After being separated from my family, I became a darling of the military region thanks to my medical

"Young Master Gu... I was wrong! I didn't recognize your greatness! Please just ignore me!" Wei Peng's face turned red.

Gu Zheng withdrew his hand, took out a handkerchief from his pocket, and slowly wiped his fingers that had just touched Wei Peng's collar, as if they had been stained with something dirty.

Wei Peng leaned against the barbed wire fence, panting heavily.

"Let you go?" Gu Zheng raised an eyebrow, but there was no hint of a smile in his eyes.

He glanced at his watch, his tone as casual as if discussing dinner: "You seem quite hot-tempered, not even feeling the cold in the dead of winter. Since you're hot, go cool off."

Wei Peng was taken aback: "Huh?"

Standing to the side, Pao Ye, being a seasoned veteran, immediately understood Gu Zheng's meaning with a twitch of his eyelids. This was a move to destroy Gu Zheng's spirit!

In an attempt to salvage his image in front of Gu Zheng, Pao Ye rushed forward without hesitation and yelled, "Are you deaf? Young Master Gu thinks you're wearing too much! Take it off!"

"Take it off...take it off?" Wei Peng looked at the hundreds of people watching around him, and his face turned green instantly.

This is Shichahai, where the temperature is minus ten degrees Celsius!

"Three," Gu Zheng uttered a single word.

This time, Pao Ye didn't dare to be careless and gave his men a wink. Several thugs who had just been beaten up rushed forward to redeem themselves and stripped Wei Peng naked.

In less than half a minute, the once arrogant Young Master Wei was left with only a pair of red underwear, standing naked in the snow and ice like a plucked, sick chicken.

A gust of cold wind blew, and goosebumps rose on Wei Peng's flabby body, the sound of his teeth chattering clearly audible: "Cluck cluck cluck..."

A burst of laughter erupted around them.

"Wow! Those red underwear are so festive!"

"Weren't you being quite tough just now? Why are you all curled up in a ball now?"

"Serves him right! Of all people to mess with, he had to pick on that crazy guy Gu!"

Gu Zheng didn't even lift his eyelids. He turned and walked towards Ye Zhen, his voice returning to its gentle tone: "Let's go. It's too hot to look at, you'll easily get a sty."

Wrapped in a military overcoat, Ye Zhen glanced indifferently at Wei Peng, who was shivering in the wind, and her professional habit slipped out: "When you freeze, your peripheral blood vessels constrict violently. If you don't warm up in time, you'll get frostbite in twenty minutes. In severe cases, it can even cause irreversible tissue necrosis."

Gu Zheng paused, chuckled softly, and reached out to ruffle her hair: "Don't worry, a scourge lives on forever, he won't die. At most... he'll learn his lesson."

He put his arm around Ye Zhen and walked back, throwing out a sentence without looking back: "Run three laps around Shichahai Lake. If you're one lap short, I'll send someone to the Wei family to talk to your father about your upbringing."

Behind him came Wei Peng's desperate wail, accompanied by his comical red shorts, as he began the longest run of his life on the ice.

The jeep drove away from Shichahai, leaving the noise and laughter behind.

At noon, the two were eating lunch when the guard, Xiao Wang, came in.

"Sir, the old man wants you to go back to the old house."

"What's up?"

"I don't know." Xiao Wang scratched his head. "He sounded pretty serious."

The two exchanged a glance. Did the old man find out about what happened that morning so quickly, or did someone complain about him?

The two didn't dare to delay and got on the train. The carriage was warm, but the atmosphere was somewhat dull.

Gu Zheng was driving, his jawline taut. Although the arrogant and aggressive aura he displayed on the ice rink had subsided, Ye Zhen could sense that he was in low spirits.

The car turned into a quiet alley and finally stopped in front of a vermilion gate.

The Gu family's old house is a typical three-courtyard siheyuan (traditional courtyard house), with two stone lions at the entrance looking majestic and solemn in the snow.

The courtyard was quiet, with only a few red plum trees standing proudly against the snow and frost in the corner, blooming in full glory.

