Chapter 22: Don’t Make Big Talk

Zhang Pingtian was furious.
“Kid, are you deaf or just stupid? Jinshu already said there’s nothing to talk about with you. Why are you still sticking around like a shameless pest? Do you think I was joking with you just now? Get lost—”

“You old geezer, who do you think you’re talking to!” Lin Jinxiu suddenly rushed out, pointing her finger right at Zhang Pingtian’s nose.
“You’d better hurry up and apologize to Brother Moyu, or I’ll make sure you regret it!”

“Last time at school I let you have the upper hand, old man. This time, just you try it!”

Zhang Pingtian thought, Oh, so it’s her again—Lin Jinxiu.
Other people played the hero saving the beauty; here, it was beauty saving the hero?
Ha! Too bad neither of them was really a beauty nor a hero.

Zhang Pingtian was just about to speak—this small scene was still well within his ability to handle—when Gu Jinshu suddenly whooshed forward toward Lin Jinxiu. Without a word, she slapped her twice—smack, smack—squarely on both cheeks, perfectly symmetrical.

Gu Moyu merely furrowed his brow slightly. In his impression, Gu Jinshu had never been this fierce before. It seemed that all that timid and submissive behavior she’d shown earlier was fake—this was her real self.

Lin Jinxiu’s face throbbed painfully, and she let out a yelp. This was the third time Gu Jinshu had hit her. Once or twice she could endure, but three times—she couldn’t take it.

Lin Jinxiu had clearly underestimated Gu Jinshu’s combat ability. She had no chance to fight back at all—it was a complete and total domination. Soon, the pain wasn’t just in her face; there wasn’t a single spot on her body that didn’t ache.

Lying on the ground unable to get up, Lin Jinxiu could only watch as Gu Jinshu tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear.
“I warned you last time—be polite to my teacher. If you still can’t learn that next time, I’ll keep teaching you how to behave.”

“Brother Moyu…” Lin Jinxiu was miserable, her eyes brimming with tears. She raised her hand to cover her face, not realizing that right now she looked anything but beautiful—more like a ridiculous joke. Both cheeks were badly swollen, one eye was blackened, and there was a bruise on her forehead. Gu Moyu, looking at that face, felt absolutely no pity at all.

Still, he forced himself to suppress the discomfort rising in his chest and frowned.
“Jinxiu, let’s get your injuries treated first.”

“Brother Moyu, you have to teach her a lesson for me!” What Lin Jinxiu needed right now was not wound care.

“Right now, treating your injuries is the most important thing. Don’t you care if you get scars?” Gu Moyu mentioned the one thing Lin Jinxiu cared about most—scars. No woman wanted scars on her face.

“Brother Moyu, I’m really dizzy,” Lin Jinxiu hinted, wanting him to carry her.

For the sake of the fact that she was his younger sister’s good friend, Gu Moyu put up with it.

“To still be willing when she looks like that—Brother, you really have a heavy taste,” Zhang Pingtian said mockingly.

“Teacher?” Gu Jinshu looked puzzled.

“Did you get hurt just now?” Zhang Pingtian asked, his tone immediately full of concern. “Let me see.”

“I’m fine.” Gu Jinshu’s hand was a little scraped, but it wasn’t serious—just needed some alcohol to disinfect it.

“Your hands are extremely valuable. From now on, don’t do such reckless things again, understand?” Zhang Pingtian said earnestly. “Jinshu, do you think Lin Jinxiu’s words were unpleasant?”

“Teacher, I don’t care what she says to me, but she cannot use that tone with you. For people like her, fists are the only language they understand! But next time, I’ll be more careful.”

No more fists. Gu Jinshu understood what her teacher meant—her hands would be used for acupuncture in the future. Even the slightest injury could affect her steadiness.

“There’s actually another way to deal with her besides beating her,” Zhang Pingtian said with a smirk. “The only reason Lin Jinxiu is so arrogant is because she’s relying on her father. We should learn to pull the rug out from under her. If the Lin family collapses, what backing will she have to throw her weight around?”

Gu Jinshu: “…”
Lin Jinxiu’s father was a deputy bureau chief. How could they collapse so easily?

“You don’t need to worry about this,” Zhang Pingtian said. He had his own way to handle it.

Gu Jinshu nodded—she listened to her teacher.

Today, Zhang Pingtian had seen another side of his student—this girl could be pretty fierce. But sometimes, that was a good thing. Better than suffering grievances.

He just didn’t understand how she could have been bullied like this in the Gu family. Could it be that she was too sentimental about family? He didn’t ask.

…

Downstairs in the emergency room, Lin Jinxiu cried as her wounds were treated, clutching at Gu Moyu’s clothes and refusing to let him leave. He had to stay with her.

Gu Moyu was extremely annoyed.
“Jinxiu, I still have patients to see. Once you’ve finished treating your wounds, I’ll come back to check on you. Let go.”

“Brother Moyu, don’t leave me here alone—I’m scared.” Lin Jinxiu’s voice choked. “I came today to bring you lunch. When I saw how they treated you, I was just anxious to defend you. Gu Jinshu was so ruthless—she hurt me like this. I will never let her get away with it!”

“What exactly are you planning to do?” Gu Moyu frowned.

“I—” Lin Jinxiu froze when she noticed the change in his expression. She didn’t dare finish, unsure which of her words had made him angry.

“Lin Jinxiu! I’m only going to say this once, so you’d better remember it well—no matter what, Gu Jinshu is my sister. We are siblings bound by blood. How we treat her within the family is one thing, but I will never allow outsiders to bully her.”

Gu Moyu said each word clearly:
“Thank you for the lunch. Don’t bring it again next time.”

“…”

This time Lin Jinxiu didn’t manage to stop him from leaving. She could only watch him go, unwilling to accept it.

…

After her wounds were treated, Lin Jinxiu hurried to find Gu Moyu. No matter what, she had to clear up the misunderstanding today. She couldn’t let it affect their relationship.

—

Military compound. Lu family.

Recently, Old Master Lu had been seeing his grandson Lu Shiyan around the house more and more often. Before, when he couldn’t see him, he would occasionally miss him. Now, he just found him an eyesore.

“Your unit is this idle? Should I have them find you something to do, so you’re not wandering around the house all day? Anyone who didn’t know better would think this old man was about to kick the bucket!”

“Grandpa!” Lu Shiyan frowned. “You’re strong and healthy—you wouldn’t be willing to go before you’ve seen your great-grandson born, would you?”

“Great-grandson? I haven’t even seen a granddaughter-in-law yet! Don’t try to feed me empty promises!” Old Master Lu wasn’t buying it. Useless talk. The key was to bring the daughter-in-law home.