Chapter 9 – This Is Way Too Uncouth

The moment Xu Nuo heard that, her eyes widened in shock.

Is this guy even capable of lying with a straight face? The person he was lying about was standing right there, and he just spouted that nonsense without even blinking!

And seriously—slandering his own brother like that?
Does Lu Chen even know he’s been dragged into this?
What if his brother already had a girlfriend?
Then how the hell was he supposed to clear his name?

But to her surprise, Lei Ming’s reaction was even bigger than hers. His face cycled through multiple expressions in the span of a few seconds—it was dramatic enough to be textbook material at the Beijing Film Academy.

“Hah! Hohoho! Hahahahaha!” Lei Ming clenched his fists, eyes gleaming like he’d struck gossip gold.

Lu Cheng shot him a withering look. His smile didn’t reach his eyes. “What are you, a monkey? Enough with the hohoho nonsense! Use human language!”

Lei Ming glanced at Xu Nuo, then leaned over and whispered to Lu Cheng, “Tell me the truth—has Big Brother’s heart finally bloomed? Did he suddenly get enlightened about… that sort of thing between men and women? Or is it more like… he got tired of men and is finally interested in women now?”

“What do you think?” Lu Cheng glanced at him sideways.

“How should I know? Give me a hint!”

Lu Cheng said coolly, “I can only tell you three words.”

“What three words?”

“Childhood. Betrothal. Contract.”

Lei Ming looked practically giddy with excitement—if gossip were a job, he’d be promoted yesterday. “A childhood engagement? Oh, I have to guess what’s really going on here!”

Though the two of them were whispering, Xu Nuo’s hearing was unusually sharp—she caught every single word loud and clear.

She walked forward and greeted him politely, “Lei Ming, right?” Then added with a calm smile, “I think I need to clarify something. I’m not Lu Chen’s fiancée. I’m actually—”

But before she could finish, Lu Cheng hurriedly reached out and covered her mouth.

“Mmph… Let me go!”

“We’ll talk later!” Lu Cheng didn’t give her a chance to fight back—he grabbed her and dragged her away from the hospital hallway.

Outside the hospital, he strode toward the car and got in without another word.

Xu Nuo opened the passenger door and sat down. “Lu Cheng, why did you lie just now? I am the one with the engagement to you, not to your brother. You’re just creating misunderstandings.”

“Sorry, it just slipped out,” Lu Cheng replied, brushing it off. “Get in—we’ll talk in the car.”

Xu Nuo was no fool. Judging from his behavior earlier, she clearly understood what he meant. “You think I’m embarrassing, don’t you?”

Lu Cheng was momentarily speechless.

This girl was way too blunt!

And… yeah, that was exactly what he’d been thinking.

He could already imagine how his circle of friends would react if they found out he had a childhood fiancée—and that she was some girl from the countryside. The teasing would never end.

And Lei Ming? That guy had no filter at all—his mouth was looser than a grandma’s old pajama waistband. If he started talking, the whole compound would know by dinner.

But if he claimed the engagement was with his brother, Lei Ming would never dare spread it around.

After all, Lu Chen was known as the “Cold-Faced King of Hell”—a man with an icy expression, top-tier competence, and sky-high IQ… but absolutely zero patience for idle chit-chat.

None of the brats in the compound dared joke around with him. They’d all behave like obedient sheep around him.

At just twenty-seven, he was already the youngest regiment commander in the T Corps—decisive, commanding, and not someone anyone wanted to cross.

That’s exactly why Lu Cheng had said what he said.

“No, I didn’t mean it like that,” he lied, now that Xu Nuo was confronting him directly.

Xu Nuo smiled faintly. “Yes, you did. No need to deny it. I get it now—you don’t want to go through with the engagement. That’s fine. I’m not going to force you. Marriage is pointless if it’s one-sided. Since that’s how it is, I’ll go talk to Uncle Lu and Auntie Cheng and explain everything. Let’s cancel the engagement.”

Her original thought had been: if the marriage could help her stabilize her situation, she’d consider it.

After all, when she first met Lu Cheng, she’d thought this guy had a decent face—plus, being a soldier, he obviously had great physical fitness.

But if the other party didn’t like her, then there was no point in forcing the marriage.
She could absolutely find a job and support herself.

