“Bear with it.” Gu Beizheng said in a deep voice, lightening the pressure of his hands as he continued to rub it for her.
Xu Zhouzhou’s foot was not only white, creamy, and smooth, but also well-proportioned. The arch had a fluid line, and her fleshy toes glowed with a pale pink hue.
The man’s large hand could almost engulf it in a single grasp. The room was quiet, filled only with the swish-swish sound of skin rubbing against skin.
“Um, how come you were there?”
To break the awkward silence, Xu Zhouzhou fished for a topic.
“Xiao Tao left her schoolbag here. When she woke up, she kept making a fuss about coming to get it, so I came to fetch it for her.”
Actually, the schoolbag wasn’t absolutely necessary. Xiao Tao kept fussing, and his sister said to ignore her and just go tomorrow.
But for some unknown reason, Gu Beizheng felt he should go over there. He stepped out and walked toward the Educated Youth Center. Who would have guessed that just as he reached the village entrance, he would hear a cry for help.
That voice piercing his ears made his heart tremble. When he sprinted over, he saw Lu Shijie straddling Xu Zhouzhou.
Seeing that scene, he felt as if the blood in his entire body had caught fire. He kicked out, knocking Lu Shijie to the ground, then delivered kick after kick to the chest, wishing he could just cripple him right there.
As he thought about this, the strength in his hands involuntarily increased. It wasn’t until he heard a groan from Xu Zhouzhou that he snapped back to reality and lightened his touch.
“Sorry.”
Xu Zhouzhou sucked in a breath: “It’s okay. Thank you, Comrade Gu.”
Gu Beizheng lifted his eyes to glance at her but didn’t speak. He didn’t know if she was thanking him for treating her injury or for helping her beat away Lu Shijie.
Xu Zhouzhou thought to herself, When it comes down to it, we’ve only met a few times. Now that I’ve latched onto him, he must think I’m a burden and doesn’t want to deal with me.
To ease the atmosphere, Xu Zhouzhou spoke up: “Xiao Tao is a good child, both smart and hardworking. She’ll definitely have a bright future.”
Talking about other things might be inappropriate, but praising someone’s child surely couldn’t be wrong.
Gu Beizheng lowered his head and said in a deep voice, “No matter how much promise she has, she’s still just a girl.”
Xu Zhouzhou frowned. She couldn’t tell that this man, who looked so decent and presentable, turned out to be a male chauvinist.
She couldn’t help but retort, “So you value men over women?”
Gu Beizheng looked up and cast a sideways glance at her. “I don’t value men over women. I just feel that it’s very hard for women to live in this world. The stronger they try to be, the harder it gets. Not only do men make things difficult for them, but women do too. It’s a hard road to walk.”
“You really think that?” He spoke these words with a deep, calm tone. Xu Zhouzhou didn’t hear any disdain for women in them; instead, she heard pity.
“Of course. But learning more is never a mistake, so thank you, Teacher Xu, for taking care of Xiao Tao.” Gu Beizheng raised his eyes to look at the woman’s slightly stunned expression.
Xu Zhouzhou snapped back to reality. “I’m a teacher; this is what I should do. However, for your sister to support a girl going to school like this is truly rare.”
“She has it hard too. She just doesn’t want her daughter to live the same life she does.” Speaking of his sister, a trace of sorrow surfaced in Gu Beizheng’s eyes.
Xu Zhouzhou took in his expression, carefully chose her words, and comforted him, “It’s okay. Sooner or later, this world will reward those rural parents who support their daughters’ education.”
Gu Beizheng’s brow twitched. He looked up, his long, narrow eyes squinting slightly as he looked at her, and the corners of his mouth lifted just a bit.
What kind of expression was that? Xu Zhouzhou wondered secretly. His expression made her feel like the words she just said sounded like a pedantic scholar showing off.
“You don’t believe me?” Xu Zhouzhou frowned slightly, and the foot she had extended involuntarily shrank back.
“I believe you.” Gu Beizheng grabbed hold of her foot. Seeing the slight anger on the woman’s face, he nodded seriously. “Really, I believe you. You’re right.”
Xu Zhouzhou rolled her eyes internally. He was obviously teasing her. If her foot and her little life weren’t still in his hands, she would definitely have kicked him out.
After rubbing it for a while, Gu Beizheng settled her foot down. “Done. Apply some more injury medicine tomorrow, and it won’t be a major issue.”
He stood up after speaking and straightened his clothes.
