Mu Guiying looked at herself in the mirror. The grievance she had been suppressing finally burst out uncontrollably. She lowered the undershirt she had been lifting and crouched on the ground hugging her knees as she cried.
After crying for quite a while, she finally calmed down.
Mu Guiying washed her hair and also cleaned the bloodstained dacron shirt and pants.
She carried the basin outside to hang the clothes.
The early summer night was dry, so if the clothes stayed outside overnight, they would definitely dry by morning.
Suddenly, Mu Guiying noticed Gu Yunche’s white shirt with pale gray stripes draped over the back of a chair. The back hem had also gotten stained with blood.
After hanging up her own clothes, she used the light inside the room to wash Gu Yunche’s shirt as well. She even scrubbed it twice with soap until it was spotless.
She knew Gu Yunche liked cleanliness. In modern terms, he was a bit of a neat freak. Since she was the one who had dirtied the shirt, it was only right for her to wash it clean.
Meanwhile, Gu Yunche lay in bed, tossing and turning unable to sleep.
He didn’t know what had gotten into him. The moment he closed his eyes, he kept remembering feeding Mu Guiying sugar water mouth-to-mouth. He also found himself unconsciously recalling the unique fragrance of the girl and the softness of her lips.
Gu Yunche suddenly sat upright. Wearing only a white undershirt, he brushed aside the loose strands of hair on his forehead.
“Gu Yunche, what are you even thinking about?”
He felt he was simply too idle, which was why his thoughts wandered to such nonsense.
After taking several deep breaths to calm himself and prepare for sleep, he had just lain back down when he heard the sound of splashing water outside.
His hearing and eyesight had been sharpened through years of firearms training, so he easily recognized that the sound was coming from the direction of Mu Guiying’s room.
She was washing clothes… or perhaps washing—
He paused.
Heat crept up to his ears, and he quickly pulled the blanket over his head to block out the sounds from outside.
The next morning, Gu Yunche got up early. He folded his blanket into a perfect military-style square, then packed all his belongings neatly into his suitcase before carrying his washbasin outside to freshen up.
The moment he opened the door, he saw his shirt fluttering on the clothesline in the breeze, tangled together with a woman’s undershirt. Beside them also hung Mu Guiying’s white shirt patterned with tiny red flowers.
So the person washing clothes last night really had been her.
Watching the two garments entwined in the wind, the tips of Gu Yunche’s ears turned red.
He quickly set down the basin and strode over to untangle his shirt.
At that moment, Mu Guiying yawned as she pushed open the door, planning to fetch water to wash up. The first thing she saw was Gu Yunche taking down his shirt.
Hearing the sound of the door, Gu Yunche looked up.
Mu Guiying raised a hand in greeting.
With an awkward smile, she said, “Commander Gu, good morning!”
Distracted for a split second, Gu Yunche accidentally yanked down Mu Guiying’s undershirt as well. The bamboo clothespin fell to the ground with a snap.
Seeing Gu Yunche’s already flustered expression, Mu Guiying nearly cracked apart from embarrassment herself.
The fingers she had raised in greeting slowly lowered one by one as she awkwardly pointed at the women’s cotton undershirt in his hands.
“Um… Commander Gu, that’s mine.”
Gu Yunche’s face instantly flushed red. The redness spread from his cheeks all the way down his neck and up to the tips of his ears.
He glanced at the women’s undershirt he had accidentally pulled down.
Taking large strides forward, he turned his head aside and shoved the burning-hot undershirt into Mu Guiying’s arms.
“I accidentally pulled it down. Here.”
The moment he finished speaking, Gu Yunche fled back into the house with lightning speed.
Mu Guiying felt as though an oversized cooked shrimp had just floated past her eyes. She looked down at the cotton undershirt sewn in the style commonly worn by rural women in the eighties.
Suppressing a laugh, she muttered,
“With a style like this, Gu Yunche still got embarrassed like that. If he ever saw a bikini or lace lingerie, wouldn’t he get a nosebleed?”
Thinking about the upright and heroic Gu Yunche making such an awkward blunder instantly lifted her mood. Humming cheerfully, she first went to collect her clothes.
