Chapter 13.1

When Jiang Guihua and Lu Dashan saw Lu Chen, they immediately smiled, but this smile was directed toward their new son-in-law and his younger brother.

“Son-in-law, Lu Chen is here. You wanted to ask him something, right? Now’s the time. If he knows, he’ll definitely tell you!”

At this, Wang Chengwen, the new son-in-law whom Lu Chen had met a few days ago, turned to look at him.

Although Wang Chengwen had heard some things about Lu Chen from Lu Xiujuan during their marriage, he didn’t have a strong impression of him, since the two families weren’t particularly close.

Now, looking at Lu Chen, he was somewhat surprised. The cousin, whom his wife had described as “pitiful” and “without parents,” turned out to be quite handsome with sharp features and a tall, strong build. Aside from his cold demeanor, which was exactly how he had imagined, Lu Chen looked quite presentable.

Wang Chengwen felt a bit awkward under Lu Chen’s unchanging gaze. Lu Xiujuan, naturally timid, had hardly ever spoken with him despite growing up together with Lu Chen. After Lu Chen was sent away to the old yard by their parents, she had never dared to approach him again, fully aware of how cruel her parents’ actions had been in severing their bond with him.

So, as his cousin, she could only subtly tug at his sleeve to remind her husband, Wang Chengwen, to speak up.

Wang Chengwen snapped out of his thoughts, looked at his brother beside him, and squeezed out a polite smile before addressing Lu Chen.

“Uh, Cousin Lu Chen, sorry to bother you after your hard work. We just wanted to ask you a few things.”

When Lu Chen neither agreed nor refused, Wang Chengwen went on.

“I heard you and Educated Youth Meng have been working together lately. I just wanted to ask if she has a boyfriend or something…”

Normally, it would be uncomfortable for a man to ask such a question, but since Mother Wang was at work today, he had to take on this task as the older brother.

Upon hearing this, Lu Chen immediately understood Wang Chengwen’s intention.

Was he trying to set Meng Yinyin up with someone, or had someone already taken an interest in her?

Given Meng Yinyin’s looks, that was to be expected, but for some reason, when he realized that Wang Chengwen wanted to find her a match, a feeling of resistance arose in his heart.

He didn’t know why he didn’t want to share the answer Wang Chengwen was looking for. Staring at Wang Chengwen for a moment, he finally lowered his gaze and softly said.

“I don’t know.”

He had never asked Meng Yinyin about these matters, so saying “I don’t know” wasn’t a lie.

But at the same time, he was sure that Meng Yinyin didn’t have a boyfriend.

At least, not here in the Nanjiao Brigade. She had hardly spoken to any other young men, and as for the Educated Youth point, she didn’t seem to have any close interactions with other male Educated Youth either.

Even the most outstanding male Educated Youth, Song Yue, was described by her with words like “annoying” and “bothersome.” It was clear that others didn’t stand a chance in her eyes.

But these were details he had no need to share with the people in front of him.

After giving his answer, Lu Chen raised his head and turned to leave.

If he had known that Jiang Guihua called him over for this, he would never have come and wasted his time.

However, just as Lu Chen was about to leave, Jiang Guihua’s sharp voice called out.

“Lu Chen, stop right there! Where are you going? Don’t you see your brother-in-law hasn’t finished asking you? Do you have any manners? You’re so inconsiderate!”

Jiang Guihua placed great importance on her son-in-law, the city dweller. Moreover, she was pleased that his younger brother had come along. Although she didn’t like Meng Yinyin much, after a moment’s thought, she realized that the younger brother would eventually get married, and instead of him marrying someone else, why not have him marry Meng Yinyin? As the matchmaker, she could gain quite a bit of benefit from it!

That’s why she had been working so hard on this matter.

However, when Jiang Guihua called out, Lu Chen acted as if he didn’t hear her at all. His figure quickly disappeared from sight.

Seeing this, Jiang Guihua’s eyes widened in surprise. Lu Chen actually dared to disregard her like this? He had gotten bolder!

She muttered in anger about how Lu Chen was shameless, and then quickly turned around, smiling to the Wang brothers.

“I’ll go next door and talk to him. This boy just doesn’t like to talk. He’s grown up but still doesn’t understand things!”

With that, Jiang Guihua hurried to the neighboring yard.

Meanwhile, Lu Dashan also felt embarrassed. He had always relied on his obedient nephew, Lu Chen, and now to see him leave without saying a word made him feel as though his old face had been completely humiliated, especially in front of the new son-in-law and his brother. This brat was really disrespecting him, and he swore that he would have a good talk with him later.

“Chengwen, Chengwu, Lu Chen didn’t have a father or mother when he was little, so he wasn’t properly taught. But don’t worry, I’m his uncle, and I raised him. He will definitely listen to what I say. You two wait here, I’ll go talk to him.”

After saying that, Lu Dashan quickly went next door.

This left the Wang brothers and the nervous Lu Xiujuan behind.

Seeing the impatient expression on the Wang brothers, especially her brother-in-law Wang Chengwu, Lu Xiujuan grew even more worried. To prevent them from leaving because of impatience, she quickly thought of an idea.

“I’ll show you around my house. You haven’t seen it yet, have you? It’s quite big with many rooms…”

Although Lu Xiujuan was usually shy in front of the Wang family, she couldn’t help feeling a bit proud of her family’s situation. After all, her family was the richest in the village, and their house was grand.

