Chapter 16: Is Gu Ye Really So Obedient?

Gu Ye had the habit of waking up at 5:30 in the morning. He would go for a half-hour run before returning to make breakfast.

It was early in the morning, still dim outside. Gu Ye opened the door and instinctively glanced across to the opposite side. Jiang Yue’s door was tightly shut, with a dark gap under it. She must have still been asleep, not yet awake.

Gu Ye put on his shoes and, while tying his belt, walked outside. He was very careful when opening the door to the main room, yet the door still made a creaking sound.

Gu Ye paused, glancing sideways at Jiang Yue’s room. There seemed to be nothing unusual. He then pulled the door open and tiptoed out.

Just as Gu Ye closed the courtyard door behind him, the light in Jiang Yue’s room flickered on.

Jiang Yue, with two large dark circles under her eyes, sat on the bed, looking utterly despondent. The bed was too hard, and the pillow was uncomfortable. Jiang Yue had tossed and turned all night and hadn’t slept well. Just now, it seemed she had heard a noise, which had startled her awake.

It was still dark outside. Jiang Yue found a flashlight and unlocked the back door of the main room. As she walked, yawning, she was heading to the backyard to use the toilet.

The backyard was even larger than the front yard, paved with stone slabs. There were several fruit trees planted along the north wall of the yard, and in May, she could already see fruits hidden among the leaves.

Walking along the stone path, she arrived at the toilet.

Yesterday, Jiang Yue had been worried about the dry latrine being disgusting, but when she saw the dry latrine at Gu Ye’s house, her concerns vanished.

The toilet was made of stone, and the space inside wasn’t small. The floor was cemented, with a bench and toilet paper placed inside, along with a covered bucket and mosquito incense to repel insects. Everything was kept clean and tidy.

The squat toilet wasn’t like the horrifying scene Jiang Yue had imagined, with a large barrel beneath and wooden planks on top, where a glance would reveal disgusting “brown stuff.” Instead, it was designed similarly to a modern squat toilet.

The pit was hidden behind it. After using the toilet, one could scoop a ladle of water to flush it clean. It wasn’t the revolting sight of maggots crawling everywhere or flies swarming around as she had feared. After lighting some mugwort incense, there wasn’t even a trace of unpleasant smell.

Jiang Yue cared so much about the toilet because, as a person who ate grains, she couldn’t avoid having to relieve herself.

She could convince herself to gradually adjust to other inconveniences, but if she had to face disgust every day when using the toilet, she truly wouldn’t be able to bear it.

After finishing with the toilet, Jiang Yue went back to her room to change clothes and then came out to wash up. She glanced at Gu Ye’s room, and the door was closed.

Recalling Gu Ye’s cold expression and aggressive attitude the night before, Jiang Yue sneered coldly at the door. Hmph! Even if he begged her to go in, she wouldn’t do it!

A little after six o’clock, Gu Ye came back. From a distance, he saw smoke curling from the chimney of the house. A flicker of surprise flashed through his dark eyes—Jiang Yue was up this early?

Jiang Yue planned to make noodles for breakfast. She scooped a few spoonfuls of flour, then remembered Gu Ye’s appetite and added three more heaping spoonfuls. She dissolved a bit of salt into the water for the dough and began kneading it.

She hadn’t slept well and was already in a bad mood. On top of that, she had to get up early to make breakfast. The more Jiang Yue thought about it, the angrier she got. So she took out her frustration on the dough, kneading it furiously while cursing Gu Ye in her head.

“Gu Ye, you bastard! You still won’t let me go? So what if you’re the male lead? You think you’re all that!”

“If I had anywhere else to go, who the hell would want to stay in this godforsaken place?!”

“I was living just fine! Heaven, what the hell were you thinking sending me into this stupid book world?!”

“Aaaah! I’m so pissed! I’m going to explode!”

