Lu Beichen turned and walked out the door.
A short while later, he returned carrying a set of clothes, which he tossed to her.
“Hurry up and change. There are more and more people outside.”
Under his urging, Xu Nianchu quickly got dressed.
Clearly, nothing had happened between them, yet she somehow felt like she was sneaking around after doing something shameful.
She even had the absurd urge to climb out through the window.
That somehow seemed more fitting.
Before leaving, she looked at Lu Beichen, who was standing nearby, and asked softly,
“What’s your name? When I have money again, I’ll pay you back.”
Lu Beichen took out a cigarette and rolled it between his fingers.
“No need.”
“It’s unnecessary.”
Their paths would never cross again.
His mission was almost complete.
Once it was over, he would leave this place for good.
Xu Nianchu, however, wasn’t bothered.
With a face like his, there was no way she’d forget him.
If fate allowed, they’d meet again someday.
“Oh.”
She silently committed the favor to memory.
Seeing the bright morning sun outside, she knew she had to leave immediately.
A difficult battle still awaited her today.
Once the Xu family discovered she had seriously injured that fat pig, they would definitely come after her.
She had to get home before them.
She needed to claim her golden finger.
It was hidden inside her house.
The moment she stepped out of Lu Beichen’s home, she ran into an older woman.
The woman looked her up and down several times.
Feeling uncomfortable under that stare, Xu Nianchu frowned.
“What’s wrong with your eyes? Why do you keep staring at me?”
The woman spat on the ground.
“I just wanted to see what kind of girlfriend our neighborhood hoodlum managed to find. Look at you. You’re already living together before marriage, and you’ve got no manners either.”
With that booming voice of hers, neighbors from all around the courtyard gathered to watch the commotion.
Seeing the graceful and beautiful young woman, several sighed regretfully.
“What a wonderful girl. Such a pity Lu Little Six ruined her.”
“Exactly. Living with a man before marriage? Aunt Zhang gave her a good scolding.”
…
The noisy crowd chattered nonstop until Xu Nianchu’s ears hurt.
Some even blocked her path, looking her up and down as though they wanted to strip the skin off her.
Xu Nianchu laughed in exasperation.
She hadn’t expected to run into such insufferable busybodies the moment she arrived.
Putting everything else aside, Lu Beichen had bought her clothes, saved her from a hooligan, and resisted taking advantage of her despite the circumstances.
From that alone, he was obviously nothing like the neighborhood delinquent these people described.
So his nickname is Lu Little Six?
That’s actually kind of funny.
Why not just call him Six-Six-Six while you’re at it?
The thought nearly made her laugh.
Inside the house, Lu Beichen heard the commotion.
Just as he was about to go outside to help, he saw Xu Nianchu leap onto a wooden chopping block in the courtyard.
She shouted at the top of her lungs,
“First of all, listen carefully! His name isn’t ‘hoodlum.’ It’s Lu Six-Six!”
“Secondly, who said I spent the night in his house? If you don’t have any proof, then you’re slandering my reputation. I’ll report every one of you to the Public Security Bureau!”
“Were you all left behind when humanity evolved? All you know how to do is spread rumors!”
Xu Nianchu’s strategy was simple.
If reason didn’t work, then she’d out-argue them with sheer shameless confidence.
Who among them actually dared go to the police over something this trivial?
As expected, the tightly packed crowd immediately scattered.
Even as they left, they continued muttering.
“Young girls sure have bad tempers these days. We only said a few words. It’s not like she lost a piece of flesh. Why take it so seriously?”
“Exactly. We were only reminding her because she’s such a pretty girl. Instead, she argued with us. What an ungrateful little thing.”
Once the crowd dispersed, Xu Nianchu didn’t bother wasting another second.
She had already cursed them out.
Now she had something much more important to do.
She hurried away.
Inside the house, Lu Beichen watched the petite young woman standing atop the wooden block, fiercely scolding an entire crowd by herself.
The sight was unexpectedly amusing.
The corners of his lips couldn’t help but curl upward.
