Lin Qingping and Gu Juncheng

Chapter 280 You're helping him?

This is really strange, why is it Gu Juncheng again?

How come the frequency of their meetings has increased so much after the divorce?

We usually don't see each other for ten days to two weeks at a time!

How come he is here?

Also, what is the reason for his furious expression?

As Lin Qingping was thinking, Gu Juncheng strode over, threw a notebook at her, and stared at He Xin with anger in his eyes.

He Xin became wary and began to back away step by step. "What are you doing?"

Gu Juncheng's face was dark, and his anger burned like a raging fire, but he remained silent.

Lin Qingping also sensed something was wrong and asked urgently, "Gu Juncheng, what are you trying to do?"

Gu Juncheng didn't look at her, but stared at He Xin until he cornered her against the wall, leaving her nowhere to retreat.

He Xin leaned against the wall. "Who are you? What do you want?"

Gu Juncheng suddenly grabbed him by the collar.

"Gu Juncheng!" Lin Qingping shouted from the side.

"You bullied her?" Gu Juncheng's voice was gloomy and ruthless, and his eyes were so deep that they were unfathomable.

He Xin was stunned.

Lin Qingping didn't know what he was talking about, but from his posture, she could tell he was about to beat someone up! It wasn't that she hadn't seen him beat people up before; for example, back when they worked at the clothing factory, and for example…

In short, his current demeanor is the prelude to a beating, and none of his previous looks have been as terrifying as this one.

"What are you doing, Gu Juncheng!" Lin Qingping squeezed her way between him and He Xin, forcing him to release his grip on He Xin's collar. "Gu Juncheng! What's wrong with you here?!"

"I'm crazy?" Gu Juncheng's tone was still furious. "He bullied you, and you're saying I'm crazy?"

"When did he bully me?" Lin Qingping pressed down hard on his shoulder, pushing him back to keep him away from He Xin, while saying to He Xin behind her, "Go away! Go away!"

He Xin still refused to leave, and instead pulled Lin Qingping, saying, "You go back to your room first, I'll talk to him."

If we're going to fight, let's have a fight!

Take your hand off!

The moment He Xin's hand touched Lin Qingping's clothes, he was met with an angry roar and a hard blow to his hand.

"Gu Juncheng, what right do you have to hit someone?" Lin Qingping was afraid that Gu Juncheng would really fight with He Xin, so she changed from pushing his shoulder to hug him tightly, even his arm, and turned to persuade He Xin, "He Xin, you should go first. This must be a misunderstanding. I'll talk to him and clear things up."

"But you..."

“He won’t hit me.” Lin Qingping knew his worries.

But after saying "He won't hit me," Lin Qingping clearly felt the person she was holding stiffen.

She didn't have time to think about anything else; she just wanted to call He Xin away so she could face the situation herself. "He Xin, it's really nothing. You go first. I know what to tell him."

Seeing Lin Qingping hugging Gu Juncheng tightly, and considering that they were ex-husband and ex-wife, He Xin realized it might not be convenient for him to be there. He nodded and said, "Okay, I'll go first then. Take care."

He Xin didn't actually plan to go far. He just turned a corner and watched from a distance. If Gu Juncheng started hitting someone, he would rush out to help.

After He Xin left, Lin Qingping finally breathed a sigh of relief.

She was too nervous just now and tried too hard to stop Gu Juncheng. Now her arms were a little sore and her whole body was a little weak. For a moment, she forgot that she was still lying on Gu Juncheng.

Once the surroundings quieted down and Gu Juncheng remained motionless, she suddenly realized that her posture was somewhat inappropriate.

"Ahem..." She cleared her throat, and to avoid embarrassment, questioned Gu Juncheng, "What exactly do you want? Why did you hit someone?"

Gu Juncheng paused for a moment, then bent down to pick up the notebook from the ground. "I'm bringing you this."

It was her notebook. Gu Juncheng had just thrown it at her, but because she was in a hurry to separate Gu Juncheng and He Xin, she dropped the notebook on the ground in her haste.

Lin Qingping took it, flipped through it, and found that the notes inside were clean and undisturbed, so she was relieved. "I'm asking you why you hit someone?"

Gu Juncheng was still angry when he brought it up, "Didn't he just force you?"

Lin Qingping was truly baffled. "What did he force me to do?"

“I saw it…” Gu Juncheng seemed unwilling to talk about it, “He was… rude to you.”

Gu Juncheng phrased it tactfully, but she understood. He probably felt that He Xin had gotten too close and harassed her. She could only helplessly explain, "He wasn't being rude to me, it was me..."

"Is this what you wanted?"

