The Delicate Darling with Her Rough Man

Gu Jiaojiao waited until it was almost noon. Seeing it was getting late, she headed back early to cook lunch.

The two of them were a pair, so one always had to go back early to cook and bring food over.

She could have actually left the task to Sweet Girl, but Gu Jiaojiao had more free time, so it was more fitting for her to be the one to go back.

Back home, Gu Jiaojiao went to the cellar and took out a marinated wild rabbit, then cut off a piece of roe deer meat.

For lunch: spicy rabbit, braised roe deer, and a cold cucumber salad. Plus some pickles, a few wild fruits, and steamed rice.

It was an incredibly lavish meal.

She started with the roe deer meat. Since it was game, the meat was firm and needed to be stewed for over an hour. Meanwhile, she stir-fried the rabbit. Once the rabbit was cooked, she started steaming the rice.

Sun Yeshu, who was pregnant, was also the one in her family who went home to cook.

Although the Leng Family’s circumstances were considered decent, they couldn’t afford to eat white flour every day. They usually ate coarse grains, only adding some white flour during the busy farming season.

As for side dishes, it was just home-grown vegetables. There was no meat.

She simply made some flatbreads, stir-fried some greens, and fried an egg for each person. This was already considered a very good meal.

When Gu Jiaojiao finished making lunch, Sweet Girl and Xiao Yang had returned. The two of them would eat at home, while Gu Jiaojiao took lunch to Leng Yuan so she could eat with him in the fields.

The wheat field was at the foot of the mountain. By the time Gu Jiaojiao arrived, Leng Yuan was already more than halfway done with his work.

Gu Jiaojiao found a tree that not only provided a shady spot but was also in the path of a light, wonderfully comfortable breeze.

There happened to be a relatively flat stone nearby, so Gu Jiaojiao set out the bowls and chopsticks on it.

There were also four aluminum lunch boxes.

One held the braised roe deer, another held the rabbit, and a third held the cold cucumber salad.

The cucumber salad had peanuts and small chilies mixed in, giving it a beautiful color and a crisp, refreshing flavor that made you want to eat more rice.

Then there were the pickles and wild fruit.

You don’t eat a lot of pickles, so there was just a small amount. The same went for the wild fruit, which Gu Jiaojiao particularly enjoyed.

Besides all this, there was a large pot of mung bean soup. In addition to rock sugar, she had added two kinds of cooling medicinal herbs to help dispel internal heat.

As Leng Yuan walked over to eat, Chen JianShe’s meal was also delivered. His, however, was much simpler.

One steamed cornbread, two flatbreads, and a large bowl of greens.

The greens were homegrown, so at least there was plenty of that.

Seeing the spread, Chen JianShe shot his Brother Leng an envious look. ’A wife knows how to pamper her man,’ he thought. ’My mom just knows how to feed me greens.’

Leng Yuan couldn’t stand that look from Chen JianShe, so he beckoned him over.

Chen JianShe’s eyes lit up, and he eagerly trotted over.

To be honest, he had been craving his sister-in-law’s cooking for a long time.

Even when his sister-in-law didn’t cook with meat, her vegetable dishes were more fragrant than any meat dish.

Nearby, Leng Qingtian had also opened his lunch and begun to eat.

On any other day, flatbreads made with white flour and a fried egg would have been considered a top-notch meal.

If it weren’t for the strenuous work of the busy season, he would never get to eat this well.

But from not far off, the aroma of braised roe deer and spicy rabbit wafted over. Even the pickles smelled impossibly fragrant.

The smells seemed to grow legs and march right over to him.

He would catch a whiff of the fragrant meat, then take a bite of his two-grain flatbread, which now seemed utterly bland and tasteless.

He shot Leng Yuan a look of profound envy.

The whole countryside was in the throes of the busy farming season, and the An Family was incredibly busy as well.

Busy looking for a thief.

Ever since listening to An Dongyang last time, Xu Wenwan had put away the jade bracelet her mother-in-law had given her.

Twice, she had wanted to check on it, but An Dongyang had interrupted her both times.

Eventually, she forgot all about it.

Then one day, she opened the drawer only to discover that her Jade Bracelet was missing.