What a coincidence!
No other rooms available at the provincial guesthouse?
Mu Guiying certainly didn’t believe it.
So, Bai Lin had already taken a liking to Gu Yunche at this point. She had already seen Mu Guiying as a potential rival in love, which meant she simply didn’t believe Mu Guiying was a distant relative of the Gu family.
Gu Yunche frowned, looking at Mu Guiying with a troubled expression.
Mu Guiying had no intention of imposing on Bai Lin’s aunt’s family. She hugged her cloth bag tightly. “Don’t worry, Eldest Brother Gu. I’ll be fine staying alone.”
Bai Lin’s uncle, Zhang Qingguo, repeatedly assured Gu Yunche that he would take good care of Mu Guiying. Gu Yunche handed Mu Guiying the snacks he had bought in the county town.
“I bought these for you to eat on the road. You didn’t eat much because you were carsick, so take them back and have them.”
Gu Yunche didn’t say much, but these words were quite thoughtful.
Mu Guiying took the food and urged Gu Yunche, “Hurry up and go to Sister Bai Lin’s house. They’re waiting for you!”
Watching Gu Yunche and the others leave, Mu Guiying’s tense nerves finally relaxed completely.
After washing up, she planned to peel an apple to eat when she noticed the small porcelain cat Gu Yunche had bought for Bai Lin was also in this knitted bag.
Mu Guiying stared at the newspaper wrapped carefully in multiple layers. She carefully unwrapped it.
As she ate the apple, she read the newspaper, wanting to gain a deeper understanding of the era she was in.
After reading a few pages, she couldn’t help but smile. She had arrived at just the right time.
She thought gleefully, “I’ve finally been blessed by the goddess of luck. From now on, I’ll be a wealthy person riding the tide of the times! Shencheng, stocks, real estate, the internet, mobile games, artificial intelligence—here I come!”
Just as Mu Guiying was lost in the beautiful dream of having a golden finger, she heard a knock at the door.
She went to open it and saw Gu Yunche rushing back in a hurry.
“Xiao Mu, have you seen my…”
Gu Yunche’s gaze fell on the two small porcelain cats on the table beside the bed, then swept over the newspapers spread out on the bed.
Mu Guiying followed his gaze to the two small porcelain cats. Under the light, the two kittens seemed to be smiling eerily. She had planned to wrap the porcelain cat back up after reading the newspaper, but who would have thought Gu Yunche would come rushing back!
She had assumed Gu Yunche would at least have dinner at Bai Lin’s aunt’s house before returning to retrieve this little thing. Then he and Bai Lin would take a stroll, give her the gift, watch a movie, hold hands, and maybe even share a kiss, deepening their relationship.
But she never expected Gu Yunche to be so impatient as to rush back for the small porcelain cat.
Gu Yunche frowned. “Why did you unwrap the newspaper?”
“Uh…”
Mu Guiying pondered for a few seconds. “I was going to eat sunflower seeds and spit the shells onto it.”
Gu Yunche’s sharp eyes fixed on Mu Guiying.
He chuckled lightly. “I didn’t buy any sunflower seeds.”
Lying failed!
Mu Guiying cleared her throat. “Ah! I was planning to go out and buy some sunflower seeds to eat. Borrowing one of your newspapers to hold the shells isn’t too much to ask, is it?”
Gu Yunche felt like a scholar trying to reason with a soldier—utterly futile.
He nodded slightly. “Perfectly reasonable. But you’re in an unfamiliar place, so don’t wander off.”
With that, Gu Yunche quickly walked over and picked up the two small porcelain cats.
His gaze softened as he looked at the porcelain cats, holding them carefully in his hand.
Before leaving, Gu Yunche reminded her again, “Don’t wander off.”
Before Mu Guiying could reply, Gu Yunche strode downstairs and left.
An inexplicable heaviness settled in her heart.
Being an unpopular supporting female character is truly difficult, mainly because it's bad for one's mood—especially unfriendly to breast health.
Mu Guiying closed the door and walked to the window.
Outside, Gu Yunche had already approached Bai Lin, presenting two small porcelain cats to her as if offering treasures.
Bai Lin was genuinely delighted, her eyes curved into smiles and her lips upturned, radiating a youthful and pure beauty.
Gu Yunche's gaze toward Bai Lin was exceptionally tender, completely unlike the indifference he showed her.
Mu Guiying pulled the curtains shut, blocking the intimate scene outside entirely.
She sat down to continue reading the unfinished newspaper, but her mind was inevitably affected, involuntarily replaying events from the original story…
In the original story, although Mu Guiying was unpleasant, it was Gu Yunche's indifference that gradually made her increasingly disagreeable.
Despite her many flaws, when Mu Guiying first married Gu Yunche, aside from scheming to climb into his bed to escape Liu E's household, she harbored no other ill intentions. It was under Gu Yunche's coldness, the Gu family's rejection, and Bai Lin's constant provocations that she gradually lost her original self, becoming the universally despised Mu Guiying. Her relationship and marriage with Gu Yunche spiraled into a vicious cycle.
The colder Gu Yunche grew, the more extreme her behavior became, with Bai Lin acting as the catalyst for their deteriorating relationship.
In the original story, Mu Guiying came from the countryside, haunted by poverty. She loved saving money, hoarding Gu Yunche's salary for emergencies, yet Gu Yunche consistently gave half of his salary, food coupons, and fabric ration tickets to Bai Lin.
He claimed that Bai Lin, as a university student, didn't have enough to eat or wear, and as her older brother, he couldn't stand by and watch her go hungry.
Mu Guiying initially tolerated this. But once, Gu Yunche spent several food coupons to buy two boxes of imported chocolate biscuits. Having never tasted them, she wanted to keep one box for herself, and Gu Yunche agreed.
In the end, he sent one box to the Gu family and gave the other to Bai Lin.
To placate her, Gu Yunche bought two jin of hawthorn pastries for Mu Guiying from the store, saying, "Bai Lin is sick and has no appetite. She asked for them, so I couldn't refuse."
Mu Guiying was deeply disappointed. She threw the two jin of hawthorn pastries in front of Gu Yunche, who found her unreasonable and returned to the military base.
Regretting her actions, Mu Guiying retrieved the pastries. She ate them while weeping, the choking sensation gradually turning her heart cold.
From then on, Mu Guiying stopped saving money. She began squandering the other half of Gu Yunche's salary, dressing flamboyantly and parading around the neighborhood. Everyone in the compound said she wasn't a woman meant for a stable life and that Gu Yunche had been trapped by her…
Recalling this, Mu Guiying found the apple in her hand sour and unsatisfying.
She tossed the core into the trash, declaring, "I can't repeat the original character's mistakes! Stay away from men, avoid marriage and childbirth, ensure peace, and make big money!"
Mu Guiying clenched her fists, cheering herself on.
After tidying up briefly, she lay on the bed and continued reading the newspaper.
At the home of Bai Lin's uncle, Zhang Qingguo, the dining room was filled with joyous gatherings.
The table laden with delicious dishes made the Zhang siblings realize that a distinguished guest had truly arrived.
Zhang Qingqing, Bai Lin's cousin, fixed her beautiful eyes on Gu Yunche seated across from her, sitting upright with an air of grace.
Bai Lin noticed Zhang Qingqing's subtle actions and smirked inwardly, thinking her cousin remained as unsophisticated as ever.
She picked up a piece of braised pork and placed it in Gu Yunche's bowl. "Brother Yunche, I made this myself. Please try it."
Gu Yunche hadn't expected that after all these years apart, Bai Lin had already learned to cook.
However, as a student about to take the college entrance exams, why did her family still require her to cook meals?