Names mentioned in this chapter :
-苏芮 (sù ruì) – Su Rui, our female protagonist
-芮芮 (ruì ruì)- Rui Rui, a nickname of the female protagonist
-顾煜城 (gù yù chéng)- Gu Yu Cheng, the male lead
-余静(yú jìng)- Yu Jing, Mrs Gu’s name.
-余阿姨(yú ā yí)- Auntie Yu, referring to Mrs Gu
-顾夫人(gù tài tài)- Mrs Gu
-顾国华(gù guó huá)- Gu Guo Hua, Gu Yu Cheng’s father’s name.
-老顾董(lǎo gù dǒng)- old Chairman Gu When they arrived at the Gu House, Mrs Gu was already waiting at the front door with a smile on her face.
When she saw Su Rui was being led out of the car by Gu Yu Cheng, the smile on Yu Jing’s face became even more fervent.
And of course, there was Old Chairman Gu beside her.
When he saw Su Rui, he also put on an elder’s smile.
Previously, Su Rui had specially looked up the picture of the former chairman of Gu Company. So without waiting for him to be introduced, Su Rui had already confirmed the identity of the middle-aged man in his fifties in front of her at first glance.
Gu Yu Cheng’s facial features look more like Father Gu, but his personality is…
Probably more like Madam Yu Jing.
After all, no matter how Su Rui thought about it, she couldn’t imagine that Gu Yu Cheng would do something like Old Chairman Gu with his temperament, where he would chuck the company directly to his son and then search for the things that were from his dreams all over the world.
“Hello, Uncle Gu and Auntie Yu[1].” Su Rui greeted Gu Guo Hua and Yu Jing.
As she said that, she handed two gifts prepared in advance to them.
The gift to Mrs Gu was a custom-made silk scarf, while the gift given to Father Gu was a cigar cutter.
Su Rui prepared this based on the advice given by Comrade Su.
It is a token of gratitude, but it is not particularly expensive.
Looking at the gift that Su Rui handed over, Mrs Gu smiled like a blossomed flower.
It was not about the gift. It was about the person giving it.
“Oh my, Rui Rui, Auntie has been looking forward to your arrival and you are finally here.” As Yu Jing said that with a smile on her face, she took Su Rui’s gift and led her into the house.
“Knowing that you are coming today, Auntie made a lot of desserts for you, which are those that you liked the most previously.”
Apart from relying on feelings and whether or not a person shares the same three views[2], it is also necessary for one to “return politeness for politeness[3]” to get along and maintain relationships with others.
Yu Jing felt that Su Rui did exceptionally well on this point.
During this period, although Su Rui didn’t visit their home, Su Rui would always gift her when she went to the art exhibition with Gu Yu Cheng and when Gu Yu Cheng visited the Su House and so on.
Now looking at Su Rui again, one wouldn’t need to mention how satisfied she was with her.
These were not random gestures. Instead, it is called being sensible.
It is great to have a sensible daughter-in-law, and it would be easy to communicate with her.
It would be insane if she had found a nuisance[4] that would cause her to be unhappy every day.
Most importantly, her son likes this girl.
Hmph. At least he is not blind.
Yu Jing glanced at Gu Yu Cheng and muttered to herself.
This time, Mrs Gu placed great importance on her future daughter-in-law’s visit.
Not only did Yu Jing make desserts for Su Rui, but she also personally cooked several dishes for dinner.
“Rui Rui seems to like fish? Come and try it. How is this salt and pepper fish that Auntie made?”
“Delicious!”
Su Rui is very honest when it comes to food.
Thus, Su Rui’s eyes lit up when she ate that salt and pepper fish.
The taste of salt and pepper is very fragrant, and the fish fillets are crispy on the outside and tender on the inside.
It’s really delicious!
If it weren’t for the dignity and virtuousness that she had to put up in front of her boyfriend’s parents, Su Rui really wouldn’t be able to resist herself eating with her eyes closed.
Looking at Su Rui’s beaming face, Yu Jing felt immense satisfaction.
“Here, try this too. It’s also what Rui Rui likes to eat.”
“Thank you, Auntie Yu.”
“You are welcome.”
After picking the food from a few different dishes with her chopsticks and giving those to Su Rui, Yu Jing asked as she looked at Su Rui, “I heard that Su Rui is learning how to cook lately?”
