Back Then, I Adored You

“Don’t feel guilty. Old Master Gu doesn’t appear to be bothered by this.”

“Alright, let’s stop talking about this. Xiaokou, you should stop crying, as well. The cake is here. Let’s hurry and cut it…”

When an attendant entered the drawing room with a three-foot-tall cake, everyone finally stopped pacifying Liang Doukou and crowded around Old Master Gu and the cake. Although everyone had already eaten a full dinner earlier, they sang a boisterous round of “Happy Birthday” and then ate cake. As it was still early when they finished, everyone gathered in conversation, with the men discussing their own topics of interest and the women complaining about domestic affairs.

After 20 minutes, Liang Doukou approached Old Master Gu and Old Master Liang and muttered a few words before taking her leave. Right after she left, Xiaowang, who had been seated next to Lu Bancheng and watching him play his game, immediately got up and followed her out under the pretense of needing to use the restroom.

Soon after, Gu Yusheng’s cell phone buzzed in his pocket. Digging out his phone, he looked at the screen and saw it was a message from Xiaowang. Gu Yusheng didn’t respond but, instead, looked toward Lu Bancheng. When their eyes met, Lu Bancheng nodded his head slightly and began to tap a few times on his cell phone.

A few moments later, Lu Bancheng looked up from his phone and took note of the room’s harmonious ambience. Tired from having played his game for so long, he raised his arms and massaged his neck while looking out the bay window. Suddenly, he saw something.

“Guys, look at that!”

His voice was not loud but audible enough that everyone turned their eyes to look out the window upon hearing him. A large group of colored balloons was rising in the air outside of the window, and below the balloons was a painted banner rising with them. As the balloons rose too quickly, everyone only managed to catch the words “Old Master Gu.”

“Who planned this surprise for Old Master Gu?”

Someone pushed open the window and stuck his head out to look. “They’ve already risen quite a bit. There’s a string below that’s holding them together. They look like they’re already at the 17th or 18th floor…”

“What’s written on the banner?”

“Can’t see it clearly. Maybe we should head upstairs to find out…”

With everyone’s curiosity piqued, they all stood up at once and, crowding around Old Master Gu and Old Master Liang, made their way upstairs in the elevator. After exiting, they walked down a long hallway, at the end of which they could see the balloons bobbing through the window.

To avoid causing more ruckus in the hotel, everyone kept their voices down to a whisper, and the thick carpet allowed them to sneak easily as a group without notice. As they were nearing the end of the hallway, the door to a room on the left was ajar, and the sounds of items being smashed could be heard from inside the room.

Several women in the group were the most curious about what was going on and, as they passed by the door, they intentionally slowed down to a crawl to glance into the room through the half-open door. They were horrified by the mess they saw on the floor.

“Is that a couple fighting?” a woman from the Gu family whispered to the person next to her as they picked up their pace behind Old Master Gu.

“Perhaps—” the other woman began, before being interrupted by a familiar bellow coming out of the room behind them. “This is really driving me crazy!”

“Oh?” uttered another woman, who stopped and looked at Mother Liang. “Isn’t that Xiaokou? I thought she left. Why would she be here?”