What would happen to her if something happened to Gu Shiyan?
Besides, this scene wasn’t even in the book.
Su Wanwan forgot about the pain in her finger, dropped the knife, and rushed outside. Gu Shiwei followed behind her, her little face pale as death.
“Sister-in-law, what do we do?”
“My brother… Sister-in-law, your hand is bleeding!”
“It’s fine.”
Su Wanwan looked calm on the surface, but inside she was panicking. The male lead was about to die. What was the point of acting then?
She dashed out, then turned at the doorway and called back to Gu Shiwei.
“Bring the knife.”
Gu Shiwei was dumbstruck.
Bring… bring the knife?
Sister-in-law was going to go hack people up!
Her mind was a mess, but her hands seemed to move on their own. With a shhk, she grabbed the cleaver, and on her way out she even scooped up the stick they used to bar the door.
Sister-in-law and sister-in-law, one in front and one behind, one holding a cleaver, the other swinging a stick, headed straight for the fields.
The villagers they passed looked like they’d seen a ghost.
“What’s going on?”
The one who’d brought the news hurried to explain. “Gu Shiyan’s been beaten to death.”
Dead?!
Now that was serious. Anyone who ran into Su Wanwan and Gu Shiwei, every last one of them, tagged along. A whole crowd, like grasshoppers strung on a line, marched forward in a mighty procession.
When they reached the fields, they saw the fight from a distance.
Several young men had Gu Shiyan surrounded in the middle, exchanging blows, many against one.
The moment Su Wanwan saw that familiar figure, the heart she’d been holding in her throat dropped back into place.
Good news. Gu Shiyan wasn’t dead.
Bad news. Five or six men were ganging up on him.
Gu Shiwei also let out a huge breath of relief at seeing her brother alive.
She immediately reassured Su Wanwan. “Sister-in-law, don’t worry. My brother can really fight.”
“Two fists can’t beat four hands.”
Su Wanwan shoved the stick into Gu Shiwei’s hands, snatched back the cleaver, and charged, shouting as she ran, “You bastards have no sense of honor!”
In ancient times, heroes saved beauties.
Today, Su Wanwan was a beauty saving her hero.
“Watch the knife!”
At that delicate shout, the men surrounding Gu Shiyan instinctively turned. What they saw made their legs go weak.
Su Wanwan’s pretty face was cold as frost, cleaver raised high, charging over like a gust of wind. From the look of it, she was out to avenge her husband, cutting them down like watermelons.
The men scattered with a clatter.
Someone shouted that Su Wanwan had gone crazy.
Su Wanwan had gone crazy.
These people had bullied Gu Shiyan before. Now they’d gone further, a whole group ganging up on him. No matter how strong or capable Gu Shiyan was, he couldn’t avoid taking a beating.
Today was the perfect chance to establish her authority.
One blow that lands prevents a hundred more.
Soon, a chorus of wails and howls rose up.
“Hey, this woman’s really swinging that thing!”
“Gu Shiyan, control your wife!”
“Ahhh, someone’s going to die!”
Gu Shiyan hadn’t expected Su Wanwan to show up, much less with a cleaver, and even less that she’d be this fierce. Afraid she’d hurt herself running around with the blade, he immediately chased after her, wrapped his arms around her from behind, and took the sharp cleaver from her hand.
“A blade has no eyes. Don’t hurt yourself.”
Su Wanwan let her hand go slack at once.
She’d only been putting on a show to scare those men. She wouldn’t really go hack at someone.
“Are you hurt?”
At a time like this, she had to show warmth.
Su Wanwan turned around in Gu Shiyan’s arms, grabbed at his clothes, and looked him up and down. The concern on her face wouldn’t fade. When she saw the red, swollen spot at the corner of his mouth, her bright eyes reddened at once.
“Does it hurt a lot?”
Actually, it didn’t hurt much.
Gu Shiyan had only taken that one hit when he wasn’t on guard at the start. But looking into those glistening eyes, he nodded as if possessed.
