She had realized in the past few days that her feelings for Yang Sijie were different from those for Qin Tianyi.
She and Yang Sijie were old acquaintances, friends, and could even become irreplaceable family, but this was not a woman's love for a man.
She had clarified this in her heart, but she didn't know how to tell Yang Sijie, because she knew that Yang Sijie would not be able to accept it at this time.
"Okay, I understand," Gu Susu said with a smile, hoping to find a suitable opportunity to apologize to him and remain friends.
Yang Sijie, however, thought she was happy to hear that he had broken up with Sasha and was about to take something out of his pocket.
She asked with concern, "Brother Sijie, did you take your medicine on time today? You should go back to your room and rest. Although your wound has healed a lot, you still need to consolidate it. Don't be careless, or it might relapse. Oh, by the way, I took Little Star to Allen's dessert shop tonight. Allen also asked how your back wound was recovering."
Yang Sijie kept one hand in his pocket and said, "When my injury is completely healed, we'll treat him to a meal to thank him properly."
"Okay."
"Does Little Star like the desserts he makes?"
"He likes them. He ate two plates of water chestnut cake by himself. I was really afraid he would choke..."
Yang Sijie suddenly reached out and pulled her to sit beside him, letting her lean on him. He said affectionately, "Susu, I really like Little Star. He's such a sensible and cute child. When Qin Tianyi is no longer able to fight for custody with you, we'll bring him back, and I'll dote on him as much as you do..."
Gu Susu sat up straight and interjected, "No, really, you don't have to. I don't want to fall out completely with Qin Tianyi over a lawsuit. It's good like this. Little Star is taken care of by Aunt Chen and Xiaomei, and I can see him often and take him out to play."
"Alright, whatever you say. Let's not talk about this." Yang Sijie said, taking the bracelet that Qin Tianyi had broken out of his pocket, intending to put it on her. "I asked Mark to fix this bracelet. See if you like it again."
Gu Susu skillfully avoided it and said, "I still think this bracelet is too valuable. You should keep it, lest I break it again."
As she spoke, she thought of getting up and going back to the guest room to pack some things, as she would be moving back to her own place tomorrow.
Yang Sijie held her hand and didn't let go. He leaned his whole body close to her and parted her collar with his other hand, startling Gu Susu into shrinking her neck back.
"Brother Sijie, don't do this."
Yang Sijie just glanced into her collar and then let her go. Fortunately, she was still wearing the ring as a necklace.
"It's nothing, I just wanted to see if you lost the necklace. I'll keep this bracelet for now." He smiled and put away the bracelet, saying, "I've taken my medicine for today. You must be tired too, so go and rest."
"Okay, then you should rest early too." Gu Susu immediately got up and headed for the guest room.
Yang Sijie watched Gu Susu's retreating figure, his face terrifyingly gloomy.
From his youth until now, he had waited for Susu for over ten years, only hoping that one day Susu would be his, and they would belong to each other.
But in the end, her person and her heart belonged to another man. He didn't want to be separated from her anymore.
In his youth, he could not control anything and could only follow fate and go with the flow. But now, he would never let Susu be separated from him again. They would never be separated again.
...
The next day, Gu Susu returned the car keys to Yang Sijie and moved back to her own residence.
Yang Sijie did not stop her and even had Mark drive her back.
Yang Sijie's indulgence and respect made it even harder for her to speak her true thoughts to him.
She could only try not to think about these things and devote her energy to her work. Ever since she solved Sasha's dress crisis, her work at Trend had been going smoother and smoother.
Lu Zhiming handed over several celebrities who were very picky about their attire to her. Therefore, she not only had to be Lu Zhiming's assistant and learn from him but also complete all the tasks from design to client communication herself.
She was basically busy from dawn till dusk every day. Yang Sijie had asked her out for lunch and dinner several times, but she was either not in the company or had no time, so she had to decline.
Tonight, after leaving a female celebrity's house, she took the last bus and got off across from her rented apartment complex, walking back under the stars.
The temperature had dropped at night, and the cold wind was blowing the fallen leaves. She wrapped her coat tighter, a smile on her lips.
The female celebrity was very satisfied with the several dresses and fashion items she had designed and even kept her at her home to chat for a while longer.
The celebrity showed her a few dresses that were out of fashion after being worn only once. They were very expensive when custom-made, and there were no opportunities to wear them again, which the celebrity found very regrettable.
Gu Susu took a look and suggested that she could try to alter these dresses for her, so that she wouldn't have a fashion clash and the designs would be in line with current fashion trends.
This made the female celebrity very happy. She added Gu Susu to a group chat of celebrities, socialites, and affluent wives, saying that in return, she would help her introduce clients.
Her work at Trend was finally showing some progress, coupled with the popularity she had accumulated in the industry before, she suddenly had the idea of starting her own fashion brand tonight.
If she had her own company, even if it was just a small studio at first, she wouldn't have to be limited and frustrated working for others all the time. She could also design fashion entirely according to her own ideas.
But now this was just a sudden idea of hers, and it wouldn't be so easy to put it into action.
As she was thinking, she didn't notice a few young people who had been drinking approaching her and accidentally bumped into one of them.
She quickly said, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry." She smelled alcohol on these young men who looked like hoodlums.
Someone reached out to stop her and said, "Beautiful lady, why aren't you watching where you're going?"
Gu Susu repeated her apology and wanted to cross the road immediately.
In a few moments, they surrounded her, and someone joked, "Beauty, you're out so late all alone. You must be lonely. Why don't you have some fun with us?"
"You guys get out of the way, or I'll call the police." Gu Susu took out her phone, ready to make an emergency call.
Someone snatched her phone away, and the others chimed in, "The police are very busy, they don't have time to bother with us."
The group of them started laughing and pulling at her.
She was so scared that she swung her bag wildly at them, trying to break free as quickly as possible.
At this moment, she heard a roar, and someone charged forward, punching one of them and knocking him to the ground.
Seeing their companion knocked down, the men stopped surrounding Gu Susu and turned to deal with the person who had rushed in.