Chapter 53.2

After sitting for a while, Xu Yan went back first. There was still Liu Jianwu at home, and she could help take care of Song Xianghong. Feng Mei stayed here to look after Song Xiangdong and keep Jiang Nian company.

Feng Mei said, “Back then, Old Song said that Hou Meng is a shallow-minded woman and a bad person. She is really a bad person and has a vicious heart. Guess what I was doing before I came here?”

Jiang Nian guessed, “You went to Deputy Commander You’s house?”

“Yes!”

Feng Mei slapped her thigh and raised her neck to shout, “I rushed to their house with a rolling pin. Xu Yan went with me. I held Hou Meng down and beat her. Hou Lian wanted to come up to help but was pulled away by Xu Yan. Chen Fang was usually close to Hou Lian and didn’t come up to help them this time. She just watched from the side. If the other military wives hadn’t pulled me away, I would have beaten Hou Meng to death. Damn it, she almost killed my son.”

Jiang Nian hadn’t expected so much to happen over lunch.

Feng Mei snorted, “Old Song is furious too. When Xu Yan and I got back, guess what? Old Song said as soon as he got back, he knew we went to Deputy Commander You’s house. He pretend not to see it because he wanted me to beat up Hou Meng badly, stir up trouble at the You family. After I finished, he, Deputy Commander Lu, and the political commissar all went to Deputy Commander You’s house.”

Jiang Nian recalled what Lu Yu had said about seeking justice for her.

Feng Mei sighed, “Hou Meng won’t have an easy time this time, and Deputy Commander You won’t either.”

Feng Mei sat for a while longer, then heard nurses next door talking about changing medicine. Only then did she get up to check on Song Xiangdong. When she approached, Liu Jianye was playing with Song Xiangdong. Upon seeing Feng Mei enter, Liu Jianye obediently called out, “Aunt Feng.”

Feng Mei smiled, “Carry on playing.”

As it grew dark, Lu Yu arrived, holding an aluminum lunch box. He had changed into a white shirt and military green pants, just like the first time she had met him. His features were cold and handsome, lips slightly pursed. When Jiang Nian met Lu Yu’s gaze, she instinctively looked away.

“I brought dumplings.”

Lu Yu opened the aluminum lunch box. Jiang Nian no longer needed an IV. She took the lunch box and, while eating dumplings, said, “I want to go home.”

Lu Yu lowered his gaze to her, “What’s wrong?”

“I’m fine now. I just caught a cold. I’ll be fine after I go back and take some medicine.”

She had had enough of the hospital.

Lu Yu helped her put the lunch box lid on the table, “We’ll observe for another day tomorrow. If everything’s fine, I’ll take you home.”

Jiang Nian wanted to say more, but Lu Yu stopped her, “Be obedient.”

Jiang Nian: …

Lu Yu had brought many dumplings, but Jiang Nian couldn’t finish them. After eating about a dozen, she placed the rest on the table. Lu Yu glanced at them, his brow slightly furrowed, “Would you like to eat some more?”

“No, I’m full.”

Jiang Nian turned to put on her shoes, “I’ll go check on Xiangdong.”

Before Lu Yu could speak, Jiang Nian ran out of the ward. Lu Yu looked back at the disappearing figure at the door, lips slightly pursed.

Song Xiangdong was much better already, Feng Mei said they’d check again tomorrow and he’d likely be discharged soon.

Jiang Nian sat there for a while before slowly walking back to the ward. When she reached the door, she saw Lu Yu standing by the window. His hands were in his pockets, posture straight and rigid. His figure was reflected on the window, faintly showing his furrowed brow and dark eyes.

Seeing Jiang Nian’s shadow on the glass, Lu Yu turned around, “You’re back.”

Jiang Nian nodded, “Mm.”

She walked into the ward with her head down, saying nothing more.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Lu Yu walking towards her. Her heart skipped a beat, and the hand resting on the bed curled slightly. His footsteps passed by her, and just as Jiang Nian relaxed, she heard the door close. Startled, she looked up and saw Lu Yu walking towards her.

