Chapter 44 is an outsider
That day, Feng Manman came to visit Lu Zhenyu, and the two sisters huddled together in the study of the villa.
The Shen family is having a family gathering today. Shen Jinchuan wanted Feng Manman to come, but after much coaxing, the girl only said two words.
"No way! No way! It's your family gathering, why would I want to join in? If you keep nagging me, I'll blacklist you!"
She hung up the phone immediately after speaking, saying, "How annoying, the whole family is a nuisance."
Wearing a beige shawl, Lu Zhenyu sat at her desk, easily finishing a stroke with her pen, and smiled as she looked over, "Weren't you getting along really well during your vacation in Tahiti? How come you've started to dislike me again?"
Feng Manman, who lay back on the sofa, pouted. Of course, she didn't hate Shen Jinchuan, but the Shen family.
The most important one is the eldest son's mother.
At the family gathering, before her own mother could even say anything, she insisted that Shen Jinchuan bring Feng Manman along, making it seem like they were all part of the family.
How ridiculous! Feng Manman will never be family with Duan Xier in this life or the next!
"She's not the most shrewd one; she can't tell that I hate her whole family."
Lu Zhenyu chuckled lightly, "My godmother has always been very considerate in her dealings with people."
Whether she's considerate or shrewd, Feng Manman is just annoying.
The thought of Duan Xi'er leaning against Shen Jingsi's arms at the Shen family dinner table, laughing and joking with the family, made her feel annoyed!
Looking at the sisters opposite her, who were trapped in the Zheng family like prisoners all day long, Feng Manman felt even worse.
She's finally looking better, let her have a couple of comfortable days.
Suppressing her resentment, Feng Manman approached Lu Zhenyu, who was quietly writing, and looked her up and down with her hand on her cheek.
Lu Zhenyu smiled faintly, "Do I have a dark cloud over my face?"
"Why bring him up when you're having a good time?" Feng Manman's smile vanished for a second before she said seriously, "I just feel like you've gained a little weight."
Lu Zhenyu recently noticed that her face, waist, hips, and even her breasts have increased by half a size.
She attributed this to the fact that "Zheng Yaozong hasn't been coming back often lately."
No one bothered Lu Zhenyu, leaving her alone in peace and comfort. With her in a good mood, her appetite naturally improved as well.
Feng Manman suddenly had a flash of inspiration, "Hey? Then do you think it would be easier if I just asked Buddha to take that beast back directly?"
Lu Zhenyu had no idea what this woman did all day, and simply assumed she was nodding in agreement, saying, "I think it's feasible."
As we chatted and laughed, snowflakes began to fall softly outside the window.
"Wow! It's snowing, Zhenzhen! Come and see!"
Lu Zhenyu put down her pen upon hearing the sound and was pulled to the balcony by Feng Manman, who had run back.
The first snowfall of the year in Beijing was light.
Snowflakes drifted down from the sky, and Lu Zhenyu reached out to catch them, but they melted as soon as they touched her fingertips.
Feng Manman caught a piece with her clothes and quickly shared it with her. The two of them counted it and found it had six petals. It melted in no time.
"This snow is really not cooperating. If it were bigger, we could go down and build a snowman."
Speaking of snowmen, Feng Manman recalled, "Do you remember when we had a blizzard that caused school to be canceled in our first year of high school, a few of us built a huge snowman on the back hill of the Shen family's house?"
What Lu Zhenyu remembers most clearly now are those past memories.
"When we were competing in groups, your and Duan Yu's stack was halfway done when Shen Jingsi secretly kicked it down. You got angry and started fighting with him, and the fight turned into a five-person melee."
"That bastard Shen Jingsi is the worst. He's always the one causing trouble, and he always says I'm a third wheel. But if we go by the order of birth, I've known you since I was a baby. He's the mistress!"
Feng Manman complained and sighed, "But it was really happy back then. Every day, besides going to school, I would hang out with them. I really thought you and Shen Jingsi would get married when you grew up."
Once the floodgates of memory are opened, a flood of beautiful memories comes rushing back, softening the light in the girls' eyes.
The two huddled together under a shawl, leaning against the balcony, reminiscing softly.
"Do you remember the jade bracelet my mother left me? I even said that when you two have children, I would pass it on to my eldest niece."
"Then you buried the bracelet under a tree, and the following year you forgot which one it was and cried your eyes out. In the end, Jin Chuan dug it up for you tree by tree."
As she spoke, Lu Zhenyu gazed at the snow falling heavier and heavier, her eyes filled with a gentle tenderness.
They were truly happy back then.
As the car gradually drew closer in her peripheral vision, Lu Zhenyu's lips softened, and she looked away to pull Feng Manman, who was taking a selfie.
"Zheng Yaozong is back. You can quietly slip out the back door."
The two returned to the study, and Lu Zhenyu brought her clothes and coat.
"Why leave? I came openly and honestly, and I'm not afraid of him." Feng Manman, who refused to put on clothes, plopped back down on the sofa.
"That's exactly what I was planning to ask—who gave them the audacity to lay a hand on you!"
Feng Manman has the Feng family behind her. Not to mention Zheng Yaozong, even if Old Master Zheng were thirty years younger, he would still have to treat her with respect.
