Chapter 135: Now This Is a Real Smile

Chapter 135: Now This Is a Real Smile

Compared to Gu Chaoning, who looked like he was about to cough his lungs out, the Marquis stayed as calm and collected as ever.

He took another unhurried sip of tea and replied, "Oh, I was just asking. Am I wrong?"

Gu Chaoning blurted, "Of course not! I treat Xue Geer just like I treat An Geer."

"Oh?"

The Marquis shifted, raising an eyebrow at Gu Chaoning, looking both surprised and amused. For some reason, Gu Chaoning suddenly flashed back to those sly old foxes in the imperial court in his past life who loved setting traps for people.

But that didn't make sense—what traps could the Marquis possibly set for him?

The Marquis then continued, "But I heard from Xue Geer that he is your child groom?"

"So that's what this was about." The Marquis probably already knew the details but wanted to hear it more clearly.

"Yeah, I was young and dumb back then. I saw how cute Xue Geer was and that he never got enough to eat. I remembered how Uncle Wang's child groom in the village got to eat at Uncle Wang's place, so that's why..."

"But I only see Xue Geer as a younger brother."

The Marquis understood and nodded, then turned to look just behind Gu Chaoning. "Xue Geer, you heard that, right? Gu Da Ren only sees you as a younger brother."

!!!

Gu Chaoning jumped up from his seat. Behind him, Yin Hongxue stood by the magnolia tree at the back of the pavilion, quietly watching them.

For some reason, having Yin Hongxue watch him so quietly made Gu Chaoning more nervous than he'd been for his very first exam. His heart was pounding so hard it was deafening.

Yin Hongxue nodded, a faint smile curving his lips. He clasped his hands in a salute toward Gu Chaoning. "Grandfather, Chao Ning Ge, lunch is ready in the dining hall. Shall we head over?"

"Xue Geer, I..." Gu Chaoning opened his mouth to say something but had no idea what to say.

Yin Hongxue looked puzzled, tilting his head slightly. "Hm?"

But Gu Chaoning went quiet again. "Nothing."

An Ding Hou shot Gu Chaoning a knowing, half-smiling look and walked on ahead. Yin Hongxue nodded at Gu Chaoning and followed. Gu Chaoning then sped up to catch up and walk alongside Yin Hongxue.

"Xue Geer, I..."

He wanted to say something again, but still didn't know what to say. His awkwardness just made Yin Hongxue laugh.

After he finished laughing, Yin Hongxue said, "Chao Ning Ge treats me just like An Geer—I know that for sure. What happened today was my grandfather being out of line. Please don't take it to heart, Chao Ning Ge."

"The reason Grandfather did this today is that I've hit the age where he's always trying to arrange a marriage for me. I already don't have enough time to study painting every day, so I used the thing between Chao Ning Ge and me as an excuse."

After hearing Yin Hongxue's words, Gu Chaoning felt a strange, inexplicable restlessness.

Wait—Xue Geer was only seventeen. Since when was that the age where people had to get engaged? None of those half-baked young masters in the capital could hold a candle to Yin Hongxue.

And Yin Hongxue was so smart—he had to know all of this.

No wonder Yin Hongxue didn't seem all that happy right now.

Probably, now that he'd made things clear to the Marquis, Yin Hongxue had lost his excuse to dodge the topic.

Ugh, he shouldn't have been so quick to talk, making Xue Geer unhappy.

"I'm unhappy?"

Yin Hongxue looked at him in surprise, and only then did Gu Chaoning realize he'd said his inner thoughts out loud.

His heart nearly stopped in alarm. Had he been living too comfortably for too long? How had he let his guard down so completely and actually said what he was thinking out loud!?

Yin Hongxue smiled and denied it. "I'm not unhappy. Why would Chao Ning Ge say that?"

"You are." Even though his heart was still reeling, he spoke up right away at Yin Hongxue's retort.

Even though Yin Hongxue was smiling, you could clearly tell whether it was a real smile or a fake one from his expression.

When Yin Hongxue was happy, his eyes curved up, the corners soft and gentle, and his dark, beautiful eyes sparkled like stars.

But when he was unhappy and faking a smile, his eyes only curved a little—more like the flesh of his cheeks pushing up against the skin under his eyes. His dark, beautiful eyes weren't like stars at all—instead, they held a faint hint of mockery.

But Yin Hongxue was so stunningly good-looking that even his fake smile didn't look fake.

Hearing his explanation, Yin Hongxue curiously felt his own face.

Because of that curiosity, the fake smile naturally faded away. Gu Chaoning secretly let out a sigh of relief, and seeing his eyes light up again, he felt happy too.

"Really, you didn't even know that yourself, did you?" Gu Chaoning felt a bit proud of this, since he'd spent a long time observing it in his past life. "When you go back later, find a bronze mirror and keep it on you. Smile at it a bunch, and you'll be able to see the difference."

Gu Muan waited in the dining hall, his stomach having growled three times already, and still no sign of Gu Chaoning and Yin Hongxue. He couldn't help but get up and head to the dining hall entrance.

Not looking was one thing, but this—this was something else!

These two were actually standing right outside the dining hall, facing each other, grinning and chattering away!

Gu Muan pouted angrily and shouted, "The food smells amazing, but my stomach's growling! Your chat won't get cold if you wait, but lunch will!"

Gu Chaoning and Yin Hongxue suddenly looked over. Seeing the young master standing at the dining hall entrance with his hands on his hips, glaring at them like they were the worst people in the world, they both froze.