Jiang Nian felt like even her breathing was audible.

She nervously swallowed and watched as Lu Yu pulled out a chair and sat across from her, meeting her gaze.

“You don’t need to be afraid of me.”

Lu Yu looked into Jiang Nian’s eyes, “I apologize for what I did today to you.”

Jiang Nian pressed her lips together, wanting to say she wasn’t afraid of Lu Yu, but she felt conflicted. Before sorting out her feelings, she didn’t know how to face Lu Yu — as what role, with what emotions.

“Jiang Nian.”

Lu Yu spoke again.

Even sitting on the chair, his posture was straight, legs apart, hands resting on his knees. Jiang Nian looked at him, waiting for him to continue. Lu Yu said, “I don’t regret what I did to you today.”

Not only did he not regret it, he wanted to get closer to her.

Thinking so, Lu Yu did just that.

He reached out and took Jiang Nian’s hand, “You don’t need to be afraid of me. Until you agree, I won’t overstep.”

“I’m not afraid of you.”

Jiang Nian looked at Lu Yu’s distinct hand, her fingers curling slightly, “I want to ask you something and hope you’ll answer truthfully.”

She looked up at Lu Yu, who was also looking at her, “Ask.”

Jiang Nian pressed her lips and gathered courage, “Are your feelings for me mixed with gratitude towards the Xu family?”

Lu Yu didn’t hesitate at all, “No, not at all.”

His hand tried to pry open Jiang Nian’s fingers, wanting to intertwine their fingers, but Jiang Nian kept her fingers curled, like her closed-off heart, keeping him out.

“I’ll remember the Xu family’s kindness for a lifetime, but my feelings for you have nothing to do with the Xu family’s gratitude.”

Lu Yu had never felt so ashamed. He thought of his brother’s wife, wanting to possess her, even wanting to marry her.

Even knowing that Jiang Nian still had his brother in her heart, he had despicably thought of removing his brother completely from her heart, leaving only himself.

At first, he treated Jiang Nian with the decency of a brother-in-law. But as they spent time together, he gradually realized that Jiang Nian might be very different from his former sister-in-law. He didn’t know what secrets Jiang Nian had, but he didn’t care about them.

In Lu Yu’s mind, all secrets would be revealed in the future.

As long as Jiang Nian didn’t speak, he would never force her.

Lu Yu’s sincere, bright eyes made Jiang Nian feel uneasy. She looked away, and her tightly curled fingers slightly relaxed. Lu Yu’s eyes gleamed, his fingers gently prying open Jiang Nian’s fingers, and when their ten fingers touched in the palm of her hand, Jiang Nian’s trembling heart suddenly trembled.

She seemed to have… inappropriate thoughts about Lu Yu.

Jiang Nian had been looking out the window all this time, her cheeks gradually flushing red. It was hot now, and their hands, palm to palm, were starting to sweat, yet neither of them had thought to let go. She pursed her lips, watching their reflections in the glass, and said softly, “Lu Yu, if one day you find out…”

She paused, feeling scared, unable to continue.

She feared that if Lu Yu discovered she wasn’t the real Jiang Nian, he might no longer love her, or worse, come to detest her.

Suddenly, the shadow on the glass leaned towards her. Jiang Nian instinctively turned her head and saw Lu Yu so close by, his free hand buried in her dark hair, his breath mingling with hers.

Jiang Nian’s breath caught, her body stiffening.

Lu Yu looked at Jiang Nian’s curled eyelashes, at her bright eyes. “You are Jiang Nian, forever just Jiang Nian.”

Jiang Nian’s eyelashes tingled as she met his deep, dark gaze. A terrifying thought struck her: had Lu Yu suspected for a while that she wasn’t the same Jiang Nian anymore?

Once this thought took root, like a weed, it continued to grow. Jiang Nian avoided the topic. If this were revealed, she didn’t know what to say.

Should she say Lu Yu was a character from a book?

Say she was a person from the new century who had entered this book?

