The Heiress's Game

After finishing his noodles, Bai Junze reopened the refrigerator, took out fresh strawberries and blueberries, carefully washed them on the countertop, drained them, and arranged them in a glass bowl.

He placed the fruit bowl on the coffee table and said to Gu Yunjin, "Go watch TV. Let Auntie continue cooking. I won't try to do it anymore."

Gu Yunjin nodded in agreement. She carried her water glass from the dining table to the sofa, picked up the remote control, flipped through a few channels, and chose an old movie to play.

Sunlight streamed in through the floor-to-ceiling windows, casting a warm glow on the floor.

The strawberries on the coffee table glistened moistly in the glass bowl. She forked one, popped it into her mouth, and squinted her eyes contentedly.

Bai Junze tidied up the kitchen counter briefly, leaving the rest to the housekeeper.

He sat down next to Gu Yunjin, picked up his phone, and opened WeChat.

The screen lit up, and the chat box was already overflowing with messages from Bai Tianyi.

The latest post was a photo—it was the bowl of beef noodles he had just sent. The bowl was full, the noodles were chewy, the beef slices were neatly arranged, and bright green scallions floated on the dark brown broth.

The photo was followed by a barrage of comments from Bai Tianyi.

"This was made by Sister Yun Jin, right? There's no way you'd have something like this in your kitchen, brother! You don't even recognize all the vegetables, I guessed right!"

"Big brother, open the door and I'll be right there. I haven't had breakfast yet, I'll be there in fifteen minutes. Just leave me half a bowl, no, just a sip of soup."

"Brother? Are you still there? Why aren't you replying to my messages?"

After reading the long message, Bai Junze sent a picture of an empty bowl with a blank expression.

"It was made of Yunjin brocade, but we've already finished it."

Bai Tianyi replied almost instantly: "Finished eating?"

You only sent it to me after you finished eating?! Dude, when did you become like this? I'm coming over now, even if the noodles are dry, it's fine—"

"The soup is gone too, and you're not allowed to come over today."

There was silence on the other end of the phone.

Bai Junze could imagine Bai Tianyi's expression at this moment—most likely slumped on the sofa, his mouth pouting in a wronged arc.

A moment later, a message popped up, the tone both plaintive and sensible: "Alright, then I won't bother you today, but I have a small request—next time Sister Yun Jin makes beef noodles, could you please let me know?"

Bai Junze did not respond to the request.

At the same time, Gu Yunjin's phone, which was resting on the armrest of the sofa, vibrated.

She glanced down and saw it was a WeChat message from Bai Tianyi.

"Sister-in-law! I want to complain! My older brother is bullying me!" — followed by a series of pitiful emojis.

He sent me a picture of the beef noodles you made, a huge bowl full, it made my mouth water! Then he said he finished it all, without leaving me a single drop of soup!

He even ordered me not to come over and disturb your time together today! Sister-in-law, I know my brother is doing this to keep you company, but I really want to eat that bowl of noodles!

Could you please let me know next time you make beef noodles? It's not a big deal, just add an extra ladle of water when you make the noodles.

"It's just a small bowl. I could stand there and eat it, or I'd fly over here to eat it!"

Gu Yunjin was amused by his long string of complaints and coquettishness.

"Okay, I'll let you know in advance next time."

"Sister-in-law, you're the best! I'm saving this screenshot!"

Immediately afterwards, Bai Junze's phone rang.

Bai Tianyi sent a screenshot—it was Gu Yunjin's line, "Okay, I'll let you know in advance next time."

A new message appeared below the screenshot, its tone so smug it practically leaped off the screen:

"Big brother, did you see that? My sister-in-law has already agreed to it."

It's okay if you disagree, it's okay if you don't give me face, anyway, my sister-in-law has the final say.

"Now I'm under my sister-in-law's protection, so you'd better be polite to me from now on. I'm a younger brother with someone to back me up now."

A row of arrogant sunglasses-wearing soybean emojis followed behind.

Bai Junze stared at the screenshot for several seconds in silence, then put down his phone and turned to look at Gu Yunjin, who was watching a movie nonchalantly beside him.

With a helpless tone, she said, "You spoil him too much."

Gu Yunjin's eyes never left the TV screen. She forked a strawberry, dipped it lightly in granulated sugar, and put it in her mouth, her tone light and confident.

"Tianyi has been running around for me these past few days, so a bowl of noodles is nothing to me."

Bai Junze did not refute. He leaned back on the sofa and took a sip of his tea.

The fruit plate on the coffee table was half empty. Bai Junze picked up the remote and turned off the TV, then turned to look at Gu Yunjin, who was nestled on the sofa.

She wore a cream-colored cashmere cardigan today, and her hair was casually tied in a low ponytail.

"Here's the arrangement for the next step," Bai Junze said, moving the fruit plate on the coffee table to the side.

"I'll go to the shooting club first thing in the morning. There are a few good ones in Yunjing. The one I usually go to is in the north of the city. It has a proper venue and a full range of guns."

Then in the afternoon, we drove to a resort in the suburbs. There were orchards where we could pick fruit, and fishponds where we could fish and shrimp.

He looked into Gu Yunjin's eyes, his tone carrying a hint of expectation.

"How about we have the resort's kitchen prepare the fish and shrimp we caught tonight, and make sauerkraut fish and crayfish?"

