Chapter 23 I still feel a little scared, you...

After lunch, they set off to return to the Lu family home. Before leaving, Madam Shen packed two large boxes of things, mostly things she had bought for her daughter.

"Take a look and see if there's anything you like. If you like it, keep it for yourself; if you don't, give it away."

Shen Rong didn't open it, and casually asked, "What are they?"

Madam Shen said, "It's just some coffee, clothes, and Western trinkets. I asked someone to bring them to you from Shanghai. They're all the latest fashion items."

On the other end, Mr. Shen urged, "Call again if there's anything else. If we keep dragging this out, they'll be home late."

Madam Shen reluctantly let her go, and Shen Rong was also a little reluctant to part with her. She held her hand and said, "Mom, come visit me when you have time."

"Definitely, Mom will come to take care of you when you give birth." She held her daughter's hand, tears welling up in her eyes. They had only seen each other once this year, and had only stayed one night together.

As the car drove away, Madam Shen hid in her father's arms and cried. It's so bad to have a daughter. Once she's married, she becomes an outsider and can't even stay at home for long.

She thought that it would be better for her daughter to have a son instead. Rongrong was so fragile, she would definitely not be able to bear the pain of not being able to see her daughter when she grew up.

Shen Rong kept turning her head to look behind her. The driver was already driving very slowly, but the figures of the Shen family members were becoming increasingly blurry.

She felt a little ashamed. The Shen family loved her with all their heart, but she had always kept a distance and hadn't been any better to them.

She took so many benefits from them?

"Don't cry. If you miss them, we'll go see them again before we go to Bincheng."

Shen Rong stopped crying: "You really agree to let me go to Bincheng?"

Lu Lin responded with a soft "hmm".

Shen Rong's lips curled up: "You begged me, not me forcing you. Actually, I could stay here; my parents would welcome me." She was a typical example of someone who takes advantage of kindness and starts putting on airs.

Lu Lin turned his head, a smile flashing across his face.

The next moment, she pulled out another dollar bill: "Here's yours back," as a second attempt.

Lu Lin turned his head, his dark eyes staring at her, making Shen Rong feel a little uneasy. She weakly withdrew her hand and said, "If you don't want it, then forget it. I'm returning it because you didn't want it."

She was just being polite, knowing that Lu Lin definitely wouldn't accept it, but she had to make a gesture to let Lu Lin know how pure and upright her character was.

“Chen Rong…” He glanced at the driver and lowered his voice, “We are still husband and wife. I hope we don’t separate so obviously.”

Shen Rong gripped her small purse tightly. Lu Lin noticed this small gesture and was speechless for a moment. "Of course, what's yours is still yours?"

Did she think he would covet her money? Lu Lin almost laughed out of anger.

Shen Rong replied, "I understand. What's yours is mine too."

She had just invested a thousand US dollars in Shen Jiashi's stock market. Shen Rong had always thought that stock trading was a waste of money and that people were just being taken advantage of. She was only willing to give up a thousand dollars because she was really annoyed by her older brother.

What remains is her livelihood for the rest of her life; Lu Lin shouldn't even think about taking it!

She'd smash his head if he dared to covet her money, but she found a perfect excuse and said solemnly, "This money is for the children's education in the future. I won't spend it; I'll save it all."

Lu Lin gave her a meaningful look, it was unclear whether he believed her or not.

She fell asleep again on the way back, and it was already dark when she arrived at the Lu family home.

The Shen family's return gifts were given to Madam Lu, who would arrange for them to be delivered to each family. The two boxes that Madam Shen gave to her daughter were sent to their room.

The Lu family knew they would be back today, so they waited for them to arrive before starting their meal.

After dinner, Lu Lin followed his father to the study. Shen Rong invited Lu Xuan to her room to choose something, and of course, she also invited Jiang Yufen, but she was too embarrassed to go.

Lu Xuan didn't care and went happily. She had been stuck in the town for a long time and loved new gadgets. She could use these gadgets to learn about the outside world.

The two boxes contained mostly clothes and bags. Lu Xuan only picked out two items before feeling embarrassed, but Shen Rong, saying she couldn't wear that many, let her pick out a few more.

