Chapter 177: Tight Marking

Chapter 177: Chapter 177: Tight Marking

Gu Nuan Nuan’s words made Lin Qin’s face fall. She had never told anyone what was in the letter her mother had someone bring over. A shiver ran down her spine, and her belief in Gu Nuan Nuan’s words, which had been only at thirty percent, shot up to sixty or seventy percent.

"You really shouldn’t go." Lin Qin’s eyes suddenly reddened as she looked at Zhang Wei Qiang. "My heart is in my throat. Worst case, I’ll just say I forgot to tell you and we missed the bus. At most, they’ll just complain about me a little." The bus from town to Lin Qin’s parents’ home only ran twice a day, in the morning and evening. If they missed the morning one, they’d have to wait until three or four in the afternoon.

"There’s no need for you to get a lecture from your mother over something like this." Zhang Wei Qiang shook his head. But looking around at everyone, even his little sister was giving him a disapproving look, he pressed a hand to his forehead and offered a compromise. "How about I ride my bike there?"

"Are you crazy? It takes two or three hours by bus. How long would it take to ride a bike?" Lin Qin’s eyes widened, her heart aching for her husband.

"I’ll just get up a little earlier." Zhang Wei Qiang refused to back down this time. ’It’s just a baseless nightmare. Is it really worth getting so many people worked up over nothing?’

"Uncle, I want to go with you." Seeing this was the best possible outcome, Gu Nuan Nuan quickly spoke up. She was still afraid that with such a long journey, her uncle would say he’d ride his bike, but in the end, seeing his insistence, her aunt would give in and let him take the bus after all.

"Absolutely not." For the first time, Zhang Wei Qiang put on a stern face, rejecting her without a second thought. ’This little girl... I can’t keep spoiling her like this. She’s getting completely out of control. No one in this family can handle her anymore.’

"You promised you’d grant me one condition." Gu Nuan Nuan grew anxious. She tried to act unreasonable, but ended up losing her nerve under her uncle’s stern glare. Still, she stubbornly pushed on against the immense pressure, her voice growing softer and softer, "So, your time is mine tomorrow."

"Hmph—" Zhang Wei Qiang snorted.

"Then let Nuannuan go with you. It’s not like your in-laws can’t spare a meal for her, can they?" Just as Gu Nuan Nuan felt a chill creeping over her, on the verge of giving in, Zhang Dazhuang finally spoke up for her.

’Grandpa is awesome.’

Gu Nuan Nuan cast an undisguised look of admiration and worship at Zhang Dazhuang.

"..."

The imposing air around Zhang Wei Qiang deflated like a popped balloon.

He once again deeply suspected that he had been far too lenient with Gu Nuan Nuan all this time. Had it reached the point where the little girl wasn’t the least bit afraid of him? Even when he unleashed his intimidating aura—pressure that even grown men couldn’t withstand—she didn’t seem to notice at all?

Phew—

Gu Nuan Nuan let out a breath of relief. She looked stubbornly at Zhang Wei Qiang, her expression clearly showing her determination. "Uncle, I’m going with you..."

"Fine, come along if you want. Let’s see how long you can keep up," Zhang Wei Qiang finally grumbled, exasperated and resigned.

He never expected that this one petulant remark would cause so much trouble. It only deepened Gu Nuan Nuan’s suspicion, making her completely distrust his intentions. From that moment on, she began shadowing him with a bewildering intensity that was both hilarious and maddening. It was one thing for the little girl to stick to him like glue during the day, but she had no intention of letting him go at night either.

He watched as she hugged a pillow and stubbornly planted herself at his bedroom door. Even after he all but swore to the heavens that he would definitely take her with him tomorrow, he still couldn’t sway the obstinate little girl from her stakeout.

Seeing Gu Nuan Nuan so incredibly stubborn, muttering about making do for the night at his door, and his little sister standing to the side with a beet-red face, completely helpless, Zhang Wei Qiang lost all his fight and finally compromised. "Fine, fine, just come inside and sleep. You can sleep on the bed with your aunt. I’ll make do with the bamboo cot for a night."

"There are too many mosquitoes at night. How can you sleep on the bamboo cot without a mosquito net? Why don’t we all just squeeze onto the bed? Nuannuan is still little, so it’s not like it’s improper," Lin Qin was the first to object. By now, she was starting to grumble internally about Gu Nuan Nuan. ’She’s being so unreasonable. It’s just a nightmare that might not even be real. Does she really have to be so paranoid and keep everyone on edge?’

"That’s right. Brother, Sister-in-law, just let Nuannuan sleep on the far side of the bed. It’s all my fault for spoiling her and making her like this." If a hole had opened up in the ground, Zhang Minzhen would have crawled right in. ’This is so embarrassing, so humiliating, isn’t it?’

The "spoiled" Gu Nuan Nuan immediately became adamant upon hearing her mother’s words. "No, I can’t sleep on the inside. Uncle has to sleep on the inside. I need to sleep on the outside. Otherwise, if Uncle tries to sneak away in the middle of the night, I won’t be able to notice from the inside."

"Give you an inch and you really will take a mile, won’t you?"

Zhang Wei Qiang was at the end of his rope. He paced back and forth a couple of times, only to realize he was still powerless against this little girl. He couldn’t hit her, and he couldn’t scold her.

But he just couldn’t swallow his pride. He could only glare with his eyes wide, trying to intimidate the little girl with his sheer presence. The result... in the end, he slumped in defeat, realizing it was useless. He took a deep breath, then another, and another... and then found he still had to, begrudgingly and unwillingly, swallow it all down.

Who could he blame but himself for being too soft-hearted to get tough with her? ’If it were those two little rascals, just see if I wouldn’t kick them...’

"Honey, it’s a good thing you didn’t have a daughter with me. If we had another one like this, she’d drive me to an early grave," Zhang Wei Qiang sighed at Lin Qin, starting to blurt things out without thinking.

"Pfft." Lin Qin, who had been a little annoyed, was amused and let out a laugh.

"Ahem, cough cough..." Zhang Minzhen lowered her head. She wanted to laugh at her brother’s comment but didn’t dare, and ended up choking and breaking into a fit of coughs.

"Sigh, it’s getting late. Minzhen, you go back to bed," Zhang Wei Qiang said, rolling up his sleeves. "We’ll let her have her way today. But after tomorrow, I swear I’ll find a way to deal with this little girl. I refuse to believe I’m really helpless against her."

"Alright, I’ll be watching to see what methods you come up with," Lin Qin said. After a good laugh, she wasn’t angry anymore. Instead, watching her husband get thwarted, she felt a strange sense of schadenfreude.

"Brother, Sister-in-law, it’s Nuannuan who’s being unreasonable. I’ll have to be stricter with her from now on." Zhang Minzhen shot an exasperated glance at Gu Nuan Nuan, who was clearly smug about her ’successful revolution’, before finally returning to her room.

The lights went out for the night. Everything went according to Gu Nuan Nuan’s wishes: Zhang Wei Qiang slept on the inside, Lin Qin was in the middle, and Gu Nuan Nuan really did sleep on the very edge of the bed.