The Delicate Darling with Her Rough Man

The principal introduced An Dongyang, then brought him over to Gu Jiaojiao. ”Mr. An, Teacher Gu was substituting for you before you arrived. Now that you’re here, please go over the class progress with her.”

An Dongyang had been looking nonchalant, but when he saw Gu Jiaojiao look up, he froze on the spot.

He considered himself a connoisseur of beauty, having seen women of every style. He’d even encountered alluring types like Xu Wenwan before, but this was the first time he’d ever seen a girl so delicate and innocent.

The girl’s face was so fair and tender it seemed to glow. Her eyes were as clear as water, utterly untainted.

It was an otherworldly kind of beauty.

Perhaps it was because he was always surrounded by seductive, worldly women that he was so dumbstruck at the sight of an ethereal beauty who seemed untouched by the mortal realm.

Gu Jiaojiao held up her book and explained their progress. When she looked up, she saw the man in front of her was spacing out.

Gu Jiaojiao couldn’t help but lift the book and wave it in front of the man’s face. Only then did he snap out of it.

He gave Gu Jiaojiao an embarrassed, apologetic smile. ”Sorry, I zoned out for a moment.”

Suppressing her annoyance, Gu Jiaojiao explained their progress again. This time, An Dongyang finally seemed to be listening.

However, he didn’t leave right away. Instead, he looked at Gu Jiaojiao and spoke in an exceptionally gentle voice.

”Teacher Gu, thank you so much for substituting for me. To show my gratitude, I’d like to treat you to a meal. Would that be alright?”

Gu Jiaojiao refused without a second thought. ”There’s no need. I may be an assistant teacher, but I’m still a teacher at this school. Substituting is part of my responsibility. Besides, if another teacher is absent next time, I’ll substitute for them, too. If everyone treated me to a meal for doing my job, things would get out of hand.”

An Dongyang found her words impossible to refute.

’There’s always tomorrow,’ he thought. ’I’ll find an opportunity eventually.’

The only empty seat left in the classroom was by the door. An Dongyang had no other choice but to sit there.

It was winter, and there was a stove in the classroom. But whenever a teacher went out, the moment the door opened, An Dongyang could feel the biting cold wind from outside.

He couldn’t blame anyone else. It was his own fault for arriving late, so he had no choice in the matter.

With An Dongyang now teaching the class, Gu Jiaojiao returned to her assistant duties, helping out whichever teacher was overwhelmed with work.

For instance, she would help check students’ homework or grade their tests.

A few days passed peacefully, and soon it was the weekend.

Classes were only for a half-day on Saturday morning, with the afternoon off, and all of Sunday was free. In total, she had a day and a half off each week.

As the school term progressed, the weather turned warmer, and work in the fields grew busy.

Gu Jiaojiao didn’t know much about this kind of work. She had done farm labor before, but only for the experience; it wasn’t the same as real, back-breaking work.

Real labor was truly exhausting.

As Gu Jiaojiao returned from work, she passed the edge of the fields and saw the educated youth in the distance, sweating profusely as they toiled.

Although these educated youths had all attended her wedding, Gu Jiaojiao still didn’t know them well. Besides, they were far in the distance, so she didn’t call out a greeting and simply headed home.

Li Hongmei, busy in the fields, had sharp eyes and spotted Gu Jiaojiao walking past. Her face twisted, and jealous words tumbled uncontrollably from her lips.

”Some people are just born different. They have it so good they can come to the countryside and not even have to work.”

Her tone was dripping with sarcasm, implying that Gu Jiaojiao had the airs of a capitalist.

But others around her nodded in deep agreement.

”Gu Zhiqing really is wonderful. She built the thresher, saved the grain, and even helped Qingshan Team win the title of ’Advanced Village.’ I heard other villages are all worried about their food supply! Thank goodness our village has enough to eat.”