Chapter 605 - 521: Peach Blossoms (Part 2)
Chapter 605: Chapter 521: Peach Blossoms (Part 2)
When Gu Shaojun finished unwrapping it, Xiao Man let out a cry of surprise, clasping her hands together. "They’re so beautiful!"
She immediately glanced at Gu Shaojun, a little embarrassed. He just smiled and ruffled her hair. "You’re not wrong. They *are* beautiful!"
Nestled in the white towel was a pair of dark brown, wooden dolls, each about half a foot tall. The wood had been carefully chosen; its grain was tight and fine, and it gave off a faint, sweet scent. The female doll was dressed in a round-collared babydoll dress with a crossbody bag. Her head was tilted to the side, her eyes and brows curved into a smile, and her hair was in playful pigtails. Her sweet innocence held a spark of cleverness—it was clearly Xiao Man from years ago, the day she first met Gu Shaojun on the streets of Wancheng. As for the male doll, he was dressed in a shirt and slacks, with handsome features and a dashing posture. It was unmistakably Gu Shaojun!
The two exquisitely carved dolls, from their facial features to their overall aura, bore a remarkable resemblance to their real-life counterparts. It was obvious that Gu Shaojun had poured his heart and soul into this creation, not cutting a single corner. Even Xiao Man had to admit the likeness was uncanny.
Gu Shaojun and Xiao Man sat on the sofa, admiring the wooden dolls. A playful mood took hold of Xiao Man, and she started playing with them as if they were for a dollhouse. She took the cuddling figurines of "Gu Shaojun" and "Xiao Man" and stood them back-to-back. "From now on, if we get into a fight, we’ll do this," she said with a grin. "Whoever is in the wrong has to turn their doll around first."
Then, she moved the "Gu Shaojun" figurine to a corner of the coffee table, leaving "Xiao Man" standing in the original spot. "And if you refuse to admit you’re wrong, I’ll banish you to a faraway place and you can find your own way home!"
Gu Shaojun was exasperated. ’This little rascal really holds nothing back when she’s playing around. Starting a fight this easily, and then just banishing me over a little tiff!’
He reached out, picked up the "Gu Shaojun" figurine, and placed it back beside "Xiao Man," making the two little figures stand cheek-to-cheek. "We’re family. We barely have enough time to love each other, so why would we get angry? You need to take good care of these little guys and don’t let anyone sneak off with them. I only worked on them in secret during my downtime when I was alone, but someone still found them and nearly made off with them."
"These aren’t just some ordinary decorations. Anyone with eyes can see what they are. Who would dare to swipe them? I’d fight them for it!"
Xiao Man quickly clutched the two small wooden figures to her chest, as if someone might actually try to snatch them away. Her beautiful, Water Spirit eyes widened as she glanced warily at the closed door. Her pink lips pouted and her cheeks puffed out. To Gu Shaojun, this expression, charming whether in anger or in joy, held absolutely no menace.
He pulled Xiao Man into his embrace. "We have to go out for dinner soon. Let’s wrap them up and put them away for now. You can display them in your room when we get back tonight. No one will be able to take them then."
"Okay. I’m going to put them on my nightstand so I can see them every morning and evening. Where did you keep them before? And who was it that saw them and tried to take them?"
"..." Gu Shaojun paused, then decided to tell her the truth. "I’m always moving between the front and the rear, spending most of my time on the front line without a fixed base, so I used to keep them in my duffel bag. My unit recently returned to the rear for a period of rest and reorganization, so I had a bit more time and was finally able to finish them. I was so happy, thinking about how much you’d love them, that I put them on my own nightstand to look at every day, just like you said. But then Sun Meirong came to my dorm room, saw them, and insisted she had to have them. She even snatched them when I wasn’t paying attention. I had a heck of a time getting them back!"
Xiao Man was astonished. "Sun Meirong? What was she doing at your base? I remember Sun Yiming telling me his sister went somewhere with beautiful scenery to paint. Don’t tell me your unit is stationed in a tourist spot?"
"There’s no scenic area where I am. I don’t know if Sun Meirong was there to paint, but I do know she arrived at our camp by following a supply convoy from the rear. Apparently, the Sun Group donated a large quantity of medicine and medical equipment to our Southern District, so the district leadership holds the Sun Family in high regard. Since Sun Meirong is an artist who needed to ’experience life,’ she requested a tour of the military camp. Her request was approved, and she was assigned an escort—partly to ensure her personal safety, and partly for surveillance. After all, even though the Sun Family has returned to their roots, they still came from overseas. It’s best to take precautions."
