Chapter 47: Shielding Gu Qingsu from the Umbrella

After setting the person down, Gu Yun'an turned away with a frosty expression, as if Ruan Xingzhu had become invisible, and never looked at her again.

Ruan Xingzhu's heart tightened. She knew Gu Yun'an's expression all too well; he was clearly angry. She quickly raised her hand to straighten her slightly disheveled clothes, the hem of her skirt swaying slightly with her small steps. Her eyes were full of trepidation as she cautiously moved towards Gu Yun'an.

After hesitating for a while, she finally stammered, "Fourth Brother, the situation was really urgent just now, so Young Master Liang pulled me. I... I really didn't mean to."

"Is the situation urgent?" Gu Yun'an glanced at her sideways, his eyes so cold they seemed to freeze over. "Just because the situation is urgent doesn't mean you can keep pulling on her like that? If he hadn't happened to pass by and see this, who knows how long that person would have been holding on!"

"Fourth brother, I will definitely be more careful in the future and will never do it again." Ruan Xingzhu said, her little hands nervously clenching their palms, her head slightly lowered, and a hint of grievance hanging on her long eyelashes, looking pitiful and admitting her mistake.

Ultimately, he was softened by her obedient and gentle appearance. Gu Yun'an pretended to be earnest and concerned for her, and said with a stern face, "It's good that you know. After all, it's not proper for you to be pulling and tugging at a strange man on the street. It will damage your reputation, you know?"

Upon hearing this, Ruan Xingzhu quickly nodded obediently, her voice as soft as a feather: "Yes, I understand, Fourth Brother."

Time slipped by quietly.

In the past few days, Yuan Heran has frequently come to see Gu Qingxu, and Gu Qingxu doesn't mind at all; in fact, they share similar interests.

That day, as she passed the Central Academy, Gu Qingxu's steps seemed to be pulled back by something, and she unconsciously slowed down. She tilted her head slightly, her gaze somewhat absentminded as she looked in the direction of the Central Academy, subconsciously thinking of Yi Mingyu.

Seeing Gu Qingxu looking towards the Central Academy, Yuan Heran felt somewhat resistant. But in any case, Gu Qingxu and Yi Mingyu were just putting on an act, and someone as bookish as Yi Mingyu was almost certainly not Gu Qingxu's type.

On the contrary, after spending these days together, Yuan Heran could clearly sense that Gu Qingxu did not reject him. This realization made the stirrings in his heart grow wildly like weeds.

He clutched the hidden hairpin tightly in his sleeve, his fingertips gently stroking the hairpin, his desire to give it to her growing ever stronger.

Driven by his inner desires, he suddenly stopped in his tracks.

Gu Qingxu was walking along by herself when she saw him suddenly stop. Her face was full of confusion. "Why did you stop walking?"

Yuan Heran had something on her mind today, and when Gu Qingsu stared at her so directly, she immediately felt her face burning up and became so flustered that she didn't know what to do with her hands and feet.

He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down, but the words still came out somewhat hastily: "Miss Gu, I... I have something I want to tell you."

"Then tell me." Gu Qingxu was puzzled by his unusually hesitant manner, which was usually so easygoing, and couldn't help but urge him on.

"I..." Yuan Heran was about to muster the courage to take out the hairpin in her hand, but the sky, which had been fine just a moment ago, suddenly became dark and cloudy, and large raindrops began to fall sparsely.

The rain came suddenly, leaving almost no time to react. Gu Qingxu wanted to leave but saw that Yuan Heran was still motionless, so she quickly reached out and pulled Yuan Heran up, heading towards the eaves of a nearby house to take shelter from the rain.

Seeing this, Yuan Heran could only hide the hairpin back and let her pull him along.

As the rain intensified, water inevitably splashed down from the eaves. Seeing this, Yuan Heran said, "Miss Gu, please wait here while I go buy an umbrella."

Gu Qingxu was about to say no, but before she could finish speaking, Yuan Heran had already dashed out like an arrow and rushed into the rain.

This made her swallow back the words she was about to say.

Yuan Heran quickly disappeared into the rain. Gu Qingxu hid under the eaves, and although she tried to stay as close to the eaves as possible, she still couldn't avoid getting wet from the leaking rain.

She raised her hand to wipe the raindrops from her face, and just then, an oil-paper fan was placed over her head. Thinking it was Yuan Heran returning with an umbrella, her eyes lit up instantly, and she quickly turned her head to look.

"You go back..."

When she saw Yi Mingyu's familiar yet somewhat unexpected face, as he held the umbrella towards her, she suddenly fell silent.

A few glistening teardrops still clung to her eyelashes, and with a slight tremor, they instantly turned into a light mist. The initial joy in her eyes was replaced by astonishment. How could Yi Mingyu be here?

"Yi Mingyu?"

Her voice was filled with obvious uncertainty, and she stared straight at him, completely bewildered as to why Yi Mingyu was holding an umbrella for her.

As Yi Mingyu emerged from the Central Academy, he immediately spotted Gu Qingxu sheltering from the rain under the eaves. In that instant, almost instinctively, without a second thought, he grabbed his umbrella and strode towards her.

By the time he realized what he had done, Gu Qingxu had already turned to look at him. In fact, the moment he saw her turn her head happily, his heart felt as if it had been struck by something, and he felt a long-lost joy.

But when he heard her surprised voice and saw the change in her eyes, his heart felt like it had been struck hard, and a bitter feeling welled up inside him. He could easily guess that the person she was waiting for wasn't him.

In recent days, he had heard many rumors about Gu Qingxu and Yuan Heran, that they often went out together, traveled together, and...

He was both annoyed to hear these things and unable to resist wanting to know more. This contradictory feeling almost made him wonder if he was sick.

When Gu Qingxu called his name, Yi Mingyu felt a long-lost feeling welling up in his eyes—a complex emotion mixed with joy and bitterness. His hand gripping the umbrella handle tightened even more, his knuckles turning white from the force, as if afraid that Gu Qingxu would refuse his umbrella.

Gu Qingxu did indeed think so. Not wanting to owe him anything, she explained, "No need for that. Young Master Yuan has already gone to buy an umbrella."

For some reason, when she said those words, she felt a little guilty, as if she had done something to betray him behind his back.

The moment the words were spoken, Yi Mingyu's hand tightened instantly. Although, as he had expected, Gu Qingsu had rejected him, hearing it so decisively from her mouth still caused a sharp pang in his heart, a pain spreading along with a long-accumulated bitterness.

He subconsciously bit his lower lip, hiding the loneliness in his eyes. A stubborn glint flashed in his eyes, but he still refused to move the umbrella away, trying his best to make his voice sound normal.

He said, "Then let me cover you for a while."

Driven by selfishness, and wanting to spend more time with her, he rejected Gu Qingxu's offer for the first time.

Hearing this, Gu Qingxu was somewhat at a loss. She avoided Yi Mingyu's gaze with a flustered look and looked at the raindrops falling outside.

Seeing that Gu Qingsu was no longer trying to drive him away, Yi Mingyu breathed a sigh of relief. He smiled slightly and subtly tilted most of the umbrella towards her to shield her from the rain, while half of his own body was exposed to the rain and quickly got wet.

Gu Qingxu didn't pay much attention to these things, but suddenly remembered the pretense she had with Yi Mingyu before. She didn't want to wrongly accuse him, whether he was the one who told the story or not.

After hesitating for a moment, she exhaled a breath of stale air, as if she had made a great decision. She turned slightly to the side, still determined to get to the bottom of things, "Yi Ming..."

But before she could finish speaking, she keenly sensed several burly men sneaking towards them. Their footsteps were slow, their eyes darting around, and they clearly had ill intentions.

Seeing that she had spotted them, the group exchanged glances, like rats that had been discovered. They no longer cared about hiding and charged at her menacingly with sticks in hand.

"Watch out!" Gu Qingsu shouted, pulling Yi Mingyu behind her and kicking him with deadly precision, sending the man at the front flying into a nearby puddle.

The burly man flew through the air in an arc before plunging into the water with a splash.

Yi Mingyu was still reeling from the sudden turn of events, his mind blank, as if frozen in place. Seeing this, the remaining burly men not only didn't retreat, but instead attacked even more frantically.

Gu Qingxu frowned, her eyes instantly turning sharp, like a hawk eyeing its prey. She quickly snatched the umbrella from Yi Mingyu's hand, shoved him aside, and then turned to strike at the group.

The rain continued to fall, and the torrential rain streamed down Gu Qingxu's face, wetting her hair and clinging to her cheeks.

After a brief fight, Gu Qingxu realized that these people didn't seem to know any martial arts; they were almost entirely relying on brute force to attack. Her umbrella was quickly reduced to just a rib, which she flung away.

Yi Mingyu watched from the side, his heart filled with worry, his fists clenching unconsciously. He knew that if he went over there now, he would not only be unable to help, but might also cause trouble for Gu Qingsu.

Gu Qingxu moved with lightning speed, knocking the burly men to the ground one by one in a few leaps. Her face was cold, her expression as indifferent as ice, and her eyes exuded a menacing aura as she coldly asked, "Tell me, who sent you?"

Although she wasn't particularly popular, she wasn't so much so that people would hold a grudge against her to the point of sending someone to attack her. After all, her reputation was well-known, and who would have the guts to mess with her!

The rain was gradually subsiding, but the burly men were trembling violently, their heads bowed, and none of them dared to utter a sound.

Just as Gu Qingxu's patience ran out, a ruthless glint flashed in her eyes, and she was about to interrogate him, Yi Mingyu's voice suddenly came through with a terrified cry.

"Miss Gu! Watch out!"

Gu Qingxu turned around quickly, but before she could react, she saw a flash of cold light and Yi Mingyu was already stabbed in the shoulder and arm by a dagger.

A sharp, piercing pain shot through Yi Mingyu, his brows furrowing tightly. His face turned deathly pale, and large beads of sweat rolled down his forehead, mingling with the rain. Blood slowly seeped from the edge of the dagger, staining his clothes crimson.