Chapter 227: Sharp-Tongued
The day of the wine tasting arrived in the blink of an eye. Since it was a semi-outdoor event, there was no need to dress too formally, and Gu Qinghuan managed to avoid the fate of going to Merriness again.
On top of that, this event had noticeably more people bringing their children—there were even kids younger than her everywhere—so Gu Qinghuan blended in even more.
Han Yun put a baseball cap on Gu Qinghuan. The weather was nice today, but the sunlight was a bit harsh, so the cap was perfect for shading her eyes.
Knowing that Gu Qinghuan had things to handle, Han Yun didn’t stay by her side to avoid interfering. Instead, she went off to attend to her own matters, though she did remind Gu Qinghuan that she could freely use her name if needed.
As soon as Yu Yuan arrived and saw the cap on Gu Qinghuan’s head, her eyes lit up. She muttered quietly, “How did I forget to bring a hat?”
Yu Xin smiled at Gu Qinghuan. “My turn today.”
Last time at the auction, Jiang Chuchu had accompanied her—this time, it was Yu Xin.
“Who else from our class came?” Gu Qinghuan glanced around.
“Shen Jianwei said in the group chat that she’s here, but she’s accompanying her father meeting friends. She’ll come find us later,” Yu Xin replied.
“Did Yu Wenli and Cui Wanning not come?” Gu Qinghuan asked again.
Although she directly used the elders’ names, neither Yu Xin nor Yu Yuan minded. Yu Xin didn’t care much, and as for Yu Yuan, her disappointment toward her family had been building up because of the engagement.
The years of upbringing couldn’t be denied, but expecting Yu Yuan to still feel “respect and affection” for Yu Wenli and Cui Wanning was no longer possible.
Or perhaps there had never been “respect and affection”—only the ingratiation of someone in a lower position toward someone above.
“Father didn’t come. Mother did,” Yu Xin said calmly. “She’s chatting with the other ladies and waiting for Xu Zhishu to arrive.”
“I even asked Mom to bring one of our aunts along,” Yu Yuan chimed in excitedly, looking toward Yu Wenxiu standing not far away. She introduced her to Gu Qinghuan, “Her surname is Yu—we call her Aunt Yu. Her cooking is amazing!”
Gu Qinghuan met Yu Wenxiu’s gaze and smiled, then turned back and said seriously, “Mm, super delicious.”
It had been a while since she last saw Yu Wenxiu. Seeing that she looked well now made Gu Qinghuan happy.
Yu Wenxiu’s presence was actually Yu Yuan’s small selfish wish. When Yu Yuan mentioned the wine tasting, she noticed Yu Wenxiu was curious about the food and wine, so she asked Cui Wanning to let her come along.
Her reasoning was: “Aunt Yu cooks so well—if she observes how others do it on-site, maybe she can recreate it afterward.”
Cui Wanning didn’t think much of it. The Yu family had brought two cars today—one for Cui Wanning, who also needed to pick up a friend.
The other car carried Yu Xin and Yu Yuan. Letting Yu Wenxiu tag along, she could sit in the front passenger seat and help carry things.
Yu Wenxiu nodded slightly to Gu Qinghuan, then stepped aside to avoid disturbing the girls.
Yu Yuan was a bit confused—why did Gu Qinghuan sound like she had already tasted Yu Wenxiu’s cooking before?
Before she could ask, Shen Jianwei hurried over. “Finally done.”
They greeted each other. Shen Jianwei grabbed a glass of juice and took a big gulp. “Greeting elders is such a hassle.”
Yu Yuan nodded in agreement. She didn’t like going around greeting people with Cui Wanning either.
“What if you think about it differently?” Gu Qinghuan said casually. “Instead of doing it out of politeness, think of it as building connections—wouldn’t it feel less troublesome?”
Shen Jianwei paused, then said thoughtfully, “That actually makes sense. It’s like passing social connections down to the next generation?”
“Ah, I didn’t think that deeply,” Gu Qinghuan admitted honestly. “I just look forward to collecting New Year’s money.”
Ever since elementary school, Gu Haiyan had let her manage her own New Year money. So whenever she thought about her little stash, she became very enthusiastic about greetings.
Besides, her family didn’t have many relatives, so the amount she could collect was limited—she had to make an effort to get to know people.
