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  On the third morning of Zhang Siyi’s stay at the Gu residence, his vibrating phone woke him up. Half asleep, he reached over to the bedside table and glanced at the phone. It wasn’t even nine in the morning. When he saw the caller ID, he picked up the call.

  When the call was accepted and before Zhang Siyi offered a greeting, He Chengtian immediately spoke: “Are you still at the Gu’s house? I’m there.”


  His announcement woke Zhang Siyi up: “What!? You’re already here!?”


  He Chengtian: “Yeah. I’m just looking for a place to park. I also brought a bunch of stuff. Heh.”


  Gu Yu heard him talking on the phone and frowned at being woken up then muttered: “What is it?”


  Zhang Siyi hung up the phone and said: “He Chengtian is here.”


  Gu Yu’s face sank and flatly asked: “How does he know our home address?”


  Feeling like he did something wrong, Zhang Siyi shrank his neck down and feebly replied: “I told him.”


  Gu Yu: “.……”


  Since the unplanned event disturbed Gu Yu’s sleep, he was in a bad mood. Ten minutes later, Zhang Siyi and Gu Yu were dressed and ready to go downstairs to meet their uninvited guest. Like a motionless dragonfly, Zhang Siyi hung back behind Gu Yu in silence.

  Gu Yu’s parents were up early. His mother was in the kitchen preparing breakfast and his father was in the living room watching the news.

  When Father Gu saw the expressions of the two, he thought that Gu Yu was bullying Zhang Siyi again, and he immediately tightened his heart and asked: “What’s wrong?”


  Gu Yu said: “A guest is coming.”


  Father Gu said: “Who is it?”


  Gu Yu gave a sideways glance at Zhang Siyi then told his father: “Your future son-in-law.”


  Father Gu: “.……”


  As he was talking, Zhang Siyi’s mobile phone rang again. When Gu Yu glanced at the caller displayed on the screen, he snatched the phone away and answered the call himself. He heard He Chengtian say: “I rang the doorbell but no one responded. Come open the door! “


  Like last time, the door bell was still broken and needed to be opened from the inside. Zhang Siyi encountered this hurdle when he came last year. This year it was He Chengtian’s turn.

  Gu Yu rudely asked: “Who asked you to come here?”


  He Chengtian: “.……”


  Gu Yu looked at Gu Yao’s closed door and said: “My sister isn’t up yet. Wait downstairs.”


  He didn’t wait for He Chengtian to answer. Instead, he cut him off by hanging up the phone.

  Gu Yu threw Zhang Siyi’s phone back to him and walked straight to his sister’s bedroom door. He banged loudly on it and shouted: “Hey dead girl, are you up? Your fiance is here.”


  Gu Yu’s mother heard the commotion and came out of the kitchen to see what was going on.

  A few seconds later, a shout was heard from Gu Yao’s room followed by feet slamming on the ground. Eventually, the door opening slightly. An unkempt face protruded from the crack of the door. Gu Yao, wearing pajamas, looked out: “H……, he came? Where is he?

  Everyone: “.……”


  Gu Yu was really angry. He wanted to test his sister, but by her reaction he knew that she really was in contact with He Chengtian!

  “Downstairs.” Gu Yu announced.

  Gu Yao was so frightened that she slammed the door closed and screamed: “Don’t let him come up!”


  Gu Yu: “.……”


  Father and Mother Gu looked at this wave of turmoil with blank expressions.

  “What son-in-law? What about a boyfriend? Is Yao Yao in love?” Father Gu couldn’t believe it.

  Gu Yu turned to look at Zhang Siyi and said: “Ask your new son.”


  Mother and Father Gu: “.…… ” What does this have to do with Zhang Siyi?

  Zhang Siyi was secretly watching the excitement. When Gu Yu pointed his finger at him, he became the center of attention and he nearly jumped out of his seat. Father and Mother Gu stared at him, imploringly. Scared, he immediately raised his hands in surrender and gave them an honest account for the matter: “This man is my childhood neighbor, He Chengtian. He is also a classmate of Gu Yu. Now, his family is involved with city development and real-estate. Not long ago, when Gu Yao was being harassed at work, we happened to have bumped into him and I asked him for help. They seemed to have hit it off……”


  Gu Yu snorted softly. His summarization was quite good.

  Mother and Father Gu didn’t know whether they should laugh or cry. Their hearts had road the peaks and valleys of a rollercoaster now that their son’s ‘big event’ was settled. As for their daughter, even though she was at a marriageable age, they weren’t anxious for her to leave home. This New Year, not only did their son bring home his lover, their daughter brought home her fiancé. For a second time, a Gu child kept Father and Mother Gu in the dark.

  Now that the person who wanted to take his daughter away has arrived at the door of his home, Father Gu really wanted to see what this son of a bitch looked like. At the same time, he wasn’t happy that his precious daughter was coveted by other men. As with Gu Yu, the contradiction in his mind upset him.

  Gu Yu’s Father strolled to the kitchen and peered out of a small window that faced the entranceway of the building. Indeed, he saw a tall young man with a large bag standing downstairs.