Neither of them had realized they'd already made it to the dining hall. The Marquis, who'd been walking ahead of them, had already gone in and taken his seat, exchanging wide-eyed looks with Gu Wen and Chen Youyan, talking about everything from spring plowing to autumn harvest.

Gu Chaoning rarely felt embarrassed. He quickly waved for Yin Hongxue to come along.

Inside the dining hall, the moment the two walked in, they were met with three pairs of eyes that all let out sighs of relief.

Gu Muan followed behind the two, fingers out, ready to poke the waists of these two irresponsible, unenthusiastic older brothers the moment they stopped.

But maybe Gu Muan's words had actually worked this time—they didn't cause any more trouble.

After lunch, the Marquis's servants led Gu Wen, Chen Youyan, Gu Chaoning, and Gu Muan to the guest courtyard for their afternoon nap.

Yin Hongxue had originally planned to drag Gu Muan to nap with him, but after what Gu Chaoning said before lunch, even as he was feeding himself, his mind had already wandered off.

The moment the servants led the four away, he immediately excused himself to An Ding Hou and hurried back to his own courtyard.

Then he sat down in front of the bronze mirror.

He smiled first, but didn't feel what Gu Chaoning had described—the flesh of his cheeks pushing up the skin under his eyes to make his eyes curve a little.

Afraid he was too far away, Yin Hongxue scooted his chair closer, leaning his upper body over the dressing table.

But no matter how he smiled, he felt there was no difference except in how big the smile was.

Yin Hongxue quickly called for Guan Qi, then put on a smile. "Guan Qi, does this smile of mine look fake?"

Guan Qi's gaze locked onto Yin Hongxue's face, then he immediately shook his head.

His master was clearly smiling so pretty, wasn't he?

On the way to the dining hall before lunch, Guan Qi and Zhimo had been following them. Guan Qi, who practiced martial arts and had sharp ears, had caught every word Gu Chaoning said.

But... still, like he'd thought before, his master was clearly smiling so pretty.

Yin Hongxue lay down on the bed with a puzzled expression, figuring that Gu Chaoning might just be teasing him.

With that thought, drowsiness gradually washed over him, and he fell asleep.

By the time he woke up, half an hour had already passed. Yin Hongxue hadn't expected to have slept so long and quickly called for someone to help him get ready.

He had been given two personal attendants after arriving at the Marquis's residence. One of them, a clever young woman named Zi Pu, noticing how anxious he was, quickly spoke up: "I've sent someone to check on Wenyin Courtyard—they haven't stirred yet."

Wenyin Courtyard was the guest courtyard where the Gu family of four were taking their midday rest. Hearing Zi Pu's words, Yin Hongxue let out a sigh of relief.

In the afternoon, the marquis was feeling restless and went off on his own to do who knows what.

Yin Hongxue waited for a while at the lakeside pavilion before the servants finally brought the Gu family over.

The lakeside pavilion had beautiful scenery. The lotus leaves had just grown out and were still young and tender, and many flowers lined the shore. Yin Hongxue remembered that when they first met, Gu Muan had said he liked the fragrance on him, so he planned to make some of that incense with him this afternoon.

The pavilion had everything they needed, with small boats and fishing rods. If Gu Wen and the others got bored, they could board a boat and row around the lake, or go fishing.

Gu Muan had seemed a bit drowsy, but when he heard Yin Hongxue mention making the incense that smelled so good to him, he perked up immediately.

"Xue Age, is that incense made from lotus leaves?"

Yin Hongxue nodded. "Mostly made from lotus leaves."

Then Yin Hongxue walked Gu Muan and Chen Youyan through the steps.

Gu Muan thought it was fascinating. When he had smelled the fragrance on Yin Hongxue earlier, it was pleasant yet subtle—seeming to carry a hint of lotus leaf, but also something sweet. His usually sharp nose had been stumped for the first time. Now hearing that lotus leaves really were in it, he couldn't help but feel excited.

When it came time to pick fresh lotus leaves, Gu Wen volunteered to row the boat, Gu Muan wanted to help, and Chen Youyan went off to gather the other needed items.

Gu Chaoning sat on the wooden walkway outside the pavilion by the water, idly playing with the lotus leaves within reach. Yin Hongxue came over and sat next to him.

Gu Chaoning turned his head and saw a slightly sulky look on his face. He couldn't help laughing: "What's wrong?"

Yin Hongxue worked the muscles in his face and flashed an especially radiant smile. "Nothing's wrong."

Gu Chaoning was briefly blinded by that brilliant smile. Snapping out of it, he raised an eyebrow: "But your expression seems to say otherwise."

Back when Yin Hongxue was still in Xiaohe Village, his smiles hadn't changed that much. Since coming to the capital, he'd become more lively, and his smiles had quickly started to match how they'd been in his past life.

Gu Chaoning figured the capital's feng shui might be off.

"What does my expression say?"

"It's a fake smile."

Yin Hongxue smiled again: "How about this?"

"Fake smile."

"This?"

"Still a fake smile."

"This time it's real, I promise."

"Wrong—still a fake smile."

Yin Hongxue was astonished.

Wait—so Gu Chaoning hadn't been teasing him after all? He could genuinely tell the difference between his real and fake smiles?

Gu Chaoning, seeing his astonished expression, could guess what Yin Hongxue was thinking. This made him feel somewhat smug, and he laughed happily: "Of course."

Yin Hongxue felt that Gu Chaoning's smile was like a hibiscus blooming, and he couldn't help but smile along with him.

His brows curved, the corners of his eyes soft, his dark, pretty eyes bright and sparkling like sunlight dancing on water.

Gu Chaoning then smiled and said, "Now that's a real smile."