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Chapter 070
Lu Jin parked the car, went upstairs to put one box of green rice dumplings into his refrigerator, and then took the other box to the fruit shop at the east gate of the community.
More than an hour ago, He Yong and his wife already knew that their daughter’s boyfriend was “Xiao Lu.”
Seeing Lu Jin now, Wu Li immediately teased, “Other girls always take their boyfriends to meet their parents first; why did Xiao Ye take you to meet her grandparents first?”
He Yong sat in front of the cashier, happily waiting to hear Lu Jin’s explanation.
Lu Jin smiled and said, “Originally, Xiao Ye wanted to keep it a secret and asked me to park the car on the street ahead. But after I got out of the car, I softened my heart and changed my mind at the last minute.”
Wu Li: “Silly child, what is there to hide? We may worry about others, but you know everything about us. We even wanted to bring you two together.”
Lu Jin: “My mom thought the same thing the last time she met Xiao Ye. I told her that I was already pursuing her and asked her not to come to you for help.”
He Yong narrowed his eyes: “When did you start pursuing her? I didn’t even notice.”
He acted a bit like a father-in-law. Lu Jin looked at the qingtuan green rice dumplings in his hand and said to his future father-in-law, “I pursued her once after the college entrance examination, but Xiao Ye just wanted to concentrate on her studies and didn’t agree. I met her again at the company last year, and I still couldn’t let her go, so I pursued her again.”
He spoke these two simple sentences calmly, but there was a sincerity in them that remained unchanged over the years.
He Yong was reminded of the past by these words, trying to find clues that this boy, whom he had once ignored, had liked his daughter since high school.
Wu Li was shocked and couldn’t help asking, “Did you really never have a romantic relationship during those years you studied in Beijing?”
Lu Jin: “No.”
Wu Li: “Because you were thinking about Xiao Ye?”
Lu Jin: “Not really. I was too busy studying and didn’t think about finding a girlfriend.”
He Yong: “Can it be busier than senior year of high school?”
Lu Jin smiled: “There are many courses, and they are difficult. It is indeed busier than senior year.”
Wu Li glared at her husband: “Look at you, you don’t understand. The real reason is that Xiao Lu hasn’t met another girl like Xiao Ye who makes him want to fall in love.”
He Yong suddenly realized and restored his usual bright and carefree smile: “Of course, our Xiao Ye is the best. She is beautiful and sensible. Xiao Lu, we are old acquaintances. Uncle trusts you. You must also treat Xiao Ye well and not bully her.”
Lu Jin reassured Wu Li, “Uncle, don’t worry, I will definitely treat Xiao Ye well.”
Wu Li took the green rice dumpling from him and put it in the store’s refrigerator.
Lu Jin rolled up his sleeves, ready to help in the store.
He Yong said, “It’s not busy now; you should go home and rest after working hard.”
Lu Jin replied, “I don’t feel tired. I’ll just be alone at home, so I’d rather spend time chatting with you.”
Wu Li asked, “Where are your parents?”
Lu Jin explained, “They went traveling.”
Wu Li said, “I see many people taking advantage of the holiday to travel. Why didn’t you ask Xiao Ye to join you?”
Lu Jin replied, “I asked her, but she wanted to stay with her grandparents.”
Wu Li thought it was funny that her daughter would choose to stay home with her grandparents instead of traveling with such a handsome boyfriend.
Seeing Lu Jin wanting to help, Wu Li found an apron with the store’s name on it and said, “Xiao Lu, wear this so you don’t get your clothes dirty.”
Lu Jin declined, “No, I’ll just be careful.”
A customer entered the store, so Wu Li stopped insisting.
He Yong, who usually handles the cash register and cuts fruit, let Lu Jin take over cutting pineapples and peeling jackfruit.
With Lu Jin’s tall, slender figure and handsome looks, he became a great attraction for the fruit shop.
Wu Li took a short video and sent it to her daughter, He Ye.
After her nap, He Ye saw the video of Lu Jin skillfully cutting and peeling jackfruit. She felt her face turn red for no reason.
She messaged Wu Li: [Is Lu Jin still in the store?]
