Chapter 158 Ugly Tangyuan

After leaving Cao Lishao's courtyard, Su Miaomiao's heart was quite unsettled. She silently tightened her childhood sweetheart's hand and said softly, "Old Cao is so pitiful. Unrequited love is truly painful, more painful than having no love at all. Fortunately, neither of us has to go through these hardships and torments."

She once again marveled at her good fortune.

To be able to grow up with him, to experience so many things together.

"Without you, what would I do?"

Su Miaomiao grumbled, utterly unable to imagine life without Cheng Hao.

Cheng Hao imagined it along with her words and found himself feeling breathless, stifled, and unhappy. He decisively stated, "How could there possibly be no me?"

He also held Su Miaomiao's hand tightly, absolutely refusing to let go.

Su Miaomiao immediately smiled, lifted his hand, and nuzzled it with her lips. It was a little cool, but it also held his warmth. She then said with a smile, "That's right, exactly. I can't be without you, and you can't be without me. Sometimes I feel like we're symbiotic."

Without each other, it would be impossible.

Truly impossible.

Growing up in such family environments, both of them were scarred. If one were alone, contemplating the suffocating possessiveness and dominance of their respective parents, they would likely both be turned into puppet dolls.

Living their lives on paths created by their parents, unable to escape.

Even if they managed to break free on their own, their psychology might already be damaged, perhaps requiring a lifetime to heal from the pain inflicted by their original families, or perhaps they might not even survive to adulthood on their own.

Cheng Hao looked back at Su Miaomiao. Seeing her smiling face, he knew that she was actually braver than him, much quicker to let go. He, on the other hand, was still occasionally coerced by childhood traumas, leading to occasional reactive responses.

Su Miaomiao had always been stubborn. Whatever her parents forbade her from doing, she would fiercely resist. Whatever they told her not to do, she would make sure to do it in front of them. Eventually, after successfully disappointing her parents, they stopped caring about her.

They even considered having another child, wanting a son.

They often told her that if she didn't behave, they would have a younger brother and no longer want her.

They didn't care whether their daughter would be sad or panicked upon hearing this.

At that time, Su Miaomiao thought that as long as Cheng Hao was there, it was enough. Nothing else mattered, so she directly provoked her parents until they were afraid.

After one last argument.

She even dared to retort whether they were fit to be parents, and if having another child would drive her crazy.

In doing so, she successfully saved another child from potential emotional neglect.

As an only son, Cheng Hao's pressure was much greater than Su Miaomiao's. He had no room to breathe. His parents would even use Su Miaomiao to threaten him, knowing full well that she was what he cared about most.

Yet they always used her to coerce him, demanding that his grades be excellent, that he learn skills they deemed necessary to show off to outsiders and bring them prestige.

They completely disregarded how difficult his studies were or how tight his schedule was.

Good reputation was earned through suffering.

Cheng Hao didn't want those empty titles at all. He just wanted to grow up properly.

So, no one could have imagined.

That their parents, who appeared so gentle in public, were so terrifying behind closed doors.

Cheng Hao easily fell back into his past emotions, until Su Miaomiao deliberately interrupted him, smiling and asking him to accompany her to buy a sugar figurine.

Only then did he feel like he could breathe again.

He readily agreed.

Su Miaomiao pulled him and squeezed into the crowd. She successfully got a sugar figurine, but instead of eating it herself, she presented it to him, coaxing him with a silly smile, "Quick, quick, this thing looks so fun. Take it. It was hard to get, so you can't waste it!"

Cheng Hao looked at the clumsy sugar figurine and couldn't help but chuckle. He laughed and said, "The craftsmanship is not good." They started their stall before they were even trained.

Su Miaomiao, seeing him smile, also giggled, "Who cares if they're trained or not? As long as you're happy! Should I try to coax you some more? I'm afraid you're going to cry."

Su Miaomiao's words stunned him for a moment. The lingering emotions in his heart vanished. He retorted, "Who's going to cry? Don't say such things!"

Su Miaomiao wanted to pat his shoulder, but he had grown a bit too tall now. She could barely reach even on tiptoe. "Hey, don't be ashamed. It's not embarrassing to cry with me. If you cry, I'll comfort you!"

Cheng Hao was stunned again. Perhaps it wouldn't mean much to others, but he truly needed those words. In any case, he knew she was there for him, and that was enough for him to know that if he wanted to cry, she would comfort him.

He didn't banter with her anymore.

Instead, he reached out and ruffled her hair, then said, "I know."

His smile was now genuine.

Su Miaomiao happily joined him. Seeing that the matter was settled, she obediently let her childhood sweetheart hold her hand again and started chattering, analyzing, "What I said earlier about helping Old Cao wasn't just talk. If he's truly being bullied too much, then our intervention would both save a woman, help Old Cao, and make him owe us a favor. Getting him to modify the carriages later would be a piece of cake."

She also said that having a craftsman in the caravan would bring a lot of stability.

This era was very chaotic.

In the end, the stronger their own team was, and the more capable people they had, the more secure they would be.

She counted on her fingers.

"Currently, everyone's combat power is decent. More than half of us know martial arts. More than half know simple bandaging and first aid. Wang Daming knows how to read the weather, Li Datou can scout, Uncle Ji manages household affairs, Xiao Xi can raise livestock and grow crops, Aunt Cai and Aunt Xi know how to cook. And we two know even more. So, everyone is quite capable, but I think we're still lacking in craftsmen. If we could recruit some more craftsmen, it would be even more stable."

It would be best if they could forge their own weapons. That's why someone like Cao Lishao was so important. If they really had to escape, it would be great if they could bring his master and disciples along. Then their Cheng family caravan would be invincible.