A New Life, Yet Still Bound by Her Love 47

Chapter 47: Rearing, Part 2

“Which grade are you in, little friend?”

“Second grade.”

“Second grade? You’re a big kid now. You have to be brave, okay? I’m going to press down now.”

Gu Zhi tore open a new bandage and gently pressed it onto the boy’s knee, her long, slender fingers gently smoothing the edges of the bandage so that the wound would be in full contact with the ointment.

“Good boy.” Gu Zhi clapped her hands and took a candy from her pocket. “This is a reward for you.”

Gu Zhi’s eyes crinkled into a smile as she handed the candy to the boy, patting his head before sending him out of the infirmary.

She watched as the boy slowly disappeared from her sight, the smile on her face fading like the melting snow of early spring.

Gu Zhi turned and went back into the infirmary, glancing at the open book on her desk, suddenly losing interest in it.

Life here, after leaving Qingchuan, was boring. From the moment she opened her eyes in the morning and saw the white ceiling, the entire day’s trajectory seemed to be set, without any ripples… monotonous.

She didn’t understand why some people would be so content with such a boring life. They were like ants living in a low-dimensional world, forever unable to comprehend things beyond their own dimension. They only knew how to live according to the needs of life… but they didn’t understand the meaning of survival.

Gu Zhi had left the large and powerful Gu family, left the life of lavish spending, and chose to be a marginalized health teacher in such an unknown school. She only had a few classes a week, and most of the time, they were squeezed out by other teachers with various excuses. She would then spend the day in the infirmary, reading a book.

The people in her family thought that money could imprison her a thousand miles away, to prevent her from staying in Qingchuan and taking a piece of the pie.

The family’s industry was a huge cake, so big that one person couldn’t eat it all. But they didn’t want to share it with others. Everyone wanted the biggest piece. A group of people connected by blood were fighting for interests with the most cruel means, even if it meant bloodshed.

How sad…

A little bit of benefit could easily tear apart all the bonds in this world. They would smile at you, and then, the moment you let down your guard and turned around, they would not hesitate to plunge a gleaming blade into your body, drawing out gushing blood. Those people could be your friends, relatives, and even lovers…

How fragile this love was, more lowly than the weakest dust in this world. That was not what she was looking for, nor what she needed to continue living in this world.

She needed a deeper love, firm… never betraying. It was a top-down relationship, not bound by superficial worldly ties. Only sincere love, a bloody, bone-deep love, a love that would still be etched into the soul even if the flesh was burned to ashes.

…

“Knock, knock, knock!”

A sudden knock broke the silence of the infirmary. Gu Zhi looked up with her long, narrow eyes and put down her book.

“The door is unlocked, come in.”

The rusty iron door was pushed open, making a grating sound that set one’s teeth on edge, but it also brought in a stream of clear, fresh spring water, moistening Gu Zhi’s eyes, which had become sore from reading for too long.

“Is there something you need from the infirmary?”

Gu Zhi’s expression remained unchanged, a gentle smile on her face. Everyone who entered the infirmary would see the same smiling face, like the warm winter sun, shining into their hearts.

The boy stared blankly at the smile on Gu Zhi’s face. He had never seen such a beautiful woman before. His childhood sweetheart was also beautiful… but she was completely different from the woman in front of him. Her every smile and frown was like a spring breeze, and her body exuded a mature charm at all times.

“I…”

The boy stammered, unable to speak, but he revealed the large scrape on his knee. The blood had almost clotted, forming a thin scab. With a slight movement, a few drops of fresh blood would ooze out.

“Shh! I know.” Gu Zhi looked at the boy’s wound, the smile on her face fading. Her eyes flickered with pity and heartache, as if the wound was also on her. “Be good, it will only hurt for a little while. I’ll bandage it for you, okay?”

“Th-thank you.”

