It was Lu Shaotang.

Lin Shu let out a sigh of relief. “Are you a dog? You didn’t make a sound.”

“And why do you have to come back in the middle of the night?”

Lu Shaotang, after confirming that she wasn’t scared anymore, released her and whispered, “I came back to check on our kid.”

And to see my wife.

He and Chen Yanming had rushed from Qizhou to Qing County.

Passing by the national highway south of Lujiazhuang, Chen Yanming dropped him off, saying he’d pick him up tomorrow morning.

Lin Shu whispered, “You’re really squeezing in time to come back, huh? What time is it?”

Lu Shaotang: “11:08 p.m.”

Lin Shu: “How long are you staying?”

Lu Shaotang: “Just a few hours.”

Lin Shu: “…”

She went inside and lit the kerosene lamp, thinking that with his big appetite and fast metabolism, even if he’d had dinner, he’d probably be hungry again by now.

So, she poured hot water from the thermos to make him egg drop soup with pancakes.

The water she’d just boiled in the evening was still scalding hot.

She also brought over a plate of pickles and a salted duck egg.

In the east room, Fang Dihua, who was a light sleeper, heard the commotion. “What’s wrong? Is the child not feeling well?”

Fang Dihua thought the child had woken up at night but then wondered why Lin Shu was rummaging in the kitchen.

Lin Shu whispered, “Mom, his dad is back.”

Fang Dihua: “Oh, then it’s fine. You two take care of yourselves.”

As long as her son wasn’t in danger, Fang Dihua’s attitude was: get lost, don’t bother me.

She didn’t have time for motherly sentiments.

She’d already had her fill of happiness during the day and was now feeling sleepy.

Lu Shaotang washed his hands and began eating.

Lin Shu stood with him in front of the kang (a heated brick bed), both feeling a bit awkward.

The house wasn’t spacious to begin with, and once he entered, he pretty much took up all the space.

The kang occupied half the room.

Against the north wall on the west side was a large, black lacquered wooden cabinet, and on the east side was a black lacquered rectangular table with carved details.

He didn’t sit down but leaned against the cabinet, holding a big bowl and eating.

Lin Shu couldn’t help but wonder.

The old men in the village would eat while chatting, squatting or leaning somewhere. It was a typical rural scene.

He did the same, but why did it look… so good on him?

Just watching him eat while leaning there, she felt it was a sight to behold.

Lu Shaotang ate without pretense, taking big bites that puffed out his cheeks, but he chewed with his mouth closed, without making any noise.

He noticed Lin Shu staring at him and, after swallowing, asked softly, “Are you hungry? Want to eat something?”

Lin Shu: “I’m not hungry. Just leave the bowl on the table when you’re done.”

He gently touched his son’s cheek and his daughter’s… the back of her head.

His daughter and wife were sound asleep, heads resting against each other.

He paused, then his large hand gently ruffled Lin Shu’s hair.

Lowering his head, he kissed her on the ear and whispered, “I’m leaving now. I’ll be back in a few days.”

Lin Shu: “!!!!”

A shiver ran through half of her body, making her feel tingly all over, like an electric current had passed through her.

His voice was just too powerful.

Feeling hot all over, she immediately pretended to be asleep, faking that she hadn’t heard anything.

After all, it was dark, so he couldn’t see her face, and there was no way she was going to feel embarrassed.

But after Lu Shaotang left, she couldn’t fall back asleep.

That man was too much, leaving her all flustered right before he went.

Before long, though, she drifted off again, not waking up until the morning light brightened the window.

These days, the nights were longer, and the sun rose later.

During the summer, it would get light by 5 a.m., but now it was already 6 a.m. before dawn broke.

As a result, everyone woke up a bit later, too.

However, the older folks, who had to get up at night and didn’t sleep as long, were usually awake before 5 a.m.

To let the younger ones sleep a bit longer, Fang Dihua and Old Lu usually stayed in bed, chatting for a while.

But not all the elderly were like that.

Some would get up as soon as they woke up, making noise and rousing the entire household, insisting that everyone get up and start working.

They couldn’t stand to see others sleep in.

Xu’s mother was one of those who got up right away.

She’d hum and bustle around outside her daughter-in-law’s window, waking her up and then saying, “Oh, don’t mind me, you keep sleeping. I’m just doing a little work,” while continuing to make noise.

Who could sleep through that?

Lin Shu yawned and opened her eyes, and Tiantian and Panpan woke up as well.

Panpan sat up with a start. “Mom, oh no, I wet the bed!!”

Lin Shu quickly checked, “That can’t be. You haven’t wet the bed in a long time.”

Panpan: “Last night, I dreamed I was peeing a lot, and it felt so good, but it turns out I wet the bed.”

Tiantian, finding it gross, quickly moved away from him.

