5: Aunt Gu, maybe we are destined to be together.

Gu Wanzhou didn't know who invented the phrase 'a small horse pulling a big cart'.

This child kept saying that phrase, and although she was traditional and conservative at heart,

Gu Wanzhou could still understand its meaning.

And because she understood everything, some images involuntarily appeared in her mind.

A small horse, a big cart…

It was strange, yet it had a unique beauty.

Li Zhiyan made a lot of sense, but there was no way she could be with Li Zhiyan.

Firstly, there was a 23-year age difference, so there was no future.

Secondly, Li Zhiyan's appearance and height were average; if she had been younger, she wouldn't have looked at him, and he was just an immature child, so his confession was most likely driven by adolescent fantasies under the influence of hormones.

If she agreed to be with him, it would be an extremely irresponsible act, both for herself and for him.

However, the kind Gu Wanzhou ultimately couldn't bear to hurt Li Zhiyan.

This child came from a single-parent family and lacked affection, which made Gu Wanzhou feel a surge of maternal instincts.

She couldn't hurt this child anymore; it seemed she could only use an adult approach to solve this problem: the cold shoulder.

She would first say she needed to think about it, then procrastinate, and gradually, it would fade away, as she probably wouldn't see him many times in her life anyway.

"Guaiguai, can you give Aunt Gu some time to think about this properly?"

"Aunt Gu will give you an answer after a while."

Li Zhiyan knew the timing was just right; if he continued to pester her, it would be counterproductive.

As a 41-year-old middle-aged woman, especially an experienced, intellectual woman who had been through a lot,

her thinking would definitely lean towards rationality most of the time.

So, there was no need for him to continue talking now.

Anyway, he would see Aunt Gu tomorrow.

"Alright, Aunt Gu."

"Let's add each other on QQ."

WeChat hadn't launched yet, so the mainstream chat tool software across the country was still QQ, and students were still competing with their QQ levels all day long, enjoying it immensely.

"Okay."

Although she wanted to cut off contact with Li Zhiyan directly, she thought of the child's pitiful situation.

She still took out her smartphone and exchanged QQ numbers with Li Zhiyan.

Gu Wanzhou's QQ nickname was very poetic, called 'Fishing Boat Singing at Dusk'.

And Li Zhiyan's QQ nickname, 'Forgot Love', was so awkward it made him want to scratch his feet.

"Aunt Gu, if I chat with you, please don't reject me."

"Mm..."

...

After the two left the teahouse,

Gu Wanzhou asked, "Li Zhiyan, shall Aunt Gu drive you home?"

Looking at the roses on the passenger seat, Gu Wanzhou's mind once again replayed Li Zhiyan confessing to her.

"No need, Aunt Gu, I can go back by myself. My home isn't far from here."

"I'm planning to go online for a bit."

"But I always have a feeling, Aunt Gu, that we'll meet again very soon."

Li Zhiyan knew that women born in '69 probably believed in fate.

"Why?"

Gu Wanzhou was also very curious.

"Maybe we're fated, a sixth sense, or perhaps it's just my illusion."

Gu Wanzhou smiled gently, thinking that Li Zhiyan's impulse towards her would soon disappear.

This child was still thinking about Internet Cafes all day, truly too immature.

After watching Gu Wanzhou leave, Li Zhiyan sent a QQ message to his best friend, Li Shiyu.

"Meet at Dream Internet Cafe."

"Coming, brother."

Li Zhiyan didn't go home immediately because his mother was still at work, and using the internet on his phone was inconvenient; the built-in QQ function on his VIVO flip phone was too limited.

He wanted to try if he could search for Su Mengchen's QQ number. What was 18-year-old Su Mengchen doing?

Since he had been reborn, he couldn't let her down no matter what.

The tragedy of Su Mengchen and Shen Rongfei, mother and daughter, must not be repeated in this lifetime.

Upon arriving at Dream Internet Cafe, Li Zhiyan habitually opened a temporary account. The main users of Internet Cafes at that time were still minors, so one could go online without an ID card, which was very convenient.

After inserting a one-yuan coin into the slot machine and losing a game of Watermelon, Li Zhiyan finally got on a computer.

Not long after he sat down, Li Shiyu came over with two bottles of Coca-Cola.

"Here, one bottle each."

Li Zhiyan looked at his best friend, feeling a warmth in his heart.

This guy was much more ordinary than himself, a true existence that would be impossible to find if thrown into a crowd.

His biggest impression of Li Shiyu was: a severely addicted internet youth!

Basically, all his time was spent online, and the internet fees were squeezed from his meal money, and no matter how hungry he was, he would insist on buying himself a bottle of Coke when going online.

After graduation, Li Shiyu's greatest hope was to start a family.

However, being equally poor and ordinary, this wish was basically impossible to achieve.

Later, despairing of marriage, he earned a little money, bought a Cadillac CT5, and simply lived the life of a Bath Emperor.

As for what was said online about being lonely and bullied in a nursing home in old age, he didn't care.

Every time the gold-medal technician danced on his body,

he would bring himself along.

The truest bond between men was nothing more than this.

Later, when he was down and out, he didn't tell him, but after he discovered his predicament, he didn't say a word, sold his Cadillac, and lent him two hundred thousand.

To be reborn and see his good brother still carefree and only knowing how to go online was truly wonderful.

"Li Zhiyan, you were really awesome today! Confessing directly to Yu Sisi's mom, you didn't even notice Yu Sisi's expression!"

"I heard that she was chatting with that dog Liu Zifeng, wanting to reject you, but she didn't private message you to tell you not to confess."

"That move of yours was brilliant!"

"A perfect kill, that was absolutely a perfect kill!"

As he spoke, Li Shiyu seemed to have thought of something.

"By the way, did Aunt Gu agree to you?"

"What are you thinking? How could she agree?"

"Here, take this and buy half a year's worth of cannons."

Li Zhiyan pulled out a hundred-yuan bill from his pocket and slapped it in front of Li Shiyu.

This guy always babbled about how cool it was to use cannons in demolition during breaks.

"No, Li Zhiyan, you didn't go robbing, did you?"

"You can't do that!"

"It's illegal!"

"Why so much nonsense? My mom gave it to me. Go recharge your Q-coins."

After a long back and forth of nagging,

Li Shiyu finally went to the counter and had the Internet Cafe attendant recharge 100 Q-coins, then bought half a year of cannons in the CF mall.

"I'm going to see which grandson can still face me in the middle!"

"Log on, let's play demolition together. You be the defender, and we'll call out positions for each other."

Li Zhiyan smiled.

"You play first, I have something else to do. You play first, I'll log on later."

The enthusiastic Li Shiyu didn't care what Li Zhiyan was going to do.

"A-sai A-sai, follow me."

...

Smelling the smoke in the dark Internet Cafe, Li Zhiyan logged into his QQ.

With some trembling, he searched for Su Mengchen's QQ number.

Li Zhiyan remembered that Su Mengchen's QQ number was given to her by Shen Rongfei.

He wondered, was the owner of this QQ number now Su Mengchen, or Shen Rongfei?

Would getting to know her earlier cause any butterfly effects?

After clicking search, sure enough, that familiar QQ number was found by Li Zhiyan.

He clicked on the 'Add Friend' option.

Li Zhiyan felt a sense of bewilderment.

"Hello."

Finally, Li Zhiyan typed out two words and sent the friend request.