Ten minutes later, Gu Beixian returned.
Sitting beside Su Huai, he reached out to touch her head and said in a gentle tone, "Su Huai is unwell and can't handle stress. Don't bother with her."
This was to make her endure.
Su Huai pursed her lips slightly but remained silent.
In truth, she was a very patient person. She had endured Chu Suosuo's provocations several times. Now, any resistance against Gu Beixian was perceived as making trouble in his eyes.
The word "endure," when dissected, was like stabbing a knife into the heart. Only those who endured it knew the taste.
In the past two years when Gu Beixian was unwell, often losing his temper and breaking things, she endured it all. Initially, it was out of gratitude, but later, it was because she had fallen in love with him.
But what was Chu Suosuo compared to her? Why should she endure her?
The more Su Huai thought about it, the angrier she became. Her lips were tightly pressed, and her face darkened.
The old lady sensed something amiss, patted her shoulder, and glared at Gu Beixian, warning, "Huai is also a young girl, just a year older than Chu Suosuo. Why should she endure her? Handle your relationship with her properly. If my Huai is mistreated again because of you, I will give you a beating."
Gu Beixian pulled Su Huai's shoulder, scrutinizing her face, teasing, "Who is this little girl from? Her face is all puffed up."
Su Huai shot him a white look.
Gu Beixian laughed and embraced her, his voice gentle, soothing, "Alright, don't be angry."
He held her injured hand, gently rubbing it. "Being angry will affect the healing of the wound."
The old lady, seeing this, also joined in to console, "Huai, don't be angry. If he bullies you again in the future, just tell me, and I'll take care of him. It's getting late; you both should go home and rest."
After being pacified by both of them, Su Huai didn't want to remain tense. She gently pushed away from Gu Beixian, glanced around the ward, and said, "Grandma, take care and rest well. I'll come to see you again tomorrow."
The grandmother smiled kindly, saying, "Alright, don't forget what you promised me."
Su Huai's ears turned slightly red, saying, "Okay."
She stood up, grabbed her bag, and walked out of the ward with Gu Beixian.
Outside, Gu Beixian stared at her reddened ears and asked, "What did you promise Grandma? Why are your ears red?"
Su Huai whispered, "Grandma asked me to have a child for you."
Gu Beixian lightly smiled, "Grandma is obsessed with having grandchildren. Since last year when I could barely stand, she started urging for it. She even pressured us to stay in the old house recently, trying to force us to have a child."
Su Huai seemed distracted, not responding.
They took the elevator down.
In the car, the driver started the engine.
Gu Beixian turned to Su Huai, smiling with a hint of inquiry, "Do you want to have a child?"
Su Huai thought carefully and replied, "Having a child at this juncture is quite risky. What do you think?"
Gu Beixian's eyes darkened, with a hint of ambiguity, "Do you not want to have a child, or do you not want to have my child?"
Su Huai felt his words were a bit cryptic. After pondering for a moment, she said, "Let's wait until things stabilize. You mentioned divorce before. If we have a child and then get divorced, it wouldn't be fair to the child."
Gu Beixian self-mockingly curled his lips, diverted his gaze, and looked ahead casually, "Fair enough."
Both of them harbored their own thoughts, and the journey was silent.
When turning a corner ahead, Gu Beixian asked, "Come home with me; it will be convenient for me to take care of you."
Su Huai remained silent for a few seconds before saying, "Okay."
Back at Riyue Bay.
They got out of the car.
Gu Beixian took her hand and walked towards the house.
Su Huai lowered her head and glanced at the hand he was holding. They rarely held hands outside; their relationship had always been courteous.
Recently, however, he had become more intimate without warning.
But thinking about this hand that had once held Chu Suosuo's, Su Huai felt a bit uncomfortable.
Inside the house, Su Huai put her bag down, opened the shoe cabinet, and was about to get slippers for Gu Beixian.
He held her shoulder, preventing her from bending down, and said, "Your hand is injured; let me do it."
He took out slippers from the cabinet, helped her take off her shoes, and gently placed her feet into the slippers. He even carefully adjusted her cotton socks.
In the past, she had always been the one taking care of him. Suddenly, being taken care of by him made Su Huai feel a bit uneasy.
Gu Beixian, as if sensing her discomfort, smiled, "Husbands and wives should take care of each other. You used to take care of me; now, it's my turn to take care of you."
Su Huai softly said, "Thank you."
"For what? It's my duty." Gu Beixian changed into slippers, helped Su Huai take off her coat, and said, "You haven't had a proper bath for many days. Just wiping in the hospital isn't enough. I'll help you wash up later."
Su Huai's face suddenly turned red.
Before, in the hospital, he helped her bathe every day, which was already awkward. Now, having him help with the bath was even more embarrassing.
Gu Beixian stared at her blushing face and teased, "You're not a child anymore. Why do you blush so easily? It's been three years since we got married, and you're still as modest as a young girl."
Thinking of what Xiaoyi had said about being more unrestrained at home, Su Huai, in a soft voice, asked, "Don't men like women to be a bit more unrestrained, rather than modest?"
Gu Beixian couldn't help but chuckle, "Who told you that?"
"Xiaoyi."
Gu Beixian looked at her with interest, lips lifting, "Do you want to be unrestrained?"
Su Huai blushed even more.
Accustomed to being modest, she really couldn't be unrestrained. But she was eager to win against Chu Suosuo.
After contemplating for a moment, she lifted her foot, hooked Gu Beixian's calf, and slid her fingers through the gap in his shirt, touching his abdominal muscles. She looked at him with big watery eyes, asking seriously, "Like this?"
Gu Beixian burst into laughter, grabbing her wandering hand and stopping her, "Who taught you this?"
"I saw it in Mary Sue novels."
Gu Beixian lowered his gaze, carefully
examining her eyes, "Your eyes are not right. Too serious. It makes me want to study calculus with you."
He pinched her waist, "Your body movements are too stiff. It doesn't look like flirting; it's more like a martial arts competition. You need to relax, soften your waist, and make your eyes lazy and charming."
Realizing something suddenly, Su Huai raised an eyebrow, staring at him, "How do you know so much?"
Gu Beixian laughed, "Haven't you heard the saying that even if you haven't eaten pork, you've seen pigs run?"
"Men like you really enjoy being unrestrained." Su Huai said in a discontented manner, turning to walk towards the sofa.
Watching her inexplicable sulking, Gu Beixian laughed silently, "I'll prepare the bathwater."
"Okay."
With the bathwater ready, Su Huai walked into the bathroom.
With Gu Beixian's help, she undressed and sat in the bathtub.
She lifted her injured left hand to prevent it from getting wet and said to him, "You can go out. I can wash myself."
Gu Beixian rolled up his sleeves, picked up the pink scrub towel hanging on the wall, and said, "Let me help you scrub your back. It's been almost half a month since you had a proper bath. Your body must be dirty."
Su Huai was about to say "no need."
Suddenly, she felt an itch on her back, and Gu Beixian had already started scrubbing. He teased while scrubbing, "So much dirt, little monkey."
Su Huai was embarrassed, retorting, "I'm not dirty."
Gu Beixian deepened his smile, "Alright, not dirty. Our Huai Huai is clean."
Su Huai's ears tingled slightly. This man seemed to be getting more and more skilled at teasing.
As he continued scrubbing, she heard the man's breathing behind her, gradually becoming unusual.
Just as she was about to turn her head to look, his hand slid from her back to her waist and held her.
He hugged her from behind, following her earlobes down, kissing along the way.
Su Huai tried to move her shoulder in resistance.
He held her shoulder, turned her around, and lowered his head to kiss her lips.