Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Ten minutes later, Gu Beixian returned.

He sat down next to Su Hua, reached out to stroke her head, and said softly, “Suosuo is ill and can’t handle any agitation. Don’t be too hard on her.”

He was asking her to endure it.

Su Hua pursed her lips slightly and remained silent.

She was actually quite a patient person by nature and had already put up with Chu Suosuo several times. Now, a single act of resistance was seen as being “hard on her” in Gu Beixian’s eyes.

The word “endure” is written in Chinese as a blade held over the heart. Only the person doing the enduring knows exactly how that feels.

During those two years when Gu Beixian was in poor health, he would lose his temper and throw things at the drop of a hat. She had endured all of it-initially out of gratitude, and later because she had fallen in love with him.

But who did Chu Suosuo think she was? Why should Su Hua have to endure her?

The more Su Hua thought about it, the angrier she became. Her lips were pressed into a tight line, and her expression was as dark as deep water.

The old lady noticed something was wrong. She patted Su Hua’s shoulder and glared at Gu Beixian, warning him, “Hua’er is just a young girl herself, only a year older than Chu Suosuo. Why should she have to put up with her? You’d better handle your relationship with that girl properly. If you let my Hua’er be bullied again, I’ll hit you.”

Gu Beixian took Su Hua by the shoulders and studied her face, teasing, “Whose little girl is this? Her face is so puffed up with anger she looks like a steamed bun.”

Su Hua shot him a glare.

Gu Beixian smiled and pulled her into his arms, his voice softening as he coaxed her. “Alright, don’t be angry anymore.”

He took her injured wrist and gently rubbed it. “Getting angry will affect the wound’s healing.”

Seeing this, the old lady joined in the coaxing. “Hua’er, don’t be angry anymore. If he ever bullies you again, just tell me and I’ll deal with him. It’s getting late; you two should head home and get some rest.”

With both of them coaxing her like this, Su Hua couldn’t keep up her cold front.

She gently pushed Gu Beixian away and glanced around the hospital room. Seeing that there were servants to stay the night, she said, “Grandma, please recover well. I’ll come to see you again tomorrow.”

Grandma smiled kindly. “Alright, and don’t forget what you promised me.”

The tips of Su Hua’s ears turned slightly red. “I won’t.”

She stood up, grabbed her bag, and walked out of the room side-by-side with Gu Beixian.

Once they were outside, Gu Beixian stared at her reddened ears and asked, “What did you promise Grandma? Why are your ears so red?”

Su Hua said softly, “Grandma wants me to give you a child.”

Gu Beixian gave a faint smile. “Grandma is desperate for a great-grandchild. Last year, as soon as I could stand on my legs again, she started pushing for it. She’s nagged me privately several times, and now she’s nagging you. A while back, she even wanted us to move into the old family estate, trying every trick in the book to force us to have a child.”

Su Hua’s mind drifted, and she didn’t respond.

They took the elevator down.

Once they were in the car, the driver started the engine.

Gu Beixian tilted his head toward Su Hua. A smile played on his lips, but his eyes held a searching look. “Do you want to have a child?”

Su Hua thought about it seriously. “Having a child at this particular juncture is actually quite a risk, don’t you think?”

Gu Beixian’s eyes darkened, and he said with an inscrutable tone, “Is it that you don’t want to have a child, or you don’t want to have my child?”

Su Hua felt there was something cynical in his tone. After considering it, she said, “Let’s wait until things stabilize. Don’t you want a divorce? If we have a child and then divorce, it wouldn’t be fair to the child.”

Gu Beixian curled his lips in a self-deprecating smirk. He withdrew his gaze and looked ahead, saying nonchalantly, “Fair point.”

Both were lost in their own thoughts, and they remained silent for the rest of the trip.

As they approached a turn, Gu Beixian asked, “Come home with me. It’ll be easier to take care of you.”

Su Hua was silent for a few seconds before saying, “Okay.”

They arrived back at Riyue Bay.

After getting out of the car, Gu Beixian took her hand and led her toward the front door.

Su Hua looked down at their joined hands. In the past, they rarely held hands in public; their relationship had always been one of mutual, distant respect.

Lately, he had suddenly become much more intimate with her.

But when she thought about how this hand had also held Chu Suosuo’s, Su Hua felt a pang of discomfort.

Inside the house, Su Hua set down her bag and opened the shoe cabinet, about to get Gu Beixian’s slippers for him.

