The back of his hand was oozing blood again.
Mo Guiyi sighed softly and asked, “Do you have a medical kit at home?”
Though the house didn’t have the exact items Mo Guiyi had in mind, Ming Xianbai understood what she needed. He stood up and said, “I’ll go get it.”
Before long, Ming Xianbai returned with the supplies: a bottle of iodophor, a pack of cotton swabs, and a small roll of gauze.
Although crude, it would do the job.
Holding his hand, Mo Guiyi meticulously cleaned the wound before wrapping it up neatly in gauze.
Once she finished bandaging, it suddenly hit her—was she making a mountain out of a molehill? For someone like Ming Xianbai, who had been through the crucible of battlefield combat, a minor scratch like this hardly warranted being wrapped in gauze.
Stunned for a moment, Mo Guiyi awkwardly offered, “If having it wrapped feels uncomfortable, you can take it off.”
Ming Xianbai stared at her hand for two seconds, pulled his own away, and replied stiffly, “No need.”
He packed up the supplies, stood up, and made to leave the room.
“Ming Xianbai,” Mo Guiyi called out, stopping him. Gazing at his broad, sturdy back, she said softly, “Let’s live a good, proper life together from now on. I won’t let my mind wander anymore, so won’t you trust me just this once?”
She could see his body stiffen slightly.
A moment later, without a single word and without looking back, Ming Xianbai walked out the door.
Mo Guiyi sighed. He still didn’t trust her. And that was completely normal. In the past, she had lied to him far too many times; even a fool would learn a lesson by now. She had brought this entirely upon herself.
“Ming Xianbai,” Mo Guiyi softened her voice, calling out to him again.
This time, Ming Xianbai did halt his steps, though he still didn’t turn around.
Mo Guiyi waved at him. “Come here, I have something serious to tell you.”
Ming Xianbai didn’t move.
A trace of grievance crept into Mo Guiyi’s voice. “Are you not even willing to say a word to me now? Fine, just leave then. Don’t ever bother with me again—just let me suffocate to death all by myself.”
Ming Xianbai stood frozen for a moment, letting out an audible sigh.
He turned around, stepped back inside, and said, “I’m not ignoring you.”
It was she who usually didn’t want to speak to him. He was always afraid that saying the wrong thing would trigger her temper and anger her all over again. Rather than watching her flare up, staying silent felt safer.
The current Mo Guiyi made him feel entirely out of his depth. She was much harder to figure out than the old Mo Guiyi, who used to throw tantrums and look at him with utter disgust the moment they crossed paths. With the old her, he only needed to keep a distance and avoid annoying her in his line of sight. The present version of her was simply unreadable.
Mo Guiyi pulled Ming Xianbai down to sit by the edge of the bed. “I had a dream last night,” she began. “I dreamed that you went out on a mission today, and it was extremely dangerous. You got hurt because you weren’t paying attention…”
Although Mo Guiyi didn’t know the exact details of how Ming Xianbai had been injured in her past life, she shared the general warning signs with him so he could be on his guard ahead of time.
The look Ming Xianbai gave her was laced with bizarre suspicion.
“Did you listen to what I said?” Worried that he wouldn’t take her seriously, Mo Guiyi tugged at his sleeve and asked anxiously.
Ming Xianbai nodded. “I remember. If I really go on a mission, I’ll be careful and look out for my safety.”
“Mom and Siling are counting on you, and I’m counting on you too. So you cannot treat your life carelessly—you have to come back safe and sound, do you hear me?” Mo Guiyi admonished him earnestly.
A deeper look flickered in Ming Xianbai’s eyes as he stared at her for a moment before nodding. “I know.”
Only then did Mo Guiyi’s mind finally settle.
The next morning, Ming Fangqin made sandwiches for breakfast again. Looking around the table and failing to see Ming Xianbai, Mo Guiyi wondered where he had run off to. Hesitating for a brief second as she stared at the eggs on the plate, she stealthily plucked one out and shoved it into her pocket.
Witnessing the entire sequence, Ming Siling rolled her eyes. “I saw that!”
“So what if you saw?” Mo Guiyi maintained an utterly unbothered expression. “Your brother didn’t eat breakfast this morning, and since he does heavy physical labor, he needs an egg to keep his strength up. Later, I’ll tell Mom not to boil an egg for me tomorrow and give mine to him instead.”
Once she retrieved her jade pendant, she would figure out a way to make money and subsidize the household expenses so they wouldn’t have to live quite so hand-to-mouth. Though the tight financial situation was largely her own fault—between Ming Fangqin’s salary and Ming Xianbai’s military allowance, they realistically shouldn’t have been struggling this much—all the family funds had been squandered by her past self, leaving their coffers empty. To turn their lives around, she needed to start saving from scratch.
Ming Siling opened her mouth to snap back, but settled for a cold huff instead. “You’d better actually mean that.” Hmph! If she dared try to trick her older brother again, she would be the very first person to make her pay!
