Ch. 5 - Playing the Long Game

New Characters: 

Huo Zheyan: Lu Jingchen’s childhood friend

Yi Jian: Lawyer at Nordin Law Firm 

Pei Ya: Yi Jian’s subordinate

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In Lu Jingchen's memory, one of Gu Jinhan's signature homemade dishes was beef noodles.

On countless late nights when he’d returned home from working overtime, she would be there waiting for him with a steaming bowl of homemade beef noodles, topped with a generous layer of fresh, green coriander.

That dish was simply mouth-watering and the mere memory of it made Lu Jingchen hungry.

He checked the time—it was almost midnight. Yet he still hadn’t had dinner.

Usually, his phone would have lit up around this time with a call or message from Gu Jinhan, reminding him to eat. 

Now, her name remained buried in his contacts list. 

Wasn’t this undisturbed, peaceful life exactly what he had always yearned for?

So why did he feel so irritable now that he had finally gotten her off his back?

Seeking distraction, he invited his buddies out for barbecue and beer to watch a live broadcast of an European football match.

When their team scored, everyone erupted in deafening cheers.

“Jingchen, where’s your infamous thermos? The one with goji berries?” Mu Xingwei teased, glancing at Lu Jingchen’s beer glass. 

Mu Xingwei was truly a damn mutt, always poking precisely at other people’s sore spots.

All of Lu Jingchen’s friends knew how meticulously Gu Jinhan had taken care of him. She discouraged him from staying up late, eating barbecue, or drinking excessively at night. She wanted him to live a healthier life and would even personally brew homemade herbal teas for him every day. 

Lu Jingchen’s grip tightened around his beer glass, his knuckles turning white. Without a word, he downed the entire content in one long swallow.

"If you’re not here to watch the game, then get out!” he snapped, his voice dangerously low.

What a temper!

Feng Chihui instinctively shrank back into his seat. 

“Did Gu Jinhan finally refuse to be Jingchen’s girlfriend anymore?" Huo Zheyan muttered under his breath as he turned to look at Feng Chihui for answers.

Feng Chihui just shook his head silently. He knew better than to ask Lu Jingchen directly.

But Mu Xingwei, ever the provocateur, enjoyed teasing Lu Jingchen. "No wonder Jingchen dares to eat junk food and enjoy late-night football now! Turns out there’s no woman to leash him in anymore!"

"Is it true?" Huo Zheyan asked, clasping his hands in mock salute. "Congrats, bro! Freedom at last!”

Lu Jingchen clenched his beer glass. Why did everyone keep bringing her up?

With his voice laced with a defiance that felt forced, he retorted, “Since when could any woman control me?”

“If she was this controlling before marriage, just imagine what she’d be like after—” Mu Xingwei began, but he never finished.

With a sharp thump, Lu Jingchen slammed his empty glass onto the table and stormed out of the room.

"What kind of football match is this? It’s garbage!"

"Huh? Our team just scored twice! The atmosphere’s amazing!" Someone called after him, confused. 

"You’re all so clueless!” Another voice, slightly slurred, carried from the back. “I heard Gu Jinhan’s been tutoring some young guy at his house. Rumour has it she didn’t even return home at night and even stayed at his place!"

A weighted silence fell over the group as they exchanged glances at each other.

Then came that look everyone understood. No further words were needed.

Lu Jingchen returned to the Garden villa and the moment he stepped through the door, a familiar voice rang out.

"Jingchen, you’re back!"

"Jinhan…?"

He froze. Where was she? That was clearly Gu Jinhan’s voice!

His head was fuzzy from alcohol and he was a little drunk, but he couldn’t have mistaken her voice.

A lazy triumphant smirk spread across his face.

Gu Jinhan, you’re so spineless. You had to obediently come back to me after all. 

He slumped onto the sofa, waiting for the familiar sounds of her preparing his hangover tea. The wait stretched into silence and before he could even get a glimpse of her, he drifted off to sleep. 

"Jingchen, go sleep in bed!"

Someone called out to him  and it jolted him awake. Rubbing his temples, he realised it was just the automated smart home system.

It was a feature he never bothered to use because Gu Jinhan had always preferred to handle all household matters personally. She rarely activated the automated settings and a cold realisation dawned on him. Unless… she really wasn’t coming back.

Hah! Was this her new strategy?

Playing the long game, trying to reel in a big fish like him by playing hard to get?

—

Lakeside Villa

After sending Fu Yiyang to school, Gu Jinhan remembered him mentioning something about Lu Jingchen calling last night.

However, he had hung up before saying anything.

Every time they fought and gave each other the silent treatment, Lu Jingchen never took the initiative to call or text first.

He was always so arrogantly confident that she would always be the first one to break and eventually return after a few days.

Why had her love for him been so pathetic, so one-sided?

She shook her head, refusing to dwell on the past. The past was done. Right now, finding a job was more important.

