Chu Yanhan gently smoothed down her hair. “Mm.”
The next second, the man bent down and kissed Jiang Nuo’s pink lips.
Jiang Nuo quickly turned her head away and pushed him back. “Chu Yanhan, you’re being way too much!”
With a shameless grin plastered across his face, Chu Yanhan replied, “Marry me, and I’ll take responsibility for you.”
Without missing a beat, Jiang Nuo retorted, “There’s no need to marry me out of responsibility. I’m already extremely grateful that you introduced me to a job!”
Chu Yanhan said nothing more. Instead, he simply freed one hand, gently grasped Jiang Nuo’s hand, and led her outside!
The spot to catch the long-distance bus wasn’t very far, and the two of them arrived in no time at all.
After buying their tickets and boarding the bus, Jiang Nuo took a window seat and fell sound asleep the moment she sat down!
Chu Yanhan had originally intended to chat with her and get to know her better, but she didn’t give him a single chance!
The entire journey from there to the Beijing train station took a mere four hours. Once they arrived and stood on the bustling city streets, Jiang Nuo was instantly captivated by the bustling prosperity of Beijing.
Without giving her much time to gawk, Chu Yanhan took her straight to Beijing First Hospital.
After registering for the gynecology department, the female doctor examined the wounds inside and immediately launched into a scolding tirade against Chu Yanhan. “How can you be so rough, young man? It was the young girl’s first time, which naturally hurts. You’re simply not considerate of your wife at all!”
Chu Yanhan had grievances he couldn’t voice. Having been drugged with cattle aphrodisiac, he had already exercised extreme self-restraint; otherwise, who knew how long he would have kept going!
Yet, he didn’t dare mention something as preposterous as how they had met, so he could only apologize repeatedly. “It’s my first time getting married at thirty, so I was certainly too impulsive. My wife is young, and I promise I’ll never make a mistake like this again!”
Seeing that his attitude in admitting his fault was quite good, the doctor didn’t press the matter further and prescribed an ointment for Jiang Nuo’s wounds.
She also carefully instructed Chu Yanhan, “Apply it to the wound once every day when you get back, and remember absolutely no more impulsiveness. If the wounds heal nicely after a week, you can gradually resume marital relations!”
Hearing this news, Chu Yanhan was overjoyed. He certainly wanted to resume that kind of life with her—he just didn’t know if the young woman would be willing!
Stepping out of the hospital, Chu Yanhan carried the medicine bag in his hand. “My home is not far from just behind here. Let’s go home and have a meal first, and after washing up tonight, I’ll apply the medicine for you.”
Jiang Nuo had originally wanted to refuse going to his family’s home, but she was penniless; leaving Chu Yanhan meant she would be wandering the streets.
“Can you find a guesthouse? I can just stay there for the night,” Jiang Nuo asked softly.
To her surprise, he agreed right away. “Alright, let’s go home and eat first.”
Just moments before, Chu Yanhan had already called home. Upon hearing that her son was back, Mother Jiang had told her old man to fire up the stove and cook all the dishes her son loved most!
Following Chu Yanhan back to the Chu family residence, she discovered that he had grown up in a machinery factory’s family residential compound.
The moment they stepped into the courtyard, quite a few people greeted Chu Yanhan, their eyes lingering curiously on the young girl trailing behind him.
Once they walked past, some neighbors began to gossip. “They always said Old Chu’s only son wasn’t willing to look for a partner. How come he just up and brought someone back out of nowhere?”
Seeing that Chu Yanhan was holding the young girl’s hand as they walked in, anyone with eyes could tell this was the kid’s significant other!
“We’re about to have a good show. Who doesn’t know that Old Chu and his wife have already set their sights on our factory section chief’s daughter!”
Leading her inside, Mother Jiang was busy in the room setting out bowls and chopsticks without even raising her head. “You brat, you still know how to come back! Don’t you usually take your holiday a few days earlier every year? How come you’re so many days late this time?”
