Chapter 14: Don't be afraid, Fourth Brother is here, and he always will be

Could it be that she had been obsessing over this for too long these past few days?

How could this person actually appear before her just like that?

Lingxi’s eyes filled with tears as she looked up in a daze, meeting a face that, upon closer inspection, bore a two or three-part resemblance, and eyes that held the exact same gaze as that person’s.

She was uncertain.

“F-Fourth Brother?”

The little girl’s voice was laced with tears, cautious and probing.

Gu Si didn’t quite understand the situation, but his heartache for the little girl outweighed everything else. He simply patted her back gently, over and over, soothing her softly.

“Don’t be afraid. Fourth Brother is here. I’ll always be here.”

Hearing this, Lingxi clutched the lapels of his chest tightly, her grievances so overwhelming that her tears wouldn’t stop.

Gu Si continued to soothe her, gentle and without a hint of impatience.

Time passed, and eventually, the little girl grew still. Only then did Gu Si realize that at some point, she had cried herself to sleep.

Even in her sleep, the little girl still gripped his clothes tightly, refusing to let go.

He found himself caught between laughter and tears, yet his heart softened completely because of her actions.

He adjusted her into a more comfortable position, but he had no intention of letting go.

Only then did Gu Si have the time to reflect on what had just happened.

Gu Si didn’t know where things had gone wrong; in his thousand-plus years of memories, there was certainly no place for this little girl.

The little girl’s eyes were clear and innocent, not at all like someone who had gone through experiences similar to his. Yet, the familiarity and intimacy he felt for her seemed rooted deep in his soul, and her reliance on him could not be faked.

But he was certain of one thing: since he had taken this step, he had no intention of ever letting go.

As for the issue of the little girl’s lifespan…

He would always find a way.

At this moment, Gu Si no longer felt like an outsider drifting through the world.

He thought that perhaps, in ways he hadn’t known, he had been waiting for her all along.

Lingxi slept very soundly—more peacefully than she had ever felt since her rebirth into this body.

It was as if, as long as this person was here, she had someone to lean on. He would shield her from the wind and rain, clear away all the thorns for her, and take care of everything.

She no longer needed to be afraid.

Whether she was the "Heaven’s favorite daughter," whether she married or not, or whether someone discovered she wasn't the original owner of this body—none of these were problems anymore.

***

When Lingxi woke up again, she was back on the kang in her room. The room was empty; there was no sign of a second person.

She froze, subconsciously turning her head to look around. Her face turned slightly pale, and her eyes began to mist over.

Could it be…

Had she really been thinking too much these past few days, and it had all been a hallucination?

She wiped away her tears, but the next moment, she noticed a peculiar bracelet on her wrist.

The bracelet was silver-white, neither quite gold nor jade, yet it felt weightless on her wrist.

It was then that she noticed she was still clutching a note in her palm.

Lingxi: “…”

!!!

Gu Si had explained two things in the note.

①: This bracelet was his entire net worth, and also a token of his affection for her.

②: He had left the wicker basket behind, along with the meat inside, asking her to pass it on to help him curry favor with his future wife’s family in advance.

At the end, Gu Si sincerely apologized to Lingxi, explaining that he had left early because he had previously agreed to go into town. He told her not to lose sleep missing him, to eat well, and that he would come to see her tomorrow.

Lingxi: “…”

!!!

Lingxi’s face turned red instantly. Who was losing sleep missing him!

No, wait—who was his wife!

She touched the bracelet on her wrist, thinking about how Fourth Brother said this was his entire net worth.

She instantly felt that Fourth Brother was so poor right now!

She read the words on the note over and over, tucked it carefully into her storage pendant, then put on her slippers and climbed off the kang. She rummaged through the cabinet and found the box where she usually kept her money.

She poured all the money out and counted it bit by bit.

The money was a mix of bills and coins, totaling four hundred fifty-six yuan and eight cents.

Most of this was pocket money given to her from time to time by Uncle Pei, who worked in the capital. Some of it came from the money Uncle Pei (the second one) got from selling the occasional pheasant or rabbit she caught in the mountains, and family members would also slip her a few cents or a yuan here and there.

Since there wasn't much to spend money on in the village, it had accumulated to this much over time.

She felt a bit conflicted, wondering if this money was enough to support Fourth Brother.

Since Fourth Brother was so poor, maybe he could just marry into their family!

***

Gu Si, who hadn't worried about money for eight hundred years, was currently heading into the county town with two ginseng roots that were over two hundred years old and a wicker basket containing about ten pounds of meat, making his way toward the black market.

He didn't have a single cent to his name right now; he had to earn money to properly take care of his little girl.

He had originally been in a deep sleep to repair his body. He didn't know why, but when he opened his eyes again, he had been reborn into the body of Gu Qingbei, the fourth son of the Gu family, who had just breathed his last.

Gu Qingbei was known for being lazy and cunning. After taking over, he had fully inherited Gu Qingbei’s "fine traditions," and even surpassed them.

He didn't work, and he didn't come home until dark.

The only good thing was that he would occasionally bring back some meat or hand over a few cents or a yuan for living expenses.

What he gave Lingxi really was his entire net worth.

It was his optical computer.

Gu Si had been stranded on this planet for a thousand years, often in deep sleep. He didn't have much time awake, and because of his long slumbers, many of his belongings had been scattered everywhere.

His optical computer had been damaged in a black hole and hadn't been repaired yet, but the ten-square-meter storage space attached to it could still be used as usual.

Everything inside was truly all he could offer right now. Even the few dozen yuan he had left from last year were in there; he hadn't kept a single cent for himself.

Gu Si’s optical computer didn't belong to the same system as the storage rings, bracelets, or bags Lingxi had encountered before.

One belonged to an interstellar plane, the other to a fantasy plane, which was why Lingxi hadn't yet discovered the world within it.

Lingxi calculated her money, then looked at the gold bars, silver dollars, gold, jade, and jewels inside her storage pendant. She felt like she might be able to afford to support Gu Si, and finally, she let out a quiet sigh of relief.

Lingxi touched her cheeks. Thinking of something, she dampened a towel to wash her face. Looking in the mirror, she saw that the person inside had calmed down, and the smile in her eyes could no longer be hidden.

She tried hard to suppress it, but the curve of her lips wouldn't go down.

She couldn't help but laugh.

She had actually found Fourth Brother so, so quickly!

Happy!

So happy, so happy!

Just a few days ago, she had been thinking that for the sake of Fourth Brother, she would stubbornly refuse to marry anyone else for a long time!

And now, not even two days later, Heaven had sent her Fourth Brother to her!

Heaven was actually quite good, wasn't it!

She felt a little embarrassed.

As for Heaven’s quick action, perhaps it was so she would marry off sooner and not affect Pei Fuzhu.

Ah, well, that didn't matter.

Suddenly, there was some movement in the courtyard. Lingxi subconsciously pulled down her sleeves to cover the bracelet.

(End of chapter)