Chapter 51 Surprise

For the next few days, Gu Jiao stayed home and focused on learning calligraphy with Xiao Liulang and accompanying him through his rehabilitation.

Xiao Liulang didn't seem to care whether he could stand up again. Gu Jiao had noticed this before the surgery. She didn't know what he had gone through, but he was heartbroken and had no love or enthusiasm for life.

Feng Lin was worried that something might go wrong during his surgery, but he agreed without hesitation. This wasn't out of bravery or fearlessness, but rather because he didn't care about dying.

But Gu Jiao wouldn't let him die, nor would she let him be crippled.

"It's time to exercise." Gu Jiao finished tidying up the house and went to Xiao Liulang's room.

She's becoming increasingly accustomed to being part of the group; she doesn't even knock when she comes in anymore.

Xiao Liulang's face instantly turned ugly.

It wasn't because she came in without knocking; it was because he didn't want to exercise.

Gu Jiao guessed that he would react this way, and without giving him a chance to refuse, she walked over and pulled him up from the chair—not only did she enter his room without permission, but she also kept pulling and tugging at him, which was really inappropriate!

Xiao Liulang frowned slightly, but he couldn't fight off someone with two legs on one leg, and he was dragged out of the house.

"A walking stick," Xiao Liulang said.

Gu Jiao raised an eyebrow: "From today onwards, there will be no more crutches."

Xiao Liulang glanced at her and said indifferently, "You can't walk without a cane."

Gu Jiao crossed her arms and said with captivating charm, "If you can't walk, I'll help you. I'll be your crutch!"

Don't think she didn't notice; every time he used the cane, he didn't do proper rehabilitation, putting all his weight on the cane and his right foot didn't get any exercise at all.

Xiao Liulang frowned.

Gu Jiao smiled gently: "If you want a cane, walk back to the house yourself."

My right leg is weak, how can I get back? I can only hop back.

Thinking of how he would hop around, Xiao Liulang decisively gave up!

Gu Jiao nipped Xiao Liulang's attempt to slack off by using his cane in the bud.

He could comfortably lean his weight on the cane, but he couldn't do that to Gu Jiao's soft, small body, because—

"Husband, stop pressing down on me. You need to learn to exert your own strength."

"That's it, that's it!"

"Put a little more pressure on yourself! You're going to break me!"

"How can you expect me, a woman, to handle all of this?!"

Xiao Liulang gritted his teeth: "...Just borrowing some strength!"

You've made such a mess of things, can you please shut up?!

Xiao Liulang was forced to walk seriously. He used to be able to walk back and forth more than ten times without getting out of breath, but now he couldn't even manage one round trip. To make matters worse, Gu Jiao stipulated that he must walk at least one hundred steps a day.

After walking a hundred steps, Xiao Liulang was soaked in sweat.

Gu Jiao took a handkerchief and wiped his sweat: "Husband, do you feel sore all over, like you've been run over by a carriage? Are you so tired that you can't move, you can't even lift your fingers, and your legs are trembling..."

Xiao Liulang: "..."

Xiao Liulang finally finished his day's torment, and now it was his turn to torment Gu Jiao.

"Did you practice your handwriting today?" he asked seriously.

Gu Jiao, who had been gloating just a moment ago, suddenly froze.

Xiao Liulang regained a small sense of satisfaction from the revenge, narrowed his eyes and said, "You make me walk so many miles every day, but you don't practice a single word yourself. Counting yesterday's, you haven't written a hundred words."

Gu Jiao scratched her head in frustration!

She hates writing calligraphy! Especially characters like "昭国" (Zhaoguo) with so many strokes!

Xiao Liulang scoffed and said, "If you don't write it today, the number will double tomorrow, and you'll have to write two hundred."

Gu Jiao slammed down her pen: "Then you'll walk two hundred steps tomorrow!"

Xiao Liulang: "I'm not leaving."

Gu Jiao: "Then I won't write it!"

Xiao Liulang: "Whatever you say."

Gu Jiao: "..."

Whether she writes or not is irrelevant, but he absolutely needs rehabilitation, otherwise he'll be a cripple for life.

Xiao Liulang didn't care at all whether he was crippled or not. He glanced at Gu Jiao indifferently and went back into the house with a victorious expression.

Xiao Liulang had actually noticed that Gu Jiao didn't like writing anymore. Her initial curiosity about the words on the prescription was probably just a passing fancy, but she gave up after experiencing the tedium of practicing calligraphy.

He was certain that Gu Jiao couldn't write.

The next day, as soon as he opened his eyes, he saw a little person sitting cross-legged on his bed, arms crossed, puffing out his cheeks like a grumpy little wildcat, with huge dark circles under his eyes, giving him a terrifying death stare.

"What are you doing?" Xiao Liulang looked at her in astonishment, wondering how long she had been there and whether she had just been staring at him while he slept.

Gu Jiao gave a cold snort, took out a thick stack of practiced calligraphy from behind her back, and threw it in front of him with an imposing and domineering air: "Man! This is the calligraphy you wanted!"

Xiao Liulang glanced at the words, then at her dark circles, and frowned, saying, "You didn't stay up all night writing this, did you?"

How many words would that be? She must be crazy!

Gu Jiao, like a small beast finally baring its fangs, declared: "One thousand words! Today you're going to walk one thousand steps!"

Xiao Liulang: "..."

The Gu family's chaotic days began. In addition to eating melon seeds, sweets, and teasing Xue Ningxiang's son, the old lady now had another source of amusement: watching the two of them torment and hate each other.

"Jiaojiao, Liulang missed a step!" The old lady loved to watch the drama unfold.

Gu Jiao rushed out of the kitchen carrying a kitchen knife.

Looking at Gu Jiao, whose cleaver was powerful enough to kill a cow, Xiao Liulang's expression was filled with grief!

That shy little girl, head bowed in the wind and snow, waiting for him to drape a cloak over her shoulders—he had misjudged her after all…

The Lantern Festival has passed in the blink of an eye, and Tianxiang Academy has started its new semester.

Xiao Liulang got up very early and packed his bundle.

After so much time, the dormitories at the academy should be repaired by now. Once he moves in, he will no longer be forced to walk.

Gu Jiao didn't say a word as he packed his bags.

As usual, Gu Jiao saw him off to Uncle Luo's carriage and handed him his cane. As she left, she seemed to suddenly remember something and smiled at him, saying, "Oh, right, I've been so busy lately that I almost forgot to mention something. It's inconvenient for you to practice walking at the academy. When I visited the dean last time, I already told him that you don't need to stay at the academy for the next few months, until you... recover completely."

Xiao Liulang: A bolt from the blue!!!

Not long after Gu Jiao left, Gu Xiaoshun arrived.

Gu Xiaoshun sat down next to Xiao Liulang: "Brother-in-law, why did you bring a bundle?" He only brought a book bag.

Xiao Liulang didn't want to admit that his sister had tricked him, so he asked in return, "You don't live in the academy?"

Gu Xiaoshun said, "If my brother-in-law isn't staying, of course I won't either! I'll stay with you! That way, if anything happens on the way, we can look out for each other."

He's the number one village bully in the surrounding area, so protecting his brother-in-law is a piece of cake!

Xiao Liulang suppressed his anger: "Why didn't you say so earlier?"

"My sister told me not to tell you, she said she had a surprise for you!" Gu Xiaoshun spread his hands and said with a grin, "How about it, brother-in-law, are you surprised? Unexpected?"

Xiao Liulang's teeth were grinding together. Gu Jiao!

Jiaojiao: Hey! O(∩_∩)O~

(End of this chapter)