Gu Yunche sat upright with noble composure. He pushed a teacup toward Mu Cheng and waited for her to ask her question.
Only when Mu Guiying met his gaze did she truly take a closer look at him—
Gu Yunche’s eyes were clear yet deep. His facial features were sharp and handsome, while his slightly arched brows carried a cold and imposing aura. His thin lips curved faintly upward, and even the line of his jaw radiated refinement and dignity. Yet his tall, upright posture and restrained temperament gave him an air of disciplined elegance. Even a simple shirt looked extraordinary when worn by him.
His fingers were long and well-defined. Every movement—pouring tea, lifting the cup, tasting the tea—was calm, graceful, and eye-catching.
He truly was top-tier eye candy.
The first time Mu Guiying saw him had been on that heated kang bed. The second time, they had either been fleeing danger or running away. It was only today, after staring at the back of his head for half the day, that she finally got a proper look at the famously handsome Gu Yunche.
Noticing Mu Cheng staring at him, Gu Yunche coughed awkwardly twice before lowering his eyes in irritation.
“If you’re not going to ask, then forget it.”
As soon as he finished speaking, he began arranging the bowls and chopsticks, preparing to eat.
Mu Guiying noticed the tips of his ears turning red and thought that her overly direct gaze must have disgusted him.
“I’ll ask! I want to know whether I can change my name directly when I register my household in the capital. That way, my ID card can also use the new name.”
Gu Yunche looked up in confusion.
“You want to change your name?”
Mu Guiying nodded.
“Yes. Liu E casually gave me this name, and I don’t like it. I want a different one.”
For some reason, a vague and blurry scene flashed through Gu Yunche’s mind—
A woman crying hysterically.
“Gu Yunche, you despise me! You despise everything about me! You hate the food I cook, the tea I make, even my smell, and my rustic name! You hate that I can’t compare to Bai Lin in any way. Every time, you’re ashamed to mention me, even ashamed to mention my name. Do you think I chose this name for myself?”
Gu Yunche sneered coldly.
“Mu Guiying, do you think your name is what I despise? You never see your own faults. What I despise… is you!”
Gu Yunche stared blankly at the Mu Guiying before him, feeling deeply unsettled.
Why had those words suddenly appeared in his mind?
Lowering his gaze to the rolled tea leaves floating in the cup, he spoke calmly.
“A name doesn’t represent a person. It’s just a label.”
He looked up again.
“Or do you think Bai Lin’s name sounds pleasant, so you also want a prettier name?”
“It has nothing to do with her. I simply want to change my name.”
Mu Guiying clearly did not want to discuss Bai Lin.
“I just want a name that I personally like.”
“The ‘Lin’ in Bai Lin means beautiful jade. It symbolizes beauty and purity, representing kindness, sincerity, and elegance.”
As Gu Yunche spoke about Bai Lin’s name, starlight seemed to shine in his eyes.
Then he looked up again.
“She truly lives up to her name. That phrase means a person matches their name. As for you…”
Gu Yunche spoke for quite a while, but the meaning behind his words was obvious—
Bai Lin deserved her beautiful name because she matched it, while someone like Mu Guiying would simply be unworthy of a pleasant name.
Before he could finish, he looked up and saw Mu Guiying’s expression darken.
With a forced smile, she waved her hand.
“There’s no need for Brother Gu to remind me that I’m just a country bumpkin who can’t appear on high society’s stage. As for changing my name, I’ll decide that myself.”
Mu Guiying drained the tea in her cup in one gulp.
Lowering her head, she arranged the bowls and chopsticks before picking up the kettle to pour another cup of water.
“Even if I changed my name to Mu Kitten or Mu Puppy, it would just be for my own amusement.”
Gu Yunche was left speechless.
He felt that Mu Guiying truly had a sharp tongue and was remarkably good at making people uncomfortable.
He let out a cold laugh.
“Fine. As long as you’re happy.”
Not long afterward, the dishes were served.
Mu Guiying focused wholeheartedly on eating, while Gu Yunche also had the habit of remaining silent during meals.
