It's unexpectedly clingy.
When Song Tiaotiao turned around, she saw Gu Chengjue looking at her with a dazed and uneasy look in his eyes.
She lowered her gaze and saw Gu Chengjue holding the door frame with one hand, while the other hand was covering her arm. His fingertips were slightly sunken, revealing a few tiny indentations.
Gu Chengjue's unusual closeness made Song Tiaotiao panic. Her ears flushed and she reflexively brushed Gu Chengjue's hand away with her wrist.
As soon as his hand was pushed away, Gu Chengjue frowned. He lowered his eyebrows, was silent for a moment, and switched to the other hand to complete his old wish.
Slender fingers hooked together, Song Tiaotiao raised her eyebrows and asked in surprise: "Gu Chengjue, what are you doing?"
Gu Chengjue took a moment to react, then raised his eyes to look at Song Tiaotiao. His usually clear voice was now as soft as a mosquito's hum, as he kept muttering as if praying, "Song Tiaotiao, come back. You can't leave..."
He kept calling out to her several times, and Song Tiaotiao couldn't stand it any longer. She looked at Gu Chengjue carefully and said, "Gu Chengjue, what's wrong with you? Are you drunk?"
Gu Chengjue's sparkling phoenix eyes lifted slightly, he looked up at Song Tiaotiao, and said slowly: "Well, I'm drunk."
Song Tiaotiao shook her head, not wanting to argue with a drunk. She smiled helplessly, "Okay, okay, I won't leave. But please stop nagging. My sisters-in-law are all heading back to their rooms to get ready for bed. Don't disturb them. Go wash up first, then go back to your room and lie down. I'll find you something to sober you up, okay?"
Although Gu Chengjue was drunk, he was very cooperative. He did whatever Song Tiaotiao asked him to do, and even when he lay down on the bed, he stayed in the quilt and didn't move.
Song Tiaotiao couldn't find anything to help her sober up, so she settled for the next best thing and got a bowl of warm water in the kitchen to help Gu Chengjue calm down.
But just for a moment, Gu Chengjue's persistent call from inside the house continued to be heard: "Song Tiaotiao..."
After reciting for a long time, Gu Chengjue saw that Song Tiaotiao was still hesitating, and the uneasy feeling of being abandoned filled his chest. He was hesitating whether to continue to listen to Song Tiaotiao's words when he saw Song Tiaotiao reappear with a bowl in hand.
Gu Chengjue's eyes flickered, and he stretched out his hand from under the quilt and reached towards Song Tiaotiao.
Song Tiaotiao thought he was going to take the bowl, so she said, "Sit up first and drink..."
As soon as he finished speaking, Gu Chengjue's knuckles had carefully hooked around Song Tiaotiao's fingertips. Once the two fingers were hooked, he sat up and took the bowl of water.
Song Tiaotiao lowered her eyes and looked down, sighing softly: "You are unexpectedly clingy."
Hearing this, Gu Chengjue's hazy, drunken eyes blinked gently. His eyes were like red lotus petals hit by frost, with a faint red tint inside and out. "Song Tiaotiao, don't you like me like this?"
Song Tiaotiao could hear the confusion and seriousness in his words, and suppressed a smile, saying, "How could that be? I've been used to seeing General Gu's impressive demeanor since I was little, and now that I've seen this rare side of you, I find it amusing."
Seeing her smile, Gu Chengjue also smiled, but then said dejectedly: "You haven't mentioned him to me before."
Song Tiaotiao didn't react: "Who?"
Gu Chengjue muttered, "Qin Xing."
Song Tiaotiao didn't know why he cared about this, but she still replied, "I thought we were just acquaintances, but I didn't expect our fate to be so deep."
Gu Chengjue frowned, clearly not wanting to hear this answer. He blinked and changed the subject: "You call them brothers."
Song Tiaotiao smiled and said, "They are all older than me. Out of respect, they should be called brother. Otherwise, what else can I call them?"
Gu Chengjue hooked his fingers tighter: "Song Tiaotiao, I'm older than you too."
