Chapter 10

Lu Yongzhang asked this question with a smile, and his gaze toward her was gentle.

However, Zheng Xiaorou felt a chill at the back of her neck; it seemed he was struggling to suppress his anger.

What had he just said? Dog? Barking?

Noticing the confusion in Zheng Xiaorou’s eyes, Lu Yongzhang let out a soft hum. “In the army, we referred to this kind of dog-like bullying as ‘barking.'”

It was actually his own habitual expression.

Those palace attendants, eunuchs, maids, and concubines who had spoken ill of her and those from the Zheng family who had clung to her as they climbed the social ladder all fell into that category.

To label their clamoring as “barking” was an insult to dogs.

Zheng Xiaorou accepted this explanation and replied with a simple, “Actually, it’s nothing.”

Seeing that she had no intention of elaborating, Lu Yongzhang did not press her with further questions.

After all, he had his ways of finding out what had just happened and who had made her feel uncomfortable.

At that time, several units in the courtyard were getting off work, and the small path at the entrance quickly became crowded with people.

Lu Yongzhang shifted his body slightly to shield her from the throng, preventing others from jostling her.

Around them, chatter filled the air as many discussed the plot of the newly released movie they were about to watch, which featured a romantic storyline involving young men and women. The excitement of the discussion was particularly high.

The words he had spoken that morning while giving her the tickets made Zheng Xiaorou view tonight’s movie as a performance.

However, she now felt quite awkward; in addition to the strange thoughts that occasionally surfaced in her mind, the snippets of conversation about love in the air made her very uncomfortable.

To alleviate this awkwardness, she suggested, “You treated me to the movie, so let me treat you to dinner, okay?”

Unknowingly, she had already owed him many favors, and treating him to a meal would make her feel a bit better.

Lu Yongzhang looked at her eager expression and smiled, “Sure, let’s have noodles. I just happened to receive some pickled vegetables from a fellow villager today; I’ll let you try them.”

When the noodles arrived, Lu Yongzhang opened the jar of pickled vegetables. His use of chopsticks was particularly graceful, with his long fingers expertly gripping the bamboo sticks as he picked up some and placed them in her bowl. “Try this eight-treasure pickled vegetable; it was made by… a fellow villager.”

He rarely stuttered, but he did so this time, his eyes filled with unrecognized anticipation as he watched Zheng Xiaorou pick up a piece, chew on it, and then brightly declare it delicious before he finally relaxed.

As Zheng Xiaorou continued to eat, she suddenly slowed down. “That’s strange; this pickled vegetable tastes really familiar. Is it called eight-treasure pickled vegetable?”

Even the action of him placing the food in her bowl had an inexplicably familiar feel to it.

Lu Yongzhang controlled the tremor of his fingers and added some more for her. “Yes, the person who taught me told me she added eight of her favorite ingredients, so it’s called eight-treasure pickled vegetables. This jar is for you; I have more.”

No matter how many lifetimes passed, he would never forget the scene when, nearly dying from illness, she held out a white porcelain bowl toward him.

On the smooth porridge floated a few slices of rosy pickled vegetables.

She told him that it was her homemade eight-treasure pickled vegetable and that eating it would help him recover…

That flavor was something he could never forget.

—o—o—o—

The two of them tidied up before heading to Shuntai Cinema.

At this screening, many of the seats were complimentary tickets from their workplaces, and in the ticket line, many people were dressed in their work uniforms, chattering excitedly about the news surrounding the movie.

Amid the bustling crowd, Lu Yongzhang carefully observed the cinema.

As someone who had never been very social or talkative, he easily navigated through all the new experiences without revealing his emotions.

After quietly observing for a while, he noticed that ” dating ” couples would first go to the small snack shop at the back of the theater to buy snacks and drinks. He then leaned down to her and said, “Wait here; I’ll go buy some food.”

Zheng Xiaorou hurriedly replied, “No need.” But she couldn’t stop him from turning around and heading toward the counter.

The snack shop was crowded with people. When it was his turn, the vendor had already prepared two bottles of soda, handing them over along with a brown paper bag containing preserved plums and duck gizzards. On the other hand, he tapped the glass of the counter, saying, “8 yuan, 6 for the deposit, you can take back the 6 yuan after you return the bottle.”