Lu Six-Six?
Why didn’t she just call me Six-Six-Six?
If the men in his unit saw him smiling right now…
Their jaws would probably hit the floor.
The infamous Cold King of Hell of their squad…
Actually smiled.
Xu Nianchu hurried all the way home.
The moment she stepped through the gate, her stepmother, Tang Jinhua, greeted her warmly.
“Niannian, you must be exhausted.”
“I made some mung bean soup for you. Come inside and cool off.”
The Xu residence sat in the very center of the city.
While most people lived in cramped apartment buildings, the Xu family occupied a two-story house.
Everyone had their own bedroom.
Even the household maid had a room of her own.
This was already considered a “small house.”
Her grandfather had deliberately purchased it to keep a low profile.
Most of their larger estates had already been donated away.
He had wished only to exchange them for two kinds of peace.
One for the safety of his family.
The other for the safety of the nation’s soldiers.
Sadly…
Looking at the kind-faced stepmother exactly as described in the novel, Xu Nianchu had to admit she truly looked gentle and caring.
She had a soft, warm appearance.
Unfortunately…
A gentle blade cut the deepest.
The quietest dogs bit the hardest.
Xu Nianchu hadn’t grown up as a spoiled heiress in the modern world only to become a fool.
After all these years, she had learned how to judge people.
“Thank you, Aunt Tang.”
“But I’m not thirsty. I’ll go upstairs and rest for a while.”
Tang Jinhua smiled brightly.
“Of course, of course.”
“Go get some rest. I’ll call you when lunch is ready.”
The moment Xu Nianchu disappeared upstairs, the smile vanished from her face.
Hmph.
She really thinks she’s still some precious young miss.
Talking to me as though I were a servant.
Doesn’t she know any manners?
I’m her stepmother, after all.
Tang Jinhua unfolded the bundle of clothes Xu Nianchu had left behind.
There were bloodstains on the fabric.
The clothes themselves had been torn to an outrageous degree.
It wasn’t hard to imagine what had happened the previous night.
Their chances of remaining in the capital had just increased by several points.
Compared to the uncertain future overseas…
She still wanted to stay in the capital if at all possible.
Just as she was about to throw the bloodstained clothes away, her eyes flickered.
She paused.
Perhaps…
These clothes might still prove useful someday.
Xu Nianchu climbed to the second floor.
All the bedrooms were located upstairs.
Her room and her younger brother Xu Xinglin’s room were on the north side.
Xu Xunle and Xu Tianci occupied the sunnier rooms on the south side.
Back then, two years after Tang Jinhua married into the family, she had claimed that the siblings often developed rashes because the north-facing rooms were too damp and needed more sunlight.
With that excuse, the room swap had been made.
And it had remained that way ever since.
What ridiculous nonsense.
Xu Nianchu hurried into her bedroom.
According to the novel’s timeline, the heroine hadn’t awakened her golden finger yet.
That meant…
It was most likely still here.
The instant she entered, she locked the door.
Following the memories she’d inherited, she opened one of the hidden compartments inside the room.
There were many secret compartments throughout the house.
When she was little, her mother had turned them into a treasure hunt game and showed every one of them to the original owner.
She had also repeatedly reminded her…
Never forget them.
And never tell anyone else.
Even after the original owner fell into misery later in the story, she had never lacked spending money.
Yet she had never once touched the wealth hidden inside these compartments.
In the end…
It had all been handed over for free to become the heroine’s stepping stone.
But now that Xu Nianchu was here…
She wouldn’t leave Xu Xunle so much as a mouse hole.
The compartment hadn’t been opened in years.
After pressing hard several times, it finally popped open.
Inside sat a dressing box made of golden nanmu wood.
Opening it, she immediately recognized the jade bracelet that served as the novel’s golden finger.
Unlike every other bracelet in the box, this one was crystal clear, almost like glass.
Its imperial green color was flawless.
Not the slightest impurity could be found within it.
It radiated an unmistakable spiritual aura.