destiny

"Um, why don't you come visit me?" He Huaizhi stood in front of the Gu family's door, still making a slight struggle. "The village chief has a lot of medicine that we can use."

The thought of the cockroach that had crawled up his calf made He Huaizhi feel itchy all over, and he really didn't want to go into the Gu family's house.

Gu Jiansheng stepped across the threshold and turned to look at him.

Are you scared?

Those clear, bright eyes held no emotion, the corners of his mouth were slightly upturned, and his tone was even more steady, yet inexplicably one could detect a trace of contempt and sarcasm.

He Huaizhi immediately curled one corner of his mouth: "How could that be? What should I be afraid of?"

As He Huaizhi spoke, he finally stepped into the house.

Gu Jiansheng didn't respond, but simply smiled at him again as a response.

It's the same set of tables and chairs.

It's still the same two people.

He Huaizhi resisted the urge to keep checking his feet and turned to look at Gu Jiansheng's figure.

He took the medicine from the dresser and walked calmly toward He Huaizhi, suddenly saying, "Don't worry, I've already killed the insects."

The insect, which Gu Jiansheng had only seen once in a century, appeared without warning at an inopportune time. Although it was illogical, Gu Jiansheng still made thorough preparations to prevent the incident from happening again.

Since we can't force-feed this man the poison and kill him directly, why not let him suffer a little?

Gu Jiansheng stared into He Huaizhi's eyes, then suddenly stumbled, splashing the open bottle of medicine directly onto He Huaizhi's face.

He Huaizhi felt a chill on his face, and his eyes stung so badly he couldn't open them. He immediately jumped up from his seat.

"Ah! Jane!"

Gu Jiansheng remained expressionless, placed the medicine bottle on the table, and watched as He Huaizhi desperately wiped his face to no avail. His eyes were tightly closed, and tears of pain streamed down his face. After nearly ten seconds, Gu Jiansheng stepped forward, put his arm around He Huaizhi's arm, and pulled him out.

"Sorry, let me get you some water to wash up."

He Huaizhi's eyes hurt so much he wanted to jump up and down, but he couldn't see anything for a while, and even opening his eyes became a difficult task. He could only let Gu Jiansheng pull him out, and he almost tripped and fell flat on his face when he got caught on the door threshold.

After finally reaching the edge of the well covered in moss, He Huaizhi hadn't even had a chance to call Gu Jiansheng to wash his face when he felt a push from behind. His hand, which was holding onto the well opening, slipped, and his body suddenly tumbled forward uncontrollably.

At this, He Huaizhi broke out in a cold sweat. In a flash, his hands instinctively grabbed and clawed at the air, finally grabbing the rope hanging from the wellhead.

"Gu Jiansheng! What are you doing..."

Gu Jiansheng's expression was cold and stern. He raised his hand to cut the well rope, but the knife slipped from his hand again.

The sound of metal rolling to the ground sent chills down He Huai's spine. He didn't dare waste any more time saying anything and scrambled to pull his half-fallen body out of the well.

Gu Jiansheng was not discouraged by his failed attack. His hands, which were always excessively fair and delicate no matter how much rough work he did, were facing down.

"Knock knock knock".

There was a sudden knock on the door.

Gu Jiansheng's eyes flickered. It seemed that there was only one person who would come looking for him at this time.

A myriad of thoughts flashed through Gu Jiansheng's mind in an instant. He changed the force of his downward hand, grabbed He Huaizhi's collar, and pulled him backward.

He Huaizhi screamed again, his heart pounding in his chest, and he only caught his breath after collapsing to the ground.

“Gu... Gu Jiansheng…” The tears that had been brought out washed away most of the irritating liquid, and He Huaizhi was finally able to open his eyes with difficulty. However, in his blurry vision, he could only see the general figure of Gu Jiansheng standing in front of him, but he could not see his indifferent gaze.

"Be careful." Gu Jiansheng's voice was gentle, but his face was expressionless. His cold fingertips brushed across He Huaizhi's eyes. "I'll go open the door first. Don't move around, okay? It would be bad if you fell."

He Huaizhi's survival instinct was screaming wildly, but Gu Jiansheng's words had no flaws. In fact, he was able to get up with Gu Jiansheng's help. He Huaizhi's thoughts were in a mess. He just closed his eyes tightly and opened them again, watching Gu Jiansheng's thin figure walk towards the door.

The door creaked open.

Gu Jiansheng looked at the person outside the door, and the gentle expression on his face gradually faded.

"Is there something you need?"

Outside the door, Zhou Meifen from next door smiled and handed over the plate in her hand: "I fried some fried dough sticks at home, so I brought some over for you to try."

Gu Jiansheng looked down at the plate, remained silent for a few seconds, and then reached out to take it: "Thank you."

Zhou Meifen's loving gaze lingered on Gu Jiansheng's lowered head, and she finally spoke, "If you need any help, just let us know. We're neighbors, and they say a close neighbor is worse than a distant relative. Now that Aunt Lan has gone to the city, you're all alone here with no one to look after you..."

The rambling words, though filled with concern, sent a chill down Gu Jiansheng's spine.

Gu Jiansheng didn't say a word until Zhou Meifen finished giving her instructions and left.

The gate slowly closed.

Gu Jiansheng turned around, slowly walked past He Huaizhi, who was slumped on the ground in the courtyard, entered the house, placed the plate in his hand on the table, stared at the fried dough sticks on the plate for a long time, but his mind went blank for a moment.

Is this a silent threat from fate to him?

