Chapter 20

The school was not far from the Pei family’s home. Lu Nong didn’t plan to stay on campus; she intended to take the bus back and forth for her classes, which would be sufficient for her to return home for lunch.

She turned to Pei Zheng, who was sneakily peeking into the refrigerator, and asked, “Are you going to school to register today?”

Pei Zheng waved his hand dismissively. “It’s still early. It won’t be too late to go register the day before school starts. Why do you ask?”

Was his stepmother someone who cared about when he would start school? Obviously not.

“Oh, it’s nothing. I just need to go to your school,” she replied. It was safer to go together than alone.

“Go to my school?” Although Lu Nong’s phrasing made him quite happy, Pei Zheng still found it strange. What could she possibly need to do at his school?

His first thought was that there might be someone Lu Nong wanted to see at the school or that she knew someone who worked or taught there. He had never considered the possibility of Lu Nong attending the Peking University.

That was understandable. Lu Nong was already a mother, albeit a young and beautiful one. However, in Pei Zheng’s eyes, she had the appearance of a delicate woman who couldn’t endure hardship. With her looks, she could easily find a decent man and live a life free of worries.

She was nothing like the female classmates who wore thick glasses early on to prepare for college.

So the question is, who is Lu Nong going to meet? A man or a woman?

If it was a woman, that would be fine. But if it was a man, Pei Zheng couldn’t help but worry about whether his old man would end up with a little green hat.

Alas, old man and young wife. Lu Nong even said yesterday that he disliked the old man’s age and specially gave him tonic soup.

If a handsome young man appeared, someone with a decent status and who was younger, charming, and good at sweet-talking women, Lu Nong would surely fall for him.

Pei Zheng felt a deep concern that his father couldn’t compete with some pretty boy.

No, Pei Zheng quickly dismissed that thought. If there really were a pretty boy, Lu Nong would likely go see him secretly and wouldn’t share that information with him.

But what if Lu Nong was playing it safe, gathering information from him before meeting the pretty boy in secret?

Damn it! She almost tricked him.

No, he couldn’t let Lu Nong succeed.

“Is it someone important?” Pei Zheng casually asked.

Lu Nong glanced at him. He was clearly curious but pretended to be indifferent. She teased him with vague words, “Yes, I need to meet someone to discuss some matters.”

She meant to meet the head of the academic affairs office to talk about resuming classes.

Pei Zheng paused. “Oh, then go ahead.”

After saying that, he turned his gaze elsewhere.

Lu Nong found Pei Zheng’s attitude odd. He didn’t even ask her about who she was meeting or what she was discussing.

“Okay, I’m off then. You and Xiao Huai need to get along at home. No fighting, okay?”

Pei Zheng: “…” Did she really think of him as a little kid?

Lu Nong gathered her documents and stepped outside.

After she left, Pei Zheng quickly scooped up Gu Huai from the sofa and said seriously, “Gu Xiaohuai, we need to do something very important. We have to stop your mom before she makes a mistake. Otherwise, we might be forced to separate!”

As always, Lu Nong could leave, but Gu Huai must stay. If that day came, Lu Nong would undoubtedly take Gu Huai away with her. He would not allow anything that could disrupt their family harmony.

He sighed. He really worried too much about this family.

So… Pei Zheng held Gu Huai and followed Lu Nong secretly like a thief.

After Lu Nong left, she headed straight to the nearest bus stop. After waiting for ten minutes, while everyone at the bus stop curiously looked at her, the bus finally arrived.

Lu Nong got on the bus.

“Mama…” Gu Huai, being small yet sharp-eyed, excitedly spotted Lu Nong in front of him, but Pei Zheng quickly covered his mouth.

“Shh,” Pei Zheng whispered to Gu Huai, “Be good. Don’t let your mom find out about us.”

There had been too many people looking at Lu Nong in the bus station, but Pei Zheng and Gu Huai successfully blended into the crowd. Now, they followed the crowd onto the bus, standing at opposite ends with Lu Nong.

Today, Lu Nong dressed young to go to school. She wore a white dress and white shoes, with her hair tied in a high ponytail, looking like a student who hadn’t yet entered society.

As soon as she boarded the bus, a few boys who looked as young as Pei Zheng noticed her and exchanged laughs while nudging each other, eager to flirt with Lu Nong.

