Chapter 13: “Have I Offended You?”

Xu En’tang didn’t expect Lu Jin to stop.

She didn’t want to talk to him, but she felt it necessary to explain to the Lu family’s grandparents to avoid misunderstandings.

“No. Grandpa Lu and Grandma Lu are very nice to me.”

Her light tone was overshadowed by a thick nasal sound.

Lu Jin took a few steps closer, casually asking, “Missing home?”

This question made Xu En’tang’s nose tingle, tears welling up again, and she couldn’t help but choke softly.

After her grandmother passed away, she no longer had a home.

Later, when they got married, she thought they finally had a home together, but it seemed it was just her one-sided wish.

Lu Jin remarked, “It seems like every time I see you, you’re crying.”

Under the moonlight, the girl sat on a stone by the water, hugging her knees, her eyes cast down in silence, her slender shoulders tense, visibly trembling slightly.

Lu Jin watched her for a few seconds before speaking again. “If you want to cry, then cry.”

His tone was casual, almost comforting.

Many times, whenever he offered this kind of reassurance or showed even a hint of concern, the pent-up bitterness in Xu En’tang would surge uncontrollably, overwhelming her.

This time, she struggled against those emotions.

Seeing her respond to him in an opposite manner, her shoulders tensed even more than before, Lu Jin smiled and looked her up and down.

“Where do they see you being obedient?”

The hardest moment to resist was that instant when emotions surged up. Xu En’tang felt a tightness in her chest, her nails digging into her palms.

She realized she would feel better after pushing through this moment.

In the distance, she could faintly hear voices conversing.

The elders had finished dinner and were coming out for a walk.

Xu En’tang didn’t want Grandma Lu and the others to see her crying, so she immediately got up.

Just as she was about to head back to her room, she noticed they were walking in the direction she was returning from, and they would meet face to face.

In her moment of hesitation, her wrist suddenly tightened.

There was a pile of Taihu stones forming a rockery by the pond, thin and jagged.

Xu En’tang was pulled into the rockery.

The warm touch on her wrist sent a tingling sensation through her, making her body tense and uncomfortable.

She twisted her wrist, trying to break free. “What are you doing?”

Once they were standing still, Lu Jin released his grip.

Xu En’tang didn’t think twice and was about to leave.

Lu Jin’s arm crossed in front of her, blocking her path.

Xu En’tang nearly bumped into him and quickly halted.

Lu Jin’s gaze fell on her face, his tone leisurely. “If you’re seen like this, how am I supposed to explain it?”

“They will definitely think I bullied you. Grandpa will scold me again.”

Xu En’tang opened her mouth to respond, but he raised his finger to his lips, making a shushing gesture.

The voices were getting closer.

Xu En’tang fell silent.

Now, it was too late for her to leave.

Getting caught coming out of the rockery with Lu Jin would only complicate matters further.

The space inside the rockery was small, and Xu En’tang took a step back, creating distance from Lu Jin, her back pressing against the stones.

Even so, it still felt cramped.

Lu Jin’s presence was overwhelming. Xu En’tang turned her face away.

Having just passed the fifteenth day of the lunar month, the moonlight was still bright, shining through the gaps in the rockery, casting a silvery glow that prevented the interior from being too dark.

Xu En’tang’s half-profile was right in front of Lu Jin.

The tear stains on her face hadn’t dried yet, and her jawline was smooth and glistening in the moonlight, resembling a piece of exquisite, beautiful cold jade, exuding a sense of defiance.

“Xu En’tang…”

Lu Jin looked at her for a few seconds and called her name softly.

His voice was low and husky.

“Have I offended you?”

Outside, footsteps could already be heard, coming gradually closer.

The voices belonged to Grandma Lu and Wei He.

Xu En’tang pursed her lips, remaining silent as she focused on the sounds outside, becoming tense as they approached, fearing discovery.

Lu Jin, however, seemed indifferent.

“I even consoled you back then.”

Xu En’tang shot him an unexpected glance.

He was referring to the first time they met when she had run away from her grandfather’s funeral, crying alone, and he had asked He Jiayu to tell her jokes over the phone.

In her past life, when she arrived in Beicheng, he had shown little special interest in her and had never mentioned this incident.

She thought he had done comforting things for girls so often that he had forgotten.

But it turned out he remembered.

In the beginning, when she followed him around Beicheng and found him annoying, she had wanted to ask him if he still remembered.

Now that she knew he did, she felt no joy, only an indescribable bitterness lodged in her throat.

Grandma Lu and Wei He had already reached the edge of the pond.

They would see them if they walked around.

Xu En’tang and Lu Jin fell silent.

Grandma Lu and Wei He were chatting about mundane matters, making small talk that lacked warmth.

It was clear there was no closeness in their relationship.

Xu En’tang was aware of the dynamics in the Lu family.

Lu Shengtao and Wei He were in a marriage of convenience, living separate lives. Wei He certainly wouldn’t be very close to Grandma Lu and Grandpa Lu, only showing respect.

Wei He even remarked that she didn’t know where Lu Jin had run off to.

Grandma Lu replied, “He might have gone to his room. We’re talking, and he wouldn’t want to listen to a bunch of old folks.”

…

At their closest point, they were separated only by a Taihu stone.

Fortunately, they didn’t stop and continued walking.

Just as Xu En’tang breathed a sigh of relief, the area in front of her suddenly brightened.

It was Lu Jin’s phone.

The screen illuminated the spot where they were hidden.

A buzzing sound echoed in the rockery, but thankfully, he had it on vibrate.

However, Grandma Lu and Wei He had just walked a short distance away; if they turned back, they would see the glow from the phone.

Xu En’tang’s heart raced again, and she shot him a look.

Lu Jin quickly silenced the incoming voice call and turned off the screen.

Out of the corner of her eye, Xu En’tang caught a glimpse of the name on the screen, and her grip on the rockery tightened instinctively, her fingertips turning pale.

Those three characters were very familiar to her.

It was Zhao Man, who was far away in America.

Grandma Lu and Wei He didn’t notice any commotion on this side.

About half a minute later, their voices faded into the distance.

Lu Jin looked at Xu En’tang, who seemed lost in thought, and continued the earlier topic, lowering his voice: “You cry just like back then. Do you enjoy hiding away like this?”

Xu En’tang lowered her eyes, her tone flat. “I don’t remember.”

The surface of the pond rippled with a gentle breeze, and the reflection on the Taihu stone seemed to pause for a moment at her words.

The voices of Grandma Lu and Wei He were nearly inaudible now.

Xu En’tang said, “They should be far enough away now; I’ll leave first.”

With that, she turned her body and slipped out from between Lu Jin and the rockery.

Lu Jin’s phone vibrated several more times.

It was a message from He Jiayu.

He stepped out from behind the rockery, tapping on the screen with his fingertips.

After replying to the message, he looked up at Xu En’tang’s retreating figure, which was about to disappear behind the pillar, and scoffed softly.

Let her cry; no matter how pitiful it was, it had nothing to do with him.

He shouldn’t have gotten involved in this matter.