39. Debt

Even after she finished showering and lay down on the bed, Ye Zhenzhen was still fuming.

I don't know when, but I got a mosquito bite on my left index finger. It was on the joint, where the skin is thinnest. If I don't scratch it, it's incredibly itchy, but if I do scratch it, it hurts terribly. The more I scratch, the angrier I get.

Gu Tingshen came out of the bathroom and saw her sitting on the bed like a puffed-up little pufferfish. He found it a little funny. Then he saw that her hair wasn't even dry before she snuggled into the blankets. He frowned, turned around and went back to get the hairdryer.

"Why aren't you drying it?" he said, starting to blow-dry her hair.

"It's almost dry. I was sweating a lot while blowing on it." Ye Zhenzhen reached out to stop her, unwilling to continue blowing.

She hates blow-drying her hair after showering in the summer. Using hot air leaves her all sweaty, while using cool air gives her a headache. Today, she was particularly irritable and stopped halfway through.

"Why are your hands so cold?" Gu Tingshen reached out and grasped her fingertips, feeling their icy touch. He then noticed the redness and swelling on her hands. "Did you get bitten by a mosquito?"

"Don't touch it, it's so itchy." Ye Zhenzhen pulled her hand back and pinched it with her fingernail.

Ouch, it hurts and itches at the same time.

Gu Tingshen first went to find some ointment for Gu Sinan's mosquito bites and applied it to her.

In that short time, she pinched herself to form the character "米" (mi), and it became even more swollen.

"Don't think about it, it will stop itching soon." Gu Tingshen held her hand that was still scratching, and touched the back of her head. It was indeed a little warm. He touched her forehead again, and it wasn't hot. He picked up the hair dryer again, "Let's dry it, so you don't catch a cold."

"It's all the old man's fault!" Ye Zhenzhen muttered, no longer covering her head in refusal.

Gu Tingshen's movements were not very skilled, but they were gentle.

He had lived for nearly thirty years and had never done any work serving others, yet he actually did a pretty good job the first time.

Amidst the whirring of the hairdryer, his smooth, black hair slipped through his fingers, and Ye Zhenzhen's puffed-up profile resembled a white steamed bun, incredibly cute.

He couldn't resist and reached out to poke it.

The angry little dumpling covered her face and turned her head away, scolding him, "What?! Annoying."

Gu Tingshen looked over with a warm smile in his eyes.

Feeling a little embarrassed by the stares, Ye Zhenzhen turned her face away, pinching the mosquito bites while her ears turned red.

After drying her hair, Gu Tingshen touched her neck, which was covered in a thin layer of sweat but felt cool.

"Is your period about to start?" He pulled out a tissue to wipe her sweat, then remembered her unusually irritable temper today and silently calculated the time.

"No, there's still a week to go." Ye Zhenzhen felt strange after saying that. Why did she so naturally start discussing her period with a man?

Before she could figure it out, the man lifted the covers, got into bed, and pulled her into his arms.

She rested her head on the man's arm, her eyes meeting his firm, tanned chest, his heartbeat strong and full of life.

The key was that her slightly chilly lower back was being gently massaged by the man's large hands, which felt warm and comfortable, making her weak will completely unable to resist.

"Have Dr. Jia come over tomorrow to take a look. Why am I sweating so much even in the middle of summer?"

Gu Tingshen's deep voice, like gold dust flowing through her fingers, rang in her ears, sending a tingling sensation from her ears all the way to her heart.

She raised her hand to rub her red, bleeding ears. When she realized what she had heard, and thought of the gleaming silver needles in Dr. Jia's treatment kit, she shuddered and quickly refused, "No need! I still have the medicine I left last time. I'll take it for a few more days and I'll be fine. I'm like this before my period, sensitive to both cold and heat."

"Take some care of yourself, and you'll feel better," Gu Tingshen comforted her gently. Recalling her performance last time, he added with a smile, "You don't necessarily need acupuncture; maybe some medicine will suffice."

Ye Zhenzhen felt the vibration in his chest, blushed and whispered, "It's not that I'm afraid of needles, I just don't want to trouble Dr. Jia."

Gu Tingshen smiled and didn't expose her.

The room fell silent, save for the sounds of their breathing and the rustling of fabric as the man massaged her back.

Ye Zhenzhen felt much better, and her hands and feet warmed up.

"Okay, it's not cold anymore."

Noticing that she wanted to leave his embrace, Gu Tingshen changed the subject: "I've never seen you so temperamental before. Why did you start arguing with Dad as soon as we went back to the old house today?"

“Look at his attitude! He says you have to do this, you can’t do that,” Ye Zhenzhen instantly forgot her earlier actions when her father was mentioned, her voice rising several octaves as she mimicked Ye Fengxing’s tone, “He wants to control everything! I’m almost thirty, and he still treats me like a three-year-old! He has no respect for people at all!”

Gu Tingshen, who was almost thirty, felt as if he had been shot in the knee, and it hurt a little.

But at least the baby pufferfish stopped trying to escape from his embrace.

"He's a feudal patriarch! It's the 21st century, and he's still arranging marriages!" Ye Zhenzhen said angrily.

The hand on her back paused for a moment. Ye Zhenzhen suddenly realized that the person in front of her was her husband, also a victim of an arranged marriage, and stopped awkwardly.

"You were very angry at the time, weren't you?" The man's voice was gentle and calm, carrying a reassuring quality.

"Yeah, I'm so angry! I feel like now that Mom's gone, Dad's become the new one, and he's eager to kick me out," Ye Zhenzhen replied sullenly. "If I didn't know he hadn't cheated on me, I would have thought he was in a hurry to remarry and that I was in his way!"

The original owner genuinely had doubts back then.