Lin Shu felt the bed, “Nope, it’s clean and dry.”

Panpan sniffed, “Hmm, why does it smell like Dad? Mom, did Dad come back last night?”

Tiantian smelled it too. “Yeah, it really does!”

Lin Shu didn’t hide the truth from them and nodded. “Yes, he even cuddled with you both while you slept.”

Panpan exclaimed, “So it wasn’t a dream! Dad really came back, haha! No wonder I didn’t have to hold it in. Dad must have helped me pee.”

Lin Shu: “… That must be it.”

She realized she had slept through it all.

Lu Shaotang’s movements really were quiet enough, and Panpan had slept through it as well.

“So heavy!”

The two little ones didn’t get out of bed; instead, they snuggled together under the new quilt, enjoying the feeling of being held by their father.

They could even smell his scent. Just like their mother, their father also had a pleasant smell.

Fang Dihua and Old Man Lu had already gotten up.

The two little ones called out to them, and Fang Dihua walked into the room. “What’s going on?”

Panpan, with a mysterious air, asked, “Grandma, did you know what happened last night?”

Fang Dihua replied, “How could I not know?”

Tiantian giggled, “Dad came back last night! I’m so happy. Our bed still has Dad’s scent.”

Brother Lu Dage and Sister-in-law Lu Da also got up and happened to hear Tiantian’s voice.

Sister-in-law Lu Da asked, “Did the third brother come back last night? Did you hear?”

Brother Lu Dage replied, “You were snoring so loudly that I couldn’t hear anything. How could I have heard him? He’s always been so quiet, walking around like a cat since he was a child.”

Sister-in-law Lu Da then went into the room to play with the two little ones for a while.

Outside the window, the second sister-in-law Lu Er overheard this and sneered.

Lin Shu is really something—her husband comes back, and she doesn’t even let him greet the family.

What’s the point of being so sneaky?

After breakfast, Lin Shu took the two little ones to the accounting office to do the books again.

Ever since Fang Dihua publicly announced that Lu Shaotang had returned, the villagers had been in a cheerful mood whenever they saw the Lu family.

“When will the children’s father come back?”

Lin Shu replied with a smile, “He’ll come back when he has time.”

“Then you should give Tiantian and Panpan another little brother or sister.”

Lin Shu: “…”

Is this pressure to get married and have children something that has always been around?

When she arrived at the accounting office, she realized that after being away at her sister’s house for a few days, the accounts had piled up again.

It wasn’t just the brigade’s accounts; there were also those of the production teams.

The accounting skills of these people were really beyond words.

No wonder they used to drag out the distribution of grain and dividends until the end of the year—the accounts were truly a mess.

The sooner they settled the accounts, the sooner they could distribute dividends and get the money.

Lin Shu decided to take advantage of the downtime to gather the accountants from the production teams for a simple training session.

Lu Shaocai disagreed. “You’re not even an official accountant, so why should you train others?”

He disagreed, and so he made trouble.

Sometimes he was foolish, and sometimes he was cunning.

He thought it was fine for Lin Shu to handle the accounts alone because the other accountants were uneducated and did a sloppy job, even worse than he did, which was perfect for him.

If others were better than him, wouldn’t that make him look even more useless?

How could he continue to be the brigade accountant for long?

He was the brigade accountant, so if he didn’t agree, there was nothing Lin Shu could do.

Lin Shu didn’t argue with him.

She decided to use her own methods to get rid of Lu Shaocai, that good-for-nothing.

That evening, she brought home a useless ledger, planning to test Lu Dage’s abilities.

Lu Dage always boasted about being an educated man, going on and on about it.

Lin Shu had heard him tutor Lu Ping and his brother on their homework, and he seemed to know what he was doing.

Since he was educated, she figured he shouldn’t let his talents go to waste.

She really couldn’t stand Lu Shaocai, that useless man.

His role as the brigade accountant was interfering with her peaceful life.

But she didn’t want to compete for the position of brigade accountant herself.

It was too tedious and complicated, and she didn’t want to spend her life working hard.

After dinner, Lin Shu asked Lu Ping and his brother to help with the accounts.

Tiantian immediately ran over, “Mom, I’ll help you with the calculations.”

Lin Shu smiled and said, “Go and watch your brothers. Let’s see who’s better at accounting—you kids or your uncle.”

That seemingly casual remark was actually intentional, and it got under Lu Dage’s skin.

Could he not be better than three kids?

He joined Lu Ping to see for himself, wanting to compete with his sons to see who was better at accounting.

So, the father and sons started competing in accounting, with Tiantian and Panpan acting as the judges.

Lin Shu observed from the side. Lu Dage wasn’t just bragging—he did have some skills.

He calculated quickly and efficiently, even using some shortcuts, likely learned from Old Lu in his childhood.