The Yun Family was practically beside themselves with excitement at Cecilia Gu's arrival.
"Oh, please, come in!" Mr. Yun said excitedly as he looked at Cecilia Gu. The more he looked, the more he felt she was a daughter sent by heaven.
Rona Muir grinned and said, "Sorry for dropping by unannounced. I hope Mr. Yun and Mrs. Yun don’t mind."
Mrs. Yun knew Rona Muir was Cecilia Gu's friend, so of course she didn’t mind!
Nora Yun had been frail and sickly before she died, so she never really had any friends.
Max Mo also stepped forward with a smile, saying, "Happy to be of service."
Mrs. Yun smiled and nodded, then stepped up and gently took Cecilia Gu’s hand. She whispered, "The threshold is a bit high, be careful. I originally told your father—oh, I mean my husband—that this threshold was too high. Now that you’re expecting, it must be hard to walk. I wanted to remove it, but he said the threshold represents the Yun Family’s honor, passed down for hundreds of years. It can’t be taken away lightly. So I’m afraid you’ll have to bear with it for now."
Actually, the threshold wasn’t that high—just a little over a foot.
To Cecilia Gu, that height hardly counted as high at all.
But seeing Mrs. Yun being so careful, Cecilia Gu couldn’t bear to turn down her kindness.
"Okay." Cecilia Gu just smiled, letting Mrs. Yun hold her hand.
Seeing Cecilia Gu didn’t resist, Mrs. Yun’s nose tingled and she nearly burst into tears.
Even knowing Cecilia Gu wasn’t Nora Yun, seeing someone who looked so much like her not rejecting her made Mrs. Yun feel deeply content.
She was grateful to this young woman for, in her own way, soothing the ache of missing her lost daughter.
The group slowly made their way inside.
As they walked, Mrs. Yun explained everything about the house.
Listening to her, Cecilia Gu honestly felt a bit like an empress touring her gardens.
Ahem...
Honestly, the whole Yun Family seemed a little too cautious.
She wasn’t Nora Yun—she was perfectly healthy, and there was really no need for all this careful attention.
Even though she was pregnant now, Cecilia Gu was in great health, and the middle months of pregnancy really weren’t much of a burden for her.
The Yun Family’s architectural style was similar to the traditional Hui style.
It was said the Yun Family’s ancestors were originally from Anhui, but after many moves, they finally settled in Province Y.
That probably had something to do with the political climate back then, right?
After all, the Yun Family had lasted for generations, with deep roots and countless protégés.
A single move could affect everything.
If anything happened to the Yun Family at court, the entire civil service could be implicated.
No wonder—the Yun Family had so many descendants and disciples.
So, given the situation back then, the Yun Family had to keep a low profile and couldn’t live too close to the emperor, lest he grow suspicious and wipe them out.
After all, emperors always had strange ways of thinking!
They always worried that capable subordinates would rebel!
So the Yun Family ended up moving thousands of miles away from the capital.
The Yun Family’s garden was huge—you could walk straight to the main garden.
But seeing how interested Cecilia Gu was in the Yun Family’s garden, Mr. Yun and Mrs. Yun decided to show her around and let her take in the scenery.
Cecilia Gu noticed the Yun Family had a ton of greenery—even more than her own villa.
The way this garden was built continued the style of the old house they’d toured the night before.
But the old house had lots of flowers, while here, there wasn’t a single bloom!
It was all greenery.
Cecilia Gu remembered what Cherry Yun had said—Nora Yun was allergic to pollen, so there wasn’t a single flower in the entire Yun Family estate!
Unable to hold back her curiosity, Cecilia Gu asked, "Mrs. Yun, the pastries I ate yesterday definitely had honeysuckle in them, but I haven’t seen any honeysuckle growing here. Why is that?"
Mrs. Yun laughed, "We actually have a dedicated plantation behind our house—dozens of acres—where we grow all kinds of medicinal herbs. After so many years without flowers in the garden, I guess we’re all just used to it."
Cecilia Gu nodded and said, "I heard Miss Yun is allergic to pollen, so it makes sense... Sorry, I didn’t mean to bring up something sad."
Mr. Yun waved his hand and said, "No, no, Miss Gu, you’re right! This house really is too plain. Since Nora is... gone, we should think about everyone else now."
Max Mo chimed in at just the right moment, "Don’t worry, Uncle, I’ll have some flowers sent over."
Cecilia Gu had three freshly picked orchids tucked in her hair, making her look just like an orchid fairy—so fresh and elegant.
Mrs. Yun couldn’t help but glance at Cecilia Gu several more times, thinking how wonderful it would’ve been if Nora had been so healthy and could wear such beautiful flowers too.
Rona Muir was also full of excitement, following along with the group.
The scenery here was just as good as that 4A-rated spot in City K!
That place was a tourist attraction, so it had a commercial vibe to it.
But here, with so few outsiders, the pure cultural atmosphere was truly preserved.
Rona Muir loved traveling, so she definitely wasn’t going to miss out on these stunning views.
She kept snapping pictures of the courtyard with her phone, posting them to her Moments and Weibo as she went.
