Chapter 26 Heat Source

Chapter 26 The Heat Source

When Xie Xinyi awoke the next morning, the pain had significantly lessened. Her body felt warm, especially her lower abdomen, as if a hot pack had been applied. Waves of warmth spread from her back to her waist, enveloping her in comfort.

She hadn't slept well during the first half of the night, only vaguely recalling the man repeatedly going out and coming back in.

What he was doing, she didn't know. After falling asleep in the latter half of the night, she was even less aware of what transpired. All she remembered was the warmth of the bedding and the heat source pressed against her lower abdomen...

A heat source?

As if a thought had struck her, Xie Xinyi reached her hand toward her lower abdomen.

A plump object lay snugly against her lower abdomen, warm to the touch, much like a modern-day hand warmer.

Puzzled, she pulled it out and, sure enough, saw a hot water bottle—the kind one could only find in nostalgia shops nowadays.

The hot water bottle was still warm. In this era, hot water bottles couldn't be heated electrically. The fact that it hadn't cooled after a full night's sleep clearly indicated that someone had been constantly refilling it. Could it be that Gu Yu's frequent comings and goings last night...

Were for the purpose of refilling it for her?

And there were several more at her lower back and around her feet.

Aunt Wen hadn't brought any hot water bottles when she visited yesterday, and no one else had come to the hospital afterward. Where did these come from?

Xie Xinyi was perplexed, but with Gu Yu not around, she had no one to ask.

She had no idea where the man had gone so early in the morning. Xie Xinyi rolled over, planning to get up and change her sanitary pad in the bathroom first.

Just as she stood up, she ran into Wen Shuhua walking in with a lunchbox.

"Oh my, why did you get up by yourself? Where’s Gu Yu?"

Setting the lunchbox on the table, Wen Shuhua hurried over to support her.

Perhaps this body had been too weakened before. The moment she stood up, Xie Xinyi felt dizzy. Even with Wen Shuhua’s help, just going to change her sanitary pad left her breathless and exhausted.

She was originally supposed to be discharged today, but seeing her condition, Wen Shuhua insisted on calling the doctor for another check. "If necessary, we can stay another day for observation."

Just as she said this, Gu Yu, who had been missing all morning, returned.

The man was carrying quite a few things. He cast a deep, thoughtful glance at Xie Xinyi before greeting Wen Shuhua.

"Did you go shopping?" Wen Shuhua said, frustrated with his lack of responsibility. "I asked you to stay by her side, but instead, you left Xinyi here all alone and went out. Aren’t you afraid your wife will come looking for you..."

After grumbling at her son, she went to the table and ladled out a bowl of chicken soup from the lunchbox for Xie Xinyi. "Wang Ma started stewing this at 4 a.m. Drink it while it’s hot."

Handing the bowl to Xie Xinyi, she picked up the thermos to fetch hot water, mentioning along the way that she would ask the doctor if they could stay another night.

Xie Xinyi actually wanted to say it wasn’t necessary. After all, menstrual cramps weren’t something that could be cured by staying in the hospital, and she had just started at the factory. It wouldn’t be appropriate to keep taking leave using her health as an excuse.

She was just thinking of a way to ease Wen Shuhua’s concerns when, to her surprise, Gu Yu plopped the things he bought directly on the table, took the thermos from Wen Shuhua’s hands, and said, "I'll handle it," before walking out.

Xie Xinyi: "..."

Since when had this man become so helpful?

She glanced at the still-steaming soy milk and fried dough sticks on the table. Wen Shuhua, even more curious and puzzled, asked, "Since when did Gu Yu know you like eating fried dough sticks from this place?"

Back at the Xie family, Xie Xinyi had never eaten fried dough sticks. Buying them required not only ration coupons but also getting up early to queue.

All the food ration tickets in their household were clutched tightly by Xu Wenxia. Even if you had the determination to queue up early in the morning, you’d still lack the money and tickets to buy fried dough sticks.

Moreover, making fried dough sticks requires a lot of oil, and with Xu Wenxia’s notoriously stingy nature, she would never be willing to make them at home.

In her later life, her favorite breakfast had been various kinds of soy milk and fried dough sticks. Little did she expect that after traveling back in time, having a simple meal of fried dough sticks would become a luxury.

