Air panas menggelepar ke arah matanya. Xiao Man menutup mata, menyembunyikan wajahnya di dalam pelukan yang luas. 'Aku pasti sedang gila,' terpikirkannya. 'Kenapa aku justru membawa kehidupan lalu?'
Di kehidupan lalunya, Gu Shaojun memang benar-benar mencintainya dengan tulus. Setelah ia terluka dan tidak dapat berjalan lagi, ia dengan tegas memutuskan untuk membatalkan pertunangan mereka, memberi Tang Yaxuan kesempatan untuk menemukan kebahagiaan bersama seseorang yang lebih layak.
Di kehidupan ini, meskipun hanya bersifat hipotetis, Xiao Man tidak ingin kehilangannya. Dan ia telah memberinya jawaban yang dia inginkan.
Tapi ini cukup kejam bagi Gu Shaojun. Kehidupan lalu Gu Shaojun sudah cukup menyakitkan, dan kini ia memaksa dirinya untuk membayangkan skenario tragis semacam ini. Xiao Man merasa bersalah.
Dengan lembut ia berkata, "Saudari Shaojun, aku hanya ingin kamu mengerti: Aku telah mengambil semua janji yang kamu buat padaku dengan serius. Aku mengambilnya semua dengan serius, jadi kamu tidak bisa menarik kata-katamu. Dari sekarang, kita satu. Takkan ada salah satu dari kita yang bisa berpikir untuk membuang yang lain. Jika aku menjadi jelek, kamu harus menerima. Jika kamu menjadi tidak bisa berjalan, kamu tetap adalah setengahku. Jangan pernah berpikir untuk mengusirku!"
Gu Shaojun diam lama. Tiba-tiba ia tarik napas dalam-dalam, suaranya lembut dan mengandung senyum. "Aku tahu, pasangan hidupku!"
Ketakutan yang tersembunyi di dalam hatinya pun sepenuhnya sirna. Gu Shaojun melega dan tak kuah hindarkan untuk bermain-main dengan Xiao Man. "Kamu sudah menerima semua janjiku? Sepertinya kamu harus memberi aku sebuah resmi!"
Mata Xiao Man menekuk berupa busur bulan sabit. "Bukannya aku belum memberimu? Itu sudah diberi cap resmi!"
"Xiao Man, mari kita adakan upacara pertunangan, ya?"
"Bukankah kita sudah membahas ini? Kita berjanji untuk melakukannya dalam dua tahun."
"Tapi kita sudah menjadi kekasih. Adanya upacara akan membuatnya menjadi umum, sehingga tidak akan ada salah paham."
"Salah paham apa?"
"Itu kamu masih belum menikah, bukan? Misalnya Sun Yiming. Dia tidak tahu bahwa kita memiliki perjanjian nikah!"
"Sun Yiming? Dia... Oh, aku mengerti!"
Xiao Man mengangkat kepalanya dari dada Gu Shaojun dan menunjuk jari ke arahnya, dengan campuran kesal dan senang. "Aku sudah tahu ada sesuatu yang tidak wajar denganmu hari ini. Apakah itu karena Sun Yiming?"
Gu Shaojun meraih jari gemuknya dan menekannya ke dadanya. Dengan rasional ia menjawab, "Ya, pasti karena dia! Pertama kali kita bertemu, aku langsung merasakan dia memiliki maksud tidak pantas terhadapmu, dan aku tidak akan mentolerir itu! Nanti aku akan mencarinya dan membuatnya mengerti: kamu adalah tunangku, dan dia tidak boleh mengincarmu!"
Xiao Man:"......"
'Apa itu aromanya yang tumpah? Gu Shaojun, Tuan Muda Terpandupati keluarga Gu, sekarang iri hati?'
Dengan serius ia mengangkat seruanya dan memukulkan dua kali ke dadanya. "Baiklah, mari kita bicarakan ini dan tidak perlu melanjutkan. Jangan benar-benar mencarinya, nanti akan malu. Sun Yiming sudah lama tahu tentang perjanjian nikah kita. Kecuali jika... eh? Hmm, sepertinya kita harus turun sekarang?"
Gu Shaojun tak tergoyahkan, matanya yang tampak seperti permata gelap. "Lanjutkan apa yang ingin kamu katakan. Jika tidak, kita punya perjanjian nikah yang diturunkan turun-temurun dari nenek moyang. Dokter Kekaisaran Sun baru bertemu denganmu beberapa tahun lalu. Ia adalah guru yang kami hormati, jadi kami menghormatinya. Jika ia memiliki keinginan terakhir, kami akan berusaha memenuhi. Tapi jika ia mengajukan hal-hal untuk aliansi pernikahan, dia bahkan sebaiknya tidak pernah membawanya!"
