Chapter 23.1

Do you prefer sweet or salty zongzi? In Guan Yue’s house, there’s no debate between northern and southern tastes—she likes them all.

Making zongzi is a skill, and Gu Sui taught Guan Yue to make two or three. By the end, she even knew how to wrap zongzi with vines.

After Gu Sui finished one, she looked up and saw a string of zongzi hanging from the vines.

Gu Sui smiled and said, “Congratulations, you’ve discovered a new way to use it.”

Guan Yue laughed heartily, “I finished so quickly!”

Gu Sui heard the unsatisfied longing in her voice: “Alright, we’re just the two of us; we can’t eat too many.”

Hearing someone coming up the mountain, Guan Yue put away her powers, and Gu Sui took the freshly wrapped zongzi to the kitchen to cook.

The visitors were the Li siblings, Li Tao and Li Da.

From a distance, Li Tao shouted, “Guan Yue, I brought you some steamed buns! The ones you like with preserved meat and winged beans.”

Last year, Li Tao’s family sent Guan Yue some winged bean and meat buns, which she really liked. Today, on the Dragon Boat Festival, their family made the preserved meat and winged bean buns again and Zhang Cuihua had sent over four.

There was also a jar of fermented glutinous rice that hadn’t been sent over, so Li Da came along with her brother.

Guan Yue hadn’t had preserved meat and winged bean buns for a long time; she was very happy. In her happiness, she casually took out a bottle of some unknown medicine and handed it to Li Tao.

It’s a matter of reciprocity!

The Li siblings were so happy that it was almost as if they were more thrilled than if Guan Yue had given them a piece of meat.

When Gu Sui finished cooking the zongzi, there was already one steamed bun eaten off the table.

Guan Yue said, “We each get two; I’ve already eaten one.”

Gu Sui took a steamed bun, and it was still warm inside; taking a bite, the fragrant preserved meat and the tender sweetness of the winged beans were perfectly combined.

She only ate one bun?!

Guan Yue rubbed her stomach: “I also want to eat, but I have to save my stomach for the zongzi.”

Gu Sui couldn’t help but chuckle: “You still have preserved meat in your room, don’t you? If you want to eat, we can do it ourselves later.”

That’s true; they didn’t lack preserved meat now.

After Gu Sui finished making the preserved meat, she left because Guan Yue couldn’t do it herself. At that time, the winged beans in the fields down the mountain were just seedlings. Guan Yue certainly couldn’t get any winged beans for Li Tao to steam buns for her.

Guan Yue nodded, “I’ll make it in a few days!”

“Good!”

Zongzi are made of glutinous rice; they’re definitely tasty but very easy to overeat.

Their zongzi were quite large—Guan Yue ate one meat zongzi, one red bean zongzi, and then had a bowl of green vegetable soup, and she was already full.

There were many more zongzi on the table, it seemed like they couldn’t finish them all in one or two meals.

Gu Sui suggested, “Why don’t we send some down to the people below the mountain?”

Guan Yue shook her head, “No, we won’t send them.”

Guan Yue didn’t like having too much contact with the people down the mountain.

Gu Sui usually listened to her when it came to things like this.

After eating, Guan Yue stood up, her bright eyes looking at Gu Sui: “Are you ready now to fulfill your wish? I’m going to take you to where I live.”

Gu Sui picked up the zongzi, “Wait, let me put these things away first.”

“Okay, hurry up.”

After Gu Sui put his things away and closed the door, he walked over. Xiao Hei on Guan Yue’s wrist was excitedly squirming.

Guan Yue looked at him, “Are you ready? It might be a bit intense.”

Gu Sui nodded.

“Let’s go!”

As soon as Guan Yue finished speaking, Xiao Hei flew over and wrapped Gu Sui tightly, tying him like a wooden stake. Guan Yue jumped into the air, holding Gu Sui and sprinting through the trees.

Gu Sui laughed wryly, “Does this little thing have it in for me? Tying me up so tightly, I can’t even move.”

They raced through the forest at high speed, Guan Yue moving so quickly that the scenery seemed to change behind them. The deeper they went into the mountains, the denser the trees became.

Gu Sui lowered his head slightly; they were now twenty or so meters above the ground. If they fell by accident, given his current position, he probably wouldn’t survive.

After about twenty minutes, Guan Yue stopped and helped Gu Sui to stand steady.

“Xiao Hei, hurry and untie!”

Xiao Hei reluctantly released the vine, and Gu Sui moved his body a bit to get a better look at the treehouse.

At that moment, he stood outside the treehouse. There was a platform about ten square meters outside, and to the right was the treehouse.

Gu Sui crouched down and touched the floor—he could tell that the place he was stepping on was a living tree.

Guan Yue opened the door of the treehouse, and sunlight poured inside. Inside were a bed, a wardrobe, and a set of table and chairs. The table was the kind of long, large wooden table that Guan Yue liked.

Gu Sui stood at the door, took a glance inside, then turned his head to look outside again.

Guan Yue: “Why don’t you come in?”

Gu Sui: “I’ll just stay here. I can see clearly from the door.”

