Chapter 16: A Man Knows Men Best

Li Sui’s tender “Little Xuemei” made Lu Qinglin extremely uncomfortable.

And then he noticed the wildflowers in his hand.

A man knows men best.

The next moment, Lu Qinglin’s deep eyes were filled with cold frost as he replied with a low voice:

“Xiaoxue’s not here. She went out.”

As soon as he finished, his face darkened like the bottom of a burnt pot. With strength in both hands, he went to shut the door.

“When will she be back?” Li Sui quickly reached out to block the door, his face full of sincerity.

“No idea,” Lu Qinglin replied coldly, and shut the door in his face.

“Hey! I’m not done talking yet! Is this how you treat a guest?”

Li Sui protested loudly, yelling toward the courtyard wall.

But only the tightly closed door responded.

Frustrated, Li Sui scratched his head. Damn it, he was so focused on asking where Little Xue was that he completely forgot to ask who the guy was.

Could he be the fiancé that his father mentioned?

Then he quickly shook his head to dismiss the idea. He must be one of Xiaoxue’s relatives. His dad must’ve been lying just to force him to marry that chubby girl Er Ya from the neighboring village.

He even overheard his dad scheming about it this morning—still trying to keep him in the dark!

Li Sui glanced back, then left with a snort.

As long as he didn’t hear Xiaoxue say she was getting married, he wasn’t giving up!!

Not long after Li Sui left, Lu Shan arrived with Su Tangxue.

It was almost dark, and Lu Shan didn’t feel at ease letting his little sister walk home alone, so he escorted her back.

“Fourth Brother, you should go back. If you get back late, Second Uncle’s going to beat you again.”

“What’s there to be afraid of? Whether I go back early or late, I’ll still get beaten, so I might as well be late!”

Su Tangxue gave him a once-over, then gave him a big thumbs-up. “Fourth Brother, you’re brave.”

The once clean and neat boy was now a mess—his face and clothes were covered in dirt, and his pant legs were a total disaster.

Even his grey shirt was a lost cause. Showing up like that, Second Uncle would be sure to give him a beating!

In contrast, Su Tangxue was spotless. She had only picked some tiny snails and shrimp by the creek and didn’t get wet at all.

She now suspected that Fourth Brother came looking for her not because he wanted to accompany her, but because he wanted to play.

When they arrived home, Su Tangxue pushed at the door for quite a while, but it wouldn’t budge. She had no choice but to call out over the wall for Lu Qinglin to open it.

“Why’d the door get shut so suddenly?” she asked in confusion.

“Didn’t want the village dogs wandering in,” Lu Qinglin answered flatly.

Su Tangxue frowned lightly. “Do people around here keep dogs?”

She hadn’t even heard any barking. Since when did the neighbors get dogs?

Lu Qinglin stayed silent and turned to leave, but then out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly spotted the wildflowers in her hand.

His thick brows furrowed tightly, lips pressed in a hard line. A flicker of darkness flashed through his eyes.

Su Tangxue noticed him staring at the flowers and thought he wanted them.

She quickly lifted them up with a proud smile. “Aren’t they pretty? Fourth Brother picked them for me.”

Seeing that gentle smile on her face, Lu Qinglin’s furrowed brows gradually relaxed.

As long as he wasn’t the one who gave them to her.

Su Tangxue was about to say something more, but Lu Shan’s voice interrupted her.

“Xiaomei, come quick! These shrimp aren’t gonna make it!”

Following his voice, she ran over and found that the little river shrimp in the basin had all gone limp.

Apparently, Lu Shan had used his shirt to carry them for too long, and they had gotten squashed.

Instantly, she felt a little disappointed. She was planning to raise them for a day and have Lu Qinglin stir-fry them for her as a snack tomorrow.

Well, since they wouldn’t survive, might as well eat them tonight.

Treat it as an extra dish.

“Xiaomei, these few fish still seem to be doing okay,” Lu Shan pointed to the glass jar with little fish.

Su Tangxue took the jar and looked. The fish did look quite lively. They’d make cute pets.

“Lu Qinglin, let’s have stir-fried river shrimp tonight!” she called out to him from a distance.

“Okay,” he replied, taking the basin from her and heading straight to the kitchen.

Su Tangxue had eaten all kinds of fancy food before, but never tiny river shrimp like these.

Just listening to Lu Shan describe them by the stream earlier had made her mouth water. She was really curious what they tasted like, which was why she went all in catching shrimp.

She followed Lu Qinglin into the kitchen. She knew that once he returned to the army, she’d have to cook for herself. While he was still here, she wanted to learn a bit—his cooking was quite good, after all.

She watched as Lu Qinglin carefully picked out the debris mixed in with the shrimp, washed them several times, then tossed them into the wok for a stir-fry.

Soon, the aroma filled the kitchen. Su Tangxue stood beside him, her appetite fully awakened. She swallowed unconsciously.

“Smells so good, Lu Qinglin!”

Lu Qinglin’s hand paused slightly at her sudden praise, and the corners of his lips slowly curled up.

They had caught a lot of shrimp, and even after shrinkage from cooking, it still filled a whole plate.

Lu Qinglin scooped out a small bowl and handed it to Su Tangxue.

“What’s this for?”

“Take some to Aunt Huang next door.”

Su Tangxue nodded. She got the hint—this was his way of telling her to build rapport with the neighbors.

“I’ll go now.”

The two houses were about 40 meters apart. Not wanting to delay the cooking, she jogged over to Aunt Huang’s house.

Aunt Huang, whose full name was Huang Guiying, had a son in elementary school and a three-year-old daughter. She was usually home alone.

When Su Tangxue knocked, the family was eating in the courtyard. Aunt Huang opened the door.

“Xiaoxue, what brings you here? Have you eaten? Want to join us?”

“No thanks, Auntie. I just came to bring you some river shrimp,” Su Tangxue said as she lifted the cloth covering the bowl, revealing golden, glistening shrimp.

“Auntie, I caught these this afternoon and stir-fried them. Hope you don’t mind.”

Huang Guiying glanced at the shrimp and was momentarily speechless with surprise.

“Oh my! Xiaoxue, this… must’ve used quite a bit of oil!”

She knew these river shrimp—if you didn’t use enough oil, they wouldn’t taste good. And this bowl smelled amazing—clearly, no oil was spared.

“Auntie, just take it! Let the kids have a little treat.”

She looked past Aunt Huang at the two kids behind her. Their eyes were glued to the bowl, and drool was practically dripping from their mouths.

Huang Guiying thought about how it had been a while since the kids had any meat. Even though these were tiny shrimp, meat was meat.

She went inside, grabbed a bowl, and brought out some pickled vegetables.

“Xiaoxue, these are pickles I made myself. Don’t look down on them—fry them with chili or stew them with meat, they’re delicious.”

“Great, thank you, Auntie!”

Su Tangxue accepted them without hesitation. Give and take—that’s how you build connections.

“Xiaoxue, if you ever run into trouble, come talk to me. We’re neighbors—don’t be shy.”

“Got it, Auntie. I will.”