She picked out so many trinkets that she couldn't carry them all herself, and looked a little embarrassed: "Sister-in-law, did I take too many? Should I leave some for my nephew?"

Shen Rong teased him on purpose: "We won't keep them. These will go out of style if we leave them for too long. How about you, as his aunt, buy him some when he grows up?"

Lu Xuan thought for a moment. She also had a monthly allowance. If she played cards less and saved more each month, she should be able to afford it: "Okay, I'll buy it for my nephew later."

That serious expression on his face made Shen Rong laugh non-stop.

"Sister-in-law, you seem like a different person, not quite the same as before."

Lu Xuan's words startled her, and her voice trembled slightly: "What's different?"

"You laugh a lot now." She's no longer putting on airs.

"I only laughed when we weren't very familiar with each other before. I'm a slow starter." Shen Rong breathed a sigh of relief, finding a perfect excuse.

Lu Lin returned just in time to hear the phrase "slow to warm up," and was shocked. Slow to warm up?

You'd never guess!

If she hadn't been so "slow to warm up" that night, things wouldn't have turned out this way.

When Lu Xuan saw her older brother return, she quickly ran off with her spoils, leaving Shen Rong embarrassed on the spot.

Given that he was still injured, Shen Rong very considerately gave him an extra blanket. "Good night, sweet dreams."

She stepped directly over his makeshift bed on the floor and climbed onto the bed.

Lu Lin sighed; he still had quite a temper.

He was about to turn off the lights when Shen Rong objected: "I haven't finished watching yet."

She just found a magazine with a really good novel in it, and she's going to read it all in one go.

"Then turn on the bedside lamp."

"No, I'll be scared."

She was following a horror-suspense novel with many Chinese-style horror elements. She was scared when the dim light was on, but she felt more at ease when the bright light showed Lu Lin.

Lu Lin's makeshift bed faces the ceiling light directly. How is he supposed to sleep?

never mind.

"I'm going to the study to read for a while."

"No!" Shen Rong cried out anxiously.

Seeing her frightened expression, Lu Lin took a deep breath, walked over, and snatched the newspaper from her hand, putting it away.

"I'll see tomorrow."

"I've finished reading it." Shen Rong stood up, trying to snatch it away.

Lu Lin stretched his hand behind him, but she couldn't reach it.

"You guarantee you can sleep right after watching? You won't be scared? You can turn off the lights?"

He asked three questions in a row, his expression revealing his guilty conscience.

"Go to sleep," Lu Lin said irritably.

She turned around and snapped the lights off, then shrank under the covers.

As soon as she closed her eyes, the content she had just read automatically came back to her mind, and she even processed it further, making it even more sinister and terrifying.

He was right; she was afraid to sleep, and as soon as she closed her eyes, her mind would automatically switch the story scene to her room.

The bedroom, which was originally cozy, suddenly turned into a lewd place. She felt that there were things staring at her from under the bed, at the head and foot of the bed, and even on the ceiling, and they were blowing cold air at her.

She felt as if she were shrouded in a black fog, like a small boat adrift, not knowing where she would drift to. She clutched the blanket tightly in fear, trembling.

Thinking about how this Lu family mansion has been around for so many years and passed down through generations, who knows what might have happened in this room?

The more she thought about it, the more frightened she became. Her breathing became rapid, and she buried her head deep inside.

She regretted it; she realized that horror stories weren't for her, and vulgar novels were more to her liking.

She closed her eyes tightly, and tried to open her mouth several times but no sound came out, as if something was pressing on her chest.

Could it be the legendary sleep paralysis? She struggled to half-open her eyes.

"Lu Lin?" she called tentatively in a low voice, but there was no response.

At this point, her fear level reached its peak.

She was a cowardly and timid person to begin with; even in modern times, she would hide behind someone and watch horror movies through her fingers.

The beginning of the novel wasn't that scary, but after imagining it, the horror of that part was comparable to "The Embroidered Shoes."

She didn't dare to be alone; she needed company! Like a fish out of water, she nimbly jumped out of bed and darted into Lu Lin's blankets.

Lu Lin wasn't actually asleep, and he heard her calling for help. He thought she was testing whether he was asleep or not, so he didn't make a sound. But he didn't expect Shen Rong to be so bold as to sneak into his bed in the middle of the night.

