Gu Jinli looked at the sky and said, "Itās neither early nor late now, letās wait a bit, in about an hour we can have dinner."
Qin San Lang looked at her flat stomach, "Youāll get hungry."
Gu Jinli laughed and patted the bag hanging at his waist, "You still have pancakes here, if youāre hungry, just eat those."
But Qin San Lang didnāt want her to settle for less. Whenever he could, he wanted to give her the best and pamper her a little.
He glanced at the street side and pointed to a restaurant, "Letās go have some pastries and then return."
Seeing his insistence, Gu Jinli nodded in agreement, "Okay, letās go eat some pastries."
She added teasingly, "But the pastries at these places are expensive and donāt taste good."
Qin San Lang nodded, "Theyāre definitely not as tasty as the ones Xiao Yu makes."
He looked at her and said, "In the future, Iāll find some skilful cooks to make you real pastries to enjoy."
Gu Jinli looked up at him, smiling, "Do you want to raise me to be a spoiled and capricious lady of the Fu Family?"
Qin San Lang shook his head, "No."
I want to raise you to be a noble lady who does whatever she wants.
Seeing him pause after just two words, Gu Jinli wanted to ask more, but they had already reached the restaurant. He held her hand and led her to an elegant room upstairs, where they ordered three plates of pastries along with a bowl of sweet milk soup and lotus seed soup.
Gu Jinli thought the sweet milk soup was a bit thick, so she reached for the lotus seed soup, but Qin San Lang snatched it up just before she did.
Gu Jinli was angry, "I want to drink the lotus seed soup."
Qin San Lang shook his head, "No way, the weather is still cold, and thereās lotus leaf in the soup, itās too cooling for you to have."
Gu Jinli was furious, "Then why are you drinking it?"
Qin San Lang looked at her and confidently replied, "Because Iām a man, I stayed up late last night, and itās just the right thing to have to relieve the heat."
Gu Jinli: "..."
She gritted her teeth, wanting to bite Qin San Lang.
Seeing her anger and the way she gritted her teeth while glaring at him, Qin San Lang laughed and used a spoon to scoop some lotus seed soup to bring to her mouth, "Just one spoonful."
Gu Jinli, "Three spoonfuls!"
Unexpectedly, Qin San Lang agreed without bargaining, "Okay." He fed her the spoonful of lotus seed soup.
The lotus seed soup was delicious, slightly sweet with a strong lotus fragrance. She drank happily, and Qin San Lang was happy to feed her. After the three spoonfuls, Gu Jinli was stunned and angrily said, "You tricked me."
Qin San Lang drank the lotus seed soup, smiled without speaking, and looked at her puffed-up face, thinking: Sheās so naive, from now on sheāll have to stick to him closely; without him watching over, how would she avoid falling into traps?
Yet somehow, he didnāt know why, given how clever Xiao Yu was in making medicinal ingredients, doing business, and outsmarting enemies, she turned a bit dumb when it came to matters concerning him.
Still, he liked it.
Gu Jinli thought Qin San Lang was the foolish one, even more so with his tendency to blush. That habit of blushing all over his face and ears hadnāt changed in three years.
Ah, how will he manage when heās so transparent with his emotions? Unlike her, who doesnāt blush easily; he should learn more from her.
Gu Jinli felt tricked, snorted coldly, ignored Qin San Lang, and instead bit fiercely into the pastries, drinking sweet milk soup.
Seeing her eating too quickly, Qin San Lang advised, "Eat slowly, eating too fast will choke you."
While speaking, he took out a handkerchief to wipe the pastry crumbs from the corner of her mouth.
Seeing him take out a handkerchief, Gu Jinli seized the opportunity to tease him, "A big man carrying around a handkerchief, are you a little girl?"
Qin San Lang calmly replied, looking at her, "I prepared it especially for you, so Xiao Yu would have something to wipe her mouth with after eating."
Gu Jinli: "..."
Ah, her teeth itched, she wanted to bite someone.
Looking at her angry expression, Qin San Lang felt very satisfied... No matter what, he wanted to see this adorable side of her every day in the future.
"Why are you staring? Hurry and eat, you only had a pancake for lunch, you must be very hungry." Gu Jinli knew Qin San Langās appetite; heās a rice bin, able to eat a lot, so she worried he might be hungry.
Qin San Lang: "No worries, occasionally being hungry is a necessary part of scout training."
He always remembered these military training principles and never slacked off.
Gu Jinli understood these trainings were necessary, so she didnāt persuade him to eat more, but instead asked, "Are you going to the Prefecture garrison tonight?"
The reason he returned to the Prefecture was under the excuse of going to the Prefecture garrison, he had to go to the camp, there was no avoiding it.
Qin San Lang: "Yes, Gu Chengxianās matters are resolved, I plan to go to the Prefecture garrison tonight."
Today was already February 11th; at the earliest, he could return tomorrow afternoon. If General Guo wouldnāt let him go, he would have to wait until the morning of February 13th to leave.
Good Brother An was taking the exam on February 15th, if he didnāt go to the Prefecture garrison soon, he wouldnāt have time to take Xiao Yu back.
Gu Jinli knew time was tight, so she didnāt keep Qin San Lang, "Go without worries, donāt worry about me."
Hearing this, Qin San Lang felt relieved but still requested, "Xiao Yu, stay at home for the next two days, donāt go anywhere, okay?"
He added, "If you have things to do, You An and Daqing can help you out. Just donāt go outside, Iāll worry."
Seeing him speak so pitifully, Gu Jinli nodded in agreement, "Okay, go ahead, before you return to pick me up, I wonāt leave the house."
See, isnāt sister treating you well? To let you go to the Prefecture garrison with peace of mind, she agrees to confine herself.
Qin San Lang was very happy, yet also guilty, "Next time when we come to the Prefecture, Iāll take you out properly, to wherever you want to go."
But this time it wasnāt possible, he feared that if he wasnāt around, she might encounter the Old Gu Family People, which would be troublesome.
Gu Jinli, eating a pastry, nodded, "Okay, I remember, Iāll wait for you to take me out."
Qin San Lang smiled and happily ate the pastries.
After they finished eating pastries in the restaurant, they returned to Gu Jinliās house in the Prefecture, removed their disguises, and took a medicinal bath.
After the bath, Qin San Lang didnāt go to the Prefecture garrison immediately but instead found Gu Jinli and said to her, "After the incidents with Gu Youwen and Granny Gu, the four of Gu Chengxian also had issues. Lord Lai, being clever, will definitely become suspicious and investigate these matters thoroughly. Although weāve handled things well and itās hard for him to find out, itās better to pause and wait for another opportunity to deal with Gu Youfu, so there arenāt too many from the Old Gu Family falling down, otherwise, your family might become a suspect."
Lord Lai already knew about the relationship between Xiao Yu family and Old Gu Family and has been investigating Xiao Yu family recently. Fortunately, he had people in place who could manage Lord Laiās men.
Gu Jinli nodded, "Iāve thought about everything you said. The aim this time wasnāt to eliminate the entire Old Gu Family, just to incapacitate those with influence. The rest can wait until eldest brother finishes the county examination."
No one is a fool; no matter how good she is, the frequent issues with Old Gu Family People will catch Lord Laiās suspicion.
Greed leads to failure; itās better to pause for now and find another chance to deal with other Old Gu Family people later.
Moreover...
Gu Jinli raised her eyebrows at Qin San Lang, her mischievous look made him smile.
He couldnāt help but approach her, asking with a smile, "Whatās up?"
Was there good news she wanted to share with him?