Chapter 83: The Young Man (Part 2)

  Cassidy went to the stadium to pick up Gu Huanli, and saw her sitting alone at the highest point of the stands, staring blankly at Antonio practicing free throws below.

  "Miss." Cassidy called out softly, watching as she slowly turned her head, gazing at him dazedly. It was only then that Cassidy continued, "We should head home."

  "Cassidy, why did he move to this small town?" Gu Huanli's ears kept making a buzzing noise, the sharp sound not only made her temples ache, but also made her feel dizzy, and her brain function almost came to a complete halt. In the depths of her mind, she finally heard a meaningful voice, as if it was herself calling out - Senpai.

  Senior?

  Gu Huanli was almost stunned by the two words, her eyes wandered unconsciously, and perhaps only a second later, she fled in panic as if chased by an evil spirit.

  When I got home, the clock on the wall just pointed to twelve o'clock.

  Gu Huanli remained silent until she woke up from her afternoon nap and made an overseas call. After talking to Gu Tianxi, a smile gradually appeared on her face, as if the vitality had returned to her body.

  The weather in January was still very cold, but the warm sunshine shone from behind, stretching out the shadow of itself on the ground. Gu Huanli seemed to be chasing her own shadow as she gently swayed back and forth on the swing.

  "Ling?" A sudden call came from beside her ear.

  Gu Huanli raised her head, and the expression on her face suddenly disappeared. She stared blankly at Antonio who was passing by her house door, scared to the point of jumping up directly, almost getting tangled in the swing.

  "Be careful..." Antonio's words were left unfinished as Gu Huanli had already run back into her house and slammed the door shut. Antonio chuckled and scratched his head, "Eastern people are really shy."

  "Miss?" Cassidy looked at Gu Huanli as she locked the door, then chained it, and finally, still uneasy, went to move the sofa in the living room. He looked at her abnormal behavior with confusion, although he could sense the fluctuations in her heart, but this reaction was really...

  That's an exaggeration

  "Unexpectedly, the young lady reunited with her first love, fate is indeed too wonderful."

  Cassidy's words suddenly stopped Gu Huanli's abnormal behavior, she furrowed her brow in confusion and looked at the living room as if a tornado had swept through it, then let out an "ah" and stood there stupidly.

  "To use an old Chinese saying, it's probably 'people destined to meet will come together from thousands of miles away'. Cassidy's expression was very sincere, but in Gu Huanlin's eyes, his actions were no different from kicking someone when they're down."

  "I and he, if we have fate, even if it's not as destined as I and Luocheng, it's still a bad fate." Gu Huanli said to Cassidy in an exasperated tone, "And you, if your Chinese isn't good, don't speak randomly, it's easy to be misunderstood."

  Cassidy leaned against the fireplace, looking at her with a puzzled expression. "There's no one here who understands Chinese except for Nanxing, and he's not even here right now. So, miss, who are you worried about misunderstanding?"

  Gu Huanli didn't like gritting her teeth, it was an unbecoming behavior for a lady, just like black sand mixed into a milky white landscape, and with one jump, the entire world would collapse.

  So she decided to remain silent.

  At night, she had a lot of training to do, and her brother's requirements were very high. Gu Huanlin really didn't have time to reminisce about the past, let alone fear the future. Before Nanzxing returned to continue with the poison + goods identification training, she sat at her desk to sort out enough materials to provide to Cassidy, so that he could communicate with the art dealer.

  She didn't stop writing until dusk fell, and her pen slipped from her fingertips. She let out a long sigh and pressed the bell under her desk to summon Cassidy. "Have you helped Yingzi choose a school?" As she spoke, Gu Huanlin gently rubbed her temples with her fingers, wincing in pain - today, the center of her forehead was throbbing badly.

  "It's already been chosen, this is the introduction to the school." Cassidy gently placed a stack of materials in front of Gu Huanli, then handed her another report, "This is Mrs. Shen's latest prenatal examination report."

  Gu Huanli raised her head and looked at him, rubbing her forehead with a somewhat helpless expression, sighing, "This kind of thing you only need to tell me the result, there's no need to put it on my desk."

  "So, this report should be of great interest to you, miss." Cassidy placed a thick folder on the desk and said lightly, "Miss Gu's and Madame Chu's recent situation."

  "I and Lian You both have the surname Gu, you say, will everyone call her Young Miss Gu because of age, and address me as Second Miss Gu?" Gu Huanli coldly smiled and opened the file folder. The first thing that caught his eye was Gu Lianyou, who was dressed like a princess, beautiful beyond compare. The sky blue silk skirt fell neatly to her knees, revealing a pair of white slender legs; her black shiny long hair was neatly combed back, fixed with a sky blue hair clip, and a sweet smile overflowed on her lovely face.

  "This is exactly what Madame Chu had planned." Cassidy poured a cup of red tea for Gu Huanli, speaking in a tone that was as light and airy as a cloud.

  "It seems that Auntie is currently trying to use the Gu family's reputation to get Lian You performance opportunities." Gu Huanli raised her head and took over the teacup, with a hint of smile in her eyes, "Unfortunately, Lian You's temper has been spoiled bit by bit, and sooner or later, she will give Auntie a headache."

  When Gu Huan said this, she completely forgot that she was also in a predicament. Because Antonio appeared in her life, making her feel emotionally and mentally drained, which is an extremely rare phenomenon since her rebirth.

  But everything has just begun.

  Every Sunday worship gathering has been depressing her, and Antonio and Pastor Ye said that they should strengthen their training during the holidays. As a result, every day from 9:15 am, there are two hours of basic training in one morning.

