The Delicate Darling with Her Rough Man-Chapter 153 - 152: Sweet Girl’s Secret

Gu Jiaojiao gently rubbed her head. "Don’t be afraid. You don’t have to say you forgive me."

"Apologizing is something I should do. My words hurt you, so it’s only right for you to be angry."

’An apology is about recognizing your own mistake. Whether or not the other person forgives you is their decision, and you shouldn’t force it.’

Although Gu Jiaojiao wasn’t the one who had said those things, the words had been incredibly hurtful to Sweet Girl.

Gu Jiaojiao wasn’t just apologizing on behalf of the original owner; she also hoped Sweet Girl could feel less insecure. She was no worse than any other child. In fact, compared to children who were coddled by their parents, Sweet Girl was far more sensible and diligent.

Sweet Girl stared at her for a moment.

Then, in a soft voice, she said, "Jiaojiao, I forgive you."

In truth, from the moment Gu Jiaojiao had pulled her from the water, Sweet Girl had felt a burgeoning affection for her.

She was just afraid that Gu Jiaojiao would look down on her.

"How about we take a bath now?"

Gu Jiaojiao touched Sweet Girl’s little face, which felt ice-cold. She couldn’t help but ask in a coaxing tone.

Hearing such a gentle voice, Sweet Girl couldn’t help but nod.

"Okay."

The hot water Gu Jiaojiao had prepared was the perfect temperature, and she had added ginger slices to help ward off the chill. It was the first time Sweet Girl had ever enjoyed a bath so much, to say nothing of the fragrant soap.

’When her mom and dad were alive, their family had been pretty well-off, and they’d never gone without soap. But compared to the one she was using now, none of those looked as pretty or smelled so good!’

After her bath, Sweet Girl smelled wonderfully fragrant from head to toe, and even her hair was noticeably softer and smoother.

Now that she was clean, Sweet Girl’s large eyes stood out. Though her little face was sallow, her features were quite lovely. It was easy to see that her parents must have been very good-looking as well.

Gu Jiaojiao dried her off and tucked her into bed.

It was the first time Sweet Girl had been treated so gently since her parents’ death, and her eyes followed Gu Jiaojiao’s every move, as if terrified she would run off.

Gu Jiaojiao knew. ’Sweet Girl just desperately lacks a sense of security.’

So, she decided to put everything else aside and simply sat by the bed, helping Sweet Girl dry her hair.

In this era, there were no hair dryers; after washing, hair could only be left to air-dry.

"Jiaojiao, I want to tell you a secret."

Gu Jiaojiao asked casually, "What secret?"

"Over the past couple of days, I’ve seen Feng Ergou lurking outside your house. I don’t know what he was doing, but I’ve seen him three times!"

Sweet Girl had to go up the mountain to forage for food every day; otherwise, she would have nothing to eat during the winter.

She was incredibly diligent, waking before dawn and not returning home until after dark.

On several occasions, she had seen Feng Ergou loitering outside Gu Jiaojiao’s door.

However, Sweet Girl was afraid of Feng Ergou, so she had taken a detour to get home.

Gu Jiaojiao’s hands stilled.

’Feng Ergou,’ she thought. ’I know of him.’

’Why would he be loitering outside my house?’

Gu Jiaojiao made a mental note of it.

"Thank you, Sweet Girl. I’ll keep that in mind. You did a wonderful thing by telling me!"

At Gu Jiaojiao’s praise, a blush spread across Sweet Girl’s sallow little face.

The two of them didn’t have to wait long before Chen Erniu arrived with some clothes, which Gu Jiaojiao had Sweet Girl put on.

They were a perfect fit.

Looking at the sweet, gentle, and sensible Sweet Girl, Gu Jiaojiao couldn’t help but recall her tragic ending in the novel.

’I wonder if every novel has a gentle second male lead,’ she mused. ’This particular one had an especially miserable fate.’

The gentle second male lead of this story was a soldier—Sweet Girl’s older brother. He hadn’t returned since leaving home three years ago. The letters his family sent went unanswered, and with no phone number for his unit, he had completely vanished without a trace.

At first, her family had planned to search for him, but a famine struck two years ago, and both of her parents died. It was all Sweet Girl could do to survive, let alone look for her brother. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

But Sweet Girl never gave up. She kept raising her younger brother, all the while waiting for her older brother to come home.

In the novel’s plot, there came a year when Sweet Girl’s younger brother fell ill with a high fever, but they had no money to see a doctor.

As her brother was on the verge of death from the fever, Sweet Girl sold herself to an old widower for a bride price of two hundred yuan. She was only fifteen years old at the time.

She spent the entire two hundred yuan on her brother’s medical treatment.

But in the end, because treatment had been delayed for too long, her brother didn’t make it.