Gu Zhi had just gotten home when Auntie Liu walked over holding a piece of clothing. “President Gu, the guard said a courier package arrived today. I opened it—it’s your coat.”
His coat?
Gu Zhi didn’t remember losing any clothing while out. Similar-style suits filled his closet in abundance; he glanced at it without much interest. “Who sent it?”
Auntie Liu thought for a moment. “Seems like the surname was Li. Li something-li? Sounds like a girl’s name.”
A girl sending back the coat of President Gu, who had never been one for keeping company with women—no matter how you looked at it, there was a story here. Auntie Liu’s gossip instincts flared up, and she snuck a glance at him, sure enough catching his movements pause.
Gu Zhi remembered now.
Lately, there had been more and more happening at home.
A while back, after he’d finished dealing with Ji Jiayu, Gu Shufeng had seen her son’s bruised and swollen face and cried her eyes out from heartache. But faced with the mess Ji Jiayu had brought on himself through his own foolishness, she couldn’t very well blame her younger brother for hitting him wrong. Yesterday word had come from the old estate that his sister Gu Yuqin wanted to fire the caregiver again—Gu Zhi had lost count of how many times this made.
A full day of work, and then coming home to deal with this pile of trouble. Gu Zhi’s head ached from the chaos, so he simply threw up his hands and stopped getting involved in Ji Jiayu’s mess altogether.
As far as he was concerned, Ji Jiayu only got more worked up the more people managed him. Look at how he blew hot and cold—he probably didn’t even care that much about this Miss Li.
Better to just leave him be. With no one paying him any attention, that stubborn streak of his would probably die down on its own.
If she hadn’t unexpectedly mailed this coat back, Gu Zhi would have nearly forgotten about the whole thing.
He did have a mild case of germ aversion. Thinking of someone else having worn it, he nodded. “Understood. Just take it to be cleaned.”
“But President Gu, this coat has already been washed with water. It can’t be worn anymore.” Auntie Liu’s face twisted with distress.
Gu Zhi stopped in his tracks. “She washed it?”
“That’s exactly the problem. Look,” Auntie Liu said, handing the coat over to him and pointing at an inconspicuous wrinkle.
“This was definitely washed with water, and most likely hand-washed, which is why there are these fine little creases—but the overall shape is still mostly intact. If it had gone through a washing machine, the wear and deformation would’ve been much worse.
You can tell someone tried hard to iron out the wrinkles, but with this kind of fabric, once it gets wet it’s very hard to restore, and ironing won’t fix it.”
The “basic knowledge” that suits couldn’t be washed with water—Li Tangli genuinely hadn’t known.
When it came to housework and caring for the sick, Li Tangli was first-rate, a real expert. But a high-end, luxurious suit like this had never appeared in her life before; she had no prior experience to draw on.
So she had no way of knowing that every one of Gu Zhi’s suits was custom-tailored.
Every quarter, a team from a top luxury custom brand in Country F flew in specially to measure Gu Zhi’s body and update his wardrobe. The attention to detail extended to dedicated outfits for individual occasions, with his initials embroidered on the cuffs.
This kind of high-end bespoke suit fabric was delicate, couldn’t touch water, and needed to be sent regularly to the brand’s workshop for professional cleaning and care.
As for Li Tangli, her family’s washing machine had been constantly breaking down this year. The repairman had taken one look and declared it a decade-old antique—not worth fixing, better to just get a new one.
After it had completely given out last week, she’d been hand-washing clothes ever since.
When it came to this suit, she’d first gently scrubbed it by hand, and worried Gu Zhi might find it lacking, washed it an extra time. After air-drying it, she’d specially borrowed an iron from Auntie Chen’s place, laid it on the table, and pressed it smooth inch by inch against the sunlight, before finally mailing it back to Qiyue Yunzhu.
Within the limits of what she knew, she had done her very best. Black Lotus Novel Archive · Black Lotus
But Auntie Liu, with decades of experience in the trade and thoroughly familiar with Gu Zhi’s clothing sizes, spotted the problem at a glance.
