Down in the mine, the lights were dim and yellow, and the air was thick and murky.
Gu Ye crouched halfway on the ground. With his fingers he pinched up a bit of damp coal slag that had seeped with water, sniffed it at the tip of his nose, then picked up a small stone and quickly drew several lines on the ground. As he explained, he gestured toward the few old miners and the safety foreman who had gathered around him.
“…The water is coming through this old crack. The pressure isn’t high, but the base of this main load-bearing pillar has already softened. It must be reinforced immediately, otherwise the roof above this section…”
His voice wasn’t loud, yet it carried a calm authority that made people trust him.
He tapped the ground with the stone at one spot. “Put the support here. It’ll be the most effective.”
The men crowded around and studied it again and again. One of the older miners suddenly slapped his thigh.
“Right, right! Brother Gu Ye’s absolutely right! We’ve worked this section for so long and didn’t even notice it! If we hadn’t felt something was off and asked you to come down and take a careful look today, who knows what might’ve happened one day…”
Not everyone had Gu Ye’s luck and skill—being able to escape safely when an accident struck.
“Exactly!” Another burly miner wiped sweat from his forehead and said sincerely, “Gu Ye, you really know your stuff! We owe you again this time!”
The team leader also nodded repeatedly, looking relieved. “Gu Ye, good thing you’re so careful and caught the problem in time. I’ll arrange for people to reinforce it right away according to what you said!”
Gu Ye showed little expression. He tossed the stone aside, stood up, and brushed the dust from his hands.
“Do it as soon as possible.”
His words were brief, yet carried a reassuring strength.
After coming up from the mine, Gu Ye went straight to the office of the Second Team to report the situation.
The captain of the Second Team, surnamed Zhao, was a straightforward man. After hearing the report, he gave Gu Ye’s shoulder a heavy pat.
“Good lad! Another merit to your name! Didn’t I say it before? If you could crawl out of the mine alive after that accident, you were bound to be a talent! This time too—good thing we had you!”
He pulled out a cigarette case and flicked one out, offering it to Gu Ye.
“Hard work today. Want one to refresh yourself?”
In those days, cigarettes with filters were a scarce commodity.
Gu Ye instinctively wanted to refuse. He didn’t really have a smoking habit—he hardly smoked at all.
The cigarettes he had before were part of a pack given by the mine leadership during a compensation visit after his injury, and he had never actually smoked them.
But before he could say anything, Captain Zhao suddenly seemed to remember something. With a laugh, he took the cigarette back and slipped it into his own pocket.
“Look at my memory! Forgot you’re not a lone bachelor anymore. You’ve got a wife keeping an eye on you now. I hear pretty girls outside are delicate—they can’t stand the smell of smoke.”
Gu Ye paused slightly. A trace of puzzlement flashed in his eyes.
Was that so?
He had no memory of such things and didn’t really understand.
Seeing his confusion, Captain Zhao leaned closer, looking like he was passing down valuable experience.
“Hey, you don’t get it, do you? The prettier and more delicate the girl, the less she can stand a man smelling like smoke! You’ve got to pay attention!”
“Otherwise she might kick you out and not let you into bed.”
“How’s that possible?”
Gu Ye didn’t believe it. Lin Wan kicking him out?
The reflexive rebuttal came before he even realized it. Perhaps he hadn’t noticed yet, but his thoughts had already begun accepting Lin Wan’s existence faster than his actions had.
Captain Zhao bent over and rummaged through the desk drawer, pulling out a small packet wrapped in oil paper.
Turning around, he stuffed it into Gu Ye’s hand.
“Here, take this. They handed it out at a meeting last time—some kind of new milk candy! Sweet stuff! Take it back for your wife to try. Young girls love these things.”
Gu Ye instinctively tried to refuse, but Captain Zhao cut him off.
“You helped me a lot today. What’s a few candies? Besides, just because you don’t want them doesn’t mean the one at home won’t like them.”
Gu Ye looked at the small, square packet of milk candy in his hand.