After all, Ye's father's behavior was too bizarre. He forced her to get married right after graduation, which was completely illogical.

"What are you saying? It would hurt your father to hear that." Gu Tingshen pulled her into his arms, patted her back, and gently patted her back to help her catch her breath. "Even when you're angry, you can't be so careless. Don't say anything unlucky again."

Ye Zhenzhen then realized that he had heard everything during their argument from outside. Thinking back to what she had said about "divorce and a complete family," she looked up at the man's expression guiltily.

Gu Tingshen lowered his eyes to meet her gaze. The warm yellow light in the bedroom gilded his pupils with a golden hue, carrying an intoxicating tenderness.

Ye Zhenzhen looked into those eyes and murmured, "Why did you agree to marry me back then?"

She didn't know why that question just popped into her head. But she did find it strange while watching the plot that, given the size and development of the Gu family, there was absolutely no need for Gu Tingshen, the heir, to sacrifice himself for a marriage alliance.

"Because Mother promised Su Mama that she would take good care of you." Gu Tingshen hesitated for a moment, which was rare for him, before answering.

At Ye's mother's bedside, Gu's mother promised to take good care of Ye Zhenzhen, and afterwards she did so.

What no one expected was that the year Ye Zhenzhen graduated, her father suddenly became obsessed with finding her a marriage partner, and went through all the eligible young men in the upper-class circle. During that time, there were plenty of scheming second-generation rich kids who wanted to take advantage of the family's wealth, fawning over Ye's father and Ye Zhenzhen.

Despite several attempts by Gu's parents to persuade him, Ye Fengxing remained unmoved and insisted on going his own way.

Seeing that the Ye family father and daughter were on the verge of breaking up, and that the candidates Ye father was choosing were becoming increasingly unsuitable, Gu's mother became more and more anxious.

The two tentatively discussed with him the idea of ​​proposing to the Ye family and marrying Ye Zhenzhen, so that she wouldn't marry the wrong person and accidentally jump into a fire pit.

They agreed at the time that it was just a temporary measure, and that if Ye Zhenzhen was able to take care of herself in a few years and there was still no affection between them, they could break up peacefully at any time.

He had never had any expectations for marriage. Since his sister passed away, his feelings for her had grown increasingly distant, and he agreed to the marriage indifferently.

But fate played a cruel trick on him, and he became the one who didn't want to let go, feeling extremely fortunate that he had married her back then.

Although his mindset is very different now, his pride does not allow him to lie, and he recounted the events of that time truthfully.

"Thank you." After listening, Ye Zhenzhen finally understood the whole story and was very grateful to Gu Tingshen.

Ye's mother's biggest worry on her deathbed was her daughter. Although Ye's father's actions were stubborn, they stemmed from his love for his daughter. The Gu family was also kind and righteous.

But fate is so unpredictable. Thinking of the family's fate in the book, Ye Zhenzhen felt a pang of sadness and regret.

“I’ve been dreaming about my mother a lot lately,” Ye Zhenzhen said in a muffled voice. “Sometimes I’m aware that I’m dreaming, but I don’t want to wake up and want to see her more.”

Gu Tingshen hugged her tightly, gently stroking her back, offering silent comfort.

“She said I’m so old and still sleeping in, and that I should get up and go to work.” As she spoke, tears silently streamed down her face. “I don’t know why I haven’t been dreaming about her these past few days. My mother doesn’t believe in Buddhism, and being a vegetarian doesn’t help, so I just wanted to do more good deeds to accumulate some merit for her. But I don’t trust the charitable organizations outside.”

"I want every penny I donate to go to people in need."

"Leave it to me. We can set up a foundation and let it help the people you want to help, according to your ideas." Gu Tingshen gently stroked her red eyes, wiping away the glistening tears, and solemnly promised.

His eyes were focused and affectionate, filled with heartache.

Ye Zhenzhen couldn't hold back her tears any longer when he looked at her like that. All the grievances and sorrow in her heart seemed to have found an outlet. Her tears soaked the man's shirt, and she felt a warm sensation.

Gu Tingshen held her in his arms, listening to her murmur her regrets until she fell into a deep sleep.

He has always been a rational to the point of indifference, and his best expectation for this marriage is nothing more than mutual respect.

At their wedding, Ye's father led her, who had no expression on her face, to him and placed her cold hand in his palm.

At that time, he felt nothing, treating the wedding as just a formality, a meeting to announce that Ye's only daughter had been brought under the Gu family's wing.

In his eyes, she was just the daughter of his mother's old friend, the only daughter of a family friend who needed to be taken care of. She might be full of anxiety and grievances, but it didn't matter much to him.

But just a few months later, everything is different.

She was so full of life and energy, with a kind and gentle heart, that she made his barren spiritual world more colorful.

His gaze lingered on her, his emotions were stirred by her, his heart ached when he saw her cry, he wanted to dispel all the gloom between her brows, and he wanted to see her laugh carefree.

Before falling for her, he never knew his feelings could be so intense, like a frozen iceberg melting under the bright sun, or a dried-up riverbed being washed and filled by snowmelt, an unstoppable surge.

He once heard someone say that love is about constantly feeling indebted.

That's mostly true.

Looking back at that wedding now, he feels it was full of regrets.

There was no confession, no proposal, and even the ring and dress were prepared by the parents. Looking back now, it seems too perfunctory and sloppy.

His little peach blossom deserves the best in the world.

---

The next day, Dr. Jia came and confirmed that she still had a problem with cold uterus. He prescribed some medicine and told her to keep warm, exercise appropriately, and not stay up late before her period.

Gu Tingshen waited for her to take her medicine before going to the company. He had planned to go back early that evening to be with her, but a phone call disrupted his plans, and he had to catch an afternoon flight to Hong Kong.