The Delicate Darling with Her Rough Man

Gu Jiaojiao: ...

She glanced up at Sun Yeshu, who was puffing out her flat stomach with an incredibly exaggerated expression. A playful glint appeared in her eyes.

’I get it,’ she thought. ’Sun Yeshu is here to cause trouble.’

’But it’s no fun with just the two of us.’ Gu Jiaojiao immediately stood up and went to the front yard to call Sweet Girl and Xiao Yang over to help.

She had let the two children stay home to do their homework today, so they didn’t go out to work.

As it happened, the village chief’s and the production brigade leader’s children had also been sent over, along with a few others.

These parents were on good terms with Gu Jiaojiao, so when they heard Sweet Girl and Xiao Yang were doing homework, they all sent their own children over.

Gu Jiaojiao didn’t mind. The children were old enough to look after themselves, so having them stay home to do homework wouldn’t get in her way.

Gu Jiaojiao had only called for Sweet Girl and Xiao Yang, but a dozen or so children showed up all at once.

Seeing so many children, Sun Yeshu looked a little stunned.

Gu Jiaojiao, however, shooed the dozen or so children off to the side to pull weeds. They were at a perfect distance—close enough to overhear the conversation, but far enough not to be in the way.

Only then did she turn to Sun Yeshu, her eyes sparkling as if urging her to continue.

Sun Yeshu: ???

She glanced at the children quietly pulling weeds nearby. They weren’t in the way, so she dismissed them from her mind.

”Gu Jiaojiao, I’m pregnant.”

Fearing that Gu Jiaojiao hadn’t understood her earlier hint, she decided it was better to just tell her directly.

Gu Jiaojiao raised an eyebrow. ”If you’re pregnant, you should rest more at home.”

Sun Yeshu’s eyes lit up.

’This trick really works,’ she thought. ’See? Gu Jiaojiao is already starting to worry about me.’

She had heard the village aunties gossiping long ago. Gu Jiaojiao and Leng Yuan had been married for over six months and still weren’t pregnant; perhaps she was infertile.

If Gu Jiaojiao couldn’t have children, she would have no one to care for her in her old age. Sun Yeshu wanted Gu Jiaojiao’s help finding a job for Leng Qingtian. After mulling it over, she realized her only leverage was the child in her belly.

Since Gu Jiaojiao didn’t have her own children, she would need to adopt. But how could an outsider’s child ever be as close as one’s own kin?

As long as Gu Jiaojiao generously helped her child, Sun Yeshu would absolutely make sure her child looked after Gu Jiaojiao and Leng Yuan in their old age.

’Gu Jiaojiao wouldn’t be on the losing end of this bargain.’

At this thought, Sun Yeshu’s expression turned smug.

”So, here’s the thing. I came to you about something. Don’t you and Leng Yuan know some important official? Could you talk to him and have him find Qingtian a job in the city?”

Thinking of the ”enormous” price she was paying, and how Gu Jiaojiao and Leng Yuan would one day have to rely on her child in their old age, a commanding tone crept into Sun Yeshu’s voice.

Gu Jiaojiao listened to Sun Yeshu, her hands never ceasing their work of pulling weeds. But upon hearing that tone, she stopped altogether.

Gu Jiaojiao raised her bright eyes and stared at Sun Yeshu for a moment before speaking. ”A job, you say? Sure. Any other requirements?”

Requirements.

And Sun Yeshu certainly did.

”The salary can’t be lower than Leng Yuan’s. I heard Leng Yuan makes twenty-five a month, so Qingtian must make at least thirty. After all, we have a child now, and we’ll need extra money to raise a child.”

”And the hours. They can’t be too long, and the work can’t be too tiring. I heard the work at the steel mill in the County Town is incredibly demanding. Something that strenuous is definitely out of the question.”

”Also, the job needs to be flexible. And they have to provide housing. When Qingtian starts working in the County Town, I’ll definitely have to move there with him. It’s not like we can live without a house.”