Lu Xingzhou walked into the room and, while heading toward the sewing machine to assemble it, complained helplessly to his mother:
“Mom, do you have any way to make Aning and Shengli get along properly with Siyi?”
He was also somewhat helpless. The three children argued every time they met, and Siyi would always come to him to complain, saying she was being bullied by Aning.
Although Yang Jianguo, Siyi’s father, always said he didn’t mind and that it was normal for children to play around, something still felt off.
Lu Mingjue curled her lips, glanced at Su Yueheng, and saw that she was seriously tidying things up with no sign of anything unusual. Only then did she quietly relax.
She rolled her eyes. “Aning and Shengli are strong-willed kids. Even Jianguo, her own father, doesn’t mind—why are you worrying so much?”
After a pause, she added, “If you ask me, that Siyi girl is too timid. Our Aning doesn’t like her—that’s normal. She’s a tomboy anyway; it’s fine that they don’t get along.”
Lu Xingzhou rubbed his temples. “That’s true, but I remember even Hu Ya in the family compound was timid, yet Aning still played with her.”
“I don’t know then. Let the kids handle their own matters,” Lu Mingjue said with a shrug. She didn’t want to interfere in everything.
The old lady said with disdain, “Just focus on assembling the sewing machine. I’ll go put away what Yueheng brought out.”
Lu Xingzhou followed her gaze and saw Su Yueheng crouched on the ground, looking unexpectedly small, like a little hamster, surrounded by all kinds of items—teapots, tea sets, and some elegant but understated decorations.
It was hard to imagine how all of that fit into one box.
Su Yueheng knew that Lu Xingzhou had a good relationship with Aning and Shengli and understood their personalities well, but she hadn’t expected him to remember their friends too.
Not many men could do that.
That was a plus point.
She noticed him looking over and smiled awkwardly. “I think I brought a bit too much stuff.”
Lu Xingzhou snapped back to attention and shook his head. “Not too much. Do you need anything moved upstairs?”
“No need. The sewing machine will stay downstairs, and I plan to alter all these clothes for Aning and Shengli.”
As she stood up, Su Yueheng shook her head again. “But there are quite a lot. It’s a pity to alter everything to their current sizes. Let’s pick a few later and put the rest away.”
She then asked him, “Xingzhou, what do you think?”
Lu Xingzhou felt a strange itch in his chest and gave a low “mm.” “You decide.”
“Alright.”
Su Yueheng called the two siblings over and asked them to pick out a few favorite colors while folding the rest back into the box.
With her interruption, Lu Xingzhou temporarily set aside the idea of mediating the children’s conflicts.
After dinner, the two siblings were made to practice writing by Su Yueheng.
Lu Xingzhou and Su Yueheng sat aside together, planning improvements for the courtyard.
Su Yueheng wanted to set up a tea-drinking area in the yard. Nights on the island were cold, and by late October it would enter early autumn. Lighting a stove and boiling tea then would be very pleasant.
After she mentioned it, Lu Xingzhou immediately took out paper and pen.
“You draw it. I’ll find someone to build it, though it might take some time.”
Su Yueheng was very satisfied with his efficiency and smiled, shaking her head. “No rush.”
She blinked at him, her tone slightly flirtatious. “Captain Lu, we’ve got plenty of time ahead of us. We can take it slowly.”
The two children were practicing writing at a small table behind them. Knowing they couldn’t hear, she leaned slightly closer to him as she spoke. Her hair brushed against his fingers, carrying a faint fragrance that instantly unsettled his heart.
From what she observed today, many people seemed to have their eyes on Lu Xingzhou, but he handled things with great discretion.
As for Yang Siyi calling him “Xingzhou dad,” she didn’t mind. She understood his care for the child came from loyalty and friendship with his brother.
It wasn’t something unpleasant.
As long as he continued handling things with proper boundaries, she could overlook it—for the sake of his face.
However, Su Yueheng did not yet realize how badly this thought would later come back to haunt her.
Lu Xingzhou coughed. “Mm.”
……
After finishing tidying up, Su Yueheng lay on the bed, watching the wind lift the curtains. She rolled over, thinking about how smoothly life had gone since her rebirth. Although there were some emotional issues to deal with, the Lu family was good.
She just wondered how things were going in Caoping Village with those scumbags.
She no longer wanted to call Bai Tingxin “mom.” She only wanted to see them suffer their consequences a few years later.
And the Mei family too.
Let those mad dogs bite each other.
Caoping Village.
The Su Chengguang who had been “missed” by Su Yueheng had just finished a day of labor and returned to the educated youth quarters.
Normally, villagers—even the laziest ones—would already be home resting after 7 p.m.
But the Su family had just arrived and, due to their background as former capitalists, they were not assigned easy jobs.
Heavy labor like carrying manure and clearing wasteland all fell on them.
Except for Su Baihua.
Because she was considered a relative and not as guilty, she was assigned lighter work in the fields compared to the couple.
As for Su Jiyè, being too young, he was assigned pig grass cutting—but his workload was three times that of other village children.
Since they had never done hard labor before, they worked slowly and finished late.
Right now, Bai Tingxin was still cooking despite her exhaustion, trying to make sure her children had enough to eat.
Su Baihua returned to her room in frustration, rubbing her sore waist and blistered feet, tears shimmering in her eyes.
It had already been several days since she came here, and she had been working every day with no time to contact the Mei family or even meet Mei Xinhang.
In her previous life, she only met Mei Xinhang after the Reform and Opening period. He had been admitted to the National Defense University and later became a billionaire.
Most importantly, he had three sons.
Completely different from Lu Xingzhou. Even his mother-in-law was kind—unlike Lu Mingjue.
In this life, she had finally managed to change her marriage arrangement and come here early, yet why had she still not found a chance to meet him?
This couldn’t continue.
Tomorrow, she must take the initiative and go to the Mei family.
She steadied herself and went to the kitchen to help finish the meal.
At the dinner table, Su Baihua pretended to care as she spoke to Su Chengguang:
“Second Uncle, we’ve been here for a while now. Should we send word to Yueheng? Lu Xingzhou is a regiment commander—if we have his support, life will be much easier.”
When Su Chengguang heard Su Yueheng’s name, his face immediately darkened, ready to scold her—but then he heard her mention Lu Xingzhou.
The soreness in his body suddenly found an outlet.
That’s right—Lu Xingzhou, his son-in-law, is a commander!
His expression softened.
“You’re right. Tomorrow we’ll go find the village chief together. Do you know the exact address?”