'Wenheng had already lost so much for her sake; it was time she took on her own responsibilities. Now that she'd confirmed the space came with her, she had to use the food, clothing, and shelter within it to take good care of him.'
Having made up her mind, Jin Qianqian asked him again for confirmation, "Senior, are you serious?"
Gu Wenheng met her gaze, his own unwavering. "You've known me for so long. Have you ever seen me joke around?"
"But I still don't understand." 'Why me?'
Gu Wenheng began, "I still remember the first time I saw you. You had this look on your face—so pitiful, yet so stubborn. I found it both heartbreaking and amusing, and I couldn't help but pay more attention to you."
"Before I knew it, I'd lost my heart to you. Does it sound a bit cliché, hearing your senior say that?"
Jin Qianqian nodded honestly. 'I have a pretty good idea of what I looked like back then. It's actually quite similar to how I look now.'
"But regardless of how it started, after all these years, I'm sure of my feelings. If we hadn't ended up here, did you really think you could get away?"
Jin Qianqian's head was spinning. 'Is my dream guy confessing to me?'
Gu Wenheng watched with amusement as Jin Qianqian zoned out. He didn't say anything more, giving her time to process everything.
He looked ahead at the withered, yellowed roadsides, and his heart grew heavy. 'What a difficult start. It seems like nothing I learned before can help me fill my stomach in a situation like this.'
'No, I doubt I could even fill up on water. I can only hope we don't die of thirst.'
Jin Qianqian knew their lives would be inextricably linked from now on,
but for now, she had to prioritize their empty stomachs.
With a flick of her wrist, a bar of well-known imported chocolate appeared in her palm.
She glanced around cautiously. Seeing that everyone else was trudging along with their heads down, she quickly stuffed the chocolate into his palm.
Gu Wenheng stared at the familiar wrapper in his hand, his pupils shrinking in shock. He quickly closed his fist around it.
"What's going on?"
Jin Qianqian performed a little magic trick for him. In one smooth motion, she produced another chocolate bar just like it, unwrapped it, and popped it into her mouth.
"On the plane, you asked where I put my things, right?" Jin Qianqian said cautiously. "Well, I've been carrying them with me all along."
Gu Wenheng's mind worked fast. He recalled the scenarios his old classmates and the younger students used to discuss in novels. "You have the legendary Mustard Seed Space?"
Jin Qianqian breathed a sigh of relief. 'Thank goodness my senior knows about it. Otherwise, it would have taken a lot of effort to explain.'
"I don't know how it suddenly appeared. Right before the plane crashed, I tried to pull you in with me, but I failed." Jin Qianqian discreetly held back some details, not saying much more about the space itself.
Gu Wenheng asked, "Does it affect you in any way?"
"Not in the slightest. No matter how much I stuff in there, I'm still perfectly fine." Jin Qianqian didn't understand the principles behind the space herself. Even that time she'd loaded in tens of tons of grain, she'd felt nothing more than a slight ache in her arm from the motion.
Only then did Gu Wenheng relax. He followed her lead and ate the chocolate in his hand. They desperately needed the high-calorie food to replenish their strength.
Jin Qianqian took the wrapper from his hand and, right in front of him, made it vanish.
Savoring the silky, sweet chocolate melting in his mouth, Gu Wenheng didn't forget to lecture her. "How could you reveal such a huge secret so casually? Aren't you worried I might have malicious intentions? No one else can ever find out about this."
'Since I've already decided to stick with Wenheng through thick and thin, and we have to survive this escape, this secret was bound to come out sooner or later.'
'Telling him sooner rather than later makes a big difference. And even though my senior is scolding me, there's no real blame in his voice.'
"I only dared to say it because it's you. Do you think I'm that foolish? I understand the saying that a treasure attracts thieves," Jin Qianqian said, growing bolder. Two white, fluffy steamed buns appeared in her hand.
Seeing the steam still rising from the buns, Gu Wenheng couldn't help but swallow hard. It was just this body's natural reaction.
'Just a few hours ago, if someone had told him he'd be drooling over a steamed bun, he would have kicked them into next week. Who did they think they were looking down on?'
But reality was what it was. Gu Wenheng couldn't be bothered with such thoughts now. Shielding each other from view, they devoured the two buns. Only then did their spirits lift, and they finally felt they could straighten their backs a little instead of remaining hunched over.
"You're certainly well-stocked," Gu Wenheng said, his tone a little lighter now that he had some food in his belly.
However, they had been leaning on each other for so long that they were beginning to attract subtle, probing glances. Jin Qianqian, who was especially sensitive to such stares, quietly pulled her hand away.
Gu Wenheng didn't press the issue, and they simply continued walking side by side.
Jin Qianqian scratched at her matted hair with a wry smile. "It's all thanks to those novels I was obsessed with. I thought we might be facing the apocalypse, but I never expected to land in a historical dynasty like this."
"It's not all bad, really. Would you rather be facing the walking dead from the movies?"
Jin Qianqian shook her head. "Neither. I'm just an ordinary person who was hoping to keep scraping by in a peaceful, prosperous world."
If they had a choice, there wouldn't be this long column of refugees.
"You two, walk a little faster! Don't fall behind." Gu Daping, who was carrying a shoulder pole at the very back of the group, called out as he passed them.
At the same time, he grumbled to himself, 'I wonder how long the Gu family's Seventh and his wife can last. Look at them, already starved to skin and bones, staggering when they walk. And their family up front doesn't even bother to check on them.'
As he passed, he cast a sympathetic glance at the thin bundles on their backs. The cloth sacks that once held their rations were completely flat. 'Looks like they're barely hanging on,' he thought.
Gu Daping urged his wife and child to keep up, not forgetting to snap at his kid a few times.
'He was genuinely afraid that Gu's Seventh would ask him for something. He didn't want to be a pushover, but he didn't want to make an enemy either.'
Unaware of the man's inner thoughts, Gu Wenheng gave him a grateful nod and quickened his pace slightly.
Walking at the back of the line had its advantages, which slowly became clear. Jin Qianqian was able to find more opportunities to sneak the two of them some extra food.
＆
By the time they stopped to rest, Jin Qianqian felt that every single step was an excruciating effort. The only reason she'd managed to keep up with the group was through sheer willpower and by leaning most of her body weight on Gu Wenheng.
When Mrs. Gu Li saw the Seventh Wife not only walking empty-handed but also leaning her entire body against her son, her expression immediately turned foul.
"Seventh Wife, what's the matter with you? Were you born without a spine, or are you just having a lazy fit?"
The old woman's voice was exceptionally loud, drawing the eyes of many people toward the couple.
Jin Qianqian gritted her teeth and forced herself to stand up straight, but her wobbly, unsteady posture earned her a wave of sympathy from many of the onlookers.
They were all from the same village, so everyone knew each family's circumstances. The difference in the lives led by Gu Dashishi's various sons was vast and obvious to all.