Chapter 7

Aunt Liu wasn’t very good at lying, and her body language was stiff. She brought out the porridge and soup and placed them in front of Zhu Suisui.

Her reply was hesitant, and her eyes were shifty.

“M-maybe they were just passing by.”

Zhu Suisui just smiled and looked at her, until she made Aunt Liu feel uneasy, then she picked up the soup spoon and elegantly sipped her porridge.

This action made Aunt Liu take a second look.

Before, Zhu Suisui’s eating habits still had a hint of her rural background. Rural people emphasized eating their fill. With so little food, whoever got it into their stomach was the winner. Who cared about table manners?

But the Lu family was different.

Everyone in the Lu family ate with grace. Aunt Liu had noticed this from the first time she came, but Zhu Suisui was the only one who didn’t fit in.

Sometimes she would make noises while eating, or even smack her lips.

Because of this, she had even made a joke. Aunt Liu saw her secretly crying, and she became very careful when eating after that. When others put down their chopsticks, even if she wasn’t full, she would put down hers as well. Aunt Liu saw this and would secretly send her food at night.

But now it was different.

Zhu Suisui’s posture was natural and smooth, just like the Lu family members. In fact, because of her beauty and composure, she had even more elegance than the Lu family members. She was a bit like Lu Lanxu.

After finishing her meal, Zhu Suisui casually wiped her mouth with a handkerchief. The entire movement was smooth and effortless.

She then continued to look at Aunt Liu, her voice soft, “Aunt Liu, I know you’re the kindest to me in the Lu family. If anything happens, you must tell me. Maybe I can help you.”

These words made

Aunt Liu’s eyes unconsciously turn red.

She knew that Zhu Suisui was being sincere. In the year and a half they had been together, it was Zhu Suisui who had been the kindest to her in the Lu family.

But in Aunt Liu’s eyes, Zhu Suisui couldn’t even take care of herself. Others saw her outward appearance and thought she had married well. In reality, marrying up wasn’t that easy. Only she knew the bitterness.

Aunt Liu wiped her tears and said with a smile, “Nothing happened. I’ll go get busy now.”

Seeing Aunt Liu clean up the tableware and go about her work,

Zhu Suisui sighed. How could she not know that Aunt Liu didn’t want to cause her trouble? But Aunt Liu couldn’t solve the problem of her alcoholic husband. If this continued, when Lu’s mother found out, she would definitely dismiss Aunt Liu.

It seemed like she had to find another way.

After lunch, Zhu Suisui didn’t plan to stay at home for long. She had nothing to do anyway, so she might as well go out for a walk and then go directly to Lu’s old man’s place.

Before, she would think about waiting for everyone in the Lu family to gather before going out together. That way, it would seem like a harmonious family.

But now, she didn’t plan to continue being the Lu family’s daughter-in-law, so there was no need to act together.

She could do whatever she wanted.

After telling Aunt Liu, Zhu Suisui went out. Before leaving, she took the gift for Lu’s old man and put on a long cotton coat over her dress. Otherwise, it was still too cold on a day when the snow was melting. Her body wasn’t very good, so she shouldn’t risk her health for beauty.

She also found a box from the cabinet. When she opened it, it contained a stack of banknotes and some military ration coupons.

Lu Lanxu would send back all of his monthly salary except for what he needed.

Speaking of this, the Lu family was actually quite good. Lu Lanxu’s salary didn’t have to be handed over to Lu’s father and mother. They both had their own salaries and didn’t covet Lu Lanxu’s money.

Therefore, Zhu Suisui actually had a lot of money on hand.

Lu Lanxu’s salary wasn’t low. His current monthly salary was 287 yuan. Because he had just been promoted, his salary was still around 253 yuan six months ago.

Doing the math, she had married in September of last year, and it had been a little over a year now. Besides what she used herself, and the money Lu Lanxu kept for himself, Lu Lanxu basically sent back around 150 yuan every month. Added together, it was… 1873.65 yuan!

That was a huge sum of money.

And that was just what he had saved in a year. Lu Lanxu hadn’t saved his previous salary at all.

He hadn’t been married back then, and he had spent almost all of his salary on the army, either giving it to injured soldiers who had been discharged or to the families of those who had died.

After marrying Zhu Suisui, things got better.

No matter how much he earned, he would at least make sure to send 150 yuan back to her for household expenses. As for the rest, whether he used it himself or gave it to others, Zhu Suisui didn’t want to know.

She took out 500 yuan.

After all, it was their joint property, so Zhu Suisui felt comfortable taking it.

She wasn’t doing it out of spite.

She just didn’t want to be gossiped about for taking advantage of the Lu family after the divorce.

She also didn’t want to have anything to do with Lu Lanxu.

She wanted to come clean and leave clean.

That was Zhu Suisui’s pride.

Zhu Suisui planned to go for a walk around Panjiaxiang.

Panjiaxiang in the capital city had been a place where people set up stalls since the Qing Dynasty. It was the legendary “Ghost Market.” Don’t be fooled by the fact that it was a place for all sorts of people. It was a place of great significance.

Perhaps it had a more complete collection of artifacts than the museum. In the 1990s, there were even museum curators who came here to buy, but they were fooled by the experts and bought fakes. It was a real embarrassment.

This incident made Panjiaxiang famous.

Zhu Suisui had seen the news, but she had just taken it as a joke. After all, she didn’t know anything about it, and if she went there, she would just be a lamb to be slaughtered.

To find treasures, you needed good eyesight, experience, and the ability to distinguish authenticity.

Zhu Suisui didn’t know anything about it, but she wanted to go there and test her special ability.

If she wanted to do it, she would do it.

Zhu Suisui went out to wait for the tram and took it to Panjiaxiang.

It was almost two o’clock now.

She just planned to wander around and see if the mist would appear again. The main purpose was to test her special ability. When it was time, she would have to hurry to Lu’s old man’s place.

As soon as she arrived,

Zhu Suisui discovered that it was surprisingly lively.

The entire street was lined with stalls. The vendors were wrapped in military coats, their hands in their pockets, sitting in front of their stalls. Some were shouting, while others were silent.

Panjiaxiang wasn’t very famous yet. Those who came here were all people who knew a little bit about antiques, so they wanted to try their luck at finding treasures.

It wasn’t like later, when many tourists came here, and a lot of them didn’t know anything.

She saw people on the street, some twirling two walnuts in their hands, some holding cricket cages and bird cages.

Most of them were over forty years old.

Zhu Suisui wandered around for a while, but she didn’t see any mist. She couldn’t help but become more disappointed.

Could it be that it was all in her imagination?

Just then,

a child ran over and accidentally bumped into her. She instinctively used her hand to brace herself. She almost knocked over the things on the stall next to her.

If she got scammed, that would be trouble.

The vendor really started shouting, “Watch where you’re going! These are all treasures! If you break them, you won’t be able to pay for them even if you sell yourself!”

Zhu Suisui quickly apologized.

The vendor saw that she was so beautiful and that she hadn’t actually broken anything. His tone softened immediately, “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine…” Zhu Suisui moved her hand, revealing a small object that had been covered by other items.

When she saw it clearly, she gasped.