She intended to show the Wang brothers around her home to let them know that her family’s conditions were not bad. In fact, they were the wealthiest family in the whole village.

Wang Chengwen and Wang Chengwu were indeed tired of waiting and agreed to her suggestion. They followed her inside.

When the Wang family had come to discuss the marriage before, they had only sat in the yard or the living room. They had never ventured into the other rooms. But today, with Lu Xiujuan almost showing off, they toured nearly every room in the house, except for the one where her younger brother, Lu Jinbao, stayed. He had gone back to town for school. They even went into the rooms of Lu Dashan and Jiang Guihua.

However, Wang Chengwen wasn’t very interested in these rooms since he wouldn’t be living here in the future.

It was his younger brother, Wang Chengwu, who was more surprised.

Before, he had heard from his parents that the Lu family was relatively well off, but he thought that was just for a countryside family. However, after seeing the house today, he realized that their wealth was comparable to some city families.

He remembered that the Lu family’s ancestors were three generations of poor farmers. How could they have such wealth?

Unable to hold back his curiosity, Wang Chengwu asked the question aloud.

Unexpectedly, Lu Xiujuan’s face turned pale at his question, and she almost slipped and fell, as if his question had startled her.

Wang Chengwu furrowed his brow. Was there something wrong with his question? Why did Lu Xiujuan react so strongly?

Lu Xiujuan quickly realized that her response had been too exaggerated. She avoided Wang Chengwu’s gaze and hurriedly explained, “I… I don’t really know. I was still young back then. It must have been something my grandparents saved up.”

She was lying.

Lu Xiujuan was 23 years old, and the house had been built nearly 20 years ago. Her memories from when she was 3 or 4 were a little blurry, but she still had some impressions of major events.

For example, when she was 4 years old, her second uncle and aunt passed away, and her second uncle’s body was never found.

Then, the year after her second uncle and aunt’s death, her family built this grand red-brick house, and they went from barely getting by to never worrying about food or clothes again.

But at that time, she was too young to understand the changes.

However, because she was small, her parents didn’t hesitate to talk in front of her, and she overheard a conversation she could never forget: “We must never let the second son’s kid know about this!”

She knew who the “second son’s kid” was—her little cousin, who had just been born.

It wasn’t until she grew up and remembered this conversation that she realized the true meaning behind it. Maybe the family’s current wealth was all due to her second uncle!

Lu Xiujuan felt conflicted. On one hand, she thought what her parents did was wrong, but on the other hand, she had gotten used to living in this house and enjoying the envious looks of others. The desire to confess to Lu Chen faded over time, and in the end, she could never bring herself to speak to him again.

Wang Chengwu wasn’t a fool. Seeing the guilty expression on Lu Xiujuan’s face, he sensed that the Lu family probably had some secret they were hiding.

He frowned and glanced at his older brother. Wang Chengwen was listening seriously, completely unaware.

Wang Chengwu sighed inwardly, feeling like he was the only one thinking ahead.

If this matter had nothing to do with them, he wouldn’t have bothered. But now, since his elder brother had married Lu Xiujuan, it was, by extension, related to their family.

What he was worried about wasn’t so much the marriage itself but whether Lu’s family’s issues would eventually drag his elder brother down, and possibly even affect them.

It seemed like he would have to talk to his parents about it when he got home that night.

Meanwhile, next door…

After Lu Dashan and Jiang Guihua chased after Lu Chen, they planned to give him a proper scolding.

But to their surprise, Lu Chen, who usually listened to them without a word, suddenly became rebellious this time!

No matter what they said, Lu Chen acted as if he didn’t hear a thing. With a cold expression, he focused on making a fire and cooking, completely ignoring them as if they were invisible.

“Lu Chen, I think you’ve lost your mind. I asked you a question, and you’re just going to ignore me? If Meng Yinyin marries into the city, we’ll get a favor from the Wang family! She has no blood relation to you, but we are your family. You’re being so unreasonable! What’s going on, are you interested in her? Haha, let me tell you something, look at yourself! How dare you think of her? Do you even deserve her?”

Lu Dashan was furious. He felt his authority as the elder was being challenged. Without thinking, he raised his hand and prepared to slap Lu Chen across the face.

However, halfway through, his arm was stopped by an immense force, and his wrist was twisted behind him, as though it had been trapped in a vice. He couldn’t escape.

The pain made Lu Dashan’s face turn pale, and all he could do was cry out, “It hurts, it hurts, it hurts!”

Jiang Guihua, watching from the side, was shocked to see Lu Chen subduing Lu Dashan with just one hand. Her face alternated between turning pale and green with fear. She was shaken to the core.

Lu Chen actually dared to resist! What was happening to him? The scariest part was how he looked so frightening—she didn’t even dare to approach him.

With dark, cold eyes, Lu Chen glared at Lu Dashan, his face expressionless, but his eyes were filled with anger and hostility that seemed almost impossible to suppress.

Amid Lu Dashan’s repeated cries of pain, Lu Chen finally shoved him backward and released his grip.

Lu Dashan stumbled back several steps, his face pale with fear. The intense pain in his wrist made him feel as though he had never truly understood his “gentle” and “clumsy” nephew.

Especially now, when Lu Chen’s eyes looked like a storm was about to break, Lu Dashan couldn’t help but feel both horrified and fearful.

When had Lu Chen ever looked like this? If this was really his true self, then perhaps the obedient and docile behavior he had shown earlier had been an act all along!