Chapter 13: Confessing to Lu Qinglin (1/2)
Lu Yuxiong came home from work and was startled when he saw a large piece of meat in the kitchen. He immediately called his daughter-in-law over to question her.

“What’s with the meat in the kitchen?”

Feng Cuilan recounted everything that had happened earlier in the afternoon when Su Tangxue visited.

“Then where is she? Why didn’t you ask her to stay for dinner?”

“Father, I did, but she wouldn’t stay. Xiaoxue said she had other things to do and left.”

Lu Yuxiong looked at the meat, his heart aching over it—meat like this must’ve cost a fortune.

“Father, what’s wrong?”

Lu Jiang, worried his father might give his wife a hard time, quickly came into the kitchen.

Seeing the large piece of meat in his father’s hands, he was momentarily stunned. That much meat was something families only splurged on during New Year celebrations or weddings.

“What’s going on today?”

“Where did the meat come from?”

“Xiaoxue gave it to us.”

“Xiaoxue came to our house?”

“Mm-hmm.”

In these rural times, eating meat was a luxury. With the weather being so hot, if they didn’t eat it today, it would spoil by tomorrow.

Lu Yuxiong took out a knife and cut the meat into two portions. He handed the smaller piece to Lu Jiang.
“Take this to the in-laws. We’ll eat the bigger piece tonight.”

“Alright, I’ll go now.”

That’s how things were in the countryside—any time you had something decent to eat, you’d think to share with relatives.
You give me a little today, I give you a bit tomorrow—relationships were kept alive this way.

Feng Cuilan stood quietly to the side. Deep down, she felt marrying into the Lu family had been the right decision.
She also hoped her younger sisters at home could get a taste of meat and nourish themselves a bit.

Meanwhile, at the Li family household, once Li Hehua received the meat, she quickly began stewing it.
When Lu Yuhu and Wang Qingsao came home, they thought their noses were playing tricks on them.

“Mom, what are you cooking? Smells like meat?”

Li Hehua didn’t answer. She simply scooped the meat out of the pot, placed it on the table, and gave each of her two grandsons a piece.

Second Uncle Lu had three children: the eldest was a daughter named Lu Yun, already married off. The second and third were sons—Lu He and Lu Shan—who were second and fourth in the family hierarchy.

Lu He and eldest brother Lu Jiang both got married in the same year and had twin sons.

Lu Yuhu stared at the bowl full of meat on the table, mouth agape enough to fit a whole egg.
Lu He and Lu Shan, aside from being shocked, also swallowed hard. It had been a long time since their household had seen meat—they were definitely craving it now.

“Mom, where did this meat come from?”

“Grandma, who gave us this meat?”

Lu Yuhu knew his mother well. Without a festival or happy occasion, she would never have bought meat—especially not that much.

Still silent, Li Hehua kept a stern face as she began feeding her grandsons.

Seeing his mother wouldn’t speak, Lu Yulong could only helplessly urge his sons and daughters-in-law to come eat.

The family, not having had meat in ages, devoured the dishes at lightning speed.
Only Lu Yuhu quietly ate the plate of greens in front of him. He didn’t touch a single piece of meat from the main bowl—not even when his wife Wang Qingsao offered him some.

Li Hehua, feeling her son was doing it on purpose to annoy her, finally lost her temper and explained the whole thing about Su Tangxue delivering the meat.
But she focused on how rude Su Tangxue had been—saying she was impolite, didn’t know how to respect elders, and even scolded Lu Yulong in the process.

But no one at the table had the mind to listen to her complaints. Everyone’s attention was focused on one thing: Su Tangxue had returned to the village.

This month it was Eldest Uncle Lu’s turn to clean Su Tangxue’s old room, so Lu Yuhu had no idea she was back.
Lu Shan was already thinking about visiting his little sister tomorrow—wondering what treats he should bring.

No one paid much attention to Li Hehua’s mood.

When Second Uncle Lu learned that the meat had been a gift from his niece, he quickly picked up his chopsticks and started eating. If he didn’t hurry, those little rascals would finish it all.

At the Su family household—

After taking a bath, Su Tangxue went to bed early. Lu Qinglin, however, hadn’t yet washed up.

When he entered the room, he thought Su Tangxue was asleep, but she was actually reading her high school textbooks by candlelight.

“Why aren’t you asleep?”

“Waiting for you,” Su Tangxue answered without thinking.

Lu Qinglin froze in place, stunned. He couldn’t believe what he’d just heard.

Seeing him standing there like a statue, Su Tangxue couldn’t help but say again,

“What are you standing there for? Come over here!”

Realizing he had no way out, Lu Qinglin took off his pants and climbed into bed, leaving only his boxer shorts on.

“What do you want to say?”

As soon as he lay down, Su Tangxue scooted closer, propping her head on her hand.
“Nothing really. I was just bored and wanted to talk to you.”

Then she continued:

“Can you fix the lamp tomorrow? Reading by candlelight is bad for the eyes.”

“Okay, got it.”

“And also, my snacks are running low. If you go to the supply shop, buy me some. And don’t say you don’t have money!” she added with pointed emphasis.

Lu Qinglin immediately knew what she meant.
“And what else?”

“And… the incident with Uncle Qing back then—it wasn’t my fault.”
As she spoke, Su Tangxue kept watching his expression, her voice getting softer and softer.

Back then, Lu Yulong had brought her to live in the countryside. She was five—at that playful age—and quickly fit in with the village kids.

Once, she had a falling out with Wang Xifeng, and stormed off by herself.
By the time she returned home, she learned that Uncle Qing had fallen off a cliff while searching for her in the mountains.

Some villagers even blamed her for being immature.
If she hadn’t run off in anger, Uncle Qing wouldn’t have gone looking for her—and wouldn’t have died.

Later, Su Tangxue found out it was Wang Xifeng and a few girls who falsely told the village chief she had run into the mountains, prompting the search party.

But in reality, she had gone to the riverbank—not the mountains.

No matter how she tried to explain afterward, no one believed her—except her foster father, Lu Yulong.

The villagers would rather trust a group of children than her alone.

Thinking about it now, Su Tangxue still felt deeply wronged. No wonder she had never wanted to return to the village all these years.

Lu Qinglin lay on his side, silently watching her. His deep, dark eyes were calm as a still lake, giving nothing away.

Not sure what he was thinking, Su Tangxue assumed he didn’t believe her.
Upset, she pulled the blanket over herself and turned away to sleep.

At the Li family household—

Li Bing, as team leader, returned home later than most. By then, it was already dark.

He had three sons—the first two already married with children. Only Li Sui was still at home.

Tired after a long day’s work, Li Bing came home and saw his lazy, good-for-nothing son still up in a tree. He couldn’t help getting angry.

“What are you still doing up there? Get down and eat!” he yelled up.

Unwillingly, Li Sui climbed down, still chewing on a stalk of foxtail grass.

“Look at yourself! Always so aimless! If only you were half the man your two older brothers are, your mother and I could rest easy.”

Li Sui spat out the foxtail, picked up his rice bowl, and started eating in big bites—completely ignoring his father’s scolding.