In the original novel, the Lu family was a deeply rooted military household—upright, disciplined, and politically spotless.
From the elders down to the youngest generation, nearly everyone served in the army or related fields. Their family conduct was strict and proper.
These days, the family had two major headaches.
One: Lu Weidong stubbornly refusing to find a partner.
Two: their grandson, Lu Xiaojun.
Lu Xiaojun had grown up running wild in the military compound, mischievous to the extreme. If he wasn’t stirring up one problem, he was causing another.
Fortunately, the boy wasn’t bad at heart. Just rebellious. The more you tried to control him, the more he pushed back.
From childhood till now, he’d taken plenty of belt lashings from his father—but they never seemed to do much good.
Strangely enough, though, he felt close to his unmarried second uncle, Lu Weidong, who spent most of his time away leading troops.
He admired the drive in his uncle—the way he didn’t follow the crowd and insisted on living life his own way.
In some inexplicable way, the two of them could actually talk things through.
Lu Xiaojun had just pedaled out of the house when he turned a corner and nearly ran straight into Lu Weidong.
“Second Uncle!”
Lu Weidong looked up at the call. “Xiaojun. School’s out?”
“Mm-hmm!”
Lu Xiaojun wore a mischievous grin, sizing him up from head to toe.
“Second Uncle, where’s my Second Aunt? Didn’t you come with her? Where is she?”
Lu Weidong paused. “You saw that?”
“Second Uncle, were your eyes glued only to Second Aunt? I rode right past you and you didn’t even notice me.”
Lu Weidong reached out and ruffled his hair. “Brat. Getting cheeky with your uncle now?”
Lu Xiaojun brushed his hand away, leaning closer, eyes sparkling as he lowered his voice.
“Tell me first—is she really my Second Aunt?”
Lu Weidong felt oddly uncomfortable under that gaze.
The corner of his mouth lifted uncontrollably. “Mm.”
“Hahaha! I knew it!” Lu Xiaojun slapped his thigh, overjoyed. “I told Grandma but she wouldn’t believe me! Said I was messing with her!”
Lu Weidong’s smile froze. “You told your grandma?”
“Yeah! But she wouldn’t believe it. Said where would you get a wife from? And if you really got married, she’d jump for joy.”
The smile faded from Lu Weidong’s face. He inhaled slowly, brows knitting slightly.
“Let’s go home first.”
Lu Xiaojun stared at his uncle’s suddenly clouded expression, confused.
Wasn’t this a good thing? Why did he look upset?
From the second-floor balcony of the Lu family villa, the courtyard was clearly visible.
Liu Xiuyun was bent over spreading shredded beans across kraft paper when she caught sight of two familiar figures—one tall, one shorter—walking toward the house.
The beans in her hands spilled to the ground.
“Oh my.” She straightened, shading her eyes to look closer. “It really is!”
Aunt Sun squinted too. “It’s Weidong! Why is he alone?”
The two hurried inside. Liu Xiuyun rushed to the entrance just as Lu Weidong and Lu Xiaojun pushed open the door.
“Weidong! Why are you back? Didn’t you return to your unit?”
She grabbed his arm, eyes darting behind him.
“You’re alone? Xiaojun said he saw you with a woman—is that true?”
Lu Weidong didn’t answer directly. Instead, he asked, “Where’s Dad?”
“Your father went out to play chess! Answer me first!”
“We’ll talk when Dad gets back.”
Liu Xiuyun and Aunt Sun exchanged a look.
“Oh my, it’s true!”
She slapped her thigh, beaming.
“You have a girlfriend and didn’t tell us? Look at that—what a misunderstanding!”
“Did the girl get upset? Was it because of that dinner?”
“Well whose fault is that? If you’d brought her home earlier! Where is she? Why didn’t you bring her?”
The more she spoke, the more anxious she became. “Say something!”
Cornered by questions, Lu Weidong hurried inside vaguely. “I—I’m going to the bathroom first.”
Liu Xiuyun could hardly contain her joy.
Her greatest worry had always been this second son’s marriage. Who would’ve thought he’d quietly find someone suitable himself!
The sudden good news had her spinning in delight.
“Aunt Sun! Go find Old Lu!”
“And buy some ribs, some meat—get the good stuff! We need to prepare properly!”
“Alright!” Aunt Sun responded cheerfully and rushed off.
Though Lu Weidong hadn’t outright admitted anything, Liu Xiuyun had already completed an entire “perfect logic” in her mind:
Her son must have found a girlfriend on his own.
The girl probably wanted to take things slow, not ready to meet the parents yet—so he hadn’t brought her home.
That’s why he resisted the arranged meetings!
She must have found out about the matchmaking and gotten upset.
So in a rush, the two of them confirmed their relationship to stop others from interfering.
That must be why he didn’t leave yesterday.
He went to explain to the girl!
And today, he came back!
The more she thought about it, the more convinced she became.
She even started humming, feeling rather proud.
In the end, wasn’t it thanks to her pushing things along?
And remembering Xiaojun’s description—“really pretty, tall, elegant, perfect match for Second Uncle”—made her even happier.
Lu Xiaojun felt something wasn’t right.
His uncle’s reaction earlier had been evasive.
Something was definitely off.
He sneaked upstairs and discovered Lu Weidong wasn’t in the bathroom at all, but sitting on the edge of his bed.
Lu Xiaojun slipped inside and leaned closer, lowering his voice.
“What’s going on, Second Uncle? Something hidden?”
Lu Weidong dragged both hands down his face and sighed deeply.
That look…
This was serious.
Lu Xiaojun had never seen his uncle like this before.
The man he knew was always steady as a mountain, decisive and unshakable—like nothing in the world could knock him down.
Lu Xiaojun’s eyes rolled mischievously.
“You two didn’t just meet yesterday and accidentally… cross the line, did you?”
Lu Weidong shot up, staring at him in disbelief.
Judging by that reaction—
Yep.
He’d guessed right.
Lu Weidong stood.
The earlier frustration and hesitation had vanished from his face.
Emotions were one thing—but he couldn’t stay trapped in them.
What was done was done.
Marriage was necessary.
It was his responsibility.
He drew in a deep breath and made up his mind.
At worst, he would shoulder everything himself.
He would never mention the matter of the drug.
He couldn’t let Ye Wenxi face that kind of humiliation and pressure.
He would simply say it was his momentary impulse—unable to resist his feelings.
After all…
He would take responsibility.