Chapter 2

The cool Pei Zheng and the little one, Gu Xiaohuai, exchanged silent glances—this was not a still image.

A big pair of eyes stared at a small pair of eyes, creating a somewhat comical moment.

“Pfft!” Lu Nong couldn’t help but laugh.

Both heads turned toward Lu Nong, who waved her hand and said, “I usually don’t laugh… unless I can’t help it, hahahahahahaha.”

Pei Zheng: “…”

“Let go,” Pei Zheng tried to reason with the little one, but the child shook his head and continued tugging at Pei Zheng’s pants, his expression looking somewhat aggrieved.

Pei Zheng sighed, glancing at the half-eaten egg custard in his hand. He turned to the nanny and asked, “Aunt Sun, could you make another serving of egg custard?”

In fact, he never had the habit of eating egg custard at home, but it tasted quite good today. Pei Zheng paused for a moment, realizing he wasn’t actually eating this little guy’s breakfast, was he?

Pei Zheng cast a skeptical look at Aunt Sun, making her feel nervous. “I-I’ll go make it right away…”

“Wait,” Lu Nong called after her. “I also need my breakfast.”

Aunt Sun looked at Lu Nong’s innocent expression, gritted her teeth, and forced a smile, saying, “Okay, I’ll bring it right away.”

“I’ll go with you,” Lu Nong changed her mind, mostly to prevent Aunt Sun from spitting in her food.

When they reached the kitchen, Aunt Sun turned on the gas stove to make egg custard. Surprisingly, it was a gas stove, even if it was quite different from the modern kind.

But it was astonishing enough, considering it was the 1960s.

Lu Nong looked around and even spotted a refrigerator!

“Ha! You’ve never seen one before, have you? Country bumpkin,” Aunt Sun said, lifting her chin. What’s the point of being pretty?

She had heard that this little wife’s mother-in-law was a country woman who could roll around on the ground. Anyone who could marry into that family was likely just as rural.

It was puzzling how Chief of Staff Pei got to know her. Many eligible young ladies had failed to marry into the family, yet this second marriage woman with a child managed to do so. Thinking of this, Aunt Sun felt sorry for her own niece.

After a moment of silence, Lu Nong said, “Refrigerator, in English it’s ‘refrigerator,’ in Russian it’s ‘холодильник.’ In 1834, American Jacob Perkins discovered that liquid evaporation produces cooling effects, paving the way for the invention of refrigerators. In 1923, engineers Brighton and Mendes invented the first electric refrigerator in human history…”

Aunt Sun: “…”

Human face-slapping behavior is so simple, plain, and boring. ——By Lu Nong

She took the last two boiled eggs from the steamer and ladled out the final bowl of millet porridge, slowly making her way out of the kitchen.

Aunt Sun: “#@￥%……&” Those were the eggs and breakfast she left for herself!

In the living room, the big one and the little one continued to stare at each other.

#On the Confusing Behavior of Human Children#

Lu Nong walked past them.

“Hey, get him to let go,” Pei Zheng called out to Lu Nong.

“I’m not called ‘Hey,'” Lu Nong replied as she set the food on the table and sat down to eat. “Usually, Xiaohuai is very well-behaved. But once he sets his mind on something, he will be particularly stubborn. For example, he insists on having egg custard in the morning.”

Pei Zheng: “…” As expected, Aunt Sun brought the little guy’s breakfast to him.

But soon, Aunt Sun brought over a bowl of egg custard, and Pei Zheng let out a sigh of relief, turning to the little one and saying, “Your egg custard is here. Go eat it.”

After saying that, he cautiously tried to lift the little one onto the chair. This time, the child didn’t struggle. But just as Pei Zheng was about to let go, he found his pants being tugged once again, and the little voice piped up, “Guo Guo, blow it.”

“…You really are quite the little beggar.”

Lu Nong seemed to catch a hint of frustration in his tone, but she must have been imagining it.

She quickly finished her breakfast and sneaked back to her room under Pei Zheng’s murderous gaze. (Pei Zheng: Are you sure it was sneaky?)

Since she had decided to live well, she needed to be serious about it. First, she had to organize her personal belongings, which included money, jewelry, documents, two large boxes of books, beautiful clothes, and a small violin.

The original owner didn’t have much, but it was clear she had standards for both her material and spiritual life.

She had a total of three hundred fifty yuan, along with various unused tickets.

The original owner had been married to her ex-husband for two years. After they had a child, the expenses for raising the child were high, and she also had to send a few yuan back home every month, leaving her with almost no savings.

Of the three hundred yuan, one half was the bereavement compensation from Gu Weiguo, while the other half went to Gu Weiguo’s father and stepmother for their retirement.

Additionally, Gu Huai, as a war hero’s orphan, received an eight-yuan monthly living allowance.

Besides the money, there was also a set of valuable jewelry. Lu Nong, with her keen eye, immediately recognized it as an old-mine jade necklace, bracelet, and earrings, estimating that in modern times, it could fetch the equivalent of two apartments.

