Chapter 59

Lu Jingzhe’s hand was large, almost completely enveloping Xia Qingning’s hand. His palm was warm and dry. Because of years of training, his fingertips had developed a layer of calluses, but they didn’t feel rough. Instead, they exuded an immense strength that made her feel incredibly secure.

They walked in silence. After a while, Xia Qingning pulled her hand away from Lu Jingzhe’s, saying gratefully:

“Thank you for helping me out.”

She knew that Lu Jingzhe had only wanted to shut the mouths of those people who were speculating about their relationship, to prevent them from looking down on her. That’s why he had held her hand, not because he liked her or anything else.

A flicker of sadness crossed Lu Jingzhe’s eyes, but he quickly regained his composure. He said in a deep voice:

“It’s nothing.”

They had just reached the entrance of the courtyard when they encountered Xia Qingcao, who was running out in a hurry, his face full of anxiety.

Seeing them come back, Xia Qingcao seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. He turned around and went back into the house.

“You’re back.” Guo Yumei greeted Xia Qingning and Lu Jingzhe, then she looked at her younger son, who had just brushed past her:

“You’re still being stubborn. You said you didn’t care about your sister. Why are you running so fast?”

Then she walked to Xia Qingning’s side, took her hand, and whispered with a smile:

“I just lied to him and said that you two had already gone back to the city. Look how anxious he was. He immediately ran out to chase after you. I couldn’t even stop him, haha…”

Xia Qingning looked into the house, but she couldn’t see Xia Qingcao anymore.

This kid was really stubborn and still had a big mouth! She didn’t know if she could help him resolve his heart knot before she left and hear him call her “Sister.”

Dinner was already ready. On the table were white rice, pork and noodles, braised rabbit meat, stir-fried sweet potato leaves…

It was more lavish than Xia’s family’s New Year’s feast. Everyone sat down at the table, and Guo Yumei urged everyone to eat quickly.

Xia Qingcao sat far away from Xia Qingning. He lowered his head and didn’t look at her. There was a whole table of delicious food, but he didn’t take any. Instead, he picked up a rough dough ball and silently started to eat it.

The dough ball was leftover from lunch. The weather was hot now, and if they didn’t eat it tonight, it would go bad by tomorrow. They couldn’t afford to waste food, so even though there was a whole table of delicious food, Guo Yumei still brought it out and placed it in front of herself.

“This child, he doesn’t eat all the delicious food on the table. Why does he start eating dough balls as soon as he comes?” Guo Yumei asked her younger son, deliberately.

“The dough balls are delicious.” Xia Qingcao replied stubbornly.

“Then I’ll have one too.” Xia Qingning said with a smile, clearly trying to get close to him. She reached out to take the last one on the plate, but before she could get it, Xia Qingcao took the plate away.

“You said they were delicious. Why won’t you let your sister eat one?” Xia Qingning asked deliberately.

“It’s because they’re delicious that I won’t let you eat them.” Xia Qingcao didn’t look at her. He ate both dough balls in a short time.

The dough balls weren’t made with pure white flour. They were made with a mixture of flour and a large amount of broken rice. Broken rice is the leftover pieces of rice with husks that remain after the rice is hulled.

This type of rice doesn’t taste good. It’s rough and gets stuck in your throat. Usually, this kind of rice is used to feed chickens, but the Xia family was very poor, so they couldn’t even afford to feed it to chickens. They used it to make dough balls for themselves.

Xia Qingcao wasn’t being stingy with his sister. He knew that the dough balls weren’t very tasty, so he said that on purpose.

Xia Qing Shu, who was sitting next to him, patted his brother’s head. He knew his little brother’s intentions and didn’t expose him. He smiled at Xia Qingning and said:

“He likes to eat them. Let him eat.” Then he used his chopsticks to pick up a large rabbit leg and put it in Xia Qingning’s bowl:

“Xiaoning, eat some rabbit meat. This is a rabbit that Qingcao raised. He treasures it very much. Only because you came back did he let Mom kill it and make it for you.”

“No, it’s not.” Xia Qingcao retorted softly, with a touch of anger: “It’s because the rabbit was disobedient. It kept lying and deceiving people.”

Xia Qingning heard these words and felt a chill down her spine. This was clearly a warning to kill the rabbit to scare the sister! She quickly said:

“Qingcao, Sister really knows she was wrong. I won’t lie to you again.”

Everyone laughed when they heard this. Although Xia Qingcao was still looking down and unwilling to speak, the corners of his lips had secretly turned up.

Guo Yumei, who was sitting next to him, took advantage of the situation and teased:

“Qingcao, don’t scare your sister. She won’t even dare to eat the rabbit meat.”

After dinner, Lu Jingzhe returned to the room that Guo Yumei had specially prepared for them. He was just about to take off his military uniform when he saw a small head peeking out from behind the door, secretly looking into the room.

He had actually noticed it earlier. Xia Qingcao had been looking at him constantly during dinner. He stopped what he was doing, sat down on a chair next to him, and said in a deep voice to the child outside:

“Little ghost, come in.”

His voice was steady and authoritative. It was the kind of voice that was trained in the army. Hearing this voice, Xia Qingcao, who was hiding behind the door, instinctively wanted to run. But as he turned around, he suddenly stopped.

His longing overcame his anxiety and nervousness. He turned around, carefully tiptoed into the room.

He was much younger than Lu Jingzhe. When he was very young, Lu Jingzhe’s family left the village, so he didn’t really remember him.

But he had learned about his sister’s situation from his mother and brother’s conversations. He knew that Lu Jingzhe had been forced to marry his sister. So, when he faced this man, who always had a cold face and looked difficult to get along with, he was a little scared.

He lowered his head, not daring to look at Lu Jingzhe. He called out softly:

“Brother-in-law.”

Lu Jingzhe’s eyebrows twitched slightly. He obviously hadn’t gotten used to this title, but he didn’t correct him. He asked in a deep voice:

“What are you hiding there for?”

Xia Qingcao buried his head even lower. It seemed like he had something on his mind. He remained silent for a long time, not saying anything.

“What are you dawdling for, young man? If you have something to say, say it.” Lu Jingzhe said in a steady voice. His voice was cold, but not like a reprimand. It sounded more like encouragement.

Perhaps stimulated by the words “young man,” Xia Qingcao raised his head and looked at Lu Jingzhe. He said boldly:

“I was looking at your military uniform.”

Hearing his words, Lu Jingzhe’s lips curled up in a rare smile. After a moment, he reached out and took off his military uniform. He directly handed it to Xia Qingcao.

Xia Qingcao was surprised. He reached out to take it, but he looked at his dark, muddy hands and retracted them. Lu Jingzhe didn’t say anything. He directly put the clothes on him.

The military uniform was very long. It looked very awkward on the thin twelve-year-old boy, but somehow, as soon as the clothes were on, Xia Qingcao’s back straightened unconsciously.

Lu Jingzhe’s action silently upheld the child’s self-esteem and gave him a great boost!

“How old are you?”

“Twelve, almost thirteen.”

“Want to join the army?” Lu Jingzhe seemed to see through Xia Qingcao’s thoughts and asked directly.

“Yes!” Xia Qingcao answered without any hesitation.

“Not afraid of hardship?”

“Not afraid!”

Lu Jingzhe listened to his firm reply. He reached out and patted his shoulder twice. The boy was thin, but his muscles were quite strong. When he was patted, his body couldn’t bear the force and swayed twice, but he quickly stood up straight again, exuding a stubborn and unyielding arrogance from his bones.

Lu Jingzhe nodded and said in a deep voice:

“Come to the army in a few years. I’ll give you a military uniform.”