Su Wanwan’s heart ached even more.
Life was a stage, and all depended on acting. After this little episode, she could clearly feel something new in the way Gu Shiyan looked at her.
So she reached out and gently touched the corner of his mouth with her soft fingertips.
“It’s all swollen.”
In front of the villagers, Gu Shiyan cleared his throat uncomfortably. The tips of his ears slowly turned red, and his neck followed.
Su Wanwan laughed inwardly. She gave him several more “pained” looks, then turned and let loose on the men from before, cursing them until their faces burned red and their necks swelled. They swallowed their anger and left.
“What rotten luck today.”
“Didn’t Su Wanwan used to hate Gu Shiyan? How come she’s protecting him now?”
“They’re a married couple. We were just joking about Su Wanwan, and Gu Shiyan went berserk.”
Su Wanwan didn’t hear any of this. After the crowd dispersed, she looked at Gu Shiyan.
“What just happened? How did the fight start?”
Gu Shiwei asked from the side too. “Right, brother. You’re not a hotheaded person.”
How could Gu Shiyan admit that he’d heard those men making dirty jokes about Su Wanwan and lost his temper? So he glossed over it. “Nothing. We just didn’t see eye to eye, and one word led to another.”
Su Wanwan wasn’t a fool. It was obviously an excuse.
Her face fell at once. “I want the truth.”
“That is the truth.”
Seeing Gu Shiyan had no intention of telling her, Su Wanwan stared at him for a long moment, then turned and walked off.
Gu Shiwei was so anxious she was practically climbing the walls.
Her brother and sister-in-law had only just started getting along. They couldn’t start fighting again.
“Brother, hurry up and go after her!”
“The moment Sister-in-law heard something happened to you, she cut a big chunk out of her finger!”
Gu Shiyan’s body went rigid. “She’s hurt?”
“Yes!”
The moment the word left her mouth, Gu Shiwei felt her vision blur. Her brother was already gone.
Gu Shiyan was tall with long legs. A few strides caught him up to Su Wanwan. He walked at her side, his gaze dropping to her hand. The cut had stopped bleeding, but Su Wanwan’s fingers were white and delicate. It stood out starkly.
“Does it hurt?”
Su Wanwan shot him a sidelong look.
“What do you think?”
Gu Shiyan lowered his eyes. After a long moment, he said, “Don’t be angry. It’s my fault.”
Living together these past few months, he knew Su Wanwan was delicate. Never mind cutting her finger. Even a hangnail made her cry out in pain. Now, because she’d been worried about him, she’d cut her hand and still run all the way here with the wound.
For a moment, an indescribable feeling wrapped around his heart.
“Those men had filthy mouths. That’s why I hit them.”
Su Wanwan understood at once. She stopped in surprise. “What did they say?”
“Nothing good. You don’t need to know.”
Gu Shiyan truly didn’t have deep feelings for Su Wanwan, but she was his wife. If his wife was insulted, a husband naturally couldn’t act like a coward.
He didn’t regret throwing the punch.
If there was trouble to come, he’d accept it.
Su Wanwan didn’t press further. What could men say to each other? Nothing but judging women and making dirty jokes. What surprised her was Gu Shiyan. He’d actually gotten into a fight to defend her.
After all, he was still undergoing reeducation.
A fight like that could only bring him trouble.
He might even have to write a self-criticism and accept disciplinary education.
She looked at Gu Shiyan and curved her lips into a smile. “Still, you looked pretty handsome when you were fighting. Are you hurt anywhere else?”
“No.”
Gu Shiyan hid his right hand behind his back.
Su Wanwan snorted, grabbed his arm, and pulled his injured hand out from behind him.
“Your knuckles are all scraped up and you say you’re not hurt. Keep being stubborn.”
Then her own thoughts wandered somewhere else.
This man wasn’t just stubborn with his mouth. Every inch of him was hard.