Song Tiaotiao looked at Gu Chengjue's treacherous expression and laughed in surprise, "No way, Gu Chengjue, you've been going through all this trouble, is it just for this?"
Gu Chengjue looked up at her and said slowly, "Shouldn't it be like that? You always just call me by my name. Compared to them, I'm the one who has the least to do with you."
Song Tiaotiao hadn't thought about this question yet. She sat on the edge of the kang, lost in thought for a moment.
Although the Gu and Song families are old friends, no one is willing to formally introduce Gu Chengjue to Song Tiaotiao.
In the Duke Zhenguo's Mansion, Song Tiaotiao was just a wild girl of unknown origin.
At the age of seven, Song Tiaotiao was brought back to the mansion by the Duke of Zhenguo to recognize her as his kin. By then, the Duke of Zhenguo's legitimate daughter, Song Zhaozhao, had already been engaged to Gu Chengjue.
Everyone in the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion was afraid that Song Tiaotiao would overestimate her abilities and have inappropriate thoughts about this marriage.
Song Tiaotiao was completely unaware of this, but her actions were beyond everyone's expectations and fulfilled their wish.
After all, in Song Tiaotiao's eyes, Gu Chengjue exuded coldness regardless of the season, and his every move was like ice that could not be warmed up.
Although Song Tiaotiao was curious about Gu Chengjue, she was always worried. She was afraid that if she approached Gu Chengjue without permission, he would freeze her to death in an instant.
Therefore, even if he occasionally met the cold-faced young man who kept strangers away in the mansion, Song Tiaotiao would just nod and turn away.
One kept his distance, the other took it for granted. It wasn't until Song Tiao Tiao was twelve that the two of them met.
That day, Song Tiaotiao was standing by the lotus pond, imitating the sword dance of the Duke of Zhenguo. She looked so serious that she had already regarded herself as a female general defending her country.
But Song Tiaotiao had never received any instruction in martial arts. In a moment of distraction, he twisted his foot and was about to fall into the water.
Just when Song Tiao Tiao reluctantly closed her eyes and had already thought about how to climb ashore after entering the water, a sound of quick footsteps like salvation came from behind her, followed by a hand decisively grabbing her arm, bringing Song Tiao Tiao, who was about to fall into the water, back to the shore in time.
Song Tiaotiao looked back in panic and saw Gu Chengjue, who was always serious.
She thought that the boy who was as cold as frost was now staring at her with a look of worry in his eyes.
Their eyes met, and Gu Chengjue frowned, as if he wanted to say something. But he hesitated for a moment, and ultimately did not utter a word of concern or admonition.
Seeing Song Tiaotiao stand firmly, Gu Chengjue let go of her hand and turned to leave.
Song Tiaotiao managed to calm down. Seeing him about to leave, she thought for a moment and smiled at Gu Chengjue for the first time: "Thank you, Young Master Gu, for saving me. I... my name is Song Tiaotiao."
Gu Chengjue turned around upon hearing this. He stared at Song Tiaotiao's smiling face and was silent for a moment. Then he lowered his eyes and replied, "I know. From now on, you can call me Gu Chengjue."
From the day they exchanged names, Song Tiaotiao got used to calling Gu Chengjue by his full name.
When Song Tiaotiao came to her senses, Gu Chengjue's eyes were already drowsy and closed.
"Ding—the progress in rescuing the villain Gu Chengjue has reached 5%."
Song Tiaotiao was just tucking Gu Chengjue into bed when she heard the system's voice. She asked in her mind, "Master, do we still have a progress bar?"
The system said in a deep voice, "I knew your progress would be fast, but I didn't expect it to be this fast. Your rescue speed is truly one in a million. I'm a little overwhelmed."
Song Tiaotiao said happily: "Master, if the rescue mission is so difficult, then if I succeed, will there be some ultimate reward?"
