Touya Yaoyao

This is an extremely short novel that tells a love story between Wen Jiaojiao and Gu Zhensheng in the early years of the Republic of China.

The story takes place in a small town in Jiangnan. The protagonist is the daughter of the richest man in Jiangnan. She has just returned from studying abroad and is preparing to stay with her parents.

Her encounter with the male lead is rather cliché: a hero saves the beauty. It's roughly like this: one day after she went out, she was harassed and bullied by some thugs, and the male lead suddenly appeared and saved her.

Because of this rescue, the male lead fell in love with the female lead at first sight. And the female lead? Do you think she would be thinking about the male lead constantly, tossing and turning in bed, unable to forget him? No, she had already forgotten about the male lead.

Forget about those claims of being saviors of a life, having no way to repay them except by offering oneself in marriage.

As a young woman who studied abroad, you saved my life, so I'll repay you with money. As for love and marriage, don't even think about it. My marriage is a matter of personal choice, not something I'm willing to marry just because a man saved me.

This led to the situation where, when the male protagonist met the female protagonist for the second time and eagerly tried to get close to her, she was not enthusiastic towards him and was even somewhat indifferent.

This left the male protagonist somewhat confused. He thought the female protagonist had forgotten him, so he deliberately mentioned that he was the one who saved her back then. However, the female protagonist frankly revealed that she remembered the male protagonist. As for why she wasn't very friendly, it was because, "You helped me, and I gave you money. Doesn't that even things out?"

The male protagonist was stunned by her unconventional statement. He stared blankly at the female protagonist for a long while before questioning her:

"In your eyes, can a life-saving debt be repaid with money alone?!"

The female protagonist was puzzled by his question, after all, she had indeed given him money, and he had accepted it without any hesitation.

Logically, the money and the relationship should be settled, so why is she now thinking that I'm ungrateful?!

"Is he trying to morally blackmail me?" the female lead thought, looking at the male lead with a critical eye, and directly warned him:

"Let me tell you, my family is powerful and influential. If you dare to mess with me, I'll have my dad send people to beat you up."

After saying that, he left without any politeness.

The male protagonist, humiliated by the female protagonist, lost his pride and distanced himself from her. Later, due to the war in the country, he joined the army as a soldier through his family's arrangement. Because of his skill in fighting, he quickly rose to the position of young marshal.

Several years had passed since the male and female protagonists first met. Because of the war, the once prosperous land of fish and rice had become devastated.

At this time, the whole country was already engulfed in war. The court was corrupt and could not withstand the foreign enemy. Warlords fought each other to carve up territory, completely disregarding the people. In addition, the enemy invaded and attacked the city, causing the people to be displaced and homeless, living in fear and barely making ends meet every day.

Wen Jiaojiao's father was the richest man in Jiangnan, and he had extensive connections, was generous with money, and had good relations with powerful and influential people.

So even in this chaotic world, her father was able to protect her and allow her to live a peaceful life.

But this peace and stability was bound to end. Her father was getting old, and seeing himself growing older while his daughter had no one to take care of her, he couldn't help but feel worried.

She was his only daughter, a princess who was pampered and spoiled, to the point that she looked down on all the men her father had chosen for her.

Indeed, she went abroad to study at a young age and saw the world, so she couldn't really talk to those pedantic scholars who spouted classical Chinese phrases or those martial artists who only knew how to brandish weapons.

Perhaps it was fate, or perhaps it was the ravages of war, or perhaps it was the approach of enemy troops, but this small town in Jiangnan was in danger of war breaking out.

This place was already rich, and it was the only town in the country that had not yet suffered the ravages of war. Therefore, whether it was warlords, the imperial court, or the covetous foreign enemies, they all had their eyes on this piece of fat meat.

The female protagonist naturally knew that if the war reached this place, not only would her family's business be seized, but she herself would also be forced to become someone's wife because of someone's ambition.

The female protagonist was unwilling to accept this. Her upbringing made her unable to accept living with someone she didn't love, nor could she accept having a loveless marriage.

Therefore, she decided to secretly purchase guns to arm her family, so that even if war broke out, they would not become fish on the chopping block and be slaughtered at will.

It can only be said that fate is so wonderful. Wen Jiaojiao spent a lot of money to have her senior brother abroad buy her a batch of the most advanced guns and other weapons for self-defense. However, these weapons had already been targeted by someone without her knowing.

Among the forces that were eyeing her, there happened to be the troops led by the male protagonist, Gu Zhensheng.

Wen Jiaojiao was unaware that the guns were being targeted, Gu Zhensheng was unaware that the guns belonged to Wen Jiaojiao, and as for the others, they had no idea that Wen Jiaojiao's senior brother had personally led a unit to escort the supplies because he was worried about the safety of the guns.

This resulted in the guns being attacked several times as soon as they entered the country, before they were even delivered to Wen Jiaojiao's home. Just as the male protagonist, Gu Zhensheng, was preparing to take a desperate gamble and launch a surprise attack on the escorting troops, he saw Wen Jiaojiao, dressed in riding attire and looking travel-worn, leading a group of people in a swaggering and arrogant manner into the escorting troops.

