After Time Traveling, I was Forced to Marry a Wealthy Family

The next events unfolded naturally. Mu Ci took the position as calligraphy teacher and Wu Ming was delighted, inviting him to dinner as celebration.

On his first workday, a woman took Mu Ci to take several photos for printing leaflets, claiming it was for promotion. Mu Ci, thinking that Gu Huai’s influence wouldn’t reach this small county, smiled and agreed.

He quickly adapted to this life, teaching children how to write at 8:30 every day, going back for lunch at noon. Wu Ming usually had the meal ready, as Mu Ci avoided using the gas stove due to a fear of fire.

In the evenings, he would go shopping, discovering the many fun and affordable things the world offered. Street ice cream for four yuan was delicious, and roadside stall barbecues were fragrant. Occasionally, he would come across a balloon ring maker stall.

These were novelties he had never seen in the Gu family. The simple joys of life, the ordinary happiness found in street foods fully revealed themselves in this slow-paced small county.

Mu Ci found that he liked this kind of life—happy, free, and ordinary. No one lurked in the dark trying to harm him, and no one stood above bossing him around. He gradually forgot about the jade pendant, along with the harm Gu Huai brought and the shadow left in the palace, all buried under the happiness.

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As the sun grew hotter, Gu Huai’s heart grew colder, while his feelings for Mu Ci expanded and fermented daily. His attitude towards Mu Ci fluctuated rapidly—sometimes filled with hatred, wishing to harm him, and at other times, deep concern and a desire to protect him.

These two conflicting emotions intertwined, tightly twisted, inseparable.

One day, while Gu Huai worked in the study, Bai Ling, playing with his phone, suddenly jumped up, creating a loud clang as his chair toppled.

“Get out!” Gu Huai’s temper flared; his patience worn thin.

Ignoring the command, Bai Ling approached excitedly, pointing at his phone. “Boss, boss, look, look!”

Frowning, Gu Huai glanced at the screen, freezing as he snatched Bai Ling’s phone. It displayed Mu Ci’s photo—an enrollment advertisement for a calligraphy class with a clear address and phone number.

“Prepare a car immediately.” Gu Huai wrote down the address, tossing the phone back to Bai Ling.

“Yes.” Bai Ling turned, seeing Gu Huai striding out with an air of suppressed intensity. Bai Ling sensed an impending storm from Gu Huai’s calm demeanor, as if he were struggling to contain something about to burst forth.

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Finally found.

This was what Gu Huai was thinking as he stood at the door of the calligraphy class after a long journey. It was strange that he didn’t think about how to deal with Mu Ci, nor about the events leading up to this day. He just thought that he finally found him, that’s all.

Gu Huai waved his hand, signaling Bai Ling and the bodyguards to guard the door, and then he stepped over the threshold and entered.

The grapevines in the yard were thriving. He raised his eyes and took a few steps inside.

A rather affluent-looking woman approached, asking him who he was looking for.

Gu Huai, without changing his expression, stated that he wanted to enroll his child in a calligraphy class and wished to meet Teacher Mu from the enrollment advertisement.

The woman didn’t suspect anything. She just mentioned that Mu Ci was in class. She exchanged a few words with someone and then led Gu Huai into the small living room with a big smile.

Gu Huai observed the living room, finding it very simple and even shabby. He couldn’t comprehend why Mu Ci would choose to endure in this modest place despite the glory and wealth he once had.

Within a few minutes, footsteps echoed in the corridor, and Gu Huai stood silently behind the door.

The door opened, and Mu Ci entered, not noticing Gu Huai. He took a few bewildered steps in, looking around, probably wondering why no one was there.

Gu Huai remained silent, watching his every move with a sense of longing, eager to imprint it in his heart.

For over a month, he endured a pain that felt like an insect biting his heart. Today, he finally saw this person again. Mu Ci had changed, lost weight, and the long hair Gu Huai once admired was gone. Even the skin on the back of his neck appeared much paler and fragile.

‘Deserve it!’

Gu Huai thought maliciously, ‘who told you to run away with all your heart, what did you expect? Do you think you can live a good life? Look how thin you’ve made yourself! Can you survive without me?’

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After a few seconds, Mu Ci finally turned around. His face turned extremely pale, and he stepped back in fear. His lips trembled, and he could hardly speak a complete sentence.

“Gu, Gu Huai…”

Gu Huai seemed to release a breath he had been holding and was filled with joy. He locked the door with his backhand, adjusted his tie, and walked towards Mu Ci step by step, calmly and menacingly, his eyes as dangerous as those of a wild beast deep in the jungle.

“You made me search for a month and five days,” Gu Huai said.

The pale man was frightened. He didn’t want to see him, so he attacked him, used a knife, scolded him harshly, and kept trying to escape.

Gu Huai lost his patience and dislocated his wrist. In fact, it was not the punishment Gu Huai had initially planned for him.

He sat Mu Ci, who was trembling with fear, on the sofa. Kneeling down, Gu Huai held up Mu Ci’s wrist to set his bones, then placed a kiss on his fingers, saying in a deep voice, “I miss you so much, Mu Ci… every day. I’ve been thinking about how I’ll have you back in my grasp.”

Mu Ci’s face turned pale at that moment, and he hastily pulled away his hand, standing up to leave.

However, Gu Huai wasn’t willing to let him go at such a time. He immediately reached out, grabbing him and pressing him heavily into his arms. Gu Huai’s touch on Mu Ci’s back found only a handful of frailty. Mu Ci’s back was thin and delicate, very light and crisp to touch.

Despite Mu Ci’s struggle to get up, Gu Huai held him down with one hand, turning his head to kiss his face while whispering against his ear, “Don’t move, listen carefully… Mu Ci, do you remember the warning I gave you the last time you tried to escape and got caught?”

Mu Ci’s struggle abruptly ceased as he felt Gu Huai’s free hand slowly moving up his calf, finally gripping his knees.

“At that time, I told you that if you dared to run again, I would break your legs.”