For some reason, Lin Wan’s lively face flashed through his mind—
Sometimes her eyes brimmed with tears, looking pitiful and wronged. Other times she lifted her chin stubbornly, acting even tougher than him. In those clear eyes of hers always seemed to hide thoughts he couldn’t quite understand.
She did seem… rather delicate.
Maybe she really would like it.
Silent, Gu Ye slipped the little packet of milk candy into the pocket of his work jacket without refusing.
Consider it repayment for how she came looking for him even while injured.
Seeing this, Captain Zhao’s smile widened, the knowing look of someone experienced appearing on his face.
“Now I understand. So when you kept saying you had a fiancée before, it wasn’t just to shut up Wang Manli and the others—you really were hiding a treasure like this!”
“Not bad. Anyone who can make someone like you settle down must be special. One day you’ve got to let everyone meet her.”
Hearing this, Gu Ye instinctively wanted to refuse. His tone carried a hint of protectiveness he didn’t even notice himself, sounding slightly stiff.
“…We’ll see. She… isn’t quite like other people.”
What he meant was that Lin Wan’s temper came quickly and left quickly, and her thoughts twisted and turned. She was completely different from the honest, straightforward wives of the miners he had seen before…
In short, she wasn’t very obedient and always caught him off guard.
But Captain Zhao clearly interpreted it another way. He nodded in deep agreement and patted Gu Ye’s arm.
“A girl who’s willing to stick with you when your reputation’s bad, when you’ve got no money and no real prospects—how could she be the same as ordinary people?”
“If she were just some plain, rule-following girl, would she have caught your eye?”
Gu Ye froze at the question.
That did seem to make sense.
Although he didn’t know what kind of person he liked before losing his memory, if it was Lin Wan…
Lowering his head, he could feel the square edges of the milk candy through the rough fabric of his pocket.
If… what she said was all true—if she really was the one willing to follow him even when he had nothing…
Then she really was quite special.
The thought quietly settled, leaving a faint ripple in the lake of his heart—one he himself hadn’t clearly noticed yet.
Captain Zhao, being experienced, could tell at a glance that the kid’s mind had already flown back home.
Smiling, he tactfully changed the subject.
“Alright, look at you—your soul’s already gone.”
“You’ve rested enough these past few days. The day after tomorrow, get ready to come back to work with the team.”
He paused, his tone turning a bit serious.
“With you in the mine, everyone feels more at ease.”
“Besides, now you’ve got a wife to support. You’ll have to work harder. You’ve got to give her a better life.”
Gu Ye came back to himself and nodded.
His injury hadn’t been that serious to begin with; after a few days of rest he was mostly fine.
And subconsciously, he felt Captain Zhao had a point.
For some reason, he always felt Lin Wan looked like the kind of person who knew very well how to spend money.
Looking at it that way, maybe it wasn’t impossible that he had come to the mine for money.
“Got it,” he replied.
Captain Zhao waved his hand, about to let him leave. “Alright, go on then…”
But before he could finish speaking—
A rush of hurried, chaotic footsteps sounded outside the office. A young miner burst in, his face pale, panting heavily as he pointed outside.
“Something bad happened! Gu Ye! So—something happened! Your wife! Your wife was beaten!”
Gu Ye’s expression changed instantly.
He didn’t even look at Captain Zhao, nor did he wait for the messenger to finish speaking.
He spun around and rushed out of the office like a gust of wind, moving so fast that only a blurry silhouette remained.
Captain Zhao’s heart skipped a beat. He hurriedly grabbed the messenger and asked,
“What happened?! Who did it? Speak clearly!”
The miner gasped for breath, still shaken.
“It—it was Wang Manli!”
“She took people with her and went looking for trouble while Gu Ye wasn’t home! By the time Wang Lei heard the commotion and rushed over… Gu Ye’s wife… was already knocked to the ground! Wang Manli still had her hand raised, about to keep hitting her…”
“Nonsense!” Captain Zhao’s face darkened as he cursed under his breath.
That Wang Manli—she was completely lawless!
Looking in the direction Gu Ye had disappeared, a sudden unease tightened in his chest.
With Gu Ye’s temperament—he might look cold and tough normally, but if someone dared touch the person he cared about…