Mother Jiang had assumed her son wanted to save his annual leave for the Chinese New Year this time around.
“Mom, look who I brought back!” Without time to indulge in idle chatter with his mother, Chu Yanhan cut straight to the point, eager to introduce Jiang Nuo to her.
To his surprise, when Mother Jiang looked up and saw Jiang Nuo, she gave her a thorough inspection from head to toe before letting out a frown.
At that moment, Jiang Nuo was still wearing country-style clothes—a floral-print blouse over a dress, with a missing chunk at the hem that had been torn off to bandage Chu Yanhan’s wrist!
Mother Jiang hurriedly shouted toward the kitchen, “Yingying, stop helping out in the kitchen. Your Uncle Chu can handle it on his own. Come out quickly and see who’s back!”
Niu Yingying was none other than the section chief’s daughter from the group of gossiping neighbors in the courtyard!
Having dressed up specially for the occasion today, she wore a pink dress and sported two pretty braided pigtails. Spotting Chu Yanhan, she walked right over, intending to straighten the collar of his shirt.
“Brother Yanhan, you’re finally back! Uncle and Auntie told me you were coming back today, so I dressed up specially. Do you think the dress I’m wearing looks good today?”
Jiang Nuo was stunned by the other girl’s forwardness. The person looked like an older maiden—if she wasn’t thirty, she had to be twenty-eight!
Dressing up in such bright, tender pink at her age—who was she trying to show off to?
Chu Yanhan turned away. “What are you doing? Don’t touch me!”
Seeming entirely unbothered, Niu Yingying smiled. “Brother Yanhan, hurry and sit down to eat. Uncle and Auntie made all your favorites today. Look, which dish do you want? I’ll pick it out for you!”
Frowning deeply, Chu Yanhan looked thoroughly displeased. “I’m eating in my own home; do I need you to take care of me? Who invited you here anyway?”
With that, Chu Yanhan didn’t forget to pick up a piece of chicken with his chopsticks and place it straight into the bowl of Jiang Nuo beside him!
This scene left both Mother Jiang and Niu Yingying staring in dumbfounded shock.
“Auntie, who is the girl next to Brother Yanhan? I don’t think I’ve ever seen her before!”
Seeing that the girl was so slender and looked quite young, Niu Yingying assumed she must be some younger sister figure that Chu Yanhan had picked up, so she didn’t take it to heart—after all, Chu Yanhan had never shown romantic interest in any female, though he had bought plenty of snacks to send her way in the past!
Mother Jiang set a plate of food she was carrying onto the table. “Yanhan, how can you talk to Yingying like that? For your sake, she’s been slaving away in the kitchen all this time, and her hand even got burned!”
Chu Yanhan sneered. He had heard this exact script hundreds of times before. He had repeatedly stated that he didn’t like Niu Yingying, yet for some reason, everyone acted like they couldn’t understand plain words and kept trying to force the two of them together!
Just then, Father Jiang walked out of the kitchen with a broad, cheerful smile. “Son, knowing you were coming back, your mom made a special trip to the supply and marketing cooperative and waited in line to buy all fresh ingredients. Eat up!”
Only then did Father Jiang notice the young girl sitting beside Chu Yanhan. “Who is this little girl?”
Niu Yingying jumped in to answer first. “Uncle, this girl must be a little sister Brother Yanhan recognizes. Look how young she looks.”
Seeing that the girl possessed a sweet appearance and a clean, pleasant smile that provided a nice contrast to his perpetually frowning son, Father Jiang figured she was just a younger sister figure after all!
Realizing everyone was gathered, Jiang Nuo smiled and stood up, just about to clear up the misunderstanding. “Auntie, Uncle, I am Chu Yanhan’s…”
Knowing his mother’s personality all too well, Chu Yanhan quickly cut her off and took over. “Her name is Jiang Nuo. She works at the military region’s health station and is currently my partner. I want to marry her, and the only reason I came back this time is to get my household registration booklet!”