Chapter 28

After hearing from the doctor that Gu Ting had overeaten, Qiao An felt a bit dazed and nearly tripped on her way upstairs.
She went straight to Gu Ting’s room.
The handsome young man lay on the bed as if on the verge of collapse, pale, weak, and listless, looking as though he might roll his eyes back and pass out at any moment.
Ahem,
Qiao An felt she shouldn’t think that way, because at that moment, Gu Ting truly looked pitiable.
It was May, neither too cold nor too hot, yet he had the blanket pulled up to his chin. His brows were slightly furrowed, and beneath his thick, dark eyebrows, his peach-blossom eyes held more moisture than she had ever seen before. Even without any deliberate expression, Qiao An could feel the overwhelming sense of accusation emanating from him.
At that moment, Qiao An felt an unprecedented wave of heartache and guilt. “I’m sorry,” she said remorsefully. “I shouldn’t have left all that food in front of you.”
Gu Ting blinked, his expression softening slightly, as if he had accepted it.
Qiao An breathed a sigh of relief. It was good that he wasn’t angry, she didn’t want to lose the favor she had just gained, or it would be harder to get close to him later.
She curved her eyes into a gentle smile and asked softly, “Are you still feeling uncomfortable?”
Gu Ting blinked again.
It was then that Qiao An noticed Gu Ting’s face was actually quite small. Suspicious, she first measured her own face with her palm and realized her oval face had rounded out a bit recently, it was almost too big to be fully covered by one hand.
Then she tried measuring Gu Ting’s face.
Fortunately, her small hand could cover most of his face, leaving only his forehead exposed.
Small as it was, at least it wasn’t smaller than hers.
Gu Ting didn’t understand why she was doing this and stared straight at her. Through the gaps between her slender fingers, their eyes met.
Qiao An chuckled softly and withdrew her hand, suddenly realizing something. “Wait, didn’t you promise me you’d only eat when you were hungry? How come you finished it all in one go?”
Gu Ting’s gaze drifted away, once again treating Qiao An as if she were air.
Qiao An’s lips twitched, feeling both understanding and confusion. It had been two years since he was brought back to the Gu family, surely he should have adjusted to a life without worries about food and drink by now?
Why was he still like a goldfish, stuffing himself with food at every opportunity, as if he’d rather die full than hungry?
Unable to hold back, she poked his head reproachfully for the first time. “You can’t do this anymore, understand? You should know whether you’re full or hungry…”
Gu Ting’s lips puckered slightly, and he avoided her fierce gaze, not daring to move, clearly aware that he had done something wrong.
The girl’s soft, delicate voice, tinged with a hint of childish sternness, echoed in the quiet room.
Through the crack in the door, Grandpa Gu could only see the outline of the young girl sitting by the bed. Her slender figure looked as if a gentle push could topple her, yet she was scolding the boy lying on the bed, who stood over six feet tall, without him daring to retort.
Yes.
In Grandpa Gu’s eyes, this was a sign of not daring to argue.
He had seen how many male caregivers Gu Ting had driven away.
Yet, who would have thought that in front of Qiao An, he would actually be so obedient?
After watching for a while, Grandpa Gu turned away with a thoughtful expression.
Behind him, Qiao Yi followed as usual.
Grandpa Gu hesitated, then looked at Qiao Yi with a gentle smile.
A chill ran down Qiao Yi’s spine, and he quickly understood Grandpa Gu’s meaning. Having known each other for decades, how could he not? But this was his precious daughter, so he shook his head and said, “Sir, this isn’t something I can decide.”
“As long as you don’t object, that’s enough,” Grandpa Gu replied.
Qiao Yi fell silent.
Grandpa Gu said no more, sighed, a flicker of complexity in his eyes, then picked up a document and put on his reading glasses to review it.

