Nan Honghong walked in.
Seeing that Lu Baiyang’s room showed no signs of wedding celebrations, she secretly felt pleased.
Of course.
Today’s celebration was for Lu Jianguo, so naturally only his room was decorated like a bridal chamber.
Such a stark contrast.
Nan Honghong couldn’t help but curl her lips.
She walked up to Nan Qingqing and said tentatively, “Qingqing, do you blame your sister?”
Nan Qingqing hung her head.
Her eyes darting around.
She knew Nan Honghong was probably testing whether she had also been reborn.
Nan Qingqing turned her body aside, “If you like Lu Jianguo, you can have him. Anyway, Lu Baiyang is better-looking than Lu Jianguo and serves in the military with a state grain ration. I’m not losing out compared to you at all! When Lu Baiyang becomes an official later, I’ll be an official’s wife.”
Nan Hongqing nearly laughed out loud.
An official’s wife indeed!
In two years, Lu Baiyang would be dead.
Before becoming an official’s wife, she’d have to become a widow first!
At this moment, Nan Honghong felt even more certain that she was the only one who had been reborn, and she finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Nan Qingqing casually picked up the bed broom beside the bed.
She hit Nan Honghong on the head with it, “Get out! Seeing you makes me angry!”
Nan Honghong cried out in pain from the hit.
Her forehead hurt terribly.
But Nan Honghong wasn’t angry – this only confirmed her belief that she alone had been reborn.
Nan Honghong stomped her foot in feigned anger, half-serious and half-playful as she said, “Little sister, with such a terrible temper, what man could stand you? You’d better pray for good fortune!”
These words struck a raw nerve with Nan Qingqing.
In her previous life.
When she was killed by the adulterous couple, Lu Jianguo had held Nan Honghong while kicking her corpse, saying she had a terrible temper, meddled too much, and deserved to be killed.
She ultimately couldn’t hold back.
The murderous intent brewing in Nan Qingqing’s downcast eyes was silent yet powerful.
Nan Honghong, thinking her words had merely angered Nan Qingqing and fearing she might attack again, quickly scurried away in disgrace.
The rural wedding banquet lasted until evening.
During the event.
Lu Baiyang had his niece bring a pancake to Nan Qingqing.
As darkness fell.
Lu Baiyang pushed the door open and entered.
Startled by the sound, Nan Qingqing immediately opened her eyes, turned over, and looked at Lu Baiyang.
Nan Qingqing hadn’t been able to stay awake earlier.
She had originally intended to take a short nap on the kang bed, but unexpectedly fell asleep.
Having just woken up.
Her innocent deer-like eyes were dazed and sleepy, looking somewhat blankly at Lu Baiyang. Her cherry-colored lips slightly parted, like bright red cockscomb flowers by the summer roadside, creating a strong allure against her fair, smooth face.
Lu Baiyang’s throat moved slightly.
He lowered his gaze, his long, thick black eyelashes concealing the emotions in his eyes, “I have a few words to say to you.”
Nan Qingqing immediately scrambled up, sitting obediently at the edge of the kang bed, “Go ahead.”
Lu Baiyang walked over.
Sitting on the stool by the kang bed, his posture upright and proper, “I’m a soldier. Through normal procedures, I need to file a report with my superiors to get married.”
Nan Qingqing instinctively grabbed the hem of her clothes.
Lu Baiyang said softly, “Tomorrow morning I’ll go to town to call my military unit and submit the application. You’re young and your temperament is inevitably unsteady, easily swayed by emotions when making decisions. So during this period while waiting for superior approval of the report, you can take your time to think it through clearly and abandon this marriage at any time.”
To put it plainly.
Lu Baiyang still felt that Nan Qingqing’s decision to marry him was partly motivated by a desire to provoke Lu Jianguo and Nan Honghong.
He feared this young woman was acting impulsively and might come to regret it.
After all,
in his view, no blossoming young girl would willingly marry a man nearly a decade her senior who already had two children.
Nan Qingqing secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
She had thought he was the one having regrets—it never occurred to her he was worried about her regretting it.
