CHAPTER 263: CHAPTER 246: WHAT TYPE OF GIRL DO YOU LIKE?

Tang Tianyou closed the door, his heart still pounding furiously. He stared at the room card in his hand, feeling like this was a divine arrangement, not only did he bump into her in A City, but they also ended up staying in opposite rooms at the same hotel.

Tang Tianyou was so excited he didn’t know what to do with himself,

She approached the door and asked, "Who is it?" Only after hearing Tang Tianyou’s voice did she open the door. Having learned from her experience on Palm Island, she now made it a habit to fasten the door chain as soon as she entered.

Seeing Tang Tianyou standing outside, the corridor light cast a faint halo on his finely textured hair as it fell on his head.

"I hope I didn’t disturb your rest?" Tang Tianyou’s tone was particularly polite, but if you listened closely, you could detect a hint of nervousness. He was afraid she would simply turn him away.

"No," Gu Qili removed the door chain, and the door fully opened.

"Is it convenient?" He was still very cautious.

"It’s fine, come in and sit," Gu Qili smiled indifferently at him and pointed to the living room sofa, "What would you like to drink? I’ll get it for you."

"Anything is fine." Tang Tianyou sat down on the sofa. The layout of this room was exactly the same as his, right down to the same model of sofa, yet he felt hers was exceptionally comfortable.

"My phone has run out of battery, and I only realized just now that I left my charger in Aus City. It seems your phone is the same model as mine." This was the excuse Tang Tianyou had thought up after pondering in the room for a long time; he felt it was both legitimate and relatable, utterly foolproof.

"Wait a moment, the charger is in my suitcase, I’ll find it for you." Gu Qili put the mineral water she had taken from the fridge in front of him and then turned to look for the charger in her luggage.

As Gu Qili walked back with the charger, Tang Tianyou quickly diverted his wandering gaze and bent his head to twist open the mineral water.

"You can use it, my phone still has over 80% battery." Gu Qili placed the charger next to him.

"Thank you." Tang Tianyou noticed that even her charger was unique, neatly wrapped with a cartoon cable organizer and stored in a small pink box.

Clutching the tiny charger in his hand, he was almost reluctant to let go.

"I’ll buy one tomorrow."

"No need to buy, I’m staying here for a while. Use mine when your battery is low, I’ll use it during the day and you can use it at night."

"Sure!" Tang Tianyou, who was desperate for a solution, blurted out without thinking, but then felt perhaps too clearly excited, immediately lowering the tone of his ’sure.’

"By the way, what would you like to eat tonight? I’m not familiar with A City, and I don’t know where the good places are."

Tang Tianyou said, "Leave that to me. There’s a lot to taste in Aus City; I’ll take you everywhere."

As a seasoned food lover, Gu Qili found this suggestion irresistible.

The true local Tang Tianyou drove her to the seaside of A City, a small fishing village away from the downtown area. It was the most leisurely time of day. Smoke rose from the tiled roofs by the beach, and the aroma of food could be sensed from afar.

Fishing boats just returned from the sea were anchored by the shore. In a small wooden cabin on one of the boats, with lights on, a woman who looked to be in her fifties was cooking.

"Auntie Li," Tang Tianyou called from a distance.

Auntie Li raised her head amidst the cooking smoke and, seeing him, waved her spatula joyfully: "Mr. Tang, long time no see?"

From the shore to the boat, the height difference was significant. Local residents were used to clambering up and down, and only a flexible ladder was used.

Gu Qili hadn’t ever used such a ladder. She grabbed the handholds, and the boat shook a bit. Tang Tianyou supported her from behind, cautioning her to be careful as he helped her climb up. Auntie Li lent a hand from above, and Gu Qili finally made it onto the boat.

She found it quite interesting - looking down, she saw Tang Tianyou already agilely climbing up.

"Just wait a moment, we have a lot of fresh seafood today. I’ll prepare a few dishes for you," Auntie Li pointed to the wooden stools on the side, "Miss, take a seat, don’t be shy."

Gu Qili smiled at her and began to take in the rustic charm of this fishing boat.

"How did you discover such a great place?" She looked at Tang Tianyou, who seemed quite at home as soon as he boarded the boat, as he was fishing a shrimp out of Auntie Li’s cooking pot, peeled it, and handed it to her.

Gu Qili reached out to take it, but he gestured for her to open her mouth. She hesitated, and Tang Tianyou, understanding her thoughts, said calmly: "Don’t get your hands dirty."