The girls looked at each other, then burst out laughing.
The four of them gathered together, grabbing snacks and drinks, chatting as they ate.
From time to time, Gu Qinghuan and the others even posted pictures of the desserts in their group chat, causing waves of wailing from Class Three.
Ji Tianxiao: [You’re eating all this good stuff and still showing off!]
Ming Xiaolan: [I’ve been breaking out lately—I need to cut sugar, cut sugar…]
Fan Ziran: [Just ordered dessert delivery from the nearest shop.]
Zhan Chuchen: [I don’t like sweets. You can’t hurt me.]
Song Yi: [No carbs? Where are the carbs?]
Ai Ning: [Seriously, you carb addict.]
The group chat was lively and chaotic.
Gu Qinghuan was about to take more photos when, from the corner of her eye, she spotted a familiar figure. She immediately nudged Yu Xin with her elbow.
Yu Xin looked toward the entrance—and sure enough, Wei Xiao and Xu Zhishu had arrived.
At the same time, Yu Yuan received a message from Cui Wanning: [Come find me by the fountain.]
Her good mood instantly disappeared. She stood up, pouting. “Mom wants me to go to the fountain. Next, she’s definitely going to make me interact with Aunt Xu and Wei Xiao.”
“I’ll go with you,” Yu Xin stood up as well.
Gu Qinghuan stuffed the remaining half of a cookie into her mouth, covering it as she chewed and spoke quickly, slightly muffled, “I’ll go too.”
The matcha and original-flavor cookie was crisp and fragrant, but eating it too fast made it a bit dry.
Gu Qinghuan gulped down some tea, finally swallowing it, then wiped her mouth with a tissue. After making sure she looked presentable, she followed Yu Xin and Yu Yuan toward the fountain.
Shen Jianwei stayed behind—keeping some distance made it easier to provide live updates.
Seeing Gu Qinghuan, Cui Wanning’s lips twitched slightly. She hadn’t forgotten how sharp-tongued this girl was.
Although during Gu Qinghuan’s second visit to the Yu house she hadn’t shown much “lethality” in front of her, she later heard from the servants that Yu Yuan had been brought to tears—which showed just how difficult this girl could be.
If Gu Qinghuan knew what Cui Wanning was thinking, she would definitely put her hands on her hips and snap back: Was Yu Yuan really crying because of me? The atmosphere was perfectly fine—Yu Jinxin was the one who ruined it!
Besides, the real reason Yu Yuan cried stemmed from the Yu family’s long-standing attitude toward her—the true culprits were Cui Wanning and Yu Wenli.
But in a public setting, Cui Wanning still had to maintain a friendly façade. “Yu Xin, Yu Yuan, your friend is here too?”
Gu Qinghuan wanted to roll her eyes. After all this time, Cui Wanning still addressed Yu Xin directly by name—wasn’t she afraid others would notice how cold her attitude was?
She spoke first, smiling sweetly. “Hello, Auntie. Long time no see—I’m Gu Qinghuan.”
Cui Wanning feigned realization. “Oh, it’s Xiao Gu. Did you come today with Miss Jiang again?”
“No,” Gu Qinghuan’s smile didn’t fade. “Chuchu had something else today. I came with Aunt Han Yun.”
Cui Wanning’s heart skipped a beat. Before she could respond, someone nearby spoke up in surprise and curiosity, “President Han? Then… are you that young benefactor everyone’s been talking about?”
Recently, Han Yun had been thriving within the Han family. Her brother Han Lang was practically pushed out, barely holding on with his remaining shares.
“I just helped a little, and we became familiar,” Gu Qinghuan said calmly. “She said there’d be good food here today, so she brought me along for fun.”
Her frank attitude actually won her quite a bit of goodwill.
Since Han Yun intended to repay her, if Gu Qinghuan kept refusing, people would start questioning her true motives. After all, the fact that she was here already proved she had received Han Yun’s favor.
In this situation, claiming “I didn’t want anything in return” would sound hypocritical.
By openly acknowledging her help while also framing it as simply coming along for fun, it matched her age and felt natural.
Everyone thought: She really is a good kid.
Cui Wanning had also heard about Han Yun’s “young benefactor.” At this moment, she could only feel it was absurd—first Jiang Chuchu, now Han Yun—how could Gu Qinghuan be this lucky?!