With no money to buy them and no way to make them herself, Xie Xinyi could only tease her cravings by smelling the aroma of fried dough sticks from other households.

This situation continued until the Gu family arrived. One day, Gu Yu, returning from morning training, bought fried dough sticks on his way home. It was the first time she had eaten them since coming to this era—about a foot long, crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. With one bite of the golden, crunchy crust... that flavor... Xie Xinyi couldn't help but eat a bit more, never expecting that Gu Yu would notice and even queue up to buy them again this morning.

The man being so considerate pleased Xie Xinyi. She took the fried dough sticks out of the packaging and happily ate them with the chicken soup.

Seeing her enjoy the meal, Wen Shuhua stopped complaining about her son. However, while tidying the blankets, she noticed a few extra hot water bottles and paused for a moment before quickly resuming her normal demeanor.

When Gu Yu returned and mentioned that the doctor did not recommend staying in the hospital for observation, she took the chance to ask, “Did you buy these from the department store?” Wen Shuhua clearly hadn’t expected her son to be so attentive. “You must’ve changed the water many times at night.”

She teased him with a smile, and Gu Yu didn’t refute it. Satisfied, Wen Shuhua patted him on the shoulder and urged him to hurry up and give her a grandson.

Gu Yu raised an eyebrow and used the doctor’s words to stop her. “Her body still needs time to recover.”

So, having a son wasn’t something to rush.

“Instead of worrying about that, you should focus more on your daughter.”

Hadn’t that young lady said she’d find someone to marry as soon as her brother got married?

Now that Gu Yu had been married for several months, it was time to put Gu Ying’s matchmaking arrangements on the agenda.

Reminded by Gu Yu, Wen Shuhua quickly packed up the lunchbox after Xie Xinyi finished the chicken soup and hurried home. Xie Xinyi was puzzled as to why she didn’t wait for them to go home together, but when she noticed the faint smile on Gu Yu’s face as he walked in, she immediately understood.

It seemed that Gu Ying, who was recuperating at home, couldn’t escape being sold out by her own brother.

Xie Xinyi felt a pang of sympathy for Gu Ying. Meanwhile, Gu Ying, who was indeed recuperating at home, proved worthy of her brother’s “consideration.” When Wen Shuhua eagerly approached her to discuss prospective matches, Gu Ying agreed to everything without a second thought.

“Meet them? If we’re meeting, let’s do it all in one day. Schedule them for the same day, and I’ll clear my schedule.”

“All eight of them in one day?” Wen Shuhua looked at Gu Ying as if she’d lost her mind. “Are you deliberately trying to oppose me?”

Gu Ying raised her hands, which were not fully healed yet, and earnestly assured her mother that she had no intention of opposing her. “I’m serious. Scheduling them on the same day makes it easier to compare.”

“And you have to come with me.”

When it came to her mother’s push for marriage, Gu Ying had always felt resistant. Mostly because the matchmakers had little idea about the actual circumstances of the men they recommended, often exaggerating or outright lying about their qualities.

The matchmakers led her mother and grandmother to believe these were excellent matches, and if she returned with doubts, the two would assume she was being deliberately difficult to avoid marriage.

To be honest, Gu Ying hadn’t completely rejected marriage. If she found the right person, getting married was fine. But the men she met through matchmaking were often disappointing—not only unappealing but also she couldn't be bothered to look into them further.

She was lazy—too lazy to even guess her own brother’s or father’s thoughts, let alone those of unrelated men.

Besides, if someone had to rely on misrepresentations and others’ embellishments to present themselves, they were hardly someone to build a life with.

Moreover, when two people who had never met before immediately started talking about marriage, having children, and taking care of each other’s parents, she didn’t know how others felt, but she found it extremely awkward.

They weren’t familiar with each other, yet they jumped straight into discussing “your mom, my mom”... It just felt grating.

She felt disgusted but couldn’t outright explain it to her mother, so she turned to Grandma Gu for help, using her brother—who was rumored to be holding out for a marriage to a celestial beauty—as a shield.

Her brother served as a reliable shield, and Gu Ying thought he would protect her for a long time. But unexpectedly, her mother actually found him a real wife—a “celestial beauty” sister-in-law.