The wound still ached. The boy looked at the woman who had her back to him, preparing the medicine. A long-lost emotion began to grow in his heart. He, who was sensitive, saw the heartache in her eyes, which made him feel warm. Others always thought he was a pitiful child and would comfort him with pity.

But at a young age, self-esteem is at its strongest. He didn’t need those things. What he had been looking for was an emotion that didn’t need to be masked by words, something that had been missing in his upbringing.

A boy’s stubbornness had its limits. He could endure the insults from his peers without a word.

But they would point at his eyebrows and call him a neglected orphan. He wanted to retort, but he couldn’t find the right words, because they were right.

He wanted to say that he wasn’t an orphan, that he had a father who was always away on business, and a mother who had long since disappeared. Not an orphan… but not far from it.

He often cried secretly in a corner because of such insults. He rarely cried. Even when he scraped his knee like today, he didn’t cry.

A child who is not noticed by their parents… no matter how loud they cry, it’s meaningless.

He often saw mothers waiting for their children at the school gate. Sometimes the mothers would care for their children… sometimes they would scold them. But in the boy’s eyes, all of this was enviable.

He didn’t cry, but it didn’t mean he didn’t crave it. But he couldn’t find a warm embrace to cry in, no matter how sad he was.

…

The boy’s childish voice fell on Gu Zhi’s ears. She lowered her eyes, wrapping the gauze bandage around the wound, the white gauze turning black in her eyes, as if a thick black mist could swallow everything in sight.

“Okay, you have to be brave now, it will hurt a little.”

Gu Zhi smiled and comforted the boy, her eyes full of gentle affection, as if she was treating him as her own child, showing him her meticulous care.

She cleaned the wound on his knee and gently applied the ointment. The boy’s limbs trembled from the pain, but his expression remained unchanged.

Only the boy’s eyes, his clear pupils reflected Gu Zhi, who was bending over to bandage his wound. His gaze slid down her beautiful, long black hair, to her snow-white neck. He stared blankly, even forgetting the pain.

“Sister, you’re so beautiful.”

The young boy’s eyes hadn’t yet developed a clear sense of worldly beauty and ugliness. He just felt that the woman in front of him was very beautiful, so beautiful that he couldn’t take his eyes off her. His gradually stiffening body in the cold spring wind slowly warmed up. Unconsciously, his thin face began to burn, and he blurted out his thoughts.

Gu Zhi lowered her head, the hand that was wrapping the gauze around the wound trembling. Her hot breath condensed into a hazy mist in the cold air. The heart that had been frozen in her chest paused for a moment, then began to pound wildly.

“Oh, I accidentally hurt you. I’m so sorry.”

Gu Zhi’s eyes were filled with heartache. She let go of his hand and looked up at the boy’s delicate eyebrows, which were furrowed from the pain. A look of distress filled his face, dissolving in the water.

Why did a boy have such alluring eyebrows? The boy’s features hadn’t fully developed yet, and all his fragility seemed to be concentrated in his eyes, making one’s heart ache.

He was so fragile, giving the impression that he could be easily controlled with one hand. His delicate features, clear eyes, and easy-to-read expression were so suitable… suitable for being an obedient pet.

Perhaps… she could really find a life that could bear her love. They would huddle together on a cold winter night, never lying to each other, never betraying each other, always loving each other.

This thought slowly crept into her mind, exploding and spreading through her nervous system, countless hormones being released, forming thousands of different emotions, and finally taking shape in her mind.

“Okay, it’s almost done. But remember to come back for a change of dressing. I’m here every day.”

Gu Zhi finished bandaging the wound and took a candy from her pocket. This was something she did every time she took care of a student.

But… this candy was a bit different. It didn’t have the beautiful packaging of the other candies. It was just wrapped in a plain gray candy wrapper.

“Thank you.”

The boy took the candy from Gu Zhi’s hand in a daze. He didn’t think much of it. For some reason, he trusted this gentle and charming woman. He had longed for something for so long, something his mother, who had almost disappeared from his memory, owed him.

