Chapter 33.1

The group of wealthy big shots hadn’t arrived yet, but the various foreign books and the latest research equipment that Zhang Mingrui had sent to Guan Yue had all arrived.

After inspecting the items, Wang Tiejun said: “Doctor Guan, shall we help you carry these up the mountain?”

“Go ahead and carry them up.”

After the items were carried to the wooden house, Guan Yue didn’t let them unpack the boxes.

Wang Tiejun said: “How about we help you unpack and carry them into the house? One of the instruments is a bit large, and it might be hard for you and Doctor Gu to handle alone.”

Guan Yue replied: “It’s fine. Let Gu Sui do it. He knows best where and how to place and use these instruments. I’ll have him handle it when the time comes.”

“Alright then. If you can’t move them, come down the mountain and call us.”

Guan Yue smiled and nodded. “Thank you.”

After they left, the large boxes were all placed in the yard. Guan Yue went to open the box of books first.

She read aloud: “Principles of Virology…”

When Gu Sui returned from work at noon, he saw Guan Yue sitting cross-legged on the lounge chair, deeply focused on reading.

He walked over to her and asked: “Can you understand it?”

“Mm.”

Guan Yue closed the book. “This afternoon, I’m going to the mountain villa. Do you want to come with me?”

“Mm, but you’ll need to wait for me for a bit. I need to go down to ask Director Zhang for some time off.”

There was still one thing Guan Yue hadn’t dealt with, and she was feeling quite upset.

The mountain villa was still an unfinished building, with no renovations done yet.

Although the equipment had been placed in the underground laboratory, every time she went to the villa in the future, the sight of the bare structure would still make her uncomfortable.

Especially since, every time she saw that house, it made her think of her parents.

---

At lunch, Guan Yue was completely absent-minded, which was unlike her at all.

In the past, when she was angry with him, she would never forget to have her three meals.

Gu Sui served her some food. “Eat more, we’ll talk about it later.”

After the meal, Gu Sui asked her to stay by herself for a while, then quickly cleaned up the kitchen, leaving quietly to go down the mountain and ask Director Zhang for some time off.

After getting the leave, Gu Sui went to find Deng Baizhu. “Guan Yue has something to deal with, she might not come down tomorrow.”

“Oh, alright.”

Deng Baizhu was momentarily stunned. What could be going on with Guan Yue?

When Gu Sui returned, he found Guan Yue sitting there with her head lowered, looking deeply dejected.

“What’s wrong?”

Gu Sui went to embrace her, and she felt as soft as a flower branch in his arms, allowing him to hold her.

She sat on his lap, quietly resting her head on his chest.

After a long while, a single tear slipped from the corner of Guan Yue’s eye, her voice full of grievance. “I miss my parents.”

Gu Sui sighed and tightened his embrace. “It’s okay, I’m here with you.”

“Mm.”

Perhaps because Gu Sui gave her a sense of security, she opened up and started talking about her past life.

Their family of three—her father was particularly gentle, while her mother could be a bit strict. When her grades weren’t good, her mother would make fun of her, saying she was unlucky and hadn’t inherited her father’s intelligence.

She also said that she should marry a smarter man in the future, so that her future grandchild wouldn’t turn out like her…

But now, her parents were no longer around.

Gu Sui said: “I’m here, I’ll always be with you.”

The more she spoke, the more hurt she felt.

Gu Sui’s one simple word of comfort made her break down into tears, crying like a child, with no dignity.

Her face flushed and her tears and snot running freely.

Gu Sui found it both amusing and heart-wrenching.

As he wiped her face, he gently coaxed: “Aren’t you tired from crying? Rest for a bit and then cry again, okay?”

Tears were still clinging to her face when Guan Yue pushed him away. “You’re annoying.”

Gu Sui gently cupped her face and wiped away her tears. “So, your parents are always with you.”

“Mm, in the jade pendant space.”

Gu Sui raised an eyebrow. This was the first time he had heard Guan Yue mention the jade pendant space.

What was that?

Guan Yue took out the jade pendant hidden inside her clothes. “It’s this.”

As Guan Yue thought about her parents, two boxes suddenly appeared in her hands.

Gu Sui realized that these must be her parents’ urns.

He carefully held her hands. “Stand up.”

Guan Yue was confused. “Stand up for what? I don’t want to. I want to sit here.”

She was holding her parents’ urns and still sitting on his lap—this felt wrong.

Gu Sui didn’t care, though. He simply pushed himself up from the chair.

As soon as he stood, Guan Yue, who was sitting on his lap, had no choice but to stand as well.

