Chapter 53: Island Life (1)

Located on Buri Island, an offshore island on the West Coast, the temperature difference remains relatively stable throughout the seasons, with only the plum rain season bringing a slight chill. However, people accustomed to living in lands with distinct four seasons find it rather difficult to adjust to such weather.

Gu Xinyao, sitting inside a sugarcane delivery truck, thought about how they had been here for over half a year now. Their life had been pleasant and prosperous, yet why was she still unable to get used to these occasional, sudden downpours?

"Yaozai, what are you thinking about? Could it be that you're missing your better half at home?" The driver beside her was a woman of around sixty. Measured by the standards of their original time and space, this veteran driver would probably be in her forties or fifties, but she possessed over forty years of driving experience.

Gu Xinyao turned her head to look at the veteran driver who, despite being around sixty, had not a single wrinkle on her face. This involuntarily brought back memories of their initial arrival in this place.

Dugu Yi had not adapted well to the sea journey and had suffered terribly from motion sickness. They had traveled all the way through wind and dust on a passenger ship, completely unaware whether their unknown journey would be bitter or sweet.

Shang Ran and A Fei had once invited them to stay temporarily at the Shang family estate, but both invitations were politely declined. Putting aside the fact that they had little prior interaction, even if they had been close, she would have felt too embarrassed to truly sponge off someone else's home.

Fortunately, Qin Rou had already given a heads-up to a friend here, allowing them to stay temporarily at that friend's guesthouse, where they only had to pay for lodging while meals were waived.

After settling in on the first day, feeling quite apologetic, she had Dugu Yi go to bed and rest first while she stayed behind to have a proper chat with the guesthouse owner.

To her astonishment, barely ten minutes later, upon returning to their room, she heard sounds of a scuffle. Rushing inside, she discovered a woman pressing down on Yi. Although Yi was struggling, the fatigue from the boat ride left him unable to push the woman off despite using all his strength.

Thank goodness it was just in time. She rushed forward and shoved the person flat onto the floor. By the light inside the guesthouse, when she looked down, she could not help freezing in place.

The person she had flipped over had a flushed face, hazy, drunken eyes, and a reek of alcohol strong enough to knock someone out. What stunned her wasn't the heavy stench of alcohol, but the woman's appearance—she was the absolute spitting image of Wei Qinghua. Yet, to call her Wei Qinghua didn't seem quite right either. She thought that even if Wei Qinghua were drunk, she would hardly display such an unseemly posture, let alone someone of Wei Qinghua's calm and self-contained disposition allowing herself to get drunk in the first place.

With the person sprawled on the floor, she made no move to get back up, simply lying there limply on her back, her limbs still maintaining the posture of embracing someone.

"Xinyao! Xinyao!" Yi, curled up inside the quilt, called out her name with a sob. Unable to spare another glance at the woman who looked exactly like Wei Qinghua, she ran to the bedside and hugged her Yi tightly, quilt and all.

The person inside the quilt was shivering uncontrollably, weeping soundlessly. That stubborn Yi who would endure the greatest injustices had vanished amidst fatigue and terror, replaced once again by the timid and innocent Yi from the moment he first woke up. He huddled beneath the blanket, shedding large tears and trembling, no longer forcing himself to appear strong.

Holding such an Yi, Gu Xinyao wished in her heart she could give the person on the floor a few more kicks. The guesthouse owner must have noticed the commotion, as she quickly knocked and stepped inside.

The room was brightly lit, filled only with the rambling drunken mutterings of the drunkard on the floor, the low sobbing of Dugu Yi curled up in bed, and Gu Xinyao's gentle, soothing whispers.

"Xinyao, what happened here?" The guesthouse owner was a middle-aged woman surnamed Jin, whom everyone called Sister Jin. She was a kind-hearted soul. Knowing that Gu Xinyao was Qin Rou's sworn younger sister, she hadn't wanted to charge for lodging in the beginning, and relented only after Gu Xinyao insisted that she wouldn't stay if she didn't accept the money. Barely an hour had passed since then—how did things end up like this?

Frowning, Gu Xinyao looked at the intoxicated woman lying on the floor and said to Sister Jin, "Sister Jin, this woman actually barged into our room and almost did something to Yi... How did she even get in?" She was certain she had locked the door properly when she left; how could the woman have entered and targeted Yi?

