“Dearest brother, I’m already yours. Are you still going to marry Nan Qingqing?”
“Why bring up that block of wood? How could she be as wild as you…”
Dressed in a dark blue, three-quarter-sleeved Dacron blouse, Nan Qingqing kicked open the door to the bridal chamber.
In the south-facing room, a portrait of the great leader hung in the center. To the west was a wobbly-legged desk, propped up by half a tile.
Above the desk was a poster of a chubby boy holding a large, fat fish. Next to it was a 1.2-meter-wide wooden bed. Through the yellowed mosquito net, Nan Qingqing could clearly see the two people tangled together.
The man was her groom for the day, Lu Jianguo.
The woman was her stepsister, Nan Honghong.
Upon seeing Nan Qingqing, the two on the bed hastily separated.
Lu Jianguo scrambled off the bed.
Nan Honghong, her clothes in disarray, lifted the netting, her eyes filled with provocation. “Sister, I’m sorry. Brother Jianguo and I just couldn’t hold back.”
Nan Qingqing said with a cold face, “Understandable. Even beasts can’t hold back.”
Their eyes met.
Nan Honghong’s gaze held resentment and disdain for Nan Qingqing, as well as the triumphant glee of having snatched away something she cherished.
Nan Qingqing knew that Nan Honghong had also been reborn.
In her previous life, Nan Qingqing had married Lu Jianguo, while Nan Honghong had married a waiter from the state-run restaurant.
Later, Nan Qingqing seized the opportunity to go into business with Lu Jianguo, trading in the coastal regions, and their fortunes soared.
But as the economy took off, restaurants became countless, the state-run ones gradually declined, and the waiter lost his job.
Nan Honghong would come to her day and night to complain, crying her eyes out.
She was soft-hearted and would often give Nan Honghong money.
Who knew that Nan Honghong’s goal was never the money, but Lu Jianguo.
The mere thought of that despicable pair getting together, of Lu Jianguo drugging her, of Nan Honghong hacking her to death with her own hands, and of the two of them dismembering her body and throwing it into a septic tank, made Nan Qingqing’s teeth ache with hatred.
But what Nan Honghong didn’t know was that Lu Jianguo was nothing but useless mud that couldn’t be plastered on a wall.
Who would want such a waste of a man?
If Nan Honghong wanted him, she could have him.
Before Nan Qingqing, clenching her back teeth, could speak, the Lu family all arrived.
Lu Jianguo’s mother, playing the victim, started shouting, “Are all you girls from the Nan family this shameless? Climbing into a man’s bed at such a young age! If you’re that itchy, why don’t you go to the kitchen and grab a handful of salt to disinfect yourself?”
Nan Qingqing didn’t mind them cursing Nan Honghong.
But to drag her into it was something she couldn’t tolerate. “Are all you men from the Lu family so fond of getting into your sister-in-law’s pants?”
Lu’s mother’s face turned white with anger. “You…”
The men of the Lu family also glared at Nan Qingqing with indignation, looking as fierce as if she had dug up their ancestral graves.
Nan Qingqing smiled. “You see? Your reputations have been tarnished by Lu Jianguo, and you feel upset. My reputation has been tarnished by Nan Honghong, so should I feel happy?
“Even a dragon’s nine sons are all different. Which family doesn’t have one or two little beasts? The reputations of us good people shouldn’t be ruined by beasts. Everyone, am I right or not?”
The crowd all nodded. “That’s true.”
As the matriarch of the family, Lu old lady had to step forward.
Her face was dark as she spoke with embarrassment, “Qingqing, what’s done is done. My Lu family has wronged you.”
In her previous life, Lu old lady had passed away less than a year after Nan Qingqing married into the family.
But in those few months together, Nan Qingqing had come to understand her. She had a sharp tongue but a soft heart, and was a decent elder.
Nan Qingqing didn’t want to make things difficult for her.
She turned to face Lu’s mother, the vicious mother-in-law who had oppressed her for a lifetime in her past life. “Since your son likes Nan Honghong, why did your family come to my house to propose to me? This is marriage fraud! It’s immoral! It goes against the great leader’s call!”
Lu’s mother was speechless.
After a long moment, she finally forced out a few words, her face beet red. “Such a sharp-tongued young girl. It’s a good thing my son didn’t marry you, or he’d have a shrew on his hands. In that case, you can go home. We’ll hold the wedding for my son and your sister today. Our family doesn’t want you anymore.”
A trace of triumph flashed in Nan Honghong’s eyes.
Nan Qingqing plopped down on a wooden stool. “You tell me to go back, so I should just go back? You can’t just squeeze a soft persimmon like this!”
