Qiao Zhenzhu had a big appetite, and Lu Huai, being a grown man, naturally ate a lot too.
The four dishes, two servings of rice, and a bowl of porridge were completely wiped clean by the two of them.
Lu Huai stood up to gather the lunch boxes. “I’ll go wash these. I’ll be back soon.”
Watching his departing figure, Qiao Zhenzhu felt even more satisfied with him.
She had inherited the original owner’s memories and knew that Lu Huai was an extremely capable man.
When he got busy, he might not come home for days at a time.
But whenever he was home, he cooked, washed clothes, wiped tables, and cleaned up dishes.
Other than refusing to touch the original owner’s clothes, he handled almost all the housework himself.
Handsome, high-ranking, able to support the family, good at cooking and chores, and even proactively kept his distance from other women—
He was practically the perfect husband!
Unfortunately, the original owner preferred romantic scholarly types—men who held books and brushes all day, writing poetry and painting pretty scenes.
But that was fine.
The original owner didn’t like him.
She did.
This man—she was definitely going to win him over sooner or later!
Qiao Zhenzhu took a red date out of her space and started crunching away happily.
The dates grown with her ability were crisp, sweet, and refreshing, without even a trace of sourness. Absolutely delicious!
One after another—
She simply couldn’t stop eating them.
By the time Lu Huai returned, she’d already piled up a small handful of date pits.
Seeing him come back, Qiao Zhenzhu casually handed him one.
“Try it. It’s a variety I improved myself.”
The bright red date was about the size of an apricot.
Held in her slender, fair fingers, the contrast of red against white looked prettier than a painting.
Lu Huai carefully accepted the date, though his fingertips still inevitably brushed against hers.
The instant they touched, it felt like an electric shock.
Seeing his reaction, Qiao Zhenzhu’s eyes curved into amused crescents again.
Pretending to remain calm, Lu Huai bit into the date.
“Well? Is it good?” Qiao Zhenzhu leaned closer, her watery eyes wide with expectation as she looked at him.
The moment Lu Huai looked up, he fell straight into her bright, glistening gaze, and his face instantly grew hot.
It was clearly the same face as before—
Yet somehow she looked even prettier now, and the way she looked at him was completely different too.
Lu Huai quickly looked away, only then managing to calm his racing heartbeat.
“It’s delicious,” he answered seriously. “Better than any dates I’ve ever had before. They’re bigger too.”
Qiao Zhenzhu beamed brightly.
“When we get back, apply to your superiors for a few mountains. I’ll produce saplings and plant the whole mountainside. By next autumn, we’ll be able to eat dates openly to our hearts’ content!”
As Lu Huai listened to her, he unconsciously pictured the scene in his mind and couldn’t help smiling as well.
“Alright. I’ll take care of it once we get back.”
“Then you should apply for more land while you’re at it,” Qiao Zhenzhu continued enthusiastically. “Besides dates, we can grow apples, pears, peaches, apricots, plums, yellow peaches, persimmons, hawthorn, figs… Then we can open a factory too! We’ll turn the fruit into dried fruit and canned goods. Not only can we eat them ourselves, but people all over the country can eat them too! And we can even sell them overseas at high prices and make a fortune off foreigners!”
She spoke excitedly, but after a while she realized Lu Huai hadn’t responded at all.
Turning to look at him, she found him staring at her with a complicated expression.
“Why are you looking at me like that? Is my idea bad?”
Had she made too big a move?
Thinking about it, maybe she really had…
Lu Huai hurriedly shook his head.
“No. It’s an excellent idea!”
He just hadn’t expected her to think this way.
He’d assumed she only wanted to be able to eat fruit openly and honestly.
But it turned out she had considered not only herself and others—
She had even thought about the country.
Her heart was truly sincere and patriotic.
“Once we return, I’ll first apply for barren mountains to plant trees. After we get approval, we can proceed step by step…”
Qiao Zhenzhu nodded in understanding.
The people above weren’t fools. They couldn’t possibly throw their full support behind every random proposal someone suggested.
This kind of project would consume a huge amount of manpower and resources.
Naturally, they’d need to see some results before investing more heavily.
“But let’s make one thing clear first,” Qiao Zhenzhu said. “I’ll only provide the saplings and improved seeds. As for how to explain where everything came from and put them into use—that’s your problem to solve.”
Lu Huai nodded again.
“Okay.”
He had never intended to let her step into the spotlight anyway.
Her identity was special, and something like this could easily arouse suspicion. Naturally, she had to stay out of it.
After settling the matter, they finished the dates in their hands, and the time was about right.
Qiao Zhenzhu sat up and prepared to put on her shoes.
“Come on. I’ll take you to watch the fun.”
“Don’t move.”
Lu Huai stopped her and crouched down to help her put on her shoes.
Seeing how proactive and naturally attentive he was, Qiao Zhenzhu felt even more pleased.
The two walked out together.
Although Lu Huai wasn’t directly supporting her, he stayed close by her side the entire time, his eyes fixed on her without blinking, afraid something might happen to her.
After asking a nurse, Qiao Zhenzhu finally found out which ward Wang Anquan, Chen Wan, and Wang Sinian were staying in.
The family of three had suffered injuries of similar severity, so they’d been arranged in the same room.
Before Qiao Zhenzhu and Lu Huai even reached the door, they could already hear shouting inside.
The ward door was closed, but the noise was far too loud to be contained.
Quite a few people were standing outside watching the drama. When they saw Qiao Zhenzhu and Lu Huai arrive and open the door, everyone immediately craned their necks to peek inside.
Inside the ward, Huang Meihua stood at the foot of the beds with her hands on her hips, furiously cursing the family of three lying there.
Not only was she scolding the three of them—
She was also enthusiastically insulting their entire extended family and even their ancestors.
Wang Anquan, being a grown man who still cared about face, refused to argue back and simply sat there with a dark expression.
Wang Sinian’s face was injured. Even staying silent caused piercing pain, so she couldn’t open her mouth to argue at all.
Only Chen Wan occasionally snapped back a few words, but her voice was quickly drowned out by Huang Meihua’s booming shouting.
The three of them were being thoroughly chewed out when they suddenly looked up and saw Qiao Zhenzhu walk in.
Instantly, it was like seeing a savior.
Chen Wan hurriedly said to Huang Meihua, “Meihua, Qiao Zhenzhu is here now—ask her! She donated the house and all the family property. We didn’t know anything about it beforehand! She made the decision on her own!”
Huang Meihua immediately turned to Qiao Zhenzhu.
“Did you tell them before you donated everything?”
“Nope,” Qiao Zhenzhu admitted frankly.
Huang Meihua’s vision darkened, and her body swayed.
“But before, you told me they knew about it!”
Qiao Zhenzhu blinked innocently.
“They did know!”
“But they only found out afterward!”
“That still counts as knowing, doesn’t it?”
Huang Meihua choked on her breath, momentarily speechless.
She glared at Qiao Zhenzhu for a long while before finally finding her voice again.
“Why did you donate all of it?”
The moment Huang Meihua asked that question, Wang Anquan immediately sensed danger and tried to stop her—
But it was already too late.
Qiao Zhenzhu straightened her face solemnly, her voice ringing with righteous passion.
“Because I love my country! I want to contribute to the nation!”