After all, Nan Honghong was a girl.
Hearing such words, her face instantly flushed red, and her eyes welled up.
She pointed at Nan Qingqing and said, “You’re only attacking me personally because I exposed the secret in your heart!”
Nan Qingqing smiled and retorted, “How can you prove your mouth doesn’t stink?”
Nan Honghong was stunned.
Nan Qingqing pursed her lips and chuckled softly.
Exactly.
The first step to completely breaking someone down is to trap them in self-justification.
Nan Honghong indeed pulled Lu Jianguo over.
She breathed toward Lu Jianguo and asked, “Tell me, does my mouth have any odor or not?”
The moment Nan Honghong breathed out, Nan Qingqing started dry heaving.
She retched until her face turned red, her ears burned, and her neck thickened.
Lu Baiyang immediately frowned and scolded Lu Jianguo, “Lu Jianguo, take your wife to brush her teeth right now.”
Hearing this,
Lu Jianguo didn’t dare refuse.
He dragged Nan Honghong away.
Nan Honghong made a scene the whole way.
Entering the restroom,
Nan Honghong cried and hit Lu Jianguo, “Are you really my man? You just stood by watching me get bullied without doing anything. Lu Jianguo, are you even a man? You dragging me in here—even if my mouth didn’t stink before, it does now!”
Lu Jianguo said helplessly, “That was Third Uncle.”
Nan Honghong said fiercely, “Your Third Uncle looks down on me!”
Lu Jianguo corrected her, “Third Uncle doesn’t look down on you specifically; he looks down on both of us. If I were Third Uncle, I’d look down on us too.”
Such frankness from Lu Jianguo
left Nan Honghong bewildered.
Lu Jianguo said, “Just stop picking fights with Third Aunt. You can’t out-argue her, and Third Uncle favors her anyway. Why are you asking for trouble? Go rinse your mouth.”
Nan Honghong shouted at Lu Jianguo, “My mouth doesn’t smell! I won’t rinse!”
Lu Jianguo leaned closer and said, “It does seem a bit off. Did you have leek and egg buns this morning?”
Hearing this,
Nan Honghong irritably turned around and rinsed her mouth.
While rinsing,
Nan Honghong grew more suspicious.
Nan Qingqing had always been timid and submissive at home—how did her temper suddenly become so tough?
Could it be…
Nan Qingqing was also reborn?
But on their wedding night, she had tested Nan Qingqing, and Nan Qingqing hadn’t acted like someone reborn.
Perhaps…
Nan Qingqing was pretending?
That didn’t seem right either.
If Nan Qingqing were truly reborn, she would know that Lu Baiyang would die in two years. Why would she still be so determined to marry him?
Nan Honghong decided she was overthinking it.
Nan Qingqing’s change
was probably because she thought marrying Lu Baiyang made her an official’s wife, superior to others, hence her arrogance.
Nan Honghong successfully rationalized it to herself.
After rinsing her mouth,
she looked at the dull Lu Jianguo standing behind her.
Nan Honghong pulled Lu Jianguo’s arm and said, “Jianguo, I had a dream last night. I dreamed you became a super rich businessman in the future.”
Lu Jianguo was taken aback and asked skeptically, “You still had energy to dream?”
Nan Honghong: “…”
Nan Honghong walked straight out of the restroom, no longer wanting to speak to Lu Jianguo.
At lunchtime,
a train attendant pushed a cart selling boxed meals.
Lu Jianguo asked, “How much for the boxed meals?”
The train attendant had a strong accent but spoke in a loud, clear voice, “Three yuan with a chicken leg, two yuan without.”
Lu Jianguo clicked his tongue in disbelief.
This was practically robbery.
But on the train, no matter how expensive, you had to buy it.
Lu Jianguo said, “One box with a chicken leg, one without. Here’s five yuan.”
The attendant handed him the boxed meals.
A young man who had been reading spoke up, “I’ll take three boxes with chicken legs.”
The attendant gave them to him.
He immediately passed them to Nan Qingqing and Lu Baiyang.
Nan Qingqing tried to decline.
