bayedsolid Chapter 143 Durex is a perfect match for New Year's Eve!
Chapter 143 Durex is a perfect match for New Year's Eve!
Li Xi hurried downstairs, stood in front of the car, and looked up at the travel-worn man who had rushed over. "Gu Huaizhou, what brings you here?"
Gu Huaizhou tilted his umbrella to shield Li Xi from view before saying, "I've come to spend the New Year with you."
"What about Grandpa Gu..."
“Grandpa also agreed with my coming here.” Gu Huaizhou smiled self-deprecatingly and said, “Grandpa said that getting his granddaughter-in-law home as soon as possible is more important than anything else.”
Li Xi blushed slightly.
Gu Huaizhou took Li Xi's hand and coaxed her softly, "Let me stay and spend the New Year with you, okay?"
"It breaks my heart to see you all alone..."
Before he could finish speaking, Gu Huaizhou saw Xue Ni skipping and hopping out of the small house.
"...Xue Ni is here too?" Gu Huaizhou thought Li Xi had gone back to her hometown alone, and he was heartbroken, so he rushed over to spend the New Year with her.
Little did they know, Li Xi had already found a partner.
He's just superfluous.
Li Xi sensed the disappointment in Gu Huaizhou's tone. She took his hand in return, winked at him, and said, "My house has four rooms. Go pick one yourself, and I'll make your bed."
Seeing that Chu Xu and the others were all there, Li Xi asked Gu Huaizhou, "Are Chu Xu and the others staying at my house, or at the hotel in town?"
Upon learning that Li Xi's house had four rooms, Gu Huaizhou said, "Chu Xu will stay with us, while the others need to rush home for the New Year."
"Isn't Chu Xu going home for the New Year?" Li Xi asked Chu Xu.
Chu Xu grinned and explained, "Chu Ying and I are both orphans. We usually spend the New Year on the island. Miss Li, you don't need to worry about me."
"Then come and spend this year with us."
"Then I'll take my leave. I hope Miss Li won't find me an eyesore as a third wheel."
After saying that, Chu Xu instructed his subordinates: "Take Mr. Huang home."
Li Xi quickly called out to the next room, "Zhou Qi, Uncle Huang is back!"
Zhou Qi was in his room upstairs. Hearing this, he peeked out of his bedroom window and saw Chu Xu and the others carefully carrying Uncle Huang out of the nanny van.
"dad!"
"Mom! Dad's home!"
Zhou Qi went to call his mother.
Gu Huaizhou had just gotten a clear look at Zhou Qi's face, and he said sarcastically, "This is your childhood sweetheart?"
She's even better looking than Xie Xingyun.
Such a handsome childhood sweetheart...
They should introduce them to Xue Ni!
Seeing Gu Huaizhou suddenly look at her with such high expectations, Xue Ni was bewildered. "Mr. Gu, why... are you looking at me like that?"
Gu Huaizhou took out a red envelope he had prepared beforehand from his coat pocket. "Miss Xue Ni, Happy New Year. I am five years older than you and Li Xi, so please call me 'brother' as before."
Either Zhen Ge or Zhou Ge is fine.
A girlfriend's best friend is her most precious dowry, so of course she has to be treated with utmost care and protection, and you can't afford to offend her.
The red envelope that Gu Huaizhou took out was a custom-made red envelope from the Gu family, which could not be bought on the market. It was a silk money bag with gold thread embroidery.
Xue Ni was flattered and accepted the thick red envelope. She quickly changed her address to Zhen Ge, saying, "Happy New Year! I also wish you and Xi Xi a happy marriage soon!"
"Thank you." Gu Huaizhou's eyes were full of smiles, thinking to himself that this little girl really knew how to talk, no wonder she was chosen as a sister by Xixi.
Li Xi looked up and asked Gu Huaizhou, "Xue Ni got a red envelope, what about mine?"
"I'll give you your later."
Li Xi remained hopeful.
Chu Xu and his subordinates then moved the gifts from the car and Gu Huaizhou's suitcase to Li Xi's house.
Seeing the gift boxes scattered on the table and chairs, Li Xi couldn't hide her shock. "Gu Huaizhou, why did you buy so many gifts?"