Wu Li replied, “Yes, business is good! We’ve tried to convince him to leave, but he wants to stay and help.”
He Ye then messaged Lu Jin: [You’re so free!!!]
After a while, Lu Jin replied: [I’d miss you a lot if I weren’t free.]
He Ye responded: [If it’s alright, you can spend time with your grandparents.]
Lu Jin texted: [I’ll stay at my grandfather’s house tonight and visit my grandparents in the morning.]
He Ye thought it sounded like a busy schedule.
On Sunday morning, Lu Jin sent He Ye a photo of a table full of breakfast.
At noon, he sent another photo of a fancy lunch, showing he had moved from his grandfather’s house to his maternal grandfather’s.
He messaged: [My grandmother made moxa cakes[1]are traditional pastries made with mugwort, a type of herb, and often eaten during certain festivals. and asked me to bring some for you later.]
He Ye replied: [You said it again!]
Lu Jin responded: [My mother already told them, so you didn’t need me to.]
He Ye messaged back: [I’ll eat too.]
Lu Jin added: [I’ll arrive around 2:30.]
While having lunch with her grandparents, He Ye announced, “I’ll be back in the afternoon.”
Grandma He was surprised, “Didn’t you say you’d leave tomorrow afternoon?”
He Ye replied softly, “Lu Jin is at his grandmother’s today. Since she knows you sent him a green rice dumpling, she asked him to bring some moxa cakes over. I’d rather go back with him today than make him come again tomorrow.”
Grandma He said, “Oh, Xiao Lu’s grandma is so polite. It’s nice she sent a green rice dumplings.
Grandpa He remarked, “It seems Xiao Lu is serious about Xiao Ye since he told his grandma.”
He Ye thought: Is no one sad that their granddaughter is leaving a day early?
Her grandparents were happy for the young couple and even cleaned the house for “Xiao Lu.”
Not wanting to wait in the living room for Lu Jin, He Ye went back to her room upstairs.
Lu Jin arrived about ten minutes early.
He greeted her grandparents as he looked around for He Ye.
Grandma He smiled and said, “Xiao Ye is napping upstairs. I’ll call her.”
Lu Jin replied, “It’s okay; let her sleep a bit longer. There’s no rush.”
He Ye heard this and felt a mix of emotions.
Although they both claimed they wouldn’t ask her to go to the hotel, they both knew the truth.
He Ye greeted her grandparents and decided to go downstairs to meet Lu Jin.
She quickly got out of bed and dressed in a long white coat, with the buttons unbuttoned, which made her legs look long and straight.
While she looked soft, she was actually very attractive, which Lu Jin noticed from the first time he saw her.
He sat calmly on the sofa, watching her approach, avoiding his gaze.
The grandparents remained unaware of the subtle tension between the young couple.
“Alright, let’s get going quickly. There might be traffic soon,” He Ye urged.
“Well, take care of yourselves, I’ll come over next time.”
“Don’t come alone, bring Xiao Lu with you.”
“…”
He Ye sat in the passenger seat, smiling. When the Panamera started and her grandparents were no longer visible in the rearview mirror, He Ye stopped smiling.
She avoided looking at Lu Jin.
Lu Jin didn’t ask, “Why are you here again when you said you wouldn’t come?” Instead, he said, “It will take about fifteen minutes.”
He Ye’s eyelashes fluttered.
She had heard her grandparents mention the resort hotel, which had just opened two years ago. It was popular for hosting wedding banquets. Her grandparents had visited once and admired the beautiful scenery of mountains and lakes. However, since they had only eaten there, they didn’t know what the guest rooms were like.
“How much?” she asked, feeling gloomy.
Lu Jin replied, “Not bad, two thousand.”
He Ye: “…This kind of unpopular resort hotel is also worth two thousand?”
Even though it’s a well-known five-star resort, most customers nearby are local white-collar workers in Ancheng. They prefer not to travel far on weekends, so they bring friends or children to stay for a couple of days. Besides walking around the hotel, there isn’t much else to do.