The young man said, “Consider it payment for renting your book. If you don’t take it, I’d be too embarrassed to keep reading.”
Hearing this.
Nan Qingqing had no choice but to accept.
She handed one to Lu Baiyang and said, “Go ahead and eat. I think that comrade genuinely meant to treat us.”
Lu Baiyang silently opened two meal boxes.
He picked up the top chicken leg and placed it in Nan Qingqing’s box.
Nan Qingqing quickly said, “Don’t give it to me, I won’t be able to finish it.”
Lu Baiyang said firmly, “Eat the chicken leg first, then the vegetables. If you can’t finish the rice, give it to me.”
How could Nan Qingqing feel comfortable letting Lu Baiyang eat her leftovers?
She first gave half of her rice to Lu Baiyang.
Nan Honghong felt a hint of envy she hadn’t even realized herself, watching them intently for a while.
Suddenly, someone tugged her arm.
Lu Jianguo said, “Are you dumb? If you don’t eat now, it’ll get cold. Hurry up and eat while it’s hot.”
Nan Honghong suddenly felt that Lu Jianguo wasn’t so bad to her, even if his way of speaking wasn’t very pleasant.
She finally picked up her chopsticks to eat.
Looking at her chicken-leg-free meal box, she quickly glanced at Lu Jianguo and saw him holding a chicken bone, sucking on it.
Only the bone remained of the chicken leg.
Lu Jianguo hadn’t left a single piece of meat for her!
Nan Honghong was nearly moved to tears of frustration.
At home.
She always got to eat the chicken legs.
Her family only killed chickens during the New Year, usually giving one leg each to her and Nan Fusheng.
She never thought that after getting married, she wouldn’t even get one chicken leg.
Noticing Nan Honghong staring at him.
Lu Jianguo paused in confusion.
He casually handed her the cleaned chicken bone, “Want to suck on it?”
Nan Honghong: “…”
As she ate her boxed meal, tears fell from Nan Honghong’s eyes.
She kept comforting herself.
Don’t cry.
It’s fine.
Lu Jianguo was just a typical straight man who didn’t know how to be considerate.
But he was a business genius, with commercial acumen others couldn’t match. He could give her a wealthy life – a big villa, luxury cars, hired help, and daily delicacies like abalone, sea cucumber, donkey-hide gelatin, and bird’s nest congee until she grew tired of them.
She needed to wait.
She had to endure this period of hardship – better days were coming.
She wouldn’t get angry.
What good was a perfect man if he didn’t live long?
Nan Honghong desperately brainwashed herself.
Across from them, Nan Qingqing didn’t have as many complicated thoughts as Nan Honghong.
After eating two chicken legs, her stomach was nearly full.
Lu Baiyang asked, “Don’t want to eat anymore?”
Nan Qingqing said sheepishly, “But I’ve already used my chopsticks on it.”
Lu Baiyang reached out and took it, saying, “It’s fine.”
He finished all of Nan Qingqing’s leftovers cleanly, and when throwing away the trash, he disposed of the young man’s as well.
That evening.
The young man finally finished reading.
He said apologetically, “I took too long reading.”
Nan Qingqing smiled and said, “It’s no problem.”
The young man asked for her opinion, “May I ask you a question?”
Nan Qingqing nodded readily.
The young man took out paper and pen, asking, “I’d like to know, as a female comrade, what are your thoughts on Margaret?”
Nan Qingqing inquired, “Are you a journalist?”
The young man nodded, saying, “Yes, I’m heading to Nancheng Newspaper for my new post. Regarding this story, I’m particularly interested in a female comrade’s perspective.”
Nan Qingqing stated, “One woman’s corruption tore away the hypocritical moral masks worn by countless men and women.”
The young man’s hand paused mid-writing.
He exclaimed ecstatically, “That’s exactly what I thought too, but I could never summarize it so succinctly! Comrade, your words are truly enlightening!”
The two proceeded to discuss the book in depth.
Lu Jianguo curiously asked Nan Honghong, “Who are they talking about? Margle-what? How can anyone use that as a name? It’s practically unspeakable. Back in our village, it would sound as crude as calling someone a bitch.”