Chapter 45 It's all your fault for spoiling me too much.
Zhao Shuyi was really scared today. Climbing mountains is also a physical activity, and she was so sleepy and tired that her eyelids started to droop after eating.
Normally, Cai Mingliang would prepare most of her toiletries at night because Gu Yan was often unable to come home on time. But today, because her feet hurt, Gu Yan didn't let her do it and just let her lie in bed.
When the child was cleaned up and returned to the room, Zhao Shuyi was already asleep in bed.
He lowered his voice and said to Cai Mingliang, "Auntie is asleep, can Xiaoliang go to sleep by himself?"
Zhao Shuyi usually tells the children stories, but Gu Yan can't tell those imaginative and interesting stories.
Moreover, he didn't want to disturb Zhao Shuyi.
Tsai Ming-liang was always sensible. When he heard Gu Yan speaking in a low voice, he quickly put his index finger in front of his mouth to indicate that he should be quiet.
Gu Yan patted his head, "Good boy, close your eyes and go to sleep."
The child naturally sleeps a lot, and his breathing quickly became steady as soon as he closed his eyes.
After glancing at the two of them again, Gu Yan got up and left the room.
Zhao Shuyi was sleeping soundly, completely unaware of Gu Yan's departure.
But she didn't sleep soundly. Not long after falling asleep, she started dreaming that she had returned to her past life.
She woke up late in the morning and didn't make breakfast, so her mother started throwing things around in the living room.
"You're such a troublemaker! What good are you? You can't even do this little thing right. I should have just drowned you in the urinal the moment you were born!"
“This is all the wealth our family has, and it all belongs to your younger brother. You can find a man to rely on, but your younger brother can’t.”
“We’re counting on you to marry a rich husband so we can help your brother out.”
"Shuyi, it's all up to you now."
Zhao Shuyi had heard these words since she was a child, and although she was already used to them, she still felt a chill in her heart.
Gradually, she could no longer hear what her mother was saying.
But she still felt as if the other person's words were like sharp swords piercing her chest, making it hard for her to breathe.
Immediately afterwards, her mother's ramen-noodle-like hair miraculously transformed into snakes flicking their tongues, getting closer and closer to Zhao Shuyi.
Zhao Shuyi instinctively sensed the danger, but when she tried to back away, she couldn't move at all.
Just when Zhao Shuyi thought she was about to die, she heard someone calling her softly.
"Zhao Shuyi, wake up, Shuyi..."
The voice was clear and gentle, somewhat familiar, but Zhao Shuyi felt as if she had never heard it before.
"Shuyi..."
"Gu Yan".
Zhao Shuyi didn't know why she called out such an unfamiliar voice.
The terrifying venomous snake in front of her was gone, as was her mother's aggressive face.
Zhao Shuyi fell into chaos again.
"Zhao Shuyi, wake up..."
She felt a warm touch in her hand, and Zhao Shuyi felt her body begin to warm up. She slowly opened her eyes and saw the person in front of her.
"You're awake?"
Gu Yan's voice was softer than ever before.
"It's nothing, just a dream, nothing at all."
Zhao Shuyi blinked and squeezed the palm of her hand that was holding her.
It was real, and warm—Gu Yan's hand.
"Gu Yan..."
"Don't worry, you're sweating, let me wipe it off for you so you don't catch a cold later."
Gu Yan had just returned when he saw Zhao Shuyi struggling in her sleep, clearly in great pain.
He assumed she was just frightened by what happened today, and a chill ran through him.
He couldn't let the Cai family get away with this.
Even if they are the family members of martyrs.
Precisely because of their status, they should be more self-disciplined, rather than taking advantage of their status as heroes to do evil.
I just didn't expect that it would implicate Zhao Shuyi.
Looking at her vulnerable state, he felt a tingling, numbing pain in his heart.
"Gu Yan..."
"Yes, I'm here."
