Chapter 18: The Old Man Is Acting Too Weird Tonight!

Lu Sinian could immediately tell what Wei Ping’an was thinking just from his expression.

To be honest, sometimes Wei Ping’an was like a worm in his stomach, knowing exactly what was going through his mind.

He really did want to go find Vice Colonel Jiang to ask a few questions.

But now, he had changed his mind.

“I’m not that bored. My time is precious. If I had time, I’d rather go see my half-dead father.”

Wei Ping’an twitched his eyelids. He thought to himself, Are you sure your half-dead father would want to see you right now?

But Wei Ping’an also understood that Lu Sinian was holding in a lot of anger. If he didn’t let it out, life would be hard for everyone around him.

Rather than letting him explode on outsiders, it would be better for him to take it out on family. After all, his family had already gotten used to it.

He was sure that Uncle Lu had gotten used to it too.

Wei Ping’an didn’t stop him, but before Lu Sinian left, he couldn’t help but offer some advice. “Lu Bro, take it easy. Your old man’s health is already fragile, and this time you’ve made him so angry he ended up in the hospital. If anything happens, it won’t be easy to explain to Grandpa Lu.”

Lu Sinian took large strides toward the clinic, waving his arm behind him. “I know what I’m doing.”

He hated the old man, but he never really wanted him to die.

After all, he was his biological father. If not for himself, he should at least think about the old man.

Lu Sinian arrived at the clinic, and the nurse on duty told him that Lu Zhao and his family had already gone home.

Lu Sinian turned around and headed back home.

When he entered the house, the whole family of four was sitting around the dinner table, enjoying their meal.

As soon as they heard the door open, the cheerful atmosphere was immediately interrupted, and everyone looked at him.

Lu Sinian had already braced himself to be lectured by Lu Zhao. In the past, every time he came home, his father would adopt that fatherly stance and lecture him.

But this time, he didn’t expect that he was the least qualified to lecture anyone.

Before he was five, his father still acted somewhat like a father. Although he was distant and cold toward him, out of respect for “her,” he still carried out his responsibilities as a father, even if he didn’t like him.

But after “she” died when he was five, his father no longer had any concerns and completely forgot about him.

At that time, he was too young to understand. He thought his father ignored him because he, too, was deeply hurt by her sudden death.

When he was seven, his father brought a woman and an older girl back home, smiling broadly as he told Grandpa that this was his wife, and they had just gotten their marriage certificate two days ago.

He showed Grandpa the marriage certificate, and Grandpa, enraged, threw it aside.

The certificate happened to fall at his feet.

At seven years old, he was already in second grade and could read every word on the certificate.

It was then that he realized, his father, who was often absent from home, had secretly found him a stepmother and a new sister while he and Grandpa had no idea.

Grandpa was furious about the secret marriage, and in front of the woman and her daughter, he explicitly stated that they were not welcome to live in their house.

His father agreed without a word, and left with the woman and her daughter, as if he had completely forgotten that he had a son.

At that age, he understood a lot. He realized that from then on, he wouldn’t have a father, or if he did, it would only be in name.

But he couldn’t accept it. How could he? Less than two years after “she” passed away, his father remarried.

When he returned with that woman and her daughter a second time, his father even told Grandpa that he wanted to take care of him, and he planned to move in.

He knew his father was lying.

But still, after Grandpa refused, he convinced Grandpa to allow the woman and her daughter to move in.

Over the years, he had witnessed how his father treated that woman and her daughter with kindness.

That was when he realized that he wasn’t a silent, unsmiling child by nature—he simply didn’t care to speak or smile around “her” or “her” child.

Lu Sinian gave a mocking smile, waiting for Lu Zhao to start lecturing him.

Today, he wasn’t in a good mood, and he was looking for someone to vent his frustrations on.

He figured it was the perfect time to make the storm even fiercer!

What surprised Lu Sinian was that Lu Zhao didn’t lecture him this time.

He merely glanced at him before turning his head back to continue eating his meal.

His expression was calm, without a hint of anger.

This unusually calm behavior made Lu Sinian frown.

As the saying goes, “When something feels off, there’s usually something fishy going on.”

Something was wrong, very wrong.

The old man was definitely hiding something!

Lu Sinian decided to test the waters.

He curled his lips into a smile, stuffed his hands into his pockets, and swayed as he walked over to the dining table.

Standing next to the table, he looked around at the food on it, his smile widening.

“Wow, is this really what we’re eating for your birthday?” He casually pushed aside the enamel basin in the middle of the table, which still had some leftover rice soup in it.

Lu Zhao finished the last bite of his meal, set the bowl down, and calmly met Lu Sinian’s gaze. His tone was calm as he spoke, “This is all we have at home. Having noodles is already a great blessing. And honestly, birthdays are no different from any other day. It doesn’t matter what we eat.”

Lu Sinian frowned. That unsettling feeling came back.

The old man was being unusually calm tonight!

He knew full well that the meal the old hag specially prepared had been ruined by him, so why was he so calm about it?

In the past, he would have already been shouting at him, pointing fingers and cursing him out.

Could it be that a trip to the clinic had made him lose his mind?

Lu Sinian casually scanned the others at the table.

The old hag’s eyes were red at the corners, clearly having cried. She even forced a smile at him when their eyes met.

Disgusting!

Lu Sinian was so grossed out that he quickly turned his gaze to Chen Huiru sitting next to her.

This stepmother of his was busy eating her meal with her head down, as usual, trying to act all delicate.

Her slow, exaggerated chewing made it seem like she was some noble lady from a prestigious family.

If he hadn’t seen her devilish behavior when she practically shoved her face into her food, he might have believed it.

Lu Sinian scoffed, not surprised. She was just like her husband—a master at pretending.

Finally, his gaze landed on Lu Mingyang, sitting next to Chen Huiru.

This little wolf cub…

He looked all serious on the surface, but the slight upward curve of his lips betrayed his good mood.

The old man had been so angry he had to go to the clinic, and the old hag’s special meal had been ruined, but this brat was still so happy?

What were they up to?

Could it be that something was wrong with the food they had eaten tonight?

A sinking feeling hit Lu Sinian’s chest. He knew that they weren’t above tampering with the food.

But he didn’t feel unwell at all.

Could it be that he was overthinking?

Regardless of whether he was overthinking or not, he decided to make sure.

He didn’t have the time to vent his frustrations anymore.

He let out a disapproving grunt, turned, and left the house again.

The family had long gotten used to his late-night outings.

No one said anything, just assuming he was acting up again.

Once outside, Lu Sinian went back to the clinic.

The clinic had a doctor on duty, and Lu Sinian immediately told him that he needed to check his health.

The doctor asked what was bothering him.

Lu Sinian casually claimed that his stomach hurt.

After examining him, the doctor confirmed that it was just indigestion, nothing else wrong.

Satisfied that his health was fine, Lu Sinian’s worries were finally relieved.

When he returned home, the family of four was no longer in the living room.

Lu Sinian felt a sense of unease, a feeling like he was being schemed against!

He couldn’t stop thinking about the smile on Lu Mingyang’s lips earlier.

Lu Sinian decided that tomorrow he would find a way to test the waters with Lu Mingyang.