  The thought of seeing Antonio every day was enough to drive Gu Huanlin crazy.

  This is just the first step of the Long March of ten thousand miles.

  Cassidy was a religious fanatic, this was the new definition that Gu Huan gave to him. The problem was what his fanaticism had to do with her and why she had to sign up for the choir and scripture class, now they would spend more time together with Antonio.

  Why?

  Because Antonio's father happened to be another fervent religious fanatic.

  On Friday evening, Gu Huanli carried a bag of beautifully packaged cookies, walking dejectedly behind Antonio, the two people walked one after another in the shallow sunset.

  "Lili, are the cookies sinking or not? Or should I help you carry them?" Antonio smiled, his slightly disheveled fine hair dancing in the wind, adding a hint of wild beauty. His blue sapphire-like eyes, shining with a melancholic color, were like a starry sky, also having a serene beauty like a mountain spring, exuding a heart-wrenching tenderness.

  "Thank you, I can handle it." Gu Huanli replied with a expressionless face.

  "Hmph" Antonio couldn't help but chuckle, he stopped in his tracks and waited for Gu Huanli to walk up beside him before following her pace slowly down the street, "Huanli, are all Easterners as lovely as you?"

  Gu Huanli didn't even look at him and continued walking. Since they met, she had vowed never to create opportunities for them to be alone together. Who would have thought that Cassidy's religious fanaticism would not only make her see Antonio every day, but also spend so much time with him that she began to wonder if she should move to Michigan to regain the serenity and tranquility of her life.

  Actually, Antonio didn't have any special feelings for her, or rather, he was gentle and considerate to everyone. His sports knowledge was quite rich, and the people in the team simply admired him to the point of worship. Gu Huanli was no exception, she not only had to try her best to conceal her admiration for him but also pretend to be indifferent and disdainful, which made her feel like she herself had a tendency towards schizophrenia.

  Antonio has multiple talents, especially in sports. He is eager to win, which boosts the morale of the entire team. He encourages everyone to focus on practicing, follow his battle plan, and with good physical strength and tacit understanding, they have hope to win the championship.

  However, Kōsuke Hatori clearly understood that, given Antonio's personality, he was not a devout follower who genuinely wanted to participate in the activities. Everything he did was for his father and his good reputation in the community. One day in the future, he would be like all those studying law to enter politics - skilled at taking advantage of circumstances.

  His life will not be a blank sheet of paper, but it is filled with beautiful words.

  Once the game is over, he may seek new life challenges or give back to the community in other ways. However, at that time she can resume her original peaceful life. She has experienced such things and has long been prepared.

  After all, she is no longer that little girl who lacks family affection and yearns for warmth. This time, she won't let him knock on her heart's door again, gradually invading her heart, occupying every corner, and finally waving goodbye without taking away a single cloud.

  On Saturday, the morning temperature was very low. When Cassidy sent Gu Huanli to the parking lot of the church, he saw that several players from the team were crowded on the stairs, Reggie, Maddie, Lisa, and Gu Huanli liked them, especially Maddie.

  Maddie's father had been drinking since she was a child, and her mother left home five years ago after a fight with him. One rainy night, Maddie ran away from her father who beat her while drunk and was taken in by Cassady, and since then, whenever Maddie escaped from her drunken father, she would stay overnight at Gus's house, sleeping on the small bed in the guest room.

  After a long time, in the team, the one who was closest to Gu Huanlin was Mai De.

  "Luli, I thought you weren't going!" Mai De ran over and said with a smile to Gu Huan Luli who had just gotten off the car.

  Gu Huanli pretended to be angry with Mai De, "When did I ever dampen everyone's mood?"

  "It seems like I don't have one. I'll go back and think about it again."

  Gu Huanli jokingly bumped him with her arm, "Who else is going to carry you?"

  "Reid's already loaded a few, the rest will be taken by Pastor Ye who is locking up the church door, let's go!" Mac said to Ruiji and Lisha with a wave of his hand.

  Gu Huanli blinked her eyes and said with a smile, "I don't know how to play bowling at all. If you don't teach me today, I'm afraid I'll be holding you back again."

  "I've gotten used to it." Mai De stretched out his hand and rubbed Gu Huan's head, sighing, "Now, I just hope your volleyball skills can improve a bit, don't hit the ball on my head again."

  "What's wrong with that?" Gu Huanli's face turned red, and she said in a low voice, "It was just one time, not on purpose, can't you just let it go? Do you want to keep bringing it up for the rest of my life?"

  "That's a bit of an exaggeration." Mai De looked at her, laughing teasingly. "But every time I think that after the start of school, you'll only be two grades lower than me... uh, my self-esteem is severely damaged."

  "Go, if you say these words again, I'll be furious. Who knows, when the new semester starts, you might be surprised to find that I've become your classmate." Gu Huanli liked to play harmless jokes with Mai De, after all, it was already spread in the community that she would soon be attending 7th grade, so she felt no need to fear what others thought about this matter.

  It was just that when Cassidy drove behind Pastor Ye's car to send Gu Huanli and others to their destination, everyone's expression was a bit dull.

  After all...

  The gigantic balloon with seven-colored stripes, about 7 or 8 stories high, swayed gently against the clear blue morning sky. Inside the basket woven from willow branches stood Katie and the only quarterback in the community, Richie, along with a woman who appeared to be around twenty-seven or eight years old.

  Gu Huanli's expression was no longer describable as stiff or frozen. She muttered to herself: God, who could have told her that today's recreational activity would not be a hot air balloon ride?