Madam Gu, You Do Not Need to be Frugal

The next day, Lin Che opened her eyes to unfamiliar surroundings. It took her a few minutes to remember that she was now married.

But where was her husband?

She jumped off the bed. Everything on the couch had been returned to its original place, but the person on it was nowhere to be found.

Lin Che left the room and went to the dining room. The maid bowed to her from the side. "Madam, I'll lead you to the dining room."

The moment she arrived, she saw Gu Jingze bathed in sunlight. She walked over with light footsteps.

His emotionless expression immediately lowered the temperature throughout the dining room by a few degrees.

His well-defined body appeared even more upright in a suit. Without clothes, his body was muscular, only to appear leaner with clothes on. His face, which could make any woman heave a sigh, and his mysterious, dignified gaze made Lin Che's brow rise slightly after just a simple glance.

"Hi. Good morning," she walked over to greet him.

However, Gu Jingze simply raised his eyebrows and looked her once over. The casual clothes she was wearing had been prepared by the maids. They flattered and accentuated her figure. Gu Jingze lowered his head in silence. With his bony fingers, he reached for the white ceramic coffee cup on the table. He did not raise his head again.

How cold and distant…

Lin Che pouted and sat down.

Throughout the meal, they did not interact at all. When they left, the maid looked at Lin Che's unhappy face and said anxiously, "Madam, Sir is not a bad person. Sometimes he's just grumpy in the morning, especially if he didn't get a good night's rest."

Lin Che asked, "He didn't sleep well last night?"

The maid replied, "Yes. Sir woke up in the middle of the night and went to the study room to sleep, so he didn't sleep well."

Lin Che opened her mouth slightly in surprise and was at a loss for words.

She came to a realization after thinking about it.

He had been forced to marry her because of the accident. Understandably, he probably felt uncomfortable, especially when he loved another woman. It was unlikely he felt happy sleeping with her in the same room.

Sighing, she thought to herself. Gu Jingze is also pitiable; he's an unusually privileged person, but he's afflicted with such a strange illness.

Putting it this way, it was because she had carelessly mistaken him for someone else that he lost the woman he loved and had to marry her instead. She suddenly felt as if she had separated a pair of lovebirds and began to blame herself.

…

Lin Che packed up in preparation to go to the company. On her way out, she saw a group of people walking out noisily. When she looked more closely, she saw Gu Jingze leading them. His tall and lean figure made her think of a crane standing among chickens. His neatly tailored pants wrapped around his long legs which made large strides that were especially smooth and elegant. His gait diminished some of the aloofness in his eyes while his stern figure carried a slight indifference. An aura of calm authority could be naturally felt. He unhurriedly stepped through the double doors and seemed like he was about to leave.

Lin Che chased after him in a hurry.

"Wait for me. Wait for me."

Gu Jingze's austere expression changed upon hearing her chatter. His eyebrows knitted together.

He turned his head to see Lin Che wearing a flattering dress cinched at the waist. She was running towards him like a madman. His brow furrowed even more.

However, her flailing black hair accentuated her white skin so that it seemed like snow. It made her appear cleaner and tidier. He drew in a long breath, turned his gaze away, and continued walking out.

"Take me along, Gu Jingze. I'm going to the company."

"I'll get someone to send you there," he said curtly while looking straight ahead.

"Oh… Okay. You can just bring me to the bus stop. There's no need to waste a car on me."

Gu Jingze frowned. "The Gu family is not so poor that their Madam has to save money on transport by taking the public bus."

His gaze rested on her face and after some contemplation, he said, "Get in."

Hearing this, Lin Che quickly stumbled after Gu Jingze, eager to save two dollars.

Gu Jingze's car was huge. It was not the car that they had taken yesterday. Inside, the seats were made of leather and had a fresh smell to them. Gu Jingze looked down at the marks that her shoes had left and frowned, "Why are your shoes so dirty?"

Lin Che looked down and saw an unsightly footprint. She laughed in embarrassment and said, "I don't have shoes."

Seeing Gu Jingze's impeccable eyebrows twist again, she curled her lips and said, "What are you dissatisfied about? It's not like I wanted it to happen; these are my only pair of shoes."

Gu Jingze looked at her. She was dressed messily and her slender, long legs could be vaguely seen.

He inspected her clothes—it was the same set of clothing that she had worn yesterday and she looked ridiculously shabby.

He said, "I'll take you to buy some clothes first."

Hearing this, Lin Che blurted out, "My clothes are fine. It's just that I didn't bring them over. When there's a chance I'll go back, get my things, and bring them over."

But Gu Jingze had already instructed the driver, "Find a place where we can buy clothes for the Madam."

The driver immediately took a U-turn.

Lin Che was embarrassed. "It's really not necessary. It will be too troublesome for you."

Gu Jingze swept his eyes over her clothes. He did not know where she had bought the dress; it had been washed so many times that it was obviously old. She had probably worn it numerous times.

"Your clothes are too dirty. I feel uncomfortable just looking at them."

"…" Fine then. Since it makes him comfortable, he can buy whatever he wants.

To think that she had thought he was being nice.

"This is called being frugal. What do you know?"

"You're used to treating shabbiness as thriftiness, but that's not a habit of mine." His eyes were, as usual, indifferent.

Lin Che said, "Yes, of course. It's good to be rich. You can change your clothes every day. I don't have many, so I wear each piece of clothing for a long time. How many times do you think I've worn this piece? It cost several hundred yuan. Of course, I won't throw it away until I've worn it out."

Gu Jingze looked at Lin Che. "The Lin family shouldn't be that poor."

Lin Che smiled while looking at him. "So you investigated me pretty thoroughly."

"Naturally. You think I would casually marry a woman without investigating her?"

Lin Che fiddled with her sleeves. "But didn't you just find out that I'm an illegitimate daughter of the Lin family? My father never treated me as a part of the Lin family. As a child, I lived with the nanny. It was only when he saw that I had grown up and had value that he gave me a room. When I was younger, my clothes were always hand-me-downs from Lin Li and Lin Yu. Even if the clothes had been washed repeatedly or even torn, they were still nice clothes. I would always ask the nanny to mend them for me and continue wearing them."

Gu Jingze's eyebrows twitched. As he looked at her, his gaze began to settle.

Soon, the two of them arrived at a branded fashion store.

The moment they stepped in, Gu Jingze swept his gaze across the store and said to the salesperson following them, "Give me all the clothes in her size."

Seeing how decisive Gu Jingze was, the salesperson's eyes began to light up. He quickly led Lin Che further inside.

Lin Che was a little dumbstruck. This was the first time she was experiencing how the rich went shopping.