That night, Gu Yunche came to Mu Guiying’s room and knocked on the door.
“Xiao Mu, get up. Time to eat.”
Mu Guiying was too exhausted to move.
She was wearing cloth shoes with thin soles that painfully dug into her feet. Walking all the way from the county hospital in the south of town back to the guesthouse in the north had left her feet aching terribly.
“I’ll just eat two eggs tonight. Brother Gu, you can go eat by yourself.”
After applying medicine to her wounds, Mu Guiying lay on the wooden bed, which was comfortably firm yet soft enough for rest. She didn’t want to move another inch.
She had spent the previous night sleeping on the hard brick kang bed at the village secretary’s house, and it had left her back and waist sore all over. Although the guesthouse bed was nowhere near the cloud-like memory foam mattress she once had in modern times, it was at least far more comfortable than the kang.
With sleepiness overwhelming her, Mu Guiying drifted off shortly after replying to Gu Yunche.
Gu Yunche didn’t think much of it and went out alone to eat a bowl of noodles.
When he returned to the guesthouse, the light in Mu Guiying’s room was still off. He frowned while staring at it for a moment before returning to his own room.
After entering his room, he removed his shirt to inspect the wounds on his back. Though the injuries weren’t deep, the streaks of blood-red welts looked shocking.
Gu Yunche sighed inwardly at his own carelessness. He had forgotten to buy medicine for his injuries.
If his mother saw him covered in wounds like this, she would definitely feel heartbroken and nag him endlessly. But at this hour, it was obviously too late to go back to the hospital.
After washing up, Gu Yunche wrung out a towel and casually wiped himself down before lying shirtless on the bed. He lay on his side so the wounds could stay exposed to the air and avoid reopening.
Late at night, Mu Guiying woke up and got up to wash and change her bandages.
After finishing, she suddenly remembered that the injured Gu Yunche still hadn’t applied any medicine.
Mu Guiying quickly dressed, then took gauze, medicinal powder, and iodine with her as she went to knock on Gu Yunche’s door.
Gu Yunche had only just fallen asleep. Half-conscious, he heard someone knocking and thought he was imagining it, so he ignored it.
Mu Guiying subconsciously pushed the door lightly, and it opened.
Gu Yunche actually slept without locking the door?
Honestly, handsome men should protect themselves too—especially with so many appearance-obsessed girls around.
Like her.
Back in her livestreaming days, Mu Guiying often joked about things like this.
Now, under the moonlight, she unexpectedly found herself staring at a half-naked handsome man sleeping before her.
Only his upper body was exposed, but it was enough.
Gu Yunche’s back was broad and powerful, every muscle sharply defined as though sculpted by hand. The wounds across his skin looked strangely like the finest adornment for a man—wild and untamed.
At that moment, his overflowing masculinity and dangerous aura were impossible to ignore. His narrow waist, extending downward along the line of his spine, was cinched by a belt. His physique was practically flawless and inexplicably seductive.
Mu Guiying’s inner thoughts instantly went wild as her gaze shamelessly swept up and down.
She swallowed hard and sighed with envy.
“Bai Lin really has it good…”
Gu Yunche had actually awakened long ago. Hearing Mu Guiying muttering behind him, he tightened his grip on the pillowcase.
If she dared take another step closer, he wouldn’t mind throwing her over his shoulder and pinning her down.
Embarrassed, Mu Guiying hurriedly withdrew her gaze and carefully tiptoed toward the bedside table.
Alarm bells rang in Gu Yunche’s mind, and the pillowcase in his hands twisted into knots.
What was she trying to do?
A faint jasmine soap fragrance drifted into his nose, growing closer and closer.
Seeing that Gu Yunche appeared asleep, Mu Guiying only intended to place the medicine and gauze on the bedside table before leaving.
But just as she approached, a large hand suddenly seized her wrist.
In the darkness, Gu Yunche abruptly sat up and questioned coldly,
“Who allowed you to come in?”
As he spoke, he switched on the bedside lamp.
Under the dim yellow light, Mu Guiying stood there wearing her white shirt with red floral prints, brown striped trousers, and black cloth shoes with straps.
But she had clearly just washed up. Her hair was still damp and dripping water. Tiny droplets slid down and dampened the front of her shirt, while her fair cheeks carried a rosy flush from bathing.
Gu Yunche’s heart tightened violently.
Subconsciously, he shoved Mu Guiying away and spoke harshly.
“Mu Guiying, put away your filthy thoughts.”
Turning his head aside, he continued coldly,
“Ruining your own reputation and framing others will only make me look down on you more.”
Seeing the contempt on his stern face, Mu Guiying snorted angrily to herself.
Did this man have some kind of persecution complex?
Her wrist hurt from how tightly he had grabbed it before throwing her aside. Irritated, she rubbed it furiously.
“I know you’re injured, so I brought medicine for you.”
Medicine?
What a terrible excuse.
Gu Yunche grabbed his shirt and pulled it on before standing to face her.
“You could’ve brought it earlier or later. Why wait until after I’d fallen asleep?”
His mocking tone instantly infuriated Mu Guiying.
She slammed the medicine onto the bedside table and shot back sharply.
“That’s because I walked all the way from the north side of town to the county hospital in the south and back again until I was too exhausted to move. I slept for a while before finally getting up to change my own medicine!”
Mu Guiying glared at him.
“If you hadn’t gotten hurt trying to take me away, do you think I’d willingly come bring you medicine? Do you think I enjoy humiliating myself, listening to you insult and despise me?”
The grievances she had been bottling up for days finally exploded.
Ever since arriving from the modern world into 1984, loneliness, unfamiliarity, and fear had been weighing heavily on her heart. She had nowhere to vent those emotions, yet she still had to endure Gu Yunche’s cold disdain and sarcasm.
What terrible sins had she committed to deserve all this?
Mu Guiying wiped away tears from the corners of her eyes.
“I know all of you look down on me and despise me. I don’t even want to humiliate myself anymore!”
She turned around, grabbed the medicine and gauze, yanked open the door, and slammed it shut so hard it shook the room.
Gu Yunche stood there stunned for a moment, his jaw tightening awkwardly.
Looking at the now-empty bedside table, irritation rose in his chest.
He had wrongly accused Mu Guiying.
And worse, he had made her cry.
After hesitating for a while, Gu Yunche walked to Mu Guiying’s door and raised a hand to knock.
The light in her room was off. Sitting on the bed, Mu Guiying sniffled quietly and wiped her eyes. Through the white cloth curtain over the door, she could see the silhouette of a tall man outside.
She knew Gu Yunche had come.
Outside, Gu Yunche raised his hand several times, wanting to knock, but seeing that the room remained dark, he lowered it again.
Stuffing both hands into his trouser pockets, he stood there silently for a while before finally returning to his room.
Mu Guiying knew she never should have hoped for even the slightest thing from someone who disliked her.
She kicked off her shoes, lifted the blanket, and climbed into bed.
The only cure for sorrow was sleep.
The next morning, after washing up and tidying herself, Mu Guiying opened the door to find the tall and refreshed Gu Yunche already standing outside.
His peach blossom eyes rested on her for a moment before he handed her a kraft paper bag.
“I bought fried rice cakes and hawthorn pastries for you. Eat them while they’re hot.”
Mu Guiying was slightly stunned by the unexpected kindness.
As she accepted the bag, the warm fragrance of fried pastry drifted out.
She looked at Gu Yunche and curled her lips into a mocking smile.
“Brother Gu, are you using these to apologize to me?”