The two of them returned to the Lu family home.
As soon as they entered, Su Wan went straight into the main hall and saw Xu Wenli sitting on the sofa with a dark, gloomy face, sulking.
“Mom, Brother Zhaoye and I got the marriage certificate.”
Su Wan lifted the red booklet in her hand. Without giving Xu Wenli a chance to erupt, she immediately held out her hand.
“Where are the wedding cigarettes and candies you prepared for Lu Ming yesterday? He won’t be using them anytime soon anyway just give them to me. I’ll hand them out to the neighbors and spread some wedding joy. It’ll also help restore some of the Lu family’s reputation.”
Xu Wenli was so angry she nearly lost her breath.
Those were high-quality White Rabbit candies and Zhonghua cigarettes she had specially arranged through connections, originally meant to support her second son’s dignity. And now they were going to be used for these two?
“What? You don’t want to give them up, Mom?”
Su Wan smiled faintly.
“If the neighbors find out that the Lu family not only had that scandal but also can’t even bear to give out a few candies, your reputation will really stink.”
“Take them! Take them! They’re in the cabinet!”
Xu Wenli waved her hand irritably, too bothered to even look.
Su Wan was not polite at all. She emptied the cabinet completely, packed a full basket, and pulled Lu Zhaoye out the door.
It was midday, right around cooking time. Every household had their doors open as people came and went.
“Uncle Li, having lunch? Here, have some wedding candy!”
“Aunt Zhang, Brother Zhaoye is giving you a cigarette. Please take care of us in the future.”
Holding onto Lu Zhaoye’s arm, Su Wan greeted everyone she saw, smiling sweetly as she handed things out.
People don’t hit a smiling face, and the candy and cigarettes were genuinely good quality. Most neighbors politely said “congratulations,” though their eyes inevitably carried curiosity.
Until they reached the end of the alley and ran into the famously sharp-tongued Aunt Li.
Aunt Li was cracking sunflower seeds. When she saw them, she rolled her triangular eyes and sneered:
“Well, if it isn’t Su Wan. Yesterday you were Second Young Master’s bride, and today you’re already First Young Master’s wife? You change men faster than we change clothes. Tsk tsk, young people these days really don’t know shame yet you’re so happy wearing something used like that?”
The surrounding women fell silent, the atmosphere turning awkward.
Lu Zhaoye’s face instantly darkened, his fists clenching with a cracking sound. He was just about to step forward when Su Wan gently stopped him.
Her smile didn’t fade in fact, it grew even brighter. She grabbed a handful of candy and walked straight up to Aunt Li.
“Oh, Aunt Li, what are you saying? Brother Zhaoye and I are clearly a perfect match talented man and beautiful woman. How could that be called shameless?”
She stuffed the candy into Aunt Li’s arms. Before the woman could react, Su Wan leaned in and lowered her voice.
“But your family’s situation… now that’s something worth worrying about.”
“I heard your eldest son was just fired from the textile factory a couple of days ago. Something about… stealing cotton yarn to sell?”
Aunt Li’s hand froze mid-seed-crack, her face instantly turning pale as she nervously looked around.
“You you’re talking nonsense! Who stole anything! That was ”
Su Wan sneered inwardly.
Still denying it? She wouldn’t be laughing in a few days.
“Shh ”
Su Wan raised a finger to her lips, smiling innocently.
“Don’t get worked up. If this gets reported to the police, it won’t be good. And your second son… isn’t his girlfriend already visibly pregnant without a marriage certificate? I heard her family is planning to accuse him of misconduct. You should be figuring out how to fix your own problems instead of worrying about the Lu family.”
Those words hit like thunder.
Aunt Li’s face went completely ashen. These were both tightly hidden family scandals if exposed, one could send her eldest son to prison, and the other could destroy her second son’s entire future.
She could not understand how this quiet, mild-looking girl knew such secrets.
The neighbors, though they didn’t hear everything, saw Aunt Li’s terrified expression and immediately sensed something explosive. Whispering spread rapidly.
“You… you…” Aunt Li trembled, unable to argue a single word.
Su Wan gently pushed her hand away, still smiling.
“Take the candy home. Sweeten your sons’ mouths so they cause less trouble. And you try talking less and doing more good deeds. Otherwise, karma might come knocking one day.”
Without another glance at Aunt Li’s shocked, changing expression, Su Wan brushed off her hands and turned away, hooking her arm through Lu Zhaoye’s again.
“Let’s go, Brother Zhaoye. Next house.”
Aunt Li stood frozen, feeling a chill run through her body.
Looking at Su Wan’s retreating figure, she felt a deep, unfamiliar fear.
This was no longer the soft girl she once thought she could push around this was a fox who had grown sharp fangs.
Lu Zhaoye watched her victorious little expression and couldn’t help but curve his lips slightly.
This girl… really had changed.
And strangely enough… she was becoming more and more likeable.
The midday sun was bright and harsh.
After finishing the last household, they were about to head back when they ran straight into Lu Ming riding his bicycle home from work.
He was wearing a neat Zhongshan suit, his hair slicked back, but his face was dark and ugly, with heavy shadows under his eyes.
Clearly, he still hadn’t recovered from last night.
Seeing Su Wan holding onto Lu Zhaoye’s arm and carrying the basket of wedding candy that should have been his, chatting happily with the neighbors, Lu Ming felt a surge of rage explode in his chest.
To him, she was doing this on purpose to disgust him.
Screech
He slammed on the brakes, blocking their path with his bicycle.
“Su Wan, you really have no shame.”
He pushed the bike forward, eyes dark and venomous as he stared at her smiling face.
“You’re handing out the wedding candies I prepared for you everywhere doing this just to provoke me, right? I knew you hadn’t given up on me. Trying to get my attention this way? Save it. I feel sick just looking at you.”
Su Wan’s smile faded slightly, as if she were looking at an idiot.
“Lu Ming, are you still asleep? If your brain is broken, I can recommend a doctor.”
“Stop pretending!”
Lu Ming sneered, then shifted his gaze to Lu Zhaoye, eyes full of hatred and contempt.
“And you, Lu Zhaoye. I finally figured it out after thinking all night.”
He pointed at Lu Zhaoye’s face, nearly stabbing him with his finger.
“Last night it was your self-pity act, wasn’t it!”