Chapter 18

It was already late when they got home. Aunt Wu hadn’t gone to bed yet and had been waiting in the living room. When she saw Lu Nong and the others come back, she quickly got up and went to the kitchen to heat up the food.

Lu Nong glanced at the clock in the living room and was surprised to see that it was already past ten in the evening.

After a day of taking photos, visiting the sick, and even chasing after a culprit, her stomach had been grumbling since they were on their way back.

Xiao Zhou wanted to return to the dormitory, but Lu Nong called out to him, asking him to eat dinner before he left.

Xiao Zhou glanced at Pei Ji’an, hesitating. As a young security officer, he felt it inappropriate to keep eating at the leader’s home, as it might seem inconsiderate.

However, since the leader’s wife personally invited him to stay for dinner, it would be rude to refuse, right?

With a grin, Xiao Zhou stopped declining. After helping Aunt Wu bring the food to the table, he dragged a chair over to sit next to Pei Zheng. He had been craving Aunt Wu’s cooking for a long time.

Finally, Aunt Wu came out of the kitchen, serving each person a bowl of chicken soup. With a sympathetic look, she said, “It’s late, and no one can keep up with this much work. Hurry and drink some chicken soup to replenish your energy. This bowl for you was specially made by the young lady.”

Aunt Wu placed the largest bowl of chicken soup in front of Pei Ji’an. It was a big bowl filled with creamy white soup, floating with red goji berries.

This was a sight that wasn’t available in the other bowls.

At the same time, Pei Zheng and Xiao Zhou looked down at their own smaller bowls, devoid of goji berries. In the next moment, they both glanced at Pei Ji’an’s large bowl full of soup, then locked eyes with Lu Nong, their expressions extremely complicated.

So this is the kind of person Lu Nong/the chief’s wife is.

Even Pei Ji’an came to his senses and turned to look at Lu Nong.

Lu Nong: “….” Aunt Wu, let me thank you. Your warmth brings comfort throughout the seasons.

Wait! When did she ask Aunt Wu to prepare soup for Pei Ji’an? How did she not know about it?

Lu Nong howled in her heart like a howling bear, but she had to pretend to be calm on the surface because Miss Lu had a compulsive need to avoid embarrassment at all costs.

She straightened her neck and smiled calmly, saying to Pei Zheng and Xiao Zhou, “Oh, that’s right. Your dad is older than you, so it’s only natural for him to eat more and better. You two are still young, so what if you eat a little less?”

Lu Nong intended to imply that elders should eat more, but Pei Zheng and Xiao Zhou interpreted it differently.

“!!?”

Gasp…

Pei Zheng and Xiao Zhou hurriedly lowered their heads, not daring to look at Pei Ji’an’s expression. Their heads were almost drooping into the bowls, wishing they had not heard what had just been said… Will they be able to see the sun tomorrow?

They both sighed in their hearts at the same time, she is indeed a young stepmother/chief’s wife. She is so brave that she even dares to say such words.

Pei Ji’an glanced at Lu Nong with a strange expression. Did she mean… that she disliked his age? Yes, she was thirteen years younger than him.

But Gu Weiguo is one year older than him.

At this moment, Aunt Wu covered her mouth and chuckled softly, her expression ambiguous. Only then did Lu Nong realize that her words had created a misunderstanding, nearly causing her to crack up on the spot.

She wanted to explain, but when she opened her mouth, she found it hard to do so. How could she explain?

I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to say you need to drink more soup because you’re old, but she had just clearly said the words “older” and even compared Pei Ji’an’s age to Xiao Zhou and Pei Zheng’s.

Help! How could she be so foolish?

She desperately wished someone could come to her aid.

Perhaps Lu Nong’s distress was so palpable that Aunt Wu caught on to her silent plea for help. She changed the topic and asked with a hint of concern, “Young lady, how is the young master from the family of your in-laws?”

Lu Nong felt as if she had been saved and replied seriously, “The child has been stabilized and is now in the hospital for observation. The doctor said that once he passes the critical period, he can go home to recover.”

“That’s good, that’s good,” Aunt Wu put her hands together and chanted a Buddhist mantra. After she finished chanting, she asked, “What happened? How did it get so serious?”

Lu Nong replied, “It’s a long story, a bit complicated. I’ll explain it to you in detail after I finish my meal.”

Aunt Wu nodded, “Alright, let’s eat first.”

