Chapter Thirty-Five: Are You Not My Husband?

Gu Xiaoyao ignored her loud complaints as if she hadn’t heard a thing. After tending to the firewood and getting the fire going, she quickly went back inside.

Chu Chengjin, feeling the heated brick bed growing warm, lay down and pulled the covers over himself.

“Are you feeling any better? Why don’t you go to the clinic for a check-up?” Gu Xiaoyao asked with some confusion, seeing him settle in. Back in the mountains, she had seen many people addressing him as “young master.” He clearly held some status. So why was he hiding away in this dilapidated little mountain village, stubbornly enduring his injuries instead of seeking treatment?

“It’s nothing but an old wound. If my wife were to take a look at it for me, perhaps I’d feel much better,” Chu Chengjin replied with a gentle smile, not truly expecting Gu Xiaoyao to oblige.

But this time, he miscalculated. On the way back, Gu Xiaoyao had thought things through carefully, keeping her thoughts from Mrs. Li. Since things had come to this, she might as well settle in. This world was certainly different from the one she had known before—surely more orderly than the apocalypse. The man before her was now her husband, and he was quite handsome—just her type. In the end times, she had seen attractive men, but none of them had anything to do with her. The man lying on the heated bed, though, was different—they were legally married. In a sense, she had fulfilled her idle wish of having a man of her own.

“All right, where are you hurt? Let me take a look,” Gu Xiaoyao said, reaching out her hands. Chu Chengjin instinctively moved to block her, but Gu Xiaoyao batted her long lashes and bent down, staring intently at his face. After a moment’s silent scrutiny, she pinched his cheek, then tucked the quilt around him and left the room.

Chu Chengjin, surprised by her forwardness, touched his pinched cheek in a daze, the smile fading from his lips.

In the main room, Mrs. Li watched her daughter come in and anxiously took her hand. “Xiaoyao, maybe you should look for an abandoned house somewhere. As long as it’s livable, that’s enough.” Mrs. Li still felt uneasy about staying here, especially having to face the Chu family every day. Besides, with her daughter newly married, how could she, as a mother, continue to occupy this house?

“All right, I’ll go outside and ask the village head if there’s any extra house for you to stay in. Xiaoshu, help take care of Mother. I’ll make you all something to eat when I get back,” Gu Xiaoyao instructed her brother to look after their mother. Grabbing her basket and hatchet, she prepared to leave. She needed to make a trip into the forest, hoping to bring back some game while she still had the strength.

“Got it, Sis. I’ll take good care of Mother,” Gu Xiaoshu replied. Unlike Mrs. Li, he felt at ease as long as he was near his sister. Besides, this place was far from Shuitang Village, and he wasn’t worried that Gu Dacai would come looking for them here.

Taking her basket and hatchet, Gu Xiaoyao made her way to the village head’s house, relying on her memories. She stood outside and called for him.

“Chengjin’s wife, what brings you here?” The village head, leaning on his cane, shrank back a little when he saw the hatchet in her hand, wondering if she was here to settle a score.

“I wanted to ask if there are any unoccupied houses in the village, even if they’re run-down—just as long as we can live in them,” Gu Xiaoyao asked naturally, ignoring his wary expression.

Hearing that she was interested in a house, the village head straightened, stroked his beard, and thought for a moment before replying, “There are some, but they’re in bad shape. Without repairs, they probably aren’t fit to live in.”

“Doesn’t Chengjin have his own room? Is this big house still not enough for you?” the village head added, a hint of curiosity in his tone.