“What if I just can’t develop feelings with Comrade Lu?”
Lu Huaian had a White Moonlight—Su Wantang had known this from the very beginning.
She wanted to borrow the Lu family’s influence, but she wouldn’t sacrifice her entire life for it.
This marriage was merely a stepping stone for her to enter the leadership’s line of sight.
“How about three years? If you two don’t develop feelings for each other, Grandpa will agree to let you divorce.”
“One year.”
Su Zhichen gave Su Wantang only one year.
“Deal.”
“Then go take your photos and get your marriage certificate tomorrow! I’ll put in a word with the military about the marriage report.”
“Okay.”
“Okay.”
The two said in unison.
This tacit understanding once again made Lu Zhentian burst into hearty laughter.
“Dad, what good news has you so happy? Care to share with your son?”
A male voice suddenly came from the doorway.
Lu Yuanyang—Lu Zhentian’s youngest son, Lu Huaian’s biological father.
“Great news! You and Wanqing have a daughter-in-law now!”
Lu Yuanyang’s steps faltered for a moment.
He walked over and patted Lu Huaian on the shoulder. Father and son exchanged a glance—everything unspoken between them.
Su Wantang stood up to greet him: “Hello, Uncle Lu.”
“So this is Wantang? Elegant and graceful—no wonder Dad keeps talking about you. Once you marry Huaian, live a good life together.”
Su Wantang didn’t bother explaining the contractual marriage arrangement. She obediently nodded.
“Mhm.”
Knock, knock, knock.
A series of knocks came from the door.
“Old Chief, Third Brother Lu, Huaian, Tangtang—dinner’s ready.” Aunt Wang called from outside the door.
Lu Zhentian stood up: “Wantang, you’ve traveled a long way—you must be hungry by now, right? Come, Grandpa will take you to eat.”
“Grandpa Lu, I’m fine.”
“Still calling me Grandpa Lu?” Lu Zhentian insisted.
“Grandpa.”
“There we go.”
“Wantang, this is your home now. Don’t be polite.”
“Okay, Grandpa.”
The two chatted up front, with Lu Huaian and his father following behind.
Arriving at the living room, everyone took their seats.
Seeing Lu Huaian sit all the way across from Su Wantang, Lu Zhentian grunted in dissatisfaction but didn’t say much.
“Eat.”
Lu Yuanyang suddenly asked: “Dad, aren’t Big Brother and Second Sister coming back?”
Lu Zhentian had two sons and one daughter, with Lu Yuanyang being the third child.
Lu Yuanzhou, Lu Zhentian’s eldest son, had three sons—the eldest already married, the other two still single.
Lu Ya, Lu Zhentian’s daughter, had only one precious son, unmarried.
Slap.
Chopsticks hit the edge of the bowl with a crisp sound.
“Why bring them up out of nowhere?”
“This family—they can come back or not, I don’t care!”
Lu Huaian realized something: “So Grandpa was angered into the hospital this afternoon by a call from Uncle and Aunt?”
“What?” Lu Yuanyang’s worried gaze fell on Lu Zhentian. “Dad, you went to the hospital? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“It’s nothing serious.”
“Dad!” Lu Yuanyang disagreed.
Seeming to know what Lu Yuanyang was about to say next, Lu Zhentian—who hated being nagged—also lost his temper.
“What are you yelling about? I’m not dying.”
“Grandpa!” Lu Huaian frowned.
“Dad!” Lu Yuanyang said helplessly.
“Grandpa, have a piece of braised pork—fragrant, soft, and tender. I guarantee you’ll want more after just one bite.” Su Wantang picked up a piece of braised pork and placed it in Lu Zhentian’s bowl.
“Is that so? Then Grandpa has to give it a good taste.”
The tense atmosphere among the three generations dissipated in an instant thanks to Su Wantang’s clever intervention.
Everyone tacitly agreed not to bring up the matter again. At the dinner table, Lu Zhentian’s hearty laughter rang out from time to time.
At the same time, at Lu Yuanzhou’s house.
Zhang Juan pulled a long, sour face and complained to her husband.
“What does Dad mean by this?”
“He’s always favored Third Brother and Third Sister-in-law—I won’t even get into that. But how come when Lu Huaian doesn’t want to marry that capitalist’s daughter, it falls on our son? Second Brother has a bright future at the research institute. If he marries a wife like that, not only will people point fingers, but he’ll be a low-level clerk his whole life!”
“And Third Brother—he’s only seventeen this year! I really don’t know what Dad is thinking?!”
“If Dad wants to repay a debt of gratitude, I have no objection, but he can’t just ruin our sons like this!”
Lu Yuanzhou harbored some dissatisfaction himself, but he didn’t show it.
“Eat.”
“Eat, eat, eat! Your son’s bright future is about to be destroyed by his own father!”
Third Sister-in-law was a translator at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and had gone abroad with her department leaders these past couple of days. Third Brother always listened to the old man, and that kid Huaian—though he looked tough—was actually filial too…
“This matter can’t be dragged out for long. These next few days, find an excuse not to go to the old house.”
With Lu Yuanzhou’s statement of position, Zhang Juan felt reassured.
Not only did her food taste better, but she also had the energy to worry about other things.
“Hey, do you think Dad has contacted Second Sister?”
Knowing his old man as well as he did, Lu Yuanzhou was certain he had.
“Eat. Worry less about other people’s business.”
Seeing Zhang Juan pout, Lu Yuanzhou added: “And don’t just sit idle these days—start scouting for Second Brother…”
“You mean…”
“Just in case.”
……
“Xiao Ya, weren’t we supposed to go to the old house for dinner today?”
Just mentioning it made Lu Ya furious.
When she had given birth to her son, she had injured her body and could no longer have any more children.