Releasing the hem of her clothes, she pressed her lips together and said, “I won’t regret it.”
Lu Baiyang curled his lips indifferently.
His disbelief was plain as day.
Nan Qingqing sighed inwardly. “Let’s not talk about this for now. I was wondering… could I take a bath first?”
Lu Baiyang thought for a moment. “Use the kitchen. I’ll stand guard outside.”
Nan Qingqing nodded eagerly.
Inside the cramped little kitchen,
Lu Baiyang effortlessly carried in a large basin too wide for Nan Qingqing to wrap her arms around. The muscles in his arms bulged beneath his army-green shirt—well-defined but not exaggerated, a perfect kind of ruggedness that radiated raw magnetism.
Next, he brought over all the thermoses in the house.
Because of the wedding, they had borrowed twenty thermoses from the village—more than enough for Nan Qingqing to bathe.
After preparing everything, Lu Baiyang turned his back without hesitation and said succinctly, “I’ll be outside. Don’t worry.”
Nan Qingqing: “Okay.”
Lu Baiyang positioned himself three steps away from the kitchen door, feet apart and hands clasped behind his back in a firm stance—steady as a poplar tree, unmoving.
Through the drafty window, Nan Qingqing could vaguely make out his silhouette outside, and it eased her mind considerably.
She picked up a gourd dipper, scooped several ladles of cold water into the basin, then poured in three thermoses of hot water. The temperature was slightly scalding, but she preferred bathing with hot water.
Mid-bath,
Nan Qingqing suddenly heard a faint squeaking.
It had been so long since she’d heard the sound of a mouse that it took her a moment to register. Just as she realized what it was, she felt a scratch near the small of her back.
Terrified, she spun around.
There in the bathing basin was a drowning mouse, desperately scrambling toward her.
Nan Qingqing let out a sharp scream, leaped to her feet, and scrambled out of the basin.
It all happened in under two seconds.
Lu Baiyang burst through the door. “What happened?”
Pale moonlight spilled into the room.
Their eyes met.
The shame of being completely exposed instantly overshadowed Nan Qingqing’s fear of the mouse.
Flustered, she tried to cover herself—but with only two hands,
it was impossible.
Blushing crimson with embarrassment, she quickly turned her back. “Th-there’s a mouse.”
Only then did Lu Baiyang snap out of it.
The tips of his ears burned fiercely.
His gaze shifted from a glimpse of smooth, pale skin to the water-filled basin, where a small gray mouse was now weakly flailing. Lu Baiyang grabbed it by the tail, flung it out in a swift arc, and tossed it straight into the chicken coop.
When he spoke again, his voice was unavoidably hoarse. “It’s gone. I’ll dump this dirty water.”
Effortlessly, he lifted the wooden basin, poured out the water, carried the empty basin back inside, and then quietly retreated.
From start to finish, Lu Baiyang’s eyes remained strictly disciplined—never wandering where they shouldn’.
After this little incident,
Nan Qingqing quickly rinsed off, changed her clothes, and came out.
She walked over to Lu Baiyang and said in a muffled voice, “I’m ready, let’s go back.”
On their way back to the room, they had to pass by Lu Jianguo’s window.
Just as they reached it, one after the other.
A lewd and unbearable sound drifted out from inside the room.
Both of them simultaneously held their breath, their bodies stiffening slightly.
A blush spread across Nan Qingqing’s face. She quickly quickened her pace, inwardly cursing Nan Honghong. Clearly, Lu Jianguo’s thing was nothing but a silver spearhead—good for show but useless—so what was she putting on an act for?
And making her feel so embarrassed in front of Lu Baiyang!
Nan Qingqing jogged all the way back to Lu Baiyang’s room and left the door open for him.
Lu Baiyang appeared at the doorway and said softly, “Close the door and go to sleep first.”
With that.
Lu Baiyang turned and headed to the kitchen.
He picked up the half bucket of cold water left over from Nan Qingqing’s diluted bath and poured it over his head.
The bone-chilling cold.
Extinguished some abnormal flames.