Lin Qingping was stunned. She wanted to say that something had gotten into her eyes, and what did she mean by "she was willing"?

Her brief moment of surprise caused Gu Juncheng's expression to change. "You're still willing even though you're crying?"

He had assumed that He Xin had forced himself on her and made her cry...

"No, I just got sand in my eyes, I didn't cry." Lin Qingping felt quite tired. She had already exhausted herself visiting the grottoes today, and then she had a bullfight with him just now, which made her even more tired. Even explaining like this made her feel mentally exhausted. They were divorced, so what was the point of her explaining anything to him?

She leaned against the wall, giving her tired body some support.

"So, I misunderstood?" He said somewhat embarrassedly. "I'm sorry."

What's the use of saying sorry?

Lin Qingping was too exhausted to say anything more, and only sighed, "Gu Juncheng, can you please not be so rude? We're already divorced, don't you remember me? What I do is none of your business!"

Gu Juncheng's expression changed slightly, and his cold voice carried a self-deprecating tone, "Yes, I'm just a soldier, of course I'm rude, unlike you, who are refined, elegant and cultured."

Lin Qingping felt a pang in her heart. She had gone too far with what she had just said. He was indeed stronger than the average person, but she couldn't bring herself to say that he was uneducated. He had never neglected his studies in the army, and his level of education was no lower than that of college students like them. Moreover, the things he was learning in the capital for university courses, although he never told her about them, she guessed that they must be cutting-edge science. Otherwise, why send him here for further studies?

"That's not what I meant..." Lin Qingping said helplessly, changing the subject, "How did you end up here?"

Gu Juncheng took a deep breath to suppress his surging emotions. "Xiao Tian took his family visit leave, went to see me first, and then came home. I came with him."

I see……

“You left your notebook at the store. Xiao Tian found it, so I brought it to you. It must be something very important to you,” he added.

Lin Qingping nodded. "Thank you."

The two were relatively speechless.

After a moment of silence, Lin Qingping said, "If there's nothing else, I'll go back and rest."

But Lin Qingping must have been too tired. As she leaned against the wall to straighten up, she twisted her ankle.

Gu Juncheng immediately reached out and supported her.

Lin Qingping looked down at the hand supporting her arm, speechless.

"Are you very tired?" he asked.

Lin Qingping nodded. "A little."

Suddenly, she felt a hand gently stroking her temple, tidying up her stray hairs.

She tried to dodge, but she was right next to the wall with nowhere to retreat. Gu Juncheng braced his arms against the wall, trapping her inside.

Her eyes were still wet.

Because sand got in earlier.

His hand then touched the corner of her eye again.

Rough, with a dry warmth.

She tried to escape, but he held her captive and she couldn't. Frustrated, she turned her head and said, "Gu Juncheng, what do you want? Let me go!"

He didn't speak again, his fingertips touching the moisture from the corner of her eyes.

"Lin Qingping," he suddenly said, "will you still cry in the days to come?"

Lin Qingping was taken aback.

What does this seemingly random question mean?

But when he asked, she decided to answer.

She thought for a moment, then said solemnly, "No, because the person who made me cry has already left my life. From now on, I will get better and better, and I won't cry anymore."

After saying this, she used her hands to push away Gu Juncheng's arms that were supporting her on both sides of her body.

This time, it was pushed open with a gentle push.

She strode back to her room without looking back, no longer caring about the person standing outside.

He Xin, who had been hiding in the shadows, also left quietly.

Under the moonlight, only Gu Juncheng remained, standing silently.

After Lin Qingping returned to her room, Zhong Xiaoxiao had already finished showering and come out.

Where did you go just now?

Lin Qingping held up the laptop. "I left the laptop at the store, so I went to get it back."

“Oh…” Zhong Xiaoxiao sat down.

Lin Qingping knew she was waiting for her to go to sleep first, so she said, "You go to sleep first? I'm going to take a shower."

Zhong Xiaoxiao nodded quickly, "Okay."

This time, when Lin Qingping returned from her shower, she found that Zhong Xiaoxiao was already in bed, wrapped up tightly.

Lin Qingping shook her head and smiled. She now knew the secret behind Zhong Xiaoxiao's habit of letting her go to sleep first: because Zhong Xiaoxiao's clothes were always torn and she didn't want Lin Qingping to see them.

She crawled into bed, opened her notebook, and reviewed the notes she had taken that day. Suddenly, Gu Juncheng's face appeared on the notebook page, holding the notebook and walking angrily toward her.

She turned the page, framing his face. However, a few lines later, the image of his fingertips wet with his own tears appeared on the page again, asking her: Lin Qingping, will you still cry?

Lin Qingping closed her laptop and went to sleep.

No, it won't happen again. It really won't happen again.

The next day, Lin Qingping set off early in the morning because he was going to search for the successor of the grottoes in the deeper mountains, and he had to make the round trip in one day, so he had to hurry.

Everything went very smoothly.

They found the successor near a deserted grotto.

Lin Qingping wanted to hear his legendary story, and He Xin and the other art students wanted to learn about grotto art. This grotto artist was very willing to tell them, and they were also happy that more young people were paying attention to grotto heritage.

It was a very enjoyable field trip. If time hadn't been limited, they would have talked even more. But if they lingered any longer, they feared they would have to walk down the mountain in the dark, so they had to say goodbye.

The weather in the mountains can change in an instant.

When we were halfway down the mountain, the sky, which had been bright, suddenly turned dark.

Lin Qingping looked at it and became a little anxious. "We need to hurry, it might rain."

But no matter how fast they walk, how can they keep up with the changing weather?

After walking less than a mile, a heavy rain began to fall, and dark, heavy clouds rolled in, mixed with yellow sand, turning the world into a gray haze, making it impossible to see the road ahead.

They had umbrellas in their backpacks, but they were useless. The strong wind blew the umbrellas all over the place, making them impossible to hold. The rain was pouring down, and they were soaked to the bone.

"Be careful!" He Xin, the only boy, felt a great responsibility. He took off his clothes and twisted them into a rope, which the four of them held onto to prevent them from getting lost in this weather.

something unexpected may happen any time.

No matter how careful they were, they couldn't stop the sudden collapse.

The heavy rain caused a landslide.

The ground they were standing on suddenly sank, and the four of them lost their footing and tumbled down the landslide.

Lin Qingping only felt pain, not knowing whether it was the pain of her skin being cut or the pain of being hit by a stone.

Fortunately, the mountain path wasn't too high, and they stopped before sliding down too far.

"Lin Qingping! Gong Jing! Zhong Xiaoxiao! Are you alright?" The visibility was already low, and the four of them had fallen and were scattered all over the place. He Xin tried to stand up but couldn't. He must have injured his foot. He could only shout their names loudly in the heavy rain.

"I'm fine!" Lin Qingping quickly replied.

Following that, Zhong Xiaoxiao and Gong Jing also gave their answers.

All four of them slid down, but they should all be nearby.

"Take a look, can you move it? If not, don't force it, to avoid further injury," Lin Qingping shouted.

She tried it herself, but it seemed she couldn't stand up; she couldn't support herself with her hands, she had no strength.

The heavy rain continued to pour down on her, hitting her face with large raindrops that stung painfully.

“I can move. I can stand up,” Zhong Xiaoxiao said.

"I don't think I can do it... my feet hurt..." Gong Jing's voice sounded weak.

Four people, three of whom were injured.

No matter how capable Zhong Xiaoxiao was, she couldn't get them out.

"Zhong Xiaoxiao!" He Xin called out in the heavy rain to Zhong Xiaoxiao, who was nowhere to be seen. "Only you can move. Can you walk down the mountain and call for help for us?"

Zhong Xiaoxiao was soaked to the bone and pale in the torrential rain. She knew that only she could go, but in such heavy rain, she couldn't see the way down the mountain. She might encounter a landslide or falling rocks on whichever path she took. If that happened, she would be all alone and there would be no one to help her. She might even die in some ravine...

Furthermore, even if she manages to get down the mountain, she might not be able to find her again...

But she was the only hope.

"Okay! I'll go!" Zhong Xiaoxiao made up her mind and got up.

"No!" Lin Qingping stopped her. "In this heavy rain, where will you go to ask for help? What if you fall somewhere, or there's another landslide? How will you survive all by yourself?"

"But……"

"No buts! Xiaoxiao, even if you want to go, you have to wait until the rain stops! We'll find the way down the mountain after the rain stops!"

With Lin Qingping's insistence, the four of them finally reached an agreement: wait for the rain to stop, then see how things go and whether to let Zhong Xiaoxiao go down the mountain alone.

However, instead of the rain stopping, a sudden drop in temperature followed.

The temperature in the mountains suddenly dropped by more than ten degrees.

Their clothes were already soaked, and with the sudden drop in temperature, they quickly became unbearably cold.

Zhong Xiaoxiao, the only one who could move, wanted to start a fire to warm them, but the fire wouldn't light at all.

“Xiaoxiao…” He Xin’s voice trembled, his teeth chattering. “It’s no use. We have to think of something. Otherwise, the deeper the night goes, the lower the temperature will be. If it gets any colder, we might freeze to death on the mountain.”