It's early summer, so the water isn't cold.
Gu Jiangli was a good swimmer, and knowing she was about to enter the water, she held her breath in time and didn't choke.
Although Jiang Huaizhi was caught off guard, this unexpected event did not seem to take away his rationality, and he quickly calmed down.
Although underwater visibility was very poor, Gu Jiangli still noticed that Jiang Huaizhi's calmness was unusual.
She couldn't help but wonder, if Jiang Huaizhi hadn't had an accident here, where else could such a calm person have an accident?
However, there was no time to think about these things; they should get ashore as soon as possible.
Jiang Huaizhi swam over and grabbed her arms, preparing to bring her to the surface; he was clearly a good swimmer as well.
Could it be that before she even has a chance to implement her plan, they'll be out of trouble?
As she was thinking this, she realized that she couldn't move one of her legs.
Looking back, I saw that my right ankle was tangled in seaweed and I couldn't pull it off.
She could only gesture to Jiang Huaizhi to let go of her hand, and then she bent down to untie the water plants from her feet.
Upon seeing this situation, Jiang Huai's eyes darkened slightly.
Without hesitation, he bent down and swam into the water, beginning to untangle the water plants for Gu Jiangli.
Gu Jiangli's heart skipped a beat; she was somewhat shocked.
She never expected Jiang Huaizhi to go to such lengths to save her.
Seeing this, she naturally joined forces with Jiang Huai.
The moment her right foot emerged from the water plants, she felt a great sense of relief and cast a joyful glance at Jiang Huaizhi.
Once freed from their restraints, they immediately set off upstream.
But just half a foot from the water's surface, the hands that were holding Gu Jiangli suddenly let go.
Jiang Huaizhi looked pained and leaned back weakly.
Gu Jiangli's heart skipped a beat.
He wasn't in good health to begin with, and holding his breath underwater for so long was already quite difficult; he must have reached his limit by now.
She immediately made up her mind, gave up the opportunity to surface, and instead went swimming towards the Yangtze and Huai rivers.
She placed her hands on Jiang Huaizhi's shoulders, tilted her head, and leaned towards him.
Jiang Huaizhi's eyes widened suddenly.
Gu Jiangli's face loomed large in front of him, so close that he could see her trembling eyelashes and feel the warmth emanating from her hands.
A moment later, underwater, their lips met.
————
Gu Jiangli looked somewhat dazed; she had even forgotten how she got ashore.
She felt a vague sense of guilt tormenting her.
It was as if this was a carefully planned scheme by her to improve her relationship with Jiang Huai.
Jiang Huaizhi, like an innocent little white rabbit, fell into her trap and even showed her the utmost kindness.
"Miss Gu, are you alright?"
Jiang Huaizhi's worried voice came from beside him.
A gust of wind swept by, and Gu Jiangli, who was soaked to the bone, shivered, bringing her back to reality.
She leaned against Lotus's chest, and Lotus hurriedly wiped the water droplets from her face with a handkerchief.
She glanced at Jiang Huaizhi, who was soaked to the bone just like her, and instinctively shook her head.
"I'm fine..." There was no way she could be fine. Swimming was her forte, and holding her breath was a piece of cake for her. Falling into the water was a deliberate act born of her confidence.
Jiang Huai is physically weak; he should be more concerned about himself.
"Young Master, how are you? You should go inside, or you'll catch a cold."
Gu Jiangli's eyes were full of concern.
Jiang Huai couldn't help but touch her mouth as she spoke; the soft touch was still vivid in his mind, stirring a strange feeling within him.
Seeing that he remained silent, Huaiyu spoke up for him:
“That makes sense. Miss Gu must have been frightened. Why don’t you go to that attic to change your clothes first?”
As he spoke, he squeezed his young master's hand.
Jiang Huaizhi came to his senses and belatedly realized that he was soaking wet.
"Yes, I brought some clothes in my carriage. Change into something clean first, and then I'll take you back."
Gu Jiangli had no reason to refuse and agreed to Jiang Huaizhi's proposal.
He didn't mention anything about what happened in the water, but the way he looked at himself was clearly different.
It's only a matter of time before we take another step forward.
They walked toward the pavilion by the lake, but after only a few steps, a woman in red led a group of people toward them.
"Oh dear, my sister Jiang Li, how did you get so disheveled? How did the young master get into such a state? How could you be so careless? Quickly, put my outer robe on sister Jiang Li!"
Two maids emerged from behind the woman in red and presented her with two crimson outer garments.
Huaiyu stood still and did not step forward.
Lotus didn't accept the clothes either, because she could tell from her young mistress's expression that she didn't want to accept the red-clad woman's kindness.
Just as Lotus had guessed, Gu Jiangli indeed did not want to accept this coat.
She knew this woman in red very well.
Sun Chan, the second daughter of the Sun family.
Last time, she married Jiang Huaisong as a concubine, and she had quite a few arguments with the original owner of the body.
This woman can be considered a typical example of someone who is sharp-tongued and ruthless.
The fact that she brought me a coat today wasn't necessarily out of kindness; rather, it seemed like she was gloating.
Gu Jiangli, of course, could not accept what she brought, so he took half a step closer to Jiang Huaizhi and said:
"Thank you, Miss Sun. I appreciate your kindness, but it would be best not to get your clothes dirty." She then whispered to Jiang Huaizhi, "Young Master, let's go."
Jiang Huaizhi also did not want to get entangled with Sun Chan.
The two walked past the group of people.
When Sun Chan saw that they refused her gift, she immediately lost her temper:
"You're all in such a sorry state, are you still complaining about my clothes?"
Jiang Huai paused, turned his head and replied, "Miss Sun, you can keep the clothes you brought yourself."
After he finished speaking, he took Gu Jiangli and was about to leave.
Sun Chan hurriedly added, "Sister Jiang Li's clothes are wet, and her graceful figure is truly enviable. There are so many men in the garden. If they see you like this, it might not be good for your reputation. Are you really sure it's alright?"
Gu Jiangli rolled her eyes inwardly.
Her clothes were soaked through and clung tightly to her body, which indeed made her curvaceous figure even more prominent.
But this is not a reason for Sun Chan to label her as a chastity paragon.
If this happened in a deserted place, she would probably find a brick and smash it on Sun Chan's head to knock the water out of her brain.
Unfortunately, she had to maintain her gentle image in front of Jiang Huaizhi.
Gu Jiangli slowly turned around, lowered his head and said softly, "Miss Sun, if the men in the garden are truly polite, they should look away when they see my predicament and not do anything impolite or presumptuous."
“If any young master sees me like this and instead of avoiding suspicion, stares at me with longing eyes, as if he wants to see a hole through me, such a rude man should be despised.”
"Furthermore, Miss Sun, there's no need to keep talking about 'reputation' all the time. It makes people think you have nothing but 'reputation'."
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