182tv大蕉蕉

Lu Zhiyuan planned to spend the whole day at the Blue Fields Villa. He had recently taken on the role of a carefree shopkeeper and was quite content. Gu Ci had originally intended to plan the rescue of Jiang Junlin.

However, Lu Zhiyuan was always around, and she couldn’t avoid him, nor could she show any signs of unwelcoming him.

Gu Ci, who deeply loved Lu Zhiyuan, would cough up blood every time she saw him in danger. Without him, she would feel like she was dying. How could she refuse to be alone with him?

She could only postpone the plan a bit longer!

Coincidentally, there was a snowstorm in Paris, and this weather was not suitable for a rescue operation. Gu Ci had essentially locked down the whereabouts of Ji Chi and Jiang Junlin, but she couldn’t make any rash moves; she had to be cautious.

Gu Ci went to prepare lunch. Gu Ziyu was very excited and took out the chessboard to challenge Lu Zhiyuan to another round of chess. Lu Zhiyuan naturally agreed and they played five rounds. He lost four rounds and came very close to winning one round but was turned around by Lu Zhiyuan.

Gu Ci couldn’t help but send a text message to Lu Zhiyuan when she saw her son’s disappointed face.

Gu Ci: Let him win a round; Ziyu is competitive. If he keeps losing, he won’t even enjoy his meal.

Lu Zhiyuan: Understood.

Gu Ci: Make it seem natural!

Lu Zhiyuan deliberately let Ziyu win in a very natural manner. So, in this round, they played for half an hour, and the outcome was still undecided. He forced himself to play at Ziyu’s level.

Ziyu happily captured one of Lu Zhiyuan’s rooks and jumped around with joy. The joy of a child is so simple.

“Let’s eat first and leave the endgame for later!”

While they were playing chess, Gu Ci had prepared all the ingredients. She had made an old duck soup as the base for the hotpot. Ziyu and Lu Zhiyuan didn’t particularly like hotpot.

Whether it was the Third Master or the Third Young Master, neither of them liked hotpot, a rare point of agreement between them.

But Gu Ci enjoyed it; hotpot in winter was the most comforting.

The ingredients were all their favorites: beef, lamb, seafood, and so on. When the hotpot base started to boil, the aroma filled the air. Both Lu Zhiyuan and Ziyu, tempted by the delicious smell, temporarily called a truce.

They didn’t like eating hotpot with others, but as a family of three, neither Ziyu nor Lu Zhiyuan had any complaints.

This was their first time eating hotpot as a family of three. Ziyu loaded up a big scoop of beef and smiled, his face flushed and happy. Gu Ci asked with a smile, “Are you this happy?”

Ziyu smiled subtly and raised his cola, “Come on, let’s celebrate our first hotpot meal together!”

“Do we really need to celebrate this?” Lu Zhiyuan raised an eyebrow, but his body honestly raised the glass of milk that Gu Ci had poured for him. He wanted to complain about eating hotpot and drinking milk, but he had to refrain, considering his recent recovery.

Gu Ci didn’t care whether Gu Ziyu drank cola, but due to his recent recovery from a severe injury, he wasn’t allowed to have beverages or alcohol.

“Do you understand the importance of rituals?” Gu Ziyu happily clinked glasses with Gu Ci and Lu Zhiyuan. Even though they had recently been at odds, it didn’t affect their celebration of being reunited at the dinner table.

“Mom, wait for me. After we finish eating, I’ll play chess with him again, and this time, 1 have a feeling I’ll win!”

“You’re so talented, a true young prodigy!”

Lu Zhiyuan looked at Gu Ci with a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. Who had asked him to let his son win, and now she was praising him like this? It felt so contradictory!

“In about ten days, it’ll be the Chinese New Year. Do we want to celebrate it together this year?” Gu Ziyu asked, with some anticipation. It would be another fresh experience.

As a family of three, they had never celebrated the Chinese New Year together before!

Gu Ziyu had been looking forward to it for a while.

