Chapter 19.1

The soft touch on his waist made Gu Qingchuan’s head feel lightheaded, and he nearly fractured the little yellow dog’s leg. Dahuang whimpered a few times, prompting him to quickly let go. This girl… When they were younger, she had only liked to tug at his sleeves, but now she dared to touch him directly.

Every time she treated him well, his heart ached. He was afraid that Jiang Ci would suffer in the future because of him.

“Dahuang has been bandaged. I… I’m going back now,” he said.

Jiang Ci was speechless. Was she so easily flustered? She had merely touched him once.

“Brother Chuan, you don’t need to be so shy, do you? Aren’t I still your fiancée?” Jiang Ci looked steadily at the man in front of her. “When are you going to marry me? My mother married into the Cui family, and I’m living alone in this yard. I feel a bit scared.”

Gu Qingchuan was at a loss for words. The girl had been bold since she was young; she dared to venture deep into the mountains by herself. He had heard that she had beaten Liu Xiaozhu twice, and now people feared her at the mention of her name. This excuse sounded like something she had made up.

“You’re only seventeen; that’s too young…” Gu Qingchuan struggled for a long time before handing her the bag he had brought along. “Take a look; these are things you lost, right?”

“What things?” Jiang Ci opened the bag, surprised to find the few items she had lost were intact inside: some personal clothing, a fountain pen, and two movie ticket stubs.

“These are here with you?” Jiang Ci smiled, her lips curving. “Did you look through them?”

Of course, he had looked. How could he know they were hers if he hadn’t? Thinking about how Jiang Ci had worn those clothes made Gu Qingchuan’s face feel a bit hot. “I didn’t mean to look.”

Jiang Ci neatly put the items away. “Good thing you caught them; otherwise, I would have lost a lot. Hey? Why are you blushing? After we get married, will you still avoid looking at them?”

Gu Qingchuan was completely no match for her. He fiddled with Dahuang’s leg and checked it again. “You’re going to work tomorrow, right? Go to bed early. Today, Pang Zhu broke his leg. Tomorrow, his father, Gu Chengrong, will definitely cause you trouble at work, so you need to be well-rested.”

The Gu family had done plenty of unethical things, and just last night, they had even dug a pit on the road he had to take home. What were they thinking? They could fall into the pit they had dug themselves; they had done too many wrong things.

“Yeah, I know.”

Because Lin Wan was getting married, Jiang Ci had taken half a month off, and tomorrow, she would have to go back to the machinery factory.

She had boiled the herbs Gu Qingchuan had collected from the mountains and tried to feed them to Dahuang, but the little yellow dog refused to swallow. Jiang Ci thought to herself that the little yellow dog was quite picky. She went to the kitchen and diluted the spiritual spring water in a bowl of plain water, then set aside half a bowl to mix with the Chinese medicine before attempting to feed it to the dog.

At first, the little yellow dog refused to drink it. After forcibly pouring a spoonful down its throat, it got up and licked the remaining half bowl of cooled medicine clean before lying back down in its doghouse. This time, it didn’t struggle as much as before.

The moon was bright, tonight but the stars were sparse, and it felt chilly outside. Jiang Ci rubbed her arms and looked at the shared wall with the neighboring yard, gritting her teeth as she thought: She had become Gu Qingchuan’s fiancée; why was he still avoiding her?

“Grandma, it hurts so much! Am I going to be disabled? I don’t want to become disabled.” Pang Zhu lay in the hospital after surgery, and once the anesthesia wore off, the pain kept him awake.

The doctor had said that Pang Zhu’s leg would take at least six months to heal. Gong Liping was heartbroken. “Mom, I feel like that little Jiang Ci girl has some bad luck. Originally, the whole family in the big house would never amount to anything. Look at her suddenly becoming Cui Pingzhou’s daughter and Gu Qingchuan’s little wife. Doesn’t that mean Cui Pingzhou will help Gu Qingchuan? What are we going to do in the future?”

Gu Qingchuan’s grandfather and father were both bookish and easy to deceive. They could easily be taken advantage of, yet Gu Qingchuan was cunning, always coming up with ways to outsmart them. Meanwhile, Pang Zhu had ended up injured.

She didn’t understand why her mother-in-law, Dong Hua, hated Miao Xiulan so much. “Mom, I feel that opposing anyone around Jiang Ci won’t end well. Look at Jiang Hongyu; she’s in jail. Mei Baoying is in the same situation; she nearly drove Cui Pingzhou to his death. And now, one of her sons is far away while the other is lying in the hospital. Shouldn’t… Shouldn’t we just let it go? We shouldn’t keep fighting. Look at how Pang Zhu got hurt.”

