An 80s female translator was spoiled rotten by a rough and jealous man.

Chapter 204: Unsolvable Deadlock
In the middle of the night, Meng Youyou knocked on Huo Qingshan's door.

The man, still half-asleep, opened the door, his voice hoarse from just waking up: "What's wrong? Can't you sleep?"

As he spoke, he reached out and took Meng Youyou's hand, which was hanging by her side, and led her into the room.

Before the door was even closed, Meng Youyou hugged the man in front of her tightly, pressing her cheek against his chest.

Huo Qingshan tilted his head down, trying to see the expression on her face. He picked up a strand of her long hair from the side of her face with his index finger and brushed it behind her ear, but the girl's face was pressed tightly against his body, and she even moved to the other side, so he couldn't see her.

Although he couldn't see her expression, he could still sense the distress in the person in his arms. The man placed his hand on the back of the girl's neck, patted it gently, and asked in a very soft voice, "What's wrong? Did you have a nightmare?"

The girl shook her head against his chest and replied in a muffled voice, "It's nothing, I just want to sleep with you."

The man patted the girl's back lightly with his right hand, patiently explaining, "Grandma is quite traditional. She wouldn't be happy if she knew we were sleeping together before we were even married."

In fact, Huo Qingshan felt that this was not good for the girl's reputation. Many traditional and deeply rooted old-fashioned ideas were difficult to change in a short time. The only thing he could do was to minimize the harm to her.

Meng Youyou paused for two seconds, then said almost defiantly, "Does that mean Grandma can't not like it?"

The man fell silent, and the room became quiet. Just as Meng Youyou was about to stop making things difficult for him and was about to let go and go back to her room alone, a barely perceptible sigh came from above her head, followed by the familiar tone of the man when he was always giving in: "How about we go to your room? I'll come out a little earlier in the morning, okay?"

Meng Youyou finally smiled and murmured, "Okay."

He lay down beside her, covered her with the blanket, pulled her into his arms, and whispered in her ear, "Sleep."

In the darkness, Meng Youyou lay in his arms, the rhythmic beating of his heart ringing in her ears. She knew he wasn't asleep; he was waiting for the moment she would speak.

Meng Youyou hadn't decided whether to tell him, let alone how to tell him. Those complicated little thoughts weren't so easily voiced.

Moreover, from an outsider's perspective, she would be an impeccable, kind elder, kind and benevolent to everyone. The elderly couple, nearing seventy, adopted two homeless orphans, and everyone praised her for having the heart of a bodhisattva.

Grandma Huo's way of treating Meng Youyou gave her a feeling of helplessness, like punching cotton. The other party's thoroughness and care left no room for criticism.

But Meng Youyou genuinely felt that this was not as good as Meng Zhengping's initial cold treatment. So what if he was arrogant and disliked her? At least his likes and dislikes were real, and Huo Qingshan could find a reason to sit down and talk to him, and openly ask him why he didn't accept her.

But what about her? The other party gave her plenty of face and attention, but all of this was just a false prosperity, like a bubble in the air, illusory, fragile, and easily shattered. She couldn't find any outlet to vent her frustrations, so she could only bottle them up inside and suffocate herself to death.

Meng Youyou couldn't help but wonder why such a compassionate old man disliked her.

She was intelligent and wise, experienced in the ways of the world, and her weathered eyes could easily see through a person's disguise and the baseness of human nature. She knew clearly that Cui Yan was hostile to her, and she must have guessed who had instigated the young and ignorant Tingting to show resistance to Meng Youyou, whom she had just met.

But she chose to turn a blind eye to everything, tolerating Cui Yan's harmless quirks and playing the role of a wise, albeit somewhat naive, leader. Was this the wisdom of life unique to the elderly, or... a kind of favoritism?

Meng Youyou seemed to be struggling with something, or fighting against something, when she suddenly asked him, "Huo Qingshan, if one day your grandmother and I both fell into the water, who would you save first?"

He slowly moved his face closer and kissed her eyes gently and warmly. He didn't answer the strange question, but instead asked, "What happened?" His voice was as warm as jade, so gentle that one could easily fall into the tender trap he had woven, revealing the hidden corners of one's heart.

She tapped the stubble on his chin with her index finger, and said in a slightly dejected tone, "Your grandmother doesn't like me."

The man's Adam's apple bobbed up and down, causing Meng Youyou's fingers to tremble. She looked in the direction of his eyes, but in the pitch-black room, she couldn't see anything clearly.

After some time, the man asked her softly, "Shall we go back tomorrow?"

"Where are you going back?"

"If you're not happy living here, we'll leave. I'll go wherever you want to go."

Without even thinking, Meng Youyou refused outright: "No."

"Why not?"

Why don't you ask me how I came to this conclusion?

The man was silent for a few seconds, then said, "I think... I might know the reason."

Meng Youyou hurriedly asked, "What's the reason?"

The man hesitated: "If I tell you, you'll probably be even more unhappy."

Meng Youyou pinched his chin into a strange shape and threatened, "If you don't tell me..." She pounced on him and bit his chin, really not holding back.

She bit him for a while, and seeing that he didn't resist, she endured it stubbornly. She felt the muscles of the arm supporting her waist getting tighter and tighter, but it didn't try to stop her from getting up.

Meng Youyou softened again, reluctantly loosened her grip, and muttered in dissatisfaction, "She really knows how to play the victim."

