Lu Beizhen’s gaze slowly shifted from the bicycle to Song Tian.
His brows were tightly furrowed, almost forming a dark dot.
Hadn’t he already given this woman a bicycle ticket?
Why was she still riding this old, broken bike?
“Commander Lu, aren’t you coming inside?” Song Tian opened the door and, seeing him silent for a long moment, asked.
Lu Beizhen pressed his lips, then stepped into the house.
Fang Shuqin wasn’t home, and the house was quiet.
So quiet, in fact, that they could almost hear each other’s breathing.
Song Tian was inexplicably reminded of yesterday afternoon, when Lu Beizhen had called her.
Back then, it had been just as silent—neither of them spoke.
But the difference now was that Lu Beizhen was standing in front of her, less than two meters away. The tungsten lamp behind him cast their shadows so that they intertwined, merging into one.
It felt almost as if they were embracing…
The air itself seemed to grow a little hotter, charged with a subtle, intimate tension.
But in the next moment, Lu Beizhen’s words shattered that fleeting romantic atmosphere.
“What about that bicycle ticket?” he asked.
Song Tian immediately snapped out of her reverie.
She realized she had guessed correctly.
Yesterday’s call, and his rush to return today to stand by her old bicycle at the door, had all been about that bicycle ticket.
“I was just about to give it to you! Here, this is for you!” Song Tian handed him a narrow, tiny ticket.
Lu Beizhen took it and looked at it, only to find it was a TV ticket.
“Where did you get this?” he asked, frowning.
“I exchanged for it,” Song Tian replied honestly. “I traded with the factory director at the mechanical plant. He happened to have a TV ticket he didn’t need.”
At her words, Lu Beizhen’s expression turned chillingly cold.
The gift he had given her… was it so easily dismissed?
She had even added money to make the trade, exchanging it for a TV ticket.
“Go get the original ticket back,” Lu Beizhen said.
Song Tian widened her eyes. “That can’t work! The factory director already promised it, and he even gave it to his wife. Going to take it back now would be so inappropriate.”
At dinner at the state-run restaurant today, the factory director’s wife had mentioned how she had wanted a refrigerator for years but couldn’t get a ticket.
When she had held that ticket, she even cried.
Now, to take it back… Song Tian felt like she would be heartless.
Besides—
“This is a TV ticket! A TV! You can watch dramas on it. It’s even better than the original ticket I had.”
Refrigerators in the ’70s mainly had preservation functions, with almost no freezer compartment. Plus, with unstable voltage, they often lost power in the summer, and anything inside would spoil.
It was truly a barely useful item.
Yet, somehow, as soon as she said this, Lu Beizhen’s face darkened like the bottom of a pot.
Had she said something wrong?
Song Tian felt uneasy and tentatively asked, “Do you want my original ticket instead?”
“To give something to you, and then you trade it away? Song Tian, you really know how to waste someone’s thoughtfulness,” Lu Beizhen said coldly, his voice sending shivers straight to her bones.
She couldn’t help feeling a little frustrated.
The item from the city was hers. She merely exchanged it—how could that count as wasting his thoughtfulness?
“I didn’t need a refrigerator anyway. What’s wrong with trading it with the director?” Song Tian asked in return.
Moreover, the TV ticket was meant for Lu Beizhen anyway.
So why was he still angry?
At her words, Lu Beizhen’s stern expression stiffened. “A refrigerator?”
“I did well at the mechanical plant, and the city rewarded me with a refrigerator ticket,” Song Tian replied.
“You just said… it was a refrigerator ticket?”
“Yes! Otherwise, what did you think it was?”
He thought…
Just then, the entrance door opened, and Fang Shuqin came in.
Seeing the two of them, her eyes lit up. “Oh, Beizhen! When did you get back? Song Tian, you’re off work too? I was chatting with Aunt Liu and completely lost track of time. You’ve been back for a while, right?”
“I just got back too,” Song Tian forced a smile. “Mom, the factory director treated me to dinner today. I’m going upstairs to shower and rest first.”
“All right, all right. Go take your shower—hot water’s ready in the thermos,” Fang Shuqin said immediately.
“Thanks, Mom.”
Fang Shuqin watched her go upstairs, then turned to see Lu Beizhen still looking up toward the stairs.
She couldn’t help laughing and nudged him with her elbow. “See how valued our little Sweetpea is at the mechanical plant? The director even personally treated her to dinner! She told me before, if she finishes her work well, he plans to give her a raise!”
Who else could earn the director’s favor so quickly, and even get promised a raise?
“You should work hard too, so you don’t end up not matching our Sweetpea,” Fang Shuqin teased.
Although she thought having the woman work outside while the man stayed home was fine, it meant Sweetpea would have to earn money to support the family—so tiring.
It was better for Lu Beizhen to handle the earning.
Song Tian could work when she wanted, stay home when she didn’t, and just wait for Lu Beizhen every day—a cozy, sweet arrangement.
Fang Shuqin’s mind buzzed with countless thoughts.
“What about the bicycle?” Lu Beizhen asked sideways. “Didn’t you buy it?”
Fang Shuqin rolled her eyes. “What’s that look? Thinking I’m too stingy to spend on Sweetpea? We went to buy it, but it was out of stock, so we came back to wait.”
Hearing this, Lu Beizhen lowered his eyes, lost in thought.
So… he had misunderstood Song Tian…
After her shower, Song Tian felt completely refreshed.
She pushed the door open and flopped onto the bed, intending to sleep soundly.
But as soon as she hit the mattress, something felt off.
Someone else was in the room!
She hurriedly sat up, finding Lu Beizhen there.
She didn’t notice when he had sat at the desk, but in the dim, unlit bedroom, his dark eyes, sharp as an eagle’s, were fixed on her.
Click!
Song Tian pulled the cord and turned on the tungsten lamp.
Warm yellow light instantly poured over them.
Their eyes met, each expression complex.
Lu Beizhen spoke first: “Why did you give me a TV ticket?”
Song Tian wanted to say, Of course, because you’re getting married!
But she didn’t dare.
Saying that would reveal to Lu Beizhen that she had witnessed the entire scene of him being rejected by his mother-in-law outside the compound.
After all, Lu Beizhen was a commander; he had to maintain some dignity.
So she said instead, “I just thought you could use a TV.”
“Why do you think that?” Lu Beizhen pressed.
Song Tian faltered.
“Because… because you have to watch military-related things every day. If there’s a TV, you can learn more.”
It was a lie.
When she had gone to Lu Beizhen’s study to swap underwear, she had glanced at the books on his desk—they were all about military matters. So she blurted that out.
Lu Beizhen’s pupils suddenly contracted sharply.
This woman had… intentionally tried to understand him?
“Anyway, you take it. You gave me a bicycle, so it’s fair that I give you a TV,” Song Tian said, leaning forward to hand him the TV ticket.
But Lu Beizhen’s gaze darkened and dropped, settling somewhere else.
His throat moved, and his eyes grew hotter.
Following his gaze, Song Tian looked down—and her mind went blank, her face turning crimson.
She had just come out of the shower and intended to sleep, so she wasn’t wearing underwear.
Leaning forward on the bed like that, everything that should be covered—and some things that shouldn’t—was now fully exposed to Lu Beizhen…
Panicked, Song Tian reached to pull at her collar.
But the edge of her sleepwear was caught under her bent knees. As she tugged, she heard a crisp ripping sound.
Her pajamas were torn.
What should have been covered—and what shouldn’t—could no longer be hidden…