"But why did she insist on ’experiencing life’ in *your* unit specifically? And how did she know you were at that base? And that you were just happening to rotate back for rest? I’m telling you, this is definitely not as simple as it looks!"
Alarm bells went off in Xiao Man’s head. She shot upright, her expression suddenly stern. Her big, beautiful eyes darted back and forth, making her look just like a cat whose fur was on end after spotting a mouse.
Gu Shaojun found her reaction absolutely adorable. He gave her ponytail a gentle tug and chuckled. "Oh? How is it not so simple? Do tell."
"Isn’t it obvious? Sun Meirong has completely won over Granny Gu, and even Grandpa Gu praises her for being so sensible and gracious. I think she has an ulterior motive. She’s always visiting the Gu family, building up connections, and getting everyone to like her, but it’s all because she has a secret crush on you!"
"..." Gu Shaojun was left speechless.
’How is my little fiancée so perceptive?’ he thought. ’If I don’t come clean right now, this is going to get messy.’
"Honey, this is the kind of thing we can only talk about between ourselves. You can’t bring it up in front of other people, or things will get very messy."
"I know. But that Sun Meirong... did she try to do anything to you?"
"Of course not. I’m not a block of wood. You think I’d just stand there and let her do something?" Gu Shaojun gently tapped Xiao Man’s nose with his knuckle. "You’re worrying over nothing. No matter what ideas Sun Meirong gets, and no matter how much Granny and Grandpa Gu like her, do you really think they could break us up just to satisfy her? That’s impossible. It’d be harder than scaling the heavens!"
Xiao Man pouted. "It wouldn’t be hard at all if the conditions were right!"
"And what conditions would those be?"
"All it would take is for her to wear you down with persistence, conquer you with her ’sincerity’ and ’true love,’ and for you to transfer your affections and fall for her. Then Grandpa and Granny Gu would give their blessing, wouldn’t they? It would all just fall into place, a happy ending for everyone!"
Gu Shaojun laughed, half in anger, half in amusement. "Keep talking nonsense and I’ll punish you the same way I punish Shaoying—I’ll turn you over my knee and spank you!"
Xiao Man burrowed into his arms, acting coy. "But I’m annoyed! You attract so many admirers, can’t I even complain a little?"
"What admirers? I only have one flower... a little foxtail I picked from that village!"
"You’re the foxtail!"
After they’d had their fill of playful banter, Gu Shaojun told Xiao Man the whole story about Sun Meirong. All one could say was that a woman’s intuition was frighteningly accurate. Xiao Man hadn’t been imagining things at all—Sun Meirong had gone to the South specifically for Gu Shaojun.
Gu Shaojun hadn’t noticed her intentions at first. Since Sun Meirong was from Beijing, they were acquaintances, and on top of that, she was Imperial Doctor Sun’s great-granddaughter. Out of respect for the connection between Xiao Man and Imperial Doctor Sun, Gu Shaojun had treated her very politely, even patiently helping her with several small issues. But then Sun Meirong refused to stay with the female soldiers. Instead, she tried to use her status as a "sister" from a family friend to move into Gu Shaojun’s two-bedroom dormitory. Naturally, Gu Shaojun refused. Unwilling to take no for an answer, she eventually managed to move into the room next door. From then on, she’d find any excuse to eat with Gu Shaojun and even tried to insist on tidying his quarters for him. At that point, Gu Shaojun would have had to be a complete fool not to understand what was going on. Even his commanding officer had noticed something was up. Gu Shaojun simply carried on as usual, saying nothing and continuing to treat Sun Meirong with polite consideration, all while pretending to be dense and completely missing her hints. Then, for reasons unknown, his CO assigned him a task: travel to Beijing on official business and, while he was at it, escort Sun Meirong home.
And that was how Gu Shaojun had returned. The entire journey, his mind had been completely consumed with the excitement and joy of reuniting with Xiao Man. He paid absolutely no attention to anything Sun Meirong said or did. Besides, they weren’t traveling alone. Someone else could look after her.