Chapter 6
Gu Sijiu hadn't expected the original host's parents to return at this time. Over the course of the afternoon, she had recalled a fair amount about the original host's identity and family. The original host's father, Gu Nancheng, was a former Imperial General. Though the old man was getting on in years and had retired a few years earlier, many of the officers he had trained and his wartime comrades remained active in the military. Even in retirement, he still commanded broad connections and influence within the Federal Bureau.
The original host's mother was Li Jing, from the Li family of Wucheng, prominent figures in political circles. The marriage of Gu Nancheng and Li Jing had been hailed as the Empire's wedding of the century. He was an Alpha whose physical scores all reached S Rank, and she was a widely acknowledged Omega beauty, with a compatibility rating as high as 72%. Many had predicted that a child of theirs would be nothing short of extraordinary.
Unfortunately, Gu Sijiu's arrival dashed everyone's expectations. Putting aside her physical defect for the moment, the main issue was Gu Sijiu's performance in the military: her test scores were merely at the lower end of Alpha standards. This confirmed one thing to everyone: just as two negatives can produce a positive, two positives can also produce a negative. None of her parents' powerful genes seemed to have been passed down to Gu Sijiu. Of course, such mocking remarks were only whispered behind closed doors; no one dared to provoke the ire of Gu Nancheng and Li Jing.
"Dad... Mom... why are you here?" Gu Sijiu felt a chill down her spine when she saw them and knew things were about to get awkward. It wasn't that the parents had a bad relationship with the original host, but their timing was indeed terrible. Clearly, they had overheard everything she'd just said.
"What? If we hadn't come, were you planning to move to the barracks? Jiu'er, you're a grown up now. Can't you stop being so willful? You're a married couple, what's worth such a huge fight that you'd consider living apart?" Li Jing sounded exasperated. Gu Sijiu pressed her lips together, unsure how to respond. For one thing, her own parents had died in an air crash when she was a child, so she had no idea how to interact with parents. For another, she was afraid that saying too much would clash with the way the original Gu Sijiu would have behaved.
"Mom, I didn't mean it like that, I just..."
"Just what? You two only just got engaged, this is exactly the time to build emotional bonds. Your mother and I had no established feelings before we married either, but we still developed them after getting together. You're the one who pursued little Jin yourself in the first place. Now that you've had a fight, you want to live separately? Let me tell you, don't even think about it. An Alpha sulking at her own Omega, you'd be a laughingstock if word got out."
Gu Nancheng only spoke up now, and his words hit home. Gu Sijiu knew that the original host's parents doted on the original host; otherwise, to protect her fragile pride, they would have tried for more children instead of stopping after having a deficient Alpha like her. But here was the problem, these parents had no idea their daughter was a scumbag who committed domestic violence.
"Xiao Jin, Jiu'er has always been a bit flighty, and I blame myself for spoiling her too much. Please don't get upset over these things. You two need to talk it out properly. If she treats you badly after you're married, her father and I will break her legs." Noticing Gu Sijiu keeping her head down and silent, Li Jing turned to coax Song Jinzhi beside her. Song Jinzhi nodded faintly, and surprisingly didn't take the opportunity to tattle.
Song Jinzhi had once truly respected Gu Sijiu's parents. They treated her kindly and were broad minded, the sort of elders who were easy to get along with. But after discovering Gu Sijiu's true nature, Song Jinzhi couldn't help wondering whether the couple's goodwill toward her was genuine fondness or simply guilt. If they knew all the things Gu Sijiu had done to her and still said things like that, it would be utterly chilling.
"Uncle, Auntie, I understand. It's really not a big deal. Gu... A Jiu, she treats me well." Song Jinzhi's voice was soft, entirely lacking her usual aloofness. Hearing her softly call her A Jiu, as pleasant as it sounded, still made goosebumps rise on Gu Sijiu's skin. She hadn't expected the wooden faced Song Jinzhi to have this side to her. She was quite... good at putting on an act.
"Since you've made up, let's drop the talk of moving to the barracks. You two should take this time to get along well. Xiao Jin, bring your parents tomorrow night, and the whole family will have dinner together."
Pleased that Song Jinzhi had climbed down, Gu Nancheng set the plans for the next day and left with Li Jing. The room was once again left to just Gu Sijiu and Song Jinzhi. Gu Sijiu glanced at Song Jinzhi, who was sitting on the sofa with an unhappy expression, and headed upstairs. She knew that right now, Song Jinzhi wouldn't listen to anything she said.
The next evening, the two arrived on time at the restaurant Gu Nancheng had chosen. The place had excellent confidentiality measures and was often used by political figures for private dinners, with the occasional celebrity sighting as well. Upon entering the private room, Gu Sijiu sat down on her own, only to see Li Jing frantically signaling her with her eyes from the side. Gu Sijiu curled her lips into a small smile, and Li Jing's face fell completely; she looked at her with an expression that said she was utterly hopeless.