Grandpa Gu, dressed in a Zhongshan suit, stood under the plum tree, holding a sharp pair of pruning shears. Hearing footsteps, he didn't turn around, but just stared at a plum branch growing horizontally in front of him.

"You're back?" The old man's voice was deep and resonant, carrying an air of authority honed by the passage of time.

"Grandpa," Gu Zheng called out, his voice muffled.

"Hmm." Old Master Gu raised his scissors and with a "snip," the plum branch, which was in full bloom but had ruined the overall shape, fell to the ground.

"Your mind is not at peace." The old man put down the scissors, turned around, and his insightful eyes swept across his grandson's face. "You reek of gunpowder. Just now outside, were you cutting someone else's branches, or did you almost break your own blade?"

Gu Zheng lowered his eyes and remained silent. He was a ruthless ruler in front of outsiders, but he never dared to act recklessly in front of his own grandfather.

"Here you go." Old Master Gu handed over the pruning shears. "This tree still needs pruning. Here you go."

Gu Zheng took the scissors and looked at the tangled plum tree in front of him.

In the past, he would probably have followed his instincts and cut wherever he didn't like it. But now, the heavy scissors in his hand made him hesitate.

When one is impatient and agitated, the knife will inevitably go astray.

Ye Zhen glanced at the old man and the young man, then silently turned and went to the kitchen.

Soon, a spicy and warm ginger aroma wafted out.

Ye Zhen came out carrying a tray with three white porcelain teacups on it.

"Grandpa, Gu Zheng, have some ginger tea to warm yourself up."

She first handed one cup to the old man, then stuffed the other cup into Gu Zheng's hand.

Grandpa Gu took the tea, took a sip, and felt a surge of warmth as the spicy flavor went down his throat. He looked at Ye Zhen with a newfound affection and appreciation in his eyes.

"Girl," the old man pointed at Gu Zheng, who was standing in front of the tree in a daze, "what does this boy look like?"

Ye Zhen glanced at Gu Zheng, the figure of him who had single-handedly taken on ten opponents on the ice rink overlapping with her current state.

"Like a knife," Ye Zhen said softly.

"That's right." Old Master Gu nodded, his gaze profound. "Gu Zheng is a blade, a fine blade that has seen blood and been sharpened. A blade that is too sharp can kill enemies, but it can also easily hurt others, and even more so, hurt himself. Extreme rigidity is easily broken. He understands this principle, but he can't put it into practice."

The old man paused, his gaze falling on Ye Zhen's clear, calm eyes: "Therefore, the Gu family needs you. You are its sheath."

鞘。

Restrain its sharpness, nurture its blade, and give its murderous aura a proper place.

Gu Zheng's hand trembled violently, and he almost dropped the pruning shears. He turned his head to look at Ye Zhen, his eyes swirling with complex emotions.

Ye Zhen held the warm teacup, the rising steam blurring her delicate features, but it couldn't hide the light in her eyes.

She met the old man's gaze without the slightest hesitation or shyness, instead exuding the firmness and composure of a doctor.

"Grandpa." Ye Zhen's voice wasn't loud, but each word was clear and resonant as it fell on the snow. "I am willing to be the sheath, concealing his sharpness and protecting him completely."

Gu Zheng's heart clenched.

However, the next second, Ye Zhen changed the subject:

"But if anyone tries to break its edge, tries to destroy this sword..."

She put down her teacup, walked to the plum tree, reached out and plucked off an extra, withered branch. Her movements were swift and decisive, much like an amputation on an operating table.

"I too can be a blade."

I am not only the sheath, I am also the knife.

Anyone who dares to touch my knife, I'll skin them alive.

Grandpa Gu was stunned. After a moment, he threw his head back and laughed loudly, the sound causing the snow on the branches to fall in a flurry.

"Good! Good! Good!" the old man exclaimed three times, his eyes practically overflowing with admiration. "I knew this lad had a sharp eye! I never expected you to have such a balanced personality, combining strength and gentleness! In that case, this tree doesn't need pruning! Let it grow as it pleases!"

Gu Zheng stood there, looking at the woman who was slender yet had a powerful aura. He felt a fire burning in his chest, making his whole body feel hot and his blood feel like it was boiling.