Chapter 168

"Junior, you've arrived."

Lu Zhuoxuan greeted her with a smile, displaying a very gentlemanly demeanor. He glanced at Ji Wanmei with a smile, then turned to Lei Tingjun beside her: "And this gentleman is?"

Before Ji Wanmei could even introduce herself, Lei Tingjun said in a cold voice, "I'm her boyfriend."

The relationship was established just an hour ago.

Freshly baked and piping hot.

Lei Tingjun's sharp eyebrows were full of domineering possessiveness, but his tone was very calm and proper: "Meimei is here to learn embroidery from Grandma Song. I'm sorry to have troubled you."

Lu Zhuoxuan frowned slightly and looked up to examine Lei Tingjun.

He realized he had underestimated the man.

I initially thought he was a rough, unkempt man, but the way he spoke was surprisingly imposing.

Lu Zhuoxuan had seen this kind of oppressive aura emanating from a person's magnetic field in his grandfather when he was a child.

This new understanding made Lu Zhuoxuan reassess the threat level of Lei Tingjun, his rival in love.

Thinking this to himself, Lu Zhuoxuan maintained a calm and composed smile, exchanging pleasantries without revealing any change in his emotions.

He nodded gracefully: "Not at all, I'm more than happy to welcome my junior here, there's no question of bothering you."

At this moment, Ji Wanmei introduced him at the opportune moment: "His name is Lei Tingjun, and he is my boyfriend."

After saying that, she pointed to Lu Zhuoxuan and said to Lei Tingjun, "This is the grandson of Grandma Song that I told you about, and he is a senior at our school."

"Hello." Lu Zhuoxuan extended his hand.

"Nice to meet you." Lei Tingjun shook hands.

The two men subtly and secretly competed as their hands clasped.

Lei Tingjun remained unfazed, his sharp eyebrows twitching slightly as he exerted a little force with his wrist.

Lu Zhuoxuan frowned almost imperceptibly, feeling as if his palm was being clamped by a branding iron, and the bones in his palm were about to be crushed.

But that was only for a moment. A second later, Lei Tingjun calmly released his grip.

He said to Ji Wanmei, "Go inside, don't keep the old lady waiting. I'll go buy something and come back to pick you up in the evening."

"Okay, goodbye!" Ji Wanmei turned around and waved to him with a smile.

Lei Tingjun nodded slightly to Lu Zhuoxuan, then turned and left.

Lu Zhuoxuan maintained a polite smile, glancing down at his palm. The knuckles of his hand were already red from being squeezed.

He chuckled through gritted teeth.

Very good, he's a formidable opponent, which makes things even more challenging for him.

Lu Zhuoxuan turned around and said gently to Ji Wanmei, "Let's go inside. Grandma has been waiting for you for a while."

Ji Wanmei said apologetically, "I'm so sorry, I should have come earlier."

"It's alright." Lu Zhuoxuan walked into the Shuxiu Hall side by side with her, and asked casually, "You and your partner don't seem to be the same type of people. Have you been together for a long time?"

We've known each other for a long time, but we haven't been together for very long.

“Oh, I think he’s older than you. He should already be working, right?” Lu Zhuoxuan added.

"Yes, he's starting his own business and doing some things."

Ji Wanmei didn't really want to discuss this topic with Lu Zhuoxuan. When she entered Shuxiu Hall and saw Grandma Song sitting in the corridor, she quickly walked over and distanced herself from Lu Zhuoxuan.

By 5:30 in the evening, Ji Wanmei had finally finished learning today's lesson, said goodbye to Grandma Song, and left Shuxiu Hall.

Lu Zhuoxuan did not stay in Shuxiu Hall for the entire time.

He left around 2:30.

Lu Zhuoxuan knew very well that if he showed his admiration for Ji Wanmei too obviously, it might make her uncomfortable.

A girl like her, once she has a boyfriend, can't possibly get too close to other men.

If she knew his feelings, she would deliberately distance herself from him, which was not what Lu Zhuoxuan wanted.

He could only pin his hopes on his grandmother's Shu embroidery shop and every place in the school, trying to create as many 'accidental' opportunities to meet her as possible.

Their natural interaction led her to accept being friends with him first.

Lu Zhuoxuan was confident in himself. As long as she was willing to be his friend, he could always win her over gradually and subtly.

***

When Ji Wanmei came out, she saw Lei Tingjun, who had already driven up in his pickup truck.

Ji Wanmei ran towards him: "What did you buy?"

Lei Tingjun lifted the tarpaulin covering the back seat of the pickup truck so that Ji Wanmei could see it.

Ji Wanmei stood on tiptoe to take a look and discovered that he had actually bought a television set, a large stack of newspapers, more than a dozen copies of "Reference News" magazine, and some books on construction engineering in just a few hours that afternoon.

Ji Wanmei understood the meaning of the books and magazines, but she was a little puzzled by the television set.

Ji Wanmei turned to him: "What's wrong with you...?"

It was a 14-inch black and white television, about the same size as the one in Ji Wanmei's house, just a different brand.

This black and white TV costs about five or six hundred yuan.

In that era, color televisions were still rare; most televisions were black and white.

Lei Tingjun said, "Didn't you tell me to learn more about national policies and pay more attention to current events? So I went and bought these books, magazines, newspapers, and this television set."

"The living conditions in the workers' quarters were very basic. There wasn't even a radio, let alone a television."

"I'll buy a TV so I can watch the news every night at 7 p.m. and know what major events are happening in other parts of our country."

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