Song Jinzhi noticed this as well, but she simply pulled out her own chair and sat down without a fuss. Only then did Gu Sijiu realize what Li Jing's signals had been about. In this world, most Alphas were expected to maintain a sense of chivalry and attentiveness, down to details like pulling out a chair for an Omega. Gu Sijiu frowned. It wasn't that she didn't know this, but she wasn't used to doing such things. After all, in her previous world, she had always been the one being catered to. In this world, she was expected to pull out chairs for others.
Snapping back to attention, Gu Sijiu looked up at the other two elders seated across from her: an Alpha who appeared quite genial and an Omega with a gentle, graceful appearance. On closer inspection, Song Jinzhi bore some resemblance to the middle aged Omega; she had inherited her mother's fine features and bearing. Song Jinzhi's mother must have been a brilliant and beautiful Omega in her youth.
"Uncle, Auntie, it's been a while," Gu Sijiu greeted politely. She knew that the original host had always been this courteous and polite with Song Jinzhi's parents, so she was also aware that from Song Jinzhi's perspective, her current demeanor was nothing but a pretense.
"Still calling us Uncle and Auntie after all this time? Shouldn't you be calling us something else by now?" Song Jinzhi's mother, Wang Yue, was very fond of Gu Sijiu, the classic type of mother in law who finds her son in law ever more pleasing the more she sees him. Hearing this, Gu Sijiu immediately glanced at Song Jinzhi's reaction. Song Jinzhi was still drinking the tea in front of her with a calm expression, but her hands hidden under the table were clenched and trembling.
"Dad, Mom," Gu Sijiu said quietly, already feeling that this meal had gotten off to a strange enough start, but the awkwardness was only going to get worse. The two families had gathered today, of course, not simply for a meal, but to discuss Gu Sijiu and Song Jinzhi's wedding. They had only been engaged for a little over a month, yet the elders of both families were already impatient for them to marry and have children as soon as possible.
Throughout the entire dinner, Gu Sijiu ate distractedly, and Song Jinzhi might as well have been chewing wax. By the end, the parents were on the verge of even setting the wedding date. Gu Sijiu could see Song Jinzhi's discomfort, but she kept quiet throughout, remaining silent until the meal broke up. After seeing off their respective parents, the two headed toward the parking lot.
On the way to the garage, Gu Sijiu walked behind Song Jinzhi. Even without seeing her expression, she could tell from her silhouette how heavy her heart was. Song Jinzhi had slept poorly the previous night because of this dinner, and the accumulated lack of rest, combined with the sustained tension at the table, weighed her steps down considerably.
She tripped on an uneven patch of ground and nearly fell. Gu Sijiu had been about to go and steady her, but when the other turned slightly, she caught the glisten of moisture at the corner of her eye and halted. She might not have spent much time with Song Jinzhi, but she knew the woman had an iron will and her own pride. Someone like that could not bear to let the person she detested see her in a wretched state.
Gu Sijiu knew Song Jinzhi didn't want to face her right then. She thought for a moment, then quickened her pace to stay behind Song Jinzhi, keeping enough distance that she couldn't see her expression.
"Wooden Face, did you drink too much or eat too much? Tripping over your own feet like that?" Gu Sijiu teased deliberately. It wasn't the first time she'd called Song Jinzhi Wooden Face. In fact, after discovering that the other didn't mind the nickname, it had rolled off her tongue more and more easily.
Hearing Gu Sijiu's smug, almost punch worthy tone, the dejection in Song Jinzhi's heart was gradually replaced by fury. If not for her excellent upbringing, Song Jinzhi truly would have turned around and smacked that pest Gu Sijiu away. Unfortunately for her, as an Omega, not only could she not control her own marriage, she couldn't even beat Gu Sijiu in a fight.
"Gu Sijiu, if there's nothing important, don't talk to me. I don't want to exchange another word with you." Song Jinzhi's voice was low. With her temper and stubbornness rising, the earlier urge to cry from pent up grievances had vanished. Hearing that her voice sounded fairly normal and tear free, Gu Sijiu felt a bit relieved. She curled her lips and let out a deliberate scoff.
"Wooden Face, do you think I enjoy talking to you on my own initiative?" Gu Sijiu's provocative tone thoroughly infuriated Song Jinzhi. She quickened her pace and left Gu Sijiu behind, got into the car alone, activated the autopilot, and sped off without any intention of waiting for Gu Sijiu. To see Song Jinzhi abandon her by the roadside like that, Gu Sijiu had never imagined Song Jinzhi would do such a thing. She'd only meant to rile Song Jinzhi up so she'd stop dwelling on the unpleasantness, but the result was... getting ditched on the side of the road.
Gu Sijiu looked around at the deserted road with hardly any cars passing by and could only wait where she was. But she thought, if Song Jinzhi had forgotten her woes because she was busy being angry, then maybe it wasn't such a bad thing after all.
Get instant access to all chapters now.
Post a Comment