[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-delicate-darling-with-her-rough-man":3,"chapter-the-delicate-darling-with-her-rough-man-the-delicate-darling-with-her-rough-man-chapter-77":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","The Delicate Darling with Her Rough Man",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1303199,1729,"Chapter 77: Treating a Guest","the-delicate-darling-with-her-rough-man-chapter-77",77,"\u003Cp>The cabbage and radishes from Aunt Zhao’s family were delivered after dinner. They even brought along the radishes that Aunt Zhao had helped buy from other families.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gu Jiaojiao had already paid Aunt Zhao for the vegetables in advance, at market price.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Right now, napa cabbage and radishes were two cents a catty. A total of four hundred catties came to eight yuan. Carrots were five cents a catty, so one hundred catties cost five yuan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The total came to thirteen yuan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It might not sound like much, but an intern’s salary was only fifteen yuan back then. For Gu Jiaojiao to spend so much at once was a huge expenditure.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Take Chen Jiefang’s family, for instance. With more than a dozen mouths to feed, their annual share was 810 yuan. That worked out to less than eighty yuan per person for the entire year.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If the villagers found out about this, it would definitely cause an uproar.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Aunt Zhao was a thoughtful person. It was precisely because she had considered this that she had Zhao Tiezhu make the delivery late at night.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The napa cabbages they delivered were cleaned neatly, with all the tough outer leaves removed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhao Tiezhu, a man of few words, helped move the cabbages under the shed before leaving with his pushcart.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>By the time Gu Jiaojiao came out with a cup of water for him, he was already out of sight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So simple and honest.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With nothing better to do anyway, Gu Jiaojiao and Leng Yuan started preparing the radishes together.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Leng Yuan handled the heavy lifting, while Gu Jiaojiao took care of the skilled work.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They worked from dusk until it was pitch-black outside—so dark you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face. They had to light a kerosene lamp to continue, and only then did they finally finish preparing all the cabbage and radishes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The napa cabbage, carrots, and green beans were for pickling.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The white radishes were for preserving in soy sauce.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gu Jiaojiao didn’t use everything. She stored some of the fresh vegetables in the cellar to be eaten whenever they liked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>By the time they finished, it was already nine o’clock at night.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It took the two of them over three hours just to prepare the vegetables for pickling.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And that was actually quite fast.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To make them last longer, Gu Jiaojiao had decided to pickle them whole, which was what made the process so quick.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The two of them washed up and went into their room.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>According to village customs, they should have been asleep long ago.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But neither Gu Jiaojiao nor Leng Yuan were early sleepers. Leng Yuan sat at the desk, pen in hand, writing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A kerosene lamp flickered on the desk. For a while, the room was silent save for the SCRATCH, SCRATCH of his pen on paper.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Leng Yuan had a habit of writing in the quiet of the night.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With the farm work done, he had resumed his old habits.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gu Jiaojiao wasn’t used to sleeping early either, so she took out some clothes to mend.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It had a large tear, snagged on a branch when she was gathering herbs on the mountain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She brought the clothing, along with a needle and thread, over to the kerosene lamp and sat down beside Leng Yuan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She had a love for beautiful things and had even designed her own clothes before. She knew some basic needlework, so mending was no problem for her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Neither of them spoke. One mended clothes, the other wrote.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The atmosphere was serene. Even the light cast by the kerosene lamp seemed especially warm and cozy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A sense of peace settled over Gu Jiaojiao’s heart.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’I’ve been here for a while now. I’ve pretty much adapted to this life. Even though things are a little tough, it’s also quite fulfilling.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’I’m just a little tired of cornbread. I want to eat things made with white flour, and white rice!’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’Fine grains are scarce and expensive right now. If I want to eat them, I’ll have to spend more money.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gu Jiaojiao began to ponder the matter. ’How can I get my hands on some fine grains!’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’In my past life, my best skills were cooking and cosmetology. I also had hobbies like pottery, piano... and so on.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’I’ve thought it all through. Besides cooking and cosmetology, none of my other skills are practical in this era.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’What they lack here are technical specialists. The country’s focus is all on production.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’My piano, flower arranging, pottery, guitar... all useless.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gu Jiaojiao decided to focus on cooking and cosmetology.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’Cooking means making food, spending all day by the stove.’ After a moment of thought, she rejected the idea.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’I learned to cook to satisfy my own palate. The thought of cooking like a professional chef all day doesn’t make me happy at all.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the end, Gu Jiaojiao decided to focus on making money through cosmetology.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, she wasn’t sure about people’s purchasing power in this era. She planned to ask Chen Jianshe about it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’After all, he’s destined to become a world-famous skincare tycoon.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As she was thinking, Gu Jiaojiao looked over at Leng Yuan and asked softly, \"The village is distributing grain tomorrow. Are you going?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Leng Yuan finished the last line he was writing and set down his pen. \"Tomorrow is Sunday. I’ll go with you.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gu Jiaojiao nodded, then brought up Chen Jianshe. \"Chen Jianshe was a big help with the brown sugar last time. Why don’t we invite him over for a meal tomorrow?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’Chen Jianshe is Leng Yuan’s friend,’ she reasoned, ’so I should get his approval first.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Leng Yuan’s movements faltered almost imperceptibly as he was tidying up his paper and pen. Then, as if nothing had happened, he opened a drawer and placed the manuscript inside.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Alright. I’ll go ask him tomorrow.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Leng Yuan’s ready agreement surprised Gu Jiaojiao.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’Still, it’s good that I achieved my goal.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gu Jiaojiao snipped the thread and looked at the mended tear, immensely satisfied.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She was just about to praise herself for her handiwork when a pair of large hands wrapped around her waist. The man leaned in, and with a slight exertion of force, he lifted her into his arms. Startled, she dropped the piece of clothing, which fell onto the stool.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Enveloped in the man’s cool, clean scent, Gu Jiaojiao raised her startled eyes to meet a pair of his that burned with a suppressed fire. A flicker of fear went through her, and she couldn’t help but grip his clothes tightly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Leng Yuan looked at the timid woman in his arms and let out a low chuckle. \"Let’s have a proper talk about inviting guests.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>...\u003C\u002Fp>",1123,"2026-06-05T18:11:09.759Z",1,"novelbin.me","6f30804a27f6e9159489e56695866fadad497ff5f7bcefe668aa2756d0e9ecab","the-delicate-darling-with-her-rough-man-chapter-78","the-delicate-darling-with-her-rough-man-chapter-76",407,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-delicate-darling-with-her-rough-man-cover.jpg"]