#79: Gu Minghui x Qiu Ruru

After hanging up the phone, Gu Minghui sat in his seat for a long time without moving, his mind in a chaotic mess for reasons he couldn’t explain.

He was very ambivalent about relationships. He had never really been in love with any of the girls he dated. He knew he was a player, but so what? He just didn’t care.

He was used to being reckless.

When it came to Shen Yihuan and Qiu Ruru, he treated Qiu Ruru like a friend, but he was also very protective of her, like she was his little sister. She was much gentler than Shen Yihuan, and he felt a need to protect her.

He always thought it was the protective instinct of a brother for his sister, but he began to doubt it now.

The news that Qiu Ruru was dating Han Fang took him by surprise. Qiu Ruru had always seemed completely uninterested in boys, and suddenly, he found out she was getting into a relationship.

It felt exactly like the moment you find out your daughter is getting married.

He felt a strange and inexplicable reluctance.

It was as if a beautiful vegetable had been snatched away by a pig.

The next day, Gu Minghui found out that Qiu Ruru and Han Fang were officially together.

It took Gu Minghui a long time to process this news, even longer than it took him to accept that Shen Yihuan and Lu Zhou were a couple, because with them, there was a buffer. Shen Yihuan had been so publicly chasing him for so long.

Gu Minghui finally realized how much of a player he was.

But this was wrong.

It was Qiu Ruru, not just some other pretty girl.

He slept on it, and when he woke up, he was a new man. He consciously went back to being her good friend.

________________________________________

After he went abroad, he met a group of people by chance.

He had loved guns since he was a child. Many boys probably liked this kind of thing. He even learned how to shoot, but the first time he owned his own gun was in his senior year of high school.

After he fell out with his family, he skipped class, packed a bag, and traveled to a city in the southwest for a while.

He stumbled upon a black market and realized that guns weren’t that hard to get. There were many of them in the black market, and black guns were in circulation.

At first, they were reluctant to sell to a student, but he ended up paying five times the price to buy it.

Gu Minghui never thought he would go down this path.

At first, he was just interested. He would get his merchandise from a young arms dealer, and then he slowly entered the circle, from a buyer to a seller, developing his network and growing his business.

He found that he loved this industry. He enjoyed the excitement and high profits that guns brought him. He had a special passion for firearms, selling them, shooting them, and playing with them.

He was familiar with all kinds of guns.

At first, he didn’t produce weapons. He just made a profit by reselling them, and his orders grew larger and larger.

This was something no one else knew about him.

Gu Minghui was indeed intelligent in this area. He hid himself very well, so much so that even his suppliers had never seen his face.

After he completed another large order, he bought a plane ticket to return to China.

He wasn’t going back to Beijing, but directly to the city where Qiu Ruru’s university was. It was almost her birthday.

He and Shen Yihuan had already made arrangements. They were both going to fly to that southern city to celebrate Qiu Ruru’s birthday with her. Gu Minghui arrived a day earlier than her.

Qiu Ruru came to the airport to pick him up.

After she started dating Han Fang, she chatted with Gu Minghui even less. Gu Minghui also consciously reduced the kind of gender-neutral closeness they used to have.

It had been a long time since they last saw each other.

The boy had grown into a man. He looked much more solid than before, with broad shoulders. He was wearing a simple shirt and jeans, but his smile was still as annoying as ever.

They hugged when they met.

“The plane was delayed. You must have waited for a long time,” Gu Minghui said, pushing his luggage and walking out.

Qiu Ruru didn’t stand on ceremony with him. “Yeah, almost an hour.”

Gu Minghui stopped in his tracks, suddenly bent down, and leaned closer to look at Qiu Ruru’s face, his eyebrows furrowing almost immediately.

The distance was too close. Qiu Ruru took a step back and looked away.

“Why are your eyes so red? When I first came out, I thought you were wearing some kind of colored contacts.”

Qiu Ruru rubbed her eyes and rolled her eyes. “Who wears colored contacts that dye the whites of your eyes red?”

