The crowd of onlookers around them also held their breath under the suffocating silence.
Only Lin Wan’s faint, suppressed sobs could be heard in the courtyard.
Hearing Wang Manli’s accusation, she subconsciously tightened her grip on the corner of Gu Ye’s clothes.
She had indeed hit someone. With Gu Ye’s ability, he would certainly be able to tell. She just didn’t know how he would react.
Her fingers curled tighter and tighter. If he didn’t stand on her side—or chose to stay neutral—then she would…
“So what?”
The casual sentence was like a drop of cold water splashing into hot oil.
Everyone froze.
Lin Wan’s body stiffened, then a smile flashed across her eyes a moment later.
Gu Ye, oh Gu Ye… you really are…
Since it was an answer that satisfied her,
she would let him off today.
Then she quietly leaned a little deeper into his arms.
…
Gu Ye’s gaze paused for a moment on the red mark on Wang Manli’s face, then moved away as if he hadn’t seen it.
He swept past her shocked and stunned expression.
Without the slightest hesitation or doubt, he spoke. His voice wasn’t loud, but every word was clear, firm, and confident, striking straight into everyone’s hearts:
“My person,”
“even if she really did hit someone—”
He paused briefly. His arm around Lin Wan tightened, drawing her more securely into his embrace. His tone remained calm, yet carried the weight of certainty.
“—then it must mean the other person deserved to be hit.”
“…What?”
Wang Manli couldn’t believe what she heard.
Did he even realize what he was saying?
Gu Ye lifted his eyes.
“My fiancée just arrived here. She doesn’t even know which way the gate opens, let alone who you are.”
“She was staying peacefully in her own home. Do you really think she’d call you over just to slap you?”
The unspoken meaning was obvious: You came here uninvited. What right do you have to demand an explanation?
His logical question stripped away the truth of Wang Manli coming to provoke trouble and laid it bare in front of everyone.
Strangely, his words perfectly echoed Lin Wan’s earlier remark that someone had practically delivered themselves to be slapped.
Wang Manli was left speechless, her face turning crimson. Tears welled up in her eyes—
half from the pain, but even more from anger at Gu Ye’s utterly unreasonable favoritism.
But it wasn’t over yet.
Gu Ye’s cold gaze swept over her.
“This matter isn’t finished.”
“I’ll personally go to the mine’s leadership and demand an explanation.”
“I want to ask whether there’s a rule in this mine that anyone can casually barge into someone else’s home and cause trouble.”
Those words were like the final straw that broke Wang Manli’s nerves.
Go to the leaders? Then what about her uncle… her reputation…
“Gu Ye, how dare you! Are you threatening me?! I’ll tell my uncle—!”
She completely panicked, screaming recklessly as she tried to rely on her usual backing to regain the upper hand.
Just as she was about to shout something even more threatening, Xiao Ling—who had been nervously watching the whole time—suddenly rushed forward and clamped a hand over Wang Manli’s mouth!
“Sister Manli! Stop talking! Please!”
Xiao Ling’s face was even paler than Wang Manli’s. She had clearly seen the murderous look in Gu Ye’s eyes earlier—he was definitely not someone they could afford to provoke.
She hurriedly bowed and nodded toward Gu Ye and Lin Wan.
“I’m sorry! Gu Ye, I’m sorry, sister-in-law! It’s all a misunderstanding! It really is! Sister Manli was just… just acting on impulse! She didn’t mean it! We’ll leave right now! Right now!”
While desperately dragging the still struggling, muffled Wang Manli backward, Xiao Ling tried to get them out of this place as quickly as possible.
Just as she was half dragging, half pulling Wang Manli through the crowd toward the exit—
“Stop.”
Gu Ye’s cold voice rang out again.
Not loud, but it nailed their feet to the ground like iron spikes.
Wang Manli’s back stiffened. Xiao Ling was too frightened to move.
Gu Ye’s gaze passed over the crowd and landed on Wang Manli’s miserable back.