As Qiao An had expected, her grades had dropped significantly compared to the original host’s.
Individual subject scores were released on Monday, but the overall rankings came out on Tuesday.
As soon as the rankings were posted, sarcastic jeers erupted in the classroom: “Tsk tsk, some people act so diligent, but their grades still dropped so much. All that hard work was probably just to shut the teachers up, right?”
“Haha, I thought she’d rank so high, being held up as a model student all the time. I bet even the teachers are embarrassed now.”
Lei Xiao was doing her homework when she overheard such blatant remarks. Her face flushed red with anger as if the words were directed at her. She clenched her pen tightly, gritting her teeth in frustration.
But seeing that Qiao An showed no reaction, she had no choice but to suppress her anger.
Qiao An had naturally heard the comments but paid them no mind. She did feel a bit sorry for letting her teacher down, but she wasn’t actually an underachiever. Even without considering her past life, once all her memories and knowledge merged in this life, she would handle everything with ease.
After all, how many days had it been since she arrived when the exam took place?
Through her recent hard work, she had already integrated a third of her knowledge.
By the time finals came around, she would surely redeem herself!
Therefore, she didn’t care about the mockery from others. Let them laugh, she knew her own capabilities, and as long as she stayed true to herself, that was enough.
Lei Xiao genuinely admired Qiao An’s rock-solid composure but admitted she couldn’t emulate it. With a troubled expression, she sighed, "They’re so infuriating! I just can’t stay calm."
Qiao An chuckled softly and thought for a moment before saying, "You need to learn to ignore them."
"Ignore them?" Lei Xiao was puzzled.
"Even in a noisy environment, you have to focus. Just treat what others say as background noise," Qiao An explained with a smile.
After her parents divorced during her senior year of high school, her mother worked at a food stall. Sometimes, Qiao An would bring her homework there to wait. Food stalls were notoriously loud, and at first, she struggled to adapt. But eventually, she grew accustomed to it.
After all, without better conditions, she had to adjust herself.
Lei Xiao sighed. "I’ll try my best."
What happened in the classroom had nothing to do with Qiao An.
She devoted herself entirely to studying, much to the disappointment of those who had hoped to see her react. With no satisfaction to be gained, they eventually dispersed.
The teachers also spoke privately with Qiao An after the exam.
Every subject teacher except Chinese had a conversation with her.
They all asked what had been going on lately, whether something was affecting her studies or if she was being bullied.
Each time, Qiao An could only reply, "I’ve been a bit off lately, but I’m making up for it now. It won’t happen again."
Naturally, the teachers trusted the words of a good student. Still, they paid a little more attention to her in class, calling on her more frequently than anyone else, which earned her some sympathy from her peers.
Qiao An took it all in stride.

[Task 6 Triggered: The antagonist Gu Ting has been staying indoors due to an injury. Host, please comfort the antagonist and take him out for a 15-minute walk. Reward: 2,000 points.]
On her way home, Qiao An suddenly heard the notification for Task 6.
She tilted her head thoughtfully. Task 4 had failed, and Task 5 was an ongoing mission, it wouldn’t be completed until Gu Ting’s hand healed, the cast was removed, and he no longer needed her to feed him.
She hadn't earned any new points for quite some time now.
Lately, Qiao An had even been woken up by the system in the middle of the night to check the midnight limited-time discounts. Unfortunately, even the discounted prices were beyond her means. There were some she could afford, but they were items she didn't need.
Now, suddenly hearing that points could be credited to her account, Qiao An jolted awake, clenching her little fists.
Just going outside?
No big deal!
Unfortunately, when Qiao An met Gu Ting and saw his reaction, she immediately felt that the matter was a bit tricky.
She tried hard to invite Gu Ting to go out, tugging at his clothes and pointing to the backyard. He remained silent. She pointed to the main gate, and he still didn't utter a word.
He was completely uncooperative!
Qiao An frowned deeply, feeling somewhat at a loss.
[System, can we skip going outside? Just walking around the room would be fine too.]
[Not going outside will slowly lead to depression. He wants to go out.]
Qiao An sighed, sitting cross-legged on the floor, propping her chin in her hands as she gazed at Gu Ting's thin yet handsome profile. The perfect lines, even his prominent Adam's apple, were quite attractive.
Look at those long legs, they almost reached her chest.
Such legs would be wasted if they didn't go out for a walk.
Xu Hui knocked on the door and, seeing her daughter and Gu Ting both sitting on the floor, reminded them, "The floor is cold. You can sit on the sofa."
"Mm," Qiao An nodded.
Xu Hui then said, "Someone sent over a lot of small fish this big today. Should we fry them or pan-fry them?"
They all seemed like dishes without added water.
But the actual taste and texture were different.
Just as Qiao An was about to answer, she glanced at the motionless figure, thinking that he had probably only eaten a little at noon and hadn't had dinner yet. He must be hungry.
Her eyes lit up, and she scrambled to her feet, saying, "Mom, fry the small fish! I'll do it!"
Xu Hui smiled, "Alright, you do it."

Half an hour later.
A faint aroma of salted and peppered dried fish filled the room.
Gu Ting, who had been sitting as if in deep meditation, twitched his nose and followed the scent. At the doorway, a small head popped out, round eyes sparkling with mischief as she whispered, "This is really delicious small fish. Do you want some?"
Not only did she speak, but she also acted, picking up a small fish by its tail and slowly putting it into her mouth.
The crispy, salted and peppered texture was delightful.
As she ate, it seemed you could even hear the sound of the fish being bitten into, a crisp, satisfying "crunch, crunch" faint but clear.
Gu Ting, clutching his long-empty stomach, stared at her for a long while.
Qiao An remained unmoved, standing at the doorway, beckoning him with a finger, and continued eating.
It was as if she would eat it all if he didn't come over!
Gu Ting's pale lips twitched, the corners of his mouth turning downward slightly. After hesitating for a while, and seeing that a small pile of the dried fish had already disappeared, he reluctantly bent his legs and stood up.
Qiao An raised an eyebrow, "Wouldn't it have been better to come earlier? The best part is right when it comes out of the pan!"
Gu Ting pouted slightly, his ears twitching almost imperceptibly.