Lu Yongzhang glanced at the words on the soda bottles and pushed them back. “Sorry, my girlfriend doesn’t like orange soda. Could you please change it to another kind?”

Zheng Xiaorou didn’t eat oranges.

The vendor snorted and raised an eyebrow. “If you’re not buying, then forget it; let the next person come up…”

Seeing this, the people behind him pushed forward. Lu Yongzhang firmly stood his ground to block the tide of people, his gaze fixed coldly on the vendor’s indifferent expression.

Despite the surrounding noise, his voice rang clear in the vendor’s ears. “Change those for two bottles of other soda.”

The once noisy snack shop seemed to fade away in an instant, leaving only his voice.

The vendor stared in shock as Lu Yongzhang handed the already-opened bottles of soda to a man who had squeezed forward to buy snacks. “Here, they’re for you. Please remember to return the glass bottles.”

After saying this, he placed the money on the counter, and this time, the vendor obediently handed him two different bottles.

Lu Yongzhang took the bottles and walked away, waving his hand in acknowledgment of the man’s slow thank-you, not bothering to turn back as he headed toward the ticket line.

“Let’s go.” He maintained his composure, mimicking others as he handed the ticket to the attendant and carefully tucked the ticket stub into the pen holder inside his chest pocket.

Zheng Xiaorou accepted the soda bottles and exclaimed, “What a coincidence that you got this soda!”

“What’s wrong?” Lu Yongzhang was busy observing the seating arrangement in the cinema, quickly trying to understand what the row and seat numbers on the ticket meant.

It was indeed a coincidence; the original owner had little experience with watching movies, and the few times he had done so in the army hadn’t required him to pay attention to seating. He realized he didn’t have any useful experience to draw upon.

Noticing that Lu Yongzhang wasn’t paying attention, Zheng Xiaorou looked up and smiled. “It’s nothing.”

She merely wanted to point out the coincidence that everyone else seemed to have orange soda while they had ended up with salt soda.

Though salt soda didn’t taste very good, she disliked orange soda even more.

“What are our seat numbers?” she asked.

“Row 10, seat 1 and seat 3.”

Lu Yongzhang found row 10 and was scanning for their seats when he heard Zheng Xiaorou point to the two seats in the middle and say, “There! It’s right in the center, the best spot!”

Not long after they sat down, the lights on either side of the screening room dimmed, and the opening credits began to roll. The previously noisy theater instantly fell silent, with the sounds of chairs shifting echoing throughout.

The movie they were watching was called “Shaolin Temple,” and it was a martial arts film. When Lu Yongzhang saw the actors dressed in ancient costumes appear on screen, he felt a jolt of excitement and was unable to hide his shock.

Movies were indeed magical; they could vividly recreate the societal conditions of hundreds of years ago.

Noticing his intense focus, Zheng Xiaorou also began to watch attentively.

As she watched, she, like the other audience members, opened the brown paper bag and began to share the snacks with him while eating some herself.

Preserved plums and duck gizzards were items that were rarely bought at home.

As she ate, she suddenly realized that she had never enjoyed herself this relaxed before. Even when she went out to play with Xiao Rujun, she wouldn’t splurge on such a nice cinema as Shuntai or buy snacks to eat while watching a movie.

She had taken advantage of him so much that it felt a bit excessive.

Thinking this, she couldn’t help but steal a glance at Lu Yongzhang under the dim cover of darkness.

He was staring at the screen, his usually serious and indifferent eyes now sparkling as if he were deeply captivated by the storyline.

As if sensing her gaze, Lu Yongzhang looked down at her, their eyes meeting in the darkness.

Feeling awkward, she quietly asked, “Is it good?”

“It’s good.” The corners of his lips moved slightly as he looked into her eyes and smiled. “Give me the duck gizzard.”

He didn’t have many leisure habits. Having occupied that dangerous position for a lifetime, he had to remain calm and alert to survive, always plotting against others while also being plotted against.

Leisure seemed to have only existed in his childhood.

Thanks to the fortunes of this life, he was actually able to sit down and enjoy such a visual feast alongside her.

