Gu Qinghe's eyes widened sharply, and she retorted in shock, "When did I ever say that?"
Qin Yuchen pressed the bicycle pedals, bringing the bike to a steady stop.
Sitting sideways on the back seat, Gu Qinghe had no idea what he was up to and tried to get off the bike.
But it was too late. Qin Yuchen stepped right up in front of her, leaned over, and gazed into her eyes.
"You just said that Guo Jingming giving you a ride home wasn't a bad thing."
Gu Qinghe sat obediently on the back of the bicycle, twisting the hem of her skirt as she explained, "I just felt that you already work hard enough coming home from the military base after training; there's no need to go out of your way to pick me up."
"If Brother Jingming has time, it's fine for him to give me a ride on his way."
That explanation was somewhat acceptable. Qin Yuchen's expression softened slightly, though he immediately turned back to fixate on the way she addressed Guo Jingming.
"Then why do you call him brother..."
"Stop, stop." Gu Qinghe quickly raised a hand to interrupt him, her expression dead serious. "First of all, I didn't call him 'brother,' I called him 'Brother Jingming'."
"Secondly, the reason I call him that is simply because he's your friend, and you two are around the same age. It's completely normal for me to call him Brother Jingming!"
Gu Qinghe gave Qin Yuchen a dissatisfied glance and muttered under her breath, "We already know each other well now, I can hardly call him 'Comrade Guo,' can I? That would be much too distant."
The tight, uncomfortable knot in Qin Yuchen's chest instantly eased considerably. He reached out and stroked her hair, which was slightly disheveled from wearing a straw hat.
His gaze softened. Without saying another word, he mounted the bicycle again.
This sudden gesture left Gu Qinghe feeling both baffled and stirred by some ineffable emotion.
Looking at his broad back right in front of her, she parted her lips, wanting to ask something, but feeling it inappropriate, she ultimately remained silent on the back seat.
They made the silent journey all the way back to the Qin Family home.
As they reached the courtyard and the bike came to a halt, Gu Qinghe hurriedly dismounted.
Qin Yuchen frowned, worried she might trip, and couldn't help warning her, "Slow down. What if you accidentally twist your ankle?"
Gu Qinghe nodded without talking back.
Yet as she passed by him, she paused and said softly, "Actually, you're the only person I've ever called 'brother'."
Without waiting to see if Qin Yuchen had heard or how he might react, she turned and hurried away with a blushing face.
Only after Gu Qinghe had left did Qin Yuchen belatedly register what she had just said. His pupils contracted, his grip on the bicycle tightened involuntarily, and he stood frozen in place for a long time.
Back in her room, Gu Qinghe looked at herself in the bathroom mirror and realized her cheeks were burning fiercely, her heart pounding heavily.
Perhaps she felt differently about Qin Yuchen.
Yet this difference was not enough to make her forget the agonizing suffering she had endured in her past life...
Chen Jiahong had also been very good to her at the very beginning—gentle, considerate, and attentive in every way.
Yet in the end, he still yielded to the temptation of profit and power, using her as a stepping stone to climb higher and personally shoving her into the abyss.
Therefore, even if her heart wavered, she could not easily show it.
Her complexion returning to normal, Gu Qinghe pressed a cool, damp towel to her face to soothe the sultry heat and calm her racing heart.
Yet her mind was completely consumed by hatred; she kept recalling Chen Jiahong's ugly face.
The pitch-black, lightless basement, the bone-deep electric shocks, the living hell of humiliation...
Even though the towel pressed over her face was breathable, she still found herself unable to breathe, gasping desperately for air.
As if by doing so, she could banish the terror in her heart and forget those terrifying memories.
Just as she was on the verge of suffocating, a knock sounded at her door.
"Qinghe, are you in there?" Qin Yuchen's tone lacked its usual chill. "Come out and sit by the fan for a bit, or you'll get heatstroke."
Gu Qinghe opened her eyes abruptly, the terrifying images in her mind retreating one by one until they vanished.
She snatched the wet towel off her face, took a deep breath to restore her composure, and opened the door.
"I'm fine." Gu Qinghe's face was wet, her eyes dull and filled with exhaustion.
This was the first time Qin Yuchen had ever seen her looking so devoid of energy, and concern flickered in the depths of his eyes. "What's wrong with..."
Gu Qinghe shook her head, just about to say she might have been hit by the summer heat.
Qin Yuchen's fingers had already touched her forehead and cheeks, his expression shifting slightly. "Did you just wash your face with cold water?"
Looking at him in a daze, Gu Qinghe answered honestly, "Yes, what's wrong?"
With a stern face, Qin Yuchen pulled her right back into the bathroom without another word.
He soaked a towel in hot water, wrung it out, and pressed it against her face—a fluid, practiced sequence of motions.
Before Gu Qinghe could even react, the towel was already covering her face. The warm sensation felt infinitely better than the icy, suffocating feeling she had experienced just moments before.
"Mmm... so nice," Gu Qinghe mumbled with her eyes closed.
Because the towel covered her nose and mouth, her speech carried a slight, muffled nasal twang.
Qin Yuchen let out a soft breath, removed the towel from her face, and said in a solemn tone, "Even though summer hasn't truly arrived yet, the temperatures aren't low. You just came back from outside; you shouldn't seek out the cold."
With her sweat trapped inside and unable to escape, her physical state remained poor.
Gu Qinghe nodded with a vague look of comprehension. "So that's how it is?"
No wonder she had felt so awful earlier, with that sensation of not being able to breathe; she had thought it was merely the lingering effect of her past life's memories.
Qin Yuchen wrung out the towel again. This time, instead of placing it over Gu Qinghe's face, he held it in his hands and told her, "Close your eyes."
Gu Qinghe looked at him in confusion. Although she had no idea what he was planning to do, she obeyed anyway.
Her long eyelashes cast a shadow beneath her eyelids, trembling slightly with every breath.
Qin Yuchen's breathing deepened, his Adam's apple bobbing as he exercised immense self-restraint for a moment to suppress the turmoil in his chest.
Clutching the warm towel tightly, he softened his movements and gently wiped her face.
Her skin was fair, tender, and delicate, vulnerable to the slightest touch. Qin Yuchen was afraid even the simple act of wiping with a towel might hurt her.
He could only tense his muscles cautiously while keeping his touch as gentle as possible.
Noticing the warmth on her skin, Gu Qinghe belatedly realized that Qin Yuchen was actually helping her wash her face.
The sturdy fortress she had built around her heart cracked open from this tiny gesture, and she couldn't resist opening her eyes just a slit to look at him.
Though she couldn't see clearly, she could still make out Qin Yuchen's earnest features and focused expression.
Especially the tender gentleness of his touch, which stirred a chord deep within her heart.
Her throat growing raspy, Gu Qinghe curved the corners of her lips upward in a slight smile and whispered her gratitude, "Brother Yuchen, thank you."
Thank you for driving away that boundless, suffocating darkness of terror just when she needed help the most.