Three seconds later.
“Pfft—” Jiang Wantang really couldn’t hold it in any longer. She slumped over the table, her shoulders shaking with laughter.
“Hahaha! Lu Chenzhou, it looks like your stomach begs to differ!”
“Shut up!”
The man’s face went completely dark. He stood up, turning to walk out.
“Hey, hey, hey!” Jiang Wantang quickly called out to stop him. “Come back!”
Lu Chenzhou didn’t even turn his head. “Not eating.”
“Who asked you to eat? Come over and help me check if this egg has gone bad,” Jiang Wantang had no choice but to take a different approach.
Lu Chenzhou paused. After a beat, he turned around after all. “It was just fried, how could it—”
Before he could finish his sentence, Jiang Wantang picked up half a fried egg with her chopsticks and stuffed it straight into his mouth!
Caught completely off guard, Lu Chenzhou suddenly found half an egg shoved into his mouth, freezing on the spot.
Taking advantage of his shock, Jiang Wantang pulled back her chopsticks. “Heh heh, walked right into my trap, didn’t you!”
With half an egg stuffed in his mouth, Lu Chenzhou wanted to blow his top, but he couldn’t open his mouth without dropping it.
Jiang Wantang almost died laughing at the sight of him. “Hurry up and chew! Are you holding it in there to hatch a chick?”
Only after a long moment did Lu Chenzhou swallow the egg, his expression dark as thunder. “Jiang Wantang! Are you trying to die?”
“It’s just an egg, is it really that big of a deal? I was happy to give it to you.” Jiang Wantang picked up the remaining half of the egg, popped it into her own mouth, and chewed with relish. “Perfect, half for each of us.”
Lu Chenzhou glared at her intently. “Who’s sharing half with you?”
“Lu Chenzhou, why are you always so awkward?” Jiang Wantang swallowed the egg, broke a piece of corn cake in half, and passed it over.
“If you wanted me to eat well, just say so. Did a dog fry that egg for me?”
Lu Chenzhou glared daggers at her.
“Last night you baked a sweet potato for me, today you boiled face-washing water and made breakfast, and you even saved the egg for me.” Jiang Wantang ticked the points off on her fingers. “Comrade Lu, your way of ‘hating’ someone sure is special.”
“Even food can’t keep your mouth shut,” Lu Chenzhou said, exasperated.
“It can!” Jiang Wantang held the half-piece of corn cake right in front of his face, looking at him with a beaming smile. “If you eat this, I’ll close my mouth.”
“I’m not eating it.”
“Then I’ll keep talking. Last night, who was it that…”
Lu Chenzhou snatched the corn cake out of her hand. “Shut up!”
“Alrighty!” Jiang Wantang immediately lowered her head and sipped her porridge.
Lu Chenzhou looked at the woman sitting across from him, eating with her head bowed. The morning sunlight spilled through the window, resting softly against her side profile.
Two people at the table, two pairs of chopsticks, a bowl of porridge, and two cakes. It was meager—they didn’t even have a proper breakfast—yet Lu Chenzhou suddenly felt that this house, which had been cold for so many years, seemed to have a spark of life and warmth for the very first time.
Like a home.
The moment that thought surfaced, his expression darkened sharply. He couldn’t think like that, let alone believe it. Jiang Wantang was the best at deceiving people. Give her a little sweetness, and he’d foolishly offer up his life all over again. Had the pain from last time not been enough?
Jiang Wantang asked, “Lu Chenzhou?”
Lu Chenzhou replied, “What?”
Jiang Wantang said, “What are you zoning out for?”
Lu Chenzhou said, “Nothing.”
Jiang Wantang finished the last drop of porridge, letting out a long, satisfied breath.
“I’m stuffed!” She was just about to get up and wash the dishes—
“Leave the bowls, I’ll wash them.”
Jiang Wantang raised an eyebrow. “You cooked, and you’re washing the dishes too? Then I’ll trouble Comrade Lu.”