  During this time of year, it was normal that the temperatures were below freezing. The side of the entrance faced north where the sun was blocked by the building’s shadow. With the wind blowing, it must be particularly cold for He Chengtian to stand outside and wait.

  After some inner struggle, Father Gu’s pragmatic reasoning prevailed. He waved at his son to go open the door and said: “He is already here so what can you do? Let him come up and sit down first. It’s Chinese New Year and you can’t refuse guests.”


  Gu Yu looked up: “What’s the hurry? Yao Yao hasn’t dressed yet and Zhang Siyi and I haven’t brushed our teeth. Why should we let him come up so early? Is it so simple to get inside the Gu house? I told him to wait downstairs for a half an hour.”


  Zhang Siyi: “.……” The contrast of treatment between his welcome and He Chengtian’s roadblock made Zhang Siyi feel happy. (兀v兀)

  Touching his chin, Father Gu thought his suggestion was very reasonable. After all, marrying a daughter was different from a son. The prospective boy even came to the door without saying a word of greeting so let him wait. Let’s test his patience.

  Pretending to be calm, Father Gu sat back down on the sofa and picking up his teacup, he slowly and leisurely drank his tea. Watching TV, he spoke loudly to Gu Yu who was in the washroom: “That boy…… was he your high school classmate? What was he like?”


  Pausing, Gu Yu held his toothbrush and said: “I didn’t pay much attention to him before. Since his grades were worse than mine, he wasn’t so impressive.”


  Father Gu chuckled. With a hint of pride, he said: “You were always first. Who could score better than you?”


  Gu Yu spit out a mouthful of paste and put his toothbrush in the cup then said: “Even though everyones’ scores were less than mine, I remember him. His class rank was closest to mine.”


  Zhang Siyi: “.……” ……Poor Brother Chengtian ……

  Father Gu: “Besides his grades, what about his personality?”


  Gu Yu: “He was quite popular and had a lot of friends.”


  In the interval between them washing and chatting, He Chengtian made another three phone calls to Zhang Siyi and pleaded him for help. In order to tell him to wait a bit longer, Zhang Siyi was going to send a message over WeChat. As he raised the phone and was about to type, Gu Yu took the phone out of Zhang Siyi’s hands.

  “.……Talking to the enemy? You little traitor!” Gu Yu was fierce and scolded him. “You are now Gu Yao’s family. Whose side are you on!?”


  To show honest loyalty, Zhang Siyi made a gesture with his hands and said: “I, of course, I’m on your side!”
……

  I’m sorry, brother Chengtian!

  Gu Yu confiscated his mobile phone for the time being. Coldly he said: “If he isn’t patient enough to wait, then he shouldn’t be marrying my sister.”


  By the time they finished washing, Gu Yao was dressed and waiting. Under the multiple pairs of watchful eyes, she was embarrassed to look up.

  As the noisy and rapid knocking on the door broke the silence in the living room, everyone was startled. They heard He Chengtian loud, muffled voice from behind the door ask: “Hello……? Is this the Gu residence? Hello? ……anyone home?”


  Gu Yao, who hadn’t had time to wash her face, rushed into the bathroom in panic. Holding his teacup, Father Gu was sipping tea, unsure whether or not he should get up to open the door. Mother Gu was also hesitant, but ultimately started to move.

  Gu Yu waved his hand to stop them. He shouted to the door: “Who is it?”


  As Gu Yu took command of the situation, his parents left him to it and didn’t interfere.

  He Chengtian was surprised outside: “It’s me! He Chengtian!”


  Gu Yu: “Weren’t you told to wait downstairs? How did you get up here?”


  He Chengtian: “Ah, someone just came downstairs and let me in!”


  Gu Yu paced back and forth before going to the door and opening it. Instead of moving aside, he blocked He Chengtian from coming inside.

  Panting, He Chengtian was carrying a large gift bag. His cheeks and nose were flushed red: “Gu Yu, you are too much. I came to see your sister and visit your parents. Why didn’t you let me in!?”


  Guarding the doorway, Gu Yu smiled: “Who is my sister and who are my parents? Did my family agree to this visit on the New Year?”


  Knowing that he made a mistake, He Chengtian winced and immediately stated: “I’m here to pay my respects to your parents and offer a New Year’s greeting! Gu Yu, old classmate, please don’t be so hard on me this holiday!”


  Gu Yu let out a ‘hmm’ then said: “ I’m Gu Yao’s brother and you don’t even acknowledge me. Why should I let you see my sister?”


  He Chengtian put down his gift bag, clenched his fists and bowed: “I’ll call you brother, alright?”


  Gu Yu goaded him: “What? I didn’t hear you?”


  Feeling humiliated, He Chengtian wanted to beat someone up, but under the circumstances, he had to bow down. Since he hadn’t yet made his proposal with Gu Yao official, he had neither standing in the family nor qualifications to refute. His ‘big event’ wasn’t going to come so easily. Gritting his teeth and swallowing his pride, He Chengtian shouted: “Big Brother!”