Gu Sui sighed. “Have you ever thought about letting your parents rest in peace? That way, you’ll be able to slowly move on.”

She hadn’t thought about it.

Gu Sui continued: “You can think about it now. If your parents were watching over you, they would definitely want you to let go of the past and live well.”

Guan Yue started crying again. “I know, I know.”

Gu Sui looked at her gently. “Then let’s move on.”

He continued encouraging her. “We can bury your parents near the mountain villa. In the future, whenever you miss them, you can go and visit.”

---

In the end, Guan Yue was persuaded by Gu Sui.

She couldn’t continue dwelling in the past. It was time for her to take a new step forward, to show her parents that she was doing well, and that she had the courage to change starting now.

If she worked hard enough, maybe the great calamity that happened a hundred years ago wouldn’t have to happen again.

Perhaps families like hers wouldn’t have to struggle in a hell on earth, only to die in the end.

Gu Sui accompanied Guan Yue to choose a good location, just behind the mountain villa on the slope.

Gu Sui said: “This spot is elevated. If one day you find a way to counter the zombie virus, they’ll definitely know.”

Guan Yue extended her right hand, and a tree shot up from the ground. It grew to five meters high and then stopped, expanding horizontally until it was wide enough that three people couldn’t encircle it. The middle of the tree split open, creating a gap just wide enough to hold two urns.

Gu Sui solemnly placed the urns inside.

The tree closed up, continuously growing downward until only three meters remained above the ground. Only then did Guan Yue stop.

She had brought her parents into this world with her abilities. This way of burial, she was sure, would please them.

With a wave of her hand, she cleared a three-meter radius around the grave, leaving it pristine, and wooden chairs grew around the area.

Gu Sui sat beside her. “Do you want a gravestone?”

“No. I’ll put up a gravestone when I’ve figured things out.”

Guan Yue gazed at the mountain below and then turned to ask Gu Sui: “Isn’t the tree in front too tall? It’s blocking my parents’ view.”

Gu Sui smiled. “Then make them shorter.”

“Alright.”

With a swift motion, Guan Yue made the trees that had been blocking the view fall one by one, turning into bundles of firewood. The newly grown saplings were all quite small.

Looking down from the sky, lush vegetation grew from the mountaintop to the foot of the mountain, but the area in front of the grave seemed to dip, like a hollow.

Gu Sui released Guan Yue’s hand, knelt in front of the grave, and bowed his head.

He said: “Father-in-law, mother-in-law, hello. My name is Gu Sui, and I am Guan Yue’s partner. From now on, I will take care of her in your place.”

After speaking, Gu Sui turned to look at her, and Guan Yue started crying again.

Guan Yue choked on her words. “You’re annoying. You’ve made me cry all day.”

Gu Sui hugged her, and as she cried, she began to smile.

After settling her parents, Guan Yue felt that the wound deep inside her heart, the one that she had never allowed anyone to touch, seemed to suddenly start healing…

---

Back at the mountain villa below, Guan Yue took items out of the jade pendant space.

The tiles, furniture, and other things her mother had prepared were placed one by one, according to where she remembered them.

Just a few hours later, the villa had changed dramatically—from a dull, unfinished house into a refined and elegant villa.

Both the front and back yards of the villa were covered in sky-blue stone, and standing in the yard, the movement of the clouds and the changing hues in the sky seemed to reflect perfectly on the ground.

Gu Sui said: “A hundred years later, even the floor tiles are this beautiful?”

Guan Yue replied: “Not every house looks this nice. My family is quite wealthy, you know.”

Gu Sui laughed. “I can tell, you’re a little rich lady.”

Guan Yue responded haughtily: “Hmph, I didn’t open the space before, but now that I have, even if I never leave the mountain, I’ll never go hungry or be short of clothes.”

“Staying alone for the rest of your life isn’t great. You should come down every now and then. Aside from researching the virus, you need to have your own life too.”

It’s rare to come to the mortal world, so you should experience a different kind of life, so it’s not a waste.

With the house above ground finished, the three underground floors were also renovated by Guan Yue, and a pile of equipment was placed in the basement.

In the evening, Gu Sui was in the modern kitchen, preparing dinner for Guan Yue.

Guan Yue kept pulling various seasonings, rice, and oil from the space. As for the vegetables, her mother’s preserved ones couldn’t compare to the ones she grew herself.

Gu Sui looked around at the various items in the kitchen. “What’s this hanging in the air?”

“I know this one. It’s a range hood, it pulls the smoke and oil fumes from stir-frying out of the kitchen.”

