Chapter 9: Don't Think About Your Older Sister Doing Bad Things Tonight
"What do you want to eat?"
After placing a simple order, Gu Qiu turned his head to look at Su Jiuyue.
She didn't say anything, just smiled and pointed a finger at Gu Qiu, who was standing in front of the counter.
The meaning was quite obvious.
"Stop messing with my head... What on earth do you want to eat?"
Not expecting her to suddenly make such a joke, Gu Qiu was stunned for a moment before saying through gritted teeth.
"You brought me here... and I don't know which dishes are good..."
Su Jiuyue pouted slightly and muttered, her delicate brows knitting together as she glanced at the menu on the wall.
"Boss, just bring out whatever meat and vegetable dishes you're best at, a random mix will do."
Gu Qiu could tell that this mature beauty probably had a severe case of decision paralysis and couldn't figure out what she wanted to eat for the moment, so she simply handed the task over to the owner.
"Coming right up!"
The owner didn't beat around the bush either; seeing that the two had finished ordering, he walked straight into the back kitchen.
"Why do you have to say things that are so easily misunderstood..."
As soon as the owner vanished from sight, Gu Qiu sat back down in his seat and looked at Su Jiuyue with a puzzled expression.
In contrast, Su Jiuyue merely blinked innocently, a mischievous glint flashing in her bright, watery eyes as she said unconcernedly, "Everything I just said was the truth, wasn't it? Is there something wrong with that?"
"That's right, it was all the truth... but could you please not say it in a way that's so easy for people to misunderstand?"
Gu Qiu felt like his mind was about to snap. Why did this older sister act as if she had really taken a fancy to him, teasing him endlessly like this?
Was she treating him like the live-action version of *Teasing Master Takagi-san* or something?
"Then should I try a different way?"
Su Jiuyue thought for a moment, then smiled and said, "For instance, how about: A certain someone surnamed Gu played with a young girl's feelings, only to abandon her and pretend not to know her afterwards?"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, you can't just go around saying things like that!"
Gu Qiu was shocked out of his wits.
He had been impeccably honest ever since he was born; he hadn't even held a girl's hand, and he despised heartless playboys more than anything else in the world—how could he possibly do such a thing?
No, wait, the point was he *hadn't* done such a thing.
"This is sheer defamation! Believe it or not, I'll send you a lawyer's warning letter!"
"Who knows..."
The smile on Su Jiuyue's face did not fade.
"Perhaps you did do something like that, but you simply don't remember it."
"Impossible, absolutely impossible!"
Gu Qiu shook his head like a rattle-drum.
This was clearly a case of finding an excuse to condemn someone when you're determined to do so!
Seeing his extremely firm expression, a trace of desolation flickered in the depths of Su Jiuyue's eyes, and she let out a soft sigh.
Rarely, an inexplicable silence fell between the two of them.
This awkward atmosphere continued until the owner served the freshly prepared dishes onto the table, at which point it finally eased up a bit.
"Eat slower. You're wolfing it down like a starving ghost."
Seeing Gu Qiu devour his food in a whirlwind fashion, Su Jiuyue couldn't help but chuckle. She put down her chopsticks, stood up slightly, curled her right index finger, and seductively traced the corner of his mouth, wiping away a stray grain of rice.
She sat back down and brought her rice-stained finger toward her pink lips. The inexperienced blockhead could no longer tear his gaze away.
Then, executing a sudden plot twist, Su Jiuyue smilingly pulled a tissue from the dispenser beside them and wiped her hand.
"Your gaze seems a bit impolite. Are you thinking about something strange? For instance, like... whether I wanted to lick that grain of rice off my finger?"
"..."
Gu Qiu fell silent.
He really found it hard to say anything against his conscience. In that exact situation, wouldn't anyone assume that Su Jiuyue intended to lick the rice off her finger?
His CPU immediately began to spin at high speed as he rapidly organized his thoughts:
"To be honest, with the way you act, I don't even know if you're being serious or just insincere."
"Depends on how you want to look at it."
