When Lu Ming got off work in the evening, he happened to see Su Wan standing at the door of his room, staring intently inside.
Her gaze was fixed, unmoving, as if she were deep in thought or completely lost in it.
Seeing this, the frustration that had been building in Lu Ming all day instantly dissipated, replaced by a sudden sense of superiority.
Heh. Just as he thought.
Women always say one thing and mean another.
Yesterday she had acted so tough, and even at noon she had deliberately provoked him in front of Lu Zhaoye. Yet here she was, less than half a day later unable to hold back after all.
He adjusted his collar, deliberately slowed his pace, and walked over with a smug, slightly mocking smile he believed was charming.
“What are you looking at so intently?”
Standing behind Su Wan, Lu Ming spoke in a tone filled with condescending superiority.
“Regretting it now? Looking at the furniture in this room, remembering how we decorated it a few days ago…”
Su Wan turned around at the sound of his voice and gave him a complicated look. She sighed softly.
“Yes, I was looking at that cabinet… My father spent a lot of money having it made. If we just leave it here, it would be such a waste.”
The moment Lu Ming heard this, his heart instantly bloomed with delight.
So she really couldn’t bear to part with it!
She said cabinet, but she was clearly using it as a metaphor she couldn’t let go of their relationship, of him!
After all, a thug like Lu Zhaoye couldn’t compare to him in any way!
Feeling completely reassured, Lu Ming put on a “I already see through everything” expression and stepped closer, lowering his voice.
“Xiao Wan, since you’ve said so, I’m not an unfeeling person either. As long as you break things off with that punk now, soften your attitude toward me, kneel and apologize to my mother, and fix your temper… this room… I might not mind letting you move back in…”
Looking at his self-satisfied expression, a strange smile flickered in Su Wan’s eyes.
She suddenly stepped back, clearing the doorway, and shouted into the room.
“Brother Zhaoye! Aunt Xiujü! Hurry up someone’s saying we’re too slow and rushing us!”
Lu Ming’s smile froze instantly.
“What?”
Before he could react, steady footsteps came from inside the room.
Then the light at the doorway dimmed.
Lu Zhaoye’s tall, imposing figure appeared, carrying the heavy solid wood dresser in his arms!
That was the largest item from Su Wan’s dowry. Back then, when she married, Lu Ming had needed two men just to struggle and carry it in.
But now, Lu Zhaoye was holding it alone!
His arms bulged with tightly coiled muscles, veins protruding sharply overflowing with explosive strength. Even while carrying such a massive cabinet, he walked as steadily as a mountain.
Expressionless, he walked straight out. As he passed Lu Ming, he didn’t even glance at him, as if the person standing there was nothing more than a wooden post blocking the way.
“Move.”
Just two words low and firm, carrying undeniable pressure.
The edge of the huge cabinet nearly brushed Lu Ming’s nose. Startled out of his daze, Lu Ming instinctively recoiled, his legs giving way. He nearly fell backward onto the ground in a humiliating stumble.
“Oh my! Second Young Master, what are you standing here for? Playing gatekeeper?”
A loud voice followed immediately.
Aunt Xiujü came out carrying the carved washstand, following behind Lu Zhaoye. Seeing Lu Ming’s pale face, she didn’t think much and started talking loudly without restraint.
“What? Can’t bear to part with the cabinet? Hah, you’re overthinking it! This was originally Xiao Wan’s dowry. Now that she’s with someone else, of course she’s taking it with her!”
Aunt Xiujü was warm-hearted but famously blunt, saying whatever came to mind.
“Besides, Second Young Master, look at your big brother’s strength! Tsk tsk, as expected of someone who served in the military. Something that heavy, he just lifts it like nothing completely different from your weak little frame! Honestly, with your build, if that thing fell on you, wouldn’t it crush you flat?”
Lu Ming trembled with rage, his face turning a deep purplish red.
“You”
Aunt Xiujü didn’t even notice his expression and kept going cheerfully.
“Honestly, it’s better they took it away! You’re single now anyway having such a big cabinet just wastes space. Without it, your room’s more spacious too, isn’t it? Alright, alright, don’t block the way, there’s still more stuff to move!”
With that, she hurried after Lu Zhaoye, still calling out,
“Zhaoye, slow down! Don’t bump that good wood!”
Watching the three of them walk away toward the west courtyard, Lu Ming stood alone at the doorway. The room that had once been full was now missing a large piece, and Aunt Xiujü’s words kept echoing in his ears
“single man… “weak little frame”…
At that moment, his face burned as if he had been slapped dozens of times on both sides. Even his teeth ached from rage.
So… that was what Su Wan meant?!
She felt sorry for the cabinet?
She was really only regretting that piece of broken wood?!
Lu Ming wanted to say something else to regain his dignity, but the three of them were already gone, chatting and laughing, not a single person paying attention to him.
Enraged, veins bulging on his forehead, he stormed back into the room and slammed the door shut.
Seeing the few cheap trinkets Su Wan hadn’t taken yet, he suddenly went mad, grabbing them and throwing them outside.
“Get lost! All of you get lost! Who the hell cares about this junk!”
…
In the west courtyard, after moving everything inside and arranging it, the once-empty room finally had a warm, lived-in feeling.
Just then, heavy footsteps sounded at the gate.
Lu Gang, the third son of the Lu family, had returned from work.
He was still in his factory uniform, stained with oil, clearly having worked all day in the workshop.
Passing the west courtyard, he saw Lu Zhaoye busy inside. He stopped for a moment, his expression darkening. He shot a hard glare at his eldest brother the man who had “taken his second sister-in-law” then silently continued toward his own room.
“Gangzi!”
Su Wan spotted him immediately and quickly put down her rag, jogging to the gate to stop him.
Lu Gang paused and turned around, looking at her with a complicated expression. After a moment of hesitation, he mumbled awkwardly,
“Second… sister-in-law.”
Su Wan didn’t mind his address. She turned and quickly ran back inside, taking out a paper box she had prepared long ago and handed it to him.