He was startled by her look and instinctively averted his eyes, the tips of his ears quietly turning red.
But his mouth still refused to yield, his voice stiff and firm. “Otherwise?”
“Is there anyone else in this house whose hands are so delicate that just a day of picking corn leaves them blistered and bleeding?”
Lin Peiru didn’t get angry at all. Instead, she smiled even more sweetly, her eyes curving into two beautiful crescents.
“You’re so nice!” She took a small step closer, lowering her voice as if sharing a secret. “I really like…”
She paused, looking at his instantly stiffened back and increasingly red ears, then playfully blinked and swallowed the “you” that was about to slip out.
“…this pair of gloves!”
She was honestly afraid—afraid she might scare this pure, thin-skinned young man to death on the spot.
However, it was as if Huo Yunshen’s tail had been stepped on by that unfinished sentence.
He suddenly turned around, his handsome face tightly drawn, his voice colder and harder than before.
“Don’t misunderstand.”
“I just don’t want you to avoid labor just because of a minor injury.”
“When you fail to earn enough work points by the end of the year and don’t get your grain ration, don’t come freeloading at our house and eating our food.”
He spoke quickly and sharply, as if afraid others wouldn’t see how much he disliked her.
Lin Peiru, however, had already grown accustomed to his duplicity and secretly delighted in it. She nodded repeatedly like a little cat stealing fish.
“Mm-hmm, you’re right!”
“Then what else? Go on?”
She blinked her bright eyes, clearly inviting him to continue his performance.
Seeing her unshaken, almost expectant expression, Huo Yunshen’s face darkened completely.
He felt like the breath he’d been holding had just punched into cotton—no force coming back at all.
This woman… did she even understand human speech?!
After a long pause, he squeezed out a single sentence through gritted teeth.
“Nothing else!”
“Just take care of yourself!”
Then he turned away, trying to face the stove fire again, pretending she didn’t exist.
But Lin Peiru still didn’t move. She stood there, staring at him with those clear eyes that seemed to reflect everything.
That gaze was innocent yet focused, making Huo Yunshen increasingly uneasy.
His face, just barely calming down, flushed red again—this time all the way down to his neck.
A wave of embarrassment and frustration surged up.
“Why are you looking at me!” he practically growled like an irritated wolf cub. “Hurry up and go work!”
Only then did Lin Peiru look away. She lowered her head, stroking her stomach pitifully.
“But… I haven’t eaten yet.”
Huo Yunshen’s temple twitched. “Then eat!”
“But Sister Yunqiao hasn’t finished cooking yet.”
“…”
He was completely speechless.
A strong urge to just turn and leave rose in him—but reason told him that if he left now, he would lose completely.
So he stood frozen in place, staring at her innocent, pitiful face.
He felt that sooner or later, he would either work himself to death in the fields—or be driven mad by this woman.
At that moment, the kitchen curtain was lifted.
Mu Xinyao walked in holding a wooden basin and immediately saw the two of them locked in awkward stillness.
“Oh, you’re both here?”
She smiled gently, then looked at Lin Peiru. “Peiru, is your hand feeling better?”
Her tone was full of concern.
“If it still hurts, don’t force yourself. Let your Yunshen brother go to the brigade and ask for leave for you.”
At this, Huo Yunshen’s stiff back visibly tensed again.
Lin Peiru, however, treated it like a treasure had fallen into her lap and completely ignored the strange atmosphere.
She lifted the work gloves in her hand like a child showing off a gift.
“It doesn’t hurt anymore, Aunt Mu! Look!”
Her voice was bright and cheerful, like a singing bird in the mountains.
“Comrade Yunshen gave me gloves! I’ll wear them today, I definitely won’t get hurt again!”
Mu Xinyao’s gaze followed the gloves—and changed slightly.
Oh?
Isn’t this the only pair of work gloves in the house?
The one she used when she was younger in the fields, later thrown into the storage room.
She leaned closer to examine them carefully.
Yes, it was indeed that pair—the little burn mark on the edge was still there.
But… they were too clean.
All the old mud stains and oil marks had been scrubbed completely off, even the dirt in the seams gone.
They looked cleaner than new.
Clearly, someone had spent half the night secretly cleaning them in some hidden corner.
Mu Xinyao immediately understood everything.
She slowly lifted her head and glanced meaningfully at her son standing like a wooden post.
Huo Yunshen felt a chill run down his back.
Without even looking, he turned his head away, offering his mother the back of his head.
“…”
Mu Xinyao burst out laughing.
Lin Peiru, still holding the gloves, asked blankly, “Aunt Mu, what’s wrong with Yunshen?”
“Nothing,” she said, waving her hand with a smile in her eyes. “He’s just shy.”
After breakfast in that strangely tense atmosphere, Lin Peiru prepared to go to work.
She carefully put on the gloves—they fit perfectly—and felt warm and happy inside.
She went to the team leader as usual.
The leader greeted her with an approving smile.
“How’s your hand? Feeling better?”
“I’m fine, Team Leader!” she said brightly, lifting her gloved hand. “I won’t hold anyone back today!”
The leader nodded in satisfaction.
“You did well yesterday—earned three work points in a morning. Good hardworking comrade!”
“Since you’re still new and your hand was injured, we won’t increase your workload today.”
“Still four work points. Take your time and don’t rush.”