The sister-in-law was beautiful, kind, and they quickly became fast friends, sharing even their most private thoughts. Such a wonderful person—it was a pity she had married her cold-faced older brother. Gu Ying, having endured his temperament for decades, couldn’t understand how her sister-in-law tolerated it.

One constantly wore a stern expression; the other always had a radiant smile. Just imagining the private interactions between the cold-faced monster and the fairy-like beauty gave Gu Ying chills.

If such a perfectly matched, talented-and-beautiful couple had their struggles, what hope did she have with some perfunctory blind date?

She had no faith in strangers or in spending a lifetime with someone. So, when Wen Shuhua had brought up blind dates before, she’d been firmly against it. But now…

After that incident, she’d thought long and hard, realizing that having a man around might not be such a bad thing after all.

If nothing else, at least he could take a few punches in a crisis, preventing her pretty face from becoming swollen and bruised.

She didn’t want to be disfigured, so she strictly set her criteria for blind dates: they had to be skilled in martial arts and be able to run. Exceptional strength was the minimum requirement; being able to take on ten guys in a fight single-handedly was ideal. At the very least, they should be capable of escaping with her unscathed.

When Gu Ying patiently laid out her requirements, Wen Shuhua’s frown deepened even more. “Martial arts? Are you hiring a bodyguard or looking for a partner?”

Baffled by her daughter's logic, Wen Shuhua almost gave up on the hope of grandchildren altogether. But then she remembered how her daughter, who’d previously refused to even consider blind dates, had suddenly agreed so readily—and she couldn’t bring herself to let go.

“Are you sure you want someone who knows martial arts?”

She persisted, unwilling to give up, and received her daughter’s unwavering nod in response.

“He has to be tall and imposing—the kind whose mere presence can intimidate people.”

Gu Ying emphasized each word. Later that evening, after Xie Xinyi returned, she even asked her sister-in-law to accompany her to the blind dates, completely ignoring her brother Gu Yu’s dark, thunderous expression.

“Your sister-in-law just got back from the hospital.”

This was the first time Gu Yu had bothered to explain anything to her, but Gu Ying ignored him, turning instead to seek her sister-in-law’s opinion.

Xie Xinyi had just returned from the hospital with Gu Yu when she overheard Gu Ying’s emphatic remarks to Wen Shuhua from outside the door. At first, she feared Gu Ying might have suffered some trauma, so she pulled Wang Ma aside to ask for the full story.

Once assured that Gu Ying's interest was genuine and not distress-induced, she wondered what had caused this sudden change.

To prevent Gu Ying from making a decision she might regret, Xie Xinyi decided to go with her.

With her sister-in-law’s agreement, Gu Ying turned and shot her brother a smug, provocative look.

Xie Xinyi was speechless.

Once the two had settled on the plan, Wen Shuhua arranged the timing with the matchmaker. The day after Xie Xinyi’s period ended, they went to meet the “bodyguards” Gu Ying had described, as arranged by the matchmaker.

The men were indeed tall and brawny—but with height came elongation in other areas, too, particularly their faces.

After meeting seven men with long, melon-seed-shaped faces in a row, Gu Ying couldn’t take it anymore and exclaimed she needed to go wash her eyes.

Xie Xinyi joined her.

They sat in a corner of the park, staring blankly at the soapberry tree in front of them.

“Sis, do you think finding someone like my brother is really that hard?”

Was it hard?

It seemed so. After all, since coming to the capital, she hadn’t seen anyone with a better physique than Gu Yu.

Those broad shoulders, that narrow waist straight out of a novel, that sharply defined face worthy of a domineering CEO, and those hands that could span her waist in one grip…

It did seem pretty rare.

Xie Xinyi didn’t deny it, and Gu Ying’s enthusiasm vanished. When the eighth blind date candidate arrived, she refused to even look.

“No point. My sister-in-law says you won’t find another face like my brother’s in the entire capital.”

That evening at dinner, Gu Ying couldn’t help complaining to Grandma Gu about the day’s events.

In her complaints, she even repeated the private conversation she’d had with Xie Xinyi about Gu Yu’s appearance.

Xie Xinyi anxiously nudged her under the table, trying to signal her to stop talking, but in the next moment, Gu Ying froze mid-sentence.

Following her gaze, Xie Xinyi looked up and saw a familiar figure standing outside the door—as luck would have it, Gu Yu had returned.