The Delicate Darling with Her Rough Man-Chapter 96 - 95: Golden October

When Gu Jiaojiao woke up the next day, Leng Yuan had already gone to school.

She lazed around on the kang for a while before getting up.

Yesterday, a jacket had been enough, but today she could feel a significant drop in temperature. Gu Jiaojiao put on a sweater underneath her outer layer.

After eating the breakfast Leng Yuan had prepared, Gu Jiaojiao got ready to head up the mountain again.

She had previously discovered a patch of chestnut trees on the back of the mountain. They were located deep in the woods where no one had picked them yet, so she planned to gather a good amount today.

She would also gather some mushrooms while she was there. They had arranged for Chen JianShe to come over for dinner that evening. She had already told Leng Yuan to buy some meat on his way home, but they still needed a soup.

After a moment’s thought, she decided to make a mushroom soup. That would be delicious too.

Gu Jiaojiao left the house and met quite a few villagers along the way.

They were all heading to the mountain to forage.

It was already getting cold. They could probably keep going up the mountain for another half a month at most. After that, the snow would likely start to fall. Once the heavy snows sealed the paths, no one would be able to go up the mountain anymore.

On the path, Gu Jiaojiao ran into Wang Xiuhua.

"Jiaojiao."

Wang Xiuhua happily greeted Gu Jiaojiao.

Gu Jiaojiao walked up to her. Since their families had been visiting each other often, she had become much more familiar with Wang Xiuhua and responded with a smile.

"Sister-in-law Xiu Hua, are you feeling better?"

Wang Xiuhua nodded. "Much better. I was just planning to go up the mountain to gather some wild vegetables. I never got to thank you properly in person for what happened. If it weren’t for you, I would have lost the baby."

Gu Jiaojiao waved her hand dismissively. She wasn’t very good at handling these kinds of situations.

"Sister-in-law, please don’t say that. Besides, Aunt Zhao has helped me out a ton because of it."

"But I haven’t seen you in a little while, and you’re looking much better."

Every Qiushou was enough to wear a farmer to the bone.

It was the same for Wang Xiuhua in previous years.

This year, because she had almost miscarried, she hadn’t helped in the fields and had been resting at home.

Perhaps because she didn’t have to do hard labor and was eating well, her complexion had improved significantly.

The two chatted as they walked, and soon they reached the foot of the mountain.

Since Gu Jiaojiao was heading up the mountain to gather chestnuts, she parted ways with Wang Xiuhua.

As she walked across the mountainside, she saw some people from the Educated Youth Collective. However, since Gu Jiaojiao didn’t know them well, she didn’t say anything.

Come to think of it, the person she knew best among them was Li Hongmei.

But she had no intention of associating with Li Hongmei, so she acted as if she hadn’t seen her and continued up the mountain.

Li Hongmei watched Gu Jiaojiao, with her rosy cheeks, red lips, and pearly teeth, and seethed with rage.

They had both just been through the Qiushou, but while she had grown tanner and thinner, Gu Jiaojiao looked even healthier than she had back at the Educated Youth Collective. A bitter resentment welled up inside her.

’If I had known my scheme would lead to Leng Yuan and Gu Jiaojiao getting married, I never would have suggested it.’ 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

’Now she had just shot herself in the foot.’

’The more she thought about it, the angrier she became.’

Her movements became rough as she yanked at the wild vegetables. The next moment, a sharp leaf sliced open her hand, and a stinging cut immediately started to bleed.

In a fit of anger, she lifted her foot and stomped on the plant, grinding it viciously under her heel.

"Damn it! It’s bad enough that Gu Jiaojiao pushes me around, but now even a stupid plant dares to hurt me? I’ll stomp you to death!"

As she spoke, she stomped down hard a couple more times until the little plant was mashed into the dirt like garbage, its leaves torn to shreds.

Only then did Li Hongmei’s anger subside a little.

She gathered a few more wild vegetables, but she also wanted to find some mushrooms, so she continued a little further up the mountain.

It wasn’t that Li Hongmei was diligent.

Rather, the grain rations weren’t enough to last, and with no work points to be earned in the winter, there would be no food.

Everyone took this time to stockpile more foraged goods and firewood, so they’d have supplies to last after the heavy snows sealed the mountains.

Li Hongmei found a patch of mushrooms, and her mood finally improved. ’Looks like the heavens haven’t completely abandoned me after all.’

She walked over and began to pick them.

Just then, a familiar voice drifted over from a short distance away, and Li Hongmei couldn’t help but look.

She was positioned higher up the slope, while they were below. From her vantage point, she could clearly see the two people down the hill.

But they couldn’t see her from down there.

Li Hongmei took a closer look and realized it was Yun Hao and Xu Wenwan, Village Chief Xu’s daughter who had recently returned.

She had seen Xu Wenwan arguing with Village Chief Xu about Yun Hao on the threshing ground. She knew they had grown up together in the same compound and were childhood sweethearts, so it wasn’t surprising to see them together now.