Gu Ye silently met her gaze. For the first time, he looked a little awkward and turned his eyes away.
For a moment, the room fell completely silent.
After quite a while, he seemed to find his voice again.
“Is there really no other reason?”
He still felt that this little bit of “kindness” alone wasn’t enough reason for her to risk everything and escape just to find him.
Lin Wan shifted under his gaze, feeling slightly uncomfortable. Her cheeks warmed. Lowering her head, she spoke even more softly, with a hint of blunt honesty, like someone who had decided to just spill everything.
“…Well… not exactly.”
“Mainly… mainly because you’re handsome.”
“I… I’ve never seen anyone better-looking than you.”
Gu Ye: “…”
He paused. All the complicated thoughts in his mind were instantly shattered by that straightforward—almost shallow—answer.
Looking at her, even the tips of her ears had turned red, yet she was still pretending to remain calm. That strange sense of absurdity rose in his chest again.
But oddly enough, mixed with that absurdity was another feeling… an indescribable sense that this reason was damn real.
He almost laughed out of exasperation and asked vaguely, “So it’s just because of this face of mine?”
Lin Wan quickly glanced up at him, then lowered her head again and muttered softly,
“…What about you?”
“Me what?”
“When you first… liked me, what was it about me?”
She lifted her head and looked at him with moist, curious eyes, tossing the question right back at him lightly.
“Maybe… you just thought I looked pretty too?”
Gu Ye was momentarily choked by her confident counterquestion. His first instinct was to say, How would I know?
But before the words could leave his mouth—
Lin Wan suddenly leaned closer.
The distance between them instantly shrank. He could clearly smell the faint scent of soap on her.
She asked curiously,
“Could it be…”
“…that I’m not good-looking?”
All of Gu Ye’s words got stuck in his throat.
His gaze uncontrollably fell on her face.
She tilted her head slightly. Her bangs had been brushed aside while treating her wound, revealing her smooth forehead and small, pale face completely.
The details that had previously been hidden by her disheveled state and tears were now clear under the lamplight.
Her skin was very fair. The skin around the wound carried a fragile redness. Her nose was delicate, her lips full. Put together, her features formed a kind of harmless, almost innocent beauty.
Yet when those eyes looked at someone, beneath the clarity there seemed to be a hidden hook—pure to the extreme, yet quietly alluring.
His Adam’s apple bobbed uncontrollably.
Somewhere deep in his heart, it felt as if a feather had lightly brushed past, leaving behind a strange, tingling flutter he had never felt before.
The feeling came suddenly and fiercely, catching him completely off guard.
He abruptly stood up, the movement so big that it knocked over the chair behind him with a loud clang.
“I suddenly have something to deal with. You take the bed tonight!”
He practically threw those words out, not daring to look at her again.
Then he strode out the door in something close to a panicked retreat, slamming it shut behind him with a thunderous bang.
Lin Wan was startled by his sudden reaction.
He… ran away?
Looking at the door that was still trembling slightly, she blinked. Then a sly smile slowly crept onto her lips.
If the original owner of this body hadn’t been pretty, her family wouldn’t have been able to sell her off for such a high price.
She had lived cautiously and quietly for more than ten years, finally raising herself to this age—yet still ended up with that kind of fate.
Lin Wan’s expression dimmed.
It didn’t matter.
She would avenge her.
Those lies she told were meant to disrupt Gu Ye’s suspicions and throw off his rhythm—but her promise to help him take revenge was real.
Otherwise, all the suffering she went through on the way here would have been for nothing.
She was very good at holding grudges.
Though it was a bit of a pity—she had pushed too hard and scared him away.
Originally, she had planned to have a little “close contact” tonight while the moment was hot.
Outside the door, Gu Ye leaned against the cold wall.
The night wind brushed over his burning ears, yet it couldn’t blow away the strange restlessness in his chest.
