Chapter 58: This, I Like Very Much  

Jiang Rou pondered briefly before setting aside her thoughts, focusing instead on preparing lunch and feeding the two children.  

By the afternoon, the news had arrived.  

There was no better time than the present.  

Early the next morning, four or five sisters-in-law from the courtyard were planning to go as well. They would all go together.  

It had rained just yesterday, so there was plenty of moisture. The wild vegetables would surely have grown abundantly.  

Upon receiving the news, Jiang Rou immediately started preparing.  

The island had many advantages, but there was one major downside—the ultraviolet rays were simply too harsh.

She could still wear long sleeves and long pants, but she only had a worn-out straw hat. It didn’t provide proper sun protection and felt unbearably stuffy.  

Jiang Rou searched the house inside and out for materials.  

She found some bamboo strips left over from when Zhou Chongshan had built a chicken coop.  

The bamboo strips were thin, long, and flexible, capable of bending into various curves.  

She used the bamboo strips and some fine thread to tie them into a crescent moon shape, like a waning moon.  

Then, she took an old piece of clothing, cut out the fabric, and wrapped it around the semicircular frame.  

At both pointed ends of the crescent, she secured an elastic hairband.  

Just like that, a simple sun hat was complete.  

It was small and easy to carry.  

Tomorrow, when she went out, she could wrap a headscarf around her head and wear the makeshift sun hat on top—practical and convenient.  

Jiang Rou didn’t just make one for herself; she also made a smaller version for Zhou Xiaohua.  

Since little girls liked floral patterns, she used an old fabric with flowers on it.  

As for Zhou Xiaochuan…  

A bit of sun would do a boy good.

3A slight tan looked better—if he was too fair, he would appear delicate, which didn’t match his little wolf cub temperament. So, he didn’t get one.  

In other words—  

Jiang Rou planned to take Zhou Xiaochuan and Zhou Xiaohua out with her tomorrow.  

She was quite confident about it.  

After all, she got along well with the two children, and their bond had grown much closer.  

However, by evening—  

When Zhou Chongshan heard about this, a solemn expression appeared on his handsome face.  

Jiang Rou noticed and asked, “What’s wrong? You don’t want them to go out?”  

“No.”  

Zhou Chongshan denied it.  

It wasn’t that he didn’t want the children to go out—it was that… he was worried about Jiang Rou.

He pressed his lips together and, after some contemplation, finally spoke.  

“Wife, when Xiaochuan and Xiaohua were little, they went through some unpleasant experiences. When they find themselves in unfamiliar environments or encounter certain situations, they tend to become rather emotional.”  

The “emotional” reaction that Zhou Zhongshan mentioned was merely a sugar-coated word.  

More accurately, it was bipolar disorder.  

Under certain circumstances, they would suddenly lose control, completely unable to regulate their emotions and reasoning.  

They might even harm themselves or those around them.  

This was precisely why Zhou Zhongshan did not send the two children to a daycare class but instead hired someone to take care of them privately.  

Zhou Zhongshan appeared worried.  

Jiang Rou, however, had a different perspective.  

“Xiaochuan and Xiaohua are at the age when children love to be playful and run around everywhere. But they’ve always been kept at home, never going out to play, nor interacting with other children. I actually think that’s not good. If this continues, they will only become more withdrawn, which will affect their personality development and make things even worse.”  

As Jiang Rou spoke in a gentle tone, she kept observing Zhou Zhongshan’s expression.  

After all, Zhou Zhongshan was their biological father, and the two of them needed to align their approaches to the children’s upbringing.  

“Zhongshan, when I brought this up with them this afternoon, Xiaochuan and Xiaohua were quite happy. Just think of it as me taking them on a spring outing. If they don’t adapt well, I’ll bring them back right away.”  

The tight furrow in Zhou Zhongshan’s brow slowly eased bit by bit as he listened to Jiang Rou’s words.  

He had seen the changes Jiang Rou’s presence had brought to this home.  

Even he himself was now living a life he had never dared to imagine—one with children, a wife, and a warm household.  

Perhaps…  

Even Xiaochuan and Xiaohua would get better.  

In the end, Zhou Zhongshan agreed.  

“All right. When you leave tomorrow, be careful. The mountain road aren’t easy to walk on, so take your time.”  

“Don’t worry, I’ll be fine.”  

The moment Jiang Rou heard Zhou Zhongshan relent, she immediately lifted the corners of her red lips in joy, her smile radiant.  

She even raised her wrist and swayed it slightly in front of Zhou Zhongshan.  

Her smile grew even shyer.  

“I really like this.”

The emerald-green jade bracelet rested on Jiang Rou’s fair and slender wrist, just as translucent and beautiful.  

Watching this scene unfold, the usually composed and steady man suddenly found himself feeling embarrassed.  

A faint blush crept onto his face.  

Even though he had already acknowledged Jiang Rou as his wife and had even given her the keepsake meant only for a wife, he had done so in such a secretive manner—without even saying a word.  

His dark eyes fixed on her as he murmured in a low voice,  

“Wife, this looks really good on you.”  

“Of course! I even made sure to wash it today. Look, doesn’t it seem much clearer and more sparkly now?”  

With Jiang Rou’s remark, Zhou Zhongshan finally noticed that the jade bracelet indeed appeared more translucent and radiant than before, even its color looking brighter.  

Naturally, it never occurred to him that this transformation had come from Jiang Rou nourishing it with her own blood.  

A straightforward man like him simply believed her words without question.  

Perhaps it really had just gotten cleaner after a wash.  

Jiang Rou gently stroked the jade bracelet and smiled. “In the future, when Xiaochuan gets married and has a wife, we should pass this bracelet down to her, continuing the tradition for generations. What do you think?”  

“Yes.”  

Jiang Rou had voiced exactly what Zhou Zhongshan had in mind.  

I truly married a remarkable wife.  

That night, the two of them once again shared the same bed, though this time, they were far less nervous and shy than the night before.  

Jiang Rou leaned against Zhongshan, settling comfortably into his embrace and closing her eyes with a sense of peace.  

---

The next morning, sunlight bathed the world in golden warmth, accompanied by a gentle spring breeze.  

Jiang Rou made sure to feed the two children until they were completely full.  

Since they were going to climb a mountain, she dressed them in lighter, more flexible clothing and carefully checked their shoes and insoles in advance.  

“Today, we’ll be walking a lot, but don’t be afraid. We’ll take it slow, and we can definitely do it. And when we get back, we’ll have lots and lots of wild vegetables to cook for a delicious dinner!”  

Zhou Xiaohua was Jiang Rou’s most loyal supporter.

She couldn’t speak, so she simply waved her small hands excitedly to express her emotions.  

Beside her, however, Zhou Xiaochuan wore a cold and indifferent expression.  

He didn’t care at all about going up the mountain to dig for wild vegetables.  

He had done it too many times when he was younger—there was nothing special about it.  

But since yesterday afternoon, he had been watching Jiang Rou busily preparing things, going in and out, getting this and that ready, all the while smiling happily.  

He couldn’t help but feel puzzled.  

It was just digging for wild vegetables—something poor families did when they had nothing else to eat.  

Why was she, a city woman, so fascinated by it?

Did she truly like it that much?  

Zhou Xiaochuan was utterly confused, and yet… for some unknown reason, he found himself looking forward to it too.  

His chest thumped with an unfamiliar, rapid heartbeat.