Chapter 7: Gu Ye is coming to settle the score with her!

“Dad? Mom?”

Jiang Yue’s brow twitched, and for a moment, she couldn’t react. From the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of a small, frail figure fleeting past the door.

Then, she heard footsteps.

Jiang Yue thought of stepping out to see, but after just two steps, she raised her head and collided with a pair of deep, dark black eyes.

It was Gu Ye.

Yesterday, Jiang Yue had been dizzy and exhausted, only noticing how handsome Gu Ye was, without paying attention to how tall he was. Now, as he stood before her, she found herself only able to see his chin. She had to tilt her head back to clearly see his face.

Hmm, he looked even more handsome in the daytime!

“Hi!” Jiang Yue forced a smile and greeted Gu Ye.

Gu Ye was the male lead of this story, and it was never wrong to get along with the male lead.

Besides, if Gu Ye hadn’t pulled her out of the water yesterday, Jiang Yue might have already drifted to that human trafficker’s village, starting her tragic life there.

Just for this life-saving grace, Jiang Yue could never be cold to Gu Ye like the original owner had been.

But Gu Ye’s attitude towards Jiang Yue was different.

“How are you feeling? Do you need to go to the hospital?” His tone sounded concerned, but it was completely formal, cold, as if he were addressing a stranger.

“Um, I’m okay.” Jiang Yue’s smile faltered as she touched her forehead, only to immediately wince with a sharp “hiss~.”

Jiang Yue thought she might need to get a CT scan.

Her gaze dropped, and she noticed the little girl cowering behind Gu Ye. As soon as Jiang Yue looked over, the little girl shrank back, hiding behind Gu Ye’s legs, her face filled with fear.

Jiang Yue: “…”

She sighed inwardly. This was all the original owner’s doing! Look at how frightened the child was, as if she had seen the wolf grandmother!

“Ningning, did you have breakfast?” Jiang Yue tried to repair her image in Ningning’s eyes, deliberately showing what she thought was an extremely gentle smile. She waved her hand towards Ningning: “Come here, Mom!”

However, the moment Ningning saw Jiang Yue’s expression, her fear only intensified. She clung to Gu Ye’s long legs, her small body completely hiding behind him, leaving only one timid eye peeking at Jiang Yue.

“You want Ningning to call you what?” Hearing Jiang Yue’s words, Gu Ye’s brow furrowed. His face turned scrutinizing and cold, his voice rising in pitch.

Jiang Yue’s heart skipped a beat. This was bad. The original owner had never allowed Ningning to call her “Mom.” In fact, just hearing Ningning say “Mom” would make her angry, and it had even led to several arguments with Gu Ye over the issue.

Now, Jiang Yue had taken the initiative to have Ningning call her “Mom.” Had this raised Gu Ye’s suspicions?

“Mom?” A hint of mockery flashed in Gu Ye’s beautiful, phoenix-shaped eyes.

But Jiang Yue had already said it, and it was too late to deny it. She could only brace herself and reply: “Yes, call me Mom. Is there a problem?”

Gu Ye sneered, his tone suddenly turning severe. “What’s the problem? Jiang Yue, how do you have the nerve to say that? What have you done to Ningning? Have you forgotten everything?”

Here it comes! Gu Ye was about to settle the score with her!

Jiang Yue was just thinking of how to defend herself when, perhaps startled by Gu Ye’s raised voice, Ningning suddenly burst into tears. Gu Ye immediately bent down to pick her up, no longer interested in confronting Jiang Yue. He only shot her a cold glance before walking away, soothing Ningning.

Jiang Yue felt an overwhelming sense of exhaustion. It wasn’t even her fault, so why was he glaring at her?

However, she understood that now she was Jiang Yue. No one knew that her soul had taken over this body. Since she had assumed the original owner’s identity, she had to bear the consequences of the original owner’s actions.

Sigh, this was a headache!

She didn’t know how Gu Ye managed to calm Ningning, but gradually, the little girl’s crying subsided.

