Chapter 47: Leaving on a Whim IV

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The car drove on for a while longer before they found an inn and settled in for the night. Along the way, Su Zhou and Gu Shisheng had been laughing and chatting nonstop, like birds that had just escaped their cages—only a song was missing. Gu Yao and Su Yu paid them no attention. From their expressions, it was obvious they were deeply embarrassed by their younger brothers.

The inn was small, run by a married couple from Sichuan. The rooms were clean and reasonably comfortable.

The moment they got out of the car, Gu Yao dragged Gu Shisheng inside and told him to wash up properly. But when he turned on the shower, what came out was ice-cold water.

Gu Shisheng let out a shriek, then stumbled out wrapped in a bath towel. Gu Yao had no choice but to go downstairs and ask. Only then did the landlady apologize awkwardly. “I’m sorry. Hot water won’t be available until tonight…”

Gu Yao returned to the room. Afraid he would catch cold, she told him to dry himself and put on his clothes first. Then she went downstairs, brought back some hot drinking water, and mixed it in a kettle with cold water until it was lukewarm. She intended to rinse his hair with it for the time being.

Seeing that her expression had softened and that she was willing to speak to him again, Gu Shisheng seized the opportunity to act spoiled. Though he was already a grown man, he put on a pitiful expression and said, “Sis, I’ve done so much hard labor that my hands hurt. Wash my hair for me.”

As he spoke, he held out both hands. They were blackened and rough, with several cracks running across them.

After all, he was her own little brother, and Gu Yao truly felt sorry for him. He had always seemed so clever and capable; she had assumed he would live well after leaving home. Who could have imagined he had suffered so much?

The thought made her angry again, and she kicked him lightly in the calf. “Isn’t this all your own fault? What are you pretending to be pitiful for?”

While scolding him, she had already picked up the shampoo and pointed toward the washstand. “Lower your head. Be careful not to get shampoo in your eyes.”

Gu Shisheng beamed despite the kick and hurried over, bending down to bury his head in the basin.

Gu Yao walked over and poured a little water over his head, dampening his hair. She was just about to squeeze on the shampoo and start scrubbing when she suddenly stopped and asked coolly, “You don’t have lice in your hair, do you?”

Gu Shisheng nearly plunged headfirst into the drain. His aggrieved voice rose several pitches. “Sis, what are you talking about? I’ve grown this old and I’ve never even seen what lice look like!”

Gu Yao was still unconvinced. She went out, brought in her phone, switched on the magnifying-glass function, and carefully examined his hair from one side to the other. Only after finding nothing unusual did she stop. Even then, she did not spare him any mercy.

“That’s not necessarily true. Look at how filthy you are. Your hair is practically matted. For all we know, you could reach up and pull some living creature straight off your own head.”

Her words frightened Gu Shisheng as well. He asked nervously, “Then what do we do? Why don’t you look for them yourself?”

Gu Yao had only been teasing him. Seeing that he had actually believed her, she could not help laughing. She squeezed out a generous amount of shampoo and began scrubbing his head without the slightest restraint, using considerable force.

Gu Shisheng, however, was enjoying himself. He continued issuing directions. “A little farther to the left. Yes, scratch there a bit more!”

For so many days, he had been the one serving other people. Now that someone was finally serving him, he naturally intended to make full use of the opportunity.

After a while, however, the hands on his head suddenly stopped obeying him. No matter how he directed them, they continued methodically, massaging him with steady movements. Then a powerful stream of water was poured over his head, washing away all the foam. A towel was tossed down over his face.

“Sis, why didn’t you scrub a few more times? That can’t possibly be clean.” Gu Shisheng wiped his hair a few times with the towel, then lifted his head and complained.

But the mirror above the washstand reflected a tall figure.

The man had come to the faucet to wash his hands. As he dried them, he glanced over indifferently. “Not satisfied? Shall I wash it again for you?”

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What had happened? When had the person washing his hair been replaced?

Gu Shisheng blinked and said timidly, “No, thank you, brother-in-law. This is fine. Ha-ha. At worst, I’ll wash it again myself once the hot water comes.”

His smile was utterly ingratiating.

After Su Yu returned to the room, Gu Yao had just set down the phone. Yixun had called to ask how she had been lately. Gu Yao had briefly told her about their itinerary, focusing especially on her younger brother’s embarrassing mishaps. She had expected Yixun to laugh along with her, but instead, Yixun merely sighed softly, changed the subject, and reminded her to stay safe and remember to wear more clothes.

Gu Yao sensed that something was wrong. “Yixun, have you been taking your medicine properly? How have you been resting?”

Yixun laughed lightly. “It’s nothing. I’m fine. I’ve just caught a bit of a cold and feel low on energy.”

Only then did Gu Yao relax and hang up.

When she saw Su Yu come over and sit down on the bed, she sidled up to him with a grin. “Well? Did Shisheng get a fright?”

In truth, she had not deliberately arranged for him to take over. She had been washing Gu Shisheng’s hair when Su Yu suddenly brought her phone over. That was when she saw Yixun’s missed call. She had hurriedly gestured for him to take her place, then gone to make the call herself.

