Su Wan watched the snow for a while, feeling her fingers getting stiff from the cold. As she decided to go inside, the sudden ring of her cellphone made her furrow her brows upon checking the caller ID.
Answering the phone, she said primly, "Mom, is there something you called about?"
The 'Mom' she referred to was Gu Nanzhou's stepmother, Li Yunlian.
As a child, the stepmother was unkind to Gu Nanzhou, intent on having her own son take the lead, always setting traps for Gu Nanzhou. Still, her biological son never matched up to Gu Nanzhou, who eventually got him toeing the line.
Not daring to cross Gu Nanzhou, she vented all her anger on Su Wan, the daughter-in-law who was not favored.
Li Yunlian coughed once and said coldly, "Today, Nanzhou is returning from abroad. As his wife, remember to prepare well."
"I know, rest assured."
"Also, you've been married into the Gu Family for so many years and there has been no news concerning children. This will not do."
"Our Gu Family has a reputation in A City. You've been married for so many years without any news, and I don't know how many people are laughing at our Gu Family outside."
Upon hearing these words, Su Wan didn't need to think twice to understand that Li Yunlian must have run into trouble with Gu Nanzhou. Everyone knew that she and Gu Nanzhou had been sleeping in separate rooms for so many years. Li Yunlian bringing this up was just her way of mocking Su Wan in a roundabout way.
Su Wan didn't get annoyed but chuckled and responded softly, "You're right to reprimand me, Mom. I haven't been trying hard enough. I'll strive to have some news before Gu Nanzhou's brothers and sisters are born. Don't worry."
Li Yunlian: "..."
Not long ago, Gu Yuan, Gu Nanzhou's father, was embroiled in a scandal, caught entering and exiting a hotel with an insignificant model, behaving intimately.
After finding out, Li Yunlian was so angry that she smashed a vase worth more than a million.
Even though the Gu Family had retracted the news, Su Wan, as a member of the Gu Family, still heard a little bit about it.
Li Yunlian was taken aback by that remark, cursed in frustration and said, "If you know, that's good enough."
Then she abruptly hung up the phone with a click.
Su Wan had a small habit; every time she won an argument with someone she disliked, the corners of her eyes would lift ever so slightly in an unknowingly bratty triumph.
Walking into the living room, Wu Ma came out of the kitchen and said with a smile, "I heard the master is coming back. I'll make a few dishes he loves."
Su Wan nodded, thinking about the dishes Gu Nanzhou loved, and as she headed to the kitchen she said, "Let me do it, Wu Ma. I'm not sure if he has been able to get used to the food outside."
Wu Ma smiled, "Sure, with Miss Su's cooking, the master will definitely like it."
Busy for the entire afternoon, Su Wan had the dishes brought to the table one after the other as dusk gradually fell.
Not sure what Gu Nanzhou wanted to eat, she just made all his favorites, a meat and vegetable combination, almost amounting to a Manchu-Han Imperial Feast.
Wu Ma, who was helping with the plating, glanced out the floor-to-ceiling window, and suddenly exclaimed with joy, "Miss Su, look, the snow has stopped!"
Su Wan turned to look, finding that the snow which had been falling through the day indeed had ceased.
In fact, the first time she saw Gu Nanzhou, it was also on a snowy day.
That was when she was ten years old, following her parents to visit old Mr. Gu at the Gu Family home.
When old Mr. Gu was young and his business venture had failed, it was the Su Family who had assisted him, helping him rise again, leading to the Gu Family's present splendor.
Therefore, the two families have always been very close.
After Su Wan had spent some time playing with Grandpa Gu, she saw that it had begun to snow outside. The little girl loved to play, and she insisted on going out to play in the snow.
Everyone in the family doted on her, and even the usually stern Grandpa Gu was especially fond of her, so he allowed her to go.
As a result, due to the slippery roads from the snowfall, the little girl was running too fast while making a snowman and accidentally slipped, hitting her forehead on a rock. Fortunately, it was not serious. She only bled a little, but the blood was striking against the pure white snow. It scared the little girl so much that she sat on the ground and cried her eyes out, unable to be consoled.
By chance, fourteen-year-old Gu Nanzhou was coming home from class and passed by little Su Wan, who was surrounded by people as she sat in the courtyard crying her heart out, her nose bubbly with snot.
Lowering his gaze, he said, "Crybaby."
With just that one phrase, the unforgiving little Su Wan immediately stopped crying out of spite. She looked up at the beautiful but icy-cold brother and said defiantly, "I'm not a crybaby!"
Gu Nanzhou, with his backpack on his back, gave an emotionless "Oh," clearly disbelieving.
The little girl was adorable, wearing a little bear hat with small pompoms dangling on both sides, and with skin that was tender and fair, irresistibly pinchable to anyone who saw her.
Her round eyes were full of tears, her little face flushed red as she tried to hold back from crying, endearing herself to everyone who saw her.
Only Gu Nanzhou remained untouched, continuing to walk away without a trace of expression on his face.
But a few minutes later, he came back.
When he returned, little Su Wan was still trying hard to keep her tears from falling. She was taking deep breaths, her two little hands clenched into tiny fists, seemingly putting forth a great effort.
Gu Nanzhou couldn't help but smile. He extended his hand with something in it to the little girl, "Here you go, crybaby."
Upon seeing it, the little girl saw it was a strawberry lollipop.
When she looked up again, the pretty brother was smiling, his lips curved in a slight grin, his long eyelashes casting a shadow over his eyes.
When he smiled, his eyes gleamed deep and bright, beautifully as if hiding entire galaxies within.
When little Su Wan laid eyes on the handsome brother, she couldn't look away. She was young at the time and didn't know how to describe it, but all she knew was that this brother looked as if he had stepped out of a painting.
Later, hiding behind her mother, Su Wan heard Grandpa Gu introduce him, "Wanwan, this is your Brother Nanzhou."
The little girl secretly repeated to herself Brother Nanzhou, and with that thought, she kept his name in her heart for ten years.
Afterward, Grandpa Gu, who valued loyalty and gratitude, remembering the kindness the Su family had shown him, arranged a marriage with the Su family.
As Su Wan, who had just turned eighteen and had blossomed into a small, delicate beauty, was asked by her father whether she was willing, her face flushed and she gently nodded.
It was because of Grandpa Gu's loyalty that when disaster struck Su City and the Su family went bankrupt, Su Wan's father, not wishing to burden his wife and daughter, chose to jump off a building, dying instantly. Su Wan's mother, greatly affected by the shock, had her old illness return and was now still in a sanatorium. While everyone laughed at their misfortune, only the Gu family was willing to help the Su family through their difficult times.
The next year, when Su Wan was twenty-one, Grandpa Gu, not bearing to see Su Wan suffer, arranged for her and Gu Nanzhou to have a wedding.
While Grandpa Gu was still alive, Su Wan was cared for, and no one in the Gu family dared to mistreat her. However, a year after her marriage, the old man passed away, leaving the little girl alone in the Gu family, as isolated as a lone grass.
Yet even so, she still felt fortunate, because at least she had married the man she loved.
After preparing a table full of dishes, Su Wan sat in the living room waiting for him.
She wasn't sure around what time Gu Nanzhou would return. Bored and unsure of what to do, she sat on the sofa and zoned out.