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After school, returning to Fuyuan, Xu En’tang accompanied Old Master Lu and Madam Lu through dinner before returning to her room to do her homework.
Around eight o’clock, her phone rang.
It was a call from Old Master Tan.
Xu En’tang answered, taking the opportunity to stretch her neck.
“Grandpa Tan?”
“Tangtang, how was your first day of school? Did you settle in alright?”
Old Master Tan, like Lu Jin’s grandparents, was very fond of her.
In her past life, when she married Lu Jin, she had left from the Tan family’s ancestral home; Old Master Tan had said that the Tan family was her maternal family.
Xu En’tang replied, “It’s pretty good.”
Old Master Tan: “If you need anything, tell your grandparents from the Lu family, or you can tell me as well.”
Xu En’tang responded with an affirmative sound.
Old Master Tan: “If anything happens at school, go find Tan Jili, don’t be afraid to bother him.”
Tan Jili was Old Master Tan’s grandson.
Old Master Tan: “I’ll have him add you as a friend later.”
Xu En’tang: “Okay.”
Old Master Tan gave a few more instructions; Xu En’tang felt warmth in her heart and agreed to each one.
Vaguely, she heard a lazy, low voice coming from the phone.
Then Old Master Tan said, “You still know to come.”
It must be Tan Jili.
Sure enough, Old Master Tan told her, “It’s that stinky brat, Tan Jili.”
The words “stinky brat” left Xu En’tang at a loss for words.
Since the conversation was almost over, she said, “Grandpa Tan, I’ll go do my homework now. I’ll come see you when I have time.”
“Good.”
After hanging up, Old Master Tan put down his phone and looked at Tan Jili, who was fiddling with his phone.
The kind smile on his face had vanished; he looked at Tan Jili with displeasure.
Tan Jili chuckled, asking, “Haven’t seen you for a month, don’t recognize me anymore?”
Old Master Tan snorted, “I’d recognize you even if you turned to ashes.”
He added, “It’s your sister Tangtang.”
“She’s at the Lu family?” Tan Jili asked without much enthusiasm, clearly not very concerned.
Old Master Tan hummed, saying, “She’ll stay at the Lu family for two months first, then she’ll come to your place.”
Tan Jili paused, unexpectedly asking, “My place?”
“Your grandmother is gone, it’s not convenient for her, a young girl, to live with an old man like me. Going to your elder brother’s house, your elder brother is too much older than her; they won’t get along—”
Halfway through, Old Master Tan realized what he was saying, raising his eyebrows.
“What, she can’t go to your place? Even this I can’t decide?”
Tan Jili: “Of course, you can decide. It’s not just one sister; ten or eight would be fine.”
Seeing his nonchalant attitude, Old Master Tan angrily picked up a book and threw it at him.
Tan Jili easily caught it.
He put the book aside, stood up and said, “I only got back to Beicheng last night. Let me explain to you, so you won’t talk behind my back saying I didn’t come.”
Old Master Tan corrected him, “I just said it to your face.”
“Alright, you’re the most straightforward.” Tan Jili smiled, “I’ll go then, I have school tomorrow.”
“Wait.” Old Master Tan stopped him.
“Add Tangtang as a friend.”
The first day of school was Wednesday; after three days of classes, it was the weekend.
On Saturday, Xu En’tang woke up at her usual time.
She went to the dining room and heard Aunt Zhou saying, “That little ancestor came in the middle of the night.”
Xu En’tang’s footsteps paused.
Lu Jin had come to Fuyuan.
Old Master Lu saw Xu En’tang and asked, “Tangtang, why are you up so early?”
Madam Lu chimed in, “It’s the weekend; you should sleep in and not worry about having to join us for breakfast.”
Xu En’tang smiled and replied, “I’m used to it; I wake up at the same time.”
After finishing breakfast, she took a stroll in the garden with Madam Lu for a while before heading off to do some practice problems.
At noon, she saw Lu Jin.
When he came into the dining hall, he looked like he hadn’t fully woken up, his expression lethargic.
His gaze swept over Xu En’tang, lingered for a moment, then quickly moved away.
Old Master Lu disapproved of his lazy demeanor and frowned. “What time is it?”
Lu Jin sat down and said, “I stayed up too late last night.”
Old Master Lu replied, “If you don’t sleep at night, you won’t get up during the day.”
Madam Lu tried to ease the tension and changed the subject, saying to Lu Jin, “Haven’t you seen Tangtang at school yet?”
Madam Lu didn’t know that they had already met the night Xu En’tang arrived at Fuyuan.
“You need to take good care of Tangtang at school, understand?”
Lu Jin turned to Xu En’tang.
With elders present, Xu En’tang nodded at him as a greeting before lowering her eyes.
Lu Jin shifted his gaze away and responded, “Understood.”
In her past life, Madam Lu had given the same advice.
Back then, Xu En’tang had taken that “understood” seriously and often sought out Lu Jin.
People around Lu Jin joked that she was his shadow, and Lu Jin found her quite bothersome.
But this time would be different.
During lunch, Lu Jin received a phone call.
It was a brief conversation, just a few sentences.
After he hung up, Madam Lu asked, “Are you going out tonight?”
Lu Jin responded with a “Hmm,” adding, “He Jiayu and the others are looking for me.”
Old Master Lu said, “If you’re going out to have fun, take Tangtang with you.”
Madam Lu agreed, “Tangtang just arrived in Beicheng and doesn’t have many friends; it would be good for her to go out and meet people.”
Before Lu Jin could speak, Xu En’tang interjected, “I won’t go; I have to do my homework.”
Madam Lu replied, “You can’t just do homework every day; you need to balance work and play. Go out and have some fun this weekend.”
Xu En’tang smiled, “I know. I just transferred here, so I’m not quite used to the teaching methods at High School No. 1 yet; I need to catch up this weekend.”
Hearing this, Madam Lu advised, “Then go next time. Don’t tire yourself out too much.”
The evening activity was organized by He Jiayu.
He Jiayu and the others were always generous, allowing anyone to bring friends, and the more, the merrier, so the gatherings were always lively.
Most of the girls were there just to see Lu Jin.
Their eyes would occasionally drift toward Lu Jin, watching to see if any girls approached him.
Lu Jin sat on the sofa, staring at his phone, his features dimly illuminated by the screen’s glow.
He Jiayu walked over and sat beside him, asking, “What’s wrong, Ah Jin? Not happy tonight?”
Lu Jin shifted his gaze from the phone, snorting lightly, “What could I possibly be unhappy about?”