Lu Chenzhou snapped, “Get out.”
“Alrighty!” She stood up and headed straight for the door.
The bowl in Lu Chenzhou’s hand slammed into the water basin with a loud clatter. “Jiang Wantang! Where do you think you’re going?”
Jiang Wantang stood at the doorway, looking completely innocent. “Didn’t you just tell me to get out?”
Lu Chenzhou’s chest heaved violently.
Jiang Wantang really couldn’t hold it in anymore and burst into laughter.
“Just teasing you! I’m going to the educated youth point to grab some of my things, and then I’ll find the team leader to cancel my leave. I got back too late last night; I can’t just play dead and skip work today, can I?”
Lu Chenzhou said, “You’re not going to the educated youth point.”
Jiang Wantang replied, “Lu Chenzhou, here you go again, huh?”
Lu Chenzhou said, “I’ll get your things.”
Jiang Wantang asked, “Do you know which cabinet my clothes are in? Do you know where my sanitary belt is?”
Lu Chenzhou’s face turned instantly dark. “Jiang Wantang!”
“So, I’m going myself!” With that, she pushed the door open and walked out.
Lu Chenzhou immediately followed her out. “I’m coming with you.”
Jiang Wantang asked, “Aren’t you going to work?”
Lu Chenzhou said, “I’ll go later.”
Jiang Wantang turned to look at him. “Are you afraid I’ll run away?”
Lu Chenzhou kept a cold face. “I’m not afraid. It’s just on the way.”
Jiang Wantang looked toward the east, where the educated youth point was located, and then toward the west, where Lu Chenzhou usually worked. She fell silent for two seconds.
“Lu Chenzhou… the roads around your house sure know how to be ‘on the way’.”
The man’s face darkened. “Shut up!”
Jiang Wantang’s eyes crinkled with laughter. Fine, fine, on the way it is—whatever he said.
The two of them stepped out of the courtyard gate, one after the other. But the moment they walked outside, Jiang Wantang noticed that something was wrong.
Under the large locust tree at the village entrance sat several aunties holding their breakfast bowls, eating and chatting. They had been in the middle of an animated conversation, but the moment they saw her—instant silence!
One pair, two pairs, three pairs… seven or eight pairs of eyes locked onto her all at once. They looked at her, then at Lu Chenzhou behind her, and finally at the freshly opened gate of the Lu courtyard.
Jiang Wantang’s heart sank. Oh no.
The next second, a loud, booming voice shattered the quiet.
“Oh, my word! Youth Jiang?! How on earth did you just come out of Lu Chenzhou’s house?!”
That single shout was like pouring a ladle of cold water into a pot of boiling oil!
The doors of several nearby houses slammed open all at once!
“Who? Jiang Wantang?”
“Didn’t she go back to the city? When did she return?”
“She slept at Lu Chenzhou’s house last night?! Is that for real?!”
Jiang Wantang’s lips twitched. Well, damn it. Now half of the Qingshan Production Brigade knows!
In just a matter of moments, a dozen people had gathered by the roadside. Hearing the commotion, some people even ran out of their yards before they had properly fastened their belts.
“Youth Jiang, didn’t you head back to the city?”
“When did you get back?”
“Why did you end up at Lu Chenzhou’s place again?”
“Did you two… get back together?”
As soon as that last sentence left someone’s mouth, a wave of meaningful chuckles rippled through the crowd.
Before Jiang Wantang could say a word, Lu Chenzhou’s face behind her had already turned dark.
He took a step forward, his tall frame stepping up right beside Jiang Wantang to shield her.
“Does it have anything to do with any of you?”
His voice wasn’t loud, yet the surroundings fell strangely quiet for a moment.
The people of Qingshan Production Brigade were all somewhat intimidated by Lu Chenzhou. The man had a foul temper and hit hard. Just a few days ago, Zhao Ergou had only made a few snide comments to his face about Jiang Wantang running off with the money, and Lu Chenzhou had knocked out half a tooth with a single punch.
