Chapter 9 He Takes Her to the Dark Mountain

Back at Gu Wei's home, Su Meixi put her luggage away and then just sat in the room blankly.

Her mood was awful, like a tangled ball of yarn—sometimes it was about moving to a new home, other times Fang Xin, and at times her childhood would come to mind.

She wanted to cry, but tears wouldn't come.

After a while, Gu Wei came to knock on the door.

He stood at the doorway and asked, "Ah Xi, are you hungry? What would you like to eat?"

Su Meixi glanced at the time; it was already 8 pm. She shook her head, "Don't worry about me, I'll just make some instant noodles in a bit."

Gu Wei's expression turned cold, "How can that kind of junk food be nutritious?"

Su Meixi explained, "I've studied nutrition; instant noodles aren't very nutritious, but they're not junk food either. If you add an egg or some greens, it's quite nutritionally balanced."

Gu Wei shook his head, "Let's go out to eat, my treat."

"Where to?"

"Just follow me, I know a place that's perfect for dining."

"Wouldn't that be too much trouble?"

"Not at all."

...

Half an hour later, Su Meixi was sitting in a pavilion on the mountaintop.

She was also holding a bowl of pig offal rice noodle soup.

Gu Wei had bought the rice noodles at a roadside stall because there was nothing for sale on the mountaintop; he had added a few beef meatballs for her.

As soon as they reached this spot, Su Meixi understood the purpose of Gu Wei bringing her here.

From the mountaintop pavilion, one could have a panoramic view of half of Feng City, where thousands of households lit up the night sky like twinkling stars.

Because the view was so expansive, standing here made one feel incredibly small, and with that feeling, all the troubles and personal experiences seemed insignificant.

In a person's life, apart from life and death, everything else is trivial.

Su Meixi felt her mood becoming much lighter.

Once her mood lifted, she felt hungry. She picked up the bowl of noodle soup and began to eat slowly, finding the Chaoshan-style dish quite tasty.

Gu Wei next to her was also eating.

Perhaps because of his profession, he ate robustly, and within that robustness, there was a certain elegance; he ate quickly and heartily but without making any slurping noises, which must be due to good upbringing from a young age.

"Gu Wei, thank you for bringing me here," Su Meixi said.

Gu Wei smiled, "When I was a kid and felt down, I would come here and shout a few times, and I'd feel better."

"Shout a few times?"

"That's right, give it a try!"

"Does it work?" Su Meixi hesitated since she rarely shouted loudly in front of others.

Gu Wei put down his noodles, then stood up and shouted into the distance, "I, Gu Wei, I want to become the best soldier!"

After shouting, he said to Su Meixi, "Just like that, give it a try. You'll feel much better if you shout out your wishes or annoyances."

Su Meixi hesitated, but Gu Wei looked at her with encouraging eyes.

She decided to go for it.

She stood up and yelled out like Gu Wei, "I, Su Meixi, I want to live well. All those who've treated me badly, get lost, get lost, you're scum, trash, I won't forgive you!"

As she shouted, she felt the long-suppressed matters in her heart gradually disperse, and her previously chaotic mind started to untangle.

Since her second year of junior high, every time her period came, she would have a stomachache, sometimes waking up from the pain at night, crying until the morning.

When sick with a fever, she would insist on boiling water for herself and going to the pharmacy to buy medicine alone.

During New Year's Eve, when other families were bustling, she could only shrink in her room reading a book or lean on the window to watch children playing with firecrackers not far away.

Coolness touched her face as tears fell.

She wiped them away and shouted again, "It doesn't matter; all of this doesn't matter anymore.

I'm independent now, I can make my own decisions, I can take care of myself, Su Meixi, you can do it!"

After the shout, she felt completely relieved.

It was a pity there was no alcohol; she would have definitely drunk a few bottles.

"Gu Wei, I'm feeling much better, thank you!" Su Meixi sat back down next to Gu Wei.

In the night, Gu Wei's eyes were very bright.

