A few days earlier, someone had written to the Lu family regarding the engagement.
From that moment on, Yu Wei had been on edge, terrified that the marriage would end up involving her son.
If Old Master Lu wanted to repay a favor, couldn’t he use something other than her son?
Her son, Lu Shijia, had an incredibly promising future.
She had never expected the very thing she feared most to happen.
Sure enough, Lu Shijia had been arranged to go on the blind date.
She had already looked into the Xu family.
The girl was the daughter of a capitalist family.
Who knew if she’d drag her son down in the future?
Yesterday she had spent half the day persuading her son, listing every possible fault of the Xu family.
When someone showed up today, she’d assumed her son had listened to her and skipped the date.
She had secretly rejoiced and turned the visitor away without another thought.
Who would have guessed that the young woman would return with Old Master Lu himself?
At that moment, even her legs began to weaken.
Was it still possible to pretend to be sick?
Her face wrinkled into a bitter grimace.
Xu Nianchu placed the fruit she had brought onto the table.
“I saw some fresh fruit on the way here, so I bought a little.”
Only after Lu Zhengbang nodded did the orderly step forward to accept it.
Old Master Lu sat in the seat of honor.
Years spent on the battlefield meant that even when he wasn’t angry, his imposing presence naturally inspired awe.
“Go ahead, Yu Wei.”
“Do you have anything you’d like to explain?”
Yu Wei forced a bitter smile.
“Shijia had already gone on the blind date. I thought the person who came was just trying to scam us.”
Old Master Lu’s face darkened.
“So this is the Lu family’s way of doing things now? Making conclusions without even investigating first?”
She was, after all, his daughter-in-law.
He still didn’t fully understand what had happened.
Just as he was about to ask Xu Nianchu, Lu Shijia came rushing in from outside.
The moment he entered, he shouted,
“It’s so hot! Oh, everyone’s here.”
“Where did these apples come from?”
He grabbed one of the enormous apples and took a huge bite.
“Holy… where did you buy these? They’re amazing!”
Old Master Lu coughed twice.
“We have guests. Mind your manners.”
Xu Nianchu quietly observed the newcomer.
If she wasn’t mistaken, this was Lu Shijia.
He had a bright, cheerful personality, as radiant as the sun itself, and he was quite handsome.
As a husband…
His appearance and personality definitely passed.
At that very moment, Lu Shijia looked back at her.
Only then did he realize there was a guest in the house.
And what a beautiful young woman she was.
He smiled.
“Huh… I feel like I’ve seen you somewhere before.”
Scratching his head, he wondered if all beautiful girls simply looked alike.
Xu Nianchu smiled back.
“Maybe I just have one of those ordinary faces.”
Beside them, Lu Beichen tightened his grip around the teacup in his hand.
He had witnessed the entire exchange.
Including the way Xu Nianchu had looked Lu Shijia over.
Lu Shijia’s smile toward Xu Nianchu was dazzling.
Was it really that funny?
Why couldn’t he laugh?
Yu Wei couldn’t laugh either.
Everything she’d done beforehand now seemed completely pointless.
She probably shouldn’t even be here.
She ought to go somewhere quiet and rethink her life.
Old Master Lu tapped the table.
“Enough.”
“How did today’s blind date go?”
The moment the subject came up, Lu Shijia’s smile disappeared.
He was troubled.
He knew Old Master Lu was the type who never changed his mind once he’d made a decision.
But he genuinely couldn’t bring himself to like that girl.
After carefully choosing his words, he finally spoke.
“This childhood engagement won’t work. I don’t like her.”
“You’re not going to force me to marry someone I don’t like, are you?”
Old Master Lu glanced at Xu Nianchu before turning back to Lu Shijia.
“Go on.”
“Tell us everything you said and everything that happened today.”
Taking a deep breath, Lu Shijia recounted the day’s events.
“The moment she saw me, she started talking about our childhood engagement.”