Guan Yue laughed, “Staying at the door is fine, after all, there’s not much to see inside.”

Guan Yue stepped out, used her powers, and instantly grew two reclining chairs against the wall of the treehouse. She lay down in one.

“It’s really comfortable!”

The sun’s rays filtered through the gaps in the leaves, casting scattered light on her face. Gu Sui stood there, looking at her face and smiling.

Guan Yue patted the chair next to her, “Come on, sit down! Aren’t you curious about me? Do you want to hear my story?”

“I want to hear,” Gu Sui sat down on the reclining chair beside her, lying down to enjoy the sunlight with Guan Yue.

After she got comfortable, her flowing hair cascaded down, resting on the back of the chair. She closed her eyes, enjoying the sunlight, the shade, the bird songs, and the peace and freedom around her.

The treehouse was so high that even the slightly warm summer breeze hadn’t yet crossed the leaves, tinged with the scent of the forest, before it brushed her hair.

The ends of her hair tickled her forehead, and she casually pushed all of it behind her head, making her neck feel cool.

Fingering Xiao Hei, Guan Yue suddenly spoke, “Did you ever think I was from some wild ghost or a monster?”

“I thought you were a little fairy born in the forest.”

Guan Yue’s lips curled slightly, “You guessed wrong. I’m from a hundred years in the future.”

A hundred years later?

Gu Sui braced himself with his hands on the chair, propped up his upper body, and turned to look at her.

This was beyond Gu Sui’s knowledge.

Guan Yue casually said, “Yes, a hundred years in the future. At that time, there was a virus outbreak in the world, causing some people to gain special abilities. I was just one of the very ordinary ones.”

“Others?” Gu Sui asked, “Are they still normal?”

“Others…” Guan Yue opened her eyes, looking into the distance, her expression cold, “Some are normal, others turned into zombies—basically, evil ghosts. Ability users and ordinary people have been fighting zombies all along. In such an environment, survival is always at stake. In the face of life and death, things like morals and humanity don’t matter.”

Guan Yue spoke lightly, but in her unemotional voice, Gu Sui could hear an indescribable sadness.

She was dead—what about her family? His parents? Did she have siblings? Did she have grandparents?

“Your family…” Gu Sui choked up, unable to ask directly.

“Everyone is dead.” Guan Yue said flatly.

Gu Sui’s gaze fell on her profile, and his mind flashed with many images—her laughing heartily, her craving for food, her treating others, her reluctance to go down the mountain and interact with people, her indifference, and her unhesitant slaughtering.

Things he never understood, now seemed to make sense because of the “crazy” era she mentioned; all her actions seemed to have an explanation.

Guan Yue remembered her former home, her parents living in the house—no matter how much she denied it, she knew she couldn’t go back to the past. Those memories had long since faded away.

She told herself that she should accept it; she had promised her mother that she would live well on her own.

Gu Sui wanted to comfort her, but didn’t know how to start. After a long pause, he asked, “Do you want to eat some sweet fermented glutinous rice and eggs? I can put a lot of sugar in it, make it extra sweet.”

Guan Yue turned to look at him and smiled, “Sure, I want lots of sugar—I love sweet things.”

Gu Sui looked at her smiling face, momentarily dazed.

Suddenly, Guan Yue stood up: “Since you don’t get here often, let me take you for a walk in the deep mountains.”

Gu Sui recalled being tied up like a zongzi earlier and thought that just sitting here, listening to the birds and feeling the breeze, wasn’t so bad.

Guan Yue came over and took his hand, “Don’t need Xiao Hei, I’ll hold you.”

“How are you going to hold me?”

“Just like this!”

Gu Sui stood up, and Guan Yue wrapped her arms around his waist. As branches grew, she led Gu Sui up, jumping into the air.

Instinctively, Gu Sui hooked his arm around Guan Yue’s shoulder. She twisted a little, “You’re holding too tight, it’s uncomfortable. Put your hand here, like this—around my waist.”

Gu Sui moved his hand cautiously to her waist, “Like this?”

“Mm, just like that,” Guan Yue nodded casually.

Guan Yue said, “Let’s go see the piglets.”

Gu Sui tightly held onto Guan Yue’s waist; her warm body heat, through her thin summer clothing, burned his hand. But he didn’t want to let go.

His mind had already flown away; he didn’t know how far they had traveled. Guan Yue suddenly stopped, standing on the treetop: “Look, down there are the piglets.”

Gu Sui looked down, seeing the piglets enclosed in a square pen, “They’re just a few months old, but they’re quite fat.”

“At first, I thought they’d definitely be eaten by some wild beast if I let them out, but it turns out they’re doing quite well following a pack of wild boars.”

Gu Sui: “Where is Gou Sheng now?”

“Ah, Gou Sheng? I used to know roughly where he was on that mountain, but now I’m not sure anymore.”

Guan Yue enthusiastically: “Gou Sheng is already the alpha now, so impressive.”

Gu Sui complimented, “It’s all thanks to your good care.”

Guan Yue chuckled: “Gou Sheng is quite capable on his own too. Come on, let’s go look for him.”

