After Divorce, She Astonished the World - chapter 4

Chu Suosuo’s pale, palm-sized face looked so much like her own.

It was hard to pinpoint exactly where the resemblance lay, but at a glance, the similarity was striking.

Only after a closer look could one tell them apart.

Upon careful comparison-

Chu Suosuo was the more delicate version, with gently arched brows, a slight furrow between them, a dainty nose, and a small cherry mouth. Her features had a fragile, glass-like quality.

Su Hua, on the other hand, possessed a quiet serenity and calmness, along with a resilience that radiated from deep within.

It was only at this moment that Su Hua realized she was nothing more than a substitute in Gu Beixian’s heart.

She laughed at herself.

No wonder, three years ago, he agreed to marry her after just one look-the reason was here.

“Beixian, you’re here.” Chu Suosuo’s mother, Hua Qirou, forced a smile as she greeted them.

But when her gaze swept over Su Hua, her eyes were far from friendly.

Gu Beixian nodded slightly in response.

Hua Qirou walked to the bedside and gently patted Chu Suosuo’s shoulder. “Suosuo, your Brother Beixian has come to see you.”

Chu Suosuo slowly opened her eyes, her gaze passing over Su Hua’s face without much surprise.

As if she had long known about their resemblance.

She looked at Gu Beixian, tears shimmering in her eyes, and spoke softly and weakly, “Brother Beixian, I didn’t try to kill myself. I just couldn’t sleep and took a few extra sleeping pills. My mom overreacted and insisted on bringing me to the hospital for a stomach pump. I’m so sorry to trouble you and Sister Su so late at night.”

Hua Qirou, eyes red, scolded, “A few pills? You took more than half the bottle! If I hadn’t found you in time, you would have…”

She covered her mouth and sobbed.

Gu Beixian walked to the bedside and sat down.

He lowered his eyes to look at Chu Suosuo, his tone indulgent yet slightly reproachful. “Don’t ever do something so foolish again, understand?”

“Mm.” Chu Suosuo pouted, her eyes brimming with tears, looking pitiful and obedient.

Gu Beixian took out a handkerchief and carefully wiped away the tears at the corner of her eyes, his movements as gentle as if he were handling the finest porcelain.

The way he looked at her was tender as water, full of pity.

Su Hua stared at Gu Beixian in a daze.

In three years of marriage, he had never shown her such tenderness.

Perhaps this was the difference between love and indifference.

Even though Chu Suosuo had abandoned him at his lowest, he still loved her.

Maybe for some men, no matter how deeply other women care, only the one who hurt them truly matters.

It felt as if a fishbone was stuck in her throat.

Su Hua couldn’t stay any longer. “You two talk. I’m leaving.”

At her words, Gu Beixian turned to look at her, his expression indifferent. “Explain to Suosuo before you go.”

Su Hua took a deep breath and said, “Miss Chu, Gu Beixian and I only…”

Her throat tightened, and she couldn’t continue. She turned and left.

It was the first time she had ever defied Gu Beixian.

And the first time she had lost her composure in front of him.

After the door closed, Chu Suosuo said to Gu Beixian, “Brother Beixian, you should go after Sister Su. She seems upset.”

Gu Beixian was silent for a moment. “It’s fine. She won’t be angry.”

“Then she really has a good temper.” Chu Suosuo said softly, “I didn’t expect Sister Su to have such a graceful temperament-gentle, poised, nothing like someone from a small mountain village. I used to think she wasn’t good enough for you.”

Gu Beixian felt a bit uncomfortable hearing this. “She may have grown up in a small mountain village, but her mother and grandmother were both teachers, and her grandfather was a restorer of ancient books and paintings at a museum before he retired. You could say she comes from a scholarly family.”

“No wonder.”

Suddenly, neither of them had anything to say.

After a moment of silence-

Chu Suosuo cautiously probed, “Sister Su is beautiful and has such a good temper. You must love her very much, right?”

Gu Beixian was looking down at his phone, distracted. Hearing her words, he looked up and asked, “What did you just say?”

A trace of disappointment flashed in Chu Suosuo’s eyes. “Brother Beixian, you should go see Sister Su off. It’s late, and it’s not safe for a girl to be out alone.”

Gu Beixian stood up. “I’ll take her home and then come back to see you.”

Chu Suosuo said softly, “Go ahead.”
Gu Beixian stood up and left.

Watching his departing figure, Chu Suosuo’s eyes darkened.

Once he was gone, Hua Qirou chided softly, “You child, it wasn’t easy to get him here, how could you just let him leave?”

Chu Suosuo frowned. “Didn’t you see Brother Beixian* was distracted? His body is here, but his mind is still worried about that Su Hua. It’s better to let him go as he wishes. If anything happens to that woman on the way, he’ll blame himself, and maybe even blame me.”

Hua Qirou clicked her tongue. “You, for someone so young, are even more scheming than your mother.”

When Gu Beixian found Su Hua, she was already near the hospital entrance.

Her slender, upright figure stood in the chilly spring wind, graceful and ethereal, as beautiful as a bamboo branch in an ink painting.

Gu Beixian quickened his pace to catch up with her.

Neither of them spoke. They simply walked side by side, silent as the pitch-black night.

They exited the main gate.

Su Hua turned to wait for a taxi by the roadside.

Gu Beixian grabbed her wrist and pulled her toward the parking lot.

They got into the car.

Gu Beixian opened his bag, pulled out a card, and stuffed it into Su Hua’s coat pocket. “I had a bad attitude tonight. This is a bit of compensation. The password is your birthday.”

Su Hua felt a bit humiliated.

In his eyes, she was someone who could be dismissed with money. He couldn’t even be bothered to coax her.

He only ever coaxed Chu Suosuo.

Reaching into her pocket, Su Hua tried to take out the card.

Gu Beixian pressed down on her hand, his tone deep and brooking no refusal. “Keep it. Besides money, I have nothing else to give you.”

Su Hua felt as if her heart was filled with sand, rough and uncomfortable.

What she wanted was never his money.

Halfway home,

Gu Beixian received a call from the Old Lady: “Did my words go in one ear and out the other? Come back immediately.”

“We’re almost home,” Gu Beixian replied calmly and hung up.

Back at the Gu family’s old residence,

As soon as they entered,

they saw the Old Lady slumped on the sofa, her face pale, but her eyes sharp and bright as she watched them.

She reached out her hand. “Give me your phone.”

Gu Beixian handed her his phone.

The Old Lady found Chu Suosuo’s number and dialed.

Once connected,

she said sternly, “Miss Chu, our Beixian is a married man. Please mind your boundaries. Don’t call him for no reason! Since you broke up three years ago, don’t look back, and don’t harbor any wishful thinking about Beixian!”

Without waiting for Chu Suosuo’s reply, she hung up and tossed the phone onto the coffee table.

Gu Beixian frowned. “Suosuo has severe depression; she can’t handle being upset.”

The Old Lady sneered, “Even if she had cancer, it has nothing to do with you. The person you should care about most is your wife!”

Gu Beixian’s eyes turned slightly cold. “Grandma, you-”

The Old Lady covered her mouth and began to cough violently.

Su Hua hurried over to help her up.

She supported the Old Lady to bed, settled her in, and then returned to the guest room.

She saw Gu Beixian had just finished a call and was putting his phone on the nightstand.

He was probably comforting Chu Suosuo.

Su Hua silently went to the living room sofa, took a long body pillow, and placed it in the middle of the bed as a divider.

She also took a quilt from the wardrobe – one for each of them.

She took off her coat, lifted the quilt, and lay down.

It was already three in the morning. She was utterly exhausted, her mind muddled, wanting nothing but sleep.

The moment her head hit the pillow, she fell into a deep sleep.

She slept until late morning.

When she opened her eyes, Su Hua was startled to see a face as handsome as if sculpted, gazing at her with deep, somber eyes.

They were so close, close enough to feel each other’s breath.

His warm breath brushed her forehead, his dark eyes restrained yet hazy.

And she was nestled in his arms, her hands tightly wrapped around his waist, her calves entwined with his legs like willow branches – a posture unspeakably intimate.

A charged ambiguity filled the air.

The air itself seemed to grow hot.

Su Hua, as if jolted, hurriedly let go of his waist and scrambled out of his arms.

Half annoyed, half embarrassed, she said, “How did I end up in your arms?”

*Brother Beixian: a familiar nickname for Gu Beixian, used by Chu Suosuo.