Charles Yin also followed Rona Muir’s Weibo.
He stared at his phone, originally waiting for a message from Cecilia Gu.
But after waiting a long time, not a single word came from Cecilia Gu.
Instead, he got a post from Rona Muir’s Weibo.
He tapped the screen, and a photo instantly enlarged in front of Charles Yin!
In the photo, Cecilia Gu was smiling sweetly, holding a pastry shaped like an orchid and playfully placing it over her right eye.
The orchid-shaped pastry looked almost indistinguishable from the real orchids she wore in her hair today.
Rona Muir captioned the photo with a poem: "The male rabbit’s feet are nimble, the female rabbit’s eyes are misty. Two rabbits run side by side—how can you tell which is male and which is female?"
The photo Rona Muir took of Cecilia Gu was absolutely stunning!
Charles Yin tapped his finger and instantly downloaded the photo, setting it as his Weibo background.
Rona Muir was happily uploading when, with a little tremble of her finger, she saw Charles Yin quietly change his Weibo background.
Then, one minute later, Charles Yin’s Weibo was practically swarmed by a flood of people!
"Oh my god, what a fairy-like girl! So beautiful! So pure!"
"Wow! Where did President Yin find this fairy?"
"She’s gorgeous! That smile is just amazing!"
...
Charles Yin happily liked every comment praising Cecilia Gu!
As soon as Charles Yin did that, everyone following his Weibo paused for a minute—then started flooding the comments!
"Wow, President Yin liked my comment! I’m so happy!"
"Today’s trending topic is now #PresidentYinSuddenlyShowsOffHisLove—How big is the psychological trauma for his secret admirers?#"
"President Yin has someone he likes—I’m taking ten thousand points of emotional damage!"
"Congratulations, President Yin."
"President Yin is awesome!"
...
Rona Muir refreshed the page every minute, and by her tenth refresh, Charles Yin’s comments and reposts had already topped a hundred thousand.
Now that’s what you call popularity!
Seriously, it’s enough to make anyone jealous!
Cecilia Gu had no idea what was happening. She didn’t bring an assistant today, so naturally no one was there to clue her in.
As for Rona Muir... Sorry, she had no intention of telling Cecilia Gu!
It was so rare to see Cecilia Gu this happy today—Rona definitely wasn’t going to spoil her good mood!
Cecilia Gu had no idea that the casual photo Rona Muir snapped had completely taken over Weibo’s trending topics.
Mrs. Yun’s pastries today were simply endless in variety.
Ever since Mrs. Yun learned Cecilia Gu loved her pastries—especially after Cecilia agreed to visit—the hostess had pulled out all the stops, making a little of everything she knew.
Seeing the neatly arranged, flower-shaped pastries in the box, Cecilia Gu just couldn’t get enough.
Even Cecilia Gu, who hardly used Weibo, couldn’t help but snap a photo and post it to her own account.
Cecilia Gu didn’t follow Charles Yin, but he did follow her.
So as soon as Cecilia posted a photo, a certain screen-stalking maniac instantly downloaded it!
Even if the photo only showed Cecilia Gu’s hand, he’d still download and save it!
Seeing how much Cecilia Gu enjoyed herself, Mrs. Yun was overjoyed.
Nora Yun hadn’t been healthy before, and couldn’t digest such rich food.
So every time, Nora could only look but not eat.
Now, with Cecilia Gu enjoying Mrs. Yun’s pastries right in front of her, the joy was written all over her face.
Listening to Cecilia Gu and Rona Muir’s compliments, Mrs. Yun was even happier than if she’d eaten the pastries herself.
Sitting in the little pavilion, Cecilia Gu sincerely exclaimed, "Mrs. Yun, Mr. Yun, these are honestly the best pastries I’ve ever had! Thank you so much! When Max Mo brought me some before, I thought they were made by his family’s chef. Later I found out they were yours—I’ve had so many delicious pastries, but never properly thanked you. I’m afraid I’ve been terribly rude."
As Cecilia spoke, she took a brocade box from her bag and handed it to Mrs. Yun, smiling. "I’m not very crafty, and I can’t make anything fancy. I know you have refined taste, so giving you something tacky would be an insult. So, when I had free time yesterday, I made a lucky knot myself. It’s not worth much, but I hope you’ll accept it."
Mrs. Yun’s eyes were full of surprise as her fingers trembled, opening the brocade box.
Inside lay a handmade lucky knot bracelet.
Cecilia Gu was skillful, wrapping a piece of jade into a simple, elegant lucky knot that symbolized good fortune.
Mr. Yun, though from a scholarly family, had a keen eye for antiques.
He immediately saw that the jade Cecilia Gu gave was no ordinary piece.
Just as Mr. Yun was about to refuse, Cecilia Gu smiled and said, "Please don’t turn it down, Mr. Yun, Mrs. Yun. Actually, the jade wasn’t mine—I asked Max Mo to help me find it. I came in a hurry; how could I have jade on hand? I just borrowed a flower to offer to Buddha, tying the jade into a knot. Please don’t refuse, or I’ll feel too embarrassed to accept your pastries in the future."