“Then she deliberately splashed water onto my pant leg and tried wiping it off with a handkerchief.”
“I don’t want such a foolish wife.”
The biggest issue, though…
Was that she looked painfully ordinary.
Throw her into a crowd and no one would ever notice her.
As the young master of the Lu family, Lu Shijia had seen countless beautiful women.
Girls were constantly surrounding him.
He’d witnessed every trick imaginable.
Spilling water…
Dropping handkerchiefs…
Pretending to fall in front of him…
None of it was anything new.
Old Master Lu looked down.
Sure enough, there were still faint water stains on Lu Shijia’s trousers.
That girl’s intentions had indeed been improper.
But…
That completely conflicted with the girl now sitting before them.
Turning toward Xu Nianchu, he found her listening with complete seriousness.
“What do you think?”
Xu Nianchu’s clear, pleasant voice rang out.
“Did she tell you her name?”
“I think she said… Xu Xunhuan.”
Xu Nianchu couldn’t help laughing.
“It should be Xu Xunle.”
“She’s my stepsister.”
“My mother passed away when I was ten, and my father later remarried.”
It wasn’t difficult to understand Xu Xunle’s plan.
She wanted to impersonate her during the blind date.
If the man turned out to be blindly obedient to his elders, she’d smoothly marry a military officer.
If it didn’t work…
She had nothing to lose.
Xu Nianchu took the jade bracelet from her wrist.
“My name is Xu Nianchu.”
“This is the engagement token.”
Old Master Lu accepted the bracelet and examined it carefully before asking Meng Qi’an to fetch the jade pendant in her possession.
The pendant had been carved from the leftover jade after the bracelet was made.
“They’re from the same piece of jade.”
He returned the bracelet to Xu Nianchu.
For a brief moment, Lu Beichen was distracted by her smile.
Lu Shijia exploded.
“So…”
“I went on a blind date with a fake?”
He already disliked arranged marriages as an outdated relic.
Now he’d even been deceived.
He fumed,
“She even wanted me to take her to a military social gathering.”
“She said she wanted to broaden her horizons.”
Xu Nianchu thought it made perfect sense.
Xu Xunle had probably realized Lu Shijia wasn’t interested in her, so she needed another way to meet military officers.
Cast a wide enough net…
Eventually, some fish would bite.
Old Master Lu immediately identified the key issue.
“Does your father know about this?”
Xu Nianchu answered honestly.
“I believe he was the one who instructed her.”
“Yesterday, he even tried to give me to a man in his forties as a mistress.”
The moment Old Master Lu heard that, he slammed his palm heavily against the table.
“What kind of father does something like that?!”
He was genuinely furious.
This was the granddaughter of the man who had once saved his life.
How could she be treated this way?
Was this something any decent human being could do?
“My child.”
“You’ll stay at our home tonight.”
“We have plenty of spare rooms.”
Meng Qi’an immediately added,
“But Nianchu hasn’t married into our family yet.”
“If she stays here, it could damage her reputation.”
“It would be better for her to stay at the guesthouse inside the military compound. It’s very safe there.”
Only military personnel and their families were allowed to stay there.
Lu Beichen’s eyes darkened.
Now everything matched what had happened the previous night.
No wonder she hadn’t seemed like that kind of person.
She really was quite pitiful.
Xu Nianchu smiled and shook her head.
“I still have to go back home tonight.”
“But I actually came today because I wanted to ask you for a favor.”
“What is it?”
“Go ahead.”
Xu Nianchu pursed her lips.
“I thought you might have other plans regarding the childhood engagement.”
“So…”
“If possible, I’d like to enlist in the military.”
“I want to become a cultural performance soldier.”
“I have many talents.”
A cultural performance soldier was still a soldier.
Once she joined the military, her family background would no longer pose such a threat.
As long as she had the ability, that would be enough.
Lu Shijia stared at her in astonishment.
“What?”