“And this?” Gu Sui pointed at a device under the cabinet.

“Do the dishes.”

“How do you turn on the stove?”

“Just twist it open.”

The equipment they had installed at home was all electric, and the roof had solar panels for energy conversion.

In the afternoon, Guan Yue had installed it too late and didn’t save much power. When she was cooking, the electricity ran out halfway through.

Gu Sui said: “What a pity, this villa doesn’t have electricity.”

“How could we bring the power lines over? Wouldn’t that make them discover us?”

At first, Guan Yue had Li Dingbang and the others deliver materials to a different location, and then she moved the materials herself to this place.

A few days ago, Li Dingbang asked if their house had been finished. Guan Yue said no. Li Dingbang teased her, saying that if he had known, he would have had his people fix it. Now, it was too late. There had been several rainstorms in spring, and the rain had soaked the cement, meaning it couldn’t be used anymore. What a waste of materials.

Li Dingbang and his group all thought the house was ruined. In reality, Guan Yue had already finished building it here.

Gu Sui asked: “So, what do we do now?”

Guan Yue replied: “I have a way, just wait a moment.”

She went downstairs, holding a flashlight. From the space, she took out some diesel and a generator. With a loud noise, the lights of the villa turned on.

Gu Sui was startled and ran out to see. “What is this thing?”

Guan Yue answered: “A generator. You don’t know this?”

Gu Sui was silent.

Well, it seemed that he was now an old fossil.

The vegetables in the pot hadn’t finished cooking, so Gu Sui went back to the kitchen to continue. 

Half an hour later, the two of them finally had their meal.

Sitting in such an exquisite and bright dining room, with the outside world full of primeval forest, the mountain wind carried the scent of plants through the window. The pleasant feeling of it all was intoxicating.

It seemed that living here long-term might actually be quite nice.

That day, Guan Yue’s emotions were fluctuating. At that moment, as she enjoyed a delicious meal, her mood brightened instantly.

The spicy vegetable hotpot, braised potatoes with chicken, and a bowl of light wild vegetable soup—this meal was satisfying.

Guan Yue comfortably leaned back on the sofa and said to Gu Sui: “After my master leaves, I’ll move here to live for a while.”

Gu Sui replied: “You forgot, you still have other patients.”

Guan Yue stretched lazily and said: “They’re almost all better. Just let Deng Baizhu take care of them. It doesn’t matter whether I’m there or not.”

She continued: “Those famous doctors usually have fixed consultation hours, right? Like they see patients every Monday, four or five days a month. I can do that too.”

Guan Yue added: “Going once a week is a bit troublesome. I could stack my appointments in the first week of every month, then just stay here the rest of the time.”

Gu Sui asked: “And what about me? Are you going to leave me behind? Who’s going to cook for you?”

With three consecutive questions, Guan Yue felt guilty. “Well, you work during the day. I’ll pick you up at the foot of the mountain in the evening?”

Gu Sui asked: “Won’t that make you tired?”

Guan Yue honestly admitted: “It’s a bit tiring to go back and forth every day. It takes more than an hour each way, so that’s about three hours a day.”

Perhaps, when her abilities improved a little more, she could move faster.

Hearing her thoughts, Gu Sui quickly said: “You better not. This is fine as it is.”

He remembered how she had fainted for three days after the cliff incident. Thinking back, he still felt afraid.

Guan Yue chuckled: “I actually don’t dare either. We’ll see about the future. I’m just starting to learn now, so there’s no need to be here every day.”

Gu Sui went to tidy up the kitchen, and Guan Yue went downstairs to the backyard. She grew a cherry tree and picked a basket of cherries.

By the time Gu Sui finished cleaning the kitchen, Guan Yue had washed the cherries. The two sat together on the sofa, leaning on each other as they looked at the research materials her father had written in the past.

The two of them leaned together and studied for a long time. They could recognize all the characters, but when they were put together, they had no idea what the meaning was.

Guan Yue sighed in despair: “Ah, I’m so stupid!”

Gu Sui chuckled softly: “You’re not stupid. It’s just that your father-in-law is too smart. Put the materials away for now. We’ll study them later when we have a solid foundation.”

Guan Yue slumped, feeling down. “Guess we’ll just have to do it this way for now.”

Gu Sui picked up a cherry and put it in her mouth, saying: “It’s getting late. Rest now.”

Guan Yue’s bedroom was on the third floor. She asked him: “Where are you staying?”

Gu Sui replied: “Wherever you stay, I’ll stay.”

“Hmph, you wish.” she teased.

In the end, Gu Sui stayed in the room next to Guan Yue’s.