Chapter 7 – Grandma Lu’s Concern

After returning to her room, Su Zhiyi was not actually ignoring Lu Hanchuan and turning away just because Jiang Keke had shown up and caused a misunderstanding.

On one hand, it was because she had been reborn, and the events that were supposed to unfold had already deviated from the trajectory of her past life.

She also clearly understood Lu Hanchuan’s attitude toward her.

At this moment, Lu Hanchuan must still be harboring the thought of wanting her to leave him.

Half of him wanted her to leave so that she wouldn’t be burdened by him, and the other half, driven by selfish possessiveness, didn’t want to let her go.

She only wanted to say that his desire for her wasn’t some selfish need to possess.

She was wholeheartedly willing to entrust her entire life to him.

That fool… he was enough to make someone ache to the point of suffocation.

And besides, she had just failed to hold back and ended up fiercely arguing with Jiang Keke and Lu Qingyu.

Once she came to her senses, she felt a little embarrassed.

The scene of her quarreling with others had been clearly witnessed by Lu Hanchuan.

She couldn’t help but feel shy, and a little scared too—scared that he wouldn’t like this side of her.

If Lu Hanchuan had known what she was thinking, he would have hugged her right then and there and declared domineeringly: “No matter what you’re like, I like you! In this lifetime, you are the precious treasure that I, Lu Hanchuan, will always cherish!”

—

The next morning, Su Zhiyi got up early on purpose and went to the kitchen, wanting to help prepare breakfast.

When Nanny Sun saw her, she quickly walked over. “Oh my, Little Su, how come you’re up so early?”

Su Zhiyi responded with a cheerful smile: “I’ve gotten used to waking up around this time. I can’t sleep even if I lie down, so I thought I’d get up and help you make breakfast.”

Upon hearing this, Nanny Sun beamed at her. “Oh no, no need for that. It wouldn’t be good if you accidentally hurt your hand. Just tell me what you’d like to eat, and I’ll make it for you.”

Seeing this, Su Zhiyi didn’t insist further. She smiled and nodded. “Alright then. I don’t have any particular cravings now, but I’ll let you know if I do.”

“Good, I’ll get back to it then. Just relax for a while—breakfast will be ready soon.” With that, Nanny Sun cheerfully returned to cooking.

Su Zhiyi stepped out of the kitchen, and when she casually looked up, she saw Lu Hanchuan standing not far away, looking at her.

A smile instantly bloomed across her face as she saw him.

She walked quickly to his side, smiling brightly as she greeted him: “Good morning, Han… Brother Lu.”

What was originally meant to be Brother Hanchuan had suddenly changed to Brother Lu.

Lu Hanchuan’s brows furrowed slightly. He looked at Su Zhiyi and gave her a small nod in response.

Then, with a cold expression, he leaned on his crutch and walked toward the sofa.

When Su Zhiyi tried to step forward to support him, he silently refused her help.

Su Zhiyi looked at the slight furrow between his brows, and at the way he avoided her attempt to help support him.

A trace of confusion rose in her heart. “What’s going on? Who upset Brother Lu?”

She never even considered that the reason Lu Hanchuan was upset was simply because she had changed the way she addressed him.

Su Zhiyi hadn’t thought that deeply about it. She just remembered how, yesterday, Jiang Keke had called him Brother Hanchuan.

That made her feel extremely uncomfortable, so she had decided that from now on, she wouldn’t call him Brother Hanchuan anymore—just Brother Lu.

But Lu Hanchuan saw it differently. He thought Su Zhiyi still wanted to distance herself from him because of what happened yesterday—because of Jiang Keke’s arrival and Lu Qingyu’s words.

Since she couldn’t leave, she might as well keep her distance.

With that thought, the chill surrounding Lu Hanchuan seemed to deepen.

A few steps away from the sofa, Su Zhiyi immediately felt a wave of coldness sweep toward her.

She lifted her head in confusion and looked at Lu Hanchuan, whose expression had grown quite grim.

She walked gently toward him, stood by his side, and looked at him with a worried face. “Brother Lu, what’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell somewhere?”

At her words, Lu Hanchuan lifted his head and looked at the girl beside him.

Suppressing the emotions he shouldn’t have felt, he shook his head lightly. “No.”

Since he didn’t want to say more, Su Zhiyi could only nod softly in response.

This, however, nearly drove Grandma Lu—who was secretly watching from nearby—mad with anxiety.

