I chased after him, firing one question after another.
Gu Yuan reverted to his usual cold - as - ice demeanor. No matter what I asked, he remained tight - lipped.
Finally, I couldn't bear it any longer. I stopped in my tracks, pretended to be angry, pointed at Gu Yuan's back, and shouted at the top of my lungs, "Gu Yuan, you heartless brute! You tricked me into marrying you. Since then, you've never told me anything about what you do outside. Tell me, do you have someone else out there?"
My voice might have been too loud, as it caught everyone's attention. They all stared at me like spectators at a show, whispering among themselves.
This trick actually worked. Gu Yuan stopped in his tracks, turned around, and walked back towards me.
"Yeah, I've got someone by my side. And she's a real beauty. Do you want me to show you her picture?"
I wasn't really angry at first, but the way he openly admitted it right in front of all these people made me feel so unimportant.
I pouted, looking unhappy. "Show me. I'd like to see which vixen is so brazen as to seduce you."
Gu Yuan took something out of his pocket and held it in front of me.
"Look, this is the vixen who's stolen my heart."
When I saw who it was, I couldn't help but burst out laughing.
Gu Yuan had taken out a mirror, and it was reflecting my rather foolish - looking face.
My expression was really a sight for sore eyes.
"Hey, don't look..." I quickly snatched the mirror from his hand, and all my little grievances vanished in an instant.
Gu Yuan wrapped his arms around me from behind and whispered, "After the New Year, Xue Laosan will come looking for me. It'll be time for that third son of the Xue family to pay his debt."
I quickly turned around, looking worried. "What do you mean? Does he have a grudge against you?"
"The venom of the red - banded snake in my body hasn't been completely cleared. Although you can heal me, the residual venom seems to have triggered something inside me. Before, I could suppress it, but now the weakening of my magic power due to the residual venom from the snake's corpse has made something in my body seem to want to take over. If I ignore it, I'm afraid it will really backfire on me. I had a feud with Xue Laosan years ago. He's the reincarnation of a spiritual fox and is well - known as the Medicine King of the Valley. I hope he can help this time."
"Feud? Is it a good one or a bad one? That day when you stopped breathing, you really stopped breathing, didn't you? Long Lin was right after all." After hearing his words, I was so nervous that I paced back and forth, unable to sit still.
"See, I told you I didn't want to tell you, but you just keep overthinking. Telling you will only make you worry. You can't really help."
Gu Yuan placed his hands on my face, but he didn't seem worried at all.
"What if the Medicine King can't cure you?" I grabbed his wrists tightly, asking anxiously.
"Then you should go with Jun He. He's a man you can trust for life."
"You..." I slapped his hand hard, my lips trembling, on the verge of tears.
"I'm just joking. Don't worry. I'm not that easy to die. It's the Chinese New Year, so don't cry. It's inauspicious."
Gu Yuan carried the big fish and pulled me into his arms. Although it looked rather comical, my heart felt empty.
He made it sound so easy, but I knew things couldn't be that simple.
I secretly swore in my heart that after the New Year, even if he didn't tell me, I'd find out on my own. I would never, ever let Gu Yuan die.
Our affectionate display was so conspicuous that it attracted a group of people whispering about us.
The market wasn't very big. My parents happened to be strolling by and saw us being so lovey - dovey in the market.
I quickly pushed Gu Yuan away. It was so cold outside, but I felt my face burning hot.
Surprisingly, my parents were very open - minded. They said to the people around them, "Sorry for the scene. This is my daughter and son - in - law. They've been married for half a year, and they're still so affectionate. It makes me happy to see them like this."
Some of the villagers even chimed in.
"This is great. They're such a good - looking couple. It's a pleasure to look at them."
"Yeah, it's like watching a romantic drama. They're even better - looking than the stars. We should be blessing them, not laughing at them."
"Thank you, thank you for the blessings of all the villagers."
After my parents finished speaking, they led us out of the market.
"You two..." My mother tapped me on the forehead.
I smiled at her. "Hehe, sorry for the scene."
...
When we got home, Gu Yuan and I put up the Spring Festival couplets. Before we knew it, it was evening.
On New Year's Eve, our whole family watched the Spring Festival Gala, made dumplings together, boiled them, and had a steaming hot New Year's Eve dinner.
At night, Gu Yuan and I huddled in the quilt to stay up until midnight. I thought that after today, I'd be twenty - three years old.
When the clock was about to strike midnight, Gu Yuan looked at me with deep affection in his eyes, a perfect smile on his lips.
His looks were so captivating that even if I looked at him for a hundred years, I'd still be deeply in love with him.
I curled up under him, our eyes locked, as if time had stood still.
As his fair and handsome face slowly approached my ear, he asked softly, "Okay?"
His voice was deep and husky. Just those three words made me completely surrender, my whole body tingling.
I shyly bit my lower lip and whispered a single word: "Yes."
Gu Yuan's cold lips gently wrapped around my burning earlobe.
As his gentle kisses continued, the heat within me intensified. This night was destined to be a stormy one...
...
The next day, I was still sound asleep when firecrackers started going off outside. One family set them off, and then another followed suit.
I was so exhausted from the previous night that I didn't want to get up at all. But I couldn't stand the noise outside.
I pulled the quilt over my head, determined not to get up.
Then I heard someone outside come to pay New Year greetings. The man introduced himself as Xue Jiaming and said he was here specifically to find Gu Yuan.
That woke me up instantly. His words were more effective than an alarm clock.
I don't even know how I managed to get up. I quickly put on my clothes and rushed out of the room.
I ran to the door looking disheveled. Sure enough, it was Xue Jiaming.
He was standing outside the yard, handing the gifts in his hands to my parents. With a big smile on his face, he asked me, "Is Master Gu here?"
"He..." Just as I was about to go back into the house to find Gu Yuan, he appeared behind me.
When Xue Jiaming saw Gu Yuan, he still looked a bit arrogant.
"My grandfather is here. He said he wants to see you."
"Then come in," Gu Yuan said. His cold eyes glanced at a black car outside the yard. Then he turned around and walked into the room.
Oh my god, this didn't look like someone asking for a cure at all. It was as if he was the one being begged to be cured.
I couldn't act like him, though.
I quickly opened the door and politely said to Xue Jiaming, "It's cold outside. Hurry and ask your grandfather to get out of the car. Let's talk inside. It's warm in the room."
As soon as I finished speaking, the car door opened.
An old man in his eighties got out of the car. He had a sharp - featured face, a pair of fox - like eyes. Just as Gu Yuan had said, he was the reincarnation of a fox spirit.
The old man had slanting eyes. His cloudy eyes glanced at me, and he said coldly, "Sure enough, a perfect medicine ingredient."