When the female supporting role has a beauty system

Chapter 1244 Qiao Mai of the 1970s 12
Gu Jingyue noticed that Qiao Mai had been avoiding him recently, and it was quite obvious.

First of all, Qiao Mai usually leaves for the pastry shop at seven in the morning, which is also the time I usually leave, so I always run into her. But recently, I haven't seen Qiao Mai for a whole week.

Secondly, she comes home late. She usually gets home around six o'clock, but now it's around eight o'clock before we hear any noise from downstairs.

Finally, the dress and high heels that he had given her were returned untouched by Qiao Mai and hung on his doorknob.

For a whole week, he hadn't seen her. A week had reached the limit of Gu Jingyue's patience. Gu Jingyue looked down at the shopping bags on the coffee table, stood there for a few seconds, and then picked up the shopping bags and went downstairs.

After returning the items and avoiding Gu Jingyue for a week, Qiao Mai's wariness dissipated. She felt that Gu Jingyue had understood her intentions, and she returned to her former carefree self.

She likes to prepare delicious food when she's in a good mood. Because she was relaxed, she left the shop at four o'clock today. On her way back, she went to the market and bought a lot of ingredients. Now, Qiao Mai is in the kitchen preparing chicken feet stew.

When Gu Jingyue knocked on the door, Qiao Mai had just prepared the ingredients for her chicken feet stew, which was ready to simmer over low heat. Hearing the knock, Qiao Mai didn't think much of it, took off her apron, and went to open the door.

"Who...?" Qiao Mai said as she opened the door. When she saw Gu Jingyue standing outside, she instinctively took a step back and was about to close the door.

Gu Jingyue scratched at the door frame with his fingers: "I remember you told me you'd treat me to dinner another day, but today you turned me away?"

Qiao Mai was caught off guard. She glanced quickly at Gu Jingyue, scratched her toes on the floor tiles a couple of times, and finally took a slight step to the side: "If you don't mind, would you like to have dinner at my house tonight?"

"If you don't like simple food, I'll treat you to a meal outside?"

“No need, this is fine as it is,” Gu Jingyue was not about to miss the opportunity. He lifted the shopping bag up a bit: “A souvenir.”

Qiao Mai bit her lip: "This is not appropriate."

“There’s nothing wrong with them. I just can’t find anyone who would be a good fit for them.” Gu Jingyue placed the two shopping bags in the entryway and followed Qiao Mai into the kitchen.

"You don't need to be here, just go sit in the restaurant." Qiao Mai hadn't spent time alone with a man like this in a long time. Since she and Guo Jiantao started sleeping in separate beds after she turned 40, they had been doing so.

Now, suddenly being in the same room with such a highly aggressive man, she felt a little flustered.

Gu Jingyue took off his coat and rolled up his sleeves: "How could I accept this? I should help. Just tell me what to do."

"Do these vegetables need to be washed?"

Seeing him standing by the sink washing vegetables, this high-ranking leader wasn't putting on airs at all, and Qiao Mai couldn't help but compare him to Guo Jiantao. Guo Jiantao never went into the kitchen and didn't do any housework.

This shows that people are different.

Qiao Mai pursed her lips: "Then wash these vegetables and make some garlic-flavored vegetables tonight."

"I made a stew of pork ribs, pig's trotters and chicken feet. It's a bit too much, so I won't make any other dishes."

Gu Jingyue washed the vegetables: "That's enough. I don't usually cook when I get home. It smells delicious."

Qiao Mai's eyes crinkled slightly; she loved it when people complimented her cooking. "Really?" "Really," Gu Jingyue chuckled softly, finding it truly comforting to be with Qiao Mai. She was incredibly easy to understand, and being with her required absolutely no effort.

Qiao Mai seemed to sense something; she slightly suppressed her smile and simply stood in front of the stove, quietly watching the clay pot simmer.

Gu Jingyue placed the washed vegetables into the draining basket and stood beside Qiao Mai. The two of them stared at the clay pot on the stove. The only sound in the kitchen was the bubbling of the clay pot, which made the room seem even quieter.

Qiao Mai leaned against the cabinet, fidgeting with her fingers before finally making up her mind: "You gave me all this because you want to date me?"

“I don’t have that much time for dating,” Gu Jingyue was slightly taken aback, not expecting that Qiao Mai would take the initiative to make it clear: “I am seriously pursuing you with marriage in mind.”

Qiao Mai turned to look at him, and after seeing the seriousness in his eyes, she suddenly turned away: "I have never thought about remarrying, especially not with someone like you."

"Then start thinking about it now," Gu Jingyue said softly. "Marrying me wouldn't be a bad deal."

Seeing Qiao Mai turn to look at him again, a smile flashed across Gu Jingyue's eyes: "My parents are both in the capital, and I work away from home all year round, so my parents can't interfere with our lives."

“My parents are both Party members and they absolutely do not discriminate against girls. They treat all the younger generation in the family equally.”

Qiao Mai's eyes widened slightly; clearly, the point about not favoring boys over girls touched her.

Gu Jingyue continued to persuade Qiao Mai: "I usually keep my own salary. After we get married, I will definitely give you my salary, although it won't be much money."

Qiao Mai stroked the handle of her teacup, clearly having taken Gu Jingyue's words to heart. Gu Jingyue noticed Qiao Mai deep in thought out of the corner of his eye and realized that there wasn't absolutely no chance.

He wasn't afraid of Qiao Mai thinking, he was afraid of her not thinking at all.

Gu Jingyue continued to state the benefits of being with him: "I am usually very busy with work and may often work overtime and come home late, but as long as I am at home, I will not shirk my family responsibilities and I will fulfill my responsibilities as a husband."

Qiao Mai finally spoke: "What are the responsibilities of a husband in your eyes?"

“From three perspectives, it mainly involves economic responsibility, emotional responsibility to my wife, and responsibility for the education of my children.” Gu Jingyue pondered for a moment and said, “Economically, I earn just enough to live on, but not enough to become extremely wealthy.”

“Emotionally, I will respect and cherish my wife, communicate with her promptly when there are issues, and she will always be the most important person to me. I will not put her after the children just because we will have children in the future.”

"I will fulfill my responsibilities as a father in terms of our children's education, instead of pushing it all onto her. Her thin shoulders can't bear these burdens. It's enough for her to be happy by my side."

Qiao Mai stared at the tea leaves in her teacup for a long time before softly asking, "Since you know all this, why did you still divorce your ex-wife?"

Gu Jingyue wasn't surprised that she knew about his previous marriage, and he didn't shy away from mentioning it: "It was originally an arranged marriage between two families. At that time, I thought I didn't have anyone I liked, so I just followed my family's arrangements. After all, for our job, getting married is a must."

“My ex-wife… she has no feelings for me either,” Gu Jingyue shrugged as he saw Qiao Mai staring at him. “I’m not making excuses. She already had someone she liked, but her family didn’t approve.”

“She told me about this before we got married. I was not in the mood to make the marriage work, so I went back to work not long after we got married. My ex-wife stayed in the capital and continued to see her lover.”

Qiao Mai nodded slightly: "Very generous."