Back Then, I Adored You

Like Old Master Gu, Nanny Zhang did not really understand the slang of young people. She shook her head. “I don’t think it means proud,” she said, before recalling that her son had taught her how to use the translation app Baidu not too long ago. “Old Master, hang on…”

As she spoke, she picked up her cell phone, typed “tsundere” into Baidu, and then scrolled through the definitions posted online. Choosing one, she read out loud, “Tsundere—being honest and caring despite saying ‘no.’”

Old Master Gu knitted his eyebrows, and his face darkened.

“I’m sure Miss Qin didn’t mean it that way.” Nanny Zhang quickly changed her tune and continued reading from her phone. “Tsundere means hypocrisy—to say one thing but mean something else.”

The expression on Old Master Gu’s face brightened up considerably.

Nanny Zhang stared at her phone and continued conducting meticulous research until she found her favorite explanation. She smiled cheerily and turned her screen around for Old Master Gu to see. “Old Master, she was trying to say that you are cute when she called you tsundere—Miss Qin was in fact complimenting you.”

Old Master Gu’s eyebrows raised in happiness, and Nanny Zhang was positively influenced by seeing him beaming. She said, “Eh, the only thing Miss Qin is lacking is her family background—everything else is pretty good. Even though she’s not the embodiment of perfection, she’s near perfection, especially since Young Master married her.”

Old Master Gu, who had been all smiles just a second ago, suddenly turned stern as he glared at Nanny Zhang. He started lecturing her. “What’s wrong with Xiao’ai? What is she lacking? I think she’s great! What do you mean that she’s only near perfection! The daughter-in-law of the Gu family is perfect! Perfect!”

While talking, Old Master Gu swallowed his medicine aggressively. He looked like he could no longer be bothered with Nanny Zhang as he made his way into the bathroom with the aid of his cane. He deliberately slammed the door to show his unhappiness and only pulled it open again after a while. “Also, you really lack manners. What is it with this ‘Miss Qin’? It’s Young Madam! Young Madam! Young Madam!”

After emphasizing it thrice in a row, Old Master Gu slammed the door again, so loudly this time that it was almost deafening.

……

Is there anything more blissful than two people who are truly in love receiving sincere blessings from their family members?

That night, Qin Zhi’ai was so happy that she behaved just like a child, circling around Gu Yusheng and hopping around. Gu Yusheng, afraid that a moment of carelessness would cause her to fall to the ground, occasionally reached out to support her; however, when Gu Yusheng saw her so happy, a strange warmth eventually surfaced in his heart.

We have gone through 10 years of entanglement before reaching this beautiful time in our lives. It really seems like a dream…

With his grandfather’s permission, Gu Yusheng started discussing with Qin Zhi’ai about making a trip to Hangzhou to visit her mother and ask for her hand in marriage. As they talked for a long time, they became even more carried away. They discussed whether they wanted a Chinese or a Western-style wedding, where the bridal shoot should take place, and where the wedding venue should be, as well as which stylist they would hire to design Qin Zhi’ai’s wedding dress.

By the end, even when Qin Zhi’ai was so sleepy she could no longer keep her eyes open, Gu Yusheng was still holding her hand and emphasizing repeatedly that he would give her the wedding of the century.

They never would have expected that their plans would eventually be disrupted. What awaited these two people was not the wedding of the century, but a divorce. And that divorce would cause Qin Zhi’ai to realize that, even before she got involved with Gu Yusheng, he had been protecting her with his life all along.