Font Size:
“Just… how much is ‘a little bit’?”
Lu Jiangting: …
Before he could answer, she continued, “What if her hair salon closes down? What if she loses all her money?”
“It won’t,” he said immediately.
Lin Yuyao: “I’m saying *what if*? What if she loses all her money and can’t afford to live? Will you help her then?”
Lu Jiangting said, “Yuyao, let’s not assume things that haven’t happened.”
“Why not? Look, I’m asking you a simple question, and you won’t give me a straight answer. How am I supposed to trust you?”
“You…” He felt she was being unreasonable, so he said, “Then I’ll give her enough for basic living expenses.”
“That’s too vague. I need a specific amount.”
Lu Jiangting hadn’t expected her to be so aggressive.
Especially in front of Fu Huayi.
He felt stifled discussing this with an outsider present, so he said, “Can you leave? Yuyao and I need to talk. What are you doing here?”
Fu Huayi’s face was grim, his fists clenched, looking ready for a fight.
Lin Yuyao, genuinely afraid they would start fighting again, said, “Fang Qing isn’t an outsider, right? She’s your wife, so she can be involved in major events like our wedding.”
Mentioning Fang Qing, Lu Jiangting immediately backed down.
He deeply regretted his actions.
Even if he could go back, he couldn’t ignore Fang Qing. If only he might have told Fang Qing more gently not to borrow so much money. At the very least, he should have kept the money for his wedding with Yuyao, avoiding this whole mess.
Lu Jiangting took a deep breath and looked at Lin Yuyao. “What happened with Fang Qing was my fault. I know I was wrong. Yuyao, let’s make this work. I apologize.”
“No, you haven’t answered my question.”
Lu Jiangting: …
Faced with her persistent questioning, Lu Jiangting assumed she only wanted a specific amount to see if she could accept it.
If he offered too much, Yuyao would definitely object. If he offered too little, what if her worst-case scenario actually happened?
A little money wouldn’t be enough for Fang Qing and her son.
Raising a child is expensive.
After much deliberation, he offered an amount.
“A third of my salary. Salaries will increase, and prices will inevitably rise.”
Huh?
One-third?
After all this, it went from one-half to one-third?
Lin Yuyao suddenly laughed.
Lu Jiangting looked at her, puzzled, stammering, “If… if you think it’s too much… we can make it less, but not too little. Raising a child is very expensive.”
Hearing this, Lin Yuyao burst out laughing.
“Raising a child is expensive?” So he knew it was expensive.
“One-third? You’re giving them One-third?You know your parents are getting older, right? They need money too.” She opposed his decision.
Lu Jiangting: …
“Give them another third. What about you? You need money too, right? The remaining third can’t all go to me, so…”
Lin Yuyao took a deep breath, looked up at the sky, unable to stop her tears.
She remembered the dream again.
So real, as if she had lived it.
Seeing her cry, both men in the room panicked.
Fu Huayi was about to speak, but Lu Jiangting cut him off.
“Yuyao, I’m sorry, I’m really sorry, please don’t cry. We won’t give her anything, okay?”
“Not give her anything? You’re trying to placate me?”
Lu Jiangting: …
Lin Yuyao pushed Lu Jiangting’s hand away from her knees and said coldly, “Forget it. We’re never going to work.”
Lu Jiangting’s hand fell, and he said angrily, “Why? Why are you so fixated on Fang Qing? I’ve told you countless times, there’s nothing between us.”
Lin Yuyao calmly said, “Say whatever you want. It doesn’t concern me.”
“You’re being unreasonable again, aren’t you? You keep saying I’m involved with Fang Qing, but are you and Fu Huayi so above board? Why is he here?”
Lin Yuyao looked at him incredulously.
She wanted to say that she and Fu Huayi were innocent, but then thought, what was the difference between saying that and Lu Jiangting’s excuses?
“I’m not like you. I’m not clinging to you; I don’t need to prove my innocence. But you, Lu Jiangting, are trying to win me back while still entangled with Fang Qing.”