She fished a slip of paper out of her pocket. “Oh right, she also wrote a note.”
Gu Zhi took it.
[Mr. Gu, thank you for the coat. I’ve washed it. —Li Tangli]
Her handwriting was neat and orderly, each stroke and character spacing even, like that of a student still in school.
So, Li Tangli had taken it home, washed it, and only then returned it to him?
Gu Zhi lowered his head. The woody scent that used to belong to him on this coat had vanished completely. What clung to it now was a faint, light scent of jasmine.
This unfamiliar fragrance drifted slowly, brushing past his nose, settling gently against him.
Though it was the smell of a cheap laundry detergent, it wasn’t unpleasant, and Gu Zhi was surprised to find no wave of disgust rising in him.
Auntie Liu asked, “It shrank a bit, so it won’t fit right anymore. Should I throw it out?”
Gu Zhi hesitated slightly. Li Tangli had washed it specifically before returning it. Regardless of who she was, the gesture itself was well-intentioned. She’d carefully washed and ironed it—to just toss it out would be needlessly coldhearted.
But the thought of actually keeping it stirred up some vague, unnameable resistance in him.
Never mind that this suit had once, separated only by a layer of fabric, been worn against her body; the mere thought of Li Tangli scrubbing every inch of it with those slender, delicate fingers made the idea of putting it on himself feel strange no matter how he looked at it.
Gu Zhi promptly snuffed out these random thoughts that had inexplicably surfaced.
His expression betrayed nothing as he said to Auntie Liu, “Put it in the closet.”
The hidden meaning behind that sentence was: don’t throw it away, keep it.
Gu Zhi had always championed a minimalist lifestyle—if he could no longer wear it, why leave it hanging in the closet gathering dust?
Auntie Liu was puzzled, but held onto her professional discretion and simply did as told.
Ji Jiayu cared about his image, and only contacted Li Tangli once his face was presentable again.
[Picking you up at two this afternoon.]
Receiving his message, Li Tangli let out a breath of relief. She’d genuinely been worried Ji Jiayu was still angry enough to break up with her.
Today was Sunday, and it happened to be Li Tangli’s day off. She got the message in the morning and immediately got busy stewing pork ribs, setting aside a bowl for her mother before heading out with the thermos once it was time.
Afraid of being seen by neighbors and gossiped about, Li Tangli usually waited for him at the bus stop two stops away from home.
The Bentley sent to pick her up sat quietly by the roadside. Li Tangli opened the door, and her expression froze. The back seat was empty—Ji Jiayu wasn’t there.
She asked the driver, who wore white gloves and a mask, his sharp eyes fixed straight ahead the entire time, deeply respectful of client privacy, and said nothing in response. Li Tangli wisely closed her mouth.
The car drove into Qiyue Yunzhu. Once they arrived, Ji Jiayu glanced at Li Tangli and said coolly, “You’re here?”
Li Tangli hurriedly lifted the thermos in her hands toward him. “Jiayu, I brought you rib soup.”
“Didn’t I say I didn’t want it?”
Li Tangli had brought him food a few times before, and Ji Jiayu would more or less do her the favor of taking a bite.
But today he seemed especially out of patience. He tilted his chin up and waved her off perfunctorily toward the table.
Then he ordered, “There’s clothes upstairs. Go change, quickly.”
Li Tangli didn’t dare delay and hurried to change. Ji Jiayu looked her up and down critically, still seeming somewhat dissatisfied.
Li Tangli felt a bit bashful, not understanding what this was for. “Is there some kind of event today?”
Only once they were both in the car did Ji Jiayu casually drop a bombshell. “We’re going to the old estate to have a meal with my family.”
Having said that, he showed no intention of explaining further, ignoring Li Tangli, who’d been startled by the words.
What—meeting the parents?
The old estate referred to the Gu family’s manor. Built out in the suburbs, it sprawled across a vast, tranquil property. The male lead’s mother and aunt normally lived there. Every weekend, the family gathered at the old estate for a meal.