What if he insists on killing He Huaizhi?

"Bang!"

"Aww!"

The sound of He Huaizhi's scream as he kicked the water bucket echoed from the courtyard.

Gu Jiansheng's hand unconsciously brushed across the smooth tabletop, his thoughts slowly emerging from his churning emotions.

After He Huaizhi struggled to wash his face despite the stinging sensation in his eyes, he looked up and saw Gu Jiansheng's concerned expression.

"Are you alright?" Gu Jiansheng handed over a towel. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to."

When Gu Jiansheng reached out his hand, He Huaizhi instinctively flinched. His movement froze when he saw the towel in Gu Jiansheng's hand, and it took him a long time to finally reach out and take it.

"It's alright," He Huaizhi said with difficulty. "Everyone makes mistakes sometimes. Just be more careful next time."

Gu Jiansheng's light-colored eyes narrowed slightly, a smile playing on his lips, his expression one of tenderness and gratitude: "Yes, just don't make the same mistake next time..."

He Huaizhi lifted his eyes from behind the towel and looked at Gu Jiansheng's stunningly beautiful face, but inexplicably felt a chill run down his spine. The fear of being unable to see and almost falling headfirst into the well was still vivid in his mind.

The only force pushing him from behind at that time could have been Gu Jiansheng, but why did Gu Jiansheng do that?

Gu Jiansheng wanted to kill him?

Why?

When this idea first came to mind, He Huaizhi's first reaction was that it was ridiculous.

For over a dozen lifetimes, Gu Jiansheng's humble love for him never changed, even in life-or-death situations. He even attempted suicide several times because of his indifference. How could such selfless love possibly hurt him?

And if Gu Jiansheng wanted to kill him, why did he pull him up later? Was it because someone knocked on the door?

He Huaizhi was in a state of confusion, but he was absolutely unwilling to stay at the Gu family's place any longer.

He politely declined Gu Jiansheng's offer to stay and left without looking back, his steps hurried, as if someone was chasing him from behind.

Gu Jiansheng stood at the door watching He Huaizhi walk away, and suddenly felt that this person who had terrified him for so long was nothing special.

People dressed in suits and ties also have fear and timidity, but their status is unequal from the beginning, which is why he mentally stretches the other person's image into a large net.

In fact, without fate's favor, He Huaizhi would be nothing.

Gu Jiansheng stood at the door for a moment, then turned around, closed the door, and walked back to the drying ground.

Even if fate is against him, he will fight with his last ounce of strength.

The sun had already shifted quite a bit, but the temperature remained high. However, there were many more people at the drying ground than usual. Gu Jiansheng walked around the drying ground, his slowed steps occasionally stepping over the rising murmurs of discussion.

"Those people don't look like ordinary people. I wonder if Yuanxiang's third son has gotten into trouble again..."

"I heard it was Zhou Dongqiang who caused this trouble? How did Yuanxiang's third son get involved?"

"It's that kid Zhou Lexing! You didn't see how badly he beat people up!"

The noisy chatter continued to emanate from the trees. After listening for a while, Gu Jiansheng simply found a shady spot to sit down. The villagers who were having a lively discussion not far from him quickly noticed the exceptionally handsome young man and occasionally leaned over to chat with him.

Gu Jiansheng listened with his head down, his response soft and quiet, with little substance.

The curious villagers quickly lost interest, especially with the important matter of Zhou Lexing keeping them occupied, and soon resumed their previous discussion.

When Zhou Lexing arrived in the sunset, he saw Gu Jiansheng sitting alone under the tree, his eyes seemingly shining as he looked up at him.

Zhou Lexing was taken aback for a moment, then saw Gu Jiansheng stand up, and their eyes met.

That slender figure patiently waited for him in the same spot.

Zhou Lexing couldn't quite describe the feeling in his heart. He grabbed his slightly longer hair, paused briefly, and then quickly continued walking forward.

"Why did you come here?"

Zhou Lexing asked softly.

As they got closer, the blush on Gu Jiansheng's face became more pronounced, though it was unclear whether it was from the sunset or the heat.

Judging from his appearance, he'll probably be here for a while.

"I've come to find you."

Gu Jiansheng lowered his head, but quickly suppressed his timid nature and forced himself to raise his head, his light-colored eyes looking directly at Zhou Lexing.

Zhou Lexing: "What happened?"

For some reason, Zhou Lexing felt a little uncomfortable under Gu Jiansheng's focused gaze, so he simply turned around and looked at the pile of rice.

Gu Jiansheng: "Where did you go last night?"

Zhou Lexing: "...Nowhere."

Gu Jiansheng: "Your pillow is still with me."

"Oh." Zhou Lexing rubbed the back of his neck and looked down at the dusty toes of his shoes. "I'll go get them in a bit."

Gu Jiansheng's voice drew closer: "Aren't you coming to my house?"

Zhou Lexing: "...Well, the wall is all done, so I won't go over there."

The shade of the trees brought peace and quiet.

People passing by occasionally glanced at the two conspicuous figures, but the strange and stagnant atmosphere was clearly visible even from a distance. No one went up to greet them, but instead kept asking questions with their eyes. Amidst the darting glances, the thin boy reached out to the tall young man in front of him, grabbed his strong arm, and said something to him.

The two were obviously different in size, but the boy who was a head shorter did not feel weak at all; he just held on to the other's arm and wouldn't let go.

A curious listener, taking advantage of the opportunity to pass by, peeked over and finally heard that deep response.

"……All right."