Gu Qili didn’t make a fuss and just opened her mouth to eat the shrimp.

"I used to drive past here and was drawn by the delicious smell of the food, so I bought Auntie Li’s boat. The seafood they catch still belongs to them; they only need to cook for me when I come over," Tang Tianyou said as he peeled another shrimp for himself.

At that moment, Auntie Li came out from the cabin behind, holding a lively fish, and asked, "Mr. Tang, do you want to eat grouper or hairtail?"

Tang Tianyou turned around to ask her, "Which one would you like to eat?"

"Hairtail, I like eating hairtail."

He hummed in response, took big strides to the back to help Auntie Li catch the fish, and soon she brought over more fresh seafood, including scallops, sea snails, crabs, and clams. These were cooked directly in filtered seawater to retain their original flavors.

The dishes were not even cooked yet, but the delicious aroma was already wafting over.

Auntie Li put the cooked shrimp and crabs into a small aluminum basin on the table, and also cooked a fish.

"Mr. Tang, this is your girlfriend, isn’t she? She’s really beautiful," Auntie Li said as she scrutinized Gu Qili carefully. The girl was so fair and delicate, quite different from the local seaside people.

Gu Qili was eating crabs and almost bit her own finger when she heard Auntie Li’s words, immediately looking up at Tang Tianyou.

Tang Tianyou waved his hand at Auntie Li: "Auntie Li, I’m not that fortunate, Miss Gu is just a friend of mine."

"Is that so, I’m so sorry then, I just thought you two matched well, what a pity."

Tang Tianyou put peeled sea snails into Gu Qili’s bowl, casually remarking, "See? Not only does my dad pressure me to get married, even the people around me are pushing me. You can sense my desperation, can’t you, feeling helpless?"

The somewhat awkward atmosphere just now vanished with his words, and Gu Qili smiled asking, "Is your dad really pressing you that hard?"

"If I didn’t come back today, he’d probably pull some trick like pretending to be hospitalized again. Even though he’s faked hospitalizations many times just to get me on blind dates, I still have to come back. I’m afraid one time it might be real and I’d be too late. Ah, this old man, didn’t he ever learn the story of ’The Boy Who Cried Wolf’ as a kid?"

"So you’re back this time for a blind date?" Gu Qili curiously nibbled on the sea snail in her mouth, her eyes sparkling as she looked at him, "Tell me, what kind of girl do you like? I have a best friend, both her looks and character are flawless, want me to introduce her to you?"

"Gu Qili!" Tang Tianyou suddenly turned stern, looking at her somewhat fiercely: "Don’t learn bad habits."

Gu Qili sneered, "Alright, alright, no blind dates then, but you still haven’t told me what type of girl you like?"

Tang Tianyou suddenly dropped his gaze, his nose becoming more pronounced as he intently peeled the scallops, the gentle laughter of her and the whooshing sound of the waves by his ears.

The girl he liked was so near yet so far, but he couldn’t say anything, even this hard-earned companionship made him tread carefully.

He used to come here often for seafood, but only this time, sitting face to face with her on the swaying fishing boat, listening to the wave sounds, watching the smoke from cooking, he suddenly found himself longing for this kind of simple life, liking it because she was here.

"Here, seafood fried rice." Auntie Li came over with a big bowl of fried rice, and their conversation ended there.

After eating, it gradually became evening and the two drove back to the hotel.

After showering, Gu Qili was drying her hair and opened WeChat, tapping on Mu Shuoqian’s name to send him a video invitation.

The video was connecting, and she rubbed her hair while silently counting the call tones on the screen.

The video rang for a long time with no one picking up, so she had to hang up first.

It was now ten-thirty; he should be home.

"Must be busy," Gu Qili muttered to herself, immediately sending him another message: I’m going to sleep, totally exhausted today, my arms are still sore, went to the seaside for seafood tonight, it was really good, that’s all, good night.

After sending the message,

Gu Qili didn’t think too much about it, until the next morning when she opened her phone to see his reply, just a simple "Good night", which made her happy for quite a while.

Over the next week, Gu Qili and Liu Zhining were busy with the restaurant’s matters, returning to the hotel exhausted every evening, and her interactions with Mu Shuoqian were limited to occasional messages, with no calls or videos.

It wasn’t until she made a call to Yuan Yi that she noticed something unusual.