The jewelry was given to the original owner by her uncle before he went abroad, with instructions to keep it well and not even tell her own parents. The original owner dutifully followed her uncle and aunt’s wishes and never revealed this to her mother.

Fortunately, this set of jewelry had been preserved until now.

Lu Nong also dug out various certificates belonging to the original owner: her nursing license, library card, marriage certificate… and a student ID from Peking University.

That’s right, the original owner was a Peking University student, but she had dropped out to work before graduating.

It could be said that she was an outstanding student and a top achiever.

As a child, the original owner loved music and violin. At that time, the Lu family was still prosperous, living comfortably off their ancestors’ legacy. Though her parents often criticized her for pursuing “useless” music, her wealthy uncle doted on his little niece and occasionally provided financial support for her music studies.

Because the Lu family benefited from this, they eventually stopped objecting.

Unfortunately, everything changed drastically when the original owner turned fourteen.

That year, she was accepted into a prestigious music academy abroad thanks to her remarkable talent. However, her uncle’s family immigrated abroad, leaving her with funds for studying abroad.

By then, the Lu family had squandered all their wealth and couldn’t even afford a wedding for their eldest son. They set their sights on the original owner instead.

Mother Lu secretly used this money to buy her eldest son a wedding house, and along with the dowry, the study abroad funds disappeared just like that.

Upon learning this, the original owner, furious, decided to abandon her music dreams and pursue university instead.

She successfully gained admission to Peking University.

Initially, she enrolled in the literature department but later discovered her passion for history and archaeology, switching to the history department in her second year.

It’s well-known that only those who rank in the top one or two can change majors, highlighting just how exceptional she was.

However, at the end of the second year, the original owner’s sister-in-law despised the original owner for being a freeloader and urged her mother-in-law to marry the original owner off. She had already chosen a partner: the director of a meat processing factory, a widower whose wife had just died.

The original owner refused, and Mother Lu threatened to commit suicide if she didn’t marry, insisting she drop out and earn her living.

The original owner, who had a somewhat timid and sensitive personality, was frightened into compliance and reluctantly left school, but she had the foresight to apply for a leave of absence instead of formally dropping out.

Coincidentally, her uncle’s hospital was hiring nurses, and after hearing about it, she decided to give it a shot. She bought a few professional books and studied for a few days before taking the exam, surprisingly passing and securing a position.

This led to a series of events that brought her life to its current state, largely disrupted by her family time and again.

Lu Nong felt speechless, there really were such bizarre families in the world.

In this era, the value of a university degree was exceptionally high. Graduates were guaranteed job placements, and students didn’t even have to pay tuition, receiving government support instead.

How could anyone be foolish enough to prevent someone from attending university?

No way, she had to go to college.

Since Lu Nong had just finished her first year before she transmigrated, she decided to continue her studies in this era. Although her major would be different, she was confident in her ability to earn a degree, being a top student herself.

Once she decided to pursue university, Lu Nong gathered all the important documents and pondered the two large boxes of books on the floor. For now, they would have to be stored under the bed. If she remembered correctly, there was a study on the second floor, but Aunt Sun had warned her not to enter since the first day she arrived.

Lu Nong was certainly not the type to obediently follow orders, but in the absence of the homeowner, she felt it inappropriate to enter such a personal space. Now that Pei Zheng had returned, she would ask him if she could store these books in the study.

Ideally, she could arrange a small corner for herself in there, as she also needed a dedicated space for reading and studying.

As for the violin and clothing, she placed the violin case in a spot away from direct sunlight and neatly hung the clothes in a cream-colored wardrobe.

To be honest, the original owner had good taste. None of her clothes were gaudy or brightly colored.

After tidying everything up, three hours had passed. Lu Nong was drenched in sweat, feeling as if she had just emerged from a shower. This body was indeed quite weak.

After resting for a moment, she felt sticky and uncomfortable and decided to take a shower.

The bathroom had a bathtub, so she filled it with hot water, testing the temperature to find it just right. After undressing, she sank into the tub.

Unfortunately, there were no flower petals, which disappointed her a bit. She wondered how Pei Xiaozheng and Gu Xiaohuai were getting along. As a mother, she could clearly see that Gu Xiaohuai really liked her brother Pei Xiaozheng.

As she thought about this, Lu Nong felt a bit drowsy.

…

Noon, twelve o’clock.

“Tap, tap, tap…” The steady footsteps echoed in the quiet house as a tall man ascended the stairs to the second floor without hurry, heading straight for the study.

As he passed the bathroom, he heard the sound of running water and frowned, thinking that his son was wasting water. He knocked on the door, his voice carrying a warning as he softly reminded, “Pei Zheng.”

There was no response from within.

Pei Ji’an paused, then walked to Pei Zheng’s bedroom door. He knocked again, but there was no answer. Without hesitation, he pushed the door open.

Pei Zheng was sleeping soundly on the single bed, and on top of him was a cute little boy, who was also sleeping soundly.

Pei Ji’an was stunned, as if he didn’t expect to see such a scene. After a moment, he regained his calm expression, gently closed the door, and returned to the bathroom door.

This time Pei Ji’an reached out and pushed open the bathroom door.