Who would willingly provoke a lunatic like that for no reason?
Still, with a crowd gathered, people grew bolder. Besides, who could resist gossiping about something like this?
A woman in her nineties stepped in to smooth things over. “Chenzhou, what’s the rush? Everyone’s just curious!”
She then turned to Jiang Wantang with a beaming smile. “Youth Jiang, why did you suddenly come back? Did something happen over in the city?”
Jiang Wantang was about to answer when an extraordinarily sarcastic voice sneered from the back of the crowd.
“What else could happen? Must be that she couldn’t make it in the city!”
The crowd naturally parted to let a man in his late twenties walk out holding a bowl.
It took Jiang Wantang a couple of seconds to recall the name: Zhao Ergou. The very guy Lu Chenzhou had beaten up yesterday. No wonder his tone was so sour—the right corner of his mouth was still bruised purple!
Zhao Ergou clearly saw Lu Chenzhou, too, his footsteps instinctively faltering for a moment. But with so many onlookers watching, he didn’t want to back down. Hardening his resolve, he sneered, “If she was really living the good life in the city, would she come back? It wasn’t easy to get a slot to return to the city. She took the money, took the coupons, yet less than three days later, she came crawling back in disgrace. If you ask me…”
He intentionally dragged out his words, his eyes scanning up and down Jiang Wantang’s body.
“Eight out of ten, those city folk looked down on her after she got back!”
Someone in the crowd couldn’t help snickering out loud.
“That’s actually pretty likely. Youth Jiang is pretty, sure, but she’s got a nasty temper.”
“Didn’t we hear she had a partner in the city before? So what does that make Lu Chenzhou?”
“Shh, keep your voice down!”
Comment after comment buzzed into their ears like annoying flies.
Jiang Wantang’s brow furrowed tightly. The original host of this body indeed had plenty of messy debts from the past; if people wanted to criticize her, she’d accept it. But why drag Lu Chenzhou into it?
To make matters worse, Zhao Ergou felt it wasn’t dramatic enough. Seeing Lu Chenzhou’s face darken by the second, he felt a surge of malicious satisfaction instead. He still held a grudge over that punch yesterday!
“Chenzhou, you really are devoted enough,” Zhao Ergou smirked. “She took your money, took your things, and patted her butt before running off, yet you still brought her back. If I were you…”
“If you were him, what?” Jiang Wantang suddenly chimed in.
Zhao Ergou froze. “What?”
Jiang Wantang stepped forward. “I’m asking you: if you were Lu Chenzhou, what would you do?”
Zhao Ergou hadn’t expected her to suddenly cut in. He choked for a second, then let out a cold sneer.
“If I were him? I wouldn’t be so damn pathetic! She already dumped you, yet you eagerly pick her back up. To put it bluntly—” Zhao Ergou spat on the ground. “Isn’t this just picking up a woman nobody else wants?”
The moment those words left his mouth, the entire crowd went dead silent!
The phrasing was vile. Several aunties turned pale, and someone quickly tugged at Zhao Ergou’s sleeve.
“Keep your mouth shut!”
“I’m just speaking the truth!” Zhao Ergou dug in his heels, his neck stiff. “Who in the entire brigade doesn’t know how Jiang Wantang used to fool Lu Chenzhou? Making him work for her, buy things for her, and then running off with all the money right before leaving. Now that she’s suffered some setback in the city, she comes running back to find this sucker again. If she’s not a worn-out shoe, what is she?”
The moment those last three words slipped out, the look in Lu Chenzhou’s eyes shifted completely! A fierce, dangerous edge surged out from the very depth of his bones!
Taking a heavy step forward, his fists clenched tight.
Zhao Ergou was so frightened his face turned pale, and he subconsciously scrambled backward.