Over the years, this one precious treasure was cherished to the point where she feared it would melt in the palm of her hand.
“Go where? Go marry that capitalist’s daughter?”
“But… what about her father…”
“Don’t worry about it! Dad will throw his tantrum and get over it! How could I, Lu Ya, possibly want a daughter-in-law with that kind of background? Besides, I’m Dad’s own daughter—would he really side with an outsider over me?”
…
After dinner, Su Wantang followed Aunt Wang back to her room.
The strangeness at the dinner table made Su Wantang instinctively feel it had something to do with her.
Back then, they had only agreed to a betrothal without specifying who it would be… The two families probably looked down on her background, afraid that if she married into their families, she would drag them down.
Comparing them like that, Su Wantang suddenly felt that Lu Huaian’s family wasn’t so bad after all.
The other two families couldn’t even be bothered to put up a facade.
Suddenly, Su Wantang’s nose twitched. She opened her luggage, took out her pajamas, and went into the bathroom.
Having spent several hours on a train filled with mixed odors, Su Wantang felt like she had gone stale. But since she was in someone else’s home, she couldn’t very well walk in and immediately say “I want to take a shower,” so she had endured it until now.
Whoosh.
Turning on the showerhead, the warm water washed away most of the day’s fatigue.
It was half an hour later when Su Wantang finished her shower.
She had just opened the door and stepped out when she felt a gust of cold air blow over her, a chill at her collar, followed by a slightly flustered male voice.
“Sorry.”
“Ah!” Su Wantang was startled, letting out a short gasp.
“Comrade Su, I apologize. I walked into the wrong room and startled you.”
From the moment he saw Su Wantang upon entering, Lu Huaian had guessed that this was arranged by Grandfather.
So he didn’t explain that this was his room, to avoid making Su Wantang feel uncomfortable.
By now, Su Wantang had calmed down. Looking at Lu Huaian, who had turned his back to her at the first moment, much of her displeasure at someone suddenly barging into her room dissipated.
It was her carelessness too—she thought there wouldn’t be any problem, so she hadn’t locked the door.
“Mm.”
“You can leave now.”
Her voice was soft and sweet, carrying a trembling aftertaste of fright.
Lu Huaian furrowed his brow.
Grandfather’s actions were far too reckless.
“Mm.”
Lu Huaian’s hand landed on the doorknob. He twisted it, but it wouldn’t budge. His frown deepened.
“The door is locked from the outside. Get dressed first, and I’ll figure something out.”
Su Wantang’s gaze moved away from the doorknob. She looked down at what she was wearing—a white slip nightgown that reached her ankles. There was nothing indecent about it.
But she said nothing, instead finding a silk scarf to drape around her neck, covering the exposed collarbone in front, leaving only her two slender arms visible.
Having Su Wantang change clothes in front of Lu Huaian was something she couldn’t do, even if he was being very gentlemanly with his back turned to her.
“I’m ready.”
The bohemian-style beige tasseled silk scarf draped over her shoulders matched Su Wantang’s white nightgown perfectly. Her face, freshly washed from her bath, still carried a rosy glow. At this moment, she looked like a spirit descended from heaven—innocent and naive.
Lu Huaian furrowed his brow and averted his gaze uncomfortably.
He walked to the window, preparing to climb over the wall and jump down.
But the moment he opened the window, he met Lu Zhentian’s fierce expression that said, “You brat, dare you jump down and see what happens.”
Lu Huaian closed the window.
“What’s wrong?” Su Wantang asked, puzzled.
They were in a single-story house. For a soldier like Lu Huaian, jumping out shouldn’t be difficult.
Lu Huaian turned and stepped aside to give her a view: “Grandfather is outside.”
The next second, Su Wantang met Lu Zhentian’s beaming smile.
“Wantang, girl, you’ll be doing military accompaniment sooner or later. You two are a married couple—what sense does it make to sleep in separate rooms? You’ll be sleeping together eventually anyway, so might as well get used to it now.”
Sleeping together eventually anyway…
Su Wantang inexplicably felt there was an ambiguity to those words.
She bit her lip, not knowing how to respond to Lu Zhentian.
Suddenly, a large palm appeared in her line of sight.
The curtain was drawn shut.
“Grandfather, it’s getting late. We’re turning in for the night. You should rest early too.”
After Lu Huaian finished speaking, he met Su Wantang’s wary gaze.
He lowered his voice and said, “I’ll sleep on the floor.”
Hearing this, most of the wariness in Su Wantang’s eyes faded.
With that, Lu Huaian familiarly opened the wardrobe and took out bedding to spread on the floor.
Looking at the neatly folded men’s clothes inside the wardrobe, Su Wantang realized belatedly—this wasn’t Lu Huaian walking into the wrong room at all.
It was she who had walked into the wrong room.
The moment she thought about how she had bathed in a strange man’s room, using his toiletries and drying herself with his towel, Su Wantang was overcome with embarrassment, her face flushing a shocking red.
“Hot?”
“No.”
“Then… your face… is it alright?”
Su Wantang instinctively brought both hands to her cheeks. Feeling the scorching heat on them, she scurried away, slipped into bed with her slippers still on, and buried her head under the blanket.
“You…”
“I’m fine.”
Realizing she had spoken too hastily, Su Wantang slowed down and said, “I’m just a little warm.”
Warm?
Didn’t she just say she wasn’t hot?
And if she was hot, wouldn’t covering herself with a blanket make it worse?
After Su Wantang finished speaking, she suddenly realized she had come up with a clumsy excuse. She wanted to explain herself, but felt that would be too deliberate.
Taking two deep breaths, she poked her head out and asked, “Are you done? Can you turn off the light? I’m sleepy.”
“Yeah.”
The light went off, and the gaze that had been following her disappeared, but her other senses became even more acute.