"Didn't you say that you were watched by these neighbors in Changshou Town to grow up, and that you were even breastfed by Aunt Zhou, your neighbor, when you were little? All the neighbors in the town are your family."
“Mr. Li and Grandma are no longer here, so the neighbors around here are your family. This is my first visit, so I must be very polite.”
"Of course, this was also my grandfather's idea."
Gu Huaizhou simply mentioned his idea to Gu Han, and Gu Han then told Gu Wentao about Gu Huaizhou's plan to go to Li Xi's hometown to spend the New Year and visit relatives.
Upon hearing this, Gu Wentao could no longer sit still. He immediately instructed Du Yusheng and Gu Han to prepare gifts for their visit.
Of the three cars that came today, the nanny van contained Gu Huaizhou's luggage, while the trunks of the other two cars were filled with gifts.
Li Xi stared at the gifts filling the room, and had the illusion that she was about to get engaged to Gu Huaizhou.
"...This is way too formal."
Meanwhile, at the Zhou family's house next door, Aunt Zhou was holding Uncle Huang's hand and asking, "Honey, are you sure that Mr. Gu is Li Xi's boyfriend?"
Uncle Huang had been sleeping soundly in the nanny van the whole way, and although he was resting in a wheelchair now, he was still in good spirits.
Uncle Huang said, "How could it be fake? Along the way, the driver even said that the two cars behind us were filled with New Year's gifts that the Gu family had prepared for us!"
Aunt Zhou was taken aback. "He even brought gifts to wish us a Happy New Year, and his surname is Gu. Could Mr. Gu really be the sweetheart that Li Xi was talking about?"
"Oh dear, luckily I was prepared and prepared a big red envelope. I thought it wouldn't be of any use, but now that Li Xi's boyfriend is here, this red envelope will come in handy."
As Aunt Zhou spoke, she opened the drawer of the dressing table in the bedroom, took out a red envelope, and counted it; it contained a total of 1888 yuan.
In Changshou Town, when relatives' children bring their partners to visit, the first time they give a red envelope, this amount is always given.
This is only for people with a good relationship, who get 1888. For ordinary relationships, it's only 500 or 600.
Only when their own child brings their partner home will they prepare a gift, symbolizing that the partner is one in a million.
“Mr. Gu has been very kind to our family. 1888 is a bit too little. Here’s what I’ll do: I’ll go ask Zhou Qi if he has any cash.”
Uncle Huang waved his hand and said, "No need. A favor is a favor, and a red envelope is a red envelope. Don't confuse the two."
“I asked Zhou Qi to go to the countryside to buy some authentic wild game and agricultural products so that Mr. Gu could take them back for his family to try.”
“People in the city generally can’t buy these farm products. Although these things are not valuable, they represent our sincere feelings.”
"What do you say?"
Aunt Zhou thought about it and agreed that her husband was right, so she went to discuss the matter with Zhou Qi.
The Zhou family members were born and raised in the town and did not know that the Gu family in Dongzhou City was a prominent and wealthy family. They only thought that Gu Huaizhou's family was rich and that they were just ordinary rich people.
They also have a few wealthy relatives who, every year when they come back, like to buy free-range eggs, old hens, and free-range black pork from the village...
That's why Uncle Huang asked Zhou Qi to go to the countryside to buy local specialties.
After Zhou Qi learned about this, he verbally agreed, but when Li Xi came over for the New Year's Eve dinner, he pulled Li Xi to the backyard and whispered, "Li Xi, what does Mr. Gu's family do?"
Li Xi: "A businessman."
Nodding, Zhou Qi then said, "My parents are very grateful to Mr. Gu for his help to our family and want to thank him properly, but they don't have anything they can offer."
"Besides, even if we have some things, Mr. Gu might not be interested. They asked me to go to the countryside tomorrow to buy some rare local specialties to give to Mr. Gu. What do you think?"
"I don't know anything about Mr. Gu's family situation. Will they eat the local specialties I bring back?"
...
Zhou Qi's concerns were the most reasonable, after all, not all wealthy people like local specialties.
Many city dwellers actually look down on things like raising black pigs in the mountains with old hens.
Li Xi almost laughed, "The thought itself is enough. As for the local specialties..."