When she noticed that Gu Shisheng seemed not to have realized anything at all, she found it even more amusing.

The man pulled her into his arms and held her gently, then toyed with her long hair. “How old is Gu Shisheng now? Why are you still washing his hair for him?”

Gu Yao shifted in his arms and looked back at him. His expression was still calm, but his thin lips were pressed together, making it clear that he was displeased.

She raised a hand to stroke his chin, curling her fingers slightly as though soothing a kitten. “What is this? Are you jealous? He’s just a child.”

“Why don’t you say he’s still a baby?” Su Yu caught her slender fingers and brought them to his lips, kissing them lightly. His gaze drifted through the slight opening in her coat, and his eyes darkened a little.

The two of them had spent the past several days rushing from place to place and had scarcely had any time for intimacy. Now that they had finally found the two troublesome boys, they could at last relax enough to think about something else.

With their bodies pressed so close together, it was inevitable that their thoughts would wander.

Looking at the woman’s flushed lips, Su Yu lowered his head and kissed her. One hand pressed against the back of her head, deepening the kiss.

His scent surrounded her in an instant. Gu Yao began to lose her breath and pushed against his hard chest, but his kiss was skilled, lingering, and tenderly insistent. Before long, her body had gone soft, the root of her tongue tingled, and her small hand slowly fell before winding obediently around his neck.

Just then, the door gave a soft click.

Su Yu immediately sensed it. He gathered Gu Yao into his arms and turned to stare toward the entrance.

Su Zhou had appeared in the doorway at some point. He was gripping the handle, frozen in open-mouthed astonishment. Clearly, he had seen what was happening inside and had been stunned on the spot.

“How did you get in?” Su Yu calmly lifted Gu Yao from his lap and set her securely on the bed before turning toward his younger brother, his gaze distinctly unfriendly.

Su Zhou nearly froze to death beneath his brother’s stare. He hunched his neck and said sheepishly, “Well… the door wasn’t locked, so I thought I’d come in and ask when we were going to eat…”

When Su Yu said nothing, he hurriedly backed away several steps and waved his hands. “Ha-ha, actually, we don’t have to eat. I was just asking for the sake of asking.”

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He was just about to close the door and flee when Gu Shisheng also emerged from his room, his hair in complete disarray. He called out excitedly, “I’m hungry. Are we—”

Before he could finish, Su Zhou hooked an arm around his neck and dragged him away. “Eat what? Do I look like food to you?”

The door closed, but the voices of the two clowns outside continued. No one knew what Su Zhou muttered, but Gu Shisheng eventually abandoned the idea of going out to eat and slammed his own door shut.

Gu Yao sat on the bed and listened for a while, finding it rather amusing. Then she turned to Su Yu. “Shall we go eat?”

“Mm.” The man nodded. He reached over, straightened her collar, and zipped up her coat before pulling her to her feet. “Let’s go.”

When they reached the door to change their shoes, Gu Yao was still laughing as she bent down. “Why didn’t you close the door properly? Fortunately, we were only kissing. What if we had been doing something else? I would have been fine, but wouldn’t you have been scared senseless?”

“Doing what?” Su Yu had been about to open the door, but at her words he immediately turned back, lifted her into his arms, and bit her chin lightly as he demanded an answer.

His teeth made her chin itch, and Gu Yao could not help laughing. She hurriedly shook her head to evade him. “You know. That.”

“I don’t know. What is it? Tell me.”

He carried her over to the wall and pressed his whole body against hers, his breath brushing her ear. Just as he wished, he watched her petite earlobe slowly turn red.

Gu Yao was not afraid of him. Instead, she deliberately moved closer, her small hand drifting downward little by little. Like a dancer, her fingers tapped lightly over his Adam’s apple before gliding lower. Only after she had roused his desire did she withdraw with a laugh.

“The altitude here is too high. If we engage in anything strenuous, I won’t be able to take it.”

How could Su Yu not know that? Ever since they had entered Tibet, he had been carefully restraining himself and had not dared touch her. Who would have thought this little enchantress would take the initiative to provoke him here?

As if venting his frustration, he bit her lips again and again before finally setting her down with great reluctance. He opened the door and left, knocking twice on each of the two rooms beside theirs.

“We’re going to eat.”

He did not wait for them, instead pulling Gu Yao straight downstairs and into the car.

Before long, the other two came running over, still hurriedly zipping up their coats. Once he had climbed into the car, Gu Shisheng said excitedly, “I want Sichuan cuisine. The spicier, the better.”

Gu Yao frowned. Su Yu had bitten her lips swollen, and spicy food would certainly hurt. She shook her head. “No. We’re not eating anything spicy.”

“Why not? It’s so cold out. A little spice will keep us warm!” Su Zhou chimed in.

His brother glanced at him through the rearview mirror, his gaze stern.

Su Zhou immediately changed his tune. “Well, in that case, the stone-pot chicken here is pretty good too. Why don’t we go have that?”

Fine. A man with a wife was truly formidable. Su Zhou knew better than to provoke him. As long as he got something to eat, that was all that mattered.