Bai Jiaojiao put her hand on Shen Heng's shoulder, her rejection not entirely sincere.

With Bai Jiaojiao's tacit approval, Shen Heng became bolder.

"Heng-ge..." Bai Jiaojiao's voice trembled as she said, "What if I get pregnant without that?"

Shen Heng's voice was seductive: "Jiaojiao, be good. You won't get pregnant."

Bai Jiaojiao looked dazed, and Shen Heng took the opportunity to push her down onto the table.

Shen Heng lowered his head and touched Bai Jiaojiao's cheek to comfort her. Bai Jiaojiao's eyes were a little wet, and she clenched her fists tightly, but she listened to Shen Heng's words.

Shen Heng seemed very excited, and Bai Jiaojiao could feel the intensity of his emotions. However, since they were outside, the excitement made Shen Heng perform less well than he would at home. But the time still lasted so long that Bai Jiaojiao's heart was about to jump out of her throat with nervousness.

Shen Heng came over, looking somewhat satisfied, and coaxed Bai Jiaojiao, "Jiaojiao is so obedient. When Heng-ge comes home, I'll buy you something nice to eat."

Bai Jiaojiao quickly put her clothes on with both hands, glared at Chen Heng, and said, "I hate you, you filthy scoundrel."

"Next time, when it's warmer, shall we try going to the back of the mountain?"

Shen Heng's words startled Bai Jiaojiao so much that her eyes almost popped out of their sockets. Shen Heng smiled and kissed her, then lifted Bai Jiaojiao off the table and sat her down in a chair: "What's wrong?"

"Heng-ge! If you keep talking nonsense, I won't talk to you anymore!" Bai Jiaojiao wanted to bite Chen Heng, but she was afraid that he was living with someone else now and that people would laugh at him.

She could only endure it, and punched Shen Heng on the shoulder with her small fist, but she didn't have much strength. Shen Heng was wearing the big cotton-padded coat that she had made for him this year, so the punch was like a tickle to him.

"Alright, alright," Shen Heng grabbed Bai Jiaojiao's hand, tidied her up, and hugged her in his arms. "If you behave, I won't take you with me."

Bai Jiaojiao gritted her teeth. This person is actually getting all smug!

She let out a long sigh and changed the subject: "We've been here for so long, isn't it time for you to start work yet?"

In Shili Village, because the work goes on late into the night during winter, there is no lunch break. Everyone eats a meal, chats for a bit, and then goes back to work.

Shen Heng said, "Are you urging me to leave? It's okay to be a little late. Your husband is still hungry. Besides, my wife came all the way here to bring me food. Shouldn't I spend more time with her?"

Shen Heng held Bai Jiaojiao on his lap, looking like a rogue. He had one arm around Bai Jiaojiao's waist and opened the lunchbox with the other, without wasting any time.

Bai Jiaojiao said, "Let me go. If someone comes to call you to work and sees us like this, they'll gossip and start talking nonsense."

"Don't worry, no one dares to come over."

Shen Heng opened the lunchbox lid and saw that Bai Jiaojiao had filled the box with braised pork. It was a very standard size of pork belly, and it was crystal clear. He estimated that the box of meat weighed about half a pound.

The rice underneath the meat was soaked in the braising sauce and steamed to the perfect softness that Chen Heng liked.

Shen Heng offered Bai Jiaojiao a piece of meat, but Bai Jiaojiao shook her head: "I've already eaten at home, you should eat quickly. The food here is really bad, eat more."

Shen Heng said, "It's good enough that we have food to eat. But they only give one grain per person, which isn't even enough to fill a tooth gap. I offered to pay them more, but they refused."

Upon hearing this, Bai Jiaojiao said, "Shen Heng isn't even getting enough to eat here. How about I bring it to you every day? I tried it today, and it took me less than an hour to ride my bike here."

Xiangyang Village and Shili Village are neighbors, not actually that far apart. However, the seaside of Xiangyang Village is blocked by several small hills. The villagers live on the hillside, and other villages have to take a long detour around the foot of the hills to get to the seaside of Xiangyang Village.

"Don't come anymore, look how cold you are. It's only been half a month, it'll be over in the blink of an eye."

Bai Jiaojiao's hands were still bright red, and had not returned to their original fair and tender appearance even after warming up a bit.

Shen Heng wasn't without hardship. Although he had enjoyed six months of good life with Bai Jiaojiao, life at the kelp farm wasn't too difficult.

"It's alright."

Bai Jiaojiao leaned closer to Shen Heng.

Shen Heng pulled Bai Jiaojiao into a tighter embrace, no longer arguing, and simply said, "You're being disobedient, aren't you? Looks like you want to go to the back mountain to play with your brother Heng, don't you?"

Bai Jiaojiao blushed instantly, and the topic circled back to where it was. She opened her mouth for a long time but couldn't say a word. Finally, she stammered, "You...you're bullying me!"

"If I don't bully you, who else will I bully? Are you coming or not?" Shen Heng lifted Bai Jiaojiao's chin, and Bai Jiaojiao turned her head to the side: "If you don't want to come, then forget it!"

Shen Heng then contentedly began to eat his meal.

After finishing his meal, Shen Heng wiped his mouth and said, "Come on, I'll take you home."

"I can go back by myself, Heng-ge. Don't you have work to do this afternoon?"

Bai Jiaojiao wasn't there to delay Shen Heng, but Shen Heng put his hands on his hips and said, "The back mountain."

Bai Jiaojiao pursed her lips, wrinkled her nose, and looked sullen.

Shen Heng couldn't help but curl his lips: "Hurry up and go. I'll make up for any work that's been delayed. This little bit of work is a piece of cake for your man."

The other two villages, including Shili Village before last year, were unwilling to send their best laborers here. This year, Shenheng came over, and even doing odd jobs, he is much better than the fourteen or fifteen-year-old girls from other villages.

Shen Heng let Bai Jiaojiao get into the back seat of the car. With him in front to block the wind, Bai Jiaojiao wasn't as cold as she had been on the way here.

Fortunately, Shen Heng drove her back, because part of the road was a mountain road. Bai Jiaojiao walked downhill. Although the road was slippery, she closed her eyes and rushed down. But going uphill was very difficult and easy to slip. If the car had slid downhill backwards, it would have been a disaster.

The mountain road was very narrow, making it impossible to zigzag. In particularly steep sections, the two had to get out of the car and walk.

Bai Jiaojiao huffed and puffed as she looked up at Shen Heng driving his bicycle, exhaling a puff of smoke from her mouth.

She was still quite amused by what Shen Heng had done to the back mountain, and was thinking about getting revenge, so she said, "Brother Heng, are you tired? Are you out of energy because of what happened earlier?"

Upon hearing this, Shen Heng's brows furrowed slightly before relaxing. He raised an eyebrow at Bai Jiaojiao and asked, "Do you want to go into the mountains and find a stone cave to test if Brother Heng has any strength left?"

"In no mood!"

Bai Jiaojiao quickened her pace and walked ahead of Shen Heng, but after climbing the mountain for so long, she was the one who was exhausted, and Shen Heng caught up with her in just a few steps.

"Get in the car and sit down, I'll push you up."

"No need, I can walk by myself..."

"It's just this slope, we'll be fine once we get over it, hurry up."