Gu Yunjin's eyes lit up, and she sat up straight on the sofa:

"This is what relaxation is all about; it's much more interesting than any Michelin-starred French meal."

An hour later, Bai Junze's car stopped in front of the Chengbei Shooting Club.

This club is not open to the general public and requires dual identity verification to enter.

Bai Junze is a long-time member here. The front desk manager personally greeted him and led the two to the VIP shooting range.

Gu Yunjin changed into shooting-specific earmuffs and goggles, stood in front of the target lane, picked up her pistol and checked it. Her movements were so skilled that even the coach who was adjusting the equipment next to her took a second look at her.

Bai Junze stood on the target lane next to her, put on his goggles, adjusted his stance, and took the lead in raising his gun and aiming.

He fired ten shots in a row, and the nine and ten rings were evenly distributed, a very impressive result.

He turned to look at Gu Yunjin.

Gu Yunjin stood sideways in front of the shooting lane, holding the gun in her right hand, supporting her right wrist with her left hand, and her feet naturally separated at shoulder width.

She took a deep breath, held it, and pulled the trigger repeatedly.

Gunshots rang out in the target lane, one after another, clean and crisp, without any hesitation or pause.

All ten shots hit within five centimeters of the bullseye, with four of them almost overlapping on a single bullet hole.

This dispersion accuracy is comparable to that of professional athletes.

"You're really amazing." Bai Junze's tone was filled with undisguised admiration.

"Your skill level is pretty good too." Gu Yunjin took off her earmuffs and turned to look at him.

"Compared to amateurs, I'm not bad. But compared to your results, I'm not good enough." He said this frankly, without the slightest hint of resentment.

The two walked to the rest area and sat down on the sofa by the window.

Outside the window is the meticulously manicured lawn of the shooting club, and sunlight streams in through the floor-to-ceiling windows, cutting neat patches of light on the dark wooden floor.

Gu Yunjin picked up the bottled water on the table, unscrewed it, and took a sip. "When I first arrived in England, I still had a rosy view of the country."

After all, when I went on vacation abroad with my parents in the past, we always stayed in five-star hotels, with butlers opening the doors and bodyguards surrounding us.

They were always picked up and dropped off by private cars, and they felt that foreign countries were beautiful and safe, and everything about them was great.

Later, I lived in an apartment in London with two maids. The neighborhood was quite ordinary—not a slum, but just a place where the average middle class lived.

One day on my way home from school, I encountered a gunfight on the street.

It was like a gang shootout in a movie; a few gangsters opened fire on the street, and a bullet pierced the window of our nanny van.

When the bullet went through, Fangjie was one of the people who had come to England with me. She was sitting next to me. The bullet hit her shoulder, and blood splattered all over me.

She paused for a moment, screwed on the cap of the mineral water bottle, and placed the bottle on the table.

"I was fourteen years old at the time, and I was terrified."

But you still have to encourage yourself, call the police, call an ambulance, and go to the hospital with the ambulance.

Fortunately, Fangjie's life was not in danger, the bullet was removed, and she is recovering well.

But from that day on, I felt that once I stepped out of the Gu family's gate, my status as a young lady was meaningless.

When a gun fires, the bullet doesn't recognize whose daughter you are. So I must learn to protect myself.

After she finished speaking, she picked up her water bottle and took another sip. Then, as if suddenly realizing she had said too much, she glanced at him and smiled.

"Did I go on for too long?"

"No." Bai Junze listened quietly.

"So you went to learn shooting later," Bai Junze continued to ask.

"Yes, at first I was scared and felt I had to learn how to protect myself."

Later, as I practiced more, I found it quite interesting, so I stuck with it.

Gu Yunjin's tone became a bit lighter, "Later, I got my gun license and participated in a few amateur competitions, and discovered that I actually have quite a talent for shooting."

Bai Junze spoke,

"When I went abroad at the age of eighteen, I lived in a very wealthy neighborhood where there had never been a burglary."

Gu Yunjin smiled, said nothing, and turned to look at him: "Want to play another round?"

This time, Bai Junze and she stood side by side on two adjacent target lanes.

Gunshots rang out one after another. This time, he no longer paid attention to his own score, and his gaze unconsciously drifted to the side several times.

Watching her straight back as she stood sideways, her wrist motionless as she pulled the trigger, and the swift and practiced movement as she put down her gun after firing a round.

After the final game, in the rest area, Bai Junze carefully considered his words.

"Is Gu Zhenxing not treating you very well?"

Gu Yunjin looked up at him upon hearing this.

"It's alright, as long as they pay. Tuition fees are paid on time, and living expenses are never delayed. If I want any extra expenses, I just make a list and send it to them, and they usually approve it."

He's not very visible—I've probably seen him fewer times in a year than I have in the past fourteen years compared to your annual board meetings.

She chuckled, as if telling a joke that wasn't particularly funny but also not very sad. "But that's all in the past. Now..."

She turned to look at him, a faint smile playing on her lips. "As long as Gu Mingyue, whom he dotes on the most, isn't as well-married as I am, that's fine."

There was a hint of smugness in that smile, and a touch of confidence in the future.

There was no self-pity in him. As Bai Junze looked at her, he suddenly felt that bitter feeling in his heart resurface, but this time it was clearer than before.

It was an inexplicable impulse to want everything in the future to go as she pleased.

He stood up and took the car keys in his hand.

"Let's go pick persimmons."