The two finished eating without saying another word.
After the meal, Gu Yunche escorted Mu Guiying back to the guesthouse.
“Don’t wander around. I’m going out to buy some things.”
“I’m coming too. I need to buy things as well.”
Mu Guiying had no money. The things she intended to buy were merely gauze and Yunnan Baiyao medicine for her injuries. She needed to go either to a state-run store or a hospital.
Gu Yunche also knew she had no money except for the ten yuan the village secretary had secretly given her. He assumed she had seen how stylish the girls in the county town dressed and now wanted new clothes herself.
“What do you want to buy? I can bring it back for you.”
Ordinarily, those words should have made her happy, but the cold, scrutinizing look in Gu Yunche’s eyes instantly ruined the feeling.
He was clearly guessing what she wanted to buy and what intentions she had.
Her expression turned cold.
“Women’s things. I’ll buy them myself. You wouldn’t understand.”
With that, Mu Cheng walked ahead directly.
Gu Yunche was inexplicably met with her bad temper and snorted coldly.
“What a nasty attitude.”
When they arrived at the state-run store, Gu Yunche used ration coupons to buy bread, luncheon meat, canned food, and apples. He seemed dissatisfied by the limited variety available, his brows remaining furrowed the entire time.
Only when they reached the small goods counter did his expression soften slightly.
There, Gu Yunche noticed a pair of adorable little porcelain cats outlined with golden trim. Without hesitation, he spent eight yuan in cash to buy them.
Mu Guiying was speechless.
At the current price level, that amount of money was practically enough to buy out all the bread in the supply cooperative. Rich people truly were different.
Even the sales clerk remarked,
“These were sent over according to special allocation quotas. I thought no one would buy them. I heard they’re premium goods from Jingzhen. They sold really well over there, so our store imported this pair.”
The cold sharpness in Gu Yunche’s features softened noticeably, making Mu Guiying realize that this was probably a gift for Bai Lin.
Sure enough, Bai Lin truly was special to him.
Gu Yunche looked at Mu Guiying standing there in a daze with her cloth bag in hand.
Confused, he asked,
“Weren’t you buying clothes?”
Carefully placing the wrapped porcelain cats into his bag, he turned to her again.
“I’ll pay for your things.”
Mu Guiying froze for a moment.
She waved her hand.
“I’m done buying. Let’s go.”
Gu Yunche glanced at her nearly empty bag.
Had she really not bought any new clothes?
Carrying the flat cloth bag, Mu Guiying asked the sales clerk for directions to the nearest hospital.
Hearing her inquiry, and recalling that she had earlier said she needed to buy “women’s things” that he “wouldn’t understand,” Gu Yunche awkwardly turned his head away and tightened his grip on the mesh bag in his hand.
When Mu Guiying looked back, she saw Gu Yunche seemingly lost in thought, the tips of his ears faintly pink again.
Her gaze drifted toward the carefully wrapped porcelain cats inside the bag, then toward the hand gripping the bag tightly. The veins and tendons on his hand stood out clearly, as though he were clutching a lifeline.
An upright and disciplined man blushing because he was thinking about the girl he liked was actually rather charming.
Unfortunately, that girl was Bai Lin.
And Bai Lin had absolutely nothing to do with her.
Gu Yunche coughed lightly.
“Finished?”
“Mm. I’ll go to the hospital myself. Brother Gu should head back to the guesthouse first.”
Seeing how carefully he treasured the porcelain cats, Mu Guiying honestly feared that if he walked any farther with her, they might break from the shaking.
Gu Yunche looked visibly relieved.
“Alright. I’ll head back first.”
As soon as he finished speaking, he turned and walked in the opposite direction.
Mu Guiying thought Gu Yunche was the very definition of a straight-laced man—the kind of rigid steel-hearted straight man who didn’t know how to bend even slightly.
Then she reconsidered.
It wasn’t that he couldn’t think for others.
He simply did not want to think for her.
After all, she was the villainous supporting character.
Shrugging her shoulders, she turned and headed toward the hospital…