Chapter 163 Do you like me?
In the afternoon, Lu Baichuan went to Lin Xiuying's place to pick up Lu Xiaoxue and walked home. On the way, he heard people talking about what happened at home in the afternoon. He returned home with a frown.
Ever since Lu Xiaoxue stole money, Lu Baichuan paid more attention to her education. Later, he went to find Lu Xiaoxue's class teacher Lin Xiuying to learn about Lu Xiaoxue's performance and learning situation in school.
Lin Xiuying was transferred from another place last semester and has been living in the school. Apart from attending classes, she basically has no social activities on weekdays.
After learning about Lu Baichuan's family situation, and knowing that living alone in school was a bit lonely, she asked Lu Xiaoxue to come over on weekends to tutor her and help her get rid of her bad habits.
Seeing Lu Baichuan coming back, Yao Hongmei quickly put dinner on the table. Everyone sat at the table and did not mention what happened at home in the afternoon.
"Let's eat." Lu Baichuan washed his hands and sat at the table. He did not say much, but just told everyone to eat.
No one spoke, and they ate silently. The atmosphere at the table was very quiet.
After Lu Xiaoxue finished eating and left the table to go back to her room, Lu Baichuan looked at Lu Jingchen and said,
"She will be going back to the army in two days, right?"
Lu Jingchen put down his chopsticks. He had already finished eating and replied,
"Yeah, that's right."
Two days ago, Lu Jingchen told Lu Baichuan that he would take Xia Qingxi to follow the army, so Lu Baichuan asked,
"Are you going with Qingxi?"
"To follow the army, you need to apply to the army first. Only after the application is approved can you issue a letter of introduction to her. It also takes some time to allocate a house, so I will go over and take care of these things first, and then she can come over." Lu Jingchen replied seriously.
"Okay." Lu Baichuan nodded, then looked at Xia Qingxi and said apologetically:
"Girl, I already know everything that happened four years ago. You've suffered a lot during these years of marrying into our Lu family. After you go to the army, live a good life with Jing Jingxie. Don't worry, he will treat you well in the future and won't let you suffer any grievances again."
Xia Qingxi looked at the old man with gray hair and knew that what happened today had not been a blow to him. After all, Lu Lidong was his biological son. Now that his son was arrested and was going to be sent to labor reform, how could he remain calm?
But in this case, Xia Qingying was both the plaintiff and the victim, so it was not appropriate to say words of comfort. She just nodded and said,
"Okay, Dad, I will."
"Yes." Lu Baichuan said in a deep voice, "Don't worry, I will take care of your mother's house."
"Thank you, Dad." Xia Qingying thanked him sincerely, and was very grateful to this father-in-law.
After explaining to Lu Jingqi and Xia Qingying, Lu Baichuan turned his head and looked at Yao Hongmei on the side, and asked,
"Have you finished cleaning up the house over there?"
Yao Hongmei was a little nervous when she heard her father-in-law suddenly ask her. After all, it can be said that she was the one who sent Lu Lidong there. She didn't know if this father-in-law would blame her. She hurriedly replied,
"Yes, it's cleaned up."
"Then you can move there tomorrow." Lu Baichuan said calmly.
"Oh, OK." Yao Hongmei replied quickly.
Xia Qingliu and Lu Jingchen were about to go to join the army. It was not appropriate for her to live with her father-in-law. It would be best for her to move out and live alone with her daughter.
"You two should discuss the divorce yourself." Lu Baichuan said, paused, and continued:
"In the future, I will regularly send you some living expenses for Yingying until she comes of age. If you have any difficulties, you can come to me."
Yao Hongmei's eyes were a little moist. She had never been close to her father-in-law. At first, she was still worried whether her father-in-law would give her the new house to live in. But now, not only did he not blame her, but he also prepared a way out for her. He was really kind and righteous.
"Thank you... Dad." Yao Hongmei said with a choked voice.
"I'll leave Yingying to you. Raise her well." Lu Baichuan said in a deep voice. After he finished explaining everything, he stood up and said to the people at the table:
"Leave the rest to the police. Don't feel any psychological burden. Labor reform is not a bad thing for Lu Lidong. He should reflect on himself."
His voice was very calm, and he didn't mean to blame anyone. After he finished speaking, he turned around and walked towards his room.
His back was no longer as straight as before, and even a little hunched. Watching his father gradually disappear from his sight, Lu was shocked and worried and guilty.
Xia Qingying noticed Lu's panic and didn't know how to comfort him for a while. Blood ties are something that cannot be severed. Even if you know that everything you do is right, you will still feel a little guilty deep in your heart. At
this moment, Xia Qingying couldn't help but sigh. Fortunately, her relatives in the present world and here are very good, especially her original family, mother, brother and younger brother, who are all willing to pay for each other. Today, she saw the ugly faces of Wang Mingfang and her son when they were arrested and bit each other. She felt even more that the family ties between her original relatives were precious.
After everyone got off the table, Yao Hongmei went back to the room to pack her things. Before leaving, she apologized to Xia Qingning and said words of gratitude. It could be seen that she was grateful to Xia Qingning from the bottom of her heart.
Lu Jingzhe and Xia Qingning were lying on the bed at night. Everything went well today. The stone in Xia Qingning's heart finally fell to the ground. She would no longer be criticized by others. After she relaxed physically and mentally, she gradually became sleepy. Just when she was about to fall asleep, Lu Jingzhe next to her suddenly said:
"I will apply when I get to the army. If you hurry up, you can come here in ten days."
"Oh...ok." Xia Qingning felt a little sleepy and responded simply.
From her tone, she didn't seem to be looking forward to it.
Thinking of those weird words Pu Yue said at Principal Guo's house, Lu Jingchen frowned slightly, thinking that she was influenced and had a negative attitude towards the army and the family courtyard.
Thinking back to those words that Professor Guo said when they left, trying to keep Xia Qingying, Lu Jingchen couldn't help wondering if Xia Qingying was wavering and didn't want to go to the army with him. After hesitating for a while, he couldn't help but said,
"There are indeed some bad rumors about you in the army."
Xia Qingying was about to say, "It's okay, I can handle it myself." Then he heard Lu Jingchen on the side very seriously assuring her,
"Don't worry, I will take care of these. After you come here, no one will bring up the past to you again."
This really hit the spot for Xia Qingying. Lu Jingzhen's handling of the matter was much more convincing than her explanation, so she thanked him sincerely:
"Thank you for your help."
Lu Jingzhen's expression paused for a moment, then he said in a deep voice:
"You don't have to be so polite in front of me