Unfortunately, despite pushing each other for a while, none of them dared to take action. She was just too stunning, everyone on the bus was staring at her. If they failed to flirt, they would just become the subject of ridicule.

One boy, inspired by a thought, nudged a sleeping boy next to him, who was wearing a hat.

“Alu, wake up and help me.”

The awakened boy lifted his hat, and in the next moment, a sharp-featured face appeared. He frowned at the boy who had woken him.

“Look!” Song Yang pointed at Lu Nong.

Han Lu didn’t immediately glance in the direction Song Yang was pointing because he spotted someone else on the bus—his rival, Pei Zheng.

At that moment, Pei Zheng looked like a thief, holding a child he had presumably stolen, while cautiously glancing around, which made him seem a little sleazy.

Han Lu was stunned. The next moment, he almost burst out laughing. Was this really his rival, Pei Zheng?

The same Pei Zheng who acted aloof and arrogant in front of girls? The one who acted all high and mighty around him?

This guy had to have been kidnapped, right?

No, he needed to calm down.

Han Lu glanced at Pei Zheng again, covering his face in despair. If others found out that his rival Pei Zheng was such a sleazy character, he would lose all face.

Han Lu took a deep breath and glanced in the direction Pei Zheng was looking. This time, he was truly stunned. In an instant, he suddenly understood Pei Zheng’s reason for sneaking glances.

“Alu, what do you think?” Song Yang nudged Han Lu. Seeing Han Lu staring at Lu Nong in silence, he asked, “Isn’t she the one?”

He made a thumbs-up gesture.

Han Lu realized that Song Yang was talking about the same person Pei Zheng was sneaking glances at.

He smiled playfully.

Seeing this, Song Yang excitedly asked, “Are you going up?”

“No,” Han Lu replied curtly.

While they were speaking, someone else approached Lu Nong first.

A young man stood up from his seat and walked over to Lu Nong, saying, “Comrade, you can take my seat. I’m getting off.”

Hearing someone offer her a seat, Lu Nong quickly thanked him, saying, “Thank you, thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” The young man’s ears turned red. Although he said he would get off at the next stop, he didn’t move toward the door and instead remained beside Lu Nong, holding onto the overhead railing.

This scene was noticed by Pei Zheng, who was always watching Lu Nong. He clenched his teeth and lowered his head to speak to Gu Huai, saying, “Did you see that? Your mom is too vulnerable, we absolutely cannot let her fall into a bad situation.”

Gu Xiaohuai : “zzzzzz……”

Pei Zheng: “…Are you a pig?”

Pei Zheng had specifically learned how to hold a child from Aunt Wu, so Gu Xiaohuai was comfortably nestled in his arms. The bus jolted, but Gu Xiaohuai slept soundly in his brother’s embrace while Pei Zheng was left to face the situation alone.

After several stops, Lu Nong stood up to get off the bus. The young man who had offered her a seat had regrettably gotten off a few stops earlier, and he still hadn’t mustered the courage to say anything to Lu Nong.

As soon as Lu Nong got off, Pei Zheng immediately carried Gu Xiaohuai down. Han Lu followed closely behind him, and several of his brothers, seeing this, also got off the bus.

This created a peculiar scene.

A beautiful woman walked ahead, followed by a man carrying a child, with a group of men trailing behind the child-carrying man.

The man carrying the child tried to hide from the beautiful woman, while the group of men following him also ducked and weaved, fearing they would be discovered.

The scene was both ridiculous and amusing.

Lu Nong was unaware that Pei Zheng was following her as she entered the school.

At this time, just before the school year started, the streets were filled with out-of-town students and parents bringing luggage to report to the school.

At the entrance of the academic affairs office, three large tents were set up to receive the new students. Lu Nong walked straight past the tents and entered the office.

“Student, registration is outside,” an academic staff member said without looking up from his desk.

“I’m here to cancel my leave of absence,” Lu Nong replied.

The staff member finally looked up, put on his glasses, and carefully examined Lu Nong. “You are… Lu Nong?”

Lu Nong was taken aback. “You know me?”

The staff member smiled and said, “I handled your leave of absence paperwork.”

This was mainly because Lu Nong was a well-known figure at the school, having been admitted to the literature department at the age of fourteen. After studying for a short time, she transferred to the history department. Plus, with her striking looks, it was hard not to remember her.

