Long Yifan’s smirk didn’t falter, but there was a flicker of something unreadable in his gaze.
He twirled the black card between his fingers before sliding it back into his pocket.
"Gu Aihan was nothing to me," he said, his voice steady.
"Gu Jin is my future. I won’t make the same mistake twice."
Gu Jichun crossed her arms, still skeptical.
"Words are easy, Long Yifan. But actions? You already lost her once. Why should I believe you won’t let her slip through your fingers again?"
Long Yifan’s jaw tightened.
"Because this time, I’m prepared to fight for her." His gaze darkened with determination. "Even if it takes everything I have."
Gu Jichun studied him for a long moment before finally sighing.
"Fine. You want my help? Earn it. Right now, you’re still just a man who once rejected my sister. Until you prove your worth, I have no reason to believe you won’t fail again."
Long Yifan exhaled slowly. "Fair enough."
Just then, he turned around and saw Gu Jihu, who was staring at him with a suspicious expression.
Long Yifan instantly froze.
Did Gu Jihu hear everything?
It wasn’t that he was afraid of getting beaten. On the contrary, he was already prepared; it was just that currently, Gu Jin had no feelings for him.
If her family members knew about their past, they would definitely break off the engagement, and he wasn’t ready for that.
The only connection he had with Gu Jin now was their engagement.
It can’t be broken till Gu Jin starts to like him again,
"How did you convince Father to let you stay here?" Gu Jihu asked.
Long Yifan’s hanging heart relaxed.
Thinking about how he had bribed Mr. Gu and Mrs. Gu, Long Yifan smiled confidently,
"Nothing much. I just told them how good a son-in-law I can become as long as they let me stay here."
Gu Jichun rolled her eyes.
Heh! If she wasn’t present at the scene, she would have believed Long Yifan.
Mr. Gu had returned from his work and saw Long Yifan at the entrance of the Gu Villa.
Even though he wanted to ignore Long Yifan, Long Yifan caught up with him and smiled widely,
Mr. Gu was instantly dissatisfied and shouted at him,
"Call me uncle, I am not your dad. I am Gu Jin and Gu Jichun’s dad."
Long Yifan kept his easygoing smile as if Mr. Gu’s rejection didn’t faze him in the slightest.
"Uncle, then," he said smoothly. "I was hoping to have a little chat with you."
Mr. Gu frowned. "I have nothing to discuss with you. Go home."
But Long Yifan didn’t back down. Instead, he latched himself to Mr. Gu and said,
"Uncle, it is related to your future grandson and granddaughter."
Mr. Gu, who was about to bypass Long Yifan, paused. He didn’t turn toward Long Yifan as he said,
"Meet me in the study."
The study of Gu Villa was a long library, with various shelves and benches to sit.
Once in the study, Mr. Gu attacked Long Yifan, but Long Yifan dodged him and asked in surprise,
"Father-in-law? What happened?"
"You b*stard! You dare to make my daughter pregnant?" Mr. Gu was so furious that he wanted to burn Long Yifan to ashes right away.
Long Yifan: "..." Wow...so he misunderstood me.
While dodging Mr. Gu’s attack, Long Yifan explained,
"Father-in-law, you are misunderstanding me! I haven’t even kissed...We haven’t done the deed yet!"
Mr. Gu paused, and his anger vanished instantly. He sat on the chair and took a deep breath before asking with a dark face,
"Then why did you say you wanted to talk about grandson?"
Long Yifan wiped his sweat and explained,
"Uncle, as long as you let me stay in this villa and help me chase Gu Jin, then I will make sure that the first son or first daughter we have will have Gu surname!"
Mr. Gu narrowed his eyes at Long Yifan, tapping his fingers on the armrest of his chair.
"You expect me to believe that?" he asked, voice laced with suspicion.
Long Yifan put on his most sincere expression.
"Uncle, I’m a man of my word. If I fail to fulfill my promise, you can personally kick me out of the family!"
Mr. Gu leaned back, considering. This brat had nerve. But the offer... it wasn’t bad.
He glanced at Long Yifan, who was waiting with bated breath.
