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For lunch, Su Ying made stir-fried lettuce stems, a plate of pork with tofu, and gave each of them a small bowl of rice.
Before feeding Gu Jinghong, she carefully washed her hands again. As she brought the rice to his lips, Gu Jinghong just looked at her and asked,
“Was work smooth today?”
Su Ying touched his lips lightly with the chopsticks. Gu Jinghong immediately felt a cool sensation and a waft of fragrant rice aroma mixed with the faint, clean scent of soap from Su Ying.
“My work isn’t tiring. I should be able to get off on time every day to come back and cook for you.”
She changed the subject and asked,
“By the way, do you still have your medical records? I’d like to take a look at them later.”
The rice in Gu Jinghong’s mouth stopped mid-chew. He said faintly,
“What for?”
Su Ying was massaging his legs and suddenly looked up with a smile.
“Commander, what if I told you I’m a pretty skilled doctor myself—would you believe me?”
Gu Jinghong looked at her seriously.
“That’s why you wanted to work at the hospital?”
Su Ying nodded.
“Yes. It’s the one field I’m familiar with. Right now, I need to earn money, and I also want to…” get better.
Earlier that morning, when her hands had been exposed to cold water, she thought her illness was about to flare up. Thankfully, it didn’t—at least not while she was at work.
Gu Jinghong nodded lightly. From the beginning, Su Ying had told him she had trained under a barefoot doctor. So he didn’t doubt that she had some medical skills.
But the way she said she was “skilled,” he hadn’t taken it seriously. Remembering what the top specialists in the capital had said about his condition, his eyes dimmed.
“They’re all in the small cabinet in the living room. You can find them yourself.”
Su Ying picked up a slice of lettuce and fed it to him. Gu Jinghong wasn’t picky—he ate whatever she gave him.
After finishing the meal, Su Ying used a handkerchief to wipe his mouth and asked,
“Does your stomach feel bloated? If it does, I can help massage it again.”
Gu Jinghong pressed his lips together and shook his head.
“No. You go eat now.”
Su Ying carried her empty bowl to the door, then couldn’t help but turn back to look at him again.
That powerful man had just eaten so ravenously that she thought he must’ve been starving all morning. But now…
She chuckled. Despite his cold expression, the “Commander” was actually a very warm person inside.
When Su Ying sat down to eat, the food had cooled a bit, but it wasn’t too bad. She quickly finished her meal, tidied the kitchen, washed Gu Jinghong’s clothes, and then went to search for his medical records in the cabinet.
To her surprise, there was a huge stack of them—every report detailed meticulously, even the slightest change in his body.
Even his recent bedsores were recorded. On one of the earlier files, a line of bold, powerful handwriting stood out:
“Nation’s top medical experts assembled for consultation.”
Just that one line radiated strength. Su Ying felt a sense of awe. Whoever wrote that must’ve been someone of great stature—not an ordinary figure.
She took a deep breath and started reading from the earliest reports. The cause of injury read:
“Two bullets passed through the spine, causing complete spinal nerve severance.”
Bullets?
Su Ying recalled Gu Jinghong’s identity and wondered what he must have gone through to suffer such an irreversible injury—one that left him paralyzed.
She continued reading, one report after another. But halfway through, it was time to go to work.
She closed the medical records, rubbed her temples, rested her eyes for a few seconds, then stood and stretched her neck before going to check on Gu Jinghong.
Seeing that his eyes were closed, he seemed to be asleep.
Su Ying tiptoed over and bent down to pull the blanket up over him.
Asleep, Gu Jinghong looked like a character out of a comic book. His features were sharp—thick brows, a straight nose, thin lips, and fair, smooth skin.
“Smooth”—that word popped into Su Ying’s mind. Her hand involuntarily reached out to verify. Her fingertips lightly touched his forehead and slid down the bridge of his nose.
It really was smooth. He had great skin. Probably shaved that morning for the wedding photos—his chin had only a few faint stubbles left.
“When you wake up tomorrow morning, I’ll shave you. The Commander has to look neat and tidy.”
She whispered softly, then straightened up and quietly left the room.
It wasn’t until Su Ying had ridden her bike out of the courtyard that Gu Jinghong slowly opened his eyes.
His lips parted slightly, like he had been holding his breath for a long time. He looked around, trying to see his own forehead and nose—but of course, they were on his own face. He couldn’t see anything.
Just then, the sound of the front door opening came again. His expression tightened. He shut his eyes and quickly pretended to be asleep again.
Actually, he hadn’t been pretending earlier. He’d genuinely fallen asleep. Even though he had stared at the ceiling all morning without feeling drowsy, the sounds of Su Ying rummaging around in the living room somehow lulled him to sleep.
But as a soldier, his instincts kicked in the moment she opened the door—and he woke up instantly. What he didn’t expect… was for Su Ying to touch him.
“Old Gu, how’s married life? Sweet, huh?”
The moment he heard Ye Guanjun’s voice, Gu Jinghong opened his eyes sharply and saw Ye walking in with a tea mug, grinning from ear to ear.
“Ol—”
The moment Ye met Gu Jinghong’s frosty gaze, his words stuck in his throat and he corrected himself.
“Ahem, Commander Gu. I finished work early today, came to wash your clothes. I also brought dumplings—pork and cabbage—delicious!”
He lifted the lid and held the mug under Gu Jinghong’s nose.
“Smells good, right?”
Gu Jinghong shot him a sidelong glance and said calmly,
“No need. Su Ying already washed them.”
Ye Guanjun froze, staring at him.
“Your little wife already washed your clothes? Even your… underthings?”
“Yes. She washed them too.”
Ye felt like he was hallucinating. Was it just him, or did Commander Gu’s expression seem a little smug? Even… proud?
He scratched his head awkwardly.
“Well, looks like you picked a good one. That bride price wasn’t wasted after all!”
He pulled a slip of paper from his pocket and held it in front of Gu Jinghong.
“Commander, here’s the list: the bride price your wife’s family received, the items bought—she brought the watch and bicycle here, the radio and sewing machine are still at her mom’s place. Oh, and there’s this five yuan a month for her mom’s rent.”
Gu Jinghong gave the list a quick glance and nodded slightly.
“Okay.”
Ye then slipped a passbook under his pillow.
“You’ve still got over 700 yuan in the account. It’s all in there. Keep it safe. Want me to store it somewhere else for you? You shouldn’t let your new wife see everything right away. She’s only been here a day—you never know.”
Gu Jinghong pursed his lips faintly and replied,
“No need. Leave it there.”
Ye Guanjun was speechless. He felt like the Commander’s IQ had suddenly taken a nosedive. Was he not even going to be the least bit cautious?
Gu Jinghong ignored the passbook and asked instead,
“Where did you arrange Su Ying’s job? What exactly is she doing?”