Grandpa Lu glanced at his wife’s anxious expression and couldn’t help but shake his head with a chuckle, speaking softly to comfort her: “Xiao Man, children and grandchildren have their own blessings. Don’t worry too much.

Xiao Chuan… I’m afraid it’s because of his leg… That’s why he’s intentionally distancing himself from Little Su.

Once he figures things out, their relationship will naturally get better and better.”

But Grandma Lu only gave a cold snort at that. “You also need to remember, no one will stand still waiting forever.

What I’m afraid of is that if this keeps going, our Zhi-girl will one day grow tired of Xiao Chuan and leave the Lu family.

Then what? Xiao Chuan would go crazy, wouldn’t he? What if he vows never to marry, and ends up growing old alone? What would we do then!”

Neither of them realized that their entire conversation had already been heard word for word by Su Zhiyi and Lu Hanchuan.

Su Zhiyi was able to hear it thanks to the spatial water. Now, she could clearly hear sounds from within ten meters of her—no matter how faint.

Her body had also undergone a great deal of improvement.

As for Lu Hanchuan, it was due to years of high-intensity training, plus the fact that he had also used the spatial water, so it was no surprise he could hear their conversation.

He glanced a little awkwardly at Su Zhiyi beside him, and seeing that her expression was still fairly normal—like she hadn’t heard anything Grandpa Lu and Grandma Lu had said—he couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.

In truth, Su Zhiyi already knew that Lu Hanchuan would definitely be able to hear what Grandpa Lu and Grandma Lu were saying.

Afraid he might feel embarrassed, Su Zhiyi had forcibly steadied her emotions to keep him from noticing anything unusual.

After all, she was just an ordinary girl—if someone like her could hear such faint sounds from such a distance, anyone would grow suspicious.

She didn’t want to stand out or draw attention. It was better to keep a low profile.

But what Lu Hanchuan couldn’t see was that, behind her calm facade, she was digging her nails tightly into her palm.

She was trying hard to control her emotions, not wanting Lu Hanchuan to notice anything off.

Yet those words—never marry, grow old alone!—stabbed her heart so painfully, she could hardly breathe.

In truth, Lu Hanchuan had already noticed Su Zhiyi’s clenched fists.

No matter how composed she appeared, he could still see something was wrong.

He wanted to comfort her but didn’t want her to realize he had noticed anything strange about her.

So, he could only endure the heartache and pretend he hadn’t seen a thing.

At that moment, neither of them knew what to say to break the awkward atmosphere hanging in the living room.

Fortunately, just then, Mother Lu’s voice called out from outside: “Oh my, why is everyone up so early today?”

Then, as if suddenly realizing something, she quickly walked to Lu Hanchuan’s side and looked at him with concern. “Xiao Chuan, is it because your injury hurt again and you couldn’t sleep?”

Upon hearing this, Su Zhiyi also turned toward Lu Hanchuan with a look of concern.

Lu Hanchuan glanced at the two worried faces and lightly shook his head. “No.”

Seeing her eldest son still so reserved with his words, Mother Lu shook her head helplessly.

Then she turned to Su Zhiyi with a warm smile. “Zhizhi, why didn’t you sleep a little longer?”

Su Zhiyi smiled back at Mother Lu. “I’m already used to waking up around this time. I couldn’t fall back asleep anyway.

So I thought I’d get up and help Nanny Sun make breakfast, but she said she’d take care of it herself. Breakfast should be ready soon.”

Mother Lu nodded at that, then glanced subtly at Lu Hanchuan before saying: “Zhizhi, after breakfast, come out with me for a bit. Just think of it as keeping me company for a little walk.”

Hearing this, Su Zhiyi instinctively turned to look at Lu Hanchuan beside her. Mother Lu immediately understood what was on her mind.

“Don’t worry. Nanny Sun will still be here. She’ll take good care of Xiao Chuan.”

“But…”

Su Zhiyi still looked worried. Even though she knew Lu Hanchuan would be well taken care of, she couldn’t help but be concerned about him.

“I’m fine.” Seeing the conflicted expression on the girl’s face, Lu Hanchuan spoke up to help Mother Lu persuade her.

Su Zhiyi could only nod obediently in response. “Alright.”

Then she turned to Lu Hanchuan again with a cheerful smile. “Is there anything you want? I’ll bring it back for you, okay?”