It was, in fact, a family gathering, yet this week Ji Jiayu had brought Li Tangli along. If you were to say he’d fallen deeply for Li Tangli, that would clearly be pure fantasy.
Bringing Li Tangli was purely a move to needle Gu Zhi. | BLACK LOTUS NOVEL Novel Chapter
Driving through the imposing front gate, passing a fountain with lion-head sculptures, Li Tangli saw a European-style villa through the car window. The thought of meeting the male lead’s family made her heart pound like a drum.
Ji Jiayu led her inside, and the first to come forward and greet them was a middle-aged woman.
She had sharp, handsome features, cropped short hair, and a tall figure—like some elite career woman straight out of a TV drama.
Gu Shufeng went straight in for a hug with Ji Jiayu. “Back so early today?”
Truth be told, she hadn’t even noticed the girl trailing beside him at first glance. The girl shrank back to the side, like some little maidservant out of ancient times.
It was Ji Jiayu who turned his head and forcefully pulled Li Tangli forward. “Mom, let me introduce her. This is my girlfriend.”
Li Tangli was so startled she started stammering, not knowing where to put her hands and feet. “N-nice to meet you, ma’am.”
Watching Gu Shufeng in front of her freeze, then watching her expression gradually turn stony, Li Tangli didn’t know what to do with herself.
Ji Jiayu, however, was blind to Li Tangli’s helplessness. He left her stranded at the door, paying no mind to her awkwardness, and walked inside, glancing around the room as if looking for someone.
In the living room, a sharp-chinned woman in a wheelchair turned her face and said to him in a soft, delicate voice, “Little Fish, are you looking for your uncle? Don’t worry, he’s busy today, probably won’t be back early.”
Ji Jiayu curled his lip and shot back, “Who said I was looking for him? And Auntie, I’ve told you many times—don’t call me Little Fish.”
Gu Yuqin smiled sweetly, her face carrying a sickly pallor like some delicate, fragile dodder flower, yet every word out of her mouth carried a barb. “I’m just worried about you. After all, you’ve only just recovered from your injuries. Get beaten up again, and who knows how long it’ll be before you can show your face in public.”
The aunt and nephew, who had never gotten along, immediately started sniping at each other, open barbs and hidden jabs alike.
Inside, the two of them carried on lively and loud, while the atmosphere at the doorway had turned to ice.
Gu Shufeng crossed her arms, coldly staring down this uninvited guest.
The girl in front of her wore a halter-neck pink mini dress, this year’s new release from some first-tier luxury brand, the hem falling just above her knees. The cut wasn’t especially revealing, but it was absolutely not appropriate for meeting a boyfriend’s family.
Li Tangli practically wanted to kick herself.
She’d sensed something was off back in the car and had wanted to ask Ji Jiayu whether she could change into something else, but he’d shown not the slightest concern.
Because to Ji Jiayu, whether Li Tangli’s outfit was appropriate didn’t matter in the slightest. The whole point of bringing her here was to provoke his uncle. Having her change clothes earlier had only been so his family wouldn’t think his taste was too poor.
Gu Shufeng and Gu Zhi, brother and sister, had both inherited their father’s looks, features carrying a cool, distant quality. With Gu Shufeng looking down at her like this, saying nothing, her presence pressed down like a mountain.
Before long, she noticed fine beads of sweat forming on the girl’s nose, one hand unconsciously clutching at her hem.
After all, this was someone her son had brought home—driving her out directly risked embarrassing him.
Gu Shufeng finally relented, coldly. “Fine, come in.”
“Thank you.” Li Tangli lowered her head. The woman had blocked her from entering for so long, such an obvious humiliation, and yet she still had to murmur her thanks.
Gu Shufeng didn’t move aside, instead leaning directly past her to close the door, perhaps brushing against Li Tangli’s shoulder in the process. Li Tangli flinched away to the side like a mouse spotting a cat, trembling.
Gu Shufeng raised an eyebrow, unable to figure out just what act the girl was putting on.
