Chapter 12: A Nighttime Trip to the Mountain to Bow

Jiang Xiaochao slept soundly, a comfortable sleep. The weather was hot, and Hu Yao borrowed needles and thread from Lin Zhaodi to mend his torn clothes. She fanned him with a palm leaf fan from time to time.

He was a cute sleeper. He must have been dreaming because he smacked his rosy lips and mumbled “delicious” in a sleepy, milky voice. He even nibbled on his own little hand.

Hu Yao was amused by him. She pulled away his little hand, which was covered in drool, and pulled his clothes down to cover his exposed belly.

At noon, the warm sunlight from the window poured in, softening the cozy atmosphere of the room. Hu Yao watched him quietly for a long time, a feeling she had never felt before welling up in her heart.

So this is what it feels like to be a mother.

It’s a pity she didn’t get to watch him be born clearly.

The gash on her forehead was deep. Hu Yao diligently changed the dressing, and it had healed quite a bit over the past two days. However, it still hurt if she moved too much.

Jiang Xiaochao was also very considerate. Whenever Hu Yao frowned, he would immediately come over and ask her if she was okay, and blow on it for her.

Hu Yao thought he was the best child she had ever met, whether he was her son or not.

The clothes she had changed out of after getting wet by the river were still damp and hadn’t been washed yet. There was still a lot of water left in the big vat in the yard, so Hu Yao simply washed the clothes in the yard that afternoon.

Jiang Xiaochao was a very active child. After Hu Yao got hurt, he felt like it was his fault for not taking good care of her, and he felt guilty about it. So he stuck to her like glue these past two days.

While Hu Yao was washing clothes, he couldn’t stand it anymore. He couldn’t go outside to play, so he played with mud next to Hu Yao, using the water she had used to wash the clothes.

The yard was dirt, and he played with mud, making it all bumpy.

His little hands, clothes, and face were covered in mud.

Hu Yao hesitated, wanting to stop him, but seeing his happy expression, she couldn’t bring herself to say anything.

The clothes were dirty, she could wash them again. Later, after he finished playing, she would fill in those holes with sand.

“Yaoyao, let’s play together!”

Seeing that Hu Yao had finished washing the clothes, Jiang Xiaochao invited her to play. After he finished playing with mud balls, he ran back to the house and took out a cup and a bowl to put the mud balls in.

He squatted on the ground, tilting his head to look at her, his eyes shining with pure, bright joy.

Hu Yao couldn’t really refuse, and she couldn’t bear to tell him that it was wrong to play with mud using clean bowls and chopsticks. So she squatted down and played with him.

Jiang Xiaochao was a boy, and he would play such a girly game only because of Hu Yao. She used to play with him all the time.

“Yaoyao, this is yours, this is mine, this is Daddy’s!” Jiang Xiaochao squatted for too long and got tired, so he simply sat on the ground, spreading his little feet and seriously dividing the “dishes”.

“You, you take your Daddy’s cup!” Hu Yao suddenly remembered that Jiang Han had beaten them both because of his cup!

She was startled and quickly took the porcelain cup filled with mud balls from his little hand.

“What’s wrong Yaoyao?” Jiang Xiaochao looked at her in confusion, not knowing why she reacted so strongly.

He had always been the type to not learn his lesson after being scolded by Jiang Han, otherwise he wouldn’t have repeated his mistakes.

“You can’t take this cup, I, we’ll use something else.” Hu Yao bent down and took out the mud balls one by one from the cup.

Jiang Xiaochao’s mud balls were also very well made, each one perfectly intact, and they wouldn’t fall apart no matter how you picked them up.

She had just taken out all the mud balls and was about to get up to wash the cup.

Suddenly.

There was a loud bang of the door being slammed open. The half-closed door was flung open. Hu Yao was facing away from the door and didn’t have time to turn around before the person had already strode up to them.

A large, dark shadow fell from above, completely engulfing her.

She turned her head and looked up. A tall, strong body stood in front of her. He was so tall that she, who was squatting, couldn’t see his face for a while, but the heavy aura he exuded was obvious. He didn’t say a word, but his imposing presence was undeniably intimidating.

Hu Yao froze, staring at him blankly.

“Look at your sorry state! Did you just ignore my words?”

Jiang Han frowned and glared, grabbing her slender arm and lifting her up without any gentleness. His strength was formidable.

He lifted her up so easily that her feet were almost off the ground. Her heart skipped a beat.

“Hand!” Jiang Han growled in a low voice.

Hu Yao was stunned. His harsh, impatient voice exploded in her ears, and her body trembled slightly, fear rising within her.

Compared to her stiff, chaotic thoughts, her subconscious reaction was faster. She instinctively reached out her hand in front of him.

This action seemed to have been done many times, and it had become muscle memory.

“Slap!”

He mercilessly slapped her hand, which was covered in mud.

Hu Yao cried out in pain and instinctively pulled her hand back. Her clear, beautiful apricot eyes welled up with tears.

His hand was still raised, as if he wanted to hit her again. His fiercely furrowed brows carried a fierce meaning, he really would hit her!

Jiang Han’s physique was completely different from Li Zhuangzhi’s, who was all show and no substance. Even if she fought with all her might, she wouldn’t be able to subdue him like Lin Zhaodi. She was only up to his chest, and he was much wider than her. He really would beat her flat!

Hu Yao took two steps back, her expression panicked.

She couldn’t help but feel afraid of someone like Jiang Han. He wasn’t the type to reason with.

“Now you know to hide? Come here.” Jiang Han glared at her. Seeing that she was trembling with fear, he snorted coldly and easily pulled her closer, threatening her without any politeness: “Hu Yao, did I tell you not to cause trouble anymore? Why did you go to the Hu family’s place?”

“Now you’re satisfied with your head being broken? Should I just break your legs too?”

The grip on her arm was tight, pinching her painfully. His harsh, low words sounded like he meant it.

The sea was full of his ferocious appearance, terrifying to the extreme.

“Do you understand, are you a three-year-old child? You’re five years old, your son is only three!” Jiang Han’s tone was impatient.

“Daddy hates me!!”

Seeing him scold Hu Yao as soon as he came back, Jiang Xiaochao was angry, he puffed out his cheeks, picked up the cup on the ground and ran over to hit his knees.

“Jiang Fuchao!” Jiang Han temporarily let go of Hu Yao and picked him up.

He glanced at the bump on his forehead, then at the mess in the yard and the dirty cup in his hand, which belonged to him, Jiang Han’s face was dark and gloomy, the blue veins on his temples jumped again and again, he couldn’t help but get angry: “I was more at ease raising a dog than raising you two!”

He wasn’t a good-tempered person to begin with, and he hated trouble, after having them mother and son around, his tolerance was constantly challenged.

“Then go raise a dog! Even the dog wouldn’t want to be raised by you!” Jiang Xiaochao wasn’t afraid of his black face, he swung his little feet hanging in the air and yelled at him.

“Only me and Mom are generous enough to raise you! Who else would be willing to be your wife and son?” Jiang Xiaochao knew his own father’s reputation very well.

Jiang Han laughed angrily, threw him aside: “Shouldn’t I go up the mountain to pay respects to your grandfather and the others tonight?”