The Delicate Darling with Her Rough Man-Chapter 165 - 164: Provoking the Little Ancestor

"Big Sis, don’t eat this. Have the walnuts and pine nuts."

Sweet Girl felt a little guilty.

She had meant to grab some snacks for Gu Jiaojiao, but in her haste, she had accidentally included this.

Gu Jiaojiao gently pinched Sweet Girl’s little cheek. "Sweet Girl, this is actually a good thing."

Sweet Girl looked at the lion’s mane mushroom, then back at Gu Jiaojiao, her eyes suddenly brightening. "Big Sis, you like this? There are lots more on the mountain. I can take you to pick them."

Gu Jiaojiao was pleasantly surprised and immediately agreed, making plans with Sweet Girl to go up the mountain that afternoon to pick lion’s mane mushrooms.

Once they had a plan, Gu Jiaojiao headed back.

She was in a hurry to get back and cook.

On her way, she passed under the large pagoda tree. The two aunties who had been about to gossip scurried away the moment they saw Gu Jiaojiao.

Gu Jiaojiao was speechless.

’How ridiculous,’ she thought. ’These people are so ridiculous.’

Ignoring the two aunties, Gu Jiaojiao walked straight home.

From their courtyards, the two aunties craned their necks to watch. Only after confirming that Gu Jiaojiao had left did they sneak back out to continue their gossip.

Gossip is in their blood, it’s in their soul; the business of gossip must go on!

The two aunties huddled together, racing against the clock to share the latest juicy news.

"Did you hear? Qiushou is getting a promotion!"

"I heard. You weren’t here this morning. Qiuyue said so herself."

Qiuyue was Aunt Leng’s first name.

The woman had thought she had the scoop, but it turned out the other already knew—and seemed to know even more than she did.

Her interest was immediately piqued.

"What happened? Quick, tell me everything."

The other auntie was a master gossiper herself and recounted the series of events that had transpired under the pagoda tree.

The Leng Family, meanwhile, were the subject of all this gossip.

Aunt Leng arrived home, cheerful as could be. But the moment she closed the door, her son’s and nephew’s faces darkened.

Aunt Leng was taken aback.

"Qiushou, Man Cang, what’s wrong with you two?"

Leng Qiushou threw his luggage on the floor and looked at Aunt Leng, his gaze cold.

Leng ManCang did the same, except he was looking at Third Aunt Leng.

Seeing them like this, Aunt Leng was baffled.

"Qiushou, what’s gotten into you?"

Third Aunt Leng was just as confused.

Leng Qiushou and Leng ManCang sneered.

"Mom, what did you do to piss off Leng Yuan this time?"

"Leng Yuan went to see our supervisor this morning. Right after he left, we were sent home!"

Hearing this, Aunt Leng was first angry, then felt terribly wronged.

"I haven’t even seen Leng Yuan in days. What could I have possibly done to offend him?"

Leng Qiushou didn’t believe her.

"Impossible. Think again."

Leng Yuan wasn’t the type to cause trouble for no reason.

The last time he’d made trouble was when his mother and grandmother had tried to take advantage of him, and Leng Yuan had gone to the supervisor then, too.

That was three years ago. Leng Yuan never bothered with minor squabbles.

If it wasn’t Aunt Leng who did something, then it must have been Third Aunt Leng, or maybe Grandma.

In any case, the problem had to have started with their family.

Seeing the distrust in her own son’s eyes, Aunt Leng felt she was the most wronged person alive.

"I really..."

Before she could finish, she remembered something.

"You told me before that Leng Yuan took out a black market loan. I told Gu Jiaojiao about it. Could it be because of that?"

Everyone was speechless.

What kind of reason was that?

Besides, it was the truth!

Would Leng Yuan really cause trouble for them over something like that?

It sounded unlikely.

"Mom, think harder. Third Aunt, you think too. Have you provoked Leng Yuan recently?"

Third Aunt Leng was about to say no when her son urged her, "Mom, just think! My entire future is on the line here. Whether or not I can go back to work depends on you."

Third Aunt Leng had no choice but to rack her brain.

’But I haven’t even seen Leng Yuan’s face lately!’

’Could it be that they overheard me secretly badmouthing Leng Yuan and Gu Jiaojiao?’

’No, that doesn’t seem right.’

’I’ve been talking bad about Leng Yuan for ages, and it’s never been a problem. He doesn’t seem like the type to fly off the handle over something so trivial!’

In the end, after thinking it all over, the only thing she could come up with was the black market loan.

Leng Qiushou had a headache.

"Seriously, Mom, why would you go and provoke Leng Yuan for no reason? Don’t you know he holds our jobs in his hands? And you even went and told Gu Jiaojiao."

Aunt Leng felt wronged.

She hadn’t been able to stand the sight of Leng Yuan for ages. When she heard gossip like that, it would have been stranger if she *hadn’t* spread it around, right?

"So, what do we do now?"