I became the Counterpart of the Winner in a Period Novel-Chapter 287 - 276: The Reply, Favoring Gu Xiaoxiao (Part 3)

Xie Yunhai, standing aside, felt mentally exhausted.

With the addition of two men, it wasn’t easy for best friends to chat.

But the dinner table was still lively, thanks to the bickering between the two siblings.

The table was set with fried pork ribs, braised pork, braised fish, sautéed asparagus, beef slices with pickled peppers, fennel tofu soup—six dishes in total, four bowls of rice, and eight meat buns. These dishes were only available on-demand at Lan Hua State-owned and the Second State-owned Restaurant; other state-owned restaurants required a three-day advance reservation for even just braised fish due to shortages.

Jiang Ming’an kept making comments, yet his hand was constantly placing food into his sister Jiang Mingyue’s bowl. Ming Yue was speechless—a girl, too, but luckily there was someone who loved him, or he’d truly be doomed to singlehood.

Gu Xiaoxiao felt no discomfort; in fact, she envied Yueyue for having such a caring brother.

"Did Yan Jinzhi leave?"

"Yeah, he’s been gone for half a month."

A relaxed smile appeared on Jiang Ming’an’s handsome face; it was clear he was very pleased with Yan Jinzhi’s departure.

Xie Yunhai: So contradictory? This guy seems a bit split personality!

"He might not come back for a year."

Jiang Ming’an said, "That’s great."

"You’re not going back tonight, are you?"

"Not for now; I’ll go back with you guys tonight."

Xie Yunhai noticed the curve of the corner of the mouth of the person beside him and thought having a relative to care for and who was worth caring for was undoubtedly fortunate.

Great! Unlike him, whose most affectionate biological father had died, and his remarried mother watched as his stepfather aimed blows at his small frame, without any persuasion or disturbance. That was a great sorrow.

He remembered how, just a few days ago, that woman suddenly came over to show concern for him, only to want him to help find a man for the burden his stepfather brought. Hah, he was just a tool to be picked up when needed and discarded at will when not.

While lost in thought, two hands appeared in front of him, one not very fair but with excellent bone structure, long and strong, and the other white and petite. The distinct-boned hand piled two pieces of ribs into his bowl, and the white petite hand piled a piece of braised fish, right from the belly, into it.

Xie Yunhai’s gloom instantly dissipated; he looked up and smiled at the two: "Thank you!"

"Brother Xie, if you don’t grab the food soon, it’ll all be gone," Jiang Mingyue chimed in.

Xie Yunhai chuckled, also noting that Yueyue’s friend seemed entirely oblivious to the little moves between the three of them, completely immersed in her meal at lightning speed... Indeed, if he didn’t hurry, soon there would be nothing left. Xie Yunhai suddenly felt energized and began to compete for the food.

Jiang Mingyue hadn’t expected Gu Xiaoxiao to eat like a rough-and-tumble big guy in the underworld. This was the second time they had a meal together; the first was at her elder brother’s dinner party, but there were many people and the focus was on the newlyweds, so she hadn’t noticed if Gu Xiaoxiao ate like that back then.

And now... Looking at her eating manner, and then at her well-proportioned figure, it was surprising that she, like her, could eat without gaining weight.

Of course, Gu Xiaoxiao didn’t just eat without gaining weight; she would binge eat when in a bad mood. Fortunately, the days of poor mood were few; otherwise, the savings wouldn’t be enough to support her eating.

The two finally found a chance to talk, seizing the excuse of going to People’s Park for a walk after dinner, telling the two guys not to follow.

But when they reached the entrance of People’s Park, they found it was closed, forgetting that, being used to the Central Park of their past life, everything there was free, and the fences were removed entirely. Couples could stay late into the night with complete freedom.

So they had to walk along the perimeter, where near the water they could see parts of the park’s scenery, which was natural but really... not much to see at that time.

"Tell me, what’s wrong?"

"My aunt wants me to marry a man whose wife just died... Boohoo..." Gu Xiaoxiao felt especially wronged. Perhaps she had been holding it in for too long, and now there was a crack through which to vent her emotions freely.

A week ago, Gu Jinhong came to the counter looking for Gu Xiaoxiao, asking her to come home for dinner that night. Gu Xiaoxiao hadn’t seen her aunt in a long time, so she happily bought a gift and went over, only to find an old man at her aunt’s house. She didn’t know his identity, but both her aunt and uncle were attentive to him. She noticed something was wrong when the old man kept examining her, making her feel uncomfortable.

A few days later, her aunt came joyfully saying she had good news for her.

The so-called good news was that the old man had taken a liking to her, and she could immediately prosper.

Gu Xiaoxiao found it ridiculous; she wanted to prosper but didn’t want love and marriage tied together. She wanted to find someone with shared interests to accompany her for life.

Then... then came her aunt’s ridicule and bombardment, even to the extent of... yes, using the term Yueyue would use, moral coercion, saying that the reason she could escape the mountain village and establish herself in Nanxi City was due to her aunt’s efforts, since she helped find her a job, and now it was time to repay her.

Gu Xiaoxiao felt immense pain; if her aunt wanted money, she could borrow some, no matter how much debt. It would just be tougher later, but her aunt wanted her lifelong happiness in return, something she couldn’t accept.

But the problem now was, her aunt wanted it and pressured her to agree.