Lu Yongzhang felt an unprecedented sense of relaxation and joy.

“Oh.” Zheng Xiaorou felt a warmth spreading across her face as she handed him the brown paper bag.

In the pitch-black darkness, vision was hindered, but other senses were heightened. Their hands collided; a large, warm palm completely enveloped the back of her hand, deftly catching the paper bag that had slipped from her grasp.

She withdrew her hand as if she had been electrocuted, her heart racing for a while. She noticed that he was calmly pulling out something from the paper bag and eating.

During their earlier meal, she had already observed that Lu Yongzhang had a very elegant and pleasing way of eating. Sitting in the modest noodle shop, he seemed out of place, just like now, in the dimly lit screening room where only the screen’s reflection remained. In this faint light, he held the paper bag in one hand while his other long fingers delicately pinched a piece of duck gizzard, resembling a character from an ancient painting.

Zheng Xiaorou once again felt acutely aware of the gap created by their different families and backgrounds.

She thought that if Xiao Rujuan had met Lu Yongzhang, she definitely wouldn’t have had the audacity to encourage her to “give it a try.”

But in the next moment, Lu Yongzhang handed the paper bag back to her, leaning down and softly saying, “I picked out all the ones with tendons; what’s left is all meat. Go ahead and eat.”

His voice brushed against her ear.

He had always been very considerate, and even when he leaned in, he didn’t make her feel uncomfortable.

But Zheng Xiaorou was momentarily stunned.

He had just asked for the snacks to help her remove the ones with tendons?

In this era, every family faced tight food and clothing supplies; having something to eat was already good enough.

Yet, she remained picky, refusing to eat anything with tendons.

In the past, her mother made a pot of beef offal, and the whole family was satisfied with their meal, but she found it hard to swallow.

On the screen, a scene was playing where the male lead, drunk, rolled down a mountain, causing the audience to erupt in laughter.

Zheng Xiaorou pulled her thoughts back and, her mouth running faster than her brain, asked, “You specifically… helped me pick them out?”

“Mm. I thought a young lady wouldn’t like them.” The cheers drowned Lu Yongzhang’s voice, sounding somewhat unreal.

Shaolin Temple was indeed enjoyable. When the ending theme began to play, the audience lingered, reluctant to leave. Yet, the two of them quickly departed the screening room in unison.

Lu Yongzhang asked Zheng Xiaorou to wait by the door while he went to return the glass bottles.

As he reached for the tickets the cashier had pushed toward him, a man squeezed past him and gave him a pat on the shoulder. “Hey, you! Hello.”

Lu Yongzhang turned around to see a stranger extending his hand, feeling that the man’s features seemed somewhat familiar.

He was not accustomed to such a handshake greeting, so he didn’t reach out but merely smiled slightly. “Do we know each other?”

Cheng Qian, momentarily taken aback by this man’s demeanor, found himself at a loss for words. “Oh, you just gave me two bottles of orange soda. I’ll pay you for it.” He fished out money from his pocket and counted it out for him.

Lu Yongzhang waved his hand dismissively. “No need. Consider it a gift; my girlfriend doesn’t like orange flavor.”

“Oh, oh.” Cheng Qian saw that he wouldn’t insist further.

“Brother Cheng Qian, are you ready?” A young woman in a large-collared shirt squeezed through the crowd. “Shall we take another stroll?”

Seeing his companion approach, Lu Yongzhang nodded and stepped back, walking towards where Zheng Xiaorou was standing.

Cheng Qian trailed a couple of meters behind him in the ebb and flow of the crowd. As he saw Lu Yongzhang quicken his pace toward a familiar and captivating figure near the entrance, he heard the man say softly and elegantly, “Shall we go home?”

At that moment, he couldn’t hear the voice of the woman beside him; his mind was consumed with the desire to catch up and see who it was. He quickened his steps.

Exiting the main entrance of Shuntai Cinema, they faced the long street to the west. Under the night sky, the streetlights made the tree shadows sway romantically.

He saw the face he had genuinely liked turn towards the man, and Zheng Xiaorou smiled as she replied, “Sure.”

Cheng Qian heard the sound of his own heart breaking.

—o—o—o—

T/N: Boy, you deserve it.