Chapter 14: A Double-Standard Mom? Su Qinghe’s Past
"So beautiful..."
Su Qinghe murmured, unable to help herself.
She turned to look at Gu Yifan and saw him watching her with a smile. He spoke softly, "Whenever I’m in a bad mood, I like to come up to the mountains and look at the stars."
"Aren’t there any in the city?"
Su Qinghe blurted out reflexively.
The moment she asked, she felt stupid.
With all the pollution and the towering skyscrapers, the city sky was nothing like it used to be. You were lucky to see even one or two stars.
Gu Yifan gave her a strange look but didn’t dwell on it. He nodded and said, "No, you can probably only see them in the suburbs or the countryside."
"Mm-hmm."
Su Qinghe nodded. After a moment’s thought, she added, "I can still see them in my village. They’re especially bright at night during the summer, both the moon and the stars."
"Is that so? Then maybe I can visit your place sometime!"
Gu Yifan let out a casual, joking chuckle.
"Okay!"
Su Qinghe looked at him and nodded seriously.
"Er..."
Now it was Gu Yifan’s turn to be stunned. He gave her a surprised glance, not expecting her to agree so readily.
Seeing the serious look on her delicate face, Gu Yifan knew she wasn’t just being polite—she meant it.
"Alright!"
"Then after the college entrance exams are over, I’ll come visit your place if I have time!"
Gu Yifan said with a smile.
"Um... did you bring me up the mountain just to see the stars?"
Su Qinghe nodded, then asked with some curiosity.
"Yeah!"
"I saw you were in a bad mood, so I wanted to bring you stargazing to help you relax!"
"But... now I’ve added something else to the agenda!"
Gu Yifan gave Su Qinghe a mysterious smile.
"Hm?"
"Something else?"
Su Qinghe furrowed her delicate brows, looking confused.
"That’s right!"
"Watching the sunrise!"
"Watching the sunrise?"
"Yep!"
"I just checked. Sunrise today is at 5:30 AM, and this spot on Niutou Mountain Peak is the perfect viewing platform!"
Gu Yifan explained.
"Oh?"
After hearing him out, Su Qinghe’s beautiful eyes lit up. She was clearly very interested in his talk of watching the sunrise!
BZZZT—
"Quietly clutching a porcelain keepsake, a promise to uphold... farewells always pass in sorrow..."
Just then, the crisp sound of a cell phone ringtone suddenly shattered the darkness.
Su Qinghe jumped in fright!
"Ah... that’s my phone."
Gu Yifan quickly said upon seeing her reaction.
He pulled out his phone and saw the screen display: "Incoming Call: Empress Dowager Chen"!
"Hello? Do you know what time it is? Why aren’t you back yet, you little brat?"
"Did you sneak off to an internet cafe again!?"
The moment he answered the call, he was met with his mom’s furious roar, fit for a lioness!
"Uh..."
It was quiet on the mountaintop, so Su Qinghe, who was standing nearby, heard everything.
Gu Yifan shot her an embarrassed glance, then said sheepishly to his mom, "Um, well, I came to the mountain to watch the sunrise."
"Watch the sunrise?"
"Who are you trying to kid!"
"You’ve got some nerve, kid! You don’t even bother to think up a good lie anymore!"
"What time do you think it is? What damn sunrise are you watching!"
Chen Dongmei said, both exasperated and amused.
Gu Yifan: "..."
The situation became awkward.
For a moment, he had no idea how to explain this to his mom.
After all, saying you were out watching the sunrise in the middle of the night did sound a bit... well, you know.
"Hello, Auntie~"
Just then, Su Qinghe stepped forward, took the phone from Gu Yifan, and spoke into it.
"Hm?"
On the other end of the line, Chen Dongmei paused, stunned by the voice.
"Qinghe?" she asked tentatively.
"Auntie, it’s me. We really are on the mountain right now."
"I wanted to see the sunrise, so I asked Yifan to come with me."
Su Qinghe explained.
"Oh, so that’s how it is!"
"Alright then, you two take your time watching. No rush!"
Hearing Su Qinghe’s words, an idea sparked in Chen Dongmei’s mind, and she replied with a beaming smile in her voice.
"Okay, we’ll head back after we see the sunrise."
"I’ll give the phone back to Yifan so you can talk."
"Oh, no need, no need!"
"You two enjoy the sunrise. You can watch for as long as you want!"
"Well, that’s all for now. I won’t disturb you two any longer!"
CLICK.
With that, she hung up.
BEEP... BEEP... BEEP...
Listening to the busy signal from the phone, Su Qinghe froze for a moment.
She looked at Gu Yifan and said, "Your auntie... she hung up."
"Yeah, it’s fine."
"That’s just how my mom is. Don’t mind her, okay?"
Gu Yifan took the phone back from Su Qinghe, feeling a little awkward.
"Not at all. Your auntie has a great personality."
Su Qinghe nodded and said softly.
Hearing this, Gu Yifan just shook his head and didn’t say anything more.
"The sunrise is still a while away. Let’s go sit over there and wait."
"Okay!"
Su Qinghe nodded, and the two of them walked over to a large boulder and sat down casually.
Gu Yifan placed the high-powered flashlight to the side, illuminating the scenery in front of them.
They gazed at the trees on the mountainside swaying in the wind, feeling the cool mountain breeze.
Neither of them spoke, quietly enjoying the peaceful moment.
"You know, I’m actually very envious of you."
Su Qinghe said softly, hugging her knees as she stared ahead.
"Hm?"
Gu Yifan was taken aback. He turned to glance at Su Qinghe. "Envious of me?"
"Mhm."
She turned her head to meet his gaze, then gave a slight nod.
"I envy the way you get along with your parents."
"And... I haven’t felt what it’s like to have a home in many years."
Su Qinghe’s gaze returned to the leaves swaying in the flashlight’s beam as she spoke softly.
Hearing this, Gu Yifan understood instantly.
After a moment of silence, he said gently, "If you’re okay with it, tell me about your family... and why you wanted to jump this afternoon."
At Gu Yifan’s words, Su Qinghe’s expression faltered slightly.
"..."
After a long silence, just when Gu Yifan thought she wasn’t going to say anything, she began to speak.
"When I was very little, I also had a happy family of three, just like you..."
She trailed off, seeming to be lost in a memory.
Seeing this, Gu Yifan didn’t disturb her, simply sitting quietly by her side and watching.
Under the starlight, her profile was exquisite and beautiful.
’Honestly,’ he thought, ’counting both this life and my past one, aside from Han Ning, Su Qinghe is the most beautiful girl I’ve ever met!’
Just then, Su Qinghe suddenly turned to look at him and said, "Um... even though my memories from back then are starting to get blurry, I think... I must have been happy."
"And then?"
Gu Yifan asked quickly, trying to cover up the awkwardness of being caught staring.
...