Lu Jin explained, “I bought a lake view villa. The average room is around 600-700 yuan.”
He Ye: “…it’s better to go back to the community.”
Lu Jin countered, “The hotel has scenery that the community doesn’t have, so it can be considered a trip.”
Since he had already made the reservation, He Ye had to wait for the “travel.”
Soon, the Panamera drove onto a winding mountain road.
On one side was a lush mountain forest, and on the other was a vast mountain view. The breeze came through the car window, and He Ye felt the relaxation of traveling.
After arriving at the hotel, Lu Jin took He Ye to the front desk to check in.
He Ye didn’t bring her ID card, but fortunately, she could now use an app on her phone for check-in.
She looked down at her phone while using the machine and didn’t notice her boyfriend watching her.
After completing the check-in, they took the hotel shuttle bus to the lake view villa area.
They sat in the last row, farthest from the driver.
He Ye admired the scenery when Lu Jin suddenly leaned in and whispered in her ear, “You’ve grown up.”
He Ye turned her head. What did he mean by grown up?
Lu Jin just touched her head affectionately.
They arrived at their villa, a small one by the lake, about 100 square meters, designed in an antique style.
He Ye first went to the balcony to enjoy the lake view.
When she came back in, she saw Lu Jin had drawn all the curtains, hung his coat on the hanger, and was unbuttoning his shirt cuffs.
He Ye: “…Is it that urgent?”
Lu Jin didn’t reply, continued unbuttoning his shirt, and walked towards her.
If he didn’t come close, He Ye could still complain. But as soon as he got near, she felt weak everywhere.
In the end, all she could do was cry.
“Why are you hiding?” Lu Jin asked, looking into her wet eyes. “Don’t you like it?”
He Ye pulled the short hair on the back of his head, not believing he didn’t know.
Lu Jin tilted his head and rubbed his nose against her knee: “I like it very much.”
He turned around, looked into her eyes, and repeated:
“He Ye, I like it very much.”
She had no idea how many years he had been thinking about it.
He Ye took a nap and when she woke up, it was dark. Only a night light was on in the unfamiliar hotel room.
He Ye sat up, hugging the quilt, and looked around. When the wind blew a corner of the balcony curtain, she saw Lu Jin leaning against the wall.
He looked tidy, dignified, and had a certain depth to him.
Remembering the good things he had done, He Ye gritted her teeth and looked for clothes. Lu Jin came in, closed the sliding window, and turned on the light.
The bright light made He Ye hide under the quilt.
Lu Jin walked to the bedside and looked down at her: “It’s half past seven. Do you want to go to the restaurant to eat, or ask the waiter to bring food here?”
He Ye: “Let’s go to the restaurant.”
She had to enjoy the facilities in a hotel that cost two thousand yuan a night. If she stayed in the room, her boyfriend would keep teasing her.
Lu Jin helped her get dressed and walked towards the bathroom.
He Ye quickly put on her clothes, but her legs shook when she stood.
Lu Jin called for a shuttle bus.
After a delicious dinner at the restaurant, He Ye finally felt energized.
Walking out, the night was quiet, and a bright full moon rose in the sky.
He Ye checked her phone and saw that today was the fourteenth day of the lunar calendar.
She was captivated just by looking at the moon.
Lu Jin pointed to the lake: “There’s a chair over there.”
He walked over with He Ye, sat on the chair, and pulled her to sit on him.
He Ye hesitated, fearing he would get too close again.
Lu Jin reassured her, “Don’t worry, I just want to watch the moon with you.”
He really did hold her in his arms, and they looked at the moon for a full hour. When He Ye had finally had enough, he took her hand and walked slowly along the quiet hotel road back to their villa.
The path was long, and He Ye yawned.
Lu Jin carried her on his back.
He Ye looked at the moon, then at her boyfriend’s face, which looked even more handsome in the moonlight, and whispered, “Don’t come here again after you go back.”
Lu Jin: “Yeah.”
He let her sleep peacefully until dawn.
***
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References
| ↑1 | are traditional pastries made with mugwort, a type of herb, and often eaten during certain festivals. |
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Vyl[Translator]
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