Gu Qinghe looked up in surprise.
Qin Yuchen was wearing a military-green short-sleeved shirt, standing tall and straight. His resolute face was lightly dotted with sweat, as if he had just finished training, and he was pushing his bicycle toward them at an unhurried pace.
His deep, sharp gaze swept over her indifferently before landing on Guo Jingming.
Seeing the clear traces of Guo Jingming having washed up and dressed nicely, Qin Yuchen's already grim expression sank even further. He asked in a cold and hard tone, "Why are you so idle? Don't you have to go to work today?"
Guo Jingming stared back without showing any weakness, saying calmly, "I'm off today."
"That's why I specifically came to see if Qinghe has time to grab a casual bite to eat with me."
As he spoke, he smiled at Gu Qinghe, his face full of gentleness.
Before Gu Qinghe could reply, Qin Yuchen interrupted him coldly, "Qinghe doesn't have time! If you want to eat, go eat by yourself!"
To keep Guo Jingming away from Gu Qinghe, he aggressively wedged himself between them, leaving Guo Jingming no chance to get close.
Guo Jingming was thoroughly angered by Qin Yuchen's shameless, people-snatching stunt. He dismounted from his heavy-duty bicycle, parked it properly, and said angrily, "Qin Yuchen, is this any way for an older brother to act?"
Qin Yuchen let out a cold sneer, an icy aura spreading from him as he said with heavy oppression, "If I don't act like an older brother this way, am I supposed to just stand by and let you spirit Qinghe away?"
Guo Jingming retorted in exasperation, "Who's spiriting anyone away? I'm extending an open and honest invitation..."
Without giving him a chance to explain, Qin Yuchen reached out, patted his shoulder, and said in a deep voice, "Put away those little schemes of yours. Those little tricks might fool some young girls, but don't even think about spiriting Qinghe away."
With that, he turned back to Gu Qinghe, softened his tone, and asked, "Shall we go home?"
Gu Qinghe looked at the nonchalant Qin Yuchen, then at Guo Jingming, whose face was livid with gritted teeth.
After a moment of thought, she made her decision.
"I'm sorry, Comrade Guo. Since Yuchen is here to pick me up, I think I'll go home with him." She smiled gently, the shallow dimples at the corners of her mouth carrying a fresh and sweet vibe.
The furrowed brow on Qin Yuchen visibly relaxed. As smoothly as he had spoken earlier, he had actually been somewhat worried that Gu Qinghe might choose Guo Jingming.
After all, Guo Jingming's handsome appearance and gentle, easygoing personality possessed quite a lethal charm for young girls.
He was afraid Gu Qinghe might fall under his spell as well.
Fortunately, she hadn't; she stood firmly on his side.
Qin Yuchen's mood improved, and the dark expression brought on by Guo Jingming shifted from gloomy to bright.
Carrying Gu Qinghe, he rode smoothly past Guo Jingming, wearing an expression as smug as smug could be.
So enraged was Guo Jingming that he viciously kicked a nearby bicycle and cursed, "Qin Yuchen, you're a complete bastard!"
Guarding against him like he was a thief—was he really that despicable?
Just at that moment, Tao Chunlan, who was finishing up inside, was locking the front door of the Supply and Marketing Cooperative when she saw her good-for-nothing son kicking the bicycle.
Rolling up her sleeves, she marched right over, twisted his ear, and scolded, "You little brat, didn't I tell you in advance what time Qinghe gets off work? How on earth did you still let Second Qin cut in and snatch her away!"
"Oh, mother of mine, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts!" Guo Jingming cried out miserably, covering his ear and begging for mercy.
Knowing her own strength, Tao Chunlan couldn't stand him making a fool of himself on the bustling street, so she reluctantly let go.
Guo Jingming rubbed his reddened, twisted ear and muttered aggrievedly in a low voice, "I just figured that since it was my first time treating her to a meal, I needed to look neat and sharp. Who would have thought..."
Who would have thought that while he was getting cleaned up, Qin Yuchen beat him to it by mere minutes.
With a look of utter disappointment in her son's inability to live up to her expectations, Tao Chunlan jabbed him in the head with her finger, though she didn't have the heart to hit him for real. Shaking her head, she sighed, "With a brain like yours, you're probably hopeless."
Guo Jingming glared and protested, "My brain works just fine!"
Had the college entrance examinations not been suspended, he would have been a guaranteed college student, and even now he wasn't doing badly.
He was already an eighth-grade bench worker, and when it came to technical problems at the factory, even the veteran masters couldn't compare to him.
Tao Chunlan gave him an uncharitable eye-roll. "Your brain works fine, yet I haven't seen you manage to snatch Qinghe away from Second Qin."
Guo Jingming was left speechless. He considered himself shrewd, yet he still couldn't match Qin Yuchen's crooked paths and hidden turns.
That punk's methods of sticking it to people were endless; one slight lapse in judgment and you'd step right into his trap.
He was like that as a kid, and he was still like that now.
After a moment of silence, Guo Jingming tapped the bell on his bicycle and said, "I think Qin Yuchen cares a great deal about Gu Qinghe."
Tao Chunlan glanced at him sideways. Seeing no trace of sadness on his face, she narrowed her eyes and asked, "What are you planning?"
Guo Jingming flashed a grin at Tao Chunlan, his alluring peach-blossom eyes gleaming entirely with calculation: "If I can't snatch her away, at least I can gross him out, right?"
He had never seen Qin Yuchen care so deeply about anyone.
The more the other man cared about Gu Qinghe, the more he wanted to see just how far Qin Yuchen would go for her.
Tao Chunlan was taken aback, then smiled meaningfully and warned, "You little rascal... don't play things too recklessly."
A joke is a joke, but their family and the Qin Family were generations-old friends; they mustn't ruin the harmony over romantic entanglements.
"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing!" Guo Jingming smiled wildly.
Gu Qinghe was indeed the best-looking girl he had ever laid eyes on, but she simply didn't have that kind of feeling for him.
He wouldn't force it either—after all, there were plenty of good girls out there; she wasn't the only one.
However, if he could piss Qin Yuchen off in the process, he'd be more than happy to keep playing the role of the deeply affectionate suitor.
On the other side, Qin Yuchen took Gu Qinghe home via a quieter, less-traveled path.
Looking at his sweat-drenched clothes, Gu Qinghe asked curiously, "Did you just finish training?"
"Mm." Qin Yuchen replied in a low voice.
Gu Qinghe's eyes curved, her voice soft and light, "You didn't have to come pick me up, you know."
Qin Yuchen's breath hitched slightly. His mind started wandering down the wrong track, and his tone turned less than pleasant: "If I hadn't come to pick you up, would you have let Guo Jingming ride you home?"
Gu Qinghe's eyes flickered, her long eyelashes trembling as she said, "Would it really have been so bad if Brother Jingming rode me home?"
With a sharp *squeak*, Qin Yuchen slammed on his bicycle brakes, stopping by the roadside. Straddling the bike with his long, slender legs, he turned around and looked at her heavily.
The afterglow of the setting sun spilled over him, outlining his perfect silhouette.
In sharp contrast to the warm sunlight, his aura was chilly—not quite freezing, but impossible to ignore.
"What's wrong?" Gu Qinghe asked nervously.
Qin Yuchen pressed his thin lips into a line, his ink-dark eyes locking onto her figure firmly: "You wanted Guo Jingming to take you home?"
"And since when did you get so close to him? You're even calling him 'older brother'..."