Chapter 236: If We Had Never Met

Chu Peipei nodded. “You’re right. If someone else moves into the house before us, it won’t be worth it.”

Zhao Ping’an said, “That shouldn’t happen. Things are still calm up on the hillside. The main thing is, the building we’re living in now is already dangerous. The sooner we move, the better.”

The three of them arrived at the neighborhood and went their separate ways.

As soon as An Nan walked through the door, her three little ones rushed up to her in unison.

She patted each of their heads, then sniffed the air as she walked inside. “Smells so good!”

Gu Zhiyu came out of the kitchen carrying a dish. “Dinner’s ready.”

He looked her up and down carefully. “Why are you back so late today? Nothing happened, right?”

An Nan shook her head. “No, everything’s fine.”

The two of them sat down at the dining table. An Nan said, “I went to look at houses today.”

Gu Zhiyu was taken aback. “What houses?”

An Nan joked, “I’m moving out. Going to live on my own.”

Gu Zhiyu was silent for a moment. “What do you mean?”

An Nan said, “You stay here with the three little ones. I’ll find another place for myself.”

Gu Zhiyu shot her a look. “Stop talking nonsense.”

An Nan insisted, “I’m serious! The four of you are too clingy. I need to live on my own for a while.”

Gu Zhiyu stared at her for a moment, then put down his chopsticks. “No more dinner for you.”

An Nan blinked. “Huh?”

Gu Zhiyu scooped her up in his arms. “Someone needs to be taught a lesson.”

With that, he tossed her onto the sofa and leaned over her.

Looking at his handsome face so close, An Nan realized she’d taken the joke too far and quickly pushed him away.

“I was kidding! Get off me!”

Gu Zhiyu ignored her.

An Nan’s cheeks burned. “I was wrong! Stop messing around, or dinner will get cold.”

Gu Zhiyu smirked. “Too late.”

Two minutes later.

Gu Zhiyu, ready for action: “So, do you still want to live alone?”

An Nan shook her head desperately. “Nope.”

Seeing the dangerous look in his eyes, she could only plead pitifully, “Gu Zhiyu, I’m hungry. I want to eat.”

Gu Zhiyu hesitated for a moment before letting her go.

An Nan quickly got up and fled to the dining table.

They both sat down again.

This time, An Nan didn’t dare joke around anymore and said seriously,

“This building is pretty badly damaged. Today, I went with Peipei-jie and Zhao Ping’an to look at villas on the hillside. We’re planning to move there.”

Gu Zhiyu thought for a moment. “That does sound safer.”

Then he added, “Why look at houses? You can just live at my place.”

An Nan pouted. “I’m not going to sponge off a man.”

Gu Zhiyu glanced at her, amused. “Then I’ll sponge off you. I don’t mind.”

An Nan laughed. “Fine, I’ll take care of you.”

Gu Zhiyu picked up some food for her. “Head of the household, eat more.”

The two of them finished dinner happily and started packing.

Looking at all the supplies filling the place, Gu Zhiyu said, “I’ll get you a truck. We’ll try to move everything in one or two trips, so we don’t have to keep running back and forth.”

An Nan thought to herself, If you weren’t here, I’d just stash everything in my space and be done in no time.

With that in mind, she asked directly, “Are you done with your work?”

Gu Zhiyu had been so busy these past few days that she barely saw him. An Nan hadn’t asked what he was up to, but she had her suspicions.

It was the apocalypse now. His company had already shut down, so he couldn’t be busy with business. They had plenty of supplies, so he wasn’t out looking for more.

Given the timing, An Nan guessed he was probably the mysterious big shot selling oil to the authorities.

But she didn’t ask.

After all, they’d always minded their own business and never interfered with each other.

Gu Zhiyu replied, “I’ll be out for one more day tomorrow, then I’ll be done.”

An Nan’s eyes lit up. That’s perfect—she could use her space then.

So she said, “Alright, go do what you need to do.”

Gu Zhiyu asked, “When are you planning to move?”

An Nan answered honestly, “Tomorrow.”

Gu Zhiyu frowned. “Can you wait a day? Move the day after tomorrow, and I’ll help.”

An Nan waved him off. “No need. Don’t forget, I can teleport.”

Gu Zhiyu still disagreed. “It’ll still be tiring if you move too much. Better to wait and let me do it.”

He explained, “I already have plans with someone tomorrow. I can’t change it—I have to go out. After that, I’ll be free.”

An Nan understood. “Go ahead and do your thing.”

Seeing that Gu Zhiyu still wanted to say something, she added, “I’ve already made plans with Peipei-jie and the others. Don’t worry, I’ll move as much as I can tomorrow, and whatever I can’t move, I’ll leave for you.”

Gu Zhiyu could only nod. “Just be careful and don’t wear yourself out.”

The next morning, as soon as An Nan got up, she found that Gu Zhiyu had already left, but he’d left breakfast on the table.

“He left so early today?”

An Nan washed up, then sat down to eat breakfast by herself.

Just as she finished eating, Gu Zhiyu suddenly came back in.

An Nan looked at him in surprise. “You finished your business so quickly today?”

Gu Zhiyu handed her a key. “I haven’t gone yet.”

An Nan was even more confused. “You haven’t gone? Then you just went out to…”

She looked at the key in her hand and suddenly realized, “You went to get the truck for me?”

Gu Zhiyu nodded. “Yeah, I brought a truck over. It’s parked downstairs.”

Then he asked thoughtfully, “Do you know how to drive it? If not, I can leave Long Cong’an with you.”

An Nan quickly waved her hand. “I can drive. You take Long Cong’an and do your thing.”

As she spoke, her heart felt warm.

Gu Zhiyu had his own things to take care of, but he still got up early to get her the truck, and didn’t even forget to make breakfast.

She opened her eyes to find everything already taken care of by him.

Gu Zhiyu looked at her with a smile. “What’s with that look?”

An Nan hugged him. “I’m touched, that’s what.”

Gu Zhiyu smiled and hugged her back. “So how are you going to thank me?”

An Nan raised an eyebrow. “I have to thank you?”

Gu Zhiyu replied matter-of-factly, “Of course.”

An Nan asked, “What kind of thanks do you want?”

Gu Zhiyu, as if he’d already thought it through, hugged her and said, “Never leave me.”

An Nan’s body stiffened for a moment.

Gu Zhiyu looked a little unhappy. “Is that so hard?”

An Nan said, “Not really…”

Gu Zhiyu didn’t say anything, just lowered his head and looked at her seriously.

An Nan met his gaze. “I just suddenly thought, if we’d never met, who would you say that to?”

Gu Zhiyu raised an eyebrow. “How could we not have met?”

An Nan leaned against his chest, her thoughts drifting far away.

If she hadn’t been reborn, they really wouldn’t have met.

In her previous life, she’d traveled all the way to the hillside, only to be turned away by her scumbag father, and had only seen Gu Zhiyu’s luxurious villa from afar.

But she’d never seen him in person.

They were complete strangers, and she’d died with resentment.

Seeing An Nan silent, Gu Zhiyu thought she cared about the answer.

So he answered seriously, “If we’d never met, I’d just stay by myself, quietly waiting—until I met you.”"