Chapter 4

On the way back, Lin Qingping extended her hand toward Gu Juncheng.

“What?” Gu Juncheng looked at the delicate little hand before him, puzzled.

“Where’s the red envelope?” Lin Qingping asked with a cold face.

Gu Juncheng was at a loss for words, because he had already handed the red envelope to his mother-in-law before leaving. It contained 80 yuan.

“Hand it over!” Lin Qingping said sternly.

Gu Juncheng could not hand it over…

“I meant, all the money on you, and the salary booklet!”

In fact, in his previous life, Gu Juncheng had also handed them over—right after this home visit, when he returned to his military unit, he had given her everything he had.

As soon as he heard that this was what she meant, Gu Juncheng promptly reached into his pockets and handed over all the money on him. “The booklet is at home. I didn’t bring it.”

“Mm, give it to me when we get back.” Lin Qingping took the money. “Gu Juncheng, I want to establish three rules with you.”

Gu Juncheng looked at her in surprise.

“You stay in the military unit for most of the year. This household is left to me to support. You also have a Zhiyuan to raise—the expenses are huge. So, when it comes to household matters, everything must go through me! You’re not allowed to make decisions on your own! Every single cent you spend must have my approval!”

Seeing that Gu Juncheng was still silent, Lin Qingping’s delicate eyebrows arched sharply. “Do you agree or not?”

“I agree.” Whenever Gu Juncheng spoke, he was always direct and decisive like this.

Lin Qingping was satisfied. “Alright, let’s go home.”

Gu Juncheng clearly let out a sigh of relief—was this a sign that she would no longer pursue the matter of the red envelope?

But that sigh of relief came too soon.

It was an indisputable fact that Gu Juncheng had married a troublesome wife. Even though Lin Qingping had been reborn, her “troublesome” nature was something that would never change. After walking only a few steps, she began stirring up trouble again.

She lagged far behind Gu Juncheng, glaring at his figure that had already walked a distance ahead. When Gu Juncheng realized she was gone again, he stood in place just like he did on the way there, waiting.

However, Lin Qingping did not follow up like she had before. She remained standing where she was, motionless.

Gu Juncheng had no choice but to walk back.

As she watched the tall and upright figure approach her, Lin Qingping felt a warm sensation in her heart. He really was very good-looking! His features were handsome and well-defined, with sharp and rugged contours. In her past life, how blind had she been to only fancy those white flour scholar types…

“What’s wrong?” he asked as he stood in front of her.

Her eyes were misty as she pouted slightly. “My arm hurts. I can’t walk…”

She even showed him the spot on her arm where she had applied red medicinal lotion.

Gu Juncheng: “…”

What exactly was the causal link between arm pain and being unable to walk?

He truly did not understand, but he still had to bite the bullet and respond.

“Then… I’ll walk slower.”

That was the only solution he could think of.

“I can’t walk!” Lin Qingping dragged out her words, stomping her foot, her eyes still glistening with tears as she looked at him.

“Then…” He was at a loss for what to do.

“You carry me!”

Gu Juncheng froze.

“If not that, holding me is fine too!”

Gu Juncheng hesitated for a moment, and finally, between carrying and holding, he chose to carry her on his back.

Lin Qingping happily lay on his back. Feeling the solid strength of his shoulders and back, she couldn’t help but lean her head against his shoulder.

She could sense that Gu Juncheng was avoiding her, though she didn’t know exactly why. Perhaps it was due to her obvious disdain when she first married him…

But it didn’t matter. She had been reborn, and she had come back to make amends.

With her head resting on his shoulder, she could clearly see the faint stubble along his jaw, his neatly trimmed sideburns, and his earlobe…

She couldn’t resist blowing a puff of air onto his earlobe.

Immediately after, she saw the base of his ear flush bright red.

“Stop messing around!” came a sharp and commanding reprimand.

But Lin Qingping was not frightened by his tone. In fact, she laughed softly from his back.

He continued to carry her all the way back to the village. When they reached the village entrance, they encountered their neighbor, Aunt Chun, who, spotted them from a distance, and called out: “Chengzi, hurry and take a look! Your Zhiyuan’s gotten into a fight! We can’t talk him down!” 

When she noticed the position they were in, she immediately fell silent, her face showing a mixture of wanting to watch yet not daring to look.

Gu Juncheng didn’t pay much attention to her, his mind entirely focused on the child. As soon as he heard, he gently set Lin Qingping down and ran off.

Lin Qingping quickly followed him. A fight…

In her past life, Zhiyuan had fallen into trouble because of those very words. The child was smart, but in an era when education was not highly valued in rural areas, he had only attended school for a few years.

After Gu Juncheng sacrificed himself and her in-laws grew older, they had less energy to care for him.

Zhiyuan made a lot of friends, and he was passionate and loyal, always standing up for his friends. Eventually, he got into trouble, severely injuring someone, and ended up in prison…

But that was all in the future. Zhiyuan at this stage should have been well-behaved. What had happened for him to start fighting now?

Lin Qingping was anxious, she ran all the way to the small riverbank.

Sure enough, she saw Zhiyuan fighting with Da Pang from the village, and several adults were trying but failing to separate them.

At that moment, Zhiyuan was only five years old, thin and small, barely half the size of Da Pang. Yet, surprisingly, it was Da Pang who was crying out in pain.

As they got closer, they saw that Zhiyuan had bitten down hard on Da Pang’s shoulder. No matter how the adults pulled, Zhiyuan refused to let go. In fact, Da Pang cried louder because of the pain from the adults’ pulling.

“Li Zhiyuan!” Gu Juncheng walked over and coldly shouted with authority.

Zhiyuan immediately let go, and amidst Da Pang’s cries and the murmurs of the villagers, he was dragged back home by Gu Juncheng.

Li Zhiyuan had a very stubborn nature deep down, or he wouldn’t have caused such a big mess later in life. Right now, his face was covered with scratch marks, but he gritted his teeth and refused to explain why he had fought.

Gu Juncheng punished him by making him stand in the corner to reflect.

Zhiyuan didn’t say a word, obediently went to his room, and stood there in silence. +

He didn’t stay in the corner for long before the village party secretary arrived to ask Gu Juncheng to discuss the matter of the village’s dam project.

Once Gu Juncheng left, Lin Qingping tried to speak with Zhiyuan, but their relationship had not been good up until this point.

They had never spoken to each other before, so breaking the ice would require some effort.

Everything had to start somewhere, right?

Lin Qingping went to him with a cup of hot milk she had prepared and handed it to him.

Zhiyuan glanced at it but turned his head away without saying a word.

“Drinking milk powder is good for kids. It helps you grow taller. Don’t you want to be taller? Taller than Da Pang?” Lin Qingping touched the edge of the cup to his lips.

Zhiyuan hesitated for a long time, then drank the entire cup in one go. 

Lin Qingping smiled slightly. “That’s better. From now on, you need to drink it every day, alright? If I’m not around, you’ll have to make it yourself.”

For some reason, Zhiyuan’s eyes turned red, but with his strong sense of pride as a child, he turned his face away to hide his teary eyes.

“What’s wrong?” Lin Qingping asked as gently as she could.

“I… I’ll leave. You don’t need to do this.” Despite his stubbornness and his efforts to hold back, the tears still fell in big drops when he said those words.

Lin Qingping didn’t understand why he would say that or why he suddenly wanted to leave.

She was about to ask him more, but the noise outside grew louder.