The man’s nose was high and straight, his features sharp and rugged.
Even though his face was pale from his injuries and he lay unconscious on the bed, his commanding presence was impossible to hide.
Closing the door behind her, Zhou Yu walked to the bedside with a complicated expression.
It wasn’t as if she had never met Zhao Yunzheng before.
She remembered seeing him several times when they were children. Even back then, he had been calm, mature, and steady—completely different from the other village boys. He was the kind of person people remembered at a glance.
Later, Zhao Yunzheng enlisted in the military and rarely returned home, so she hardly ever saw him again.
She had never imagined their next meeting would be like this.
Alone in a small room that never saw sunlight.
His hair had grown so long it nearly covered his eyes. Stubble covered his jaw. The clothes he wore and the bedding beneath him had become dirty from not being changed for so long, carrying an unpleasant smell.
If Wang Hongmei and Zhao Changdong weren’t afraid of being criticized by others and still bothered to clean up after him each day, his condition would probably be even more miserable.
Zhou Yu sighed.
Actually, in her previous life, after she had married into the Zhao family, Wang Hongmei eventually refused to continue caring for her eldest son and pushed all the responsibility onto Zhou Yu.
In a way, she had become very familiar with this man.
Naturally, Zhou Yu sat down on the edge of the bed.
Thinking about how she intended to build a better life through the opportunity he represented, she reached out and held his hand.
Speaking seriously, she said,
“I used to call you Big Brother, and I’ll keep calling you that.”
“Don’t worry. After I marry you, I’ll take good care of you. I won’t let you suffer like this anymore.”
“But I need to be honest too. Taking care of you will be my way of repaying the debt I owe you. That doesn’t mean I’ll forgive your family.”
“In this life, I won’t let a single member of the Zhao family off the hook. They won’t have the easy lives they had before.”
After saying that, she got to work.
The first thing she needed to do was ask Wang Hongmei for clean clothes and bedding.
Then she would heat water and thoroughly wash Zhao Yunzheng so he could at least lie there clean and comfortable.
Zhou Yu knew Wang Hongmei wouldn’t refuse her first request.
Sure enough, Wang Hongmei readily agreed.
Soon, Zhou Yu returned to the room and began cleaning Zhao Yunzheng.
She was so focused on her work that she failed to notice the slight tremble of his eyelashes.
What she didn’t know was that although Zhao Yunzheng’s injuries had left him extremely unlikely to wake up, he wasn’t completely unconscious.
Occasionally, he regained fragments of awareness.
Though he couldn’t open his eyes, he could hear what was happening around him.
The last time he had briefly regained consciousness, Zhao Ziming had come to visit him and announced that the family had arranged a wife for him.
At the time, Zhao Yunzheng had been stunned.
He hadn’t even woken up yet, and they were already marrying a woman to him to take care of him?
It was absurd.
Wasn’t that ruining the poor girl’s future?
He had strongly objected.
Unfortunately, he had soon lost consciousness again before he could do anything.
He had resolved that the next time he became aware, he would find a way to tell his family he refused.
Yet when consciousness finally returned again, the first thing he heard was an unfamiliar set of footsteps.
As a soldier, his hearing was exceptionally sharp.
He was certain the footsteps didn’t belong to any member of his family.
Immediately, he became alert.
Then he heard a young woman’s voice.
A woman talking about marrying him.
Was this the wife his family had arranged?
Before he could fully process it, he heard her declare through gritted teeth that she would never forgive his family.
Zhao Yunzheng: “…”
Was she really the wife his family had arranged?
Or an enemy?
After she left the room, Zhao Yunzheng found himself wondering why she held such hostility toward his family.
Wait.
Could she actually be an enemy agent targeting him?
He knew his superiors had sent him home because parts of the mission that injured him remained unresolved.
There were still enemies out there.
His transfer home had partly been to protect his recovery.
Had one of those enemies tracked him down?
Then he heard footsteps again.
His entire body instinctively tensed.
What if she attacked him now?
He listened carefully.
She brought something to the bedside.
Then she pulled off his blanket.
And started taking off his pants.
…What?
Taking off his pants?!
Zhao Yunzheng couldn’t believe what he was sensing.
“Huh? Why is his body so tense?”
Noticing it, Zhou Yu muttered in confusion.
Worried something might be wrong, she thought for a moment and then completely stripped him to check for injuries.
“Nothing seems wrong. The wounds on his chest and abdomen have scabbed over. The injury on his leg has healed. I don’t see any problems.”
Still puzzled, Zhou Yu suddenly widened her eyes.
What was going on?
Why had the man’s entire body turned red?
Perhaps because he hadn’t seen sunlight in so long, Zhao Yunzheng’s skin had become unusually pale.
As a result, any blush was especially obvious.
His face and even the tips of his ears looked completely flushed.
Concerned, Zhou Yu touched his face and checked his body repeatedly.
After finding nothing wrong, she finally set aside her confusion and continued cleaning him from head to toe.
Even though she had done this countless times in her previous life, when she reached the particularly private parts of his anatomy, her face immediately turned scarlet.
She shut her eyes and didn’t dare look.
After a quick wipe, she hurriedly dressed him in clean clothes.
Then she carefully shifted him to one side and replaced the bedding.
What she didn’t notice was the utterly rigid expression on the man’s face.
Inside, Zhao Yunzheng felt nothing short of despair.
He was now convinced.
This woman had definitely come for him.
Touching him all over like this…
For the first time in his life, Zhao Yunzheng actually felt the urge to die.
What a terrifying method.
Forcing himself to remain calm, he listened carefully to see what further torment she planned.
Instead, after changing the bedding, she simply left the room.
Zhao Yunzheng was confused.
Had she given up already?
He tried listening to what she was doing outside and whether she would target his family next.
Unfortunately, he had exhausted all his strength.
Soon, he slipped back into unconsciousness.
Outside, Wang Hongmei saw Zhou Yu carrying the dirty clothes and bedding.
“Zhou Yu, Mom needs to bring lunch to your father and Third Son. You’ll have to wash those yourself.”
Zhou Yu hadn’t expected any help anyway and simply nodded.
Wang Hongmei’s eyes darted around before she added,
“You probably need to go home and pack your things too. I won’t keep you for lunch. After you finish washing, just go back and eat at your own house.”
Then she hurried away with the lunch containers.
Watching her leave, Zhou Yu rolled her eyes.
The Zhou family undoubtedly assumed that after she went to register the marriage, she’d stay at the Zhao family home and never come back.
There was no way they had saved food for her.
And Wang Hongmei surely knew that.
No, Wang Hongmei was simply stingy.
She wanted Zhou Yu to do the work and leave hungry.
Until the marriage certificate was officially issued, Wang Hongmei wasn’t willing to spare even a grain of food for her.
But Zhou Yu had no intention of helping the Zhao family save money.
She walked straight into the kitchen.
Thanks to her experiences in her previous life, she knew exactly where the Zhao family’s grain, rice, and cooking oil were hidden.
Before long, she had everything she needed and quickly got a fire going to prepare lunch.
She didn’t just cook for herself.
She also made a meal for Zhao Yunzheng.
Thinking of him, Zhou Yu found something strange.
It was one thing for Wang Hongmei to be reluctant to feed her.
But why was she letting her own eldest son go hungry every few days as well?