The Delicate Darling with Her Rough Man

Even after falling asleep, Gu Jiaojiao remained restless. Her fair, delicate fingers were clenched tightly around Leng Yuan’s clothes. Sensing his wife’s unease, Leng Yuan held her even tighter.

In any case, when Gu Jiaojiao woke up again, her whole body ached.

And for a rare change, she was awake while Leng Yuan was still lying in bed.

This had never happened before.

As for Xiao Yang, he had woken up, gotten dressed, and returned to the adjacent room to do his homework.

Gu Jiaojiao, however, was staring at the man beside her, becoming more captivated the longer she looked.

With his eyes closed in sleep, his rugged features softened considerably.

Leng Yuan was a very still sleeper. He was usually in the exact same position in the morning as he had been the night before, impossibly well-behaved.

She reached out, her fingers tracing over his eyebrows and eyes.

The next moment, her fingers were caught in his large hand. "Be good. Don’t make trouble."

The man opened his drowsy eyes. His normally sharp gaze was exceptionally harmless in this moment. Probably because he had just woken up, his voice was tinged with a raspy note. Gu Jiaojiao found herself thinking that this version of Leng Yuan was strangely docile, making her want to tease him.

She reached out and tickled his palm. Taking advantage of his momentary lapse in focus, her hand slipped inside his shirt.

He had a firm eight-pack. Unlike the pale, sculpted muscles one might get at a gym, his were filled with a sense of power—rock-hard, yet with graceful lines.

Gu Jiaojiao ran her hand over them once, then couldn’t resist doing it again.

’This feeling is surprisingly addictive.’

She continued her exploration, oblivious, and didn’t see his harmless eyes slowly take on a dangerous glint. His entire presence became like that of a leopard poised to strike.

And Gu Jiaojiao was as soft as a fluffy little animal, about to be snatched up by the predator.

By the time Gu Jiaojiao realized what was happening, it was too late.

By the time the two of them got out of bed, another half an hour had passed.

Leng Yuan hadn’t done anything, yet what he did was more embarrassing than if he had.

Gu Jiaojiao sat before the mirror, staring at her red, swollen lips. ’I can’t possibly face anyone today,’ she thought.

Fortunately, she had her own concoction of anti-swelling ointment. She found it and dabbed some on, a cool sensation instantly spreading across her lips.

With the ointment on her lips, Gu Jiaojiao went outside and saw Xiao Yang in the courtyard feeding the chickens.

Xiao Yang heard her and turned around. When he saw the ointment on her mouth, he immediately ran over, looking anxious. "S-Sister, are... are you hurt?"

Gu Jiaojiao knew he had misunderstood, but at that moment, she had no time to blush. Instead, her face lit up with delighted surprise as she stared at him.

"Xiao Yang, you can talk now?"

Xiao Yang nodded, his anxious gaze still fixed on Gu Jiaojiao’s mouth.

Gu Jiaojiao’s face flushed red.

’How was she supposed to explain this?’ Just then, Leng Yuan walked in, holding fresh vegetables from the backyard.

Chen Xiaolan had always helped look after the backyard, and now many of the vegetables were ready to eat.

The sight of him made her remember what had happened earlier, and her expression grew unnatural. She turned her face away, avoiding his gaze.

Leng Yuan, however, walked over, placed the vegetables in a basin by the well, and began to wash them as he explained, "Yesterday, when I fell while holding Xiao Yang, he cried out in a moment of panic. That’s why he’s able to talk today."

It’s just that he hadn’t spoken in so long, so his speech was halting and a little hoarse.

Gu Jiaojiao wasn’t surprised. She had examined Xiao Yang before and knew there was nothing wrong with his throat. His inability to speak wasn’t congenital; he had simply stopped talking after his parents passed away one after another and he lost contact with his older brother.

It was caused by trauma, not physical damage. As long as he could overcome the psychological hurdle, he would be able to speak.

Gu Jiaojiao had planned to take things slowly, but unexpectedly, the incident with the human traffickers yesterday had prompted Xiao Yang to finally speak.

"That’s amazing."

Gu Jiaojiao praised Xiao Yang a little more, then sent him off to play.

Xiao Yang seemed to realize that Gu Jiaojiao’s mouth wasn’t actually injured, so he stopped asking about it. Instead, he went back to chopping up vegetable leaves to feed the chickens.

The chicks had been hatched by one of Chen Jianshe’s hens. At present, each family was only allowed to raise two.