The Delicate Darling with Her Rough Man

Only after following Gu Jiaojiao out the door did Fang Ziyin realize how childish she was being.

She thought about how Jiang Baishu liked Gu Jiaojiao. He probably wasn’t returning to the city because of her, too. The thought made her heart ache terribly.

Gu Jiaojiao had only taken a few steps when she noticed Fang Ziyin trailing sullenly behind her. She thoughtfully stopped and waited for Fang Ziyin to catch up before she began walking again.

This time, she deliberately slowed her pace.

”Ziyin, are you here because something happened to Jiang Baishu?”

Fang Ziyin glanced at Gu Jiaojiao. She saw the other woman’s smiling eyes and her delicate, fair-skinned face. She was truly exquisite.

In this age of poverty and hardship, she looked like the cherished daughter of a wealthy family. Walking along the country path, she seemed completely out of place.

Even though she herself was the star of the song and dance troupe, Fang Ziyin couldn’t help but feel a little insecure.

She wanted to ask Gu Jiaojiao to persuade Jiang Baishu, but then she remembered his warning. She hesitated for a moment before changing the subject.

”I’m here to take care of some business. I heard Jiang Baishu’s family lived here, so I came to visit.”

Then, afraid Gu Jiaojiao might get the wrong idea, she quickly added, ”My father was his teacher. He just sees me as a little sister!”

At the mention of ”sister,” a flash of bitterness crossed Fang Ziyin’s eyes.

Gu Jiaojiao didn’t say anything more.

’In the novel, Jiang Baishu was in love with Xu Wenwan. After Xu Wenwan married Yun Hao, Jiang Baishu played the part of the pining, devoted lover and never married his entire life.’

’It wasn’t that she hadn’t noticed Fang Ziyin’s feelings for Jiang Baishu. And while the original male lead’s relationship with Xu Wenwan had completely fallen apart, the second male lead’s storyline was still up in the air. What if she encouraged Fang Ziyin to keep pursuing Jiang Baishu, letting her get in deeper, only for him to end up falling for Xu Wenwan anyway? How would Fang Ziyin handle that?’

’But what if the plot completely derailed, and Jiang Baishu had a change of heart and fell for Fang Ziyin? If she told Fang Ziyin to give up now, wouldn’t she be ruining a perfectly good match?’

’So, it was better to say nothing at all.’

’I’ll just have to wait and see.’

Along the path, they came across a small child carrying a little bucket. The boy’s pant legs were rolled up, and his feet were caked in mud.

Gu Jiaojiao’s eyes lit up. She walked over to take a look, and sure enough, the bucket was full of small fish and shrimp.

She spoke right up, ”Hey there, little one. I’ll trade you some milk candies for your fish and shrimp.”

The little boy recognized Gu Jiaojiao. She was the commune teacher, and his older brother was one of her students. His brother always said that Teacher Gu was really nice.

When he heard Gu Jiaojiao offer to trade milk candies for his fish, he immediately nodded in agreement.

The river was teeming with little fish and shrimp like these. Kids often went to the shallower parts to catch them, and since the water wasn’t deep, the adults didn’t pay them any mind.

Normally, when they caught fish and shrimp, they ate the big ones and fed the small ones to the chickens. His catch today was pretty good—all the fish were finger-length, big enough to eat.

In the end, Gu Jiaojiao traded three milk candies for a portion of the little guy’s fish and shrimp.

Gu Jiaojiao saw that it still wasn’t a lot, so she went over to the riverbank to trade for more.

Fang Ziyin was a little surprised, watching Gu Jiaojiao casually pull out the milk candies.

”Do you always carry those with you?”

Gu Jiaojiao gave her a mysterious smile. ”Milk candy is the universal currency among children. It works better than money.”

One jiao could only buy two milk candies. Besides, if kids got money, they’d probably have to hand it over to their parents. But if they got candy, they could eat it themselves.

Kids will always choose candy.

Gu Jiaojiao sometimes got information from the local children, so she always carried candy with her, just in case.

Having acquired a good amount of fish, shrimp, and even some river snails, Gu Jiaojiao was satisfied. She then led Fang Ziyin into the village to trade for some tofu.

It was just when people were getting off work. Everyone who saw Gu Jiaojiao greeted her with a smile. The entire walk, Gu Jiaojiao was busy returning their greetings.

Fang Ziyin was stunned.

From what she’d overheard, people were calling her Gu Zhiqing. Fang Ziyin had met plenty of educated youth, but she had never seen one who was so popular.