“Second Aunt!” the boy shouted again, completely without warning.
Ye Wenxi held the door handle, expressionless.
“Sorry, you’ve got the wrong person,” she said, moving to close the door.
“Hey, hey, hey… don’t shut it!”
The boy quickly stuck his foot in the door, his voice urgent.
“I didn’t get it wrong! You know Lu Weidong, right? He’s my second uncle! He sent me to find you!”
Ye Wenxi paused, studying him carefully.
“What’s this about?”
“Come in first, I’ll explain!”
The boy slipped inside through the narrow doorway with agile movements.
Ye Wenxi closed the door and leaned against the wall. “Why did your second uncle send you?”
Lu Xiaojun didn’t hesitate; he picked a chair and sat down.
He recounted everything—how he saw them at the courtyard gate, then went home to “report the news,” guessed the truth, and finally got sent by his uncle—all of it, step by step.
Hearing how this kid had rushed home to announce “good news” to the old lady made Ye Wenxi feel a bit shaken.
And when he accurately guessed the “rice already cooked” situation with one sentence, she nearly scowled.
This kid… is clever, isn’t he?
“My second uncle didn’t tell me the details,” Lu Xiaojun scratched his head, “but he asked me to bring you a message.”
“What message?”
He mimicked Lu Weidong’s calm, measured tone—and it actually sounded convincing.
“He said, ‘None of this is your concern. All the responsibility is mine.’”
Ye Wenxi’s pupils contracted slightly.
She understood immediately.
Lu Weidong intended to completely shield her from the “administered something” incident, taking full responsibility himself.
She had seen plenty of “heroic male leads” in novels and dramas.
But someone willing to risk ruining his own future and reputation to protect her? That kind of courage made her heart skip a beat.
For a moment, a thought formed in her mind: Has he lost his mind?
Ye Wenxi felt a bit dazed, almost unreal.
Before her transmigration, in that fast-paced society, she believed, “Focus on money, not men.”
She trusted only herself.
Having seen too many unreliable people, she didn’t think she needed anyone else as support.
But now, a real, living person—someone like Lu Weidong—stood before her.
Some part of her heart felt lightly, yet distinctly, struck.
Just as that warm feeling began to rise…
Ye Wenxi’s mental alarms blared, and she slammed the brakes.
Don’t get carried away.
Don’t forget how the original died.
This might be a plot setup for disaster.
She inhaled deeply, pushing down the tumultuous emotions and regaining her composure.
Lu Weidong had probably already come clean with his parents.
He sent this boy to deliver a message precisely so she would know what to expect, avoiding any contradictions later.
“小Jun, thanks for coming all the way to tell me this,” Ye Wenxi said calmly.
“Pssh, we’re family! No need to thank me!” Lu Xiaojun waved, but his curiosity got the better of him.
“Second Aunt, what do you do for a living?”
He studied her carefully, sensing an unspoken strength.
She was different from every other woman he had met in the courtyard—or anywhere.
The fact that his high-and-mighty second uncle cared so much about her made him incredibly curious.
“Me?” Ye Wenxi smiled faintly. “I don’t do anything. I’m unemployed.”
“Then… where are you from?” Lu Xiaojun pressed.
Ye Wenxi’s eyes twinkled mischievously.
She bent her eyes slightly, speaking half in jest, half in truth: “I come from another world… in the future.”
Lu Xiaojun froze, staring at her calm but inscrutable expression.
Whoa.
No wonder.
No wonder his second uncle had fallen for her.
“Ah! Second Aunt, I can’t stay and chat!” He jumped up abruptly.
“I need to go back and back up my second uncle! He’s fighting solo right now! See you at home!”
With that, he flung the door open and sprinted away, leaving no trace.
Back at the Lu family house, Liu Xiuyun and Aunt Sun were busy.
One prepared the meal in the kitchen; the other tidied the guest room.
Lu Zhenghua called Lu Weidong into his study.
As soon as the door closed, the grandfather’s gentle expression disappeared, replaced with a sharp gaze.
“Speak. What really happened?”
He knew his son too well.
Earlier, Lu Weidong’s explanation sounded logical and flawless on the surface.
But Lu Zhenghua knew his son—disciplined, self-controlled—would never do something so reckless as to get drunk and… lose control with a stranger he’d just met.
Lu Weidong met his father’s gaze, expression unchanged. “I’m telling the truth.”
“You think I’m a fool?” Lu Zhenghua’s voice deepened.
Lu Weidong said no more, took a deep breath, and repeated everything clearly, deliberately.
His demeanor was upright, like undergoing a formal inspection.
“No other circumstances. This is it.”
Lu Zhenghua’s temples throbbed with anger.
“Don’t play games with me! Have I said you’re not allowed to marry? Not allowed to take responsibility?”
“Being responsible is your duty! But I must understand the full truth!”
“Do you not know the situation of our family? You’re a commanding officer—don’t you have any sense of alertness?!”
Lu Weidong did have sensitivity.
He had thought repeatedly about the inconsistencies, even willing to let the political review and his father verify everything.
But for some reason, a voice in his heart insisted: Ye Wenxi wasn’t scheming, and she wasn’t a spy.
Although she carried many inexplicable details, he had never trusted “intuition” or “feelings” before.
Yet this time… it persisted.
Seeing his son stiffen and remain silent, Lu Zhenghua sighed, softening his tone slightly.
“Have you… really taken a liking to her?”
An outsider could see it clearly.
Lu Weidong’s sense of responsibility was one thing.
But the instinctive protection he displayed went beyond mere duty.
The question made Lu Weidong pause. He didn’t know himself.
Single for twenty-four years, he had never even had a crush.
Yet with this girl he’d known only one day, he felt… something special.
“You’re wasting time. Speak, or you’ll drive me crazy!” Lu Zhenghua waved irritably.
“Fine. Bring her back first. Get her ID, political clearance, marriage registration—handle it quickly, don’t delay.”