That’s what Xu Nuo thought in her heart, and that’s exactly what she expressed.

But to Lu Cheng’s ears, her words meant something else entirely—this girl’s upset and she’s about to go tattle to my parents.

Oh hell no.

“Marriage shouldn’t be forced. Seriously!” he said quickly. “Get in—I’ll take you to buy clothes. You can’t just run around looking like this all day. What will people think? They’ll say the Lu family mistreats you!”

Sure, he didn’t want to marry her—but he couldn’t let Xu Nuo be the one to suggest breaking it off.
He needed to be the one to guide her into that idea, not the other way around.

Xu Nuo wasn’t planning to go at first, but after hearing what he said, she figured he wasn’t wrong—she really did need a change of clothes.

Now that she was Lu Cheng’s fiancée, that also made her the future daughter-in-law of Lu Huaizheng. Walking around in rags wasn’t just embarrassing for her—it made the whole Lu family lose face.

“Alright.” Xu Nuo agreed, got in the car, and shut the door.

Lu Cheng half-heartedly accompanied her around the department store for a good half-day, helping her pick out two outfits.

One was a bright red dress; the other, a simple white blouse paired with black slacks and a pair of neat black leather shoes.

Once she was done trying them on, Lu Cheng paid for them without a word.

Xu Nuo had caught a glimpse of the total just before that—over forty yuan for those few items.

She had a rough idea of current prices by now. That amount was not a small expense.

“I’ll pay you back once I find a job and earn some money,” she said earnestly.

Lu Cheng glanced at her. “No need. It’s just a couple outfits.”

Xu Nuo didn’t argue, but she meant what she said—she was someone who kept her word.
She had already lost the fifty yuan she’d brought when that fruit vendor scammed her, and now she was completely penniless.

These clothes? She’d pay him back once she made some money.

After they left the store, Lu Cheng took her to a nearby park for a stroll. It was the weekend, and the place was bustling with people.

They made one slow round of the park before Lu Cheng suddenly announced, “Oh, I just remembered—a friend asked me to catch a movie this afternoon. I’m not sticking around. You have fun on your own.”

With that, he pulled out a five-yuan note and stuffed it into her hand. “If you get tired, just take the bus home. It’s easy.”

Xu Nuo stared at the bill in her hand, then looked up at Lu Cheng’s retreating back as he disappeared into the crowd.
She couldn’t help but mutter, “What a jerk.”

Seriously—what a total lack of class.

She saw right through it: Lu Cheng just didn’t want to be with her. This whole charade was meant to disgust her, push her away, and make her voluntarily end the engagement.

And if she really ended up loathing Lu Cheng, Xu Nuo believed Lu Huaizheng and Madam Cheng wouldn’t force the two of them to marry.

“Heh.” Xu Nuo gave a cold chuckle, stuffed the five yuan in her pocket, and walked out of the park.

She followed the riverside path, planning to find a bus stop and make her way back.

She hadn’t walked far when—

Splash!

A sudden, loud plop echoed across the water, followed by frantic and broken cries: “Help! Help!”

Xu Nuo turned toward the river and saw someone flailing in the water—struggling, bobbing up and down.

She dashed to the riverbank to get a closer look. It was a young girl—not far from shore, but the riverbank was high and steep.
There was nothing she could grip to pull herself up.

If Xu Nuo jumped in, she’d face the same problem—getting back out would be near impossible.

She quickly made a decision. She’d pull the girl up.

Undoing the belt from her waist, Xu Nuo crouched and tossed it out to the struggling girl. “Grab on!”

The girl latched onto it like it was her last hope, yanking hard enough that Xu Nuo almost got dragged in herself.

She wobbled, heart pounding, and her other hand flailed behind her, blindly searching for something to hold onto.

The girl in the water clung to the belt like a lifeline, tugging again and again.

But Xu Nuo was too light, too small—each time the girl pulled, she stumbled forward, closer to falling in.

In desperation, her free hand reached wildly for anything, anyone—

And just then, a large, rough yet warm palm closed tightly around her hand, steadying her entire body.

She spun around—and saw Lu Chen standing right behind her, holding on to her firmly.

But… his expression didn’t look too friendly. In fact, he seemed rather displeased.