Chapter 3 – The Space Revealed

Ran Jinnian’s heart gave a sudden jolt.

She never would have imagined that Lu Jinyuan had harbored deep feelings for her all along.

No wonder he never married in their past life—she had thought it was because her elopement had hurt him. But now, she realized it was because he had already kept her in his heart from the start.

Yet he had never once expressed any love toward her. She had assumed he only saw her as a younger sister and had quietly retracted her own feelings.

And so, in their previous life, they had missed each other completely.

Tears fell from Ran Jinnian’s eyes, drop by drop onto the table, like crystal blossoms blooming on the surface.

Lu Jinyuan instantly panicked. Seeing her tear-stained face made his heart twist painfully.

He had no idea why his wife was suddenly crying—could it be that he had been too rough last night?

Mother Lu was also frightened. “Lu Jinyuan, what did you do to make Jinnian cry like this?”

Feeling embarrassed, Ran Jinnian covered her face and ran into the room.

Lu Jinyuan stood up in large strides and followed her in.

She hadn’t expected him to come after her. Her heart was in chaos, and before she knew it, she had thrown herself into his arms, pounding on his chest. “Why didn’t you say it earlier? Why didn’t you say it earlier?”

Ever since she was little, she had liked following him around. He had always been in her heart, but he was so aloof and cold, never sparing her more than a glance.

Gradually, her budding feelings had been buried.

She never imagined that this man actually had her in his heart all along. In their past life, he had hidden it too well—so well that she never once sensed his feelings.

Lu Jinyuan?

His cold, sharp face was now full of confusion.

“Did I hurt you somewhere?” His deep, magnetic voice carried a trace of unease.

Ran Jinnian: “…”

What on earth was he thinking?

The man moved his hand. “Let me see where it hurts.”

Her face instantly flushed red, and she dodged his hand. “No, it’s not that.”

“It’s my fault.”

Light shimmered faintly at the corners of Lu Jinyuan’s eyes as he drew his delicate wife into his arms, his cool fingertips gently wiping away the tears at the corner of her eyes.

Ran Jinnian gave a soft huff, poking him in both anger and frustration. “When did you start having feelings for me?”

His ears turned slightly red, an unknown emotion flickering in his deep gaze.

“You still haven’t answered me.” She poked him again.

Catching her restless little hand, his Adam’s apple bobbed. “A long time ago.”

Her eyes widened. “What? How long ago is ‘a long time ago’?”

“Wife, I’ve liked you from the beginning, and I always will.”

His gaze was unwavering.

When he was three years old, Lu Jinyuan had followed his mother to visit the Ran family.

“Jinyuan, come and look at the little sister,” his mother said, guiding him to the bedside.

The first time he saw Ran Jinnian, she was a wrinkled little bundle, not cute at all.

Lu Jinyuan frowned. “Ugly.”

“Hahaha!”

Everyone burst out laughing.

Mother Lu gave him a light smack. “You little rascal—you were even uglier when you were a baby.”

“This is your sister Jinnian. From now on, you must protect her well.”

From then on, Ran Jinnian trailed behind him, her hair in two tiny pigtails, toddling after him. “Gege, gege.”

He watched her grow day by day, from a chubby little bun into a beautiful young girl.

Lu Jinyuan didn’t even know when it happened, but his heart had been completely filled with her.

The Ran family were workers and lived better off than the Lu family.

So, he joined the army—just so he could marry her with honor.

“Idiot.”

Ran Jinnian’s eyes turned red. He had hidden it so well in their past life that she hadn’t noticed a thing.

“Wife, did you really feel nothing at all?” Lu Jinyuan’s voice was tinged with grievance. Among all the children in their housing block, he had only played with Ran Jinnian.

She ground her teeth. “What exactly did you do?”

“I only played with you.”

“…”

She nearly wanted to beat him to death.

This man was unbearably reserved, with a personality as cold as ice—how could she possibly have guessed his feelings?

Luckily, Heaven had given her another chance to make up for the regrets of her previous life.

Seeing that his wife had calmed down, Lu Jinyuan thought once again how women were truly unpredictable, impossible to fully understand.

Mother Lu, hearing no movement inside, knocked on the door. “Jinyuan, Jinnian, come out for a moment.”

Ran Jinnian tidied her appearance and stepped out, a little embarrassed. “Mom, what is it?”

Mother Lu, noticing her awkwardness, didn’t bring up her crying. She handed over a thick stack of money and an account book. “Yesterday was your wedding. This is the gift money we received.”

Ran Jinnian hadn’t expected her mother-in-law to give her the cash after already handing her the passbook last night.

Was she… putting her in charge of household finances?

“Mom, you should keep the gift money yourself. You can use it to return favors in the future. I’ll be going with Niannian to the army base,” Lu Jinyuan said.

Going with him to the army?

Ran Jinnian wasn’t surprised. After all, they were newlyweds—being apart for too long wouldn’t be good for either of them.

Mother Lu had forgotten about this. “Ah, that’s right. Niannian will follow you to the base. Will she go with you this time?”

“No, I still need to bring back the marriage certificate to apply. It’ll take about a month,” Lu Jinyuan replied, glancing at Ran Jinnian. “I’ll come back to get you then.”

The army had strict rules—family members needed a marriage certificate before applying to join them. Otherwise, he would have done it long ago.

“Alright.”

She wasn’t in any rush.

Three days later.

Ran Jinnian accompanied Lu Jinyuan to visit her family—since the two families lived upstairs and downstairs, even though she stayed with the Lu family, she still saw her own family every day and chatted often.

These past two days, she felt like she was married but… not really married.

“Dad, Mom.”

Lu Jinyuan presented the gifts he had brought.

“Big Brother, Sister-in-law, Second Brother, Second Sister-in-law.” He was calm and steady, even bringing gifts for the children.

The Lu and Ran families were close and often visited each other, so everyone was familiar with him.

Ran Siyuan patted his shoulder. “Never thought the day would come when you’d be my brother-in-law. Heh.”

“Come, call me big brother,” Ran Xuesong teased with a raised brow.

Lu Jinyuan said solemnly, “Big Brother, Second Brother.”

The two brothers grinned from ear to ear.

In the kitchen—

Wang Xiumei pulled Ran Jinnian aside to ask, “How have things been at the Lu household these past few days?”

“Mother-in-law treats me very well,” Ran Jinnian said as she helped chop vegetables, then lowered her voice to add, “And Lu Jinyuan treats me even better.”

Wang Xiumei smiled knowingly, relieved to see her daughter truly happy. “You’ll be going with him to the army, won’t you?”

“After he returns to the base the day after tomorrow, he’ll submit the application.” The thought of him leaving so soon left her a little dazed.

“Ah—”

She accidentally cut her hand. Blood welled up and trickled down her wrist, seeping into her jade bracelet.

Wang Xiumei quickly grabbed her hand to stop the bleeding. “Careless child—be more careful when cutting vegetables.”

Hearing the commotion, Lu Jinyuan hurried in. Seeing the cut, he immediately brought over alcohol. “Here, disinfect it so it doesn’t get infected.”

Holding her wrist naturally, he dabbed alcohol onto the wound with a cotton ball.

Ran Jinnian noticed his firm grip on her wrist—but why did it feel so hot?

Wait a second—

Her injury was on her finger, so why was her wrist burning?

She suddenly realized—it was the jade bracelet that was scorching hot.

In the next instant, her vision blurred, and an image appeared before her eyes—filled with an endless array of dazzling supplies.