“That’s quite a coincidence,” Lu Nong said.

After chatting for a moment, the staff member asked her, “Did you bring your household registration book and student ID?”

“Yes, I have them right here.” Lu Nong took the documents out of her bag and handed them over.

After about ten minutes, the staff member said, “All done. You’ll just need to wait for the director to come back to sign. However, you don’t have to come back today. You can come to register when classes start, just like the new students, and you’ll be reassigned to a dorm and receive your allowance.”

At that time, attending university came with national subsidies, so there was no situation where a student couldn’t afford to attend. Therefore, it was clear that when Mother Lu forced Lu Nong to drop out, there was something suspicious behind it.

When she first arrived, Lu Nong thought it was because the original owner was timid that she went along with her mother’s wishes. But at this moment, she hadn’t yet switched with the original owner, the Lu Nong in this timeline was truly her.

So, the issue of dropping out became quite intriguing.

She was not someone who would easily compromise.

Unfortunately, she had lost her memory, so all her recollections in this timeline relied on her body’s instinctual memories. With gaps in her instinctual memory, she couldn’t recall the specific reason for dropping out.

After completing the paperwork, Lu Nong headed out of the school. Just as she reached the gate, she unexpectedly ran into two people—

Lu Qing and Qian Yu.

Lu Qing was the original owner, no, she was her sister, while Qian Yu was Aunt Wu’s daughter.

How did they end up together? Lu Nong felt a bit curious.

What she didn’t know was that Lu Qing and Qian Yu were even more shocked to see her.

“What are you doing here!?” Before Lu Nong could respond, Qian Yu suspiciously looked her over and asked, “Are you here for the social event?”

“No,” Lu Nong said dismissively. Upon seeing the two, unpleasant memories surfaced in her mind, and she didn’t want to interact with them too much. She offered a perfunctory response and tried to head home quickly.

But before she could take a step, someone called out to her again.

“Excuse me, are you Comrade Lu Nong?” A man in a green military uniform approached her.

“Yes, I am. Is there something you need?” Lu Nong asked, puzzled.

“We’ve caught a human trafficker and a group of thugs who were fighting at the school gate. The trafficker claims you are his stepmother and that the child he abducted is yours…”

At this point, the man looked at Lu Nong again, thinking it was odd to have such a young stepmother. The trafficker was probably lying. “He’s asking you to come and testify for him.”

Lu Nong: “……”???

The situation was so bizarre that Lu Nong began to doubt whether the man was lying, but seeing the serious expression on the security guard’s simple face, she dismissed that thought.

In the end, she still followed the man to the guard station.

Lu Qing and Qian Yu exchanged glances and followed after Lu Nong.

Upon entering the guard station, what a sight—there were people everywhere.

Pei Zheng and a few young boys were being watched like prisoners by the guards in military uniforms, squatting on the floor. Meanwhile, Huaihuai was running around, chasing a little white puppy, completely oblivious to his older brother being mistaken for a human trafficker.

What a chaotic scene it was.

When they saw someone come in, a group of people looked up, and Lu Nong happened to lock eyes with Pei Zheng.

Lu Nong: “……”

Pei Zheng: “……”

Seeing Lu Nong arrive, Huaihuai immediately stopped chasing the puppy and ran over to hug Lu Nong’s leg, calling out, “Mama…”

“So you really are the mother of this child,” the security guard sighed with relief. He had initially worried that Lu Nong was an accomplice of a trafficker, but it seemed he had overthought the situation.

“Do you know him?” the security guard asked, pointing at Pei Zheng, who was squatting on the ground.

“That kid says you’re his stepmother and that you allowed him to come out with him.”

Lu Nong closed her eyes in frustration.

Ah!! Was it her way of crossing over that was wrong?

Why did the male lead end up like this??

“What on earth happened?” Lu Nong asked with difficulty.

°.✩┈┈∘*┈˃̶୨୧˂̶┈*∘┈┈✩.°

Ayalee: Hey guys! 😊 Would you spare some of your time to check out my new translation? 🌟 I’d really appreciate it if you do! 🙏✨

The Best Friend of the Female Supporting Character in Period Novel

The Beautiful Female Supporting Character in the Period Novel