Mu Guiying asked if he believed what she said.
Gu Yunche slid his hands into the pockets of his sharply pressed dark gray trousers, his expression inscrutable as he stared at her.
He suddenly let out a cold laugh. "Do you think I would?"
The conversation had hit a dead end!
Mu Guiying smoothed her braid, asking irritably, "Regiment Commander Gu, are you saying you never intended to take me away from the start, right?"
Gu Yunche's mood was complicated at that moment.
The scant pity he had felt for Mu Guiying had indeed dwindled to almost nothing; he even regretted ever considering taking her away from this place.
"Right. Your character and mindset are both problematic. I don't want you living near my parents."
Gu Yunche answered in a low voice. He didn't want her to return to the capital with him, but he hadn't planned on abandoning her entirely.
Mu Guiying stared blankly at Gu Yunche before her. He was tall and broad-shouldered, with a bronze complexion and sharply defined, deep-set features like a Greek statue. His thin lips were pressed together, his nose bridge was strong and handsome, but his dark, profound peach-blossom eyes held a cold light, appearing both wild and unrestrained yet dignified and noble, reserved yet sensual.
Yet it was this man, who could make any woman's heart flutter, who spoke such cold words to her. Biting her lip, she stared at him unblinkingly.
Gu Yunche cleared his throat lightly, about to explain his plans.
Just then, he saw Mu Guiying adjust her shirt, her gaze cold and mocking.
She retorted coldly, "But if Regiment Commander Gu hadn't given the drugged wine to the fool, I wouldn't have ended up in such a miserable state. Does Regiment Commander Gu feel no guilt toward me at all?"
Mu Guiying straightened her back, her words harsh and unyielding.
"You take me away from Liu E's house, and we'll consider the matter of you giving the fool wine settled. If you don't take me away, then I'll call the local police station and tell them you were the fool's accomplice—that you knew the wine was drugged and still let him drink it. By then, I'm afraid even Regiment Commander Gu won't be able to explain it clearly, right?"
She spoke bluntly because she detected a hint of "room for negotiation" in Gu Yunche's response.
Gu Yunche didn't want her living near his parents, and coincidentally, she had no desire to get close to the Gu family either. But that didn't prevent him from taking her away from here.
As long as she could escape Liu E, with her current knowledge and abilities, surely she could scrape by in the capital of 1984, right?
Gu Yunche was stunned for a moment, then nodded.
"Comrade Mu is indeed sharp-witted and perceptive. I admire that."
Of course she was! She was more than just sharp-witted.
Back in 2024, she had competed for a living against female streamers who each had eight hundred tricks up their sleeves. If she hadn't grown extra cunning, she would have been kicked out of the game long ago.
Mu Guiying pondered for a moment before asking, "Regiment Commander Gu, will you… take me away?"
Gu Yunche looked at Mu Guiying's porcelain-like face, flushed with a faint pink from excitement.
He raised an eyebrow. "After all you've said, how could I not take you?"
Mu Guiying paused, contemplating Gu Yunche's tone and meaning.
She cursed inwardly: Could this Gu guy even speak properly? Always using rhetorical questions and beating around the bush—was that fun?
Seeing that Mu Guiying showed no intention of leaving, Gu Yunche coughed awkwardly twice.
"Go back and pack your things. We'll leave first thing tomorrow morning, heading to the county town first."
Gu Yunche had made up his mind. He would take Mu Guiying to the capital, settle her in a hotel first, and wait until she turned eighteen next month. After she obtained her ID card and registered her household registration, he would find her a job as a worker in a textile factory. In the future, the Gu family would treat Mu Guiying as a relative. She could live in the textile factory's single dormitory and wouldn't need to disturb his parents at home.
This way, the Gu family would have done their part, and Mu Guiying would have job security—a perfect solution for both!
As Gu Yunche looked up, he saw Mu Guiying staring at him, her eyes brimming with tears, looking pitiful and vulnerable.
He frowned in displeasure. "What are you going to fuss about now?"
Mu Guiying suppressed the curses she wanted to hurl and muttered softly to herself over and over.
"Inner peace, inner peace. A wise woman doesn't fight a losing battle. I'll get away from here first."
Gu Yunche didn't catch what Mu Guiying was muttering. He pressed his tongue against the inside of his cheek, lowered his eyelids, and glanced at the tips of his leather shoes.
He spoke tonelessly, "Comrade Mu, if you have nothing else, go home and pack your things. I need to rest."
Mu Guiying got out of bed, slipped on her shoes, and went out.
She kept repeating that phrase to calm herself down, afraid she might impulsively curse out loud—
"Gu Yunche, you dog of a man with ulterior motives! You want me to go back and pack? Would I even be able to come out again? Besides, Liu E's place is no home—it's a den of demons."
As soon as Mu Guiying left, Gu Yunche closed the door. The moment the door slammed shut, he realized he had misspoken.
How could he have told Mu Guiying to go back and pack her things?
Would she even make it out unscathed?
Given Liu E's family's ignorant and lawless behavior, they might even force that fool to consummate the relationship with Mu Guiying.
By then, it would be a done deed, and taking Mu Guiying away would become even more complicated.
Although Mu Guiying's character wasn't great, she was still a young girl in the bloom of youth. If she were truly violated by a fool, how could he ever face wearing his military uniform again?
Gu Yunche pressed his fingers to his temples. "My mind is all muddled from their nonsense."
He pulled the door open to call Mu Guiying back, only to see her scooping a handful of clear water from the washbasin beside the village Party branch secretary's door, dripping it on her face and smearing it around her eyes. She practiced a sorrowful expression twice before turning and slipping into the lit room of the village Party branch secretary.
Soon, Mu Guiying's sobs could be heard from inside.
"Old Secretary, I finally managed to get Regiment Commander Gu to take me away, but now I have a problem. I can't go back to my aunt's place—I'm afraid if I go back, I won't be able to leave again!"
She continued weeping, "Old Secretary, please have pity on Guiying. Let me stay at your place for just one night!"
Gu Yunche smiled wryly, turned back into his room, and slammed the door shut with a thunderous crash.
He grumbled irritably, "Hah, a leopard never changes its spots. I really underestimated her."
That night, after settling in, Mu Guiying sat dazedly on the earthen kang. The village Party branch secretary's wife came in carrying two buckets of hot water on a shoulder pole.
She said gently, "Guiying, wash up and change into my clothes."
Mu Guiying's eyes were red-rimmed. After a exhausting day, she had run out of tears earlier, but now she was genuinely moved by the kindness of the village Party branch secretary and his wife.
"Auntie, thank you and the Old Secretary for taking me in."
The Party branch secretary's wife comforted Mu Guiying with a few words, found a new towel, a newly made women's undershirt and shorts for her, along with a washed set of trousers and a shirt, then left the room.
Mu Guiying wiped herself briefly, but many parts of her body were covered in bloody welts from Liu E's beating. Her back burned with a searing pain—even if the skin wasn't torn open, it was still covered in scars.
She walked to the rectangular mirror hanging on the wall and turned to examine her injuries, but what she saw was the face of "Mu Guiying" in the reflection. So startled was she that she dropped the towel in her hand.
The "Mu Guiying" in the mirror was unmistakably Mu Cheng from her senior year of high school. The original Mu Guiying in the book actually had a face identical to her own.
Could this also be the reason she had transmigrated into the book?