The Rough-Hewn Man of the Seventies Spoils His Darling

Su Jiaojiao and Xu Haojie had been dating for three years. Her parents and older brother had always opposed the relationship, saying Xu Haojie looked utterly unreliable. Getting married was like being reborn as a woman, they said, so she couldn't afford to choose the wrong man. Well, she'd certainly chosen wrong. She'd poured all her love into a dog! She'd nearly fallen out with her family just to be with him. And then he cheated on her, getting together with her best friend. Standing at a busy intersection, she sobbed until she could barely breathe. A pair of army-green canvas shoes, speckled with dirt, stopped in front of her. Su Jiaojiao froze. Through tear-blurred eyes, she looked up along the man's trouser leg. He was tall and imposing, wearing a faded work jacket, with broad shoulders and a taut jaw. His skin was the wheat-brown of someone long exposed to sun and rain. A faint scar marked his temple, and his gaze was as deep as the old well at the village entrance. He stared at her without blinking. It was Gu Ye! Famous for being rough around the edges, a man of few words with a hard temper, who could punch someone straight into the infirmary. And yet this rough man cherished her with all his heart.