Chapter 17

Lu Jingzhe didn’t answer immediately. His gaze lowered, and he remained silent, as if thinking.

If it were before, he would have said: “I have no plans. But I will be responsible for her daily expenses, and nothing more.”

But these past few days, he had seen her weakness, her grievances, her heartache, and her helplessness. He knew he couldn’t say that he had no plans anymore.

Seeing his son not speaking, Lu Baichuan didn’t urge him. It was as if he was giving him time to think it through.

After a long while, Lu Jingzhe slowly raised his head and looked at Lu Baichuan. It seemed he had made a decision. He said earnestly, “I will try to get along with her well and then respect her decision.”

Lu Baichuan nodded and patted Lu Jingzhe on the shoulder, comforting his son, “I know you feel wronged about this, but we are men. Since you married her, you have to take responsibility.”

“Yeah, I understand.” Lu Jingzhe said in a low voice.

Lu Baichuan knew that his son always had principles and his own opinions. He didn’t need to say everything directly. He believed he would handle it himself. After a moment, he said again, “Since you’re back, find some time to go see Qingning’s parents. When you were in the countryside, your Aunt Yumei took good care of you. Your Uncle Gen is gone, and now you’re considered half a son to their family. It’s only right to go back and show your filial piety.”

“Yeah, okay.” Lu Jingzhe said in a low voice. He looked at Lu Baichuan, hesitated for a moment, and asked, “Dad, do you have any plans to remarry?”

This was the key question he wanted to discuss with Lu Baichuan today. The reason why he didn’t immediately drive Wang Mingfang away was because he wasn’t sure what his dad’s attitude towards her was now.

Lu Baichuan was taken aback. The expression on his face immediately became serious. He said with a very clear attitude, “Of course not.” Then he looked at Lu Jingzhe and continued, “She is your elder brother’s mother. They are connected by blood. I can’t stop your elder brother from acknowledging her. It’s not in line with morality. But as for me and her, there’s no possibility for us in this lifetime.”

Lu Baichuan spoke earnestly and resolutely. His words left no room for negotiation. He looked at his son and emphasized again, “I made this clear to her when she moved in.”

After hearing his father’s words, Lu Jingzhe felt reassured.

He hated Wang Mingfang, not just because she was Lu Baichuan’s ex-wife, but also because she had knelt down and begged in front of people to acknowledge her son, and then, when Su Hui was sick, she slandered and defamed her, making her unable to leave peacefully.

He couldn’t forget it, he couldn’t forgive it, and he couldn’t possibly become a family with her again.

After coming out of his father’s room, Lu Jingzhe felt much better. After washing up, he returned to his room, and Xia Qingning had already made the bed. They had one bed each, not touching, not bothering each other.

Lu Jingzhe looked at the bed, thoughtfully. He knew he had married her and had a responsibility to her, but he hadn’t accepted her in his heart yet, so naturally, he couldn’t fulfill his marital obligations to her. Fortunately, she was reasonable. Besides letting him sleep here, she hadn’t made any excessive demands.

Lu Jingzhe sat on the bed and saw the enamel cup with water on the table. He asked, “Did you pour this?”

“Yeah, you can drink it if you’re thirsty at night.” Xia Qingning said.

She had poured a cup for him when she was pouring water.

Someone making the bed and pouring hot water for him made Lu Jingzhe, who had always lived alone in the army and taken care of himself, feel a little uncomfortable. He hesitated for a moment and said, “Thank you.”

“Thank you for taking care of me these past two days.” Xia Qingning quickly said.

They were so polite to each other. This was probably what they called an unfamiliar couple.

Lu Jingzhe drank the water and walked to the wardrobe. He took a wad of money out of his bag, counted ten bills, turned around, and handed it to Xia Qingning:

“Here’s a hundred yuan. Use it for now.”

Xia Qingning didn’t expect Lu Jingzhe to suddenly give her money. She hesitated for a moment, reached out to take it, and said, “Thank you.”

She didn’t want to pretend to be noble. With only a few yuan left in the box, she couldn’t afford to be noble. She would just repay him with interest when the times changed.

“I’ll send you thirty yuan every month. Don’t save money and not eat.” Lu Jingzhe walked to the bed and said to Xia Qingning.

Thirty yuan a month was a lot in this era. It was enough for one person to live on, and they could even live comfortably.

Xia Qingning didn’t expect that she had accidentally played the victim and suddenly got an extra thirty yuan every month. This strengthened her decision to cling to the male lead. Although this male lead was a little cold, he was really generous with his money.

Xia Qingning nodded and didn’t show any politeness. After a moment, she walked to the cabinet and took out the small notebook that the original body used to keep track of her expenses. She wrote while saying, “I’ll keep track of the money you give me. I’ll repay you when I make money.”

The current environment forced her to rely on Lu Jingzhe. But when the spring breeze of reform blew in and the country was full of gold, she, a person with the memories of the modern world, would easily make money.

Seeing her seriously recording in the notebook, Lu Jingzhe frowned slightly and said in a low voice, “No need to keep track, no need to repay.”

Xia Qingning thought he was just rich and didn’t care about this little money. But it was his business if he didn’t care. She would definitely repay him for this money later.

She continued writing, not only recording the 100 yuan he gave her this time, but also the 80 yuan for the malt extract and the 11 yuan for medical expenses.

After she finished writing, she turned off the lights and got into bed. Both of them were wearing long sleeves and long pants. They didn’t know if they were embarrassed or if they were wary of each other.

Xia Qingning slept on the outside as usual, leaving more space for Lu Jingzhe.

She vaguely remembered that night when she was sick and leaned against Lu Jingzhe. He had angrily pulled off the blanket and told her to “get out.”

He was so resistant to physical contact with her. She should stay away from him. Otherwise, she would lean against him again when she fell asleep. He might kick her out again. Now she wasn’t sick, and she didn’t even have an excuse.

Moonlight streamed in through the window. She was really small. Lying there, the blanket only bulged slightly. Lu Jingzhe looked at the slightly bulging blanket far away from him, thoughtfully.

She really seemed to be deliberately keeping her distance from him.

He should have been very happy. After all, she was so self-aware and didn’t have any improper thoughts about him. But he didn’t feel the expected happiness in his heart.

Xia Qingning was already asleep. She hadn’t slept well these past few days in the small hospital bed, so she slept soundly this time. When she woke up, it was already dawn.

Xia Qingning unconsciously turned over, but she forgot that she was close to the edge of the bed. With this turn, she fell directly to the ground.

“Ah…”

As her body rolled to the ground, Xia Qingning unconsciously let out a gasp.