Under the pale moonlight, she could vaguely see that a new straw hut had risen in the place where their previous one stood, as if the shape hadn’t changed at all.
After all this time, it was still a straw hut. Why was he so keen on straw huts?
Gu Youyou, having traveled a long way and out of breath, was too weary to bother anymore and simply followed Jin Zijin directly into the hut.
Once inside, Jin Zijin lit an oil lamp, and by its faint glow, Gu Youyou saw that the inside of the hut had undergone substantial changes.
From the outside, it looked almost identical to the old straw hut, but the inside was vastly different.
Not to mention anything else, just take the floor for instance.
In the past, it was all mud. It was fine on sunny days, but once it rained, everything was ruined. The whole hut would be full of sludge, and one could easily slip and get covered in mud.
Gu Youyou had never seen such a hut before and was so shocked that she dared not step inside. It took her a long time to adapt.
Now, fortunately, the ground was covered with wood and raised about a foot off the ground, so even on rainy days, the inside of the hut wouldn’t get damp.
Gu Youyou looked at Jin Zijin with complex emotions in her eyes!
He must have put a lot of effort into making the floorboards just to make her stay more comfortable.
Jin Zijin always made her want to get closer to him when she thought about it, yet he also made her feel the need to keep her distance and be cautious. And when she was being wary of him, he made her unable to resist the desire to get close to him.
Seeing him now, Gu Youyou’s heart was a mess, truly fitting the saying, "The heart is like a net of silk threads, filled with countless knots!"
Sensing her unusual behavior, Jin Zijin couldn’t help but ask, "What’s wrong?"
Gu Youyou collected her thoughts and replied with a helpless smile, "You are truly difficult to understand, causing me some... troubles I’ve never had before!"
Jin Zijin’s expression was always enigmatic, hard to decipher. He seemed to understand her words, yet also as if he didn’t. Gu Youyou didn’t want to probe further. She simply gestured towards the cold stove and said, "I’m hungry. Are we going to have dinner?"
Jin Zijin smiled, nodded, and headed toward the stove.
Ever since that night when she encountered that strange man, Gu Youyou had become more cautious, afraid to sleep too deeply at night, and intermittently alert to the surroundings of the house.
With her keen hearing, she would definitely be aware of anyone approaching.
However, since that night, she hadn’t noticed anyone coming to see Jin Zijin at midnight again. But that didn’t mean he hadn’t been in touch with those people. He had plenty of opportunities to contact outsiders, while hunting or going into town.
That stranger had wanted to kill her that night, and Gu Youyou didn’t want to die for no apparent reason.
And then there was Jin Zijin by her side. She didn’t know his intentions; whether he was trustworthy was also a question. For the time being, she was of use to him, so he probably wouldn’t harm her, but what about when she was no longer useful?
That was hard to say!
Thinking that Jin Zijin might one day turn on her, Gu Youyou felt deeply sorrowful.
Looking back on her life in this world, the only one who had truly been kind to her was one person, Grandpa Gu!
Time flew, and the weather had warmed up. The peach and plum trees in the distance were bearing fruit, but the peach tree in front of the house was withering and close to death.
There would be no peaches to eat this year!
Because at the time when its blossoms were in full glory, Gu Youyou had set the house on fire. The tree, being close to the house, had not escaped unscathed and was half-dead from the heat, suggesting that even next year’s blossoms might not flourish.
In Jin Zijin’s yard, there was plenty of open space, and under the guidance of Auntie Wang, Gu Youyou also planted some fresh vegetables!