It was quite a coincidence that when Lu Xiaoyan returned home and asked her parents about Old Fourth’s situation,
the Lu Family Old Master said without much attitude or expression, “He hasn’t come back yet.”
Lu Xiaoyan didn’t press further.
Instead, it was Lu Xiaojing, who was talking with the young woman on a blind date with Lu Shaoting,
who questioned Lu Xiaoyan about why she kept looking for Old Fourth.
Seeing the guilt in Lu Xiaoyan’s eyes, which couldn’t hide anything,
Lu Xiaojing immediately suspected that Lu Xiaoyan was up to something shady.
The relationship between the two sisters, Lu Xiaojing and Lu Xiaoyan, had never been good.
Initially, Lu Xiaojing had married well and often flaunted it in front of her younger sister Lu Xiaoyan, even making many disparaging remarks about Lu Xiaoyan’s husband.
But now, Lu Xiaojing’s husband had been caught taking kickbacks during a university research project.
Thanks to the Lu family’s connections, he wasn’t fired, but he was no longer assigned important tasks.
Not only had his income dropped, but rumors also spread at the university about his inappropriate closeness with a female student.
In contrast, Lu Xiaoyan not only had a harmonious marriage but also a son who excelled in his studies.
As an only child, he was able to stay in the city.
Lu Xiaojing had two children: an older daughter and a younger son.
The daughter had gone to the countryside years ago and hadn’t returned since.
The son was useless and performed poorly in school.
Later, they sought help from Lu Shaoting to get him into the military.
The disparity in family and children’s situations fueled Lu Xiaojing’s jealousy toward her younger sister Lu Xiaoyan.
In short, she couldn’t stand the idea of Lu Xiaoyan doing better than her.
Yet, Lu Shaoting would listen to a few words from Lu Xiaoyan, while he completely ignored anything Lu Xiaojing or Lu Jianming said.
Lu Xiaojing was curious: What did Lu Xiaoyan want from Lu Shaoting?
“Lu Xiaoyan, you’ve never been good at lying since you were little. Whenever you lie, your eyes dart around.”
“What do you want with Old Fourth?”
Lu Xiaoyan didn’t want to say, but Lu Xiaojing blocked her in the kitchen.
Unexpectedly, Zhou Liyun, Lu Shaoting’s blind date, overheard them.
Zhou Liyun knew Lu Shaoting.
In fact, they had met earlier at a matchmaking event organized by their workplace and the military unit.
Zhou Liyun worked in the pharmacy of the military hospital. After attending the event once, she became interested in Lu Shaoting.
But at the time, Lu Shaoting had clearly rejected many people.
Zhou Liyun was twenty-five then, dressed in a modern and fashionable style, thinking she could attract Lu Shaoting.
Unexpectedly, Lu Shaoting completely ignored her.
This blind date was arranged by her uncle, who had some connection with the Lu Family Old Master, who recommended her.
When the Lu family heard about Zhou Liyun, they thought she and Lu Shaoting were close in age and she had a proper job.
So they invited her over for a blind date.
Zhou Liyun heard from the Lu family that Lu Shaoting hadn’t refused. Since he didn’t refuse, that meant he was willing to meet her and had some interest in her.
Zhou Liyun would absolutely not let anyone else take Lu Shaoting away from her.
Zhou Liyun thought about going outside to take a look and chase the person away.
She wouldn’t allow anyone to ruin her blind date.
But what she didn’t expect was that when Zhou Liyun reached the entrance, she not only saw a young and beautiful female comrade, but also noticed that despite the woman’s plain, even ragged and thin clothing, it couldn’t hide her innocent and lovely face, full of pure charm. What made people even more envious was her overly youthful and pretty face.
Peach blossom eyes, cherry lips, long black hair tied into two braids.
And standing there in his military uniform, tall and imposing, was Lu Shaoting.
Zhou Liyun walked over with light steps, a gentle smile on her face.