Even though Gu Zhensheng was slow to realize, he eventually understood that Wen Jiaojiao had ordered the guns. At that moment, he prepared to abandon his original plan. However, he wasn't the only one eyeing these guns. Therefore, just as Gu Zhensheng was about to leave, he heard a gunshot.

The man who snatched the gun was a warlord from the north named Lei Laohu. He was quite capable, and his men were also brave and skilled warriors. Although the people escorting the convoy were also veterans of the battlefield, they were like adults completely crushing elementary school students when facing Lei Laohu.

Seeing Wen Jiaojiao surrounded by Lei Laohu's soldiers, looking like she was trapped like a turtle in a jar.

Gu Zhen hesitated for a moment, but still decided to save her. After all, if he didn't take action, the guns would probably fall into Lei Laohu's hands, which would not benefit him.

Thanks to Gu Zhensheng's support, Wen Jiaojiao successfully kept all the guns she had bought. However, because of Gu Zhensheng's support, Wen Jiaojiao had to give up half of her guns to repay Gu Zhensheng for saving her life.

She knew that Gu Zhensheng wouldn't appear here for no reason; his presence could only mean that he had also taken a liking to these guns.

If that's the case, why not do the other party a favor in exchange for a peaceful journey home? After all, what Gu Zhensheng can take a liking to, others are probably also very interested in.

Of course, she didn't recognize that the dashing and handsome young marshal in front of her was the one who saved her back then, and she was even more unaware that while she was having a pleasant conversation with her senior brother, Gu Zhen was already experiencing a rollercoaster of jealousy.

Wen Jiaojiao's senior brother could naturally sense what the young coach was thinking about his junior sister, but he didn't expose it. Instead, he intentionally or unintentionally showed off his intimacy with Wen Jiaojiao to Gu Zhen.

As a result, within just a few days, Gu Zhensheng was so jealous that he was provoked by his senior brother that he directly asked Wen Jiaojiao's senior brother to go out for a one-on-one training session, but he was completely defeated by the other party. As a result, he dared not do anything except feel jealous and resentful.

They finally made it into the city, only to hear that the enemy was about to attack, but the general defending the city had already led his troops to flee.

At this time, the high-ranking officials and nobles in the city had already fled, leaving only the elderly, weak, sick, disabled, widowed, and lonely who could not escape. There was not a single person who could be of use.

Because Wen Jiaojiao had not returned home for a long time, Wen's father was unwilling to leave. By the time Wen Jiaojiao returned home and received the news, the enemy army had already captured the city closest to her.

Looking at Wen Jiaojiao's extremely anxious face beside him, Gu Zhen made a tough decision and simply ordered his main force to be brought in to replace the fleeing general and begin defending the city.

He knew he was outnumbered, but when he saw Wen Jiaojiao's weak and helpless appearance, he couldn't help but step forward to help her.

But everyone knows that this number of troops is just a drop in the ocean compared to the overall war situation, and can't do anything at all.

Therefore, Wen Jiaojiao immediately decided to borrow troops from nearby areas for reinforcements.

This move was very dangerous. Not to mention which general would be willing to use his own soldiers to defend someone else's city, why should I defend it for you? But at this point, they had no other choice but to take this risky tactic.

Fortunately, Wen Jiaojiao successfully borrowed troops by saying, "With a formidable enemy at hand, we should cooperate to defend against it rather than fight each other."

Of course, their main reason for borrowing troops was probably that Wen Jiaojiao could guarantee that she could help them buy new weapons from abroad.

Having borrowed troops, Wen Jiaojiao dared not linger and rushed directly to her own city. Meanwhile, Gu Zhensheng looked at the increasingly determined enemy army with a solemn expression.

As time passed, the enemy's offensive intensified, breaching many of the city walls' defenses and causing heavy casualties among the soldiers. Gu Zhensheng personally took to the field, fighting bravely and sustaining multiple injuries himself.

The war ended with Wen Jiaojiao and Gu Zhensheng's victory, but they also knew that it was only temporary.

Therefore, they decided to cooperate with other warlords to jointly resist the invasion of foreign enemies and other forces. However, the cooperation process was not smooth sailing, and they were even attacked from both sides.

Other warlords harbored ulterior motives. They outwardly agreed to cooperate but secretly plotted to annex their power. However, thanks to Wen Jiaojiao's new weapons and the enemy's restraint, they were able to turn danger into safety time and time again.

In their daily interactions, Gu Zhensheng and Wen Jiaojiao gradually built a deep trust and understanding. Therefore, on an auspicious day, the two held their wedding and vowed to work together for the peace of the country.

As time went by, a new belief gradually emerged. It was an organization that united people of all races and treated everyone equally. Gu Zhensheng and Wen Jiaojiao knew that the path of warlordism was not long-term, so they decided to join this organization and create a new tomorrow with those people.

In the end, the enemy was driven away, the warlords were eliminated, and the people became masters of their own destiny, ushering in a new era that belonged to them.

Wen Jiaojiao and Gu Zhensheng, on the other hand, chose to board a cruise ship bound for another destination.

Their departure was due to Wen Jiaojiao's senior brother's invitation to travel abroad. Therefore, the last image of the two of them was a picture of them facing the sunset together, looking at the sea, with serene and gentle expressions.