Chapter 13: Going to the City to Buy a Car

Under Lu Jin’an’s steady gaze, Bai An felt a little guilty inside. She avoided his gaze and lowered her head, letting out a silly grin while staring at her bowl.

“This meal is really delicious.”

Seeing Bai An’s silly expression, Lu Jin’an didn’t say anything else. He understood that when she called him over, it was only to ask him to help with carrying something.

Bai An was spoiled by her father.

Sensing the disapproving look from Lu Jin’an, Lu Demin awkwardly continued eating his rice. Before Lu Jin’an could answer whether he was going, he softly spoke up, “Since Jin’an is going, let’s leave early tomorrow morning.”

Lu Jin’an looked at Lu Demin helplessly.

“Wanqing, are you coming?” Lu Demin asked, glancing at his wife, who was quietly eating. “It’s good to get out for a while.”

Wanqing shook her head gently, her voice soft. “I just went out with Cui Ju’s mom yesterday. We’ve bought everything we need, so tomorrow, you can just go with the kids.”

Lu Demin nodded. “Alright, I’ll take the kids tomorrow morning.”

Bai An, watching Lu Jin’an eat, couldn’t help but smile.

Lu Jin’an glanced at her and asked softly, “What are you smiling about?”

“Nothing.” When Bai An saw Lu Jin’an’s warning look, she stopped smiling, lowered her head, and continued eating her rice.

Wanqing gently patted Bai An’s hunched back. “Sit up straight. Your posture should be proper.”

Bai An straightened her back and nodded seriously. “I understand, Mom.”

Early the next morning, while still drowsy and in the middle of a dream, Bai An was suddenly woken up by a cold towel.

Frowning, Bai An opened her eyes and saw Lu Jin’an holding a towel, wiping her face.

But when she turned her head, she noticed that the sky outside the window was still dark.

“Brother, let me sleep a little longer,” Bai An mumbled.

Noticing that Bai An was about to lie back down after getting her face wiped, Lu Jin’an directly pulled her off the bed.

“Dad’s already packed and waiting for us. You need to hurry up.”

Lu Jin’an placed Bai An’s clothes in her hands and softly said, “Hurry and get dressed.”

Bai An, still half-asleep, nodded.

Her wobbly movements made Lu Jin’an involuntarily pinch her cheek.

The sudden pain in her cheek instantly woke Bai An up.

Covering her red cheek, Bai An said, somewhat displeased, “Why did you pinch my face?”

Lu Jin’an tapped her head and raised his voice a little. “Are you awake now?”

Seeing that Bai An didn’t respond, he continued, “If you’re awake, hurry up and change.”

The door slammed shut.

By the time Bai An came out, her dad and Lu Jin’an were already waiting outside for her.

It was still a little cool in early summer. Lu Jin’an wore a thin coat and was holding a small jacket in his hand.

No need to guess—it was the jacket Bai An was supposed to wear.

Bai An glanced at the light blue jacket with small yellow flowers on it and reluctantly said, “Can I not wear this?”

Lu Jin’an raised an eyebrow, didn’t say anything, and simply put the jacket on Bai An.

Lu Demin looked at Bai An and fondly said, “Just like me, my daughter looks good no matter what she wears.”

Hearing her dad’s compliment, Bai An shyly lowered her head to look at the jacket and smiled. “I think it looks good too.”

She was so happy just from a compliment.

Lu Jin’an, holding Bai An’s hand, softly said, “It looks good.”

Bai An merely responded expressionlessly, “I know it looks good.”

Something about the situation wasn’t quite what she expected.

Lu Jin’an tightened his grip on her hand a little and repeated, “It looks good.”

Bai An was left confused, thinking, “What is going on?”

She looked up at him and said, “I know it looks good.”

Lu Jin’an noticed Bai An’s puzzled expression, realizing she hadn’t quite understood what he meant.

The sudden silence from Lu Jin’an didn’t catch Bai An’s attention, as he was usually quiet anyway.

Throughout the journey, Lu Jin’an held Bai An’s hand while Bai An kept turning to chat with Lu Demin. When she got excited, she even tried to break free from Lu Jin’an’s hand to hold her dad’s.

Lu Jin’an furrowed his brows and tightened his grip on Bai An’s hand, preventing her from moving too much.

As the sky gradually brightened, Bai An began to feel hot from all the walking. Her hands became sweaty and sticky.

“Brother, I’m hot,” Bai An complained.

Lu Jin’an looked down at Bai An, his hair damp with sweat, strands sticking to his forehead, with beads of sweat forming at the tip of his nose.

Lu Demin noticed too and took out the handkerchief that Wanqing had given him to wipe Bai An’s sweat.

“Take off your jacket,” Lu Demin suggested.

Lu Jin’an nodded and loosened his grip on Bai An’s hand, helping her lift her arm to remove the jacket.

It was definitely cooler without it.

Bai An took a sip of water from the bottle, and when she saw Lu Jin’an reaching for her hand again, she quickly shook her head.

“It’s too hot. I don’t want to hold hands. My hands are all sweaty.”

Lu Jin’an pretended not to hear and moved to grab her hand.

“Sigh,” Bai An sighed dramatically, sounding like a little adult.

Lu Demin couldn’t help but laugh. “Little rascal.”

By the time they reached the city, it was already fully bright.

“Dad, what are we buying in the city?” Bai An thought for a moment about what the family might be lacking, but nothing came to mind.

Lu Demin, looking a bit excited, said, “It’s time to buy our family a car.”

“A car!” Bai An’s mind immediately conjured up images of a small black car she had seen on TV in her past world.

Drowsy and confused, Bai An thought, Does Dad have that much money?

With that, Bai An followed Lu Demin into a bike shop.

In front of her were a row of shiny 26-inch full-chain Phoenix-brand bicycles. “Dad, do you have that much money?” she asked.

Although Bai An thought it was just a regular bicycle, in this era, it was already considered a luxury.

“A little bit. We haven’t bought much in the past few years, so I’ve been saving up,” Lu Demin said, his cheeks a bit flushed with excitement as he looked at the bikes. “Which one do you think looks good?”

Lu Demin fiddled with the bikes, and the shopkeeper, seeing a customer, quickly began introducing the features of each bicycle.

Bai An wasn’t interested in these and, feeling bored, lowered her head to look at her shoes.

Lu Jin’an, who had been listening to the shopkeeper’s explanations, noticed Bai An’s boredom. He walked over and whispered in her ear, “Bored?”

“Mm.”

Seeing this, Lu Jin’an moved closer to Lu Demin and whispered a few words to him.

“Let’s go.”

Bai An, peering over Lu Jin’an’s shoulder at her dad still enthusiastically chatting with the shopkeeper, asked in confusion, “Dad is still buying a car. Where are we going now?”

Lu Jin’an took some paper bills out of his pocket and asked, “Want to go buy something?”

“Sure!” Bai An eagerly shouted to Lu Demin, “Dad, I’m going with Brother to buy something. We’ll come back to find you later.”

Lu Demin waved his hand casually and continued discussing the car prices with the shopkeeper.

There were only a few scattered shops on the street, and the variety of items was limited, but Bai An was still excited.

She pointed to an old lady’s basket and asked, “Grandma, what’s this?”