Upon hearing this, Gu Wanxing lowered her eyes slightly, concealing the emotions within them. "I'm much better now. Thank you so much."
She deliberately avoided mentioning the child, because she didn't want to bring up that ungrateful wretch.
"That's good to hear. The river just thawed, so you'll need to be more careful from now on."
Fu Zheng reminded her with good intentions.
Gu Wanxing looked at her savior gratefully, and saw that on the man's sharply defined face, his thin lips were pressed tightly into an elegant line, and his deep, handsome eyes held a hint of careful scrutiny.
But… why did this face look more and more familiar? Who was he?
In a flash of lightning, a figure suddenly crashed into her mind—a handsome soldier, but… that man had no legs.
He had always relied on a wheelchair to get around.
At this moment, the handsome face in her memory was perfectly overlapping with the man before her.
If she wasn't mistaken, this person before her was none other than the great titan of both military and business circles who had never married and never had children his entire life.
In her previous life, she had seen him on television because he frequently engaged in charity work, but his legs…
Her pupils trembled as her gaze fell on those long, straight legs.
Gu Wanxing's heart was now pounding violently against her chest—his legs were still there!
That's right, in his previous life, when he was interviewed, he had mentioned that his legs were injured during a mission in 1990, resulting in amputation, and from then on, he lived in a wheelchair.
That was why he paid special attention to disabled children, wanting to use his limited abilities to help those children with disabilities.
So a figure of such prominence had once been her savior?
Gu Wanxing couldn't help but feel a bit excited, but she had no idea exactly when this big shot had been injured. What was she supposed to do?
She only knew it was 1990. She couldn't very well tell him not to participate in any missions next year, could she? Wouldn't that just be asking to be arrested as an enemy spy?
Just as Gu Wanxing was agonizing over this, Fu Zheng spoke up. Though his voice was somewhat cold, his tone was gentle: "Are you alright?"
A soldier's professional habit was observation. Seeing her expression change repeatedly, Fu Zheng thought she might be feeling unwell—after all, it was March, and the northeast had only just thawed not long ago.
A frail woman and child suddenly falling into the water—if she didn't recover properly, she could easily fall ill.
Gu Wanxing snapped back to reality, looked up to meet his concerned gaze, and quickly waved her hand: "I'm fine, I'm fine. Um…"
She hesitated, trying to figure out how to give him a hint.
Fu Zheng frowned slightly and asked tentatively, "Is there something you need help with?"
Gu Wanxing fell silent at the question. Did she need help with something? She just wanted to help this big shot—his ending shouldn't have been like that.
A man who had devoted his entire life to his country and its people deserved to enjoy all the beauty the world had to offer.
"By the way, I don't even know your name yet. Are you from one of the nearby villages too?"
After thinking it over, Gu Wanxing decided she should get to know him. If possible, she was willing to give him one of the elixir pills from her Spatial Dimension—maybe it could save his legs at a critical moment.
But not now, because she didn't yet know what elixir pills she had. She'd need to go back and check whether there was a pill for treating leg injuries, or perhaps one that would make him exceptionally powerful. If he became strong himself, maybe he wouldn't have to suffer the pain of amputation.
Fu Zheng nodded. "My name is Fu Zheng, from Liuxi Village."
"I'm from Gu Family Village—we're not far apart. Comrade Fu, a drop of kindness deserves a spring in return. You saved my life, which makes you my second parent. I absolutely must repay you. Oh, and my name is Gu Wanxing."
Gu Wanxing smiled brightly, her tone sincere, but her words came out quickly.
She had slipped out without anyone knowing this time; meeting Fu Zheng was purely accidental. Now time was short—if those mother and daughter returned, things would get troublesome.
Hearing this, Fu Zheng raised an eyebrow slightly, his tone relaxed yet firm: "No need to thank me. Protecting the safety of the people is our duty. It's nothing worth mentioning."
He would naturally say that, but Gu Wanxing had already made up her mind to repay the favor. She didn't waste words arguing about it, said her goodbyes, and left.
Watching her hurriedly retreating figure, Fu Zheng's expression gradually grew deep and subtle.
It shouldn't be his imagination—she seemed to have something she wanted to say to him.
He just didn't know why she hadn't said it in the end.
…
Gu Wanxing returned the way she came. She slipped through the broken fence, put the corn stalks back in place, and then returned to the front yard.
She listened in the yard for a while and didn't hear anyone inside, so she quickly entered the house.
It seemed those mother and daughter hadn't returned yet.
The first thing Gu Wanxing did when she got back to the room was change out of Liu Xifeng's worn-out clothes. She didn't return them but instead stored them directly into her Spatial Dimension.
Watching the tattered clothes vanish into thin air from the bed, she couldn't help but marvel again—this Spatial Dimension was truly a wonderful thing.
Just as she was feeling delighted, the sound of the front gate being unlocked came from outside.
Gu Wanxing looked up toward the window—it was Zhao Chengyan returning.
Ever since her rebirth, she had imagined countless ways for Zhao Chengyan to die, wishing she could kill him outright, stuff him into her Spatial Dimension, and dispose of the evidence by destroying the corpse.
But she couldn't do that. Why should she stain her hands with filthy blood? And why should her Spatial Dimension be polluted by such a beast?
She wanted him to suffer more in life than in death—death would be an escape.
Unable to die, yet unable to live—that was the fate Zhao Chengyan deserved most!
When Zhao Chengyan opened the bedroom door and pushed aside the curtain, what he met was Gu Wanxing's pair of pitch-black eyes, as still and lifeless as a frozen pool in winter—so eerily calm it was unsettling.
He froze for a moment.
Then he noticed the unfolded blanket on the bed, and his brow furrowed involuntarily as a nameless anger rose in his chest.
He walked to the bedside and questioned her out of habit: "You were sleeping? Sleeping in broad daylight—what kind of behavior is that? It's your day off today; you should be taking care of the child yourself."
Gu Wanxing sneered inwardly. He'd been out enjoying himself all morning, and she couldn't even catch a nap at home? And she was supposed to take care of the child too—how ridiculous.
"What? You can go out carousing, but I can't sleep a bit at home?"
When had Gu Wanxing ever spoken to him like that before?
Caught off guard by her retort, a flicker of guilt flashed in Zhao Chengyan's eyes: "What nonsense are you talking? Who's been carousing? I was handling business—normal business!"
"Handling business… handling business with some woman? Handling what? When your daughter fell into the water and nearly drowned, you were 'handling business' with her at a restaurant, feeding her son meat with your own chopsticks!"
"What?"
Zhao Chengyan didn't quite catch what she meant by falling into the water.
"I'm saying—"
Gu Wanxing swallowed the words on the tip of her tongue, because through the window she spotted an "unexpected guest" entering through the front gate.
She couldn't help but let out a derisive snort: "So this is your 'handling business'? You've brought the woman right to our doorstep?"