“I don’t know anything about that stuff. I don’t wear them,” Gu Minghui said. “You didn’t cry, did you? What happened?”

“It’s nothing,” Qiu Ruru said, tying her hair up, her voice very soft. “I just broke up with Han Fang yesterday.”

Gu Minghui swore under his breath. “He didn’t treat you well?”

“We broke up, so let’s not talk about it. I just won’t be getting a birthday present this year,” Qiu Ruru said with a smile, joking.

“Your brother will make it up to you. It’s just a present. You can have as many as you want,” Gu Minghui said, putting his hands, which had been hanging straight down, on Qiu Ruru’s shoulder. “Han Fang was just so-so. He wasn’t that handsome. It’s okay that it’s over.”

They took the subway to the university. After showing Gu Minghui around, they went to a barbecue restaurant outside the east gate for dinner.

“The food near your school is pretty good.”

“Yeah, there’s a whole food street right outside.”

Gu Minghui quickly placed his order. It wasn’t very crowded at this time, and soon all the skewers were served.

They ate for a while. The sky grew dark, and the restaurant gradually filled up. They occupied a corner, eating, drinking, and chatting.

Suddenly, Qiu Ruru glanced outside, and the hand holding the skewer froze.

Gu Minghui turned his head and followed her gaze.

He saw Han Fang, and a very pretty girl standing next to him.

He raised an eyebrow expressionlessly, his wine glass still in his hand, his wrist slightly lowered. He glanced at Qiu Ruru and asked simply, “You broke up yesterday?”

Qiu Ruru leaned back against the wall and nodded.

Gu Minghui put his wine glass back on the table, took off his jacket, and threw it over Qiu Ruru’s head. He turned his head, looked at Han Fang, then back at Qiu Ruru. The girl was pulling the jacket off her head, her wrists slender and fair.

Just at the airport, her eyes were red.

He sighed softly and walked straight toward Han Fang.

Without a single word of nonsense, Han Fang was still processing why he was there when Gu Minghui punched him square in the face.

________________________________________

“So you came all the way to someone else’s school to beat them up? You’re something else, Gu Minghui.”

Qiu Ruru took him to a nearby clinic, where she dipped a cotton ball in alcohol and disinfected his wound.

“Who knew he had so many friends here? And even if I couldn’t beat him, I’d still have to fight him. I used to think he was a decent person, but I guess I was wrong. You broke up yesterday, and he’s already out to dinner with another girl today? What the hell is that if not cheating?”

Qiu Ruru glanced at him. “Well, I’m having dinner with a guy today, too.”

“That’s not the same thing!”

Gu Minghui wiped the cut on his lip with the back of his hand, wincing in pain and taking a sharp breath.

“How many years have I known you, and how many years has he known that girl? By the way, do you know that girl?”

Qiu Ruru raised an eyebrow slightly and threw the cotton ball into the trash can. “Yeah, I do. She’s my roommate.”

The same roommate who had encouraged her to get together with Han Fang.

Qiu Ruru had no idea how they ended up together.

When Han Fang was chasing her, he was really good to her, and he was also good to her after they got together. But Qiu Ruru couldn’t accept any more intimate interactions.

College couples often went to hotels near the school, and it was common to not go back to the dorms at night.

But Qiu Ruru was unwilling.

All four of Han Fang’s roommates had girlfriends, and he was the only one who had to stay in the dorm every night.

He knew that Qiu Ruru liked Gu Minghui, and over time, all kinds of speculation and doubt arose. Before they got together, Qiu Ruru had told him that she might not be able to completely forget Gu Minghui right away. Han Fang had said it was okay, as long as she was willing to be with him.

But later, he couldn’t accept this version of Qiu Ruru anymore.

Qiu Ruru only found out about her roommate and Han Fang yesterday. Han Fang had changed his phone password from her birthday to her roommate’s, and his photo album had intimate photos of him and her roommate.

It was impossible not to be sad.

After all, they had been together for a while, and the other person was her roommate, with whom she had classes and went to and from school every day.

It was sad and disgusting.

But it was also okay.