Huo Qingshan freed one hand to gather the gap in the blanket that she had just created before slowly saying, "You and your aunt look very alike. Your maternal grandmother had a knot in her heart. On the day my mother passed away, my father and your aunt were together."

Grandma must have projected some of her pent-up negative emotions onto you. Even though she knew perfectly well that you two weren't the same person, she still couldn't help but feel resentful. This time, it was Meng Youyou's turn to fall silent. After a long silence, the girl weakly asked, "So... your father was..." The question she wanted to ask was a little difficult to utter, "So your father and my aunt were together before your mother passed away?" She still asked it, trying to phrase it as tactfully as possible.

The man's voice was calm, as if he were talking about someone else's story: "I asked my father the same question, and he said it was because of business that time."

My mother's health had never been good. At first, she just caught a cold. When my father received the news that my mother was sick, he decided to stay in the capital and did not rush back in time. At first, no one expected it to be so serious. Her condition deteriorated very quickly, and she passed away in just two days. I was in class at school that day when I was suddenly called back.

My maternal uncle, who runs a jade business in the capital, came back to attend the funeral. During the funeral ceremony, he pulled my grandmother aside and told her that on the day my mother died, he had personally witnessed my father having dinner with a beautiful woman at a restaurant.

I've questioned my father many times about what official business required him to follow her around every step of the way, and he only said it had to be kept secret, and no one could know the truth of the matter.

At this point, the situation had become an intractable deadlock.

Meng Youyou's fingertips traced the ring of teeth marks she had left on the man's chin half a minute earlier, and she murmured thoughtfully, "Huo Qingshan, so we're destined not to have the genuine support and blessings of either of our parents, right?"

I don't know if this question is directed at him or at myself.

The man gave a soft "hmm," his tone carrying a rare hint of dejection: "I'm not confident I can get Grandma to let go of her resentment, and I have no right to ask her to do that. She's already been as generous as she can for my sake."

"Oh dear, you haven't done anything wrong. But Grandma has already put in a lot of effort to accept us being together, and I can't expect her to compromise any further."

He apologized to her: "Oh dear, I'm sorry, I've made you feel wronged. I can't think of a better solution in a short time."

"how about you?"

Huo Qingshan didn't understand what he meant: "What?"

"When I bite you to vent my anger, do you feel wronged?"

Huo Qingshan was speechless: "..."

Before he could answer, Meng Youyou continued, "Grandma is holding a grudge against me because of what happened between my aunt and your father. This is clearly a matter between the two of us, but you didn't tell me. Instead, you stood in the middle and silently mediated and tried your best to smooth things over. That's why I'm angry."

Do you think it's manly to do this? You kept me in the dark, trying your best to take care of Grandma, thinking that this would protect me?
But I really feel disappointed in you.

Huo Qingshan, you don't trust me. You don't believe I can hold your hand and face these pressures and difficulties together. You don't believe in my love, nor do you believe in my determination to be with you.

"That's not how it is," the man couldn't bear to hear these heart-wrenching accusations. He sealed her lips with his, his lips lingering and grinding against hers. His strong, muscular body enveloped her, exuding overwhelming power and presence.

His high, straight nose pressed against hers, relentlessly stealing her breath. One hand roamed over her collarbone, and Meng Youyou simply unbuttoned the two buttons of her pajamas and grabbed his hand to explore inside.

Realizing his fingertips had touched something, the man's nerves jolted, causing him to momentarily lose focus. Meng Youyou seized the opportunity to catch her breath and asked him in a high-pitched voice, "Commander Huo, shall we do it?" Her voice was alluring, carrying a charm she herself was unaware of.

The man abruptly pulled his hand away as if he had touched a hot potato, lowered his head and buried it in the crook of her neck, his hot breath making Meng Youyou shudder.

Meng Youyou shrugged and nuzzled the person on her shoulder. "You're so domineering. When you do something wrong, you don't want to hear criticism. You always talk about family and bully me. You're both barbaric and unreasonable."

He mumbled a few words: "I was wrong."

Meng Youyou pressed on relentlessly: "Does this look like you're sincerely admitting your mistake?"

"It's not that I don't believe you." The voice was low and deep, and whether it was Meng Youyou's imagination or not, she could detect a hint of grievance in it.

"If not this, then what is it?"

"I'm a chauvinist; I think I should handle all these things myself." Battalion Commander Huo began to seriously reflect on his actions.

Meng Youyou suppressed a laugh: "Anything else?"

Battalion Commander Huo continued to reflect on himself: "I was driven by personal heroism and too self-centered."

"Well, continue."

"You've just been discharged from the hospital, and I don't want you to worry about these things."

The plot started to go off track, and Meng Youyou interrupted, "Are you really reflecting on your actions, or are you just trying to excuse yourself?"

Battalion Commander Huo: "..."

Meng Youyou forcefully pushed the person on top of her aside, then climbed back up, looking down at him like a queen giving orders. "I accept your apology, but..." she drawled, her tone becoming serious as she said, word by word, "Huo Qingshan, what I want to tell you is that I would rather build a castle with you than be a princess in the perfect fairy tale world you've created for me."

Instead of you working hard in secret while I reap the rewards, I'd rather hold your hand and face the storms of the outside world together than enjoy the pristine, unpolluted world you've created for me.

She mimicked his gesture, reverently kissed his eyes, and said, word by word, "Commander Huo, I love you very much, and I will love you as much as you have always loved me."

Huo Qingshan felt his heart tremble uncontrollably, a wild, soft, and wet sensation. He stared at the lips of the person in front of him and couldn't help but kiss them again.