The system sighed softly, "Of course there are rewards, but the progress of the rescue is entirely determined by Gu Chengjue's will. You don't know that there was a person next door who traveled through a book to the world of immortal cultivation. After three thousand years of hard work, he finally reached 99% of the rescue progress. However, he never expected that the villain would read his mind and heard that he planned to return to the modern world after completing the mission. Not only did his progress disappear overnight, but it also caused a severe damage to the system. To this day, the system has not been able to contact that person."
Song Tiaotiao's hair stood on end when she heard this: "How could this villain have such a deep obsession..."
The system consoled him, "Don't worry. Gu Chengjue is different from those pure villains. His evil transformation stems from external factors, but he's still good at heart. As long as we don't let him repeat the mistakes in the book, the chances of a rescue incident like the one above happening are practically zero."
Song Tiaotiao's uneasy heart was slightly relieved.
Indeed, apart from his uncharacteristic behavior today, Gu Chengjue's mood on weekdays can be described as as stable as a rock.
Moreover, she and Gu Chengjue were brothers who had shared hardships together, so Gu Chengjue would never treat her like this.
The system continued, "Because the rescue progress has exceeded 5%, the Northern Frontier Interpersonal Relationship Map has been unlocked. The redemption points are 58,000 points. Its main function is to identify the behind-the-scenes interactions between people."
Song Tiaotiao's heart moved: "Master, how many points do I need to successfully redeem it?"
System: "It's gone up nearly 10,000 points tonight, but we still need 40,000 points. It seems a long way off, but if you let him have a few more drinks and let him act out like he did tonight, maybe it will happen in no time. Oh, and the cotton has already been bought. If you mend his tattered jacket, maybe you can make some extra money."
Song Tiaotiao nodded, washed up, and curled up in bed, having a dreamless night.
In the early morning, as the sky was breaking, a ray of soft morning light shone on Gu Chengjue's face.
Gu Chengjue opened his eyes slightly, and the dull ache of a hangover immediately hit him, making his vision dizzy. He massaged his temples and slowly sat up, a clean, wet cloth falling from his forehead.
He picked up the cloth, looked at Song Tiaotiao, and asked hoarsely, "Song Tiaotiao...did I have a fever last night?"
Song Tiaotiao was hugging Gu Chengjue's cotton-padded jacket in a corner of the kang. She chuckled, "You don't have a fever, but Brother Gu keeps complaining of a headache. How can I live with my conscience if I don't find a way to relieve your pain?"
Gu Chengjue was startled when he heard this, his head lowered to reveal his red ears: "I'm sorry... last night. From today on, I will never touch alcohol again."
Listening to Gu Chengjue's confident tone, Song Tiaotiao naturally believed that he could do it, but she couldn't help but tease him with a feigned sadness: "It seems that Brother Gu intends to completely deny what happened last night? Then I will follow your wishes and forget it completely. Who is Brother Gu? Do you know Gu Chengjue?"
Gu Chengjue covered his burning ears with his hands, his eyes dodging: "If you don't like what happened last night, please forget it. As for what I call you, it's up to you."
Song Tiaotiao no longer made things difficult for him and said with a smile, "Gu Chengjue, the kitchen has heated up some porridge for you. Go and eat it quickly, otherwise I'll have to heat it up again for you if it gets cold."
Gu Chengjue was startled when he heard the difference in address. "Thank you."
When Gu Chengjue came back, Song Tiaotiao was picking up the thread and sewing the second stitch according to the system's instructions.
Seeing this, Gu Chengjue stepped forward and asked, "Song Tiaotiao, what are you doing?"
Song Tiaotiao inserted the needle into the cotton-padded jacket again: "It snowed heavily last night, and the weather will only get colder from now on. Doesn't your jacket have a few holes? I thought of patching it up for you earlier so you can be much warmer."
Gu Chengjue smiled and agreed, "Yeah, it's much warmer."
Song Tiaotiao chuckled: "Gu Chengjue, you haven't put this on yet. But this is my first time doing needlework, so if the mending is a little ugly, you can't laugh at me."
Gu Chengjue nodded, lowered his eyes and smiled, "Little Bodhisattva has benefited the world, how can I repay your kindness with hatred? But can you also teach me? I also want to do something for you."
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