Yesterday, Wen Yan had asked him, “Do you dare call her ‘our Ruanruan’ in front of your future wife?”
Now Lu Mingye could answer that question…
Of course he didn’t dare!
His current reaction was the perfect proof. If Shen Ruanruan weren’t standing right here, he would’ve slapped himself.
Serves you right for talking too fast.
“Um… I’ll go wash the dishes.”
As he spoke, he stood up, picked up the bowls, and strode toward the kitchen. No matter how one looked at it, his back carried the feeling of fleeing in panic.
Shen Ruanruan sat where she was, the corners of her lips lifting at the sight.
She used to hear her father call her mother “Madam” all the time and always thought it sounded sweet.
Now, being called Lu Mingye’s wife…
Actually didn’t sound bad either.
“Forget it. He cooked, and now he’s washing dishes too. Doesn’t that make me no different from an ordinary man?”
She muttered to herself.
“I should at least go keep him company. Even if I’m not helping, moral support still counts, right?”
So Shen Ruanruan walked into the kitchen too.
The man never turned around, but his body noticeably stiffened. Clearly, he had been paying attention to her the whole time.
“Lu Mingye, why are you running? I still haven’t finished talking to you. When should we go get the marriage certificate? Do we need to tell your parents in advance? And about the wedding banquet… I don’t know anyone here, so having a big banquet feels kind of awkward. But we definitely need to invite people for a meal. Are we supposed to cook everything ourselves? I can’t cook, and if you do it all alone you’ll be exhausted. Can we ask people to help?”
The little girl rambled on endlessly.
It was hard to tell how much the man actually heard.
After a moment, he casually asked,
“Earlier today, didn’t you call me… something else? Why did you switch back again?”
“Call you what?”
Shen Ruanruan looked puzzled.
Wasn’t she talking about the wedding…
Wait.
Earlier today she had called him—
“A’Ye?”
The girl stared at him. Seeing the flicker in his eyes, a mischievous smile appeared in hers.
“You like hearing me call you A’Ye?”
“It’s not really about liking it or not.”
The man’s gaze drifted away.
“It’s mainly because we’re getting married. If you still call me by my full name, other people will think there’s something wrong between us.”
Meanwhile, the bowl in his hand had been wiped in the exact same spot nearly ten times.
Shen Ruanruan noticed all of it.
She exposed him immediately, grinning teasingly.
“A’Ye~~~ you’re seriously such a closet romantic. If you like it, just say so. Yet you still have to come up with all these excuses.”
She tugged at the edge of his apron coquettishly.
“Hurry and tell me whether you like it or not. If you don’t tell the truth, then I won’t call you that anymore. From now on I’ll only call you Lu Mingye!”
The man’s heart skipped violently.
He had never been able to resist her acting spoiled before, let alone now.
He set down the bowl in his hands and turned sideways to face her. Bending slightly, he met her bright eyes with a serious expression, though deep within his gaze was restraint on the verge of breaking.
“I like it.”
“I like it very much.”
…
Thump. Thump. Thump…
As the two stared at each other, it was impossible to tell whose heartbeat was growing faster.
Or maybe both of theirs were.
Suddenly feeling dry-mouthed, Shen Ruanruan was the first to look away.
If he liked it, then he liked it. Why did he have to say it in such a misleading way?
Anyone hearing him would think he meant he liked her.
“You still haven’t answered what I asked earlier.”
Lu Mingye took a deep breath and looked away, bitterly amused at himself, while continuing to wash the dishes.
“As for getting the certificate, anytime works for me. There’s no need to tell my parents. If you don’t want a formal wedding banquet, then we’ll just invite everyone for a meal here in the family compound. We don’t have to cook ourselves. We can ask people to help.”
He hadn’t missed a single one of her questions.
But Shen Ruanruan still wasn’t satisfied.
He didn’t want his family to know…
Was his relationship with his family bad?
Or did he simply not want to introduce her to them?
Or…
Was it because of the owner of that sunflower hair tie?