After that, dinner was unusually quiet. Pei Zheng and Xiao Zhou barely lifted their heads while eating. Lu Nong was so worried they might accidentally drop their heads into their bowls.

However, she wasn’t much better off. She didn’t dare glance to the side, focusing intently on the food in front of her.

Once dinner was over, Pei Zheng and Xiao Zhou raced to the kitchen, carrying their empty plates and bowls, leaving a clean table for Lu Nong.

Lu Nong: “…” You guys are ruthless.

Pei Ji’an glanced at her, rolled up the sleeves of his white shirt, and took a cloth to wipe the table.

Lu Nong: “…” Why does she look a bit useless?

With nothing else to do, she went upstairs to check on her little one.

The child was sleeping soundly, with long eyelashes fluttering slightly with each breath. His fair little face was round and his lips were pouting adorably.

The more Lu Nong looked, the more she adored him. She gently leaned down to kiss the baby on the forehead and whispered, “Good night, baby.”

As she quietly left the room, she bumped into Aunt Wu, who was heading to her own room to sleep. Lu Nong thought for a moment and said, “Aunt Wu, I didn’t ask you to make soup for Pei Ji’an. Please don’t say that again.”

Aunt Wu chuckled, “Alright, alright. I know our young lady is quite proud. It was my own idea, I was wrong.”

“How nice,” Aunt Wu said, her gaze soft as she looked at Lu Nong. “Our young lady has finally returned to her old self.”

Lu Nong was puzzled. Her old self? Was the original owner’s personality similar to hers?

No wonder even though she was obviously not the original owner, Aunt Wu had no doubts at all.

She recalled the appearance of the original owner from her memories. After thinking for a long time, she realized that the original owner was indeed quite different during her youth compared to after her marriage.

Most of her childhood was spent at her uncle’s house. As a young girl, the original owner was lively, confident, outstanding, and proud. She radiated sunshine. However, everything changed after she got married.

No, Lu Nong realized that the original owner seemed to have changed after being accepted to work at the hospital as a nurse.

She became fragile, melancholic, and sensitive.

Yesterday, Aunt Wu mentioned how the original owner used to enjoy horseback riding and fencing with her cousins. Although Lu Nong felt a slight oddity at the time, she didn’t delve deeper into the original owner’s memories, thinking her personality had changed drastically due to unfortunate experiences.

But now, she wondered if a person could truly change their character completely because of certain events.

Feeling a bit confused, Lu Nong tentatively asked Aunt Wu, “Why do you say that?”

Aunt Wu paused and looked at Lu Nong with concern. “Last time, after the young lady had her baby, I went to help with the postpartum care. I saw that you weren’t as happy as before, spending all day hiding inside the house. I wanted to talk to you, but you ignored me.”

Aunt Wu felt sad as she spoke. In her heart, she treated the young lady like her own child, but at that time, the young lady had put up a barrier between them.

Later, when the eldest young master returned home and saw her alone, he asked her to live with the young lady. She complained to him about how the young lady no longer wanted her around. The eldest young master comforted her, saying the young lady was proud and didn’t like others to see her in a low state, worrying it might burden her.

Though Aunt Wu knew these were just excuses, she couldn’t bear to blame the young lady.

Who would have thought that two years later, the young lady came to find her? Aunt Wu was both happy and relieved. The eldest young master was right, the young lady was simply too proud. However, Aunt Wu wasn’t a stranger, she didn’t care whether the young lady was in a low state or not.

Fortunately, the young lady eventually came to terms with herself and returned to her former self.

After Aunt Wu finished speaking, Lu Nong fell into deep thought.

When she visited the Li Garden, she felt inexplicably touched. Memories played back in her mind as if she had personally experienced them. Seeing Aunt Wu stirred emotions within her, reminding her of the warmth and joy shared with her uncle, aunt, cousins, and more.

She also recalled strawberries and cherries, her two favorite fruits, and found it strange that the original owner liked them as well. It felt like a connection.

Now that she thought about it, the whole situation was quite eerie.

Lu Nong took a deep breath. The original owner was sixteen years old when she passed the nursing exam.

What happened when she was sixteen?

It seemed that nothing significant occurred, everything was rather ordinary… Oh wait, that wasn’t quite right. She seemed to have been in a daze for half a year, feeling particularly lonely during that time. She felt an emptiness within herself, believing she didn’t fit in with her surroundings.

Her wealthy parents had grown accustomed to it, even hiring a dedicated psychologist to help her.

