Chapter 110: Doctor Says the First Three Months Must…

He gave Su Ruan a sly look, lowered his voice, and said ambiguously and insinuatingly, "Please, Mrs Jiang, quickly dote on your diligent, self‑heating little wolf‑dog?"

Su Ruan's cheeks warmed at his indecent behavior, and she scolded him with a petulant glance, "Stop messing around, my hair isn't dry yet."

She walked to the bedside, intending to use the towel to dry her hair again.

Jiang Ran, however, sat up with a thump, stretched his long arm, pulled a hair dryer from the nightstand drawer, plugged it in, and tapped the spot in front of him.

"Come, come, sit down, husband will blow for you. Sleeping with wet hair isn't right; it gives you a headache."

His movements were utterly natural, his tone carrying an unquestionable insistence and care.

Su Ruan's heart softened, and she obediently sat on the edge of the bed, back turned to him.

Warm air and Jiang Ran's thin‑capped fingers gently threaded through her strands, the force just right, comfortable enough that she almost let out a sigh.

For a moment the room held only the whirring of the hair dryer and the quiet, cozy atmosphere between the two.

Enjoying the brief peace, Su Ruan suddenly recalled Jiang Jiaojiao's visit that afternoon.

She felt she should tell Jiang Ran, after all she was his older sister.

"Jiang Ran," she said, turning her head slightly, her voice a little light amid the wind noise, "this afternoon, Sister Jiaojiao came to the shop looking for me."

"Hmm?" Jiang Ran turned off the hair dryer, and the room fell silent at once, "Why did she come to you? Anything happening at the shop?"

"It's not about the shop," Su Ruan turned to face him, meeting his inquisitive eyes, choosing her words, "She… wanted to ask me about a relationship issue."

"Relationship issue?" Jiang Ran blinked, then furrowed his brows, "What relationship issue does she have? With whom?"

Su Ruan then recounted Jiang Jiaojiao's opening line, "I have a friend," and the matter of a middle‑school classmate, studying abroad, returning home, staying in touch but never clearly stating anything, summarizing it for Jiang Ran.

Jiang Ran listened, his expression shifting from puzzlement to realization, and finally to outright irritation.

"What 'I have a friend'! She's lying! Isn't it just her own little thing?"

Jiang Ran's tone was sour, tinged with the displeasure of being kept in the dark.

"Fine, Jiaojiao, such a big thing and she didn't tell me first? She runs to you to vent? Am I not her real brother anymore?"

The more he thought about it, the more it felt off, as if his standing at home were being challenged.

"I helped her fight so many fights when we were kids! And now she just elbows her way out?"

"She can't even let my wife tell me whether she still sees me as a brother!"

Seeing his puffed‑up, snack‑snatched‑dog look, Su Ruan couldn't help but let out a snort of laughter.

She pinched his swollen cheek and laughed, "Alright, what are you so angry about? Sister's only afraid you'll act rashly and mess things up."

"With that temper, if you find out and go straight to 'talk' to the guy, you'll just scare him away, won't you?"

Jiang Ran, hit in the gut, stuck his neck out in protest, "I… am I that clueless person?"

Su Ruan raised an eyebrow, her eyes full of "What do you think?"

Under her knowing gaze, Jiang Ran's resolve crumbled, his aura weakening a bit, muttering, "Then… I need to know which brat it is, right? Who's daring to string my sister? I have to investigate his background!"

"See? Here it comes again," Su Ruan shook her head helplessly, "Sister's just worried about you like this. Leave this alone for now, and don't tell Mom, Dad or Grandma; sister definitely doesn't want it to become public."

"I'm giving you a heads‑up now, so you're prepared, otherwise you'll hear it elsewhere, think we're colluding, and then you'll get jealous and I can't calm you down."

Being accurately predicted and called out by his wife, Jiang Ran's face showed a brief flicker of embarrassment, but he couldn't refute it.

He indeed gets a sour feeling whenever Su Ruan "hides" things from him, though he always ends up being soothed by her.

He whined and reopened the hair dryer, continuing to blow the now‑almost‑dry tips of Su Ruan's hair, his tone muffled, "Fine, fine, you two are deep‑brother‑sister bonds, I'm an outsider—I won't meddle, okay?"

Su Ruan knew this was his awkwardness surfacing, turned around, looked up at his taut jawline, and softly said, "Why am I an outsider? You're my dearest husband, the one I'll spend my life with."

"I tell you this because I trust you, think you'll understand sister better and can help when needed, not to make you act rashly."

She paused, then with a hint of coyness lightly shook his arm, "Besides, didn't I tell you right away? I didn't hide anything."

Those words were like a gentle breeze, softly blowing away the little knot in Jiang Ran's heart.

He looked down at Su Ruan's bright, upturned smiling face, and the irritation in his heart instantly vanished, replaced by softness.

He turned off the hair dryer, set it down, then reached out and pulled Su Ruan, blanket and all, into his arms, his chin rubbing her crown of hair, his voice muffled yet resigned and conciliatory:

"Got it, got it, I won't act out, okay? I'll just pretend I didn't know."

"But…" He shifted tone, arm tightening, his voice adding a trace of his signature domineering edge, "That kid better be sincere; if he dares to toy with my sister's feelings and makes her sad, whether he's a sea‑returnee or a country‑turtle, I'll beat him flat!"

Su Ruan laughed in his arms, knowing this was his biggest concession.

"Alright, we Jiang Shaoye are the most loyal," she patted his back, as if soothing an agitated big dog, "Don't worry, sister isn't easy to bully. Let's wait and see; maybe good news will come later."

"Hope so."

Jiang Ran sighed, still seeming to scrutinize the yet‑unmet Prospective Brother‑in‑law.

But he quickly pushed that knot aside, his attention returning to the warm, fragrant, soft jade in his arms.

He gently laid Su Ruan onto the soft pillow, propped himself above her, his gaze under the dim lamp deepening and heating, as if the earlier incident had never happened.

"Wife, set aside the petty troubles of strangers for now…"

He lowered his head, his nose tip brushing Su Ruan's, their warm breaths mingling.

"The blanket's warm, your hair's dry, you see… should we start some bedtime activity beneficial to body and mind?"

"Jiang Ran!" Su Ruan's cheeks flushed, she pressed her hand against his chest, "The doctor said… the first three months you have to be careful…"

?? Babies, this book will probably finish by the end of December, what genre do you want for the next book?

? Era?

? Modern setting?