Chapter 14: It’s over, let’s not talk about it anymore

Song Yiyi turned around curiously, looking at the man in puzzlement. Was he calling her? How did he know her name?

It took her brain a few seconds to catch up.
Memories suddenly came rushing in like a floodgate bursting open.

She suddenly realized—this was… the original body’s elder brother, Gu Chengze!

She quickly put on a fawning smile and walked toward the tall, refined Gu Chengze.
“Big Brother? When did you get back?”

Gu Chengze saw right through the unnatural expression on her face. He didn’t say anything about it, only smiled warmly.
“Just arrived. So, how is it? Are you getting used to living in the compound?”

A wave of warmth washed over Song Yiyi’s heart. She had to admit—the original owner had good taste in people. She nodded.
“Mm, it’s fine.”

Gu Chengze studied her for a moment before speaking again.
“Why were you walking so fast? Is someone chasing you?”

He glanced behind her. Song Yiyi instinctively turned to look as well.

And wouldn’t you know it—Cen Yue was walking toward them at an unhurried pace, his expression calm and unreadable.

“Old Cen, what are you doing here? Weren’t you supposed to pick up Old Zhang today?” Gu Chengze stepped forward to greet him.

Hearing that form of address, Song Yiyi almost burst out laughing, but she held it in.

The corners of her mouth had barely curved up before Cen Yue’s gaze landed on her. In the next instant, he looked back at Gu Chengze and replied,
“I did. We went to the state-run restaurant to eat, ran into a tomb-robbing gang, and tracked them back to their hideout.”

Cen Yue gestured toward the sentry at the gate. The young soldier quickly jogged over and saluted both Cen Yue and Gu Chengze. Cen Yue leaned in and murmured a few words. The young man nodded repeatedly, saluted again, and ran off.

Gu Chengze asked, “And Old Zhang?”

“I drew those people away, and he went to find the Public Security Bureau. He’s at the police station right now—I’ve already sent someone to pick him up.”

While the two men were talking, Song Yiyi simply stood there. They made no effort to exclude her from the conversation.

From what she gathered, it turned out they weren’t dealing with spies or special agents—it was tomb robbers. Still, tomb robbers were nothing to take lightly; they all looked like ruthless thugs.

She was still lost in thought when she heard Gu Chengze again.
“Old Cen, you’re hurt? Let me see—what happened to your neck?”

Song Yiyi’s eyelids twitched, and she glanced at Cen Yue. He stood there unmoved and even raised an eyebrow at her.

Gu Chengze looked incredulous.
“Old Cen, that tomb-robbing gang you and Old Zhang ran into sure had strange tactics—did they just go straight for biting?”

The spot was far too conspicuous. And since Gu Chengze was almost the same height as Cen Yue, it was impossible to miss.

A faint smile appeared at Cen Yue’s lips, his gaze still fixed on Song Yiyi.
“Oh, that… it wasn’t them, it was—”

Song Yiyi could never quite figure Cen Yue out. He wasn’t like Cen Bowen, all refined hypocrisy and obsession with saving face. He wasn’t like Gu Chengze either, who had firm principles and clear moral boundaries.

In the few short times they had met, she felt Cen Yue never played by the rules.

With anyone else, she wouldn’t care—but for some reason, she wanted to leave a good impression on Gu Chengze. She chalked it up to the original body’s memories and emotions influencing her.

“Brother!” Song Yiyi suddenly cut in, interrupting Cen Yue.

Both men turned to look at her.

She blinked.
“Brother, I’m hungry. Let’s go home.”

Gu Chengze still had his backpack on, and he was surely tired too. At her words, he smiled, walked over to her, and rubbed the top of her head.

It was a gesture that had occurred countless times between the siblings. As far back as Song Yiyi could remember, so neither of them found it strange. She was already used to it.

“You’re hungry? Have you lost weight lately? Is the cafeteria food not good? How about we go home and I cook for you—what do you want to eat?”

Gu Chengze’s voice was warm, his tone carrying a hint of doting affection.

Song Yiyi tilted her face up in a smile.
“Anything’s fine—whatever you make is delicious.”

The two walked into the compound side by side, neither of them noticing the cold, shadowed look in Cen Yue’s eyes behind them.

By the time Gu Chengze turned back to say goodbye to Cen Yue, the latter’s expression was back to normal.

“Old Cen, I’ll leave Old Zhang’s situation to you.”

Cen Yue’s eyes were cool, his tone even cooler.
“Mm.”

Song Yiyi never once looked back at him until their figures disappeared from view.

Inside the compound, Gu Chengze seemed like he wanted to ask her something but stopped himself. With so many people around, he chose to hold back.

They bought groceries together first, then headed home.

As soon as they got back, Gu Chengze set down his backpack, rolled up his sleeves, and started a fire to cook.

Song Yiyi nibbled on some biscuits he’d brought back while quietly watching him.

She couldn’t help but feel a bit of empathy for the original owner.

Gu Chengze was like a gentleman straight out of a novel—his whole demeanor was warm and refined. But he was also a soldier, combining that gentleness with a sense of strength, a rare and magnetic blend.

Mature yet tender, and willing to personally cook a meal—he was walking testosterone.

Distracted as she was, she didn’t notice she had eaten quite a lot of biscuits.

From the kitchen, Gu Chengze poked his head out with a smile.
“Yiyi, dinner will be ready soon—don’t eat too many biscuits.”

“Oh.” She put them down awkwardly.

After pacing around the room twice, she finally wandered into the kitchen.
“Brother, can I help with something?”

Gu Chengze tilted his head toward the counter.
“Slice the cucumbers.”

Song Yiyi walked over, picked up the knife, and asked, “How should I cut it?”

Hearing this, Gu Chengze paused what he was doing and looked at her steadily for a few seconds.

Song Yiyi felt baffled. Had she said something wrong?

Gu Chengze’s lips curved into a smile, and he suddenly asked an unrelated question: “I heard someone say you quarreled with Deputy Battalion Commander Cen?”

The change of topic was a little abrupt.

Song Yiyi brought the knife down on the cucumber in one swift motion, slicing it cleanly into two pieces. She picked up the shorter half, took a bite, and said casually, “It wasn’t a quarrel, we broke up. Not seeing each other anymore.”

In the end, Gu Chengze persuaded her out of the kitchen. If she kept eating like that, there’d be no point cooking dinner at all.

It was obvious Gu Chengze often did housework — when the dishes were ready, the kitchen was already tidied up. He even went so far as to wash the wok he had used for stir-frying before coming over to eat.

Cucumber stir-fried with eggs, mushrooms with pork, and a soup.

The two sat down at the table. Song Yiyi picked up the soup ladle and served Gu Chengze a bowl of soup. But as soon as she placed it in front of him, she froze.

She didn’t understand why she had done that.

Gu Chengze immediately solved her confusion.
“You’re the only one who still remembers that your big brother likes to have soup before meals.”

His tone was gentle. “Weren’t you hungry? Go on, taste it. See if your big brother’s cooking is still as good as before.”

There was also a bowl of soup in front of her, ladled out by Gu Chengze himself.

Song Yiyi picked it up and took a sip — fresh and flavorful, exactly to her taste.

“Yiyi, do you want to stay here?”

Gu Chengze’s eyes were warm and gentle, and the seriousness in his gaze made Song Yiyi’s heartbeat skip for no reason.