After thinking for a moment, Li Xi walked directly to Gu Huaizhou's side and asked him, "Grandpa Gu, do you have any favorite local products? Aunt Zhou is grateful for your help and would like to buy you some things."
“My grandfather is old and doesn’t have a strong appetite.”
Thinking that the Zhou family would feel bad if they didn't accept the gifts, and that it would make them feel awkward around them, Gu Huaizhou said, "Tell Zhou Qi to prepare something casual. We'll take it all back to Dongzhou; it won't go to waste."
"it is good."
Li Xi then instructed Zhou Qi to oversee the preparations.
In the evening, Gu Huaizhou took Chu Xu, Li Xi, and Xue Ni to Zhou Qi's house for a reunion dinner.
After the meal, Aunt Zhou indeed gave Gu Huaizhou a red envelope.
Gu Huaizhou originally wanted to refuse, but Aunt Zhou's words changed his mind. Aunt Zhou said, "When I married your Uncle Huang, Grandma Li Xi gave a big red envelope."
"Back then, my parents said that when Brother Chang'an brought his wife back, they would definitely give her a big red envelope. Who knew that Brother Chang'an would never get married in his life."
"You are the person Li Xi brought back, and today you've come to formally visit with gifts, so you should accept the red envelope your aunt is giving you."
"This kind of red envelope is only given out once." After saying that, Aunt Zhou deliberately teased Gu Huaizhou: "If you don't want it, then it means you're not Xixi's boyfriend."
Gu Huaizhou simply reached out and took the red envelope.
"Thank you, Aunt Zhou. Thank you, Uncle Huang."
Gu Huaizhou put the red envelope into his pocket and said solemnly, "When I get married to Xixi, I will definitely send a car to pick up Aunt Zhou and Uncle Huang to have a drink at our wedding."
Li Xi blushed deeply, while Aunt Zhou and the others burst into laughter. "Alright, alright, Gu is very responsible for saying those things. Then we'll wait to drink your wedding wine."
Li Xi secretly stepped on Gu Huaizhou's foot under the table.
Gu Huaizhou remained unmoved and thoughtfully poured a glass of red wine for her and Xue Ni.
"Come on, let's have a toast." Aunt Zhou picked up her glass, glanced at her husband and Zhou Qi, and finally looked at Li Xi.
Aunt Zhou said, "May everything go smoothly for us next year, as we bid farewell to the old year and welcome the new!"
"Happy New Year!"
*
We stay up all night after dinner to welcome the New Year.
These days, not many people watch the Spring Festival Gala anymore. Everyone prefers to get together and play mahjong. The young people from the neighborhood all come to ask Zhou Qi and Li Xi to play mahjong.
Li Xi made an excuse that she was allergic to king crab and said to Xue Ni, "Xue Ni, you come and play mahjong with them. I'm going home to rest for a while."
Xue Ni knew that Li Xi was going to accompany Zhen Ge, so she made a gesture that said "I'll take care of everything" and sat down next to Zhou Qi.
Li Xi pulled Gu Huaizhou away from the Zhou family.
Seeing Chu Xu following behind like a shadow, Gu Huaizhou glared at him disdainfully, "Don't follow me."
Chu Xu touched his nose, knowing that his boss disliked him as a third wheel.
"Boss, shall I go play mahjong?" Chu Xu couldn't even remember the last time he played mahjong. Tonight was unusually lively, and his fingers were itching to play.
"Go."
After seeing Chu Xu off, Gu Huaizhou bent down and picked up the umbrella from the corner of the wall.
He held an umbrella to shield Li Xi from the wind and snow, looked up at the snow-covered night sky for a while, then looked down and asked Li Xi, "What do we do next?"
Gu Huaizhou had asked Chu Xu to buy fireworks earlier, and he was supposed to accompany Li Xi to set them off at midnight, but it was only eight o'clock now.
It's too early.
Li Xi made a startling remark: "Will you sleep with me, Professor Gu?"
Gu Huaizhou and Ruifeng's eyes widened.
Suppressing his heart pounding wildly from Li Xi's teasing, Gu Huaizhou took a deep breath and said somewhat helplessly, "Xi Xi, don't tease me with this kind of thing."
He's just an ordinary person.
His desire for Li Xi was ridiculously strong, and he suppressed it entirely with willpower.
