Chapter 43: Going to the Small Grove

Xu Mo finished cooking, and the others gradually returned.

Before Liu Xiaolan even entered the courtyard, her loud voice could already be heard shouting.

“That Xia Tiantian is nothing but trouble! From now on, stay away from her. If she dares to pester Old Third again, just beat her to death.

She doesn’t care about her reputation, so I’ll ruin it for her!”

Xu Mo only found out afterward that Xia Tiantian had actually dared to jump into the water.

Such a person had an overly extreme temperament—there was no telling what kind of outrageous things she might do.

Presumably, after being humiliated by Mangy Dog this time, Xia Tiantian would no longer dare to return to the village.

Xu Mo didn’t pay much attention to Xia Tiantian’s affairs and simply focused on eating his meal.

Meanwhile, the educated youths had also finished work and returned to their dormitory.

Someone deliberately spoke loudly about Xia Tiantian’s incident in the courtyard, intending for Shen Jiaojiao to hear it.

Shen Jiaojiao, however, remained calm, while Ye Huan was the first to rush out of the dormitory.

With a gossipy expression, she asked: “Is it true? If Xia Tiantian wants to marry Xu Mo again, then Shen Jiaojiao will have her hands full in the future. The household will be in complete chaos!”

Ye Huan let out a heavy sigh. “Ah! Truly pitiful.”

After finishing her sarcastic remark, she immediately slipped back into the dormitory.

Inside the room, Shen Jiaojiao naturally heard the discussions outside.

She knew about Xia Tiantian.

Her father was the county committee secretary, and although she couldn’t quite recall her mother’s exact position, it was also something significant.

In her past life, Xu Mo had saved Xia Tiantian from the hands of some thugs.

Afterward, Xia Tiantian, seeing that Xu Mo was good-looking, immediately wanted to repay him with marriage.

However, when she later saw Xu Mo’s family conditions, she regretted it.

In her past life, Xia Tiantian had never come looking for Xu Mo again.

In her past life, Xu Mo had gone to prison.

She actually didn’t know what had happened to Xia Tiantian in the end.

After all, Xia Tiantian wasn’t someone close to her, and she couldn’t be bothered to care too much.

Perhaps Fang Qinghe would know.

He was, after all, someone who understood the entire background of the characters in the book.

Shen Jiaojiao didn’t dwell on Xia Tiantian’s affairs.

She trusted Xu Mo.

Third Brother would never do anything to betray her.

Right now, her mind was entirely occupied with finding that pervert.

Earlier in the afternoon, she had gone to the restroom again.

But after waiting there for a long time, no one appeared.

She figured that the first time the pervert had been caught peeping, he had been startled and was now too scared to make another move.

So he didn’t dare to act recklessly again.

From now on, she had to stay extra vigilant.

Shen Jiaojiao waited and waited in her room.

She waited until the sun set, until everyone had finished dinner and their evening strolls, and until all the lights were turned off and people had gone to sleep.

Finally, she could make her move.

It was now 8:30 PM.

Shen Jiaojiao picked up the lunchbox filled with sweet and sour pork ribs and quietly stepped out the door.

Then, she walked straight toward the small grove.

Even though it was dark, she wasn’t afraid at all.

After all, she had her space.

If she encountered danger, she could immediately retreat into her space.

And if she ran into someone, she could also instantly escape into her space.

She walked slowly, mainly to check if anyone was following her.

But even when she reached the small grove, she didn’t notice anything unusual behind her.

Alright then!

It seemed that she really had startled that person today.

So much so that he didn’t dare to come out again.

Shen Jiaojiao decided not to dwell on the matter any further.

Under the moonlight, Shen Jiaojiao glanced at her watch. There were still ten minutes left until her agreed meeting time with Xu Mo.

So, she sat down under a tree and waited.

She had originally planned to enter her space and bring out a couple of dishes.

But suddenly having so much food appear out of nowhere would be difficult to explain.

She suppressed her urge to feed Xu Mo.

Time slowly slipped away.

When Shen Jiaojiao checked her watch again, it was already 9:40.

?!

Xu Mo wasn’t coming?

A sudden sense of panic and disappointment crept into her heart.

Of course! Third Brother had never actually agreed to meet her—it was all just her own wishful thinking.

Or maybe Third Brother had initially planned to come, but after Xia Tiantian suddenly went to find him today, he wavered.

So now… he didn’t want to see her anymore?

Shen Jiaojiao had been confident at first.

But as time continued to pass, uncertainty started creeping in.

Meanwhile, Xu Mo was actually feeling extremely anxious.

After dinner, he had returned to his bedroom, planning to leave once it was time.

But unexpectedly, Liu Xiaolan came in to find him.

She sat on his heated brick bed and started chatting with him in a casual, meandering manner.

Liu Xiaolan was feeling a bit down today, so she talked about everything—from when Xu Mo used to wear split pants as a child all the way to his adulthood.

If they really went into all these stories…

They wouldn’t even finish talking after an entire day and night!

Although Xu Mo usually liked listening to his mother talk about the past, at this moment, he had absolutely no interest in it.

In fact, he just wanted his mother to go to bed as soon as possible!

If she didn’t leave soon, he wouldn’t be able to get out.

Xu Mo glanced at the bright moon outside and roughly estimated that it was already close to 9 PM.

He looked at Liu Xiaolan, who was still full of energy, and urged: “Mother, it’s getting late. You should go to sleep soon!”

Liu Xiaolan patted Xu Mo’s leg and said: “It’s fine. I just feel like chatting with you tonight.”

Xu Mo: “…”

“Mother, how about I accompany you tomorrow? I’m a bit tired today and want to sleep early.”

Normally, if Xu Mo said this, Liu Xiaolan would have left long ago.

But tonight, she simply refused to go.

She didn’t take Xu Mo’s words to heart at all.

“Old Third, you’re finally about to start your own family. I can finally breathe a sigh of relief.

You were always the one I worried about the most. You have such a stubborn personality, and you don’t like talking to people. You never say what you like or dislike.

But now, I’ve noticed that you’ve changed. Ever since you and Jiaojiao got engaged, you’ve become much more cheerful.

I rarely used to see you smile, but lately, you’ve been smiling more and more.

So I feel that Jiaojiao is our family’s lucky star.

I believe that with Jiaojiao as your good wife, your life will only get better and better.

You shouldn’t care about Jiaojiao’s past reputation. Young girls all make mistakes.

The important thing is that she has realized and corrected them in time. That means she’s a good child.

To be honest, even before she changed, I never thought Jiaojiao was a bad person. She was just a little spoiled, but her heart was still kind. At the very least, she was always straightforward and never schemed behind people’s backs.

Did you know? One time, when I was in the county, I saw Jiaojiao buying food for an old beggar.

Tell me, how could a child with such a pure heart possibly be bad?”

At the mere thought of Shen Jiaojiao, Xu Mo felt an unbearable softness spread through his heart.

“I don’t care what she was like in the past, and I definitely won’t despise her in the future.”

Xu Mo lowered his gaze, his expression somewhat dejected.

“Rather… I’m afraid she might look down on our family.”

Liu Xiaolan understood what Xu Mo meant.

She sighed and comforted him: “Things have already come to this point. There’s no turning back.

From now on, you must never let Jiaojiao suffer any grievances.”