after Gu Ye sent her a video of it.
The kitten was very lively, full of energy, and not afraid of people at all.
As Jiang Mo sat on the sofa, the little cat pattered over and curled up on her lap.
"You've picked up a truly fantastic cat."
"Of course. Just look at who picked it up," Gu Ye said, opening a chilled drink for Jiang Mo.
After watching her interact with the cat for a while, he clasped his hands together and cleared his throat. "Jiang Mo, I have something to discuss with you."
Jiang Mo looked up at his serious expression and softened her movements. "What is it?"
Instead of directly posing the question, Gu Ye began by asking, "What do you think of my profession?"
Jiang Mo thought about it, not answering immediately.
Gu Ye smiled. "Dating me probably comes with quite a bit of pressure, right? With my status, I have to bear a lot of public scrutiny and criticism. Even when we're out having fun or shopping, we can't do it openly and freely."
"And once my fans find out, you might face even more hardship. You're also worried about my image and my acting career being affected."
"Although you haven't said it, the fact that you don't want to publicly announce our relationship now is actually more for my sake."
"You... when did you become so perceptive?" Jiang Mo looked at him.
"Making it sound like I was pretty dumb before," Gu Ye said, looking at Jiang Mo's slightly dazed expression and couldn't help but pinch her cheek.
Hearing him talk like this, Jiang Mo had a certain premonition. She rubbed her face. "Do you have some plan?"
"Actually, I've been thinking about this for a while. I don't want us to keep our relationship a secret forever. It's not fair to you, and it's not fair to the fans who like me either."
Gu Ye paused. "So, I'm planning to leave the industry after a while, when the time is right, and do something else."
When he leaves, he doesn't plan to announce the relationship, not wanting to focus public attention on that.
Jiang Mo felt the pressure instantly rise. She understood the particularities of this industry too. "But this is your career."
"Who says you can only have one career? Do ordinary people work for one company, in one industry, until the end? Life is about having diverse experiences," Gu Ye said. "I stumbled into this by accident. You mustn't think I'm leaving the industry for you. Plenty of people leave this industry."
He joked, "The industry is dark and messy too. It's only with my family's backing that I've gotten so much exposure."
"Besides, you've seen the dramas I've acted in, right? Didn't Grandpa even say they were painful to watch?"
"When the time comes, I'll just say I'm done acting and going home to inherit the family business."
Seeing how easy Gu Ye made it sound, Jiang Mo hesitated. "Really? Have you thought it through?"
Gu Ye nodded. "Of course I have. But I haven't told Sister Huang yet."
The hardest person to convince would probably be manager Huang Ling.
Jiang Mo put Maomao down to play on the floor. "So what do you plan to do afterward?"
"I plan to stay home and take care of you and the kids," Gu Ye said, raising an eyebrow.
"Who wants to have kids so early!"
"Where did your mind go? I meant taking care of the cat. We might get a dog later too," Gu Ye teased. "Cats and dogs are kids too. So you were thinking about having babies with me."
Jiang Mo clenched her fist. She'd been tricked again.
Her small fist landed on Gu Ye's body, but without much force, like tickling.
Gu Ye grabbed her hand in one motion and pulled her into his embrace. "We'll have them. We'll do our part for the country and have two."
Jiang Mo tried to get up but couldn't, so she simply stopped moving. "If you want them, you have them."
"But I can't have them alone," Gu Ye said, his hand resting on Jiang Mo's waist. "I need your cooperation."
Amid their laughter and play, the door opened, but the sound was soft and they didn't notice.
Only when the person came in from the entryway and walked into the living room, discovering the two on the sofa, did everyone stare at each other wide-eyed.
What was this situation?
Su Yunjin was stunned, feeling a bit awkward. Had she come in at a bad time?
"Um, should I... go back out and let you continue?"