Li Xi gave him a knowing look, then walked silently toward the front of the town.
Gu Huaizhou quickly followed.
The umbrella was large enough to almost block the wind and snow from their heads.
There was already snow on the road, and the tire tracks had left two wet tracks in the middle of the road. Gu Huaizhou and Li Xi followed the tire tracks.
Even when it was raining or snowing, the town's kids weren't afraid of the cold; they all wore down jackets and fluffy scarves as they ran around on the road.
Have a snowball fight, build a snowman, play with firecrackers and sparklers.
Influenced by the lively atmosphere, Gu Huaizhou asked Li Xi, "Do you want to play that?"
He pointed to a fairy wand in the hand of an eight-year-old girl.
Li Xi: "I don't want to play, it's no fun."
After she finished speaking, seeing that Gu Huaizhou suddenly stopped talking, Li Xi stopped and looked at him, noticing that his eyes were sparkling.
Li Xi then understood.
"You want to play?"
"Wait."
Li Xi jogged into a supermarket.
The supermarket in town isn't big, but it's small yet has everything you need. During the Lunar New Year, it also sells fireworks and firecrackers for children.
Li Xi quickly bought the items and came out carrying a box of sparklers and a box of firecrackers.
She handed the sparkler to Gu Huaizhou, "Here you go, play with it."
Gu Huaizhou hesitated for a moment, "...It's all for little kids..." He was a grown man, wouldn't he be laughed at for playing this?
"It's okay."
Li Xi snatched the umbrella handle from Gu Huaizhou's hand and said, "I'll hold the umbrella for you to cover your face, so no one will recognize you."
Gu Huaizhou smiled, took two sparklers from the box, and gave the rest to a little girl next to him.
He lit the two sparklers, and the dazzling fireworks illuminated Gu Huaizhou's cold and dark eyes.
"The last time I played with this was when I was six years old. Back then, I was too scared to light fireworks, so my brother lit them for me."
This was the first time Gu Huaizhou had mentioned his brother.
Seeing that Gu Huaizhou was willing to bring up Gu Huai'an, Li Xi hesitated for a moment before asking, "What kind of person is Gu Huai'an?"
“In my eyes he is a very good older brother, but in the eyes of outsiders he is a cold, cruel, and ruthless man who does not keep his word.”
“He is the eldest grandson of the Gu family and is 10 years older than me. He was raised from birth to be the heir of the Gu family.”
"After he died, I became him."
The sparklers have all been lit.
Gu Huaizhou tossed aside the charred wire and pointed at the firecracker in Li Xi's hand. "You want to play?"
"Ah."
Li Xi disassembled the firecrackers, grabbed a handful, and threw them in all directions around Gu Huaizhou.
The deafening explosion was somewhat frightening, but Gu Huaizhou didn't flinch, not even blinking.
He watched quietly as Li Xi threw firecrackers at him, convinced that Li Xi would not hurt him.
"Legend has it that firecrackers are magical artifacts that drive away the monster 'Nian'." Li Xi smiled brightly at Gu Huaizhou and said, "I will help you drive away all the monsters around you, and from now on, you will definitely be safe and well."
Gu Huaizhou was deeply moved.
Twelve years ago, she helped him drive away the monster. "Xixi, I'm only at peace because you've always been by my side."
“Okay, then I’ll stay with you forever.” Li Xi agreed readily.
Gu Huaizhou was satisfied with Li Xi's words.
Noticing that Li Xi was carrying a box of firecrackers in his arm, Gu Huaizhou said, "Come on, I'll play with you."
Li Xi smiled and handed the box of firecrackers to Gu Huaizhou.
Gu Huaizhou casually took it and bent down to open the box, only to notice a conspicuous English word printed on it—
Durex.
Gu Huaizhou's eyelashes trembled, and he looked at Li Xi in astonishment.
"Li Xi".
Gripping the hard case tightly in his hand, Gu Huaizhou's eyes suddenly became deep and forceful. He said seriously, "Tell me, you're not joking."
Li Xi walked up to Gu Huaizhou and raised her black umbrella to block the view of others.
Standing on tiptoe, Li Xi kissed Gu Huaizhou's thin lips, which were covered in frost. She said calmly and clearly, "Gu Huaizhou, how about I give you to me as a New Year's gift?"