Gu Ci and Lu Zhiyuan exchanged a glance. Gu Ci really wanted Lu Zhiyuan to celebrate the New Year with them, but Lu Zhiyuan couldn’t predict the situation then. What if the Third Young Master woke up? He was afraid he might not have a chance to celebrate the New Year with them.

“Sure!” Lu Zhiyuan agreed first. He could have lunch at the Lu Mansion and then meet them in the evening.

“That’s great! After I finish my exams, we can go buy couplets and New Year’s goodies together!” Gu Ziyu was now excited. He was usually introverted and enjoyed staying at home, but he was starting to look forward to the festive atmosphere.

“Sounds good!” Lu Zhiyuan also agreed, looking at Ziyu’s eager eyes, feeling a bit uneasy. The child’s gaze softened his heart, and he couldn’t bring himself to say a word of refusal.

“What kind of New Year goodies do you like?” Lu Zhiyuan asked.

“I like pastries, all sorts of snacks. I love them all.” Gu Ziyu was at that age where he was growing and had a sweet tooth.

Gu Ci served some spot prawns for Gu Ziyu and said in her usual tone, “This New Year might not be easy. Big brother won’t be able to come back, and your uncle is still thinking about how to explain it. I don’t know if grandma and grandpa will believe it. It seems like it’s the first year that big brother won’t be home for the New Year.”

The Jiang family placed great importance on traditions and etiquette.

Regardless of how busy the younger generation was or where they were on business trips, on Chinese New Year’s Eve, they had to come back to celebrate, have a reunion dinner, and stay up late together. Most likely, her brother would want her and Ziyu to go back with him.

It might not be possible for them to celebrate the New Year as a family of three!

Whenever Gu Ci mentioned Jiang Junlin, Lu Zhiyuan chose to remain silent, focusing on eating meat and not saying another word.

“Maybe… he’ll be back for the New Year!” Gu Ziyu said. “1 video-called with my uncle the other day. He’s lost a lot of weight, and he and Ji Chi had a really brutal fight.”

“Is he seriously injured?” Gu Ci worried.

“Not seriously, it looks like surface wounds. Uncle is a clean freak and picky about food. Being locked up in a place like that must be tough for him. I bet if it wasn’t for maintaining basic metabolism, he wouldn’t eat anything!”

“Poor big brother!”

Lu Zhiyuan also enjoyed some spot prawns and couldn’t help but suspect that mother and son were deliberately bringing up Jiang Junlin in front of him, taking turns to mention him!

Gu Ci and Gu Ziyu exchanged a look, and Gu Ci cautiously said, “Third Brother, can’t you just talk to Third Master and ask Ji Chi to release my brother? He’s been locked up for over a month; that’s enough!”

“This has nothing to do with me!” Lu Zhiyuan deflected the issue, “You can go talk to Third Master yourself.”

Gu Ci was left speechless, finding it hard to distinguish truth from falsehood.

Gu Ziyu, calmly enjoying some yellowthroat fish, continued, “You’re going to marry my mom sooner or later, and Uncle is your elder uncle. What’s the benefit of offending your elder uncle? Aren’t you afraid that when you go to propose, he’ll slap you out of the house!”

Lu Zhiyuan was dumbfounded.

It was a valid argument, and he couldn’t refute it!

“My cheap grandpa and real uncle probably have no chance now. My mom definitely won’t acknowledge them. It’ll be like the eldest son for the father. You’ll have to deal with the Jiang family frequently in the future,” Gu Ziyu reasoned, “If you release my uncle now, everyone will remember your favor. You’ll gain brownie points.”

“Aren’t my brownie points good enough? Apart from Jiang Junlin, isn’t the entire Jiang family my fan club?”

“You’re not trying hard enough. You need to make your uncle your fan too!”

“Forget it!” Lu Zhiyuan remained unfazed. “Even Third Master couldn’t persuade Ji Chi. Your relationship with him is quite close, isn’t it? You go talk to Ji Chi and get him to release your brother!”

“If he’s willing, would 1 bother coming to you?” Gu Ziyu couldn’t help but retort.

“Third Master said Ji Chi isn’t willing either.”

“Huh?” Gu Ziyu snorted, “Can’t even control his own people.. Third Master is a failure!”