He gripped the armrests of his wheelchair so tightly, using almost all his strength to suppress his inner self-deprecation, and said in an extremely calm tone, "Just as you think—a cripple, along with whatever other medical conditions come with it, I have them all."
He had made himself perfectly clear, and Gu Qing understood what he meant.
Meeting his dark eyes, she felt as though they were veiled in shadow.
A nameless pang ached in Gu Qing's heart.
She could hardly imagine that the once proud and aristocratic young master of the Lu family had become what he was today.
He had not refused because he wanted to avoid the arranged marriage.
It was because of his deep sense of inferiority.
Subconsciously, she reached out and took his hand. "Lu Jingyan, don't push me away."
These were the very words he had once said to her; now it was her turn to say them to him.
Her gaze was burning and intense, so scorching that it warmed Lu Jingyan to the core.
Ever since his car accident, he had cut himself off from everyone's concern, unwilling to face anyone's pity.
She was the first person who, after being pushed away by him, told him not to let go.
Even his own mother had voluntarily pushed him away.
On a sudden impulse, he replied, "Alright."
As the words fell, her face instantly bloomed into a radiant smile, bright, beautiful, and gentle. "It's a deal, then."
Lost in the sweetness of her smile, Lu Jingyan forgot his original purpose.
Only in a daze did he realize that this woman he had just met seemed to have lowered his boundaries.
Many things he would never have compromised on before outsiders had somehow been conceded to her.
In the end, they had even discussed engagement and marriage.
His original intention had been to persuade her to reject the arranged marriage.
Instead, things had evolved to this point.
---
Gu Qing and Lu Jingyan had talked inside for less than twenty minutes before settling the matter of the marriage.
The blind date ended, and the two families parted ways.
The moment Ye Zhixue got into the car, the smile plastered across her face instantly collapsed.
Thinking of Madam Lu's meaningful insinuation just moments ago, she felt utterly humiliated.
She couldn't help lecturing Gu Qing, "You shameless dead girl, did you forget everything I taught you beforehand? I told you to say you graduated from Jingcheng Medical University—even that would have been pushing it—and yet you actually told people you graduated from Yale University! Can't you even weigh your own worth before lying?"
Gu Qing interrupted her, "I didn't lie."
Her gaze was calm and tranquil, showing not a single ripple, nor the slightest shame at having her lie exposed.
Ye Zhixue almost wanted to believe her, but she knew very well that Gu Qing had never attended college and possessed nothing more than a high school diploma.
Seeing Gu Qing stubbornly refusing to admit her falsehood, Ye Zhixue felt a surge of anger compounded by deep disgust.
Growing up wild in the countryside really taught you all kinds of bad habits.
Saying she graduated from Jingcheng Medical University was already flattering her.
"Ruoruo worked hard for three years just to get into Jingcheng Medical University. Do you have any idea how hard it is to get into a prestigious university, let alone top-tier institutions like Yale?"
She slanted a look at Gu Qing and scolded, "Now look at this! You've spun such a colossal lie that you can't even backpedal out of it. Didn't you see how Madam Lu barely responded when you claimed you graduated from Yale? Who on earth would believe such ghost stories? You've managed to shame the entire Gu family all by yourself, you pathological liar."
Gu Qing was not at all surprised by Ye Zhixue's reaction.
After all, in her eyes, she was nothing more than an uncultured, unmannered country bumpkin.
She had never been willing to understand her; for a mother to fail this completely was truly pathetic.
Hearing Ye Zhixue compare her to Gu Ruo, Gu Qing found it somewhat amusing.
The university that Gu Ruo had struggled three years to enter was currently trying its best to invite Gu Qing to be a lecturer.
If Ye Zhixue ever found out about that, she would probably go out of her mind with fury.
With a mocking tone, she retorted, "If you think me saying I graduated from Yale is a lie, then isn't saying I graduated from Jingcheng Medical University a lie as well?"
Looking at Ye Zhixue—her own mother—every shred of expectation in the depths of Gu Qing's heart vanished completely. Her voice grew bone-chillingly cold. "Don't forget, you're the one who taught me to lie in the first place. Besides, the pathological liar here is you, not me."
Taken aback, Ye Zhixue was momentarily left speechless.
Recovering her wits, she opened her mouth to reprimand Gu Qing for her lack of manners, but Gu Qing cut her off, "I have no interest in listening to this. All you wanted was an alliance with the Lu family; now that your goal has been achieved, you're satisfied, and I'm satisfied. There's no need to say anything else."
Just then, the car pulled into the Gu Family Villa. Giving Ye Zhixue no chance to reply, Gu Qing stepped out and headed straight for the front door.
Left speechless by her own daughter, Ye Zhixue watched Gu Qing's retreating figure, her dissatisfaction reaching its absolute peak.
A wild girl remains a wild girl. Not only was she completely ignorant of the immensity of heaven and earth, but she had zero manners to boot.
Talking to her own mother like that must have been taught by that old hag in the countryside.
If not for the fact that Lu Jingyan had crippled legs and wasn't a normal man—and she couldn't bear to ruin her youngest daughter's lifelong happiness—she would never have agreed to bring Gu Qing back from the countryside.
As expected, only the child raised by your own side would ever be truly close to you.
---
The Gu Family Villa had four floors: the first floor was the living room, the second floor housed the family's bedrooms, the third floor contained several storage rooms, and the fourth floor was for guest bedrooms.
It was almost laughable—they were a family of five, yet Gu Qing's room was the only one assigned to the far end of the third-floor corridor, right next to the storage room.
Meanwhile, the extra room on the second floor was Gu Ruo's exclusive study.
If not for the arranged marriage, they probably wouldn't have planned to bring her here at all in this lifetime.
Therefore, Gu Qing was not surprised by Ye Zhixue's attitude toward her.
Even so, an indescribable sense of resentment still lingered in her heart.
As she walked upstairs, she heard the sound of footsteps coming from above.
Looking up, she saw a boy over one meter seventy tall walking down the stairs toward her.
He was dressed in a hip-hop outfit, his handsome face still retaining a trace of boyish innocence.
Gu Qing had never met him before, but from his swaggering gait and clothing style, it wasn't hard to guess that this was the younger brother she had never met.
While Gu Qing noticed Gu Cheng, Gu Cheng noticed Gu Qing as well.
The girl wore her hair in a ponytail, and her clothes were quite ordinary.
Yet her appearance was far from ordinary; she was strikingly pretty. Gu Cheng guessed almost instantly that this must be his eldest sister.
He had previously heard people in his group of delinquent friends discussing how ugly his eldest sister was, which had made him feel somewhat awkward at the time.
Now, however, he felt as though he had just been slapped across the face.
Her delicate features wore no makeup, yet they were exceptionally beautiful, and her eyes held an indescribable aloofness.
Catching sight of the eyes that bore a striking resemblance to his own, Gu Cheng became even more certain that this woman was indeed his eldest sister.
Who on earth had spread the rumor that she was ugly?
Originally, Gu Cheng had no particular feelings toward this eldest sister, though he didn't harbor any animosity either.
But since she had the audacity to bully his second sister—the person he cared about most—right upon her arrival...
Gu Cheng let out a cold snort. So what if she was good-looking?