Sister Jin walked over to the drunken woman and squatted down. Looking closely, her face was full of helplessness before she finally said to Gu Xinyao, "Xinyao, I'm truly sorry. She is the younger sister of the island lord. Normally, she's perfectly fine when she doesn't drink. Today is her husband's anniversary; perhaps she was in a bad mood and drank too much. As for how she ended up in your room, she probably took a key from our front desk. You know how simple and honest the folk customs on our island are—keys aren't locked away purposely. Besides, she and her husband used to live in this very room."

Hearing Sister Jin's words, Gu Xinyao froze in astonishment. The island lord's sister—even if she was the island lord's sister, she had no right to forcibly assault an innocent man!

"Sister Jin, what is the island lord's surname, and where does she live?" She intended to ask whether merely being the lord of the island gave one's sister the license to run amok.

Sister Jin struggled to lift the woman up, propping her against her shoulder, but hearing Gu Xinyao inquire about the island lord, she naturally grew concerned and said, "Xinyao, take my advice and don't go looking for the island lord. Although the island lord isn't an overbearing person, she is, after all, the island lord who controls the livelihoods of everyone here. No one will take your side."

"Sister Jin, don't worry. I'm not going to settle accounts with the island lord. I just want to know where she lives so I can pay a visit another day, seeing as I'm a newcomer after all," Gu Xinyao relaxed her furrowed brow and said with a smile.

Sister Jin saw that Gu Xinyao did not genuinely seem intent on making a huge issue out of it, and her mind finally settled a bit.

"Our island lord is named Wei Qinghua. On the east side of this island, there is a connected compound of courtyards—that is the Wei family residence. You'll see it as soon as you go there. The island lord is actually just like ordinary people, living very simply, and her temperament is quite approachable." With that, she supported the drunken woman and walked out.

While soothing Dugu Yi, Gu Xinyao searched her mind for the owner of that name. Finally, she found her in the dust-laden vaults of memory: wasn't she the childhood sweetheart of Dugu Yi's father? Wei Qinghua. That meant the woman just now was Wei Wenlan. And her husband—wasn't that Wei Anchen?

No wonder, no wonder she had set upon Yi. Yi looked very much like both Gu Yu and Wei Anchen. She actually... she hugged Dugu Yi tighter. She truly wondered whether coming to Buri Island was a blessing or a curse.

"Yaozai, your better half is so good-looking. If he were my man, I wouldn't let him show his face outside to make money for the world, no matter what." The veteran driver beside her was still chattering away in some local dialect, pulling Gu Xinyao back to her senses.

"Master Hu, my partner knows his boundaries. Even when working outside, he won't mess around. I'm completely at ease," Gu Xinyao said with a smile. Thinking of Yi's current job, she couldn't help smiling again.

She had originally thought Yi would repel the job of being a print model, but she hadn't expected him to agree two months after arriving here.

That day, A Fei and Shang Ran had come together to persuade him, bringing along some clothes for Yi. She truly hadn't expected that when Yi put those clothes on, he would look so breathtakingly unreal. Since Yi didn't resist working as a print model, she simply let him develop his own interests and hobbies.

However, recalling the outfit A Fei had brought over a certain day, her brow inevitably furrowed again.

That day, the weather wasn't very good, with a fine drizzle falling, and they had planned to take an afternoon nap at home. A Fei had come knocking on the door, mysteriously leading Yi into the fitting room. When they came out, Yi's face was as red as a tomato, and his hands kept trying to cover himself up.

Yet she had seen it clearly. Calling it clothing was less accurate than calling it a piece of black window gauze. The garment worn by Yi was a full-body piece, yet it failed to conceal its alluring effect of revealing while hiding.

If someone claimed this outfit was meant for photography, she wouldn't believe it; it looked far more suited for seducing women in a nightclub. Looking at Yi's upper body, the black lace fabric made nearly most of his skin visible, with two delicate plum blossoms embroidered over his chest, just barely covering the nipples. The upper body was designed primarily for a slim fit, clinging tightly.

The lower half, however, was designed to emphasize looseness, resembling oversized harem pants that gathered tightly at the hips, leaving the entire buttocks and the vital front area covered by interwoven black threads. The crucial points were the buttocks and that protruding area; although the black color could conceal the prominent features, standing close still allowed one to clearly see the outline beneath. The fabric suddenly loosened around the upper thighs and tightened again at the ankles. This was clearly designed to tempt people into sin.