Hearing Mrs Gu’s question, Su Rui was slightly stunned and looked at Gu Yu Cheng with some surprise.
Did you tell her that?
Su Rui slightly shot a meaningful glance at Gu Yu Cheng.
“My mum saw it in her Moments[5].” Looking at the tinge of surprise in Su Rui’s eyes, Gu Yu Cheng softly explained.
Gu Yu Cheng’s reminder helped Su Rui come to a realisation.
Last week, when she delivered food to Gu Yu Cheng, he took a photo and posted it on Moments.
Caption: Lunch.
Although it was only two words, no matter how you looked at it, Gu Yu Cheng’s later replies to those comments seemed to have a boastful and smug tone to them.
So Mrs Gu probably saw it at that time.
“I just started learning.” Su Rui nodded and responded implicitly.
“It would certainly be good to learn how to cook. If Rui Rui is free, you can come to my house and learn from me.” Yu Jing suggested with a smile spread across her face.
Yu Jing said this partly because she genuinely thought it was good that Su Rui could cook some food. However, it was mainly because she wanted Su Rui to visit their house more often.
But as she thought about it, the three words may inevitably sound misleading, so Yu Jing’s gaze turned towards Su Rui and added, “But Rui Rui, if you are interested, just learning is enough. Don’t waste too much energy about it, okay?”
“En, I will.” Su Rui nodded and then smiled at Yu Jing and said, “But Auntie Yu’s cooking is so good. I am definitely going to secretly learn from you[6].”
Yu Jing was amused by Su Rui’s words.
“Come, you can come over whenever you are free. Just make a call to Auntie. If Gu Yu Cheng doesn’t have time to send you here, I will let the family’s driver fetch you.”
……
After eating, Su Rui raised her hand and prepared to clean them up, but she was stopped by Yu Jing.
“Rui Rui, how can I let you keep them? Just wait for Li Jie and the others to come and clear them up.”
When Su Rui heard that, she nodded her head and placed the cup back.
Originally, she was actually putting on an act[7].
Su Rui had heard this from the auntie in the next hospital bed imparting her experience to her distant younger niece.
When you go to one’s boyfriend’s house, it is still necessary to put on an act regarding helping with such things as housework and clearing the dishes, but one shouldn’t really do it.
The right amount of modesty still had to be present.
Su Rui thought that it was quite reasonable.
[1] Su Rui used 叔叔阿姨[shūshu āyí] (which means Uncle/Auntie. It could refer to one’s father’s younger brother/maternal aunt or to address a man/woman of similar age to one’s parents. ) instead of 伯父[bófù]/伯母[bómǔ] (Uncle*/ Auntie*. There are several meanings in these words. It could mean father’s elder brother/wife or father’s elder brother, term of respect for an older man/woman, a respectful address for one’s friend, classmate, colleague’s father/mother or a respectful address for one’s lover’s father/mother.)
[2] 三观(sān guān)- Three outlooks. It refers to the outlook of the world, opinions about value and outlook on life.
[3] 礼尚往来(lǐshàngwǎnglái)- Return politeness for politeness. It means to pay attention to reciprocating in etiquette. It refers to treating another person the way and attitude others treat you.
[4] 作精(zuō jīng)- Nuisance. It is an internet slang that a person makes a fuss about small things, overreacts and seeks attention. They love to cause trouble for the people around them.
[5] 朋友圈[Péngyouquān]- Moments (social networking function of smartphone app WeChat.) The Chinese translation of moment is known as ‘Friends’ circle’, which means users can share and get access to accepted WeChat friends’ information, creating an intimate and private communicating circle within the users’ choice of close friends.
[6] 偷师学艺(tōu shī xuéyì)- To secretly learn from others. It is where the master didn’t agree to accept one as a discipline and impart knowledge to that person. However, that person found all possible ways to learn the skills of the master secretly.
[7] 意思意思(yìsi yìsi)- The literal meaning is ‘meaning meaning’. This has several meanings. Firstly, it would relate to one’s intention where one expresses one’s intentions by giving gifts or treating others. Secondly, it could refer to euphemism where one downplays the harsh words that can’t be said to something pleasant. Thirdly, it would be displaying a polite gesture that is symbolic and just for show. In this context, it would refer to the third meaning where Su Rui was just putting on a show or acting that she wants to clear the dishes.
Comments