The Delicate Darling with Her Rough Man

’Jealous?’

What a joke.

Leng Yuan was so deep in debt. If Mrs. Chen actually lent him the money, she might never get it back.

She shook her head.

She thought Mrs. Chen would definitely come to regret it.

Mrs. Chen, however, looked perfectly calm.

Others might not know what Leng Yuan was capable of, but she had a pretty good idea.

His hunting skills alone ensured that he would never be too bad off.

’These people have no foresight at all.’

Mrs. Chen glanced at Chen JianShe, feeling increasingly clever the more she thought about it.

Thank goodness she had encouraged her son to be close with Leng Yuan since they were little. Otherwise, why would Leng Yuan ever bother to include her foolish boy in anything?

With these thoughts, Mrs. Chen walked away, beaming with satisfaction.

In the distance, the woman who had just warned Mrs. Chen gathered a group of her friends, and they began whispering among themselves.

Seeing the smile on Mrs. Chen’s face, they all shook their heads.

"She usually seems so sharp. How can she be acting so foolish now? What future could there possibly be in sticking with Leng Yuan?"

"If he were willing to go to the County Town with his aunt, that would be one thing. But staying here in the village, saddled with all that debt he can’t repay... life was already tough enough. Now he’s married a delicate little wife, so things are only going to get harder."

The other women all nodded in agreement.

Isn’t that the truth.

Leng Yuan’s life from now on was probably going to be a hard one.

Gu Jiaojiao, of course, had no idea what these people were thinking.

She walked straight over to Leng Yuan.

Even in the dead of winter, Leng Yuan had worked up a sweat butchering the wild boar.

Unlike the others, who were bundled up tightly against the cold, he wore only a thin work jacket.

Gu Jiaojiao took out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat from his forehead. Worried he would get sick, she quickly said,

"We should head back now!"

"Are you feeling cold? Just wait for me to move the table inside, and then we’ll go home."

Leng Yuan and four other men quickly cleared the table and carried it into the brigade headquarters.

Gu Jiaojiao: ...

’She’d been worried about Leng Yuan, but now he was the one worrying about her.’

By now, most of the people had left.

Even Xu Wenwan and her mother were gone.

The only ones left were her and Chen JianShe standing off to the side, along with Aunt Leng and Third Aunt Leng in the distance.

When Gu Jiaojiao saw the two women, she looked at them as if they were strangers. Her calm gaze swept over their faces before she turned away.

Aunt Leng and Third Aunt Leng grew apprehensive. Thinking back on how they had treated Leng Yuan and Gu Jiaojiao in the past, they wondered if they would be beaten for suddenly approaching them now.

But they didn’t dare not approach.

Leng Yuan’s maternal uncle, his own mother’s younger brother, had returned from a long time away.

They had all thought he was dead. They never expected that he had actually been away on a mission and had spread false news to protect his identity.

Now that the mission was complete, he had earned great merit and was likely to be promoted to an even higher position.

As soon as their sister-in-law heard the news, she immediately passed it on to them.

Her message was clear: no matter what had happened in the past, they absolutely had to get on good terms with Leng Yuan now.

Otherwise, the entire Leng Family would be the ones to suffer.

Aunt Leng and Third Aunt Leng greatly admired this sister-in-law who had married a cadre. On top of that, they were hoping she could help arrange jobs for Leng Qiushou and Leng ManCang, which made them all the more obedient to her instructions.

Their sister-in-law had said it herself: they had to get on his good side.

How could they dare refuse?

But the couple, Leng Yuan and Gu Jiaojiao, wouldn’t give them the time of day.

They could only bite the bullet and approach.

The two sisters-in-law tried to give each other a pep talk.

"Second Sister-in-law, don’t be scared. We’re just going over to help, we don’t mean any harm. Gu Jiaojiao won’t get mad."

Third Aunt Leng said encouragingly.

Aunt Leng nodded.

"That’s right, Third Sister-in-law. You don’t be scared, either. We’ll go together."

The two of them let out a heavy breath, each step feeling impossibly leaden.