Pang Zhu shook his leg, now in a cast, and beads of sweat covered his forehead from the pain, twisting his face in agony. “We can’t let it go. Grandma said the blind old woman buried all the good things in the mountains. I don’t want to work anymore. As long as Gu Qingchuan is dead, I’ll be the eldest grandson of the Gu family. All those things will be mine. Isn’t that right, Grandma? You said before that those good things are enough for me to eat for three lifetimes, and now that my leg is broken, those treasures are rightfully mine.”

Even in the hospital, he was loud. “If it weren’t for those treasures, why did you and my dad go through so much trouble to get Gu Qingchuan’s dad killed back then? My grandma had seen the old woman’s dowry; she was the one who personally led the people from the committee to search. If my grandma said it exists, then it must be true!”

Gong Liping was startled and quickly ran outside to check. Luckily, they were in a private room, and no one outside could hear. She rushed back and locked the door from the inside, feeling a bit dissatisfied that her mother-in-law told Pang Zhu everything. “Mom, Pang Zhu is still young. You need to be more careful about what you say. What if it gets out?”

Pang Zhu snorted. He wasn’t a child anymore; many of his peers were already getting engaged and married. “I’m not stupid; of course, I won’t go out and say anything.”

Pang Zhu didn’t attend school or work; he had been dreaming of being a small landlord since he was young, resentful that Gu Qingchuan hadn’t died sooner. “Xiao Tingxiang was picked up by the blind old woman. I planned to marry her in the future, and that way, I’d definitely get half of the old woman’s belongings. But that little girl hit me with a brick; she’s not a good thing.”

“What are you thinking?” Gong Liping was also quite troubled by her eldest son. As Dong Grandma’s first grandson, he had been spoiled since childhood and didn’t understand any principles. “Even if she was picked up, she still carries the Gu surname. You’re seven or eight years older than her; you can’t entertain such thoughts anymore. You and I would be embarrassed to show our faces because of you.”

“I know.” Pang Zhu was dismissive.

Dong Hua waved her hand. “You two, stop arguing. Eldest son’s wife, some things, once done, can’t be taken back. Mei Baoying is a failed example. She wanted a good reputation but didn’t initially eliminate Cui Pingzhou. Now look, she’s the one facing death.”

She warned her son’s wife not to be soft-hearted. “Gu Zhengchu was harmed by your man; he ended up dead. Why didn’t you just let it go then? With Gu Qingchuan’s ruthlessness, do you think he wouldn’t take revenge for his father? Now, with Jiang Ci’s relationship with the Cui family, we can’t let Gu Qingchuan marry her.”

Dong Laotai rubbed her temples, feeling the weight of the situation. “It really is troublesome.”

“What’s so troublesome? Why don’t I just marry her?” Even though that girl had hit him with a fire tong today, Pang Zhu surprisingly didn’t feel very angry. He thought it might be because she was too beautiful. Moreover, marrying Jiang Ci would give him a general for a father-in-law—how impressive would that be?

Gong Liping trembled in fear at her son’s words. Grandpa Jiang had allowed Lin Wan to marry from the old Jiang family, which meant he tacitly approved of his granddaughter’s engagement to Gu Qingchuan. If Pang Zhu dared to consider marrying such a girl, it would bring disaster.

She immediately scolded him, “Don’t even think about it! Cui Pingzhou and Grandpa Jiang will kill you.”

There was no doubt about that.

Jiang Ci was still unaware that she had been on the mind of the hefty Pang Zhu all night long. It would have disgusted her to no end if she had known.

There was still half a bowl of the medicinal broth infused with spiritual spring left from last night. She had fed Dahuang half a bowl, and the little yellow dog seemed much more spirited, even licking the herbal medicine clean without any complaints.

—o—o—o—

As dawn began to break, there was a sound at the courtyard door. Jiang Ci ran over to open it, finding Gu Qingchuan standing outside. His eyes were dark with shadows, clearly a sign that he hadn’t slept well the previous night.

What was he up to? Jiang Ci wondered how he could endure such late nights every day. She invited him inside, asking, “Brother Chuan, what have you been busy with in the night market by the Black Water River?”

“Don’t ask, little girl,” Gu Qingchuan replied, not wanting Jiang Ci to get involved with the black market. If she were reported, she could end up in jail. She was so naïve; after following him to the market twice, she still hadn’t caught on. Her awareness was far too low.