Gou Sheng is still on that mountain, and Guan Yue and Gu Sui quickly found him. However, he is now engaging in some inappropriate behavior.

Guan Yue’s eyes widened, and Gu Sui turned her head to cover her eyes.

Guan Yue struggled: “Let go.”

Gu Sui: “Let the branch come over; let’s go back for now and check on him next time.”

The warm palm covering Guan Yue’s eyes, as she struggled, lost control, and both of them fell directly from the tree.

In mid-air, they separated. Falling from the treetops, the ground below rapidly grew a patch of velvety grass, forming a large grass ball that safely caught them with no harm.

Gu Sui is heavier as a man and was the first to land on the soft grass ball.

Guan Yue’s focus was entirely on controlling the grass ball and didn’t notice her position upon landing, falling directly onto Gu Sui, her lips touching his chin.

Gu Sui let out a muffled groan, and Guan Yue cried out in pain.

The collision was neither light nor heavy; Guan Yue left a tooth mark on Gu Sui’s chin, with a blood droplet emerging from the deepest part of the bruise.

Guan Yue covered her mouth, slapped Gu Sui’s shoulder, and complained in a pitiful tone: “Why is your chin so hard?”

Gu Sui didn’t care about himself and grabbed her chin, turning her face: “Let me see.”

At that moment, Guan Yue’s eyes were tearful, her eyes red at the corners, a pair of apricot-shaped eyes looking ChuChu pitiable.

Gu Sui’s heart clenched.

“Open your mouth and let me see if your teeth are broken.”

It wasn’t broken, just a bit sore; when she had to brace herself earlier, she instinctively tilted her head back, but the force of the fall pressed her head down.

Guan Yue, crying pitifully: “What if I break my front teeth? What will I do then?”

Gu Sui checked her teeth and softly laughed, “It’s okay. If you ever lose your front teeth and can’t get married, I’ll marry you instead.”

Guan Yue slapped his shoulder: “Who said I want you to marry me!”

Gu Sui spread his limbs out, lying on the grass ball as her human cushion, his hand resting on her waist as he spoke softly and comfortingly: “I’m responsible for you. Do whatever you want.”

At that moment, Guan Yue was lying on Gu Sui’s chest, suddenly realizing that their position didn’t seem quite right.

The grass ball was soft and hard to move on, so Guan Yue propped herself up on his chest to get up. Gu Sui moved his leg, and she ended up falling back onto his chest again.

Guan Yue irritably exclaimed: “Annoying!”

Gu Sui tried to hold back his laughter: “Aren’t you supposed to control plants and trees?”

Guan Yue regained focus, using her ability to control the grass ball and get them down safely.

When Guan Yue’s feet finally hit the ground, Gou Sheng, who had been engaged in inappropriate activities moments earlier, was wagging his tail and enthusiastically ran towards Guan Yue.

Guan Yue instinctively hid behind Gu Sui, scolding Gou Sheng: “It’s all your fault! If you hadn’t been so inappropriate, I wouldn’t have fallen so badly!”

Gou Sheng was bewildered: “What did I do?”

Anyway, Guan Yue used a tree vine to tie up Gou Sheng’er, holding a branch, she gave him a good spanking. “You should have listened!”

Gou Sheng seemed innocent in all this; what had he done to deserve a beating?

Gu Sui touched the sore spot on his jaw and winced.

Guan Yue turned to look at him: “Are you in a lot of pain?”

“It’s okay,” he replied.

Guan Yue dropped the branch and shot a fierce glare at Gou Sheng’er: “Take care of yourself!”

Gou Sheng let out a whimper.

Guan Yue dragged Gu Sui back. Just a moment ago, they were fine, but now they were clinging to each other’s waists, and Guan Yue felt a bit uneasy.

Gu Sui held her tightly, and Guan Yue slightly turned her body. Since he was taller, their current position made it look like Guan Yue was lying on his chest.

Guan Yue uncomfortably shifted: “You’re holding too tight.”

“I’m scared.”

Guan Yue joked, “You’re still scared?”

Gu Sui honestly admitted, “After that fall, I was terrified.”

Guan Yue, puffing up a bit: “Then you should hold me tighter. I didn’t expect you, with your tall stature, to have such a small heart.”

On the way back, Guan Yue didn’t take him to the treehouse but led him directly to the cabin.

When they finally touched down on solid ground, Gu Sui stood in place, taking a while to move as his stiff body started to relax.

Guan Yue giggled: “Next time, I’ll take you deep into the mountains.”

Gu Sui laughed and replied, “I’m scared. If you hold me, I’ll go with you.”

Guan Yue patted her chest, reassuring: “I’ll definitely look out for you.”

Spending several hours in the mountains, the sunset was almost upon them. The sky was a spectacular array of colors, beautiful and dreamlike.

Guan Yue ran to the edge of a halfway cliff, looking at the sunset, and involuntarily exclaimed, “So beautiful!”

Gu Sui turned to look at her standing on his left: “It really is.”

Gu Sui also gazed into the distance, feeling that this Dragon Boat Festival had been so enjoyable!