“Are you leaving?” Xu Zhouzhou looked at him with a panicked expression.
Gu Beizheng looked at the worry flooding her clear, large eyes. His eyes flickered slightly as he said, “I’ll fix the window for you.”
“Oh, thank you.”
Xu Zhouzhou sat on the bed, watching Gu Beizheng by the window.
He was wearing a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, revealing a stretch of strong, muscular forearm. As he held the broken window to install it, the bulging lines of his upper arm muscles were visible even through his shirt.
Xu Zhouzhou sighed softly. When it came down to it, he was still a strange man, yet she had developed an inexplicable trust in him. Why? Was it because he was a soldier?
It was already midnight. After tossing and turning all day, Xu Zhouzhou’s physical strength finally gave out. As drowsiness slowly crept in, she slumped onto the bed and fell asleep.
Gu Beizheng finished fixing the window, set the table and chairs in the room upright, then walked to the bedside and looked down at the person curled up on the bed.
The woman’s eyes were closed, her eyelashes trembling slightly. A few mosquitoes were circling around her. She frowned from time to time; it seemed she wasn’t sleeping peacefully.
Gu Beizheng shooed those mosquitoes away and helped her lower the mosquito net.
Who knows how much time had passed, Xu Zhouzhou’s body trembled, and she suddenly woke with a start. She opened her eyes in panic, only to see a broad silhouette outside the mosquito net by the bed.
Gu Beizheng was sitting on a stool by the bed, arms crossed, his back leaning against the edge of the bed, sitting upright and firm.
Xu Zhouzhou slowly let out a sigh of relief and gently turned her head to look. The man’s eyes were closed; he seemed to have fallen asleep. His long black eyelashes hung down, trembling slightly, and the lines of his side profile were resolute and sculpted.
She lowered her gaze to the man’s lower back. His military belt was threaded through the loops, and the tail end happened to be resting on the edge of the bed.
Xu Zhouzhou slowly reached out and grasped that section of the belt. With the crisp, clean scent of the man filling her nose, she closed her eyes, feeling at peace.
Gu Beizheng dozed for a moment, opened his eyes, and moved his body, only to sense a force pulling at his waist.
Turning his head, he actually saw a section of his belt being gripped in a small, fair hand. He couldn’t help but let out a low chuckle; she really was afraid he would run away.
When Xu Zhouzhou woke up again, the sky was just turning misty bright. The belt was still in her hand. Feeling a slight joy in her heart, she opened her eyes to look. “Where is he?”
One end of the belt was still in her hand, but the person at the other end was gone?
Xu Zhouzhou looked at the belt in her hand. “How did he pull the belt out? How did he leave?” She blinked in confusion. “Did he leave holding his pants up?”
Looking at the repaired window and the tidied room, Xu Zhouzhou raised an eyebrow. True, it was almost dawn. He was a military officer; if he were seen leaving her place holding up his trousers, who knows what kind of gossip it would stir up.
Xu Zhouzhou lay back down on the bed. After the thrilling events of yesterday, she clearly realized that if she stayed here any longer, her life would likely be forfeited. The most urgent task right now was to leave as soon as possible.
As far as she knew, in another two years, the situation would improve greatly, and policies would relax. She had to leave here first to save her life, then look for an opportunity to take the college entrance exam or find some other career to make a living in this era.
But how to leave? With the original owner’s current abilities and status, it was impossible to move a single step. Rely on others? Rely on whom? She had no family here, not even a friend. Thinking about it, even the heroine in the book went all out to seduce the male lead for the sake of marital freedom, and as for herself…
Xu Zhouzhou’s mind buzzed. Herself? That’s right. If the heroine could do it, why couldn’t she? She hadn’t died, so the turning point for the male and female leads hadn’t arrived yet. Gu Beizheng hadn’t been slept with by the heroine, Zhao Ying, yet. If I sleep with him…?
Xu Zhouzhou shot up from the bed. This thought made her instantly wide awake and restless. She could borrow the heroine’s path! Heroine, supporting character, cannon fodder—who cares? Since the cannon fodder didn’t die, that meant she was being given a chance to turn things around and become the heroine. God gave her this chance; she couldn’t let it go to waste.
Isn’t it just a thin membrane? She’d go for it. Compared to her life, it really wasn’t anything. Rather than being ruined by those people, she might as well give it to Gu Beizheng. At least, psychologically, she didn’t find this man repulsive.
You can’t catch a wolf without sacrificing a child. She was going all out.