CHAPTER 178: CHAPTER 163: IF YOU COULD START OVER, WOULD YOU STILL RUN AWAY FROM THE WEDDING?

In a high-class, tranquil Western-style restaurant, three women and one man sat at a table.

Gu Qimiao awkwardly smiled and nudged Gu Moming with her elbow, signaling him to say something.

However, he just glanced at her, maintaining silence with an aloof expression.

The middle-aged woman across from them started speaking: "Xiao Gu, I heard you are a professional racer?"

Gu Qimiao looked at Gu Moming and saw him lounging lazily, so she quickly nodded on his behalf: "Yes, my brother has won many championships!"

"Our Miaomiao also likes watching races."

"Liking races but not knowing I’m a professional racer?" Gu Moming coldly interjected, directly exposing the lie. It made sense, after all, few who watched races wouldn’t know "Death Racer" Gu Moming.

The woman awkwardly smiled: "I’m older, so I don’t really get it, but Miaomiao knows."

But Gu Moming irrelevantly said: "But I think your Miaomiao is a bit too tall."

Both the woman and Miaomiao paused, then said: "Miaomiao is just over 1.7 meters; that’s not considered tall for a model, right? And you, Xiao Gu, are 1.8 meters tall, a perfect match."

"I like short ones; standing next to them gives me a sense of accomplishment." Saying this, he glanced at Gu Qimiao, making her roll her eyes.

Miaomiao laughed and said: "I usually don’t wear high heels, only for work."

The jerk then found another excuse: "A woman walking beside a man without heels is looking down on his height, you know?"

Gu Qimiao kicked his foot under the table, urging him to speak properly.

The jerk looked down at her foot and asked, "What’s up? Got a cramp?"

Gu Qimiao forced a smile and said: "Why not exchange contact information first and get to know each other?"

The woman readily agreed, and Miaomiao pulled out a business card and handed it to Gu Moming: "Here’s my contact info."

Gu Qimiao nudged him to take it, and he finally reached out to accept it, then said: "I didn’t bring my card holder, I’ll call you when I get back."

The woman smiled and nodded, and Gu Moming pulled Gu Qimiao up, paid the bill, and they left.

"So, what do you think? The girl isn’t bad, right?"

"Where do you see she’s not bad?"

"Great figure, excellent temperament, and a model. You should be happy."

She thought, since he kept the girl’s number, he must be somewhat interested. And if Mrs. Gu asked, she’d have something to report.

But just as they reached the elevator, as Gu Qimiao was pressing the button, he pulled out the business card the girl had given him and tossed it straight into the trash bin.

"What are you doing?!"

He turned his head and smiled at her: "Didn’t like her. Keep trying, baby. Don’t bring any random women to me."

"What do you mean by random? She’s a supermodel!"

The elevator arrived, and as they walked in, no matter how much Gu Qimiao talked, he remained indifferent.

With the card thrown away, Gu Qimiao could only find him another girl again.

That night, she laid out all the photos on the bed for him to see. He’d say this one’s eyes are too small, that one’s mouth too big, disliked short hair, hated long hair, disliked small chests, and big butts. He found faults in every photo.

Yawning, Gu Qimiao collected the photos one by one: "With you being this picky, do you think you’re a king choosing a concubine?"

"Should I just randomly pick anyone ugly then?"

"I’m done talking to you! I’m going to bed!"

Gu Moming nodded, intending to go to the bathroom before sleeping with her. She clearly stated: "You’re not allowed on my bed again!"

"Your bed is softer," he said.

"Then let’s switch beds."

"Mine is bigger," he said again.

"What the hell do you want?! Why are you so hard to please?" She pulled the blanket over herself, turned sideways, and ignored him.

The next day at work, she found out Shen Yanchen was on a business trip. Staying alone in his office felt quite lonely, and she often found herself staring blankly at his desk while sketching.

He had been gone for three days already, with no word on when he’d return.

On the third day around noon, she suddenly received a call from an unfamiliar number. The voice on the other end sounded familiar, and after a moment, she remembered it was Lu Jinxi’s voice.

"Miaomiao, can you come down for a bit? I’m downstairs."

Gu Qimiao paused. Though he hadn’t done anything untoward the last few times they met, she still didn’t feel very comfortable with him. She just asked: "What’s it about?"

"Can you come down and talk? I’m at the company entrance. I’ve got something for you."

Gu Qimiao checked the time; it was almost time to get off work. With many people downstairs, he couldn’t do much. Besides, she was planning to have lunch at the restaurant across from the company.

"Alright... I’ll be right down."

Just because she didn’t refuse, Lu Jinxi’s icy expression softened ever so slightly.

He waited for less than five minutes before he saw her walking out of the company, wearing a cotton-linen lantern sleeve top and a light-colored denim A-line skirt. It was a very ordinary outfit, but it suited her petite figure well.