“Apologize.”
Two simple words.
Yet they were more humiliating than any scolding.
Wang Manli suddenly spun around. Her face alternated between red and pale, and the hair she had carefully styled was already disheveled.
To make her bow her head and apologize in front of so many people—to a woman she despised and looked down on?
That was worse than killing her.
The surrounding gazes—some disdainful, some entertained, some curious—stabbed into her like needles.
In her entire life, she had never been this humiliated.
“In your dreams!”
She almost roared the words, her voice sharp and cracking.
“You want me to apologize to her? Impossible!”
The overwhelming humiliation and rage made her lose the last shred of reason.
She shoved Xiao Ling aside and, like a wounded beast, rushed out of the crowd without looking back, quickly disappearing down the path.
Xiao Ling staggered from the push. She didn’t dare linger, hurriedly bowed toward Gu Ye and Lin Wan several times while apologizing repeatedly, then turned and ran after Wang Manli.
With the main actors gone, there was no more show to watch.
Under Gu Ye’s emotionless gaze, the onlookers suddenly felt immense pressure. They awkwardly pushed each other and quickly dispersed like startled birds.
Before long, the courtyard outside—noisy just moments ago—returned to its usual quiet.
Wang Lei looked at the tightly embracing pair, rubbed his nose, and tactfully said,
“Brother Ye… well… since everything’s fine, I’ll head back first.”
After a pause, he added a little worriedly,
“Y-you should comfort sister-in-law properly and see if she got hurt anywhere.”
“If you need anything, just call me!”
Gu Ye nodded to him, his tone softening a little.
“Thanks. I’ll treat you to a meal another day.”
“Hey, no need to be polite. Brother Ye, you saved my life. It’s the least I can do.”
“That’s different.”
“Alright, we’ll talk about it later. I’ll get going.”
Seeing his insistence, Wang Lei stopped refusing and left, looking back several times as he walked away.
At last, the courtyard fell completely silent. Only the two of them remained.
Gu Ye finally withdrew his gaze and focused all his attention on the person in his arms.
Lowering his head, he looked at Lin Wan’s small head still buried in his chest and felt that her slight trembling had calmed somewhat.
He frowned faintly. His large hand clumsily patted her back. His voice softened, carrying patience even he didn’t realize he had.
“Alright, everyone’s gone.”
“Lift your head. Let me see if you’re hurt.”
“…”
Lin Wan said nothing, remaining silent.
Receiving no response, he simply reached out and—not gently but not roughly either—grasped her shoulders and pulled her slightly away from his chest.
Unexpectedly, Lin Wan seemed to struggle to bury herself back in his arms.
But his other hand swiftly lifted her chin, forcing her to raise her face.
Her face was perfectly clean. Aside from the tear stains from earlier and the faint blush on her cheeks, there wasn’t even a red mark, let alone a new injury.
After looking her over for a moment, Gu Ye was completely relieved.
In truth, not long after rushing back, he had already begun to think things through. The anxious burning urgency he felt on the way here gradually faded as his reason returned.
He remembered how Lin Wan had dared to bare her claws at him the first time they met. With her personality, if she had really suffered a big loss, how could she just hide and cry?
She would have jumped up and argued long ago. No—arguing would be too mild. She might even start fighting directly.
For no particular reason, he simply felt she was that kind of person.
But looking at her now—like an ostrich trying to hide herself…
The tension in Gu Ye’s chest finally settled.
The faint annoyance of being schemed against and used was instead washed away by the way she avoided his gaze now, looking strangely guilty.
A trace of emotion flickered in his eyes, mixed with a hint of amusement he himself didn’t notice.
Gu Ye’s fingers were still holding her chin. His thumb unconsciously brushed along the smooth line of her jaw, the roughness of his calluses noticeable.
His dark eyes carried a hint of teasing as he lowered his voice and asked slowly:
“Why are you hiding?”
“Where did the courage go that you had when you were hitting someone just now?”