After all, she was still wearing the village secretary’s wife’s clothes.
When she came out to brush her teeth and wash her face, she noticed Gu Yunche’s washbasin, toothbrush cup, and toothbrush were all still there, with his towel draped over the basin.
Her mood brightened even more.
Gu Yunche was too embarrassed to come out and run into her again, so he was hiding inside the room waiting for her to finish washing up.
Mu Guiying deliberately brushed her teeth slowly and leisurely. She intentionally made him wait, forcing him to stay obediently hidden in the room.
She washed her face with soap. The icy well water felt refreshing and invigorating against her skin, but when she bent over, the wound on her back stretched painfully. She hurriedly splashed away the soap bubbles, straightened up, dried her face, and returned to the room.
Through the window, Gu Yunche watched Mu Guiying finish washing and go back inside.
Annoyed, he raised his hand and punched the wall lightly.
“How could I grab her…”
He was truly humiliating himself.
Even more embarrassing were his thoughts. He shouldn’t overthink it—it was only an accidental mix-up of clothes.
Gu Yunche looked at the reddened tips of his ears reflected in the small round mirror hanging on the wall.
These past few years were crucial for the regiment. Tactical breakthroughs and field training occupied all his attention. He couldn’t think about settling personal matters right now.
But as someone highly educated and even experienced in overseas observation and study, Gu Yunche considered free love and marriage perfectly normal. He had ordinary physical needs and desires for marriage. There was no harm in waiting a few more years before considering such matters.
Thinking this through made him feel much calmer, and he finally pushed open the door to wash up.
At breakfast, Mu Guiying served porridge to the village secretary and the others.
The village secretary’s wife had gotten up early to steam buns and boil eggs. She even packed a small cloth bag of eggs for Mu Guiying to eat on the road.
Yet no one at the table had much appetite. Each person was preoccupied with their own thoughts.
Gu Yunche could also see that Mu Guiying was uneasy.
After pondering for a moment, he comforted her.
“Don’t worry. Liu E won’t dare bring people to snatch you away. We’ll leave right after breakfast.”
Mu Guiying nodded.
Gu Yunche noticed that her hairstyle was simple and neat—a ponytail tied fairly high. Whenever she spoke or nodded, the ponytail swayed back and forth, making her look youthful, lively, and spirited.
Quite pretty, actually.
After breakfast, the two of them set out. The village secretary escorted them to the entrance of the village and even secretly stuffed ten yuan into Mu Guiying’s hand before they left.
Earlier, the village secretary had arranged for Xiao Wu—a driver coming from the county town to collect documents—to give the two of them a ride to the county bus station.
Only after getting into the car did Mu Guiying finally feel somewhat relieved.
After all, in the original novel, Liu E had gathered relatives to block the road and deliberately injured both her and Gu Yunche under the excuse that “the law cannot punish everyone.”
However, in the original story, the two hadn’t been leaving the village for the capital. They had been heading to the county town to register their marriage.
As the vehicle passed the giant locust tree at the village entrance, scenes from the novel flashed through Mu Guiying’s mind. She quickly said to Xiao Wu,
“Let’s take the road on the left. It’s a shorter route.”
In the original novel, Xiao Wu had intentionally taken the longer road to curry favor with Gu Yunche from the capital, which just happened to lead them into Liu E’s ambush.
This time, Mu Guiying changed the route in advance.
Gu Yunche gave a slight nod.
“Comrade Xiao Wu, we’re in a hurry. Please take the shorter road.”
Since Mu Guiying was from the village and clearly knew the roads, Xiao Wu had no choice but to turn left.
Mu Guiying was happy, but she still couldn’t fully relax.
Her arrival had already changed the course of the plot. Didn’t that also mean others might stop acting according to the original story as well?
Thinking of this, Mu Guiying—sitting in the back seat—kept glancing nervously behind them from time to time.
Gu Yunche, seated in the front passenger seat, glanced at the rearview mirror and noticed how restless she looked.
Turning around, he asked,
“What are you worried about?”