Chapter 56.2

After Tang Ze left, Feng Mei came over from next door. Lu Yu paused in his steps, his gaze on Jiang Nian’s head. She was still bent over her food, listening to Feng Mei speak. She never lifted her head. After finishing his meal, Feng Mei hadn’t left yet, so he stood up and looked at Jiang Nian. “Sister-in-law.”

Jiang Nian tightened her grip on her chopsticks. Her once sweet voice was now nasal. “Hmm?”

Lu Yu restrained the urge to pull her into his arms. “I’m going back to the dormitory first.”

Jiang Nian: “Hmm.”

“Wait.” Feng Mei stopped Lu Yu. Her face was full of gossip. “Do you know who Tang Ze is marrying this time?”

Lu Yu glanced at Jiang Nian. “A nurse from the county hospital.”

Feng Mei said, “Yes, that’s her. I just found out her name is Sun Ying these past couple of days. Chen Fang has been going around talking about her, saying her father is the director of the factory. She’s quite impressive. I just can’t figure it out…”

“Sister Feng.”

Lu Yu stopped Feng Mei. “I’m going back to the dormitory. You keep my sister-in-law company.”

Feng Mei waved him off. “You go.”

After Lu Yu left, Jiang Nian sniffled before getting up to tidy the dishes. Feng Mei was still talking enthusiastically. When Jiang Nian raised her head, her eyes were red. Feng Mei paused. “What’s wrong with you?”

Jiang Nian smiled and pursed her lips. “I just got choked by the spicy food.”

Feng Mei remembered the dish Jiang Nian cooked the day before the Dragon Boat Festival and saw the same dish on the table. She laughed. “This dish is indeed quite spicy. That day, all three of us were in tears in the kitchen.”

After washing the dishes, Jiang Nian closed the courtyard gate, took off her apron, and went inside to lie down. She had no intention of embroidering again.

In the dormitory, a flashlight was on. Song Bai came out of the bathhouse, his bare arms dripping with water droplets from his short, sharp hair. He wiped his hair with a towel, pushed open the door, and walked into the dormitory. He saw Lu Yu sitting on the bed reading a book, his military uniform draped over the back of a chair, still wearing a white shirt and military pants.

“Just finished dinner?”

Song Bai put down the basin and sat on the bed, bowing his head to wipe his head. He didn’t hear Lu Yu’s voice for a long time. Song Bai frowned slightly, raised his head and saw Lu Yu put down the book, stood up and looked at him. “Going out to practice?”

Song Bai was stunned. “Late at night, aren’t you tired?”

Lu Yu unbuttoned his wrist, rolled up his sleeves, revealing his strong and powerful arms. “Can’t keep up?”

As soon as Song Bai heard this, he jumped up. “Let’s go!”

Late at night, the two fought on the field behind the dormitory, punching each other with strong arms, as if finding a release for each other, one punch after another, from the beginning of the routine to the end of the chaos.

Zhu Jun lay on the window, kicking the soldier on the bed. “Hey, what are Deputy Commander Lu and Deputy Commander Song doing?”

The people in the dormitory heard it, and they all got up and ran to the window to watch the excitement.

“Why are these two fighting?”

“I don’t think it looks like a fight, it looks like they’re sparring.”

“Yeah, it looks like it.”

“Hiss, Deputy Commander Lu’s punch was not light at all.”

“You see Deputy Commander Song, that kick weighed hundreds of pounds?”

A row of heads lay flat on the window, and everyone enjoyed watching it. Someone popped their head out and shouted outside the window, “Deputy Commander Lu, watch out for Deputy Commander Song’s sneak attack!”

“Deputy Commander Song, Deputy Commander Lu are going to attack your lower body!”

This game continued for half an hour before it ended. The two fought vigorously, with some minor injuries.

Song Bai sat on the ground with his legs bent, rubbing his bruised arm. Turning his head to look at Lu Yu, who was also sitting on the ground, with his legs bent and his elbows on his knees, he frowned and asked, “What’s gotten into you tonight?”

Lu Yu rubbed the back of his neck and glanced at Song Bai. “Just felt like beating you up suddenly.”

Song Bai: …

“Did I provoke you?”

“No.”

Song Bai nudged Lu Yu’s instep with his toe. “Come on, tell me. Who provoked you? In all these years, this is only the second time I’ve seen you lose control like this.”

Lu Yu stood up and brushed off the dirt on his shirt. “No one provoked me.”

Jiang Nian tossed and turned until late at night before gradually falling asleep. She was awakened in the morning by the sound of the bugle call. Feeling half of her arm numb and devoid of sensation, she groggily opened her eyes, only to find that her body was half suspended in the air, with the summer cool quilt half on the bed and half on the floor.

Jiang Nian tried to move towards the bed, but suddenly heard footsteps outside, startling her. She flipped over and remembered that half of her body was still suspended in the air. She ended up falling solidly on the ground.

“Hiss ——”

The sound of a fall, mixed with Jiang Nian’s cry of pain, reached outside the house. Footsteps outside the door halted almost instantly.

“What’s wrong?”

It was Lu Yu’s voice.

Only then did Jiang Nian realize it was Lu Yu who had returned. She bit her lip, propped herself up with one arm on the ground, and weakly replied, “Nothing.”

Lu Yu sensed something amiss in her voice, recalling last year’s incident when she attempted suicide by hitting the wall. His brows furrowed, “Open the door, let me see.”

Jiang Nian had no intention of opening the door or admitting she had accidentally fallen off the bed. She didn’t want Lu Yu to mock her.

Rubbing her gradually recovering arm, she said weakly, “I’m fine.”