Being new to the situation, Jiang Yue decided to familiarize herself with her surroundings. She walked over to the basin rack, took her basin based on memory, and then picked up the thermos in the corner of the room to fill it with water for washing up.

It was the seventh or eighth year, and the Family Residential Compound still didn’t have running water. It wasn’t even equipped with independent bathing facilities. Washing faces and taking baths required drawing water from a well, boiling it on a stove, then mixing in cold water to fill the washbasin.

Moreover, the house didn’t even have an indoor toilet. To use the restroom, one had to go to the dry latrine in the courtyard.

The mere thought of using the dry latrine made Jiang Yue feel uneasy. She had never lived in such a simple house; the only time she had seen a dry latrine was in movies. She couldn’t bear to imagine having to face a basin of “brown stuff” every time, with flies and maggots everywhere.

Just one day, and she was already missing the full-smart home of her spacious apartment.

Yesterday, she had only eaten some noodles, which she had ended up vomiting on her way back. Now, her stomach growled with hunger. She decided to eat something first before dealing with anything else.

The kitchen was on the left side of the courtyard and seemed to have been added later, as the bricks used were different from those of the main house.

As soon as Jiang Yue entered, she saw Ningning sitting on Gu Ye’s lap, having stopped crying. Upon seeing Jiang Yue, Ningning immediately burrowed into Gu Ye’s arms.

Before Gu Ye’s expression could change, Jiang Yue quickly said: “Is there anything to eat? I’m so hungry! I’ll grab something and leave right away!” She didn’t want to stay and be in the way.

Gu Ye narrowed his phoenix eyes, glancing at the large pot beside him, and coldly said: “There’s only porridge and steamed buns.”

“That’s fine! Anything will do!” Jiang Yue was so hungry her stomach was pressed against her ribs. She didn’t pay any attention to the scrutinizing looks from the father and daughter. She quickly stepped forward, lifted the pot lid, and was immediately greeted by the rising steam and fragrant smell.

Gu Ye’s home still used a firewood stove. Although he had simply cooked porridge and steamed buns, the smell was overwhelmingly delicious!

Gu Ye watched as Jiang Yue carried the bowl of porridge and steamed bun, heading outside. As she passed by him, she bared her teeth at him, and his brow furrowed even deeper.

“Dad, is Mom mad?” Ningning timidly asked.

“Why do you say that?” Gu Ye’s cold expression immediately softened when facing Ningning, becoming incredibly gentle.

Ningning pouted. “Because Ningning called Mom.”

Gu Ye’s gaze tightened for a moment before he softly reassured: “No, Mom isn’t mad.”

In order to avoid making things worse, Jiang Yue deliberately carried the bowl to the other side of the courtyard. From there, she could see Gu Ye and Ningning talking, but it was a bit too far to overhear their exact words.

However, she did notice Gu Ye occasionally glancing at her with cold, sharp eyes, and she knew it was probably about her.

Sigh. It’s hard to believe that after learning she was Gu Ye’s original wife, she had even thought of trying to live a good life with him. However, just the fact that the original owner had mistreated Ningning and that this had come to light was enough to ruin any chance of a peaceful relationship with Gu Ye.

Ningning was the posthumous daughter of Gu Ye’s old Squad Leader, who had died in battle. Afterward, Gu Ye had adopted Ningning. To put it simply, Ningning was the apple of Gu Ye’s eye—he would never tolerate anyone harming her!

Jiang Yue finished the porridge with a sense of melancholy. She ate half the steamed bun but couldn’t finish it. She scooped some water from the wellside water tank to rinse her bowl. Since there was no oil or grease in the bowl, it cleaned easily.

Ignoring the living conditions here and Gu Ye’s obvious distaste for her, one thing could be said—the air in this era was truly fresh, with a sweet fragrance in every breath.

Gu Ye walked over and saw Jiang Yue standing idly by the wellside, lost in thought. His expression darkened.

Since he had rescued Jiang Yue from the water yesterday, she had been acting very strangely!