Chapter 13: What Did You Do to It?

The moment Jiang Xiaochao, with his neck stiff and voice loud, started to argue with Jiang Han, Hu Yao’s face turned even paler. She was truly afraid that Jiang Han would beat him.

Jiang Han did indeed beat him, but only hit his bottom and then threw him to the ground.

Jiang Xiaochao, with practiced ease, swayed and steadied himself.

“Chaochao.” Hu Yao stepped forward and hugged his small body tightly.

Seeing them covered in mud and clinging together, Jiang Han’s displeasure flared again, and he furrowed his brows, ready to scold them.

Lin Zhaodi rushed over. She hadn’t told Jiang Han the whole story earlier, and he only knew that Hu Yao had been taken by the Hu family to kowtow, not that Hu Yao was now better.

Over the past few days, she had done a lot of “important things,” and Lin Zhaodi was much calmer in front of Jiang Han.

Looking at Hu Yao, whose face was pale with fear, she felt a pang of sympathy and quickly explained things to Jiang Han. Though she knew she might be overstepping, she still, under Jiang Han’s increasingly serious gaze, bravely pleaded with him not to hit Hu Yao.

In fact, Lin Zhaodi didn’t know that Jiang Han only hit Hu Yao’s palm. After all, every time Jiang Han got angry, he made a lot of noise, and Hu Yao, who had been hit, would cry out in pain.

In those days, not many men didn’t beat their wives. It was common. As long as there was no loss of life, nobody would care. Even other women who suffered would tell you to endure it, to get used to it.

Lin Zhaodi had been trying to get used to such days, but even though she was a woman, she was still a human being. Constantly being abused, repeatedly pushed to the brink, she finally couldn’t take it anymore.

Breaking free from that constraint, she realized how comfortable it was.

But Li Zhuangzhi was no match for Jiang Han. Lin Zhaodi knew in her heart that Li Zhuangzhi was just a paper tiger, his greatest ambition was to beat her, a woman, at home. But Jiang Han was truly ruthless. He didn’t even consider women like Hu Yao and her.

At this moment, Jiang Han didn’t know what Lin Zhaodi was thinking about how he beat Hu Yao. He raised his eyes and swept over her, who was standing not far away, hugging Jiang Xiaochao, her eyes filled with undisguised fear. His eyes narrowed.

That’s right, he thought, why was she acting so strange today? Usually, when he hit her, she would cry and shout, making his head ache. He had to yell at her twice before she would admit her mistake and promise not to do it again. She would admit her fault, but she wouldn’t change. Next time, she would do it again.

Truly worthy of being Jiang Fuchao’s mother! Both of them were the same! Sometimes it was really annoying. He really wanted to throw them both away and raise a dog instead.

If Hu Yao hadn’t given him a son, he would have thrown her back to Hu Gui-fen! For the first time, he felt like he had made a bad deal, spending three hundred taels to buy himself a troublemaker! He didn’t know what possessed him to have a moment of compassion back then!

Hu Yao felt his gaze fixed on her, and a sense of discomfort and apprehension arose. She couldn’t help but tremble slightly, and the moisture in her eyelashes condensed, quickly sliding down her cheeks.

She felt that she was truly afraid of him. Perhaps the impression of his brutality was too deeply ingrained in her mind. After he pulled her close and slapped her palm, his dark face radiated an unknown and immense sense of danger. She couldn’t even control her tears.

Hu Yao had beautiful features, and her most beautiful feature was her eyes. When she cried, they were filled with water, giving her a delicate and pitiful look.

Jiang Han glanced at her a few more times.

Hu Yao lowered her head, and her hand holding Jiang Xiaochao trembled again.

This was the kind of look, like she was seeing a ghost, that was appealing when she was still recovering from her illness!

Jiang Han twitched the corner of his mouth. He didn’t continue to scare her. If he scared her too much, she might go crazy again.

It was good that she was better, and she wouldn’t cause him any trouble with Jiang Fuchao like before. She should understand what he was saying!

“Alright, we’ll settle the score when her wound heals.” He casually replied to Lin Zhaodi, his gaze glancing at Hu Yao.

Sure enough, she stood stiff as a wooden stake.

“Jiang Fuchao, come over here and put these away! Wash your father’s cup clean!”

Jiang Han threw down a sentence before striding into the inner room.

Jiang Xiaochao pouted, feeling strangely that Jiang Han had only hit him twice on the bottom this time.

“Yaoyao.” He gently shook Hu Yao’s stiff hand, causing her to loosen her grip on him. He hadn’t noticed anything wrong with Hu Yao.

Hu Yao pursed her lips and helped him tidy up the mess in the courtyard.

Jiang Xiaochao couldn’t wash Jiang Han’s cup clean, so Hu Yao took it over and washed it for him.

Suddenly, Jiang Han’s intimidating voice rang out from the room again. He was calling Jiang Xiaochao.

The sudden, deep shout startled Hu Yao, and she didn’t hold the cup firmly enough, dropping it to the ground, shattering it.

Hu Yao trembled as she picked up the shards, feeling like crying again.

“What are you standing there for, come here!”

She hesitated at the door after washing the cup, and Jiang Han frowned.

The moment he frowned, Hu Yao couldn’t confess to breaking his cup.

“Yaoyao, Daddy bought us some cakes to eat! Come sit here!”

Jiang Xiaochao’s attitude towards Jiang Han was also fickle. Now that he had cakes to eat, he was like a loving father and son again. He held a cake in one hand and patted the chair beside him with the other, calling out to Hu Yao in a cheerful voice.

“What else is in your head besides cakes, Jiang Fuchao? Look at your head, did you bump into someone again?” Jiang Han asked casually, then carefully examined the obvious bump on his forehead.

“This time, even someone dares to touch my father’s name? Who is it?”

At this moment, he sat beside Jiang Xiaochao in a relaxed posture, asking casually and with a hint of interest, but his eyes narrowed slightly, filled with displeasure and coldness.

Hu Yao came over quietly, saying nothing.

Jiang Xiaochao sensed her tension and blinked his wet eyes. He didn’t say that it was Hu Yao who accidentally bumped into him. He gently covered the bump on his forehead.

“No, I tripped and fell.”

“Heh, you idiot.” The sharpness in Jiang Han’s eyes dissipated.

Jiang Xiaochao puffed out his cheeks and hummed in response, with a great deal of reason: “Everyone makes mistakes, Daddy might trip and fall too. It would be a really bad fall.”

These words were practically a curse. Jiang Han didn’t like to hear them and grabbed him–>>

Her face was close to his: “Jiang Fuchao, if you can’t speak, just shut your mouth. No one will blame you.”

“Okay.”

Now that he had a pancake to eat, Little Jiang Chao was very easy to talk to.

Hu Yao looked at the father and son who were close to each other and suddenly felt that the scene was quite heartwarming. With Little Jiang Chao’s mediation, Jiang Han’s naturally fierce and cold features softened a bit.

“I…” She wanted to confess about the cup to him while they were getting along.

As soon as she uttered a word, he looked at her, his eyes deep and gloomy, an inexplicable oppressive aura emanating from him.

Hu Yao couldn’t continue, her pretty lips pursed.

“You, you, that cup, is it important to you?” she asked cautiously in a low voice.

“Not worth much.”

This was the first time she spoke to him so normally. To be honest, Jiang Han felt a little strange.

Hu Yao breathed a sigh of relief: “I…”

“It’s an heirloom that my grandfather Jiang Fuchao left me.” Jiang Han said lightly, then looked at her again: “What did you do to it?”