Jiang Nian wanted to turn her head to look out the window, away from Lu Yu’s penetrating gaze. But his hand on her head was heavy, and her vision suddenly darkened. Lu Yu’s lips pressed down unexpectedly, and Jiang Nian sat stiffly on the bed, forgetting to react.

Lu Yu prided himself on his discipline, but meeting Jiang Nian and falling for her made him break his self-imposed restraints time and again. He wanted to be close to Jiang Nian, to selfishly draw in her breath, to get closer.

His hand gripped Jiang Nian’s head firmly, possessively, with the explosive force of long-suppressed desire, seeking greedily to take her breath away.

The sound of the dripping water echoed in the ward, then was drowned out by footsteps in the corridor.

Fingers tingle, trembling through the veins. Jiang Nian made a sound she couldn’t control, until her tongue went numb, her breath thinning. Only then did Lu Yu reluctantly release her, Jiang Nian clearly seeing the bloodshot in his eyes, like a beast lurking in the dark, erupting in a moment of madness when it caught its prey.

Jiang Nian was frightened by Lu Yu’s gaze.

She lowered her head in panic, feeling a coolness on her lips and a slight swelling.

Lu Yu lowered his brows and suppressed the deep darkness in his eyes, speaking in a hoarse voice, “Jiang Nian, let’s get married.”

“I’ll go back and file the marriage application.”

“No!”

Jiang Nian felt she had refused too quickly. She had never thought about marriage, let alone dated anyone. Jumping into marriage like this was too sudden.

Even if she were to marry Lu Yu, it wouldn’t be now. It would have to wait until his military transfer orders came through. She didn’t want Lu Yu to become a topic of discussion in the entire military community or family quarters because of her.

She lowered her head, avoiding Lu Yu’s gaze, and said softly, “I… I need to think about it.”

Lu Yu knew he had been too hasty. Finally making Jiang Nian relax a bit, he was afraid of scaring her away again. He gently rubbed Jiang Nian’s head with his fingers, saying in a husky voice, “I’ll wait for you.”

When footsteps approached the ward door, Jiang Nian suddenly pushed Lu Yu’s hand away and sat up straight, afraid of being seen inside the ward. It wouldn’t be good for Lu Yu if anyone saw them together.

The warmth of their palms suddenly parted. Lu Yu looked down at his hand, still warm and carrying Jiang Nian’s scent. He resisted the urge to embrace her and instead talked about today’s matters: “The situation with Hou Meng has been handled.”

Jiang Nian lowered her head for a moment, then blushed and looked up at Lu Yu’s deep, dark eyes. “How was it handled?”

Lu Yu looked at Jiang Nian’s flushed cheeks, a hint of amusement in his eyes. “Deputy Commander You and his wife wrote a self criticism. Hou Meng was detained by the police for intentional injury and won’t be allowed to visit the army in the future.”

“Thank you,” Jiang Nian smiled.

Since coming to this era, from the moment she first saw Lu Yu, following him to the army, he had solved all the dangers and troubles for her.

Feng Mei came over after a while, Song Xiangdong fell asleep, and she was bored sitting alone, wanting to talk to Jiang Nian.

When Lu Yu got up to leave, Jiang Nian called out, “Lu Yu.”

Lu Yu turned to look at her, warmth and a smile hidden in his brows and eyes that others would find hard to perceive. “Hmm?”

Jiang Nian smiled slightly, biting her lip. “Drive safely.”

“Okay.”

Feng Mei said, “Did you hear about Hou Meng?”

Jiang Nian nodded. “Lu Yu told me.”

“Hmph!” Feng Mei was still angry. “I think locking her up was too light. I really want to dunk her in the river and let her taste what it’s like for you and Xiangdong. It’s infuriating. Where does she get the nerve to face Song Bai? She should look at herself in the mirror and see what kind of person she is. Her thoughts are too malicious!”

Feng Mei cursed Hou Meng for a while until she got sleepy and went back to accompany Song Xiangdong.