He smiled, "Glad you're okay."

Then, she also looked at him.

Their eyes met, and at that moment, she felt her heart skip a beat.

She quickly diverted her gaze and continued eating her remaining noodles.

After breaking up with Qi Anran, she told herself not to easily fall for men. Even though she had agreed to marry Gu Wei, she needed to keep her emotions in check. She could be deceived by a man's charm, cheated out of money, but she couldn't be fooled emotionally again.

...

When they had come, they had taken a taxi up the mountain.

But unable to hail a cab on the way down, they were forced to walk.

Fortunately, the lights below the mountain were bright, so it wasn't too dark on the way up, a hazy sort of dim.

Su Meixi walked beside Gu Wei, and although it was a night walk, she didn't feel scared at all because he was there.

Due to his profession, Gu Wei walked very upright, with a straight and honest gait, exuding integrity.

Suddenly, Su Meixi had a thought: How would a man like him handle "that sort of thing" after marriage?

Would it be systematic?

Or would he lack passion?

When she was with Qi Anran, he used to say she wasn't passionate. Now that she was preparing to marry Gu Wei, wouldn't that make her even less passionate?

That didn't seem right either. If Gu Wei lacked passion, he wouldn't have brought her to the mountaintop to shout in the middle of the night.

As Gu Wei walked, he kept his gaze forward, but his peripheral vision stayed on Su Meixi.

The mountain was silent, the night gentle, the distant lights suggestive - with the woman he was going to marry right beside him, wasn't this the moment to hold hands?

He tested the waters, walking side by side with her, his fingers brushing hers, but she subconsciously moved a bit further away.

It seemed she was deep in thought, not even noticing a large rock in front of her.

Gu Wei deliberately didn't warn her and let her kick it.

"Ouch!" Su Meixi kicked the rock, stumbled, and looked like she was about to fall forward.

Gu Wei caught her just in time.

Su Meixi fell right into Gu Wei's arms.

His chest was so firm, like a wall, but it also felt reassuring. Su Meixi even wanted to poke it.

When she looked up, her eyes met his sparkling ones.

"Are you alright?" asked Gu Wei.

"I'm fine, thanks to you," Su Meixi let out a sigh of relief, but then became tense again.

Gu Wei looked at her, his voice hoarse and magnetic, "Good to hear."

For some reason, Su Meixi suddenly felt like she had been electrified, with a weak sensation all over.

She was going to pull away from him, but then a strange moaning sound came from behind a nearby rock.

"Baby, I can't do it anymore."

"Come on, harder!"

It turned out there were people having an outdoor fling nearby!

Su Meixi hurriedly moved away from Gu Wei.

It was so embarrassing. They had come out to shout and clear their minds, but to run into such a scene was too much.

Gu Wei couldn't help but smile as he watched Su Meixi's nervous figure quickly retreat.

...

Morning.

Su Meixi and Gu Wei sat together for breakfast.

He had gone out to buy it.

"Gu Wei, do you always get up this early?" Su Meixi asked.

She had slept late last night and when she got up at one in the morning to go to the bathroom, she saw the light was still on in his room.

Gu Wei paused for a moment, "Yes, I don't sleep much, but I had a good night's sleep last night."

"Just a few hours, that's not enough." Su Meixi, who studied traditional Chinese medicine, knew the importance of maintaining good health, "It's best to get a full seven hours of sleep for health."

"I'll try my best," Gu Wei said.

Su Meixi suddenly thought of his injury and quickly asked, "By the way, how is your wound? Did your doctor friend treat it yesterday?"

"It's been treated."

"Can I... take a look?" Su Meixi was mainly worried.

She was concerned that he might say he had it looked at by a male doctor out of pride or embarrassment.

Gu Wei paused, probably aware of what was on her mind, and then said, "Sure."

...

Su Meixi had Gu Wei take off his pants and lie down on the couch, while she sat in front of him on a small stool.

When she saw the wound on his leg, she was suddenly a bit shocked.