“Shaoting, you’re back. Why aren’t you going home? I heard from Second Sister that you were coming back soon, so I came to the entrance to meet you.”
Lu Shaoting glanced at Zhou Liyun.
He grunted gloomily, “You go back first.”
Zhou Liyun remained unmoved, though a flash of jealousy appeared in her eyes as she stared at Gu Xia, while maintaining her smile.
“Shaoting, who is this young girl in front of you? She’s quite pretty.”
Zhou Liyun knew Gu Xia had come to see Lu Shaoting, and she asked this deliberately.
Gu Xia looked at Zhou Liyun, then at the strong possessiveness Zhou Liyun showed toward Lu Shaoting.
She suddenly understood…
Earlier, the Second Sister of the Lu family had said something: “The fourth brother has already agreed to the blind date, so why hasn’t this matter been settled yet?”
“Lu Shaoting, I won’t disturb your blind date arrangements, but today you must give me an explanation. Or, I can wait for you to come find me later.”
Lu Shaoting’s face clearly showed impatience.
He had just explained to Gu Xia that the higher-ups were currently conducting strict investigations, and regarding the Gu family’s affairs, it wasn’t a good time for him to intervene.
He belonged to the military district, while Gu Xia’s parents’ issues were related to political stances.
But to be honest, given the current situation, the Gu family’s matters really weren’t worth Lu Shaoting’s personal intervention.
As a deputy division commander, doing something against regulations just for a woman—he couldn’t bring himself to do it psychologically.
Gu Xia could see it—she wasn’t important to Lu Shaoting. His refusal to intervene now meant he saw no reason to help her. To put it bluntly, she wasn’t worth it.
Moreover, she had even threatened him with the child in her womb.
This made Lu Shaoting even more displeased.
But Gu Xia truly had no other options.
In the end, she had been too naive, thinking that helping her parents and sister would be easy and straightforward.
Come to think of it, she had used deceit to become pregnant with Lu Shaoting’s child, which naturally angered him and made it even less likely for him to help her.
After Lu Shaoting finished speaking, seeing that Gu Xia hadn’t moved and remained stubbornly standing in place, he said harshly:
“I told you to go back. Can’t you understand human words? Gu Xia, I’m telling you, you’d better know your place and not cause trouble.”
Gu Xia was so frightened by his cold, stern gaze that her hands trembled uncontrollably, but she still managed to say:
“You promised me. I listened to you, and you would help me. You’re such a high-ranking leader—you can’t go back on your word.”
“Get lost.”
This single “get lost” made even Zhou Liyun’s heart tremble.
At the same time, her expression grew even gentler.
“Shaoting, don’t be angry. Let’s go home. People who aren’t worth caring about don’t deserve your attention. These young girls outside really don’t know who they learned from, clinging to men at such a young age.”
Lu Shaoting subtly avoided Zhou Liyun’s physical contact and turned to walk toward the family compound.
After glaring fiercely at Gu Xia, Zhou Liyun quickly chased after Lu Shaoting.
She called out, “Shaoting, wait for me!”
Gu Xia didn’t know how she numbly made it back to her rented apartment.
She didn’t even feel hunger anymore. After returning to the apartment, she lay down on the bed and fell into a deep, heavy sleep.
In her dreams, she didn’t know where she was.
She couldn’t tell whether it was her past life or this present one…
She cried bitterly, filled with resentment, blaming herself for being useless. Whether in her past life or this one, she seemed unable to change the tragic fates of her parents and sister.
While she was in that deep, dazed sleep, she suddenly heard knocking at the door.
Opening her eyes and seeing the pitch-black room, Gu Xia realized she had slept straight through until it was completely dark outside.
She quickly got up and turned on the light in the room.
Only then did Gu Xia go to open the door.
What met her eyes was Lu Shaoting, his expression cold and somewhat stern, not given to casual smiles.
Suddenly, as if moved by some inexplicable impulse, Gu Xia stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Lu Shaoting.
Her hands circled his neck as she leaned in and kissed his thin lips.