"I had a nightmare," Zhao Shuyi said in an extremely soft voice.
"It's nothing, it was just a dream. I'm here, nothing will happen."
Zhao Shuyi was still not fully recovered from hearing his voice.
But his words were undoubtedly reassuring.
Zhao Shuyi then went on to act coquettishly.
"Then you go to bed first, let's talk, I can't sleep. Don't turn off the light."
Gu Yan didn't hesitate at all, nor did he have any other thoughts. She depended on him, so he let her depend on him.
Lying between her and Xiao Liang, Gu Yan still held Zhao Shuyi's hand. The two were very close, but there was no romantic thought between them.
"Say what you want to say."
Zhao Shuyi didn't really know what she wanted to say; her mind was still a bit muddled.
After thinking about what had happened these past few days, she couldn't help but confide her feelings to Gu Yan.
"There are so many bad guys in this world."
Gu Yan looked at her with some heartache. "Yes, we'll be careful from now on. I won't let you get hurt again. Once your foot is healed, I'll wake you up every morning to exercise."
Gu Yan didn't take this matter very seriously when Zhao Shuyi brought it up before.
He felt that Zhao Shuyi was just a little too thin, and there was nothing seriously wrong with her health. He thought that if she ate more, she would definitely get better.
So whenever he saw her sleeping soundly, he couldn't bear to wake her.
He was even surprised to see Zhao Shuyi persist in practicing every day.
Now he seemed to understand Zhao Shuyi's intentions a little better.
Regardless of whether it was what he thought or not, it was good that she had the ability to protect herself, and Gu Yan felt that he should cooperate with her.
Zhao Shuyi also thought about this.
Previously, not only did Gu Yan not take it seriously, but she herself did not take it seriously either.
Gu Yan indulges her, and she takes advantage of the situation to slack off, which is definitely not acceptable.
If she had been even slightly stronger in combat today, she wouldn't have run away so desperately at the sight of a man.
"You said it yourself. It's all your fault. You spoil me too much."
Her words were so soft that Gu Yan's heart melted completely.
He thought she must be terrified, but when she came back today, she couldn't help but worry about the neighbors' affairs. How could she be so kind?
"It's all my fault. I promise I'll keep an eye on you from now on and exercise with you, at least..."
He wanted to say something again, but he swallowed his words. He only hoped that Zhao Shuyi would never encounter something like this again.
Before he could even speak, Zhao Shuyi added to his statement.
"At least if I run into bad guys again, I'll beat them to a pulp!"
Upon hearing this, Gu Yan couldn't help but raise his hand and gently flick the tip of her nose.
What are you doing?
Before Zhao Shuyi could stop herself from making that sound, Xiao Liang, who was sleeping against the wall, mumbled a few words. Zhao Shuyi quickly shrank back and dared not make another sound.
Seeing all her little gestures, how could Gu Yan possibly suppress his emotions?
But he didn't want to take advantage of the situation now.
So he slowly leaned close to Zhao Shuyi's ear, still keeping a distance between them.
He said, "You're so cute."
Zhao Shuyi's face turned bright red.
She almost woke the child up, but she was startled awake by her own words.
Hearing Gu Yan's words, every organ in her body seemed to awaken.
Why...why did he suddenly say something like that?
"I... I knew you were good with words."
Zhao Shuyi's voice was barely audible; she was genuinely embarrassed.
Gu Yan knew she was embarrassed, and he wasn't much better off himself. He just said softly, "Can you sleep? If you can, then sleep and get some rest."
"Okay, I'm going to sleep now. Goodnight."
Zhao Shuyi was eager to escape, so she closed her eyes and entered the space with her mind.
Gu Yan thought she fell asleep in a second, and a faint smile unconsciously appeared on his lips.
They're so cute!
The two were close, but he still didn't dare to put his hand on Zhao Shuyi's waist. After gazing at her peaceful sleeping face for a while, he closed his eyes as well.