However, the time wasn’t too long. After six months, she finally came to terms with herself, began to embrace life, indulged in food, fun, and relationships, and enjoyed the pleasures of being a second-generation rich kid.

Lu Nong harbored a not-so-good suspicion, but it lacked solid evidence. She truly felt no sense of belonging in this era. In her heart, she always considered herself as Lu Nong, who had crossed over from the modern world.

It was overwhelming.

“Young lady?”

Lu Nong snapped back to reality. “Oh, it’s nothing. I was just thinking about something…”

“By the way, Aunt Wu,” Lu Nong said, her expression serious, “please don’t call me ‘Young lady’ anymore. Just call me Nong Nong. I won’t call you Aunt Wu either. I’ll call you godmother. It’s a new era, we shouldn’t use the old-fashioned terms.”

“Besides, I consider you a close elder. It doesn’t suit a senior to refer to a junior as ‘Young lady’.”

This wasn’t just empty talk. Although it was influenced by the era, Lu Nong sincerely felt this way. She held modern values of equality and relied on Aunt Wu. In reality, she had long viewed Aunt Wu as a mother, pampering and relying on her like a daughter, while Aunt Wu treated her with the love a mother shows her child.

“Ah,” Aunt Wu was taken aback, nodding slowly. She seemed a bit stunned, unable to react. Her own daughter despised her lower-class background and never addressed her as ‘Mom’ in front of others, but the real young lady didn’t feel the slightest bit ashamed or belittled by being her junior.

“Okay, okay,” Aunt Wu nodded emphatically.

“Then you can call me Nong Nong,” Lu Nong said with a smile.

Aunt Wu chuckled, “Nong Nong.”

Lu Nong replied, “I’m here.”

After having this talk with the old lady (hereafter, out of respect for Aunt. Wu, she will be called the old lady), Lu Nong relieved herself of a burden, returning to her room to change clothes, shower, and sleep.

… It was once again the most awkward time of the day. Pei Ji’an had already finished washing up, changed into his pajamas, and was sitting on the rattan chair by the bed, reading her collection of Borges’ poems.

After hesitating for a moment, Lu Nong took her pajamas from the cabinet, deciding to change in the bathroom.

After taking a shower and returning to the bedroom, Lu Nong began her nightly skincare routine, while Pei Ji’an continued reading.

Lu Nong glanced at him, noticing he was completely engrossed in his book. She turned sideways, rolled up her pajama bottoms, and quietly applied clam oil to her legs.

After finishing, she looked at Pei Ji’an again and saw he still hadn’t noticed her. She breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that next time she should remember to bring her skincare products into the bathroom.

Just as Lu Nong stood up from the dresser, Pei Ji’an put down his book and walked to the bedside to prepare for bed.

Lu Nong: “…” Hadn’t he been focused on reading?

That night, Lu Nong had a long dream. In the dream, the original owner was celebrating her birthday as a child. Her aunt held her in the center of the crowd while her uncle personally gave her a nickname, teasingly saying, “Linglong dice, peace and love. Do you know what it means to long for someone deeply? In the future, our little red bean should never long for others, but instead, let others long for you deeply, okay?”

Little Lu Nong nodded seriously and replied, “I want others to long for me deeply.”

Her aunt scolded her uncle playfully, “What are you talking about?”

“It’s nothing,” her uncle smiled. “Who knows, our little red bean might encounter someone with the latter half of this poem in their name someday.”

From Lu Nong’s perspective, she observed her uncle and aunt gazing lovingly at each other. Her older cousin wore a disapproving expression at his parents’ show of affection, while her younger cousin busily munched on cake. Her older sister playfully winked at her.

A boy who looked about the same age as her older cousin stared jealously and enviously at the watch on her cousin’s wrist. Across from him sat a girl, expressionless, fixated on Lu Nong with a flash of disdain in her eyes.

Beside the boy and girl sat a couple who wore expressions of flattery mixed with hidden glee, seemingly pleased that their daughter was being pampered by another couple.

As the dream shifted to another scene, Lu Nong found herself in the Li Garden, eating watermelon on a hot day. However, this watermelon was unruly and tried to escape. Lu Nong was determined not to let the watermelon slip away.

She chased and chased, finally catching up to the watermelon. She bit into it with a satisfying “ah.”

Huh… why couldn’t she bite into it?

Never mind, the watermelon juice was delicious, so she started to lick and suck on it.