She looked around briefly before spotting him and jogging over to ask, "What is it?"

Lu Jinxi looked down at her and said, "Can we find a place to sit and talk? Have you eaten yet?"

Gu Qimiao responded warily, "Let’s just talk here. My friend is still waiting for me."

He gently asked, "Can we have a meal together?"

Gu Qimiao appeared a bit troubled and noticed the box he was holding, which looked quite exquisite, like it contained a cake.

As she was guessing, Lu Jinxi directly informed her, "You may not remember, but today is your 23rd birthday."

Gu Qimiao frowned and said, "I’ve already celebrated my 23rd birthday. My birthday is in winter."

He smiled indulgently, "I know, but you forgot. Today is actually your real birthday, and I’ve always remembered."

Gu Qimiao became even more confused, "You must be mistaken. I really don’t know you."

Lu Jinxi didn’t insist on correcting her, only softly said, "Let’s just pretend I got it wrong. Can you accompany me? Let’s have a meal together as if celebrating Yinyin’s birthday."

Gu Qimiao frowned, increasingly feeling that this man was quite pitiful. Could it be that Yinyin had already died and he suffered from delusions?

He clearly loved Yinyin very much, also a person doomed to fate.

Gu Qimiao pointed to the opposite side of the street and reluctantly muttered, "...Let’s eat over there."

He smiled and responded, "Alright," not appearing as cold as before. It was like the photo she saw of him and Yinyin in the album, he looked quite sunny.

Gu Qimiao directly found a seat in the well-lit area by the window in the lobby, feeling somewhat worried about going to a dimly lit place with fewer people.

It was peak dining time, and the restaurant was quite crowded.

Gu Qimiao took the menu and ordered her favorite dishes before handing it to him, "Take a look at what you want to eat."

He glanced at it and said, "She also liked eating fish."

Gu Qimiao replied, "...Many people like eating fish."

"Perhaps," he added a shrimp dish, which she loved.

Sitting together felt quite awkward. Gu Qimiao took a sip of tea, not knowing what to ask. Although she was curious about him and Yinyin, she feared asking too much would make him cling to her.

He pulled out a slender rectangular box from his suit pocket, opening it while saying, "This is for you. See if you like it?"

He opened the box and placed it in front of her. Inside was a necklace with a fine platinum chain and a pendant resembling a tower tip. It was quite beautiful.

"Is this what you wanted to give me?"

He replied with a "Hmm," stood up, and walked behind her. Before Gu Qimiao could react to his actions, his hand reached over from behind, took out the necklace from the box, and lifted her hair at the back of her neck. His fingertips touched Gu Qimiao’s skin, making her shrink her neck away from him, "I don’t want your gift."

He already clasped the two ends of the necklace and said gently from above her head, "Don’t reject me now."

Ignoring her avoidance, he fastened the necklace and then let down her hair, "If you don’t like it, take it off at home. Wear it for now."

Gu Qimiao pursed her lips. Hearing him say this, she realized he must be fooling himself into believing she was Yinyin still alive?

After pondering for a moment, she let down her hand, the necklace felt cold on her neck.

He didn’t say much, neither about his past with Yinyin nor how they used to celebrate birthdays together. The whole meal was eaten in silence; he barely ate, mainly watching her eat.

When she finished eating, he opened the cake, inserted two candles in the shape of "2" and "3," lit them with a lighter, and looked at her, "Make a wish."

Gu Qimiao glanced at him, thinking that he was laying a trap. She joined her hands and closed her eyes in a pretend manner, opening them after a while and said, "It’s done, happy birthday to your Yinyin."

He chuckled lightly, "Don’t you want to eat some?"

Gu Qimiao shook her head, "You eat, I’m full."

"I don’t eat sweets."

Gu Qimiao frowned. Such a beautifully crafted cake left here would be a real waste, "Then pack it up, I’ll take it with me."

"Okay."

His long fingers deftly closed the box, wiped his fingers clean of accidentally smeared cream with a napkin, and suddenly asked her, "Miaomiao, if you could do it again, would you still run away from the marriage?"

Gu Qimiao froze. If she could do it again, would she still be lucky enough to have Shen Yanchen come and take her away?

This man sitting in front of her would become her nominal husband, her life would undoubtedly take another turn?

A cold and silent marriage, the title of Mrs. Lu with no real meaning, then she would have to dutifully maintain this marriage, sharing a bed with a man she didn’t know every day...

Just thinking about it gave her goosebumps.

So she answered, "If I could flee, I would."

Seeing his disappointed eyes lower, she added, "No woman wants to marry a man she doesn’t know."

He smiled bitterly, nodded, "True. Let’s go, I’ll take you over."