He gripped her shoulders, preventing her from bending over. “Your hand is injured. Let me do it.”
He took a pair of slippers from the shoe rack, helped her out of her shoes, and gently tucked her feet into the slippers, even carefully adjusting her cotton socks.

In the past, she had always been the one to do these things for him. Being served by him all of a sudden made Su Hua feel a bit out of place.

As if sensing her unease, Gu Beixian smiled and said, “Husbands and wives are supposed to take care of each other. You took care of me before; now it’s my turn to take care of you.”

Su Hua whispered, “Thank you.”

“What are you thanking me for? It’s only right.” Gu Beixian changed into his own slippers and carefully helped Su Hua out of her coat. “You haven’t had a proper bath in days. In the hospital, you only had sponge baths, and those aren’t enough. I’ll help you wash up in a bit.”

Su Hua’s face instantly flushed crimson.

Back at the hospital, it had already been embarrassing enough when he helped her with her sponge baths every day. Letting him help her with a real bath was far too mortifying.

Gu Beixian stared at her blushing face and curled his lips into a smile. “You’re not a child anymore, so why do you blush at every little thing? We’ve been married for three years, yet you’re still as reserved as a young girl.”

Su Hua thought back to what Xiao Yi had told her-that she needed to be a bit more provocative and loose at home, otherwise, she wouldn’t be able to compete with Chu Suosuo.

In a very soft voice, she asked, “Do you men dislike it when women are too reserved? Do you prefer them to be… bolder?”

Gu Beixian couldn’t help but laugh. “Who told you that?”

“Xiao Yi.”

Gu Beixian studied her with great interest, the corners of his mouth lifting as he asked slowly, “And do you know how to be ‘bold’?”

Su Hua’s face turned even redder.

She was used to being reserved; she really didn’t know how to be provocative. However, she wanted to win against Chu Suosuo so badly.

She had followed her grandfather to learn the restoration of ancient books and paintings since she was a child. In truth, her rough edges had long been polished away, leaving her with a temperament that was indifferent to worldly desires and competition.

Yet, for some reason, Chu Suosuo had suddenly ignited a fierce competitive streak within her.

After a moment’s thought, she lifted her foot and hooked it around Gu Beixian’s calf. She slid her fingers through the gaps in his shirt to stroke his abdominal muscles, her large, watery eyes gazing at him as she asked earnestly, “Is it like this?”

Gu Beixian burst out laughing. He caught her wandering hand to stop her from moving further and asked, “Who taught you this?”

“I read it in a romance novel.”

Gu Beixian lowered his gaze, scrutinizing her eyes. “The look in your eyes is wrong. You’re too serious. Looking at you like this only makes me want to study advanced calculus with you.”

He pinched her waist. “Your movements are too stiff, too. This doesn’t feel like flirting; it feels like you’re about to challenge me to a duel. You need to relax. Your waist should be softer, and your gaze should be lazier, more sultry.”

Suddenly realizing something, Su Hua raised her eyebrows and glared at him. “How do you know so much about this?”

Gu Beixian smiled. “Just because I haven’t eaten pork doesn’t mean I haven’t seen a pig run.”

“So you men really do like the provocative type,” Su Hua said sullenly before turning toward the sofa.

Seeing her get inexplicably upset, Gu Beixian chuckled helplessly. “I’ll go draw the bathwater.”

“Okay.”

Once the water was ready, Su Hua walked into the bathroom.

With Gu Beixian’s help, she undressed and sat in the bathtub.

She held her injured left hand high to keep it from getting wet and said to him, “You can go out now. I can wash myself.”

Gu Beixian rolled up his sleeves and grabbed the pink loofah hanging on the wall. “Let me scrub your back. You haven’t had a good bath in nearly half a month; you must be dirty.”

Su Hua was about to say “No need,” but she felt a tickle on her back as Gu Beixian began to scrub.

He teased as he worked, “So much grime. You’re like a little mud monkey.”

Su Hua was mortified and retorted, “I am not dirty!”

Gu Beixian’s smile deepened. “Right, not dirty. Our Huahua is as clean as can be.”

Su Hua felt a slight tingling in her ears. This man was getting better and better at flirting.

As he continued scrubbing, she noticed that the man’s breathing behind her was gradually changing.

Just as she was about to turn around and look, his hand slid from her back down to her waist, gripping it firmly.

He embraced her from behind, trailing kisses from her earlobe all the way down.

Su Hua shifted her shoulders, trying to resist.

He held her by the shoulders, turned her around, and lowered his head to kiss her lips.