What are you doing!

The sudden sound startled her; she let out a loud scream, which alerted Chun Tao in the next room.

"Young Master, Young Madam, what happened?"

Lu Lin raised his index finger to her, signaling her to be quiet, and then turned on the bedside lamp.

"It's alright, you can go and rest."

After sending Chun Tao away, Lu Lincai interrogated her with a dark face, asking what she wanted to do.

Still shaken, Shen Rong clung to his clothes, afraid to let go. "It's too dark, I'm scared."

"Why weren't you afraid the other day?"

Didn't you skip reading that horror story the other day? Lu Lin could already see the answer on her face.

Luckily, I managed to snatch it. If I had waited for her to finish reading it, I probably wouldn't have been able to sleep all night.

"Go to bed, I'll leave this little lamp for you."

Shen Rong took a couple of steps and then suddenly came back: "I'm still a little scared. Come up and sleep with me."

Seeing that Lu Lin's eyes had changed, Shen Rong quickly explained, "I'm not trying to take advantage of you. You can wait until I fall asleep before you leave. I'm just scared to sleep alone in bed."

I thought I would have to use some persuasion to get him to agree, but to my surprise, Lu Lin agreed very readily.

However, Shen Rong thought about it again and realized that she was nominally his wife, so maybe he didn't think it was a big deal.

With someone next to her, she felt much more at ease, and after a few yawns, she fell asleep.

Lu Lin turned to look at her, his eyes filled with complex emotions. The more he looked at her, the more confused he became.

There are flaws everywhere. Could this person really be someone's spy? And what is her purpose?

Was someone sent to keep an eye on me?

She wasn't Shen Rong, so where did the real Shen Rong go? Was she replaced that night, or was it before?

Lu Lin quickly denied it, saying it must have been that night, as Shen Rong hadn't acted strangely before.

Last night, he inquired with the Shen family and learned that Shen Rong had no other sisters. Could there really be people in the world who look exactly alike? Lu Lin felt that this woman was like a mystery, puzzling to him.

She had a bad sleeping posture and liked to move around a lot. Lu Lin turned to his side and closed his eyes.

When Shen Rong woke up, Lu Lin was already up, and the room had been restored to its original state.

"Where is your young master?" Shen Rong stretched.

Chuntao said, "Madam asked the eldest young master to go over for something. He will come over later to have breakfast with you."

No sooner had she finished speaking than Lu Lin appeared. He gave Chun Tao a cold glance, which frightened her so much that she fled in panic.

"What's wrong?" Why scare people for no reason?

Lu Lin said irritably, "She told my mother about the commotion you caused last night, and she called me over and gave me a good scolding."

Shen Rong didn't understand at first, but after a while she realized what was going on and almost choked with laughter.

Her face turned red; apparently, Lu's mother thought they were... She couldn't help but laugh.

Lu Lin stared at her with unfriendly eyes, and Shen Rong forced an explanation: "It was your fault to begin with. Who told you to scare me?" She hadn't actually done anything wrong.

On second thought, she became a little worried: "You didn't tell your mother the truth, did you?" She really didn't want to ruin her image in Lu's mother's eyes.

Lu Lin snorted coldly.

Shen Rong was relieved. Lu Lin was probably not going to tell anyone; how could he possibly tell his elders that someone had sneaked into his bed?

She held the milk, drinking it and laughing.

"We'll be returning to Pingcheng two days later; an elder in our family is celebrating a birthday," Lu Lin told her.

Shen Rong nodded: "Okay! Then I can have a good look around."

She hadn't seen this house or the surrounding area yet. The town was quaint and charming, and she really liked these old buildings; it was rare to find such well-preserved architectural complexes in modern times.

"Do you have something to do later?" she asked expectantly.

Lu Lin paused for a moment, a hint of hesitation in his heart: "Father and I are going to visit some elders."

Shen Rong felt a moment of disappointment, but she quickly regained her smile: "Then I'll have Sister Xuan accompany me, and my second sister-in-law as well."

"I'll try to get back as soon as possible. Otherwise, I'll take you for a walk around the neighborhood tomorrow when I have some free time."

Lu Lin didn't know why he said that, but seeing her eyes light up and her nodding repeatedly, a smile appeared on his lips.