He raised a hand and rubbed his face hard. All he could see in his mind was that pure yet alluring face that had leaned close to him moments ago.
Damn.
He thought awkwardly.
If it really was because of that face…
…it didn’t seem completely impossible.
After Gu Ye left, he didn’t show up again until nightfall.
The mining site wasn’t big. Even the smallest bit of news spread quickly.
The rumor that Gu Ye’s room now had a delicate “fiancée” in it spread quietly through the small circles of workers and their families like it had grown wings.
In the back kitchen of the mine cafeteria, dinner service had already passed.
Old Chef Chen sat in a corner, silently smoking his pipe.
Several female helpers were cleaning the stoves, preparing their own supper.
A greasy lightbulb hung overhead, casting a dim yellow glow.
“Hey, have you heard? That Gu Ye from Team Two brought a girl back! Says she’s his fiancée!”
The sharp-tongued Sister Liu started the gossip first while scrubbing a large basin.
“How could we not hear? I even heard that fiancée of his threw a little tantrum at the mine entrance.”
The younger Xiao Fang immediately chimed in, sounding a bit envious.
“But I don’t think it’s fake. This evening Wang Lei even came to get two servings of food—one had meat and eggs. Must’ve been for that girl!”
“Usually those two bachelors just make do. When have you seen them act like this?”
Wu Hongxia, who had been silent until now and was slightly older, finally spoke in a calm tone.
“What’s so strange about that? Didn’t Gu Ye say when he first arrived that he came out here to earn bride money? Now that his girl has traveled all the way here, it’s only natural he’d treat her well.”
Her words were like a splash of cold water, cooling the gossip a little.
“That’s true, but where did that woman come from? What does she look like?” Sister Liu still couldn’t help being curious.
“I didn’t see her face clearly. She kept her head down and wore old clothes, but she looked pretty slim. Kind of pitiful-looking…”
Xiao Fang recalled.
“Wang Lei was protecting her like crazy, calling her ‘sister-in-law’ every other sentence.”
Just as they were talking, an annoyed female voice suddenly came from the cafeteria window, full of arrogance.
“What’s going on? Why are there only a few slices of meat today? Are you feeding a cat?!”
The women looked over in the direction of the voice and silently thought the same thing:
Trouble’s here.
The newcomer was Wang Manli, the niece of Vice Mine Director Sun.
She held a relaxed position in the mine’s records office. Relying on her uncle’s power, she was notoriously domineering—someone nobody at the mine dared to provoke easily.
More importantly, it was no secret that she had her eyes on Gu Ye.
Sister Liu, who was serving food, hurried over with an apologetic smile.
“Oh my, Miss Manli, sorry, sorry! Meat’s a bit scarce today. Each portion got less than usual. Next time—next time I’ll definitely give you extra!”
Wang Manli’s expression was unpleasant as she prepared to leave with her aluminum lunch box.
But just then she happened to hear Xiao Fang whispering inside:
“…If I were Gu Ye, I’d choose his little wife too. She might be a bit delicate, but at least she seems gentle…”
Wang Manli suddenly stopped in her tracks.
She whipped her head around. Her gaze was like a poisoned hook as it shot toward the gossiping women in the kitchen. Her voice rose sharply.
“What did you just say? Gu Ye’s what wife?”
Sister Liu and Xiao Fang trembled in fright, immediately lowering their heads and pretending to work, not daring to answer.
Even the usually calm Wu Hongxia frowned.
Looking at their reactions—and thinking of the pitiful few slices of meat in her lunch box—Wang Manli quickly guessed what was going on.
Jealousy and anger ignited in her chest instantly, spreading through her whole body. Her face darkened as if water could drip from it.
She slammed the lunch box heavily onto the counter with a harsh bang, splashing soup everywhere.
Her cold eyes swept across the kitchen workers as she squeezed out a sentence through gritted teeth:
“Fine. I’d like to see what kind of fairy beauty she is.”