The wind in the yard seemed suddenly richer.
Lu Xiangbei circled the set of deep brown leather sofas, moving around them slowly.
His hand reached out.
Paused in midair.
Then recoiled as if scalded.
He rubbed his palms hard against his pant legs.
Sweat soaked his hands.
Nervous sweat.
The thing before him glistened like the finest caramel in a supply and marketing cooperative, radiating a sheen that was almost intimidating.
Was this really the same pile of broken wood from before?
Lu Xiangbei looked down at his worn Liberation shoes, the tips poked through, exposing his big toes.
Then at the sofa.
The contrast made his throat dry.
Too unreal.
It didn’t match this little yard full of chicken droppings and peeling walls.
“Had enough looking?”
Su Ci sat in the only old rattan chair.
The sandalwood fan in her hand lazily waved, sending a faint, pleasant scent of incense wood into the air.
She raised her chin slightly, pointing toward the dark doorway of the main room.
“If you haven’t seen enough, move in and take your time looking.”
“Leave it out here to get wet with the evening dew? Leather’s delicate; it can’t handle dampness.”
Lu Xiangbei snapped back to reality.
Normally, he would have dragged furniture across the cement floor without a second thought.
But now?
He took off his dirty jacket, draped it over his shoulders,
and shouted at his still-stunned siblings:
“Xiangnan! Third brother! Come give me a hand!”
“Lift this corner! That’s redwood—don’t bump it!”
“Third brother, did you wash your hands? Don’t touch randomly!”
The scene didn’t look like moving furniture.
It was more like escorting a national treasure.
The three kids huffed and puffed, like ants carrying a load home.
Su Ci didn’t lift a finger.
Her job was just to give instructions.
“Move left.”
“Too far, bring it back a little.”
“Don’t push that dresser against the wall—leave a gap for ventilation.”
The previously empty, musty main room suddenly became crowded with these large pieces of furniture.
And… oddly elegant.
It was like putting a silk dragon robe on a mud-streaked beggar.
The mottled black walls.
The pockmarked cement floor.
Paired with this set of redwood furniture and leather sofa, worthy of an antique shop in the future.
Everything looked off.
Lu Xiangbei wiped the sweat from his forehead and scratched his head, standing in the center of the room.
“Sister-in-law… the stuff is good.
But this room doesn’t match.”
It was like wearing patched pants while sitting in a Hongqi car.
Uncomfortable and awkward.
Su Ci said nothing.
Her seemingly bottomless canvas bag was opened again.
Several rolls of beige material were tossed out.
“Here.”
Lu Xiangbei scrambled to catch them.
“What is this?”
“Hide the ugliness.”
Su Ci pointed to the blackened wall.
“Brush off the dust and stick it on.”
Self-adhesive wallpaper.
Beige background, faint floral patterns.
In an era when people still used newspapers to cover walls, this was a level-up.
Lu Xiangbei froze again.
“Such good paper… to stick on walls?”
“Isn’t that wasting it? This paper is thicker than book pages!”
Su Ci shot him a cold glance.
“If you don’t stick it, fine.
Then tonight I sleep on the sofa, and you three huddle against the wall.”
Lu Xiangbei instantly shut up.
Stick it!
Forget about the wallpaper—he’d even peel the leather off that sofa and stick it on the wall if it meant he could sit on it.
The three kids got busy again.
Lu Xiangbei on a wobbly ladder, Lu Xiangnan passing the paper, Lu Xiangdong sweeping the dust below.
Their coordination was flawless.
Su Ci didn’t idle either.
She took out a huge lace tablecloth from her bag,
and draped it over the redwood round table.
The white lace hung down, hiding the imperfections on the table legs.
The delicate French elegance immediately balanced the weight of the redwood.
Then, a slender glass vase appeared at the center of the table.
Inside were a few dried but still vibrant roses, and several gray-green eucalyptus leaves.
A few ginger-colored throw pillows were casually placed on the dark brown sofa.
The lazy, luxurious feeling emerged instantly.
Finally, Su Ci pulled down the blackened blue cloth from the window.
Replaced it with a semi-transparent white curtain.
The sea breeze blew,
and the curtain curved softly.
By now, evening had fallen.
Su Ci reached out and pulled the lamp cord.
Click.
The yellow light bulb flickered on.
At that instant,
Lu Xiangbei, standing on the ladder, holding the last corner of wallpaper, froze.
This was… his home?
The beige wallpaper hid all the grime and cracks, glowing warmly under the light.
The dark leather sofa lounged lazily against the wall.
The vase cast mottled shadows on the table.
The suffocating moldy smell was gone.
Replaced by the rich scent of leather and faint dried flowers.
Even the black night outside, filtered through the white curtain, looked poetic.
