“Let’s take her to the hospital first,” Gu Jingcheng said.
Meng Yao nodded. Gu Jingcheng bent down and lifted the pregnant woman onto the carriage, with Meng Yao quickly following to help steady her.
“To the hospital,” Gu Jingcheng instructed Lao San, who was pulling the cart in front.
Lao San exerted a bit more effort, and the carriage set off toward the hospital.
After speaking, Gu Jingcheng returned to the spot where they had been earlier, picked up the flowers Meng Yao had dropped, and jogged to catch up with the carriage.
About ten minutes later, the carriage stopped at the hospital entrance.
Gu Jingcheng carried the woman inside. After the examination, the doctor said she was fine, but given her advanced pregnancy, she needed to stay in the hospital for observation for a few days.
Meng Yao breathed a sigh of relief. Thankfully, she was okay.
In the ward, the woman looked quite alert. Sitting on the hospital bed, she thanked the three of them, “Comrades, what are your names? I’ll have a commendation banner made and sent to you another day. I’m really sorry for all the trouble today.”
“No need!”
Meng Yao and Gu Jingcheng spoke in unison.
Gu Jingcheng raised an eyebrow and glanced at the young girl in front of him. Her skin was fair, her eyes large, and her figure somewhat slender. He hadn’t expected her to be so brave—such courage to step up and help wasn’t something just anyone on the street possessed.
Now she was even refusing the commendation banner, which made him feel a bit more favorable toward her.
The woman insisted, “That won’t do. I have to thank you, otherwise—”
“Fangxiu! Fangxiu!”
The woman suddenly stopped speaking and called toward the door, “Ye Lei, I’m here!”
As soon as she finished speaking, a bespectacled middle-aged man appeared at the ward entrance. He looked refined and scholarly, though at the moment he appeared slightly disheveled.
So this was Sister Fangxiu’s husband—Ye Lei.
Only after repeatedly confirming that his wife was fine did Ye Lei turn to thank the others, “I’m truly sorry. I’m a high school teacher in the county town, and I’m usually quite busy with my students. If it weren’t for you today, my wife would have been in real danger.”
Like Fangxiu, Ye Lei was an honest person. By the end of his words, his eyes were reddening. “I’ll kneel to thank you!”
Meng Yao hurried forward to stop him. “That’s not necessary, really.”
Seeing that everything was fine, Meng Yao and the others prepared to leave. Ye Lei repeatedly insisted that if they ever needed help in the future, they should come find him at the school—he taught at No. 2 High School.
After bidding farewell to Ye Lei and his wife, the three of them left together. Once outside the hospital, Meng Yao let out a sigh of relief.
Gu Jingcheng, who had been observing her, noticed her change in mood and couldn’t help but find it amusing. “What, doing good deeds without leaving a name?”
Meng Yao looked up at him, meeting his teasing eyes, her feelings complicated.
In her past life, her interactions with Gu Jingcheng had been few.
The only thing she knew for certain was that Gu Jingcheng didn’t care for her family and, by extension, looked down on both sisters.
The two families had become connected only because, while searching for the missing Meng Yu, her grandfather had not only saved Gu Jingcheng’s father’s life but also rescued the Gu family’s business.
After learning about their family’s situation, the Gu family patriarch knelt on the spot, saying he was willing to help search for the missing granddaughter. As a gesture of gratitude, he arranged for Meng Yao and Gu Jingcheng to be engaged as children. However, after Meng Yu returned, unwilling to marry Song Wei and follow the army, she wanted to marry into the Gu family for a life of comfort and ended up stealing Meng Yao’s engagement.
In her past life, Gu Jingcheng had looked down on Meng Yu. In this life, it was unlikely he would think much of her either. If he knew she was the one he was supposed to marry, he probably wouldn’t give her a friendly look.
Just now, the Ye Lei family was so enthusiastic, but this Gu Jingcheng was clever, standing behind her, so all of Ye Lei’s enthusiasm was directed at her.
“Aren’t you the same?” she retorted, word by word, “Doing good deeds without leaving a name!”
She casually tucked the hair behind her ear, her mind wandering, wondering if she had forgotten to buy anything.
Gu Jingcheng didn’t get angry when he was rebuked. He stared blankly at her slightly indignant expression.
The girl’s skin was fair, her eyes lively and clear, her features delicate. Although dressed in coarse cloth, she carried herself with a natural grace and efficiency. How to put it… she was quite cute…
Looking at her, he couldn’t help but smile.
Old San, standing nearby, saw his young master’s infatuated expression and felt a sudden alarm in his heart!
Meng Yao didn’t want to say more. As her gaze swept past the large clock hanging in the hospital, her eyes suddenly widened.
The clock clearly pointed to half past two.
“Oh no! Uncle Wang’s cart!”
Without another thought, she immediately took off running, shouting as she went, “Please wait for me, wuwuwu—”
From the county town to the village, without a horse-drawn cart, it would take nearly an hour to walk home. Thinking of this, Meng Yao quickened her pace even more.
Gu Jingcheng was amused. Watching her anxious expression, he suddenly remembered they still didn’t know each other’s names!
“Hey, you haven’t told me your name yet!” Gu Jingcheng shouted toward the girl’s rapidly retreating figure.
From far away, Meng Yao panted heavily, “My name is Lei Feng~”
The man’s smile grew even more pronounced.
Lei Feng, what a cute name.
Old San could hardly bear to watch.
“Young Master, she’s gone, out of sight. Stop looking.”
Gu Jingcheng suppressed his smile and turned to stare at Old San for a long time.
“What’s wrong?” Old San was puzzled.
Gu Jingcheng gave him a light knock on the head. “How many times has the family said it? No calling anyone ‘young master,’ ‘master,’ or ‘miss’ outside.”
“The old man won’t allow any of that capitalist stuff, nagging about it all the time. Have you forgotten? If he hears you, I’ll end up kneeling in the ancestral hall again, and you’ll be happy then, won’t you?”
Old San slapped his own mouth. “Ah, this mouth and brain of mine! It won’t happen again, it won’t happen again!”
“Alright, be more careful from now on.”
Gu Jingcheng strode out. Recently, the authorities had been cracking down hard. As a prominent family in Yishi, the Gu family had to lay low. Trouble often came from careless words, and even he, usually carefree, had started to be more cautious.
Old San hurried to catch up. “Young… Brother, where are we going now?”
“To return the cart!”
The two walked to the hospital entrance. On the rickety wooden cart stood a bouquet of brightly blooming flowers. The simple blossoms were arranged in a pleasing and attractive way, emitting a faint fragrance.
Old San glanced at it. “Oh, that little girl left her flowers behind!”
In the end, this bouquet, bought for just a few cents, was taken by Gu Jingcheng to the Gu family’s antique-style courtyard.
Kang Peiyu, Gu Jingcheng’s mother, watched as her son, who usually disliked fussing with flowers and plants, brought home a bouquet for the first time ever.
She set down the magazine in her hand, her interest piqued.
Gu Jingcheng walked into the living room with the flowers and said to the maid nearby, “Could you please bring me a vase?”
He thought for a moment, then added, “A light-colored one.”
Although Gu Jingcheng took over the family business after graduation, his university years were quite eventful, especially under the guidance of Kang Peiyu, which kept his aesthetic sense consistently sharp.
His taste was exceptionally discerning, and he rarely took a liking to anything. But if he did, it was undoubtedly something of quality, and he would make sure to obtain it.