If this garment weren't worn by her own man, she would have thought the design wonderfully novel and creative.

Her only mistake was that it was worn by her man. A Fei had claimed that the waist and hip sections were woven using the world's strongest thread, making it absolutely impossible for the threads to loosen or fray.

The requirement of this garment was that the person wearing it could wear only this single piece over their entire body, with nothing underneath.

She narrowed her eyes slightly as she gazed at the man before her. Very well, this was asking her man to sell his sex appeal to drum up business for them.

"No way!" Gu Xinyao gritted her teeth, reached out, and pulled Dugu Yi down to sit on her lap, her next move being to strip off her own jacket and wrap him up tightly.

Originally, she had thought agreeing to let Yi work at Shang Ran's art company was no big deal, but now it seemed she absolutely could not allow it.

A Fei was still admiring the clothes on Dugu Yi, failing to understand why Gu Xinyao would suddenly refuse with such an unfriendly tone.

"Such a good-looking outfit, why do you say no?" If it were back in the past, even she would have wanted to try wearing it, but now that was out of the question—her belly was bulging, and the one surnamed Shang would certainly never allow it.

Gu Xinyao hugged Dugu Yi and walked straight into the fitting room, saying as she went, "If Shang Yu makes you wear it, I'll let Yi wear it. Do not impose on others what you yourself do not desire."

Her words left A Fei's face alternating between red and white.

In the end, their art company still had to swap in another model wearing that outfit for the cover, but the visual impact fell far short of what Dugu Yi had achieved.

Ever since that incident, Gu Xinyao had established three rules with Shang Ran: letting Yi work as a model was acceptable, but exposing * was strictly forbidden—even showing off his slender, beautiful legs was out of the question. If they failed to abide by this when the time came, they shouldn't blame her for turning hostile.

Since Shang Ran was asking a favor of them, she had no choice but to agree to Gu Xinyao's terms.

Out in public, or rather in front of strangers, Yi would still unnaturally put on a stern face, but Gu Xinyao knew it was out of fear. Yet, if she kept him isolated from strangers forever, his memory and intelligence would likely never recover to their former state. Fortunately, Shang Ran, A Fei, and the others were not bad people and would help her look after Yi.

"Yaozai, you're just too big-hearted. In such a flashy place, how could people not change? Plus, with you working at that research institute all day long, busy all the time, it's inevitable..." The veteran driver seemed to want to say something, but trailed off hesitantly.

Gu Xinyao looked at the driver's profile, a trace of unease stirring in her heart. She worked as a lab assistant at a bio-energy research institute introduced by Shang Ran. Although the pay wasn't exceptionally high, it was enough for the two of them to live on; even if Yi didn't work, she could support him. Yet how could she bear to lock Yi away and deny him his freedom?

Fortunately, the sugarcane trucks on the island shuttled back and forth between the town and the guesthouse, allowing her to make a round trip by paying the fare.

Come to think of it, what the veteran driver said wasn't entirely unreasonable, but she simply chose to believe that Yi wouldn't change.

When they reached the entrance of the guesthouse where they lived, she got out of the truck.

Stepping inside, the interior was still pitch black, suggesting Yi had not yet returned. She switched on the wall lamp, the rooms looking cold and deserted. After a moment of thought, she put her shoes back on.

Figuring Yi might not have returned yet, she decided to drop by Shang Ran's company to take a look.

The company was not far from their place—a four-or-five-minute walk was all it took, which was the main reason she could feel at ease letting Yi work there.

The research institute was located in town, while their residence was about a car ride of an hour away from town. Normally she arrived home much earlier, but today she had been delayed by an experiment involving rooting plants.

Shang Ran's company was still brightly lit at night, with people entering and exiting from time to time.

Gu Xinyao originally intended to go inside to look for Yi, but she spotted him walking out. Aside from a pregnant A Fei and the unserious-looking Shang Ran, there was also a woman. Narrowing her eyes to inspect her closely, wasn't that Wei Wenlan, the woman who had almost ended up in her bed that night?

Why on earth would she be together with Yi and the others?

She turned her gaze back to Yi. Caught between A Fei and Wei Wenlan, Yi looked somewhat stiff, yet he did not reject Wei Wenlan's proximity.

At that sight, Gu Xinyao felt a stifling tightness in her chest. Clenching her fists, she wanted to step forward, but her feet seemed to have a mind of their own, rooting themselves to the spot as she watched the four figures gradually draw closer.