Back in college, Jiang Yue had started making videos. She began as a beauty vlogger, then transitioned to food content. As her popularity grew and she gained a steady following, she seized the opportunity to start a business with friends. She kept running her channel, launched a livestream sales business, and even opened her own chain of restaurants.

Just when everything was going great—when she could literally wake up laughing at the sight of her growing savings—“splat!” She transmigrated into a book.

“I miss my luxury flat! I haven’t even picked up my new sports car yet, sob!”

She wanted to go home so badly!

As Jiang Yue muttered her complaints, she suddenly felt a weird sensation on her back, like a chill. She spun around and saw a figure standing at the kitchen door.

Startled by the sudden appearance, Jiang Yue jumped. When she saw clearly that it was Gu Ye, she threw the dough back into the bowl and snapped: “Gu Ye, can’t you make some noise when you walk? Not even a peep—you scared me to death!”

The moment she finished scolding him, her heart skipped a beat. When had Gu Ye arrived? Had he heard her cursing him?

Feeling a little guilty, Jiang Yue took out the kneaded dough, sprinkled dry flour on the board, rolled it into a sheet, folded it, sliced it into strips, then shook them out—noodles.

“Gu Ye, we’re out of eggs. Can you go borrow a few?” Gu Ye had come in silently and still hadn’t said a word, which made Jiang Yue even more uneasy.

She strongly suspected that Gu Ye had heard her cursing him and was now silently planning how to get back at her. So, she decided to give him a task and send him away for now.

“Alright!”

Jiang Yue was quite surprised when she heard that “Alright.” Was Gu Ye really this obedient? She had just been thinking that if he refused to go borrow the eggs, she would bring up Ningning and tell him that Ningning needed nutrition!

Watching Gu Ye’s tall figure walk out the door, Jiang Yue scratched her head. Since she couldn’t figure it out, she simply stopped thinking about it. She left the noodles on the board to rest for a bit and turned to go wash up.

Not long after, Gu Ye returned.

“Here.” He handed two eggs to Jiang Yue.

“Only two?” Jiang Yue frowned. “That’s not nearly enough!”

Gu Ye glanced at her. “You and Ningning eat. It’s the end of the month—no one has much left in their homes.”

Jiang Yue felt another sigh building up. It was now the late 70s or early 80s, a time of extreme material scarcity. Everything was rationed, and every household was living on tight supplies.

“Tell me which house you borrowed from. Once I buy some eggs today, I’ll return them.” Jiang Yue carried the eggs into the kitchen. In these times, anyone who was willing to lend out food must have had a pretty close relationship with Gu Ye.

“Sister-in-law Zhao’s place. Second row of houses out front, third one from the left.” Gu Ye looked at Jiang Yue again, his dark eyes unreadable.

This wasn’t the first time Gu Ye had heard Jiang Yue say those strange things. Back in the hospital, she had mentioned some kind of Transmigrated-into-a-book deity, and just now she said she’d been thrown into this book world. What on earth did she mean?

Gu Ye also hadn’t missed the part where Jiang Yue said she didn’t want to stay here—she was just here because she had nowhere else to go.

Hmph! He knew it. Her claim that she didn’t want a divorce was just a delay tactic. Once she found a better option, she would definitely run off again—just like last time.

At that thought, Gu Ye’s gaze suddenly turned cold.

Jiang Yue suddenly felt a chill run over her body. She rubbed her arms—goosebumps. What the heck? It wasn’t even cold!

“Dad!” Ningning’s voice rang out.

Both Jiang Yue and Gu Ye turned to look. The little girl was standing in the main room doorway in her undershirt, rubbing her eyes.

“Ningning’s up! Go brush your teeth and wash your face. This morning we’re having noodles!” Jiang Yue gently waved the eggs in her hand. “I’ll fry a poached egg for Ningning too!”

No matter what, Jiang Yue had now taken the place of the Original Owner. The Original Owner had treated Ningning badly—she’d even abused her. Jiang Yue intended to make up for it while she was still here.