But Zheng Yaozong is a man without principles and a lecher; sometimes it's better to be safe than sorry.
Before the man returned, Lu Zhenyu dragged and pulled him away.
Instead of going back, she wrapped herself in a wool coat, put on a scarf and gloves, and on a whim ran into the woods.
When the snow fell heavily, the capital city was instantly enveloped in a silent, desolate landscape.
A pale yellow figure moved through the white snow forest. Her short hair was wet with snow water, and although it occasionally clung to her face, she didn't look disheveled. She casually tucked it behind her ear with the back of her hand.
Two pink blushes appeared on her fair face from the cold, and her nose was also red. Her breath dampened her eyelashes, making them glisten with moisture when she smiled.
From the third floor of the villa in the distance, Zheng Yaozong, with his hands in his pockets, glanced at the figure from behind.
The maid bowed her head behind her. "Young master, should we call the young mistress back?"
Just by looking at that smile, you could tell the man was full of wicked schemes. "No need, let her pile it up. After it's finished, have someone help your young mistress's 'new friend' take a hot bath."
That's what makes this man so ruthless.
Let Lu Zhenyu get it first, then take it away while she's overjoyed, and destroy it without hesitation.
He spared no effort in doing anything that would cause her pain, and even took great pleasure in it.
The servants, used to this, responded and left the room.
After three and a half hours, a snowman as tall as Lu Zhenyu was built, with eyes made of withered leaves and a nose made of pebbles.
Lu Zhenyu stood at a distance, looked the snowman over, and then took off her scarf and gloves and put them on it.
"This way you won't be cold at night, right?" He nodded to himself, "Yes, that's great."
After giving the snowman a couple of light pats on the head to say goodbye, Lu Zhenyu walked back into the night.
The girl walked briskly, sometimes stopping to sketch on the pristine snow, sometimes leaving footprints or flower petals in some place.
She brushed past servants carrying steaming buckets of water on the road, but paid them no heed and simply walked quietly home.
Xiao Meng was already waiting at the door. When she saw her return, she offered her a cloak, saying, "Young Madam, you must be freezing."
She breathed on her hands and rubbed them together, then smiled, her cheeks turning pink.
That was the first time in months that Xiaomeng had seen the childlike innocence that a young girl should have in this young mistress.
"You're not cold because you're wearing too much. You're wearing too little. Go back now. The roads are difficult to travel tonight, so you don't need to come and deliver anything again."
Xiao Meng came to the Zheng family at the age of eighteen, but this was the first time she had served Lu Zhenyu.
She may not have been particularly warm and friendly, but she could sense the kindness and gentleness of this young lady from a prominent family.
Compared to the Zheng family, they are simply...
Xiaomeng glanced at the snowman that had been destroyed by a basin of hot water, her expression turning serious.
Just as she was hesitating about how to start the conversation, Lu Zhenyu patted her shoulder, a relieved smile playing on her lips, "Everything has its day of passing away. What's important is not its existence, but its remembrance."
Zheng Yaozong has been destroying her snowman for five years in a row.
Compared to the small lives that died at his hands, it was already considered good that he only destroyed some of the fruits of his labor.
When I was building a snowman, I felt like I had inexhaustible energy, but now that I'm back in this house, a sense of oppression and exhaustion comes rushing in.
Lu Zhenyu, panting, pushed open the door, ignoring the person lying on the sofa, and walked towards the study.
"The Shen family is having a happy family dinner right now, but you're all alone building a snowman. By the way, wasn't the woman I married named Shen Beizhen?"
Zheng Yaozong deliberately tried to provoke Lu Zhenyu with his words, but she didn't react much.
Her indifferent attitude towards everything annoyed the man again.
"Don't think I don't know what you're thinking just because you're pretending to be mute. Are you planning to go back to the Shen family in a while and continue your illicit affair with your lover?"
Zheng Yaozong scoffed, "Don't be delusional. The family gathering didn't invite you, their adopted daughter, but instead invited Duan Xi'er, who isn't even engaged yet. What does that prove? It proves that in the hearts of the Shen family, you've always been an outsider."
"You seem to be having a lot of fun building the snowman. In a bit, I'll show you the big snowman that your Ah Si made for his precious Xi'er. I guarantee you'll be even happier."
Ignoring the man behind her who was speaking in a hoarse voice, Lu Zhenyu went into the study without turning her head.
Zheng Yaozong was eager to follow, but after discovering that the door was locked from the outside, he cursed a few times in annoyance.
Lu Zhenyu sat quietly at the desk, staring intently at a stack of drafts in front of her.
Sometimes she felt quite regretful.
I regret that I am a human being, and not a dog, a stone, or a tree growing quietly in the mountains.
It has no heart, no feelings, and no need for a home.
When loneliness and wandering become the norm in life, gaining even a little bit of happiness feels like gaining the whole world.
As human beings, as long as we are alive, we will have too many desires.
Just like now, she had actually tacitly agreed with Zheng Yaozong's words in her heart.
Although he was a complete and utter bastard, what he said was true.
Whether it was Lu Zhenyu or Shen Beizhen, they were always outsiders.
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