Qiu Ruru briefly told Gu Minghui what happened, paid for the bandaging, looked at him, and smiled. “Why do you look angrier than I do?”

“Give me a break. Your eyes were red before,” Gu Minghui said, annoyed.

Qiu Ruru shrugged. “It’s a breakup. Crying a little shows respect.”

“Our Sister Qiu,” Gu Minghui patted her shoulder twice. “The first time you date a guy, you run into this kind of scumbag. I hope you don’t lose interest in guys forever now.”

“Ah,” Qiu Ruru responded flatly and couldn’t help but laugh. “Maybe.”

She turned her head and asked, “What about you? Is your girlfriend a foreigner now?”

“Nah. I’ve been single for a while. It’s boring.”

Qiu Ruru raised an eyebrow in surprise.

“Really,” Gu Minghui said, holding up three fingers. “I’m almost done with love and desire.”

“Alright. Well, I’m already done with love and desire.”

The streetlights stood dutifully in the autumn night. The ground was covered in fallen leaves, making a rustling sound when they stepped on them. They paused for a second and then simultaneously bent over laughing. As Gu Minghui laughed, the corner of his mouth twitched in pain.

After they finished laughing, he asked, “So, what are you going to do now?”

“I’ll move out. I don’t want to live in the same dorm as that person,” Qiu Ruru said.

“Okay. When you move, call me. I’ll help you.”

“Got it,” Qiu Ruru said with a smile. “Gu Minghui, the moving company.”

The next day, as soon as Shen Yihuan arrived, she heard about what happened from Gu Minghui and was equally furious. With her fiery personality, she rolled up her sleeves, ready to go find Han Fang and fight him.

Qiu Ruru stopped her.

Han Fang knew she liked Gu Minghui, whether it was in the past or now, and she was reluctant to let Shen Yihuan and Gu Minghui know.

She was afraid that if she angered Han Fang, he would spill her secret.

“Besides,” Shen Yihuan said, slapping the table. “Why should you be the one to move out? The person who did something wrong should be the one to leave.”

“I was planning to move out and live alone anyway, even without this. I’m a light sleeper, and I’m always being woken up in the dorm. Don’t you also rarely sleep in the dorm?”

“I don’t care. If she dares to bully my friend, she has to leave. She’s already gone that far, do I still need to be polite to her?”

There were many long-term rentals available outside the school that weren’t expensive. Qiu Ruru settled on one that same day.

Shen Yihuan also caused a scene in her dorm that day.

Gu Minghui showed his ID and was let in, with the explanation that he was there to move some things. His tall and imposing figure standing in the dorm was a deterrent.

Finally, Shen Yihuan pointed her index finger at the girl’s nose. “You get out of here right now, too. I’m not leaving until you do. Otherwise, I’ll beat you up every time I see you. Does your boyfriend taste better? Have you no shame?”

“Why should I? Don’t you dare think I won’t call Han Fang right now!” the girl shrieked.

“Go ahead and call him. Han Fang used to have to call me ‘sis’ in high school. And that guy,” Shen Yihuan said, pointing at Gu Minghui next to her. “He had to call him ‘Brother Gu.’ Yesterday, you guys had the numbers.”

Shen Yihuan tossed her phone in the air, caught it, tossed it again, and caught it.

“Go on and call him. Let’s see who apologizes to who in the end.”

The girl was so angry that she went outside and made a call to Han Fang. They didn’t know what was said, but they knew that the girl eventually moved to another dorm building.

The three of them happily went out for a big dinner together.

They didn’t realize at the time that that would be the last time they would all have dinner together for many years to come.

Not long after Shen Yihuan returned to Beijing, Shen Fu’s company went bankrupt, and he took his own life, leaving all the debts to his wife and daughter. Shen Yihuan was exhausted from dealing with everything. She took the last bit of money they had and also went abroad.

Gu Minghui, while studying abroad, delved deeper and deeper into his business. His ambition grew, and he stepped into a point of no return.

Qiu Ruru never dated again, as if she had truly become a saint.

The story was long, but the words were short.

She still secretly loved Gu Minghui.