"Fine," Mr. Gu finally said, crossing his arms. "You can stay. But if you mess up even once, I will personally throw you out of here. Understood?"
Long Yifan grinned. "Understood!"
Just then, Mrs. Gu walked in, holding a steaming cup of tea. She looked between the two men with a raised brow.
"What are you two scheming?"
Before Mr. Gu could speak, Long Yifan shot up from his chair and took the tea from her hands with a bright smile.
"Mother-in-law! I was just discussing my future with Uncle here. He gave me permission to stay in the villa!"
Mrs. Gu blinked. Then, she turned to her husband with narrowed eyes. "You agreed to this?"
Mr. Gu coughed and avoided her gaze. "For strategic reasons."
Mrs. Gu sighed and looked at Long Yifan with a sharp gaze.
"If you’re going to stay here, you’d better behave yourself. And don’t think I didn’t hear you calling me ’mother-in-law’ already."
Long Yifan chuckled but didn’t deny it.
What they didn’t know was that Gu Jichun was hidden behind one of the shelves and had heard everything.
............................
Gu Jihu rolled his eyes and said,
"Anyways, if you dare to mess around, don’t think I won’t personally kick you out myself."
Long Yifan raised his hands in mock surrender.
"Of course, of course. I’m an honorable man. My only goal is to win Gu Jin’s heart."
Gu Jihu scoffed. "Good luck with that. She barely even acknowledges your existence."
Long Yifan’s smile faltered slightly, but he quickly recovered. "That’s just temporary."
At the Beijing University.
A blue caterpillar crawled toward the girl’s dormitory and smiled to itself,
"Finally. I have reached her location. Once I see her, I will not give her the chance to think and form the contract. Heh! Those ba*tard will cry if they knew that I became her first contract in this life! Let’s see if they can remain smug!"
On reaching the location where Gu Jin’s smell was strong, the blue caterpillar tapped on the door.
For a long while, he tapped, but no response came from the other side.
"Strange...why isn’t she opening the door? Is she attending her classes? But it’s evening! I will wait for her." The blue caterpillar thought and stayed there.
............................
Gu Jin fed the white lizard its food and started to cultivate.
She was barely able to keep up with her cultivation due to so many elements.
At dinner time, she was called down.
Thinking that Long Yifan would have been kicked out by now, she went downstairs, only to find that Long Yifan was serving the food!
Gu Jin: "!" Why didn’t he leave? Is he really going to stay here?
Long Yifan, as if sensing her arrival, turned around and saw her.
"Come and sit. I have cooked your favorite dishes," Long Yifan said with a bright smile, holding a plate of freshly prepared food.
Gu Jin frowned, her sharp gaze assessing him. "Who said you could stay here?"
Mr. Gu cleared his throat, pretending to focus on his soup. Mrs. Gu, on the other hand, took a sip of her tea before answering nonchalantly,
"We thought it might be interesting to see what he can do."
Gu Jin’s expression darkened. "And who gave you permission to cook?"
Long Yifan set down a bowl in front of her, completely ignoring her cold demeanor. "You can complain after you taste it."
Gu Jin narrowed her eyes at him but finally took a seat.
The moment she picked up her chopsticks, Long Yifan leaned forward slightly, watching her expectantly.
Gu Jin sighed. "Stop staring at me like a dog waiting for praise."
Long Yifan grinned but didn’t deny it. "I’m just making sure you enjoy it."
Gu Jin took a bite. The familiar flavors melted on her tongue, and despite herself, she was slightly impressed. But she wasn’t going to let him have the satisfaction of knowing that.
"It’s edible," she said indifferently.
Long Yifan smirked. "So, you like it."
Gu Jin rolled her eyes and continued eating, deciding that ignoring him was the best strategy.
Meanwhile, Gu Jichun and Gu Jihu exchanged knowing looks. This was going to be interesting.
At the same time, outside the dormitory...
The blue caterpillar was still waiting outside Gu Jin’s room, growing impatient.
"Why isn’t she back yet?" it muttered, tapping its tiny foot.
Just as it was about to leave and return later, a group of students walked past, gossiping about something.
"Did you hear Gu Jin can live off campus?"