Setelah bersatu dengan ia ini dalam dua kehidupan, Xiao Man mungkin belum sepenuhnya memahami kemewahan muda Gu Shaojun, tetapi ia cukup akrab dengan versi yang lebih tua di antaranya. Awan gelap yang mendung di matanya adalah tanda bahwa amarah akan meletup kembali.
'Tampaknya ia benar-benang tidak bisa mentolerir Sun Yiming.'
Xiao Man pasti tidak boleh membiarkan ia bertemu Sun Yiming. 'Laki ini tidak bersalah, oke?' Kecuali pada satu kesempatan ketika Sun Jingzu pernah bertanya kepada Kakeknya tentangnya dan kemudian berhenti setelah mengetahui perjanjian nikah antara Gu dan Tang, Sun Yiming dan Xiao Man hanyalah teman sekelas yang akrab. Mereka akrab, tetapi dia tidak pernah berkata hal-hal yang tidak pantas.
Xiao Man menggedakkan pipi. "Siapa yang membawa ini? Keluarga Sun telah menjadi keluarga bangsawan kedokteran selama ratusan tahun. Dasar dan warisan mereka dalam adalah dalam. Banyak sekali keluarga yang ingin membentuk aliansi pernikahan dengan mereka. Benarkah mereka tertarik dengan gadis desa kecil seperti aku? Banyak gadis-gadis dari kalangan tinggi yang mengejar Sun Yiming dan Sun Yinong, termasuk gadis asing!"
"Itu benar? Baguslah, karena aku hanya cemas dia tertarik pada *gadis desaku*!" Gu Shaojun menekuk bibirnya dan dengan lembut menyentuh pipi yang terbentang di wajahnya. "Tenang saja, Mo Xiaoman bukanlah giok yang dihiasi emas. Bagaimana bisa aku sepadan? Saat ini, kamu adalah satu-satunya yang sudah dijanjikan untuk bersamaku, hanya kamu yang bersama-sama dan memandangku dengan penuh kasih tanpa menghitahui apa-apa. Untungnya saat aku keluar, tidak ada cowo yang mencoba menculikku, tidak ada yang mengejar... Heh? Benar juga! Sudah lama aku di kuliah, dan tidak ada yang pernah mengejar!
Heat rushed to her eyes. Xiao Man closed them, hiding her face in his broad embrace. ’I must be going crazy,’ she thought. ’Why am I bringing up my past life?’
In her past life, Gu Shaojun had genuinely cherished Tang Yaxuan. After he was disabled, he had resolutely broken off their engagement, allowing Tang Yaxuan to find happiness with someone of a higher station.
In this life, even if it was just a hypothetical, Xiao Man didn’t want him to let her go. And he had given her the answer she wanted.
But this was a bit cruel to Gu Shaojun. His past life had been miserable enough, and now she was forcing him to imagine such a tragic scenario. Xiao Man felt awful.
She said softly, "Brother Shaojun, I just want you to understand: I’ve taken all the promises you’ve made me to heart. I’m taking them all seriously, so you can’t go back on your word. From now on, we’re one. Neither of us can even think about getting rid of the other. If I become hideous, you have to accept it. If you become disabled, you’ll still be my other half. Don’t even think about pushing me away!"
Gu Shaojun was silent for a long moment. Suddenly, he took a deep breath, his voice gentle and laced with a smile. "I know, my other half!"
A certain anxiety in his heart was completely dispelled. Gu Shaojun relaxed and couldn’t help but tease Xiao Man. "You’ve accepted all my promises? Shouldn’t you give me a receipt?"
Xiao Man’s eyes curved into crescents. "Didn’t I already give you one? It was even stamped!"
"Xiao Man, let’s have an engagement ceremony, okay?"
"Didn’t we already talk about this? We said we’d get engaged in two years."
"But we’re already fiancés. Holding a ceremony would make it public, so there won’t be any misunderstandings."
"Misunderstand what?"
"That you’re still a single woman. Sun Yiming, for example. He doesn’t know we have a marriage agreement!"
"Sun Yiming? He... Oh, I get it!"
Xiao Man lifted her head from Gu Shaojun’s chest and pointed a finger at him, both exasperated and amused. "I knew there was something off about you today. Is it because of Sun Yiming?"
Gu Shaojun grabbed her slender finger and held it against his chest. He said justifiably, "Yes, it is because of him! The first time we met, my gut told me he has improper thoughts about you, and I won’t tolerate it! I’m going to find him later and make him understand: you’re my fiancée, and he’s not allowed to covet you!"