Lu’s mother took a deep breath. “What do you want?”
Just then, someone outside shouted, “Auntie Lu, your Third Brother is back!”
Before the words had even faded, a man who was 1.85 meters tall, with a slender and upright posture, walked in. He was dressed in an olive-green military uniform, his features resolute and three-dimensional, his skin a light bronze.
Nan Qingqing pointed at the man.
Her eyes sparkled.
She stated concisely, “I want him.”
The moment she spoke, the entire room was in an uproar.
Lu Baiyang was Lu Jianguo’s third uncle. How could a bride originally intended for the nephew marry the third uncle?
Lu Baiyang had just entered and didn’t yet know what had happened.
He only saw a fair-skinned young woman, so fair she seemed to glow, looking at him with shining eyes.
The moment Lu Baiyang met that clear gaze, he froze for a barely perceptible moment.
Nan Qingqing walked over.
She was only 1.65 meters tall and had to crane her neck to look at the man. “Third Uncle Lu, my name is Nan Qingqing. I’m Lu Jianguo’s new bride, supposed to marry into the family today. But I caught Lu Jianguo in bed with my stepsister.
“I’ve already entered the Lu family’s home. If you send me back just like this, outsiders will only point fingers and gossip about me. Why should my reputation be ruined when I’ve done nothing wrong? I heard you haven’t married yet. If you’re willing, I’ll marry you, okay?”
Lu’s mother ground her back teeth and spat, “Shameless!”
Nan Qingqing retorted with a sneer, “I’m shameless? What about your son, who slept with his own sister-in-law on his wedding day? What’s he? Brazen? An adulterous pair? Partners in crime? An illicit affair without a matchmaker? Worse than a beast?”
Lu’s mother took a deep breath. “You…”
Lu Baiyang finally understood the whole story.
He had been a soldier for ten years, and the authority in his eyes was terrifying. He had a powerful presence, and when he deliberately stared at someone, an indescribable sense of pressure would wash over them.
Just like Lu Jianguo at this very moment, who felt his scalp tingle under Lu Baiyang’s gaze.
Growing up, he had feared nothing and no one, except this young uncle of his.
Lu Baiyang’s gaze shifted from Lu Jianguo’s face.
The moment it landed on Nan Qingqing’s face, he reined in his pressing, accusatory air. “Let’s talk somewhere else.”
After speaking, Lu Baiyang walked towards the inner room.
Nan Qingqing quickly followed.
Her mind was in turmoil. She wasn’t sure if Lu Baiyang would agree.
She hadn’t had much interaction with Lu Baiyang in her previous life, only knowing that he was a hero who eventually died for his country.
The moment she heard the news of Lu Baiyang’s death, Nan Qingqing had shed genuine tears.
But Lu Jianguo, who had been beaten by Lu Baiyang since childhood, had laughed at her for being soft-hearted, saying she had barely even met his young uncle a few times and shouldn’t put on an act.
Nan Qingqing was so lost in thought that she didn’t notice Lu Baiyang had stopped walking. She kept moving and, in a moment of carelessness, bumped into his back.
Nan Qingqing let out a subconscious cry and raised a hand to rub her forehead. “Sorry, I bumped into you.”
Lu Baiyang looked down at the crown of Nan Qingqing’s head.
His voice came out low and slightly hoarse. “I understand that Jianguo has wronged you. It’s only human to be upset after seeing such a scene. But you can’t ruin your own life so easily just to get revenge on others. Marriage is a major life event. It can’t be decided out of spite, much less treated as a joke.”
Nan Qingqing’s thick eyelashes fluttered.
She looked up.
Meeting Lu Baiyang’s gaze without a trace of fear, she asked, “Young Uncle Lu, is there someone you like?”
Lu Baiyang frowned slightly. “No.”
Nan Qingqing thought for a moment, then continued to ask, “Am I very ugly? Hideously ugly?”
Lu Baiyang instinctively refuted, “Of course not.”
He had never seen a girl fairer or more beautiful than Nan Qingqing.
A smile bloomed on Nan Qingqing’s lips, her eyes curving into crescents. “Well, there you have it. You’re an unmarried man, and I’m an unmarried woman. Why can’t I marry you?”
Lu Baiyang’s sharp, thin lips parted. “I’ve adopted the two orphaned children of a fallen comrade. Marrying me means becoming a stepmother.”
Nan Qingqing smiled. “Perfect. I won’t have to give birth.”
Lu Baiyang truly hadn’t expected this girl to be so stubborn. “You’re too young. I’m at least eight or nine years older than you.”
Nan Qingqing’s face flushed. “Older men know how to dote on people.”
Lu Baiyang: “…”