By reflex, he quickly withdrew his hand.
The wooden door, losing its push, slammed straight into Su Nanzhi’s head.
The tears that had been welling up in Su Nanzhi’s eyes immediately spilled over.
It hurt so much.
Su Nanzhi couldn’t help but glare at Gu Xizhou.
What did he eat to grow up with that much strength?
Gu Xizhou lowered his gaze somewhat awkwardly, a faint flush gradually creeping up to the tips of his ears.
Meeting the gossipy stares of the aunties and older sisters outside the door, Su Nanzhi’s lips pursed, and she immediately burst into tears. “Aunties, sisters, you have to judge this fairly for me.”
“I only wanted to get back my family heirloom jade pendant when I called off the engagement. Why is it so hard?”
Qin Lie and Zhao Xue were flushed red under the gazes of the aunties and sisters outside the door, and they stopped thinking about anything else.
Those who needed to return the jade pendant returned it; those who needed to apologize apologized.
“Su Nanzhi, Zhao Xue has returned the jade pendant to you. Stop making a scene.” Qin Lie’s face was dark enough to be frightening, and he practically squeezed the words out through gritted teeth. “I won’t call off the engagement anymore. What more do you want?”
Su Nanzhi wasn’t surprised by his sudden change of heart.
In her previous life, Qin Lie hadn’t divorced her under the pretense of true love with Zhao Xue until he had become a chief officer and was certain that his improper conduct wouldn’t affect his career.
In this life, Qin Lie was only a deputy battalion commander. He wouldn’t let anything happen that could affect his future advancement.
Still, Su Nanzhi found his shamelessness laughable, so she just cried even louder.
Seeing that she had attracted the attention of people from the nearby wards, she finally stopped crying.
“Fine, no calling off the engagement. But starting this month, I’ll be in charge of your allowance.”
The moment those words came out, Zhao Xue’s expression immediately changed.
Although she hadn’t yet confirmed a relationship with Qin Lie, she had always tacitly assumed his allowance belonged to her.
Now that the allowance was going into someone else’s hands, she wasn’t happy about it.
But she wasn’t stupid enough to voice opposition in front of everyone, since she had no official standing right now.
With that thought, she couldn’t help but shoot Su Nanzhi a vicious glare.
Qin Lie, on the other hand, didn’t care who held the allowance, but since Su Nanzhi had made him lose so much face, he hadn’t yet figured out how to teach her a lesson. Naturally, he didn’t want the money to fall into her hands.
He frowned, about to refuse, when Political Commissar Zhu beside him spoke up first. “Alright, tomorrow happens to be the day allowances are distributed. I’ll have one of my men deliver it to you.”
Qin Lie wanted to object, but one glare from Political Commissar Zhu silenced him.
“Political Commissar Zhu, thank you so much. It’s because of leaders like you that ordinary folks like us can get justice and live good lives…”
Su Nanzhi’s flattery came easily. In her previous life, she had clawed her way through the business world to make money, saying what people wanted to hear, whether they were human or ghost.
Political Commissar Zhu said it was nothing, but the corners of his mouth were practically reaching his ears.
Seeing that there was no more drama to watch, the aunties and sisters outside the door quickly dispersed.
But the gossip about Qin Lie would probably circulate in the military unit for a long time.
Political Commissar Zhu left after settling the matter.
Su Nanzhi, using the excuse that she needed money for hospitalization and treatment, emptied the pockets of both Qin Lie and Zhao Xue.
Thinking of how black their faces were—like the bottom of a wok—when they left, Su Nanzhi’s counting of the money became a few degrees more cheerful.
“Political Commissar Zhu sent me to get your letter of introduction.”
A cold, harsh male voice startled Su Nanzhi.
She looked up and met Gu Xizhou’s dark, deep gaze.
Her philtrum still throbbed with a faint pain, and she couldn’t help but glare at Gu Xizhou.
Gu Xizhou’s abyss-like eyes narrowed slightly, like a hunter who had found his prey.
Su Nanzhi couldn’t help but lean back. Now she understood why Gu Xizhou was called the “Cold-faced King of Hell” in the military.
“Can you turn around?”
Su Nanzhi sat up straight, looking at Gu Xizhou without any hint of evasion.
“The letter of introduction is on me, close to my body.”
Because there were too many people and prying eyes on the train, and she was afraid of losing it, she had placed her valuables in a pocket sewn into her undershirt.
When she arrived at Jiashu Yuan in the morning, she hadn’t had time to take out the letter of introduction.
Gu Xizhou’s body stiffened. He gave Su Nanzhi a scrutinizing look before turning around.
He focused on a black spot on the white wall of the hospital ward, but the rustling sounds of clothes being removed reached his ears, and his ears unconsciously flushed red again.
“Regiment Commander Gu, my letter of introduction.”
Only then did Gu Xizhou turn around.
Although it was already early summer, Su Nanzhi was still wearing a long-sleeved floral shirt. Because of her rummaging just now, the collar was slightly askew, and her fair, almost pale collarbone was faintly visible, giving her an inexplicably languid beauty.
Gu Xizhou turned and saw this scene. He immediately averted his head, a blush spreading from his ears down to his neck.
Seeing this, Su Nanzhi finally realized what was happening.
The Cold-faced King of Hell, Gu Xizhou, was unexpectedly innocent.
She leisurely smoothed out her messy collar.
After waiting a moment longer, Gu Xizhou finally turned back. Seeing the calm on Su Nanzhi’s face, his gaze deepened a few shades.
Su Nanzhi’s reaction was completely unlike that of an ordinary woman.
Suppressing the strange feeling in his heart, Gu Xizhou spoke in a low voice. “My apologies.”
Su Nanzhi raised an eyebrow. Having someone see her collarbone was no different from having them see the back of her hand.
However…
“If apologies were useful, what would we need the police for?”
Su Nanzhi clutched her chest tightly, looking frail and easy to bully, yet her face was full of smugness.
Gu Xizhou kept a cold expression, waiting to see what kind of threat Su Nanzhi would make.
“An apology should be sincere.” Su Nanzhi flashed a playful smile. “If Captain Gu truly feels sorry, then let it be exchanged for a favor you’ll owe me in the future.”
Gu Xizhou frowned but said nothing more. He glanced at Su Nanzhi, then left the hospital room with the letter of introduction in hand.
Closing the hospital room door, Gu Xizhou looked down at the letter in his hand, feeling as though the letter still carried Su Nanzhi’s body heat…
Once the room was completely empty, Su Nanzhi finally pulled the jade pendant out of her pocket.
The pendant was shaped like a white koi fish, lifelike in appearance, though the jade material itself was not of good quality. But to her, it held extraordinary significance.
It was a keepsake left to her by her father.
Yet in her previous life, it had become a token of love between Zhao Xue and Qin Lie.
Su Nanzhi’s hand unconsciously tightened around the jade pendant. The dried blood on her fingers, dampened by sweat, stuck to the pendant’s surface.
A faint glimmer of light flashed before her eyes.
The next second, Su Nanzhi felt her mind go blank, and a familiar building appeared before her.
The building was about five stories tall, with a conspicuous sign hanging above the entrance.
Nanzhi Supermarket.