The next day, Zhao Shuyi was still not woken up by the wake-up service; when she woke up, it was already broad daylight.
This time, Gu Yan went even further, placing breakfast in front of the bed and leaving a small note.
"Breakfast is here. If you're not feeling well, you don't need to get up. I've taken Xiao Liang next door. I'll come back to cook lunch. Gu Yan."
Zhao Shuyi read it twice, and then put the note back into her spatial storage.
She certainly couldn't eat breakfast in bed, especially without washing up.
Zhao Shuyi slowly sat up and carried breakfast out of the room.
She then realized that it was actually a cloudy day outside.
Since arriving in Yunnan Province, this was the first time she had encountered a cloudy day, and she hadn't seen a single drop of rain; it only rained at night.
Rain at night, followed by bright sunshine the next day—this kind of climate is perfect for the growth of mushrooms in the mountains and forests.
Zhao Shuyi was a little surprised to see the overcast sky, but she didn't stay surprised for long before continuing with her own business.
Whether it rains or a mother remarries, it's none of her business.
After washing up and having breakfast, Zhao Shuyi began to work on the ointment she wanted to make.
She had already prepared all the herbs for the foot bath; all she needed to do was add ginseng.
Soaking her feet in ginseng is quite extravagant for her, but since she's already made the promise, she has to keep it.
Her method was simple: she would grind some herbs suitable for foot baths into powder, add them to spring water to make a paste, and then seal it in a small cloth bag.
When you add hot water, the paste will melt and the medicinal properties will be released.
The small cloth bag is similar to the cotton cloth used for draining soy milk, so there won't be too much residue.
The so-called ointment she made herself was actually just a foot bath packet with a slightly higher concentration of spring water.
Zhao Shuyi didn't know which method was best, so she could only try various methods to get Xia Mulan to absorb more spiritual spring water.
However, this process will take a while.
She knew the power of the spiritual spring water. If Xia Mulan were to soak her feet in the spiritual spring water directly, and the scars on her feet suddenly healed, that would be terrifying.
Gu Yan kept thinking about home while in the office today. Fortunately, he had finished dealing with recent matters, otherwise his work performance would definitely not have been good.
Everyone noticed and heard about Zhao Shuyi falling off a cliff yesterday, so they stopped teasing him.
When it was noon, Gu Yan was the first to rush to the family compound, and everyone looked at each other in surprise.
It seems that Deputy Regiment Commander Gu has truly fallen from grace.
Gu Yan knew, of course, that these guys were laughing at him, but he didn't care.
You should cherish your own wife.
Just as I stepped out of the office building, He Xu arrived.
He stopped in his tracks, his expression grave, and asked, "Is there some news?"
"Yes, it's Xiao Lei. He went home yesterday at noon, wearing a blue jacket. I also checked his leave records, and he took leave before you were discharged. He rarely takes leave."
Gu Yan's expression grew even colder. "What's the current situation with the Cai family? Have you investigated?"
"We checked, and found nothing wrong so far. Cai Da rushed to his wife's house yesterday. They had a big fight before, and it was said that they were going to get a divorce, but yesterday they suddenly wanted to make up."
Gu Yan fell silent for a moment upon hearing this.
He Xu waited for instructions.
Actually, he didn't like the Cai family girl very much either. She seemed very clever and cunning, and she always bothered his deputy commander with everything, and she also gave him the cold shoulder several times.
It could be said that he had one face in front of his deputy regimental commander and another face in front of himself.
He had never seen such a fickle person.
However, He Xu never expected that the little girl would have such audacity to harm his sister-in-law. He also supported his deputy regiment commander in giving them a good beating.
Gu Yan didn't think about it for too long.
“Go and investigate the cases of illness, death, or forced marriage in their village in recent years, especially those close to Cai Xiaoyue, those who have had contact with her… young lady.”
He Xu was stunned, as if he had been greatly shocked.
"I'll go right away."
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