Chapter 363: Chapter 363: The Ways of the World
"Why didn’t you invite them in for a glass of water?" Gu Jiaojiao said, a hint of reproach in her voice.
’This man has no sense of social etiquette,’ she thought. ’It’s a good thing Mu Ziquan didn’t get out of the car. After all, the Imperial City is their territory.’
But how could Su Shuochi be bothered to remember social etiquette?
He hadn’t seen his wife all afternoon and was burning with impatience, desperate to be close and affectionate with her.
"Honey, don’t be angry. It’s my fault. It’s just... I haven’t eaten yet, and my stomach is rumbling."
Su Shuochi put on a shameless, fawning smile to win over his wife, bolting the door behind him.
Hearing this, Gu Jiaojiao felt she had been a bit too harsh. ’Besides, Xia Qiuming and the others have already eaten. It’s probably fine that they didn’t stay for tea,’ she reasoned.
"Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t know you hadn’t eaten. Let’s go inside. I’ll make you something."
Gu Jiaojiao said with a look of heartfelt concern, and when Su Shuochi saw it,
it was enough to steal his very soul. ’My wife cares more and more about me.’
"Okay, let’s go in. I already made some donkey meat soup. You should have some, too." Su Shuochi took his wife’s hand and led her to the dining table.
Gu Jiaojiao hadn’t been very hungry, but as Su Shuochi pulled her down into a chair at the table, she caught a whiff of the rich aroma of the donkey meat soup.
She couldn’t help but swallow. ’I suppose I could manage another bowl. As the saying goes, a good appetite is a blessing.’
Su Shuochi ladled a bowl of soup, placed it in front of his wife, and said gently, "Drink the soup first. You can have some rice after."
"I’m really not hungry, but the soup you made smells so good that I just want to drink it. This one bowl will be enough for me.
You have no idea, those old gentlemen kept putting food on my plate. I’m already stuffed."
With that, Gu Jiaojiao used her spoon to take small sips of the donkey meat and pepper soup, smacking her lips from time to time.
The sight made Su Shuochi want to laugh. As he watched her, his heart felt full to bursting.
"Honey, open up and have a piece of meat. This donkey meat is so fresh." Su Shuochi offered a piece to Gu Jiaojiao as if presenting a treasure.
He had grown up in a poor mountain ravine where his family’s circumstances were bleak. They couldn’t afford a single meal with meat all year round.
Only during the New Year did they get a small taste of minced meat. Throughout his entire childhood, he’d only had his fill of meat two or three times.
Whatever you lack as a child, you become fixated on as an adult. When he was older and joined the army, he would go out for a meat-heavy meal every time he was on leave.
Gu Jiaojiao was born with a silver spoon in her mouth; she couldn’t truly appreciate Su Shuochi’s fixation on eating meat.
But that didn’t stop her from enjoying the atmosphere as they fed each other, wrapped up in their own affectionate world.
Gu Jiaojiao put down her bowl and told her husband about what happened with the Mu Family, recounting everything in great detail.
Su Shuochi breathed a sigh of relief after hearing her story. Fortunately, Mu Ziquan was a reliable person.
If the Mu grandfather and grandson were incompetent, his wife would have likely been bullied.
But Su Shuochi would never praise Mu Ziquan. A man knows a man, and he was certain that Mu had developed feelings for his Jiaojiao.
His wife, however, hadn’t considered that possibility at all. She still saw herself as Mu Ziquan’s great-aunt and treated him as a junior.
Su Shuochi asked with feigned surprise, "Jiang Ruyan’s mother wants to marry her off to Mu Ziquan?"
"It seems so. According to those three ladies, many influential families in the Imperial City want to associate with the Mu Family, and all the debutantes want to marry Mu Ziquan."
"Didn’t Fu Junyuan say that woman wanted to be his stepmother?" Su Shuochi said sourly. He didn’t like his wife praising another man.