He tore open the candy wrapper and put the milky white candy in his mouth. The candy dissolved into a sweet and sour juice, soothing the pain of his wound. His eyes became watery, with a faint pink tinge.

“What’s your name?” Gu Zhi sat down next to the boy, slightly tilting her body, chatting with him gently.

“Su… Su Yu.”

The boy answered timidly. The woman had a pleasant scent, fresh and gentle, so gentle that it made one want to indulge in it. But he knew that his wound had been bandaged, and he had no reason to stay here any longer.

“Su Yu? What a nice name. My name is Gu Zhi. You can call me Sister Gu, or… just sister.”

“Sister.”

The boy obediently called her, his tender young voice so soft that it made one’s ears tingle, as if drinking a bowl of jade nectar, sweet to the heart.

“Sister, why… am I so sleepy?”

The boy kept rubbing his eyes, but a constant wave of sleepiness washed over him, his eyelids fluttering. He simply felt that he couldn’t sleep here, that he would be a bother to Sister Gu.

“Sister, goodbye. Thank you, I’m leaving now.”

The small boy, who was developing much later than his peers, stood up from his seat and stumbled towards the door of the infirmary, but his arm was suddenly gripped by a cold hand. The coldness was so intense that the drowsiness in his head faded slightly.

The boy turned around in confusion. He didn’t understand why such a gentle sister’s hand would be so cold, like an icicle hanging from the eaves in winter, chilling to the bone and sharp enough to keep everyone at a distance.

But before he could react, his exhausted body couldn’t resist. His entire body was enveloped in a soft embrace, the warmth almost suffocating him, yet he found it comforting. He had never felt this way before. He was like a stranded fish, unable to breathe yet longing for the warmth of the sun.

“If you’re sleepy… just sleep. Be good, I’m here with you.”

Hot breath mixed with a sweet scent filled his fragile eardrums. The sleepiness in his mind completely took over. He fell asleep, indulging in that sweet gentleness.

…

In the evening, the afterglow of the setting sun faded with the coldness of early spring, filtering through the curtains and into the room. His long eyelashes trembled slightly. He opened his eyes and looked at the clean ceiling, feeling familiar. He sniffed the air and smelled the soft fragrance that had lingered around him when he fell asleep, mixed with the faint smell of disinfectant.

The boy suddenly felt a softness behind him. He turned around and was met with a soft, ample embrace. He quickly moved aside, which reminded him of the suffocating feeling before he fell asleep.

He looked at the deep cleavage, his clear eyes untainted by any impurity. He carefully covered the exposed skin with the blanket, but it disturbed the woman’s sleep.

“Mmm~ Xiao Yu? You’re awake?”

Gu Zhi opened her eyes with a groan. She saw the boy’s clumsy and cute actions and curved her long, narrow eyes, her face filled with the gentle colors of spring.

Her slender arms wrapped around the boy’s thin neck, pulling him into her embrace. They were very close. She stared at his obsidian-like, dark eyes, gently caressing his eyelids, her warm breath brushing against his face.

“You’ve slept in the same bed with me. If Xiao Yu is a man, you have to take responsibility, you know.”

The body in her arms trembled. The boy wasn’t a child anymore and knew a fair bit about the matters between men and women. Being held in a woman’s arms like this made him blush, his body burning with a fiery heat.

“Sister, don’t joke.”

“Hehe, I’m not joking. From now on… if anyone bullies you, come find me. I’ll beat them up for you. Xiao Yu has never been alone, you have me.”

Su Yu looked up at Gu Zhi, his face flushed. He was shaken, not even thinking to question why a woman he had just met would pour so much warmth upon him.

The sudden drowsiness, the soft and comfortable embrace, the warm and considerate care… everything seemed to be progressing too quickly, giving the boy a dream-like feeling, but it also dissolved the unfamiliarity between them.

He had always been alone, searching for a warmth he had long craved. But now, it seemed… he had found it.