Chapter 19

Jealous, Aren’t You?

Hu Ouhua searched for two whole hours, turning over every possible place, but still couldn’t find her exam admission ticket. The thought of such a crucial item being in Hu Jingsheng’s grasp felt like a hand tightening around her throat.

She stomped her foot in frustration.

“Sister, you’re finally willing to come home?”

A mocking voice came from behind her.

Hu Ouhua turned around abruptly and strode toward Hu Jingsheng, grabbing her arm and demanding harshly, “Where’s my admission ticket? Give it back—”

“Hahaha, what? You want your admission ticket? Dream on. Unless… you do me a favor, and then maybe I’ll give it back.” Hu Jingsheng sat down calmly, completely unfazed.

Another scheme.

Seeing how confident Hu Jingsheng looked, Hu Ouhua began to worry—had she already destroyed the admission ticket?

“What do you want?” she asked.

Given the situation, Hu Jingsheng likely wanted her to take the exam on her behalf.

Too bad. Hu Ouhua didn’t think that was a wise move. With the strict regulations of the college entrance exam, if they got caught, both of them would be finished.

At worst, she could just take the exam next year.

But surprisingly, instead of her usual reckless demands, Hu Jingsheng made a request that completely caught Hu Ouhua off guard:

“I want you to invite Li Weiguo to the state-owned restaurant for a meal.”

As she spoke, she pulled Hu Ouhua’s admission ticket out of her pocket.

Hu Ouhua was stunned.

She never expected that Hu Jingsheng still hadn’t given up on Li Weiguo.

“Fine, I’ll do it. But I set the time,” she said.

“Whatever,” Hu Jingsheng replied indifferently.

With that settled, they each went their separate ways.

Instead of heading straight back to the small courtyard, Hu Ouhua sat quietly in her room for a while before going to find Aunt Zhou, the most talkative person in the residential compound.

Aunt Zhou could chat with just about anyone.

Sure enough, the moment she saw Hu Ouhua, she let out a loud laugh.

“Well, if it isn’t Ouhua! I heard you’ve been working outside. How much are you making per month? And let me tell you, that whole mess with your mom and those outsiders—everyone in Ningcheng is talking about it. You have no idea…”

Wang Chunlan’s favoritism, her attempt to harm her own daughter, and the fact that she ended up in trouble herself—this scandal had become the hottest gossip in town. Everyone had something to say about it.

Aunt Zhou, eager for more juicy details to flaunt later, leaned in with curiosity.

Hu Ouhua put on a pitiful expression and sighed, “I know my mom only loves my sister. But what I don’t understand is, she got into trouble because of her, yet my sister doesn’t seem sad at all… Even I, her own sister, can’t figure it out.”

Her words were like tossing a handful of fish food into a pond full of koi.

Aunt Zhou’s face lit up with gossip, and she whispered, “Silly girl, you’ve been working outside, so you wouldn’t know what’s happening around here. Your sister—she’s got her eyes on someone else. She’s been hanging around with that capitalist’s daughter all the time…”

Song Bao?

Hu Jingsheng had connections with the Song family?

Was she trying to break up Li Weiguo and Song Bao and take her place instead?

After chatting a little longer with Aunt Zhou, Hu Ouhua composed herself and returned to the small courtyard.

As soon as she got back, she saw Lu Yuetang, who usually stayed in his upstairs bedroom, standing by the water tank, tossing in chunks of dough.

A whole layer of dough covered the bottom, making the water murky.

The koi fish would be stuffed to death at this rate.

Hu Ouhua couldn’t help stepping forward and cautiously asking, “Commander Lu, if you keep feeding them like this, they won’t survive the night.”

Whoosh.

Lu Yuetang suddenly raised his gaze and shot her a look. “What? Are you protecting Shen Fubai now? Even the fish he gave you have become precious?”

Huh?

Hu Ouhua didn’t understand and blurted out, “Commander Lu, the way you’re talking… if I didn’t know better, I’d think you were jealous.”

Plop.

Lu Yuetang tossed the last piece of dough into the tank, his expression dark. “Jealous of him? As if he’s even worthy?”

With that, he turned and went upstairs without looking back.

Hu Ouhua was bewildered.

She muttered to herself, “Could Commander Lu be on his period? He’s so moody.”

Muttering complaints under her breath, she hurried off to cook.

Lunch was simple—two home-style dishes: pickled mustard stir-fried with pork strips and dry-fried green beans. The vegetables were fresh, free from pesticide concerns, though they did have a few worms. She carefully trimmed and cleaned them, and the dish turned out fragrant and flavorful.

Lu Yuetang sat down at the table, took a few bites, then lost his appetite.

Thinking he might not be feeling well, Hu Ouhua asked with concern, “Commander Lu, if you’re not hungry, I can make some vegetable porridge or steam an egg custard for you.”

Bang.

The chopsticks hit the table hard.

Lu Yuetang’s expression darkened. He got up, gave her a cold glare—like he wanted to scold her but held back—then turned and left without a word.

“…”

What’s with this guy?

She was just being nice, and he got mad. Why was his mood harder to predict than a woman’s?

Confused but too busy to dwell on it, she quickly finished cleaning up and went out again, determined to take care of the admission ticket issue.

Meanwhile, at the military training ground, Shen Fubai was getting the worst of it.

Lu Yuetang had him doing back-to-back endurance drills until his legs felt like lead.

He spat on the ground and complained, “Lu, are you trying to kill me?!”

“Funny, you’re still alive, aren’t you?” Lu Yuetang shot back.

Oh.

He really is pissed.

Shen Fubai felt utterly wronged. “Lu, how did I offend you? Come on, you’re the bigger man here. If you’re gonna kill me, at least make it quick. Just tell me what’s going on—men don’t play guessing games!”

Thud.

Before he could react, Lu Yuetang swept his legs out from under him. In the blink of an eye, Lu planted a foot on his shoulder, flipped him over like a salted fish, and wrenched his arm back. His voice was icy.

“I’m warning you—stay away from Hu Ouhua. She’s taking her entrance exams. If you distract her, I’ll crush your balls.”

With that, he released him, dusted himself off, and walked away.

Shen Fubai clutched his bruised arms, dumbfounded.

“But… I wasn’t making a move on her! I didn’t do anything!”

“Heh.”

Lu Yuetang sneered. “Sure, you didn’t. So I guess giving her a fish tank and calling her ‘little sister’ was nothing? You’re full of it.”

“I swear, I was just being nice! A gesture of goodwill!”

Shen Fubai wanted to bang his head against a wall.

His intentions had been pure. He thought they were all close enough to be informal—he never meant anything romantic!

“Get lost. I don’t want to see you.”

Lu Yuetang huffed.

Anyway, in a few days, he’d be heading back to the capital.

Whether he’d ever see Hu Ouhua again… was another matter entirely.

Meanwhile, after finishing her errands, Hu Ouhua took off her apron and headed to the residential compound, carrying a notebook Lu Yuetang had given her.

She found Li Weiguo, who was focused on his practice exercises.

“Comrade Li Weiguo,” she said, “last time, you said I did well on my problems. It was all thanks to this notebook. If you don’t mind, would you like to have a meal together and discuss some pre-exam strategies?”