This was no longer the workers’ dorm building.
It looked like the foreign dignitary houses he had seen in county cinema posters!
“This…”
Lu Xiangnan covered her mouth, rubbing her small hands on her clothes.
She didn’t dare step inside, afraid her muddy shoes would soil the floor.
Lu Xiangdong leapt onto the sofa.
Burrowed into the soft pillows, rolling around.
“Sister-in-law! Is this a cloud? So soft!”
Su Ci stood at the doorway, surveying the hour’s work.
Though the floor was still cement, slightly incongruous,
given the scarcity of the era, this was the limit.
“Alright.”
She walked to the center of the sofa.
Sat down.
Her body sank into the soft leather with a sigh of comfort.
This was how life should feel.
Those hard benches before were pure torture.
“Wash your hands.”
“If there’s mud in this room later, whoever brought it in is responsible for cleaning it up.”
Lu Xiangbei jumped down from the ladder.
He looked at Su Ci sitting on the sofa.
The lamp light fell on her face.
She wore a fitted cloth dress, legs crossed.
The lazy, noble air radiating from her made him feel for the first time that “Sister-in-law” had an actual, tangible shape.
She was the owner of this scene.
Born to sit in this position.
“Sister-in-law…”
Lu Xiangbei swallowed.
“Is… is this legal?”
It was too beautiful.
So beautiful it made his heart race.
Su Ci raised an eyebrow, taking a handful of sunflower seeds from her bag and slowly cracking them.
“Illegal?
I didn’t steal or rob.”
“This is yearning for a beautiful life, understand?”
No sooner had she spoken,
than the hurried, heavy footsteps arrived at the yard gate.
Accompanied by that unmistakable loud voice:
“Hey! Lu kids! What are you making all this noise for so late at night?”
“Sounds like you’re tearing the roof beams down!”
It was neighbor Wang’s wife.
This woman was like a human radar.
If anything stirred in anyone’s home, she’d show up, or she couldn’t sleep.
She pushed open the wobbly gate,
stormed inside.
Then, the scolding she meant to utter got stuck in her throat.
She saw the wide-open door of the main room.
Her feet seemed glued to the ground.
Half a handful of seeds in her hand scattered to the floor.
She blinked her small eyes hard.
Even stepped back a pace, checking the house number.
Yes, it was the Lu family.
But what was happening inside?
The bright walls.
The impossibly expensive leather sofa.
The table covered with… lace? Foreign stuff?
The warm yellow glow inside cut sharply against the gray outside world.
A wave of jealousy churned in Wang’s stomach.
Straight up to the top of her head.
“My goodness…”
Her teeth ground with sourness.
She had always thought the three motherless Lu kids lived badly,
just to soothe her own conscience.
But now?
What suffering?
This room contained more than her whole house could buy!
Frowning, she stomped forward.
Stopped at the doorway, not daring to enter.
Because she saw mud on her own black cloth shoes.
That subconscious shame only made her angrier.
“Oh, Su girl,”
Wang said sarcastically, spitting everywhere.
“You living the good life now?”
“What’s all this fancy nonsense for?”
“The paper on the wall—must’ve cost a fortune! Wouldn’t it be better to buy kids some meat?”
“And the sofa, real leather, right? Does Lu commander have a windfall?”
“You’re just taking advantage of him being away. You’re wasteful! Wait until he comes back, he won’t spare you!”
Wang grew more agitated.
She seemed to think that scolding Su Ci would restore her sense of balance.
Lu Xiangbei bristled.
The little wolf pup dashed to the doorway.
Like a guardian, blocking Wang’s view.
“Mind your business!”
“This was bought by my sister-in-law, didn’t cost my brother a penny!”
“Found at the scrap station, turned from junk!”
“Junk?”
Wang pointed at the shiny sofa and laughed like a pig squeal.
“Do you take me for a fool?”
“If scrap stations could find treasures like this, I’d eat the doorframe!”
Su Ci put down the sunflower seeds.
Stood, smoothing her skirt.
She didn’t throw a tantrum as Wang expected.
She walked to the door slowly, smiling politely.
A smile that didn’t reach her eyes.
But unnerving to see.
“Neighbor Wang,”
Su Ci’s voice was soft, sweet, and smooth.
“You don’t understand.”
“This is called taste in life.”
“Life may be hard, but don’t let yourself suffer.”
“No matter how broken a house is, it’s for people, not pigs.”
She tilted her head slightly, eyes sweeping across Wang’s oil-stained apron.
“With a little effort, even a pigsty can turn golden.”
“You’re hardworking too, aren’t you?”
“So why not tidy your own home?”
“Could it be…”
Su Ci deliberately drew out her tone, looking innocently naive.