Just as she was about to submit another résumé online, her phone rang. To her surprise, it was Nordin Law Firm. 

She had been hired.

Changing swiftly into professional attire, she informed Fu Nanyan she was heading out and made her way to the firm.

“Hi Miss Gu, I’m Pei Ya. I’ve been at this law firm for three years and I work directly under Partner Yi Jian. He was the one who got me to call you.”

Pei Ya, who appeared to be around 25 years old, had a youthful, radiant appearance. Her charm was accentuated by her dimples that appeared whenever she smiled.

Gu Jinhan was taken aback. She hadn’t expected any of this. 

She had been certain that she’d blown the interview with Lawyer Yan Ji, only to end up being hired by another partner, Lawyer Yi Jian.

"Lawyer Pei, if I may ask, why did Lawyer Yi decide to hire me?"

“Lawyer Yi values capability above all else,” Pei Ya explained. “He doesn’t care about other matters, so don’t worry and just focus on doing your job well.”

Pei Ya gave Gu Jinhan a tour of the firm’s operations and around noon, Yan Ji returned to the firm from court.

Gu Jinhan greeted her politely, “Lawyer Yan, hello!”

Yan Ji merely responded with a dismissive snort before walking away.

Pei Ya leaned in and quietly reassured her, "Lawyer Yan is incredibly skilled but can be a bit eccentric at times. Don’t take it to heart."

Gu Jinhan simply nodded. In truth, Yan Ji hadn’t been entirely wrong during the interview. It was a fact that she had been a lovesick fool who willingly subjugated her entire career for a man. 

During the afternoon meeting, Yi Jian assigned them to gather preliminary materials for a new project, mentioning that a VIP would be involved.

However, before the workday ended, Gu Jinhan received an urgent call from her adoptive mother. 

Her father had been hospitalised.

Upon hearing that, Gu Jinhan’s heart lurched. She immediately applied for emergency leave and rushed to the hospital.

"Jinhan," Du Zhi wept, her face pale with worry, "your father heard the wedding was cancelled. He got so angry his blood pressure skyrocketed… they had to resuscitate him.”

"I’m sorry, Mom..."

"Jinhan, tell me the truth. Is it really called off?”

"Yes."

Du Zhi’s tears fell harder. "The wedding dress was ordered… the banquet hall was booked… the wedding guests were all invited. How could Jingchen just call it off so easily? The Lu family has gone too far…”

Fortunately, Gu Yixuan’s condition stabilised and he was subsequently moved to a general ward. 

The moment he saw Gu Jinhan, he struggled out of bed and staggered to his feet, intent on confronting Lu Jingchen.

"Dad, no—" Gu Jinhan held him back, her voice firm despite the tremor in her heart. "I was the one who called off the wedding.”

"You—!" Gu Yixuan stared at her, a wave of fresh fury and disbelief washing over him. 

The shock was too much and he fainted once more.

After he was resuscitated a second time, Du Zhi urged Gu Jinhan to go home and rest.

When she returned back to the Lakeside Villa, Fu Nanyan immediately noticed her friend’s low spirits.

"Jinhan, do you miss Lu Jingchen? You should go see him if you miss him!"

"It's not that," Gu Jinhan sighed. "My father was hospitalised. He was so furious about the cancelled wedding that he fainted.”

"Huh? You should have gotten Lu Jingchen to explain why it was cancelled. It was all because of him!"

“Forget it. It’s better this way,” she said, her voice resolute. She would never see Lu Jingchen, nor ask him for another thing again. What was over, was over. From now on, they’d go their separate ways.

"I should visit Uncle Gu too," Fu Nanyan said, patting Gu Jinhan’s shoulder reassuringly.

They then returned to the hospital together. Gu Jinhan waited outside the ward while Fu Nanyan went in armed with a basket of fresh fruit and expensive tonics.

Fu Nanyan was a social butterfly, and had no trouble charming Gu Jinhan’s parents. Soon, genuine laughter could be heard from inside the room.

___ 

Half an hour later, Fu Nanyan emerged from the ward smiling. Gu Jinhan finally let out a breath of relief she didn’t realise she’d been holding.

"Thank you, Nanyan."

"Don’t mention it! I also told Uncle Gu and Auntie Du that you’ll marry a man ten million times better than Lu Jingchen!"

On the drive home, Fu Nanyan got a call about an emergency with a new artist she was managing.

"Jinhan, my uncle’s coming back to the country tomorrow. I was supposed to pick him up at the airport in the morning, but with this situation, I don’t know if I can make it in time. Are you free by any chance?"

"Of course. What time does his flight arrive?"

“Seven.”

"Got it. Go handle your work!"

—

The next morning, at the airport.

Gu Jinhan arrived ten minutes early. Standing at the arrivals gate, she watched closely as passengers began to emerge from the VIP passageway.

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