It’s Decided.
Once she’d made up her mind, Su Wanwan fell asleep quickly.
Nothing in the world mattered more than sleep. Only by building up her health could she earn any goodwill with the future big shot.
She was here now, so she might as well make the best of it. Since she’d already transmigrated, there was no point dwelling on things she couldn’t change. Better to live each day happily.
Steady breathing filled the silence. In the dark, Gu Shiyan stared at the person beside him for a long time.
Today’s Su Wanwan seemed a little different.
The next morning, Su Wanwan woke to an empty space beside her.
She rubbed her aching waist as she sat up, grumbling inwardly. Gu Shiyan looked like the picture of abstinence. So why was he like a wild animal in bed?
Her waist was about to break.
She dressed slowly and went outside, where she ran straight into Gu Shiyan washing up in the yard.
And really, there was no denying it. He was the male lead for a reason. That face, that build. Nothing to fault.
Gu Shiyan was very tall, easily over six feet.
He wasn’t burly or thick-set. He had that natural, lean height, wide shoulders and a narrow waist.
A plain white shirt hung cleanly on him, like a clothes hanger.
Thick brows, high brow bones, eyes calm as still water.
A straight nose, thin lips. He didn’t say much, but standing there, he was hard to ignore.
Maybe that was the protagonist’s halo. Even fallen on hard times, he still shone.
Su Wanwan sighed. Stupid as the original host was, she had certainly eaten well.
She walked over and greeted him first.
“Morning.”
Gu Shiyan’s voice was flat. “Morning. Wash water’s ready.”
Su Wanwan blinked, then remembered the “crimes” the original host had committed against him.
Not only did she torment him day and night, she even made him prepare her washing water every morning and night. Su Wanwan glanced at the enamel basin sitting on the stone block.
White with red flowers, a pink towel draped over the rim.
A plastic toothbrush, with a soybean-sized dab of white toothpaste already on the bristles.
She had to admit it. The original host had really been a piece of work.
Su Wanwan looked at Gu Shiyan’s cool face again, then mimicked the original host’s tone. “I want warm water.”
“It’s warm.”
“It’s cold.”
Gu Shiyan glanced at her, then turned to head for the kitchen to add hot water.
Su Wanwan knew he had a good temper. She just hadn’t expected it to be this good.
She was an orphan. She was used to doing everything herself, and she really couldn’t stand being waited on.
The original host had hands and feet of her own. Why did she always order people around?
“Never mind.”
Su Wanwan put her hand in the basin, scooped up some water, and splashed it on her face.
“This’ll do.”
Gu Shiyan raised an eyebrow but said nothing. He went straight to the kitchen and soon brought breakfast out, setting it on a wooden table in the middle of the yard.
Mixed-grain cornbread, corn grits porridge, pickles.
And a small bowl of steamed egg custard.
No need to guess who that was for.
A slender figure followed behind him. It was the original host’s sister-in-law, Gu Shiwei.
The family had suffered a sudden upheaval, and on top of that, there was a shrewish, sharp-tongued Sister-in-law like the original host. Gu Shiwei didn’t even dare make a sound while eating.
She nibbled at the cornbread in tiny bites. After calling out “Sister-in-law” in a voice like a mosquito, she didn’t lift her head again.
Su Wanwan felt stifled.
The original host really was rotten to the core. Look at what she’d done to the child.
A perfectly lovely girl, scared into a little quail.
Both Gu siblings had beautiful faces.
Gu Shiyan was cold and distant. Gu Shiwei was delicate, speaking softly, clearly raised by an educated family.
Her eyes were clear, like a college student from a later era.
To think the original host could bring herself to bully someone like that.
Su Wanwan looked at the egg custard in front of her, then pushed it over to Gu Shiwei.
Gu Shiwei froze, lifting her head blankly.
“S-Sister-in-law?”
“You eat it.”
Su Wanwan drank a mouthful of porridge without expression. “Egg custard every day. I’m sick of it.”
Gu Shiwei opened her mouth to say something, but Su Wanwan shot her a look.
“Eat.”
Almost immediately, Gu Shiwei lowered her head and stiffly spooned up some custard, afraid that eating too slowly would displease Su Wanwan.
Her brother said Sister-in-law was her savior.
Without Sister-in-law, she would have died long ago.
Sister-in-law just had a temper that changed without warning. She was actually a good person.
See? Today she’d been given egg custard.
After convincing herself, Gu Shiwei pushed the custard toward Gu Shiyan.
“Brother, you eat too. You work hard. You need the nourishment.”
Gu Shiyan looked at his sister’s thin face and shook his head.
“You eat it. I don’t like egg custard.”
Watching the siblings push the little bowl back and forth, Su Wanwan cursed the original host again inwardly, then set her bowl down on the table.
“Stop passing it around. Starting tomorrow, everyone gets an egg in the morning.”
The moment the words left her mouth, both siblings looked at her.
Their expressions were like they’d just heard some wild fantasy.
Su Wanwan was speechless.
Her wicked-woman image really had taken deep root.
“What are you looking at me like that for?”
Gu Shiyan said nothing.
He was used to Su Wanwan’s shifting moods.
One way yesterday, another way today, a third way tomorrow. If he actually took her words seriously, the past few months with her would have been wasted.
Gu Shiwei wouldn’t believe it either.
Sister-in-law had said everything in this house was hers, that the eggs were brought back from her family, and that giving her one today was already a favor. How would she dare eat one every day?
If she really did, Sister-in-law would start fighting with her brother again.
“We don’t like eggs.”
The siblings spoke in unison.
Su Wanwan had no words. For a moment, she truly didn’t know how to respond.
Fine. Baby steps.
After breakfast, while clearing the dishes, Gu Shiwei noticed a leftover piece of cornbread. She asked, puzzled, “Brother, why didn’t you eat your cornbread?”
Gu Shiyan, just about to leave, paused. He glanced at Su Wanwan with meaning.
“Not hungry.”
Su Wanwan guiltily looked away.
Gu Shiwei didn’t notice the undercurrent between them. She just said “oh” and dropped it.
She went to the kitchen to wash the dishes.
Gu Shiyan went to work.
After they left, Su Wanwan went to the kitchen, took out the brown sugar jar, and scooped out a heaping spoonful to mix with hot water. A sweet, rich smell filled the air.
The original host was the youngest in her family, with three older brothers.
So even after marrying a reeducation target like Gu Shiyan, she hadn’t suffered much.
Her parents and brothers quietly subsidized her enough to live comfortably.
“Little sister, I’ll clean up. You drink the brown sugar water.”
Gu Shiwei had never properly recovered from her appendicitis surgery. Her body was depleted. Su Wanwan worried a gust of wind would knock her over. There weren’t any nourishing supplements these days, so brown sugar counted as an excellent tonic.
If you visited relatives with two catties of brown sugar, that was considered a generous gift.
Gu Shiwei froze again, staring at the steaming brown sugar water without daring to move. In the end, Su Wanwan had to put on an impatient look and urge her several times before she picked up the mug.
She took a small sip, her eyes stinging from the steam.
“Thank you, Sister-in-law.”
Su Wanwan curved her lips into a smile. “Don’t mention it. You’re too thin. From now on I’ll make you brown sugar water every day.”
“No need. It’s too wasteful.” Gu Shiwei bit her lip and said quietly, “As long as you treat my brother well.”
If her brother was well, she was well.
This girl… really made your heart ache.
Su Wanwan didn’t know what to say for a moment. After thinking, she said, “Don’t worry. Your brother is my man. If I don’t treat him well, who will? Drink up, then go rest. I’ll take your brother his lunch at noon.”