Lu’s mother’s words were crude.
But both Nan Honghong and Lu Jianguo understood what had angered her.
Lu Jianguo couldn’t save face.
He lowered his head without speaking.
Nan Honghong asked without much confidence, “Mother, how did you find out?”
Lu’s mother grabbed Nan Honghong’s braid and pulled hard, saying, “You little slut, doing such things and still thinking you could keep it wrapped up? The whole village knows! Even the neighboring village came asking which family’s new daughter-in-law is so wanton!”
Nan Honghong: “…”
Lu Jianguo’s face burned with shame.
He asked incredulously, “How did our village find out?”
Lu’s mother pinched her son’s ear.
Frustrated by his lack of improvement, she said, “How do you think? How do you think? If someone farts in the east end of the village, it’ll drift to the west end in no time. How do you think?”
Lu Jianguo’s face was full of regret.
Lu’s mother glanced around.
One of the wheels had fallen off the Erba Dagang.
Her eyes widened in shock, even forgetting the previous matter, “What happened this time?”
Lu Jianguo said guiltily, “I accidentally fell off the bridge and broke off a wheel.”
Actually, he and Nan Honghong had been fooling around on the bicycle while crossing the bridge.
Lu’s mother was so angry she pressed Lu Jianguo down and started beating him.
This Erba Dagang was something the old lady had saved up for a long time from Lu Baiyang’s allowance sent home. First, she exchanged money for a ticket, then took the ticket to town to place an order, waiting over two months for delivery.
The entire Lu family treated it as their most precious possession.
Now.
It was broken just like that.
Lu’s mother’s fingers trembled, “You’ve been picking up and dropping off your sister for so long without any problems with the bike, but it breaks on the day you return from visiting her family. You really married a jinx.”
Nan Honghong: “…”
Why was all the blame being pushed onto her?
If not for the bedding incident hanging over her head, she would definitely have argued with Lu’s mother today.
But because of that matter, Nan Honghong felt guilty and could only swallow her pride, enduring several slaps from Lu’s mother.
South Room
Nan Qingqing carefully arranged the photographs.
Piece by piece, she assembled a preliminary form.
Under the candlelight, the tear stains on Nan Qingqing’s fair little face were illuminated.
Nan Qingqing gazed pitifully at Lu Baiyang.
Lu Baiyang said softly, “Put them away for now.”
Hearing this.
Nan Qingqing looked at Lu Baiyang with some suspicion, as if saying, “You tricked me into coming back, and now you won’t take responsibility.”
Her pink, delicate lips uncontrollably turned downward again.
Like an overturned crescent moon.
Her eyes welled up with another layer of moisture.
Lu Baiyang felt as if an ant had bitten the tip of his heart—a slight numbness, a shallow pain.
Before the two lines of tears in those dewy eyes could fall.
He quickly said, “The army has adhesive tape. I’ll apply for some later and help you stick it back together.”
Adhesive tape.
Nan Qingqing had some impression of it in her mind.
China’s adhesive tape processing factories first appeared in the 1960s, but due to high demand and low supply, it was primarily used for national defense and military purposes. It wasn’t until after the reform and opening up, in the 1980s, that adhesive tape would be widely used among civilians.
Nan Qingqing nodded silently.
Lu Baiyang spoke again, “If adhesive won’t work, I’ll buy more stamps and stick them on the back. There’s a clerk named Wang in our army who specializes in writing reports and is excellent at drawing. I’ll have him look at the photo and draw a new one.”
Nan Qingqing was about to say thank you.
But having remained silent for too long,
when she opened her mouth,
a bubble blew out.
Nan Qingqing froze.
Just then, the bubble burst on the tip of her nose.
Nan Qingqing’s face turned completely red.
Lu Baiyang coughed lightly.
Nan Qingqing changed the subject, pulling four ten-yuan bills from her pocket. “This is the remaining money from the fifty yuan you gave me this morning. I’m returning it to you.”
Her fingers were beautiful.
Slim and tapered from the base, they appeared delicate yet without prominent knuckles.
Her nails were neatly trimmed and clean, with even the crevices—where dirt usually accumulates—thoroughly washed.
If not for the calluses on her palms, one might mistake them for the hands of a pampered young lady.
Seeing Lu Baiyang remain silent for a long time,
Nan Qingqing gently waved the bills in front of him. “Hey!”
Only then did Lu Baiyang snap out of it.
His dark eyes narrowed slightly as he said in a deep voice, “What I gave you is yours. No need to return it. Keep it safe.”
Nan Qingqing’s eyes couldn’t conceal a flicker of excitement.
Though it was only forty yuan,
in this era, it was still a small fortune.
After all, those arrogant workers at the Supply and Marketing Cooperative only earned about twenty yuan a month.
Nan Qingqing put the money away and said, “Then I won’t stand on ceremony.”
Lu Baiyang replied, “No need to be polite. In the future, my…”
At this point,
Lu Baiyang recalled the conversation between Nan Qingqing and Nan Zhaodi.
The words “I’ll give you most of my allowance” were forcibly swallowed back.
He didn’t want to pressure Nan Qingqing.
Talking about the future now
felt like binding her.
Lu Baiyang changed his tone and said, “It’s getting late. Go to bed early.”
Nan Qingqing murmured in acknowledgment.
She keenly sensed what Lu Baiyang had intended to say earlier but left unfinished.
His unfinished sentence
meant he had second thoughts at the last moment.
He probably didn’t want to entrust his money to her.
But it didn’t matter.
She could manage the money she earned herself.
After all, they only had a two-year marital bond.
At worst,
after Lu Baiyang passed away, she could burn more paper money for him during holidays—along with paper villas, luxury cars, maids, and bodyguards—so he could live well in the afterlife.
Lu Baiyang’s nose tingled.
He suddenly sneezed twice.
Nan Qingqing said, “Comrade Lu Baiyang, someone must be cursing you behind your back.”
Lu Baiyang: “Believe in science, don’t spread superstitions.”
Nan Qingqing obediently murmured in acknowledgment.
She went to wash up.
This time, passing under Nan Honghong’s windowsill, she only heard Nan Honghong and Lu Jianguo arguing.
Their quarrel was quite vulgar and explicit.
Nan Qingqing eavesdropped for a while, feeling as if her ears were being violated, and quickly hurried away.
After finishing her wash,
Nan Qingqing returned to bed.
Lying on her side,
propping her cheek with one hand, she looked at Lu Baiyang and asked, “Comrade Lu Baiyang, when are you returning to the army?”
Lu Baiyang replied, “The day after tomorrow.”
Nan Qingqing’s eyes lit up.
Lu Baiyang continued, “Don’t call me Comrade Lu Baiyang anymore.”
Nan Qingqing asked curiously, “I also thought it was too distant, but what should I call you? Battalion Commander Lu? Comrade Baiyang? Comrade Lu?”
It was probably already evening.
Their voices were deliberately hushed while speaking.
Nan Qingqing’s voice was like a feather, constantly brushing against Lu Baiyang’s ears.
The feather seemed to have a built-in targeting function.
Every time.
It precisely brushed the most sensitive spots of Lu Baiyang’s ears.
Her soft Wu dialect carried a hint of delicate sweetness.
Lu Baiyang had originally been sitting facing Nan Qingqing.
Now he suddenly turned around.
Facing his own desk, his legs naturally settled beneath it.
After a moment of contemplation, Lu Baiyang said with a slightly serious tone, “Call me Third Brother.”
It was neither too distant nor too intimate.
Many brothers in the army called him that too.
Nan Qingqing pondered for a while, then suddenly called out excitedly, “Third Brother!”