Looking completely unbothered, Su Jiuyue picked up the soup spoon Gu Qiu had used and naturally took a sip of the pork bone soup. The perfectly balanced savory flavor made her eyes narrow in satisfaction.
"You go by your own thoughts, and I have my own judgments. As for how it all turns out in the end... well, I'll leave that to your own actions."
Her eyes crinkled with a smile, her gaze drifting back and forth across Gu Qiu's face from time to time. Even though her gestures and demeanor seemed a bit flirtatious, her tone was exceptionally earnest.
Gu Qiu felt that she truly was a bad woman like a fox—the kind who cast her line and fished, but took no responsibility afterward.
"Little fellow, don't misunderstand."
Su Jiuyue didn't have a very big appetite; feeling that she was more or less full, she wiped her mouth with a napkin and, while reapplying her lipstick, spoke up with a seemingly casual air:
"In a sense, I'm actually a very devoted person."
Very devoted?
Gu Qiu shoveled a mouthful of rice, lifted his eyes to look at the mesmerizing beauty sitting before him, and couldn't help the twitch at the corner of his eye.
In his impression, with a woman like this, as long as a man took her seriously, he was bound to lose completely and utterly.
...
Well-fed and having paid the bill, Gu Qiu picked up Su Jiuyue's pile of shopping bags once more and accompanied her out onto the street.
Su Jiuyue walked ahead with her hands behind her back, her gaze drifting toward the street where the lights were just beginning to glow. The colorful storefront signs reflected Zhecheng's high standard of consumption, and the wide pedestrian walkways were bustling with a thriving, vibrant charm.
"The night view of the downtown area is truly beautiful."
She suddenly sighed with emotion.
Bathed in the street lights, Su Jiuyue exuded a distinct aura. Turning slightly to look at Gu Qiu, she gently brushed a lock of hair behind her ear; the light filtering through the strands illuminated her exquisite face, combining vitality with allure.
"It's getting late, and you look tired, little fellow. How about your older sister hails a cab to take us back?"
"I'll call a ride; I have a coupon, so we shouldn't waste it."
Gu Qiu walked to the curbside, put down the shopping bags, and took out his phone.
Of course he didn't have any coupons.
He simply didn't want to owe this older sister too much.
Though, given the outfit he was already wearing, he owed her quite a lot as it was.
Even so, he hoped he could do some insignificant little things to smooth over the slight lump in his heart.
The ride-hailing car arrived before long.
Gu Qiu placed the bags into the car's trunk, then opened the door for Su Jiuyue, letting her get into the back seat first.
Just as Su Jiuyue bent down to enter the car, her peripheral vision caught sight of one of Gu Qiu's hands shielding the top of the door frame, as if afraid her tall figure might bump her head.
This little fellow...
The corners of Su Jiuyue's lips curved upward slightly.
After all these years, he's finally learned to do some high-EQ things he never used to do...
The taxi drove quickly, and coupled with the fact that the school was very close to the restaurant, it soon came to a smooth stop right downstairs from the faculty apartment building.
"Little fellow, your older sister is heading up first then~"
Accepting the shopping bags from Gu Qiu, Su Jiuyue smiled at him.
Whether it was his imagination or not, Gu Qiu always felt that those shopping bags—which had felt heavy enough to tire his own arms—looked as light as empty bags in her hands, effortless to carry.
"Don't go thinking about your older sister doing bad things tonight, okay~?"
Ahem-ahem-cough!
Just as he was dismissing his lingering doubts and turning to head toward the dorms, Gu Qiu suddenly heard her drop that remark and choked so hard on his own saliva that he coughed repeatedly.
"Who would do such a thing! There are other people in the dorm, you know!"
"Relax, relax~ Your older sister was just joking~"
With that, Su Jiuyue turned around with a soft smile and prepared to enter the faculty apartment building.
Gu Qiu also got ready to head back to his dorm.
"Did you really not remember anything at all?"
Out of the blue, Su Jiuyue, who was walking up the stairs with her back to Gu Qiu, suddenly stopped and asked this question.
"Huh? Remember what?"
He halted his steps and turned to look at her somewhat lonely silhouette.
"Never mind~ It's nothing~"