Chapter 34

“Yes, I’ve been home all this time.”

Tang Wan rubbed her stomach. “I’m a heavy sleeper. By the way, is Zhou Zhou alright?”

Seeing her pale complexion, Lu Huaijing felt a pang of guilt. She was a young girl, feeling unwell, and he had doubted her?

“No, Zhou Zhou has been with my younger brother.”

Lu Huaijing sighed and left the room. A moment later, he returned with a bowl of warm ginger tea.

“Warm your stomach.”

“Thank you.”

Tang Wan quietly breathed a sigh of relief. She had been terrified.

The old house people were too much. She couldn’t hold back, but she couldn’t do that again. Otherwise, she would be walking into a trap.

“Was it you who did that to Liu Lanhua?”

Tang Wan looked like a curious child, avoiding mentioning the old house. From the looks of it, the old house people hadn’t returned yet.

“Yeah.”

Lu Huaijing nodded. “We have to take the train to the army tomorrow. Let’s get some rest.”

He had already taken off his coat and climbed into bed. Remembering their earlier intimacy, Tang Wan’s cheeks flushed.

But she didn’t hesitate. After finishing her ginger tea, she climbed into bed.

She had been up all night and was exhausted. As soon as her head hit the pillow, she fell asleep.

Looking at her sleeping face, Lu Huaijing believed her when she said she was a heavy sleeper. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have slept through him holding her.

The old house had offended many people. Someone might be taking advantage of the situation.

In a daze, Tang Wan felt a warm pillow hugging her tightly.

It was warm and comfortable against her stomach. Tang Wan snuggled closer to the heat source and slept soundly.

But she was awakened by a series of loud bangs.

“What’s going on?”

Tang Wan opened her eyes, confused. She saw Lu Huaijing sitting up.

He casually threw on a jacket. “Someone’s knocking at the door. You go back to sleep. I’ll go see who it is.”

There were a lot of women in the house, and his older brother was a coward. Lu Huaijing wasn’t taking any chances.

“Okay.”

Tang Wan didn’t even open her eyes. She mumbled a response. A few minutes later, a commotion erupted in the courtyard.

She vaguely heard Old Mrs. Lu’s voice.

Wait!

Tang Wan sat up abruptly. She noticed that it was just getting light outside. She pulled out a watch from her space and checked the time. It was five in the morning.

They were coming this early. They must have discovered that things were missing from their house.

She quickly changed her clothes and opened the door. She saw a crowd of people standing in the courtyard.

Even the brigade leader was there.

Old Mrs. Lu sat on the ground, her hair disheveled, wailing and crying.

“Oh, heavens above, why didn’t you take me with you? Why am I so unlucky?”

“My poor son is gone, and now someone has stolen the money he left for me and his father!”

“Brigade leader, you have to help us!”

“…”

Old Master Lu was also distraught. His head hung low, and he looked listless.

“We haven’t offended anyone else besides them.”

“Nonsense!”

Wang Dani was no pushover. She stood with her hands on her hips. “How many years has it been since I’ve been to your house?

You lost something and you blame us? I should thank that ‘hero’ who emptied your house!”

The two women started arguing. Old Mrs. Lu and Wang Dani pointed fingers at each other and wailed.

Li Cuifang and Lu Huai Mei stood on either side of Wang Dani, protecting her. Old Mrs. Lu was about to lose.

“What’s going on?”

Tang Wan walked out, looking confused. Seeing her, Tang Zhou quickly ran up to her and whispered,

“They say something is missing from the old Lu family house. They’re blaming it on your husband’s family.”

“That’s impossible!”

Tang Wan was shocked. She saw Wang Dani and Old Mrs. Lu fighting, and Old Master Lu glared angrily at the brigade leader.

“Brigade leader, we are their elders after all. Isn’t it unfilial of Wang Dani to beat her mother-in-law?”

“You wouldn’t talk properly, so she hit me. Should I just take it?”

Wang Dani spat, pushing Old Mrs. Lu to the ground. “My husband is dead.

You cut off our ties and kicked us out. What kind of elders are you?”

“I gave birth to Lu Jian Guo!”

Old Mrs. Lu screamed. The brigade leader was getting a headache. He roared!

“Shut up!”

“Brigade leader, you have to help us. That was our family’s food supply.”

Old Mrs. Lu was heartbroken. Her daughter-in-law was messing around with another man, and her grandchildren weren’t hers.

She had already been driven to the brink of madness. Her heart was bleeding.

Then, when she came home, she found that her house had been emptied. She almost fainted!

No, she wouldn’t let Wang Dani get away with it.

“Alright, everyone be quiet. I’ll ask questions!”

The brigade leader was having a terrible headache. He was grateful that Lu Huaijing hadn’t married Hongying. This chaotic family was giving him a headache.

“What’s the point of asking? Just search!”

Old Master Lu was so angry that he stomped his feet. That was his life’s savings!

He was crazy, he was crazy!

“No!”

Wang Dani said coldly, “We didn’t do anything. We won’t admit to it even if we die.

If you search our house, won’t it ruin our reputation?”

“Brigade leader, she won’t let us search her house because she’s guilty. They took my money and coupons!”

Old Mrs. Lu’s tone was full of certainty. She didn’t look like an elder, but a vengeful enemy.

“This stuff didn’t disappear earlier or later. It just happened to disappear after Lu Huaijing said we got so much money yesterday.

I think they took it. They’re jealous of the money and coupons we received from Jian Guo’s comrade.”

Old Master Lu’s reasoning was convincing. Wang Dani was amused.

“If it weren’t for Lao San meeting Jian Guo’s comrade, how would we know you’re so shameless!”

“Ugh…”

Li Cuifang spat at Old Mrs. Lu. She wished that the money was theirs.

Thousands of yuan!

“Unfilial, unfilial!”

Old Master Lu wailed. The two lay in the Lu family courtyard, determined to fight to the death.

The brigade leader was having a terrible headache. He looked at Wang Dani and said, “Sister-in-law, the situation is this.

They firmly believe that you took the things from their house. I’ve tried to reason with them, but they won’t listen. There’s nothing I can do.”

“It couldn’t be anyone else!”

Old Master Lu glared at Lu Huaijing. “In the entire Shi Ping Brigade, the only one who could have emptied our house is you!”

“It wasn’t me!”

Lu Huaijing looked helpless. He would have loved to loot the place, but he didn’t have time.

“When did your things disappear?”

“Last night!”

Old Mrs. Lu was so angry that she wanted to kill someone. But then she saw Lu Huaijing calmly say,

“Last night, Liu Lanhua was messing around. Everyone in the village was at the haystack.

Maybe your things were stolen then.”

“Yes, it must have happened then! Someone must have taken advantage of the situation.”

Old Mrs. Lu nodded eagerly, but Old Master Lu glared at her fiercely.

“It’s hard to say. We were so angry last night that we didn’t come home all night.”

“Brigade leader.”

Lu Huaijing said calmly, “Last night, our whole family was with the villagers.

We came back and went to bed. Our neighbors can vouch for us.”