Seeing her picking up her things to leave, Lu Hongjun walked over and stood in the doorway, saying angrily, “Lu Jiaxin, stop making a scene.”
Lu Jiaguang couldn’t stand to watch this any longer and broke his silence. “Third Uncle, you used to dote on Jiaxin more than anyone. I remember once when she had a fever, you looked after her for an entire day and night without shutting your eyes. This time Jiaxin nearly died at the hands of traffickers and suffered so much out there in the ancient capital. Instead of feeling for her, you’re calling her behavior a tantrum. Third Uncle, when did you become so heartless?”
Lu Hongjun was left speechless.
Lu Jiajie also supported Lu Jiaxin moving out, though he didn’t think she should leave right this moment. “Xinxin, we need to find you a place first before you move. If you rush out in a panic now, where will you sleep tonight?”
“Don’t worry, I’ll go ask around later. I’ll definitely have a place found for you by tomorrow.”
He had plenty of friends, finding a rental within a day wouldn’t be a problem.
Lu Jiaguang said with a stern face, “Why rent a place? Come stay at mine.”
Seeing both nephews backing his daughter’s move, Lu Hongjun was furious. “Jiaguang, Jiajie, what do you two think you’re doing? I’m not dead yet, family matters aren’t for you two to decide.”
Lu Jiajie said bluntly, “Third Uncle, before Third Aunt passed, she held both my hand and Big Brother’s and begged us to look after Jiaxin. A promise made is a promise we intend to keep.”
Ding Jing seethed with resentment, that wretched woman had been dead this long and still wouldn’t leave them in peace.
Although Lu Jiaguang was equally displeased, he spoke more tactfully than Lu Jiajie’s blunt approach. “Third Uncle, given the current situation, it’s not appropriate for Jiaxin to keep living under the same roof as them. If you can’t bear to part with your wife and stepdaughter, then let Jiaxin move in with me instead.”
Lu Hongjun said, quite bluntly, “Your place is too small even for your own family, where would she and Xue Mao even sleep? And besides, she needs to retake her exams, there’s no good high school near you.”
Lu Jiaguang didn’t back down, his face set. “Let Jiaxin stay with me for now, and once the paperwork for retaking the exam is sorted, we’ll rent a place near the school. Xue Mao can live with her too, so there’s no need to worry about her safety.”
He simply couldn’t bring himself to let his sister keep living with this venomous mother and daughter. This time she’d been lucky enough to escape their scheming, next time, she might not be so lucky.
There was no way Lu Jiaxin would move in with Lu Jiaguang’s family, far too little freedom there. “Big Brother, no need to rent anywhere. I have a place to stay.”
Lu Jiajie’s mouth moved faster than his brain. “You only just got back, how could you have already rented a place?”
If that were true, then this girl had planned to move out from the very start. Still, it was understandable, in her shoes, he’d want to move out too.
Lu Jiaxin lowered her head and said, “After my mother fell ill, she had a nightmare once about my father and stepmother driving me out to live on the streets. Afraid the dream might come true, she had someone buy me a small apartment…”
She knew that apartment had been purchased through the Xie family, on her mother’s behalf. Her mother’s body had been severely weakened by abuse from her own stepmother as a child, and she’d nearly died from massive blood loss during childbirth, taking over a decade to recover. Then, when the original owner was eleven, her mother had saved the Xie family’s only child from drowning in the depths of winter, and to make matters worse, she’d happened to be menstruating at the time. After saving the boy, her health collapsed, and she lingered for over half a year before passing.
After a pause, Lu Jiaxin continued, “I told her at the time that Dad loved me and would never let anyone bully me, but Mom said it was just in case. If I really were ever driven out, at least I’d have somewhere to go with this apartment. Before she passed, she made me promise not to tell anyone about it, afraid I might be targeted and harmed for the money.”
Lu Hongjun’s face burned, thinking of the promise he’d made to his late wife.
Thinking of their gentle, kind third aunt, Lu Jiaguang and Lu Jiajie both felt their eyes redden. If their third aunt had lived, their sister would surely have gotten into a top university, and right now she should be preparing to head off to school.
Lu Hongjun realized that her revealing the existence of the apartment meant she was absolutely determined to move out. Knowing there was no stopping her, he asked where the apartment was.
Lu Jiaxin didn’t hide it, and gave the address directly. It was on Guangming Road, an excellent location.
Ding Jing was consumed with regret. Guangming Road wasn’t far from Dashilan at all, a property there couldn’t necessarily be bought even with money. If only she’d known, she’d have treated the girl well and coaxed the apartment out of her instead. With a property like that to her name, she’d never have had to worry about Siyi’s future.
Even Lu Jiaguang didn’t expect the apartment to be on Guangming Road. “That area has excellent transportation, and it’s very convenient to your school too, no need to rent anywhere.”
Now that everything had been said, Lu Jiaxin didn’t want to stay in this place another moment longer. “Big Brother, let’s move out right now.”
She’d originally only planned to take the valuables and the bedding with her, but with both her cousins backing her move, she changed her mind. “Big Brother, my mother carefully picked out the bed and the desk and chairs in this room, I want to take all of it with me.”
Ding Jing knew this remark was aimed at her, but the two Lu brothers said nothing about it. Lu Jiaguang, being in a position of authority, had his reservations, but Lu Jiajie had nothing to lose.
Lu Jiaguang agreed at once. “Once your new place is cleaned up, I’ll arrange a truck to have all this sent over.”
Although Lu Hongjun was the general manager of the department store, he was already fifty-seven, and word had it that his superiors were planning to move him to a secondary role next year.
Once he stepped down and lost his authority, he’d quickly find people’s warmth cooling toward him now that he had nothing left to offer them. Meanwhile, Lu Jiaguang was in his prime, with people backing him, and a bright future ahead. Lu Hongjun felt that in his later years he might well have to depend on him, so he valued him greatly.
Lu Jiajie thumped his chest. “Xinxin, when the time comes, I’ll grab a couple of friends and we’ll help move everything over to Guangming Road.”
Lu Jiaxin had expected a long struggle before being able to move out, and hadn’t anticipated it going this smoothly. She was in an excellent mood now. “Big Brother, Fifth Brother, come look at the apartment with me in a bit.”
Lu Jiaguang nodded. “If the place is too run-down to live in, you and Xue Mao can stay at mine for now. If you’re not comfortable with that, you could stay at a guesthouse for a couple of days instead.”
Lu Jiaxin declined tactfully. “The guesthouse near your work unit is too far. Better to stay at one near Guangming Road, so it’s convenient for me and Xue Mao to go clean the apartment.”
Lu Jiaguang felt this arrangement worked too.
Lu Jiaxin wasn’t foolish enough to just move out without securing more. She looked at Lu Hongjun and said, “That apartment has nothing in it. If we move there, we’ll need to buy everything, pots, dishes, furniture, appliances, all of it. Dad, right now I don’t even have enough money to eat.”
The original owner had lived a comfortable life and, being young, had never had much concept of money. But Lu Jiaxin understood perfectly well that without money, you couldn’t take a single step out there in the world.
Lu Hongjun understood what she meant and said to Ding Jing, “Go get a thousand yuan.”
A thousand yuan, might as well be tossing coins to a beggar!
Before she could even respond, Lu Jiajie spoke up. “Third Uncle, how is a thousand yuan enough? A decent set of furniture alone costs several hundred.”
Hearing this, Lu Hongjun agreed it made sense, and said he’d give two thousand instead.