Xiao Man: "..."
’Do I smell something sour? Gu Shaojun, the great young master of the Gu family, is actually jealous?’
She cleared her throat and playfully patted his chest a couple of times. "Alright, let’s just talk about it and leave it at that. Don’t actually go looking for him; it’ll be embarrassing. Sun Yiming has known for a while that we have a marriage agreement. Otherwise... uh? Um, shouldn’t we be going downstairs?"
Gu Shaojun was unmoved, his handsome eyes as dark as ink. "Finish what you were saying. Otherwise, what? Our marriage agreement was passed down by our ancestors. Imperial Doctor Sun only met you a few years ago. He is your respected teacher, and we respect him. If he had any last wishes, we would do our best to fulfill them. But if he was thinking of a marriage alliance, he shouldn’t even bring it up!"
Having been with him across two lifetimes, Xiao Man might not have fully grasped the temperament of the young Gu Shaojun, but she was familiar with the middle-aged one. The dark clouds gathering in his eyes were a sign of an impending eruption of anger.
’Looks like he really can’t stand Sun Yiming.’
Xiao Man definitely couldn’t let him confront Sun Yiming. ’The guy is innocent, okay?’ Except for that one time when Sun Jingzu had asked Grandpa about it and then dropped the subject completely after learning about the Gu and Tang marriage agreement, Sun Yiming and Xiao Man were just friendly classmates. They were familiar with each other, but he had never said anything inappropriate.
Xiao Man puffed out her cheeks. "Who brought it up? The Sun Family has been an aristocratic family of medicine for hundreds of years. Their foundation and heritage are deep. Countless families want to form a marriage alliance with them. Would they really be interested in a little country girl? Plenty of ladies from high society are chasing after Sun Yiming and Sun Yinong, including foreign girls!"
"Is that so? That’s great, then. I was just worried he’d be interested in *my* little country girl!" Gu Shaojun pursed his lips and lightly poked Xiao Man’s puffed-out cheek with a finger.
"Relax, Mo Xiaoman isn’t some gold-inlaid jade silver ingot. How could I be in such high demand? Right now, you’re the only one tied to me by an engagement, so you’re the only one who’s with me and treats me so well without holding back. To be honest, when I’m out, no guys come up to hit on me, and no one’s pursuing me... Huh? It’s true! I’ve been in college for so long, and no one has ever pursued me!"
As Xiao Man spoke, she was suddenly horrified by a realization: ’Am I a failure as a girl? I’m not bad-looking. I’ve got fair skin, a pretty face, and long legs, but still, no one is pursuing me!’
But Gu Shaojun was amused by the little girl’s dazed and adorable expression. He burst out laughing happily. "Silly girl, when you look in the mirror, don’t you see the two words ’Gu Shaojun’ written on your forehead? You’re already spoken for. Who would pursue you when they have no chance?"
"..."
Gu Shaojun had been worried and tormented before, truly because he lacked confidence. After all, he and Xiao Man had been separated for two whole years. If Xiao Man’s heart had changed, he really wouldn’t have been able to bear it.
Fortunately, his little girl was still his, and she loved him with all her heart!
Gu Shaojun led Xiao Man downstairs, feeling refreshed and in high spirits. His mood couldn’t have been better. When he saw Sun Yiming again, his smile even held a bit more sincerity.
He hadn’t expected, however, that in the half hour or so he and Xiao Man had spent upstairs, another guest had arrived. It was someone from the Bai family: Bai Junfan.
Bai Junfan had been seated next to Gu Shaofeng. Gu Shaojun was sitting diagonally across from Bai Junfan. Upon suddenly seeing Bai Junfan, Gu Shaojun thought his eyes were playing tricks on him.
He had been back in the country for two months. While he didn’t know all the details of what was happening in Beijing, he was aware of the major events. Tang Qingyun and Wu Xiaowen had divorced, and the reason was that Wu Xiaowen had been fooling around with Bai Lihua, cuckolding Tang Qingyun! Gu Shaojun was shocked and thought Wu Xiaowen was utterly foolish and disgusting. And the Bai family—what gave them the nerve to face the Tang Family?
Even the Gu family was ashamed to be associated with the Bai Family!
Gu Shaojun already disliked Bai Junfan. They had been forced to interact for work, both abroad and in the border patrol’s special operations team, but it had been strictly professional. After learning about the affair between Wu Xiaowen and Bai Lihua, he had become a complete block of ice toward Bai Junfan. Their relationship was purely that of a superior and subordinate; aside from giving orders, he wouldn’t waste a single word.
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