"No, so you came running home today just to tell me this?" Su Yunqing teased, "As if I need you to teach me?" she added with a hint of sourness, "I thought you came home to see us. It seems this son of mine was raised for Aunt Wang."
Gu Ye shamelessly replied, "Isn't this me seeing you, and just taking the chance to remind you? I was afraid you might forget, being so important and busy, Mom."
"Son, I look at you, and I think you've got a real 'love brain'," Su Yunqing said, a touch envious. "But your luck is truly good. The person you like is your childhood sweetheart. You just started dating right away, and both sets of parents are quite supportive."
Gu Ye couldn't argue with that. He shrugged, "Well, what can I say? It's not something everyone can have."
Su Yunqing chided him affectionately, "You little rascal, you're really asking for a smack."
"But speaking of which, Aunt Wang and Uncle Li both work in our house. I wonder if they'll feel awkward? They wouldn't want to leave to avoid any discomfort, would they?"
"Probably not," Gu Ye said, though he wasn't sure either.
"Let me tell you, I can't do without Aunt Wang. If she has any such thoughts, you have to help talk her out of it," Su Yunqing thought to herself. Now that the relationship is out in the open, she needed to find some time to chat with Aunt Wang and make her own stance clear.
During the family dinner that evening, Gu Ye was home, and Su Yunqing had also called Gu Xun back.
Su Yunqing nagged, "After Xiao Ye moved out, he still comes home from time to time. But you, you just vanish without a trace."
Gu Xun was brief: "Been busy with a lot of things lately."
"Busy or not, you still have to take care of your health. Don't forget everything once you get busy," Su Yunqing said, looking at Gu Xun's thinner face, her heart aching for her eldest son.
Gu Ye then asked with concern, "Bro, how are things going with you and Nanyin-jie lately?"
He and Jiang Xiaomo had both given them a push last time. These two couldn't still be stuck in the same place, could they?
"Don't you have anything better to do?" Gu Xun lifted his eyelids, giving him a cold glance.
Dinner was served on the table. Gu Baotian walked out from inside the house and overheard the brothers' conversation. "You, as the big brother, really could learn a thing or two from Xiao Ye about matters of the heart."
"Look at him, now that he's in a relationship, he's practically glowing with happiness. Not like some people, all alone."
"Huh? What? My second brother is dating?" Gu Xuan, who had been playing games, ran over. "Since when? How come I didn't know? Who's your girlfriend?"
"You know her too," Gu Ye said with a smug grin. "Your sister Xiaomo."
Gu Xuan processed this for two seconds, then let out a shriek. "Second brother! You... you're dating Sister Xiaomo!"
"Keep your voice down, you'll deafen us," Su Yunqing said disapprovingly. "Everyone, let's sit down and eat."
Gu Xuan covered his face with one hand, shaking his head vigorously. "No way, I don't believe it. How could Sister Xiaomo possibly fall for Second Brother?"
Gu Ye: "... You're itching for a spanking."
Gu Guofeng came downstairs, arriving late, and caught the tail end of his youngest son's words, though not clearly.
"Who fell for your second brother?"
Gu Xuan: "Dad, you'll never believe it."
He stopped halfway, waiting for Gu Guofeng to ask.
Gu Guofeng deliberately didn't ask. Gu Xuan held out for five seconds before blurting it out himself. "Second brother is dating Sister Xiaomo?"
Gu Guofeng frowned, thinking. "Xiaomo? Jiang Xiaomo?" He looked at his son. "Is what Xiao Xuan said true?"
Gu Ye nodded in confirmation.
Gu Guofeng looked at the others at the table. Their expressions were calm, not surprised at all. "So you all knew?"
"Of course. We weren't hiding it from you, you just didn't notice," Su Yunqing said. "Aunt Wang and Uncle Li know too."
Gu Guofeng: "How long has it been?"
Gu Ye: "For a while now."
"So the guy I saw Jiang Xiaomo linking arms with at the mall that day was you, you rascal," Gu Guofeng said, suddenly remembering his conversation with Li Daming. It all clicked into place now. He had lost a lot of face over that.
"Your son has a love brain. He really adores that girl," Su Yunqing said with a leisurely smile.
"A love brain is better than a blockhead. I like Xiaomo as a granddaughter-in-law. What a good kid," Gu Baotian said meaningfully, causing someone to get hit by stray fire.
Gu Ye's smile didn't leave his face for a second.
Meanwhile, Gu Xuan secretly sent a message to Jiang Xiaomo: "Hmph, you went out with my brother without even taking me along."
