Jiang Nuan quickly stepped aside, watching Lu Daqiang drag Old Madam Lu away, practically wanting to clap in delight.
“Daqiang, I’ve been wronged!”
“Shut your mouth! Say one more word and I’ll smack you, believe it or not!”
Jiang Nuan put her hands on her hips and warned with good intentions: “Lu Daqiang, calm down. She’s Rou Rou’s mother—your own mother-in-law! A son-in-law hitting his mother-in-law will be struck by lightning!”
The villagers, hearing her mention Rou Rou and recalling the scandal between Lu Daqiang and Rou Rou, burst out laughing.
Rage flared in Lu Daqiang’s eyes.
He gripped Old Madam Lu tightly, dragging her out with all his strength.
Old Madam Lu’s wrist was nearly crushed, and she cried out in pain.
“You ungrateful wretch! If I had known, I would’ve crushed you when you were little, just like your dead father—no conscience at all!”
Smack!
Lu Daqiang struck her hard across the face, his expression terrifying. “You stole my money and still have the nerve to shout at me!
I shouldn’t have wasted so many words on you earlier! Straight to the police, let’s see if you still have the energy to yell!”
Old Madam Lu’s eyes welled up, her cheek swelling visibly red, blood trickling from her lip. She had never imagined that Lu Daqiang would actually hit her. Though she was a stepmother, hitting an elder was still wrong.
The villagers pointed and whispered disapprovingly.
“Even if she’s at fault, hitting her is outrageous!”
Jiang Nuan nodded in agreement, sighing as she looked at Lu Daqiang. “I told you just now—hitting your mother-in-law brings a lightning strike. Why didn’t you listen?”
Lu Daqiang glared at Jiang Nuan, and she quickly shut her mouth. “Okay, okay, I won’t say anything else. Don’t let it delay your business.”
The village head’s wife frowned at him. “Nuan is only looking out for you. Why can’t you recognize good intentions?”
Jiang Nuan gratefully looked at the woman. “Thank you for speaking up, Auntie. There are still good people in this world.”
Lu Daqiang, not daring to argue because of her status, huffed angrily and dragged Old Madam Lu away.
At the gate, Old Madam Lu stubbornly refused to get in the car. Lu Daqiang raised his arm.
“Don’t… don’t hit me. I’ll go with you,” she stammered, trembling. Faced with Lu Daqiang’s threat, she dared not resist.
Just as they were about to leave, Jiang Nuan noticed her maternal second brother hiding behind the crowd, peeking toward Lu Daqiang’s room.
Her eyes flickered, as if recalling something important, and she hurried out.
“Lu Daqiang! Your door isn’t fixed yet. What if thieves come?
It’s just me and my man at home. If anything gets stolen, don’t blame us!”
Lu Daqiang heard her casually call Lu Lin “my man,” and his chest tightened. His face turned green with anger. “That’s my business, none of yours!”
Watching him storm off, Jiang Nuan muttered, “Good intentions wasted on a stubborn donkey.”
Aunt Wang came beside her. “Nuan, don’t bother with him. Even if something does go missing, we trust you and your man’s character.”
Jiang Nuan’s eyes lit up with gratitude. “Thank you, Aunt Wang.”
“Don’t mention it. We’re neighbors. If you ever need help, just say the word.”
After thanking her again, Jiang Nuan glanced at her maternal second brother, letting out a sigh of frustration. “All the good things at home are in Lu Daqiang’s room. I was just trying to warn him. Didn’t expect him to be so ungrateful. Oh well. If anything really is lost, it’s not my problem.”
Aunt Wang nodded understandingly. “We know. Don’t be upset.”
The villagers nodded in agreement. After watching the commotion, they gradually dispersed.
Jiang Nuan chatted a little longer with the village head’s wife and Aunt Wang at the gate. Once they left, she returned home, locked the door, and quickly stowed the items from her pocket before heading into her room.
Lu Lin, seeing her come in, handed her his water cup.
Jiang Nuan drank it all in big gulps, then wiped her mouth, eyes shining. “Did you hear that? Lu Daqiang took Old Madam Lu to the police station! That’ll teach her a lesson!”
Lu Lin looked at her with gentle eyes, amazed at how different she seemed.
For some reason, Jiang Nuan seemed like a completely new person. But that didn’t matter.
What mattered was that she was happy.
Clearly, she was happier than before.
As long as she was happy, everything else could be ignored.
“Look at this!”
Lu Lin’s eyes widened as Jiang Nuan pulled a thick stack of cash from her pocket.
She sat on the kang bed and placed the money beside him. “This is the money Lu Daqiang tricked out of you that night. I secretly retrieved it.”
Lu Lin, who had just seen the events outside clearly through the window, asked, “How did you get in?” He guessed she might have used a wire to pick the lock and quickly glanced at her hands.
Jiang Nuan opened her palms, letting him see, and grinned. “Don’t worry, my hands aren’t hurt. I used the lockpicking skills my little grandpa taught me.”
Jiang Nuan wasn’t raised by her biological parents. She was abandoned outside the gate as a newborn because she was a girl.
That day, in the midst of heavy snow, her little grandpa—her biological grandfather’s younger brother—found her and took her in. He raised her until she was ten, and only after he passed did she return to her own family.
The little grandpa had retired from the army due to injury, left infertile, never married, and treated Jiang Nuan like a precious jewel.
When he found her frozen blue in the snow, he held her and warmed her for a long time before saving her life.
He named her Jiang Nuan, hoping she would never feel cold again. Not seeking wealth, just enough food and warmth.
As a child, Jiang Nuan was happy. Seeing young Lu Lin being mistreated by his stepmother, often without food, she secretly fed him.
One snowy year, Old Madam Lu chased young Lu Lin out in the snow, hoping he would freeze.
Jiang Nuan brought him home, warmed him by the fire, gave him roasted sweet potatoes, and even shared her own scarce bread with him.
Strangely, after they grew up, Lu Lin would sometimes bring up these memories, but Jiang Nuan could recall none of it, as if it never happened.
Yet Lu Lin remembered every detail vividly.
Seeing her smiling eyes now, those curved brows and gentle expression were unchanged after all these years.
“What are you thinking about?” Jiang Nuan asked, noticing his long silence. Her gaze turned nervous, knowing Lu Lin’s upright nature.
“Do you think what I did was wrong?”
He shook his head, holding her hand solemnly. “Nothing you do is ever wrong in my eyes. I’ll always support you.”
Jiang Nuan felt the warmth of his calloused palm spreading over hers, and a smile returned to her face.
Lu Lin looked at her gently. “I was just thinking, I’ve heard that your little grandpa learned many skills in the army. I didn’t expect one of them to be useful now.”
After returning home, Jiang Nuan had suffered head injuries and forgotten much of her childhood.
But nothing related to her little grandpa was ever forgotten. Every mention of him brought happiness.
Yet happiness always carried a touch of sadness. Not wanting to dampen Lu Lin’s mood, Jiang Nuan stood up.
“It’s almost noon. I’ll go check our plot for vegetables.”
Lu Lin called after her, “Wife, make sure you put the money away.”
Jiang Nuan was used to him calling her “wife” so naturally. She didn’t feel awkward—only happy.
“All our money is yours. Go put it away.”
She didn’t hesitate, first stashing the cash in the wardrobe, planning to move it to the special storage space later. Then she left the room.
Just as she stepped outside, she noticed a shadow lurking suspiciously at the gate…