Jin Zijin squinted his eyes slightly and, after thinking for a moment, said, "So are you blaming me?"
However, he was unaware of Gu Youyou’s inner thoughts and only considered that he had never touched her before. Was this a complaint?
Each wrapped in their own thoughts, they had drifted miles apart.
Jin Zijin didn’t know how to talk to her about these things, nor could he.
How he wished she were just a simple farm girl, Gu Youyou, but she didn’t seem the part at all.
If even she was someone else’s pawn...
"Stop!" To his surprise, Gu Youyou cut him off mid-sentence.
Gu Youyou, afraid of uttering some shameless words, quickly spoke up to stop him and then said, "Don’t push your luck. I thought you knew everything. I just want a few days of peace."
Jin Zijin let out a sigh of relief, yet inexplicably, a sense of loss surfaced.
He said, "In a few days, your elder brother is getting married, and we both have to go. Do you want Grandfather to know that we’re not getting along?"
Gu Youyou suddenly froze, also feeling awkward.
If there was one person in this world who could make Gu Youyou feel uneasy, it would be none other than Gu Feng.
Not blood-related, yet closer than family!
Since she had survived in place of the young Gu Youyou and had received so much kindness from Gu Feng, she must honor him in the young girl’s stead.
She didn’t know what deal there was between Gu Feng and Jin Zijin, but every time, Gu Feng told her to trust Jin Zijin, insisting he wouldn’t harm her.
She had to admit that Jin Zijin had been very kind to her since she left the Gu Family, taking care of her even better than a hired nurse would. If it hadn’t been for the sachet incident, she might not have bothered about Jin Zijin’s mysterious status and would have wholeheartedly stayed by his side.
But she was a person who knew her place very well. She understood that a village girl like herself couldn’t possibly deserve Jin Zijin’s constant vigilance.
He still wasn’t willing to trust her, not about to reveal the slightest hint.
Taking advantage of Gu Youyou’s hesitation, a large hand stretched out from under the blanket, pulling her onto the bed and into his quilt.
"Hey, what are you doing?" the now alert Gu Youyou asked as she pinched and kicked.
Jin Zijin’s strong arm imprisoned her in his embrace, his warm breath cascading over her head and into her ear, "It’s getting late. We need to leave early for Lotus Village tomorrow."
"You... You’re being shameless..."
"Stop moving. Let me cool down. I’m afraid of the heat." The coolness of an ordinary spring was no longer enough to suppress the heat within him, so he had to seek out Gu Youyou. This was the plain truth.
Gu Youyou, of course, didn’t understand and thought he was just being shameless again. She retorted angrily, "...The river right outside the door is cooler! Let me go."
"Youyou!" Jin Zijin didn’t release her for a moment, whispering, "This is turning your back on someone once you no longer need their help!"
"During the winter when you were cold, I didn’t make you sit by the fire. Even when you were as cold as ice, I never complained about you."
Gu Youyou was instantly stunned.
Recalling those winter days, huddled against his warm body, she didn’t have the courage to argue any further.
His body also had its issues, so she might as well assume he still needed her to cool down.
Oh, how pathetic and laughable it was. There was a couple who, in the winter, she used him as a furnace; in the blazing summer, he used her as a popsicle. This was the sole reason they slept together as husband and wife.
The sky in August had started to cool. It was the season for Lotus Village to harvest lotus roots. Along the way, one could see many villagers busy at work.
Looking at the heaps of roots, Gu Youyou’s eyes brightened at the thought of the lotus root with sticky rice and honeyed lotus root slices that she liked in modern times.