Standing up, she picked up the summer quilt from the floor and sat back on the bed. Lu Yu’s voice came from outside again, “Have you put on clothes?”

This was his question.

Jiang Nian hesitated for a moment before replying, “Yes.”

She turned around to pick up the short-sleeved shirt and pants from the bedside table. Suddenly, she heard a “bang” from behind her. Startled, she turned her head and saw Lu Yu leaning in through the window with one hand supporting it. Their eyes met abruptly. Jiang Nian blinked dumbly, not understanding how Lu Yu had managed to get in.

“How did you—”

Lu Yu’s deep gaze swept over her. Seeing Jiang Nian in only a tank top and shorts, her fair skin exposed, he frowned slightly. Her arms and legs were both pale and glaringly white. She turned to the window, her slender waist catching Lu Yu’s eye.

Lu Yu’s Adam’s apple bobbed a few times. Seeing no injuries on her, he sighed in relief.

He had thought his sister-in-law might have done something foolish because of the misunderstanding with Sister Chen last night.

“How did you… get in?”

Jiang Nian barely recovered her senses when Lu Yu said, “I was worried about you.”

She paused, realizing that last year’s incident had likely left a psychological shadow on Lu Yu. She smiled awkwardly, “I just fell off the bed.”

Feeling embarrassed, she turned her head away. The bright light beside her gradually dimmed as shadows covered it.

“I’ll go out first.”

Jiang Nian turned to see Lu Yu jump out of the window and thoughtfully closed it behind him. After a moment of distraction, she quickly changed into clothes, put on her shoes, and walked out. She heard the sound of cooking from the kitchen and went to the well to wash her face.

After washing up, Lu Yu’s meal was ready. He brought the food to the table.

Jiang Nian sat on a stool and only then noticed the bruise at the corner of Lu Yu’s mouth, which she remembered wasn’t there last night. “What happened to your mouth?”

Lu Yu licked his lips and avoided Jiang Nian’s gaze, bowing his head to eat, “It’s nothing.”

With his mouth bruised like that, and he said it was nothing?

Lu Yu was tall, even when sitting down he was much taller than her, so Jiang Nian didn’t get up. She leaned over to look and blinked her bright eyes, “Did you get into a fight?”

Lu Yu: …

He cleared his throat and still didn’t look up at Jiang Nian, nor did he look at the gaze she cast over, “No fight, just regular training.”

“Who in regular training bruises your mouth?”

Jiang Nian stubbornly put down her chopsticks and glanced at the half-open courtyard gate. She didn’t dare approach Lu Yu, so she moved a stool and sat down beside him. She lifted her head slightly to look at Lu Yu, forcing him to meet her gaze. She frowned, “Who did this to you?”

He seems quite skilled, to injure the male lead of this book.

Lu Yu coughed lightly and reached out to tousle Jiang Nian’s hair, continuing until it was slightly messy before stopping, “Let’s eat. I’ll go to the team later and come back at noon to take you to Captain Tang’s house.”

Jiang Nian: …

She tilted her head back and smoothed her hair.

Thinking of the Tang family, Jiang Nian remembered today was Tang Ze and Sun Ying’s wedding.

Recalling the dream she had that night, Sun Ying in the book was sitting in the bridal chamber wearing a red shirt. Instead of waiting for Lu Yu, she ended up with Wu Youshan, and then the scene of the two of them in the bridal chamber made Jiang Nian feel disgusted.

It wasn’t just disgust. There was also a feeling of indescribable melancholy.

The book started with the male and female leads falling in love at first sight on a train, expressing their feelings for each other. If Sun Ying had waited for the male lead that night, wouldn’t those two in the bridal chamber have become them?

Jiang Nian: ….

She found her obsession and self-inflicted troubles somewhat amusing.

Lu Yu glanced at Jiang Nian, silent with furrowed brows. He asked, “What are you thinking about?”

Jiang Nian’s mind was full of the book’s plot at this moment, so she blurted out, “I was thinking about you marrying Sun Ying.”

Realizing her slip, she froze, even stopping her chewing. Stiffening her neck, she raised her head to see Lu Yu’s dark, intense gaze fixed on her. Anxiously, she choked on her food, and Lu Yu reached out to pat her back gently. His deep voice sounded in her ear, “Why would you think about that?”

“I’ll get some water.”

Jiang Nian hurriedly ran back into the house, poured herself a glass of water, drank it down, then hesitated before walking out again, meeting Lu Yu’s gaze. She bit her lip and finally said, “When I first came to the army, you took me to the hospital. I thought about matchmaking you and Sun Ying. If you had agreed back then, maybe you would be the one marrying Sun Ying now.”

After saying this, she lowered her head, too afraid to look at Lu Yu.

Lu Yu narrowed his eyes slightly, his gaze lingering on Jiang Nian for a few seconds. Then he stood up and walked toward her, grasping her delicate wrist with his fingers and pulling her into the house, closing the door behind them. Jiang Nian stumbled under his grip, barely able to steady herself before Lu Yu pressed her against the door panel. He lowered his head, the cold, firm lines of his brow concealing any emotion in his dark eyes.

He was tall, and he only met her eye level when he bent down.

Jiang Nian’s hand was held tightly by Lu Yu’s, the other hand unsure where to go. She swallowed hard, her breath trembling, “What’s wrong with you?”

“Jiang Nian.”

He suddenly called her.

Jiang Nian’s spine trembled instantly, and an inexplicable emotion spread from her scalp to her limbs. She pursed her lips, trying to smile but unable to. She felt as if Lu Yu had discovered the secret hidden in her heart: “What do you want to say?”

I can’t even speak clearly!