Could Wen Yan have misunderstood things?
But even if it was a misunderstanding, in her previous life he really had died in her place.
Her fingers curled slightly.
Suddenly, she didn’t dare ask anything anymore.
“Didn’t you say we still need to build the heated brick bed and tidy up the house? Let’s get the certificate after we finish everything.”
The man paused briefly while wiping the bowl before calmly finishing the last one.
“Okay.”
After cleaning up the kitchen, the man started working in the courtyard again.
The dirty clothes they had changed out of yesterday still hadn’t been washed, mainly because there was nowhere to hang them.
Today they had bought rope from the supply cooperative, so now he hammered nails into the walls on both sides of the courtyard and fixed the rope up to make a clothesline.
Once he finished, Shen Ruanruan came out carrying her old clothes.
“Doing laundry?” the man asked.
She nodded.
“Would you mind if I washed them for you?”
The man blocked her path.
Ever since washing the dishes, her mood seemed to have dropped.
Why?
Again.
First he didn’t want her meeting his family even after marriage, and now he even wanted to wash her clothes for her.
His attitude was impossible to figure out.
“I mind!”
Shen Ruanruan suddenly got angry. She glared at him and shoved him aside.
After entering the kitchen, she discovered there was no hot water.
If she wanted to do laundry, she’d have to heat the water herself.
But this kitchen used a traditional clay stove, and she didn’t even know how to start a fire…
The tightly stretched string inside her finally snapped.
Ever since childhood, she had been treasured by her parents.
When she was overseas, people called her a “little genius” because of her extraordinary medical talent.
After returning to China, she skipped grades repeatedly, and every teacher who taught her praised her endlessly. At sixteen, she had already earned her university diploma.
Everything had been fine.
Then suddenly, her parents met with disaster.
She had been forced to get married.
The person she thought she could entrust her life to had suddenly changed his attitude.
His whole family bullied her.
She could endure all of that.
But why did they have to hurt her parents too?
She had never killed anyone.
Why was everyone forcing her…
And Lu Mingye—
Wouldn’t it have been better to just let her die?
Why did he take the blame for her?
A hero who had saved so many people had ended up dying branded as a criminal.
She could never repay that.
And just when she thought everything was finally over, fate cruelly played another joke on her.
She had returned to the very beginning again…
Holding the matchbox in trembling hands, Shen Ruanruan pulled out a match and struck it against the side.
It didn’t light.
She tried again.
The match snapped.
Tap.
A teardrop landed on the cement floor.
She forced the tears back and reached for another match, but her hands shook too badly. The matchbox slipped and scattered matches all over the ground.
Suddenly, she couldn’t hold herself together anymore.
Squatting on the floor, she curled herself into a tiny ball.
She would just cry secretly for a little while.
Just a little while, and she’d be okay again.
Shen Ruanruan, don’t be afraid.
Everything will get better.
…
When Lu Mingye followed her inside, this was the scene he saw.
The girl who loved smiling so much had curled herself into the tiniest ball. Matches were scattered all over the floor around her, and there was a damp patch on the ground in front of her.
There was no loud crying in the kitchen.
Only tiny sniffles, as if she was afraid someone might hear her.
His heart clenched painfully.
Even breathing became difficult.
His body reacted faster than his mind. Carefully, he crouched down beside that small trembling figure and gently pulled her into his arms.
A helpless yet heartbroken voice sounded above her.
“Miss Ruanruan… what happened? Why are you crying like this?”
—— Author’s Note ——
Do you all remember how Ruanruan died in her previous life?
By slitting her wrists…
Psychologically, she’s actually carrying a lot of trauma.
She’s like a child forced to grow up too quickly, hiding countless things inside her heart without anyone she can talk to. And with her parents gone, the only thing supporting her disappeared too.
What Wen Yan said in her previous life gave her another emotional anchor—Lu Mingye.
But his hot-and-cold behavior keeps making Ruanruan feel deeply insecure.
So…
Sigh.
An adult’s breakdown really can happen in just one moment.