This is completely different from what he had planned.
Wasn't Gu Lingling supposed to be deeply grateful? Wasn't she supposed to be a little scared that he would spill the beans? Wasn't she supposed to beg him to keep it a secret?
Unexpectedly, she was so defiant, and turned the tables on him just like that.
Clearly, he came when Gu Chunhai wasn't home, but ended up being caught by Gu Chunhai, and not just him, but also Gu Tongzhou.
Gu Chunhai and Gu Tongzhou grew up together wearing split pants, and Gu Chunhai is different now—he's basically a wife's pawn.
Letting these two know he had a talk with Gu Lingling, even with a hint of threat, it's no surprise they would want to tear him apart.
"Village chief, uncle, I didn't mean that." Tao Zhiran hurriedly waved his hand, anxiously explaining, "I was just afraid that some people might see and treat Lingling badly, so I kindly reminded her."
"I fear the 'some people' you refer to is probably yourself," Gu Chunhai sneered and said, "My daughter is above board, our family has a clean and upright reputation. If you want to report something, feel free to report it."
"But don't come here to threaten my daughter."
"Uncle, I... I really didn't..." Tao Zhiran suddenly felt like he was shooting himself in the foot, now he couldn't clear his name however he tried.
"Don't, just call me Mr. Gu. I don't have a nephew like you, so don't try to pull any familial ties with me." Gu Chunhai directly pulled Gu Lingling away, "In the future, please stay away from my daughter, or else don't blame me for being rude."
Tao Zhiran laughed awkwardly.
But things didn't end there, Gu Chunhai took Gu Lingling into their courtyard, "Close the door, go chat with your grandpa for a bit, Dad will be back soon."
Gu Lingling obediently closed the door without even glancing at Tao Zhiran, she knew what Gu Chunhai was going to do.
Being protected by her father felt really nice.
"Let's go," Gu Tongzhou said to Tao Zhiran.
"Go? Where to?" Tao Zhiran was a bit stunned, he had already explained, did it still have to go on endlessly?
Looking again, seeing that Gu Chunhai didn't go back but returned instead, Tao Zhiran suddenly had a bad feeling, perhaps he thought too simply of these rural folks.
It's unknown what Gu Tongzhou and Gu Chunhai said to Tao Zhiran that day, but since then, Tao Zhiran would take detours when he saw Gu Lingling.
After the New Year, spring quickly arrived.
At the foot of the mountain, many dandelions would grow, these fresh tender dandelions appeared before other wild vegetables even sprouted, especially enticing after a rain, so green and vivid.
Dandelion egg dumplings, cold dandelion salad, there's nothing more delicious than this.
Since the spring couplet incident, Gu Lingling had not been to the barracks again.
"This doesn't taste good," Liu Yating said as she saw Gu Lingling holding a basket of fresh dandelions.
Their barracks also had a lot of dandelions, and every year around this time, people were seen digging them, Wang Shuxia used to be very curious and specifically asked others how to eat them, then made a cold dandelion salad when she got back.
It just made them suffer from bitterness.
It was simply the darkest of dark dishes.
Since then, even if others enjoyed them, their family didn't envy them at all.
"This stuff is good though," Dandelions are a kind of herbal medicine with many effects and can prevent breast hyperplasia, especially beneficial for women, "I'm sure in a while you'll be exclaiming that it's not good."