He and Fang Qing—one pretending to be virtuous despite their guilt, the other craving both sides of the coin—what a fantasy.
Lu Jiangting opened his mouth to argue, but Lin Yuyao continued, coldly laughing, “What I do with others is none of your business. Don’t forget that I called off our engagement the day you swindled my dowry to give to Fang Qing. Even if I start dating someone tomorrow, it’s none of your business.”
She paused, then continued, “If we eventually get a Marriage Certificate, you’ll be committing marriage fraud, a crime, and I won’t acknowledge it.”
Lu Jiangting hadn’t expected her usually gentle demeanor to transform into such harshness. He clutched his chest. “Yuyao, your words hurt me. Is it all because of Fang Qing? Because I gave her money, you’re so heartless?”
“Yes.”
“Why?” Lu Jiangting asked in anguish.
Lin Yuyao took a deep breath and said, “Because… where there’s money, there’s love.”
Lu Jiangting: …
“It’s not about the amount. I want all of it. Not a cent can go to another woman. If you can’t do that, don’t bother me.”
Lu Jiangting’s mouth fell open; he couldn’t speak.
Lin Yuyao continued, “I won’t let you get away with manipulating me into marriage. I won’t live with you.”
“You… really mean it?”
“Yes, I really mean it.”
Lu Jiangting glared angrily at Fu Huayi.
He knew it was because of him and Fang Qing that Lin Yuyao didn’t want to live with him.
But he blamed Fu Huayi anyway.
Yuyao might not understand, but as a man, he did.
Fu Huayi’s look at her wasn’t innocent.
…
Lu Jiangting and Fu Huayi left together, walking in silence.
Lu Jiangting rode his bicycle, Fu Huayi his motorcycle.
Fu Huayi deliberately slowed down, allowing Lu Jiangting to catch up, but it still exhausted him.
Halfway there, in a sparsely populated area with rapeseed flower fields belonging to nearby villagers on either side, they both stopped their vehicles and, without a word, started fighting.
A punch for a punch.
Both ended up bruised.
Exhausted from fighting, they sat down to talk.
“Ah Shuo told me you took leave. I knew you’d come looking for Yuyao. Fu Huayi, don’t forget she’s my wife. What you’re doing is undermining a military marriage. If I report you, you’ll be discharged from the military.”
Fu Huayi sneered, “Oh, a military marriage? The kind where you colluded with Old Zhou to commit marriage fraud?”
“You…” Lu Jiangting was astonished, “How did you know?”
“Humph, if you want to keep something secret, don’t do it in the first place.” Fu Huayi said calmly, “I advise you to agree to a divorce with Xiao Lin quickly. Otherwise, you don’t need to write a report; I’ll report you for marriage fraud first.”
“You…” Lu Jiangting clenched his fists in anger.
Fu Huayi sneered, “What? Want to fight again?”
He was slightly weaker, but he had already worn Lu Jiangting out; he had ridden several kilometers at full speed and was no match for him.
Lu Jiangting said angrily, “You’re deliberately trying to antagonize me?”
“I just can’t stand you bullying that girl.”
“Humph, is that so? Did you fall for her?”
Fu Huayi’s face immediately turned cold, “If you think so, then so be it.”
With that, he brushed off his pants and left.
This time, he rode incredibly fast, leaving Lu Jiangting far behind even if he pedaled his bicycle until it smoked.
Lu Jiangting was furious.
He knew Fu Huayi well, because they are classmates.
He came from a good family, excelled in school, and was handsome. Many girls liked him. He received countless love letters in school but never showed interest in any of them.
Fu Huayi had never been so serious about any girl before.
If he didn’t have feelings for her, hearing this, according to his personality, he would have immediately denied it. But instead of denying it, he had tacitly admitted it.
Lu Jiangting’s heart pounded.
Fu Huayi had feelings for Yuyao?
Yuyao was just a country girl, although beautiful. Could he really have feelings for her?