Halfway through breakfast, Ming Xianbai returned, looking travel-worn. Carrying something pressed close to his chest, he walked straight up to the table and placed a bottle right in front of Mo Guiyi.
Mo Guiyi touched the bottle—it was still warm. Stunned for a second, her eyes lit up. “Did you buy this from Old Uncle Liu?”
Old Uncle Liu raised a dairy cow at home and boiled fresh milk to sell every morning, but his place was several kilometers away. A round trip took a solid half-hour of walking. Had Ming Xianbai run all the way out there just to buy milk for her? And since the bottle was still warm, he must have cradled it against his chest the entire way back.
Even though the two of them were still technically in a cold war and at odds since the morning, a sweet sensation bubbled up inside Mo Guiyi, mixed with a pang of heartache and guilt. “You don’t need to buy this anymore. Old Uncle Liu’s place is too far—it takes half an hour round trip. It doesn’t matter whether I drink milk or not; Mom’s breakfast is plenty good. From now on, I’ll just drink rice porridge like the rest of you.”
Ming Xianbai said nothing. He simply unscrewed the cap of the milk bottle in silence and set it in front of Mo Guiyi for her to drink.
Watching from the side, Ming Siling felt a wave of sour envy. “Brother, I want milk too!”
Ming Xianbai glanced at her. “Your sister-in-law’s health isn’t good, so she drinks milk to nourish her body. Is your health bad too?”
Ming Siling immediately blurted out, “My health hasn’t been feeling great lately either.”
Casually, Ming Xianbai remarked, “Then you need more exercise. Starting tomorrow morning, I’ll take you out for a run.”
Ming Siling was struck dumb with shock. Her sister-in-law’s health was poor, so she got milk to nourish herself; but when she felt unwell, she got signed up for morning jogs? Was he even her biological brother?! She must have been adopted!
“Forget it,” Ming Siling muttered hastily. “Actually, I think my body feels just fine now.” Get up and run at five o’clock every morning? She might as well just let herself be killed.
After Ming Xianbai sat down, Mo Guiyi pulled the egg out of her pocket and slid it into his palm. Seeing the man stare at her in stunned silence, she flushed with bashfulness and said, “Eat it. I secretly saved it just for you.”
Staring blankly at the egg in his hand, Ming Xianbai didn’t move.
Assuming he was reluctant to eat it and wanted to save it for someone else, Mo Guiyi whispered, “Tomorrow I’ll tell Mom not to boil my share, and you can have mine. Just keep this one and eat it.”
“You don’t like it?” Seeing that Ming Xianbai still hadn’t moved after a long while, Mo Guiyi asked.
Ming Xianbai tucked the egg away, slipping it safely into his jacket pocket. After a moment of silence, he replied in a low voice, “I like it.”
Watching the careful, almost reverent way he stashed it away, Mo Guiyi felt a complex wave of sorrow and aching tenderness. Why had her past self been so utterly blind?
After breakfast, everyone headed out. With her father-in-law still away visiting his hometown, the house was left entirely to Mo Guiyi.
Sprucing herself up a bit, Mo Guiyi headed out as well. She was going to find Yao Shujing and retrieve what belonged to her.
Yao Shujing’s home wasn’t far from hers. Mo Guiyi knocked on the door. After a brief wait, a gruff, heavy voice echoed from inside. The person who opened the door was a man.
His gaze landed on her. Mo Guiyi put on a bright smile. “Uncle Yao, I’m here looking for Shujing. Is she home?”
“She’s out. Why don’t you come inside and wait for her a bit?” the man offered.
Instead of rushing in, Mo Guiyi craned her neck to peer inside. “Is Auntie Yao home?” A grown man and a woman alone in a closed space—she preferred to avoid any awkward situations.
“She’s inside too,” Yao’s father replied.
Only then did Mo Guiyi feel reassured enough to step inside.
In the living room, Yao’s mother was busy mending a pair of her husband’s trousers. Hearing him enter, she muttered a brief, grumbling remark under her breath while her hands kept moving without pause. Yao’s father chuckled sheepishly, brushing it off, and turned to say, “Guiyi’s here to see our Shujing.”
Yao’s mother instantly switched expressions, breaking into a welcoming face. “Oh, it’s Guiyi! Come on in, make yourself at home. Shujing that girl went off to school—what’s the use of a young woman reading so many books anyway? She’d be better off marrying into a good family early on. Look at you—you married such a fine man who’s in the military. If you know any suitable bachelors around, you really must introduce them to our Shujing.”
“I will,” Mo Guiyi smiled politely. “Auntie Yao, I’ll go wait for Shujing in her room for a bit.”
“Go ahead,” Yao’s mother waved her off.
Yao Shujing’s father was an idle man who left the burden of supporting the family entirely to his overbearing wife. With a younger brother in the house as well, and parents who heavily favored sons over daughters, Yao Shujing had a miserable time growing up at home and had long relied on Mo Guiyi’s steady stream of charity and help to get by. Yet despite all that, Yao Shujing had still gone on to ruin her life in her previous existence.
She truly was an ungrateful, untameable wolf in sheep’s clothing.