"Oh, right. Shuo Ci, after you finish eating, give Fu Junyuan a call and ask if he and his sister are home yet."
Gu Jiaojiao suddenly thought of Fu Guoguo. She was also a medical student; it would be perfect to introduce her to Xia Qiuming.
’Who in this day and age is still unwilling to marry at thirty?’ she thought. She wanted everyone around her to be happy.
"You want to introduce Fu Guoguo to Mu Ziquan?" Su Shuochi could guess some of what was on his wife’s mind.
"You can’t just play matchmaker recklessly. Mu Ziquan belongs to Xiao Jiyan. She’s been admiring him for over a decade."
"Heh heh... I was just talking. Why would I have the energy to meddle in other people’s business?"
Su Shuochi said it as if he meant it, but secretly, he desperately wanted Mu Ziquan to get married as soon as possible.
Seeing him act this way, Gu Jiaojiao believed him. "That’s true. You’re so busy all day. After dinner, don’t you have to go study that nano-analysis instrument?"
"That can wait until tomorrow. The most important thing tonight is not to let this beautiful moment go to waste." Su Shuochi’s voice was husky, tinged with suppressed desire.
"Can you be serious for a minute? You’re unbelievable. Even while eating, your head is full of dirty thoughts."
The woman’s coquettish complaint acted like a catalyst, making Su Shuochi wish he could drop his chopsticks that very instant and pull her into a tight embrace.
But he knew she was easily embarrassed, so he just leaned in and whispered in her ear, "Honey~ appetite and lust are only natural. Besides, how can I help it when you’re so enchanting?"
"Stop it and just eat," Gu Jiaojiao said, her face flushing bright red as she gave him a firm push.
The man obediently sat up straight and continued eating. He wolfed down three bowls of rice in quick succession and then briskly went to wash the dishes.
"Honey, I’m going to do the dishes. You can call Fu Junyuan now."
"Can’t you call him after you’re done?" Gu Jiaojiao grumbled, but she walked over to the telephone anyway.
Gu Jiaojiao dialed the number for Fu Junyuan’s villa, not knowing if anyone would be there. The call connected quickly.
"Hello, who are you looking for? This is Fu Guoguo."
"Guoguo, it’s Gu Jiaojiao. Did you go register at the university today?"
"Madam Jiaojiao, I did go to the university! I was looking for you for a long time. I wanted to call you as soon as I got back, but I don’t have your home number."
Fu Guoguo was following her older brother’s lead in addressing her, though she was actually a year older than Gu Jiaojiao.
Her voice was urgent. She had so much she wanted to tell Gu Jiaojiao, but she hadn’t been able to find her.
Gu Jiaojiao could hear the dejection in Fu Guoguo’s voice on the other end of the line. "Is there something you want to talk to me about?"
"Yes! My dad has decided to marry Jiang Ruyan, and my grandpa agreed. My big brother says we’re not going to live at home anymore. Madam Jiaojiao, what should I do?"
Fu Guoguo’s voice, thick with tears, traveled through the phone line to Gu Jiaojiao’s ear. She wanted to say that not living at home might actually be for the best.
But Fu Guoguo was, after all, only a nineteen-year-old girl, unlike herself, who possessed the soul of a twenty-eight-year-old.
"Is your dad in such a hurry? Could Jiang Ruyan be pregnant?"
"I don’t know about that... but she’s only been living with my dad for a week. Still, they’ll definitely have children in the future. Madam Jiaojiao, tell me, with so many talented young men in the Imperial City, why on earth does she have to marry my dad?"
’Because your dad has money and status, of course.’ But Gu Jiaojiao wouldn’t say that out loud.
She could only change the subject. "What about your older brother?"
"My big brother went back to the family estate for a family meeting. My grandpa said they’re going to set the date."
"Oh. Well, you should get some rest. We’ll talk more when we see each other tomorrow."
"Okay. Goodbye, Madam Jiaojiao."
