At dinner, Qin Lan kept piling food into Ruan Wen’s bowl while fussing over her.
“Wenwen, you’re too thin. Eat more. You must be tired after this afternoon, right? Look at your hands—they’re all dirty from working.”
Meanwhile, Lu Yongjie happily sipped his liquor. Looking at the chair that had been cleaned and now revealed a warm, lustrous sheen, he nodded repeatedly.
“I told you the wood was good. Wenwen really has an eye for these things.”
Lu Jingheng kept his head down while eating, but his ears were perked up. Hearing his parents praise Ruan Wen made him happier than if he had been praised himself. The smile at the corners of his mouth simply would not go away.
After dinner, Lu Jingheng received a call from the army.
There was an emergency training exercise, and he would be away for three to five days.
He left in a hurry. Before walking out the door, he only called into the house:
“I’m leaving.”
“Mm.”
Ruan Wen was washing dishes. She paused briefly before responding softly, never even looking up.
After Lu Jingheng left, the house suddenly felt quiet.
Qin Lan and Lu Yongjie sat in the living room and exchanged glances.
“This girl is far too calm,” Qin Lan muttered quietly. “Jingheng just left, and she didn’t even raise her eyes.”
There was no blame in her tone, only concern for her son.
Lu Yongjie put down his newspaper and chuckled.
“That means she’s steady. Unlike that brat Jingheng. His soul’s practically been stolen away. Didn’t you see him looking back every three steps on his way out?”
After cleaning up the kitchen, Ruan Wen didn’t stay downstairs long.
She returned to her room, closed the door, and shut herself away in her own world.
The room still seemed to carry a faint trace of Lu Jingheng’s soap scent.
Subtle, but impossible to ignore.
She walked to the window.
Outside, the pile of treasures that Lu Jingheng had spent all afternoon cleaning was neatly stacked along the courtyard wall.
The broken Huanghuali chair had been carefully carried indoors and now rested against a corner wall.
Ruan Wen reached out, her fingertips gliding over the smooth grain of the armrest.
She found herself recalling the afternoon scene.
The tall man had crouched on the ground, awkwardly scrubbing the carpet with a rag. Dust had covered his face, yet he hadn’t cared in the slightest, focusing only on helping her.
Something gently stirred within her heart.
A tiny ripple spread across still waters.
On the second day of Lu Jingheng’s absence, Ruan Wen got up early and moved the cleaned furniture into the courtyard to air out.
She had just finished placing the bronze incense burner when Wang Li emerged from the neighboring courtyard carrying her child.
The moment she spotted Ruan Wen, she curled her lips disdainfully and said loudly to another military wife nearby,
“Look at her. She really treats that pile of junk like treasure. Now that Battalion Commander Lu isn’t home, there’s nobody backing her up. Let’s see what she can make out of all that rubbish.”
Her voice was perfectly timed to reach Qin Lan, who had just stepped outside.
Qin Lan’s face immediately darkened.
In the past, she might have thought Ruan Wen’s purchases were questionable.
But now?
Ruan Wen was someone she protected.
Nobody was allowed to speak ill of her.
Planting her hands on her hips, Qin Lan strode to the gate.
“Wang Li! Have all your quilts finished drying? Got nothing better to do than worry about our courtyard?”
She pointed toward the pile of items.
“Our Wenwen likes them. Forget one courtyard full of junk—even if she bought two courtyards’ worth, Jingheng would happily pay for it! What business is it of yours?”
Her voice rang out with such authority that Wang Li and the surrounding military wives were instantly silenced.
Wang Li’s face flushed dark red.
Holding her child tighter, she forced herself to answer back.
“Auntie Qin, I was only making conversation. No need to get so angry. Besides, when you’re running a household, you need to be careful with money. You can’t just do whatever pops into your head like a capitalist young lady—”
“Our family likes it that way!”
Qin Lan stepped forward, her presence even more imposing.
“The Lu family happens to need a daughter-in-law who knows how to spend money! Unlike some people who have to scrape together medical bills for their own children but still find time to meddle in other people’s affairs!”
Not a shred of mercy remained in her words.
Wang Li was left speechless.
Under the watchful eyes of the neighbors, she retreated into her house with her child in humiliation.
Victorious once again, Qin Lan returned to the courtyard like a triumphant general. Holding Ruan Wen’s hand, she felt wonderfully satisfied.
Just then, Lu Zhenhua came into the courtyard with his cane to enjoy the sunshine.
The old man’s health was improving day by day.
His gaze swept around the yard before settling on the broken-legged Huanghuali chair.
He walked over and narrowed his cloudy eyes.
Stretching out a weathered hand, he slowly rubbed the polished armrest.
“This wood…”
He leaned closer, studying the intricate grain patterns that resembled ghostly faces.
“I think I’ve seen wood like this before in an old commander’s home. He said it came from the imperial palace of the previous dynasty.”
The courtyard instantly fell silent.
Every eye turned toward the once-overlooked chair.
Qin Lan and Lu Yongjie froze.
They knew nothing about Huanghuali wood, but the phrase from the imperial palace carried tremendous weight.
Ignoring everyone’s reaction, Lu Zhenhua shuffled over to the bronze incense burner.
He bent down, picked it up, and scratched away some rust on the bottom with his fingernail.
Several faint characters appeared beneath the corrosion.
The old man stared for a long time.
“Xuande… It really is a Xuande incense burner.”
He looked up at Ruan Wen, his eyes filled with admiration and surprise.
“Girl, you’ve got remarkably sharp eyes. Neither of these items is ordinary.”
The moment those words were spoken, the neighbors outside the courtyard wall were stunned.
The expressions they directed at Ruan Wen changed from confusion to shock and envy.
Qin Lan was overjoyed.
Grabbing Ruan Wen’s arm, she became so excited she could barely speak.
After a long pause, she finally blurted out,
“Wenwen… you’re our family’s lucky star!”
Ruan Wen merely smiled as she accepted the incense burner from her grandfather.
“I just thought they looked nice and bought them on a whim.”
That evening, after everyone had gone to bed, Ruan Wen sat beneath the lamp and spread out a sheet of stationery.
This time, she was not writing to Director Wang from the neighborhood committee.
She was writing to Ruan Yuzan.
She carefully described the kindness of the Lu family and Lu Zhenhua’s improving health, assuring him that she was doing well and that he need not worry.
At the very end of the letter, she hesitated.
Then she added one final sentence.
Lu Jingheng is a man who takes responsibility.
After finishing, she folded the letter and slipped it into an envelope.
Early the next morning, she mailed it.
A weight seemed to lift from her chest, and life returned to its peaceful rhythm.
Each day, she either accompanied Lu Zhenhua while reading newspapers and playing chess, learned a few northern dishes from Qin Lan, or tinkered with the treasures she had collected.
The broken Huanghuali chair was eventually repaired by Lu Yongjie.
After hours of hammering and adjustments, the damaged leg fit so perfectly that the chair stood beneath the eaves as sturdy as ever.
One afternoon, Ruan Wen and Qin Lan were sitting in the courtyard picking green beans for braised noodles when a guard from the compound gate approached, leading a visitor.
The newcomer was a woman.
She wore the most fashionable dress of the era—a bright apple-green Bulaji dress.
The fabric was vivid and eye-catching.
On her feet were a pair of brand-new white leather shoes.
As she walked across the cinder-covered road, she stepped carefully, afraid of getting them dirty.
Her hair had been curled into fashionable waves.
Powder covered her face.
Her lips were painted a striking red.
Everything about her appearance stood in sharp contrast to the simple, practical atmosphere of the military compound.