To make up for the debt owed to Lin Qingping and Gu Juncheng

Lin Qingping is going crazy.

I'm so happy I'm going crazy!

Not only because she would have time to meet Gu Juncheng in the capital in the future, but more importantly, because Gu Juncheng didn't come to school in her previous life! He sacrificed himself three and a half years later!

Now that he's in school, does that mean he won't have to sacrifice himself anymore?

"Ah—Gu Juncheng!" Lin Qingping screamed and threw herself into his arms, hugging his neck tightly. "You...you're so mean! How could you not tell me? How could you keep it to yourself! How could you not tell me!"

Gu Juncheng initially held her arm, seemingly trying to remove her from his body, but she was holding him so tightly that he gave up and instead picked her up.

"Aren't you surprised?" he whispered in her ear.

More than just a surprise!

I'm absolutely ecstatic!

"Gu Juncheng..." Her voice became sticky, like syrup, making one's heart feel as if it were soaking in syrup.

"Mmm..." he responded softly, then lowered his head and kissed her lips.

"Mmm..." she murmured, clutching his clothes tightly, "Wait..."

Second Sister and Zhiyuan are still here!

“They’ve gone out,” he said in a hoarse voice.

Lin Qingping: ...

Lin Qingping was speechless...

After a long while, he finally let her go.

Lin Qingping lay on his chest, her face flushed, her lips a bright red, glistening like red fruit candy.

Gu Juncheng looked at it, then lowered his head and sucked hard again.

I can't breathe.

“We still need to go look at houses! Shall we go now?” Lin Qingping said, but she remained lying on his chest without moving.

Gu Juncheng found it amusing and gently patted her back. "Let's go then."

"Mmm." Lin Qingping agreed, snuggled in his arms for a while longer, and then stepped out to call her second sister and Zhiyuan to go look at houses together.

However, his heart was pounding wildly, and his legs went weak as soon as he took a step, causing him to fall to the ground.

Gu Juncheng reacted quickly and caught her, preventing her from falling.

"Are you sure you can handle it? Maybe you should take it slow?" Gu Juncheng couldn't help but laugh.

Lin Qingping gave him a reproachful look, "It's all your fault! Let's go! Otherwise, people will laugh at us!"

She may not be reserved, but that's only in front of Gu Juncheng, okay? When has she ever been unrestrained in front of outsiders?

She glared at him, opened the door, and left.

The second sister and Zhiyuan were waiting in the next room. When they saw her, they both had expressions that said, "I had no idea what you were doing."

The second sister obediently called him "brother-in-law," and Zhiyuan grinned and called him "Uncle Gu."

It was clearly a normal conversation, but there was an inexplicable sense of unease in the air, a feeling that you both knew but wouldn't say it aloud.

Gu Juncheng's face was serious and stern as he hummed in agreement.

Lin Qingping had always thought she had a thick skin, but now it seemed that wasn't necessarily true...

Her eyes darted around, glancing at him several times, but he pretended not to see anything. He put his arm around her shoulder and said seriously, "Let's go."

In fact, Lin Qingping was not very familiar with the rental and housing policies of that era, and there were no real estate agents at that time. However, she knew that there was a housing management bureau. She originally planned to go to the housing management bureau and the neighborhood committee to ask if there were any houses for sale or rent, preferably houses for sale.

As a result, Gu Juncheng simply led the three of them away.

"Where are we going?" Lin Qingping walked on the streets of the capital, which at this time still had a simple atmosphere amidst its prosperity.

"Didn't you want to look at houses?" Gu Juncheng asked.

Lin Qingping was stunned. "Really? You've already found a place to live?"

Gu Juncheng kept everyone in suspense, saying, "You'll find out when we get there."

In return, Lin Qingping pinched his arm.

Gu Juncheng led her to a street lined with two-story brick and wood bungalows.

"This is it." Gu Juncheng led her to a vermilion door, took out a set of keys, and opened the door.

“This…” Lin Qingping stood frozen at the doorway.

This is a very well-maintained house.

The house has two floors, dark red wooden floors, and snow-white walls without a single stain. The windows are also dark red wooden windows. Perhaps, from the perspective of decades to come, such a color scheme and house will seem old-fashioned and full of a sense of age, but in this era, it is definitely a very good house.

Lin Qingping put her hand on Gu Juncheng's arm. "You're not going to tell me this is the house we're going to live in, are you?"

"Of course, otherwise why would I bring you here?" Gu Juncheng put the key in her hand. "Take a look and see if it's okay. I didn't come to see it beforehand. Wu Tianping's family helped me find it."

No wonder...

In this era before real estate agents, you might not be able to find such a good house without local connections.

Lin Qingping immediately called her second sister and Zhiyuan into the house.

This two-story house has a total of four rooms, one downstairs and three upstairs, a kitchen, a large living room, and most importantly, there are bathrooms on both the upstairs and downstairs!

This is incredibly rare these days!

"Gu Juncheng!" She ran up and down excitedly, and after reading it once, she returned to Gu Juncheng, overjoyed.

Gu Juncheng remained calm and composed. "How is it? Is it alright?"

"Yes!" She nodded vigorously. "That's great! That's wonderful! Have you already rented it?"

"Yes, the rent has been paid. However, there's only a bare house and some basic furniture. There's nothing else. We were mainly worried that if we prepared something in advance, we wouldn't like it, so we're waiting for the lady of the house to arrive," Gu Juncheng explained.

"This is already very good! Gu Juncheng, thank you!" She couldn't wait to go shopping and decorate the house right now.

Gu Juncheng murmured, "What nonsense are you talking about!"

Lin Qingping smiled. She really wanted to thank him! She wasn't stupid at all!

How did he think of everything?!

She was prepared to spend several days looking for a place to live here!

Gu Juncheng led them outside and took them for a walk around the area to familiarize them with the surroundings.

“There’s a kindergarten and a primary school a few dozen meters from where we live. Zhiyuan’s enrollment has been arranged. He can start kindergarten in September. Let him get used to it first, and then he’ll start first grade next year.” He pointed in another direction, “It’s about a ten-minute bike ride from here to your school. We’ll buy two bicycles in a couple of days so you and your second sister can ride them to school.”

Lin Qingping walked beside him, listening silently to his arrangements, feeling inexplicably at peace.

It seems she has never felt so at ease before, as if no one has ever arranged everything for her so that she can simply sit back and enjoy the fruits of her labor.

In her past life, during the first five years of her marriage to him, she was unwilling and took whatever she wanted from the Gu family. Although the Gu family satisfied all her needs, she never felt comfortable because of this resentment.

Later, Gu Juncheng passed away, and she struggled alone, facing hardships and thorns along the way. Although she managed to carve out her own niche, who could understand the bitterness she endured? Even after she achieved financial freedom and owned her own restaurant chain, she remained constantly on edge, never daring to relax for a moment.

Her family only ever asked her to solve their problems; they never thought about her well-being, let alone shared her burdens.

She had to find solutions herself, from big business ventures to small household items like a bottle of milk or a piece of fruit.

Even though we are independent and self-reliant, who doesn't want to be loved?

In her past life, it seemed she was always charging into battle, never having been loved by anyone...

For no apparent reason, I was struck by emotion.

In the golden August sunlight, she lowered her head, her eyes welling up with tears.

Second Sister and Zhiyuan were also very happy, skipping and hopping ahead.

Lin Qingping was walking with her head down when she suddenly felt her hand being held.

"What's going on?" Gu Juncheng's voice rang out.

"It's okay!" Lin Qingping blinked, forcing back her tears, and smiled at him. "The sun is too bright."

Gu Juncheng glanced at her but didn't say anything.

There were vendors selling candied hawthorns on the road, and Er Mei and Zhiyuan were attracted by them.

Zhiyuan ran over and asked them if they wanted some, but Gu Juncheng shook his head as soon as he saw the amount of sugar.

So, he only bought one string of pearls for Lin Qingping.

Sometimes, eating something isn't about how delicious it is, but simply about eating it to fit the occasion.

For example, the first time I came to the capital, walking on the streets of the capital, I saw these bright red candied hawthorns and felt that this was the time to eat them.

Lin Qingping took a bite; the sour hawthorn, coated with a layer of crunchy sugar, was still quite delicious.

Later, all sorts of candied hawthorn skewers were developed.

Strawberries, kiwis, and all sorts of fruits go without saying; some restaurants even serve foie gras and hawthorn.

Lin Qingping lifted the candied hawthorn skewer and put it into Gu Juncheng's mouth.

Gu Juncheng really didn't like this sweet thing, but when he saw Lin Qingping looking at him with her watery eyes, he lowered his head and took a bite.

"Is it delicious?" Lin Qingping asked deliberately.

Gu Juncheng paused for a moment, then nodded.

Lin Qingping chuckled inwardly, thinking there was no need to go against her conscience and pander to him like that.

They went to the furniture store first.

Lin Qingping already had some initial ideas about how to decorate the new house.

She wanted a wall full of bookshelves.

Ironically, in her past life, she ran such a large business and made so much money, yet she didn't put much thought into her own needs. She was always thinking about what her family needed, and how to please her mother and her younger brother.

She owns more than one house, but none of them are decorated according to her own wishes. Or perhaps, she simply doesn't have the energy to decorate them.

Just being alive is hard enough.

She suddenly realized that this rented house was actually her first home in the true sense.

Belongs to her.

It also belongs to her and Gu Juncheng.

Even if it's just rented.

So she had even more energy.

At that time, full-wall bookshelves were not popular; only individual cabinets were used.

Lin Qingping thought about it and decided to make do.

So I bought a few sets of cabinets and decided to assemble them myself when I got home!

The house already had a bed, wardrobe, and table. She selected a few pieces of furniture she needed, gave the delivery address, and then went to the next shopping mall.

Choosing bedding was the most urgent task, as she couldn't sleep until the bed was made. However, this also became a hurdle for her. She didn't really like the sheets in the mall. In the end, she went to a cotton fabric store, picked out a piece of cotton fabric that she liked, and planned to sew it herself when she got home.

Sewing is a piece of cake for her and her second sister.

Then I bought a whole bunch of kitchenware, dishes, household items, and various decorations, and I ate lunch out every day.

I went home and put things away several times, and it wasn't until evening that I finally finished my first day of shopping.

It cost a lot of money, but Gu Juncheng paid for it all.