The cold liquid mixed with the warm palm, without warning, pressed against Gu Yanshen’s scorching back.
The tall man’s body instantly tensed like an iron board, every muscle from the nape to the waist tightened in an instant, like a beast being touched on its reverse scale.
Lin Wan Yi’s fingers paused for a moment, then a deeper smile bloomed at the corner of her lips.
"Relax," her voice was low, carrying a soothing, yet extraordinarily alluring tone, "otherwise the medicine won’t work."
She increased the pressure in her hands, her fingertips slowly circling along the outline of his protruding scapula. The diluted spiritual spring water seemed to have a life of its own, rapidly penetrating the skin, a refreshing warmth dispelling the accumulated muscle soreness of the day.
The comfort in his body, however, intensified the torment in his mind.
Gu Yanshen clenched his fists tightly, the veins on the back of his hand bulging, trying hard to ignore the shivers brought by the soft, boneless hands on his back.
"Tsk, your muscles are too hard," Lin Wan Yi’s voice brushed past his ear like a feather, "they hurt my hand. Do all you soldiers lack romance?"
The man pressed his lips tightly together and said nothing, but the red spreading from his neck to the tips of his ears betrayed him long ago.
Lin Wan Yi seemed to discover a new continent, her fingers sliding down his straight spine, stopping at his strong waist.
"How about here? After moving planks today, isn’t this the sorest spot?"
Her fingertips brushed lightly over that most sensitive area.
Gu Yanshen seemed to be jolted by electricity, suddenly springing up from the chair.
He suddenly turned around, chest heaving violently, his sharp eyes carrying a hint of embarrassment and confusion under the dim light.
"I’m... going to check the newly installed door."
He threw down these words, disconnected from the previous ones, striding almost as if fleeing, into the inner room just sectioned off by wooden planks, his figure disappearing into the darkness.
Lin Wan Yi watched his panicked back, lowered her head to look at her hands still smeared with "medicinal wine," and finally couldn’t help but let out a low, triumphant laugh.
...
"Bang!"
Sister in law Wang kicked open her bedroom door, angrily flopping onto the kang, her chest feeling like it was stuffed with a clump of worn-out cotton.
Her husband, Mr. Li, who was reading the newspaper, was startled, lowered the newspaper, frowning: "In the dead of night, what are you yelling about again?"
"Am I yelling? It’s not out of anger!" Sister in law Wang slapped the edge of the kang, raising her voice, "It’s all because of that new vixen at Gu Yanshen’s house!"
She described, with exaggerated emotion and detail, the scene she saw at the doorstep that morning. In her depiction, Lin Wan Yi became a vicious city lady who didn’t lift a finger in housework and only ordered men around.
"... What’s more infuriating is, in the early morning, what was on her table? A plate of vibrant green vegetables and a cucumber with a flower on top, so fresh it looked like it could drip water!"
Mr. Li’s originally impatient expression changed instantly at the word "cucumber".
"Cucumber?" He snatched the conversation, his eyes lighting up, "In this weather, where on earth did she get fresh cucumbers?"
"How would I know! It was right there in front of her! She was eating it bite by bite, with Gu Yanshen drinking white porridge beside her, not even blinking! I think he’s fallen head over heels for that vixen!"
Mr. Li’s attention, however, was completely off the "vixen". He smacked his lips, looking at the bowl of pickled vegetables on their table, his eyes revealing a hint of unabashed envy.
"Mr. Gu... is truly capable." He murmured to himself.
Sister in law Wang almost fainted from breathlessness. "Li Aiguo! What do you mean? You’re envious of that? Is that the way a respectable woman should be?"
"I didn’t say anything else," Mr. Li snapped the newspaper, getting angry too, "I’m just saying, she managed to get good stuff, and what about you? You do nothing but gossip behind people’s backs all day! Instead of that, why not get along with the newcomer, maybe we could benefit too!"
"You—" Sister in law Wang was trembling with anger, leading to a full-blown argument between the couple, sparked entirely by a cucumber.
This cucumber-induced storm, in just one night, swept through the entire residential compound.
Early the next morning, the area around the well was livelier than ever.
Several military wives, holding their water buckets, didn’t start drawing water right away but huddled together, speaking in hushed tones.
"Did you hear? Mr. Gu’s new wife was eating fresh cucumbers yesterday morning!"
"Really? In this freezing weather, you can’t even find a scallion, let alone cucumbers!"
"Sister in law Wang saw it with her own eyes, how could it be fake? She said they were greener than in summer!"
The story grew more and more exaggerated.
"I heard Mr. Gu specifically arranged for the military district’s truck to bring it back overnight from the south! Just so his city-wife could have a taste!"
"Goodness! A whole army truck just to bring a cucumber? That’s too... too much pampering!"
Voices of admiration, jealousy, and disbelief rose continuously.
Sister in law Zhang and Sister in law Liu, who had previously defended Lin Wan Yi, were also in the crowd. They exchanged glances, seeing shock in each other’s eyes. This Lin Family girl, indeed, was no simple character.
Just then, Li Xiujuan came over with a bucket.
One quick-witted military wife immediately stopped her: "Xiujuan! Didn’t your husband help out at Mr. Gu’s house yesterday? You must have gone inside, tell us, is the cucumber real?"
All eyes instantly focused on Li Xiujuan.
Li Xiujuan blushed slightly. She recalled the equally fresh cucumber Lin Wan Yi had given her yesterday, along with that bottle of crystal clear "medicinal wine".
A strange sense of superiority surged in her heart.
She didn’t answer directly, just set down her bucket and smiled calmly.
"Oh, what’s there to be so amazed about?"
Her voice wasn’t loud, but it instantly quieted the surroundings.
Facing their inquisitive gazes, she opened her mouth slowly with a feigned casual tone:
"Who is Mr. Gu? A great hero standing tall. Can we even fathom his capabilities? His wife is precious, eating things we don’t usually see with him, isn’t that perfectly normal?"
With that, she stopped paying attention to them, filled her bucket, and walked away without looking back into the dead silence.
Leaving behind a group of military wives, staring at one another, completely taken aback by her words.
Normal?
What’s normal about this!