“Stay away from the black market. Quite a few people are watching you. If you really have something to sell, I can have Jiang Dasheng come and pick it up at night.”

Jiang Ci tugged at the hem of his clothes, her eyes wide with curiosity. “Brother Chuan, does Jiang Dasheng listen to you?”

Jiang Dasheng was a powerful figure in the Black Market. Anyone looking to buy or sell something relied on him as the most trustworthy intermediary. How could someone like him take orders from Gu Qingchuan?

Hmm? She hadn’t heard Gu Qingchuan mention this in her past life. It seemed he had kept quite a few things from her.

Gu Qingchuan noticed a glint of mischief in her eyes and wanted to laugh, but he restrained himself. “Ah… he’s afraid to defy me because he can’t win in a fight.”

They brushed past that topic. He checked Little Yellow’s condition and was surprised to find that Dahuang hadn’t whined all night. “I thought it might not have survived.”

After checking Dahuang’s pupils and abdomen, he noticed the symptoms of internal bleeding had disappeared. “The internal injuries are healing. Dahuang can survive, but its back legs will never be able to stand again.”

“Not necessarily! Maybe Dahuang can stand up!” Jiang Ci argued. She fed Dahuang spiritual spring water every day. As long as Dahuang’s legs healed, she would have a reason to use the medicine enhanced with spiritual spring to treat Uncle Cui’s legs. But just relying on spiritual spring water wasn’t enough; if it healed without explanation, it would raise suspicion.

“Brother Chuan, the herbs you collected last time were quite effective. You should take some time to gather more, and I’ll brew it for Dahuang to drink.”

“Dahuang’s legs really can’t be cured,” Gu Qingchuan said, sticking to the usual medical judgment, though he also hoped for a miracle.

“Come on, Brother Chuan, let’s give it a try. Brewing the medicine isn’t hard for me,” Jiang Ci pleaded eagerly. “How about you teach me to identify herbs? I can go pick them myself in the mountains.”

Jiang Ci thought to herself that as long as Dahuang’s legs healed, she would have an excuse to treat Uncle Cui’s legs with enhanced herbal medicine.

Gu Qingchuan wouldn’t dare let her go to the mountains alone. The little girl had no sense of danger. He pretended to look fierce and said, “You’re not allowed to go to the mountains alone anymore. I’ll go collect herbs this afternoon and bring them to you tonight.”

“Gu Chengrong, do you want me to go to the archives room to watch over Jiang Ci? Are you out of your mind? Do you have any idea how much power the union officials hold? The evaluations, promotions, rewards, and penalties of all employees in the factory, along with the condolences and support for employees’ families during sickness, aging, and death, and the holiday benefits, all fall under the union’s jurisdiction.”

Working at the union office brought significant prestige. Who among the employees didn’t want to curry favor? The benefits were plentiful, and most people could hardly get a chance to become union officials.

Gong Liping worked at the mechanical factory’s union office, and when she heard that Gu Chengrong wanted to transfer her to the archives room, she exploded with anger. “The archives room has no benefits at all; I won’t go work there!”

“I know, but this is unavoidable. Jiang Ci is going to work in the archives, and I need someone trustworthy to watch over her. It’ll involve me if she finds that original blueprint from Gu Zhengchu. You think about it: is your position as a union official more important, or is my role as deputy factory manager more important?”

Of course, the position of deputy factory manager was more important. Gong Liping felt a mix of reluctance and bitterness. “Why didn’t you destroy that original blueprint back then? You’ve made us anxious for so many years.”

“Do you think I didn’t want to?” Gu Chengrong retorted. “The next day, that blueprint disappeared. I interrogated everyone, but it was just gone. I can’t exactly live in the archives looking for it, can I? That would only raise suspicion about me.”

He had no idea who had hidden the blueprint. In the entire building of documents, anyone could shove it into any corner. How was he supposed to find it?

Over ten years, he had gradually stopped worrying about it. Now that Jiang Ci was going to be the document clerk, she would have plenty of time to comb through the entire archives. Who could be at ease without someone watching over her?

Seeing his wife’s unwilling expression, Gu Chengrong tried to comfort her. “There’s no point in regretting it now. Adjust your mindset; at least in the archives, you’ll be a director, right?”

A director? There were only two people in the archives room. Who would she be the director of?

Gong Liping directed all her resentment toward Jiang Ci. “In any case, I’m not going to work in the archives. Don’t worry; I have my way of dealing with Jiang Ci. I guarantee she’ll be so busy she won’t even have time to drink water.”

—o—o—o—