Su Ci hadn’t even had time to start her second round of treasure hunting when an uninvited guest arrived at the house.
Lin Xue stood at the gate of the Lu residence, carrying a mesh bag of apples. She wore a grass-green performance uniform from the art troupe, the waist tailored extremely slim, and two thick black braids hung neatly down her back.
She took a deep breath and arranged her face into a worried yet gentle expression before knocking on the courtyard door.
“Brother Lu Si, it’s Lin Xue. I heard about you… I came to see how you’re doing.”
But the person who opened the door wasn’t the gloomy man she expected.
Instead, it was Su Ci—wearing a loose cotton nightdress, her hair casually pinned up, a handful of sunflower seeds still in her hand.
Su Ci looked Lin Xue up and down.
So this was the female side character from the original story—the one who loved Lu Si, then turned resentful, and eventually reported him for “improper conduct” to protect her own career?
Pretty enough, she admitted. But the calculating look in those eyes was too obvious—like the slop bucket in the compound.
“Well, well. The star of the art troupe, huh?” Su Ci leaned against the doorframe, making no effort to move aside. “Looking for my Old Lu?”
A flash of disgust passed through Lin Xue’s eyes, but her smile remained perfectly polite.
“You must be sister-in-law. Brother Lu Si and I have been comrades for years. I heard he got married, so I came to visit. Is he here?”
Before Su Ci could answer, she had already turned sideways and tried to slip inside.
Su Ci didn’t stop her.
As Lin Xue brushed past, Su Ci cracked open a sunflower seed with a casual crunch and said lazily:
“He’s inside. But he’s not in the best mood. If he yells at you, don’t start crying.”
When Lin Xue entered the house, Lu Si was sitting in the main room cleaning his gun.
It was the service pistol he had brought back from the battlefield. Though the bullets had been removed, the weapon still carried a chilling aura of killing intent.
The moment he saw Lin Xue, Lu Si’s brows twisted into a tight knot.
“Who let you in?”
“Brother Lu Si…” Lin Xue’s eyes immediately reddened, her voice trembling with emotion. “You weren’t like this before. We grew up together in the compound. You were injured—I can’t even come check on you? I know you’re suffering inside. I don’t blame you.”
Su Ci, who had followed in behind her, nearly laughed out loud at those words.
That tea-like sweetness—stronger than the jasmine tea she’d just been drinking.
Seeing Lu Si remain silent, Lin Xue set the apples on the table and looked around the room.
The house was fairly tidy, but Su Ci’s coat was draped over a chair and a few teacups hadn’t been cleared away.
Lin Xue immediately found her angle.
She sighed and began rolling up her sleeves.
“Sister-in-law, honestly… how can the house be this messy? Brother Lu Si used to love cleanliness. How can he recover in an environment like this? Well, I suppose you’re from the countryside and might not understand these things. I’ll help tidy up.”
As she spoke, she reached for a rag to wipe the table, looking every bit like the mistress of the house—while Su Ci seemed like a lazy nanny who did nothing.
Lu Si was just about to explode when he felt someone lightly kick his wheelchair.
He looked up and met Su Ci’s sly almond eyes.
She winked at him.
Translation: Shut up. Watch the show.
Suddenly, Su Ci rushed forward with an expression of deep gratitude and grabbed Lin Xue’s hands.
“Comrade Lin Xue! You’re such a good person! You have no idea—taking care of Old Lu these past few days has almost broken my back!”
As she spoke, she firmly pressed the rag into Lin Xue’s hands and pointed toward a large basin of bedsheets in the courtyard.
“Since you care so much about Brother Lu Si, could you help wash those sheets? He changed them yesterday. You know his legs aren’t convenient… sometimes it’s a bit… difficult to clean them properly. My wrists are killing me. Since you’re an old comrade, you wouldn’t mind, right?”
Lin Xue’s smile froze.
Wash the sheets?
The sheets Lu Si had soiled during incontinence?
She was a germaphobe! She had come to display her virtue—not to become a maid!
“Th-that wouldn’t be appropriate,” Lin Xue said, trying to pull her hands back. “Something so private… it would be better for sister-in-law to wash them.”
“Oh come on,” Su Ci said, her face suddenly turning serious as her voice rose. “Didn’t you just say you’re all revolutionary comrades? Why divide things like that? Or are you saying your concern just now was fake? That you actually look down on my Old Lu because he’s disabled and think his things are dirty?”
That accusation landed like a heavy hat on Lin Xue’s head.
If she dared deny it, tomorrow the rumor “Art troupe star despises disabled war hero” would spread across the entire military compound.
Su Ci’s mastery of moral pressure was flawless.
Lu Si lifted his head from behind the newspaper and added coldly:
“If you don’t want to do it, leave. And don’t come again.”
“I… I’ll wash them.”
Lin Xue swallowed her anger and humiliation.
Soon, a strange scene appeared in the compound.
The proud beauty of the art troupe, Lin Xue, was crouched in the Lu family courtyard scrubbing bedsheets with a resentful expression.
Meanwhile, Su Ci sat beside her on a small stool, holding half a watermelon, eating happily while supervising.
“Hey, that corner isn’t clean. Scrub harder. Comrade Lin Xue, labor is glorious! Your posture isn’t very professional. Do you not get enough exercise in the troupe?”
By the time the sheets were washed, Lin Xue’s back ached, her carefully done makeup had run, and soap water splashed all over the hem of her skirt.
She had planned to look pitiful in front of Lu Si.
But when she turned around—
She saw Lu Si gently wiping watermelon juice from the corner of Su Ci’s mouth with a handkerchief.
His gaze was focused, helpless… yet faintly indulgent.
“Eat slower. No one’s stealing it from you. Watermelon is cold—don’t eat too much,” Lu Si said in a low voice.
Lin Xue’s composure shattered.
She had worked like a servant in the courtyard for him, and he was wiping that lazy woman’s mouth?!
“Brother Lu Si!” Lin Xue suddenly screamed. “Did she feed you some kind of love potion? All she does is eat and sleep and makes me do all the work! How can a lazy woman like her deserve you? If Uncle and Aunt knew—”
“Lin Xue.”
Lu Si cut her off. His voice was as cold as stone from an ice cellar.
Turning his wheelchair, his gaze became sharp as a blade.
“Su Ci is my wife. In this house, she can do whatever she wants—or nothing at all. As for whether she deserves me, that’s for me to decide.”
He paused, glancing toward the bedsheets hanging on the clothesline.
“And since you’re tired, go home. Don’t come here again unless there’s a reason. Su Ci gets jealous easily. I don’t want her to be unhappy.”
Next to him, Su Ci cooperated by putting on a fierce expression and slamming the watermelon rind on the table.
Lin Xue covered her face and ran out crying.
Watching her back, Su Ci clicked her tongue.
“Her combat power is too weak. I hadn’t even started trying.”
She turned to Lu Si with a cheerful smile and stretched out her hand.
“Old Lu, you performed well just now. As a reward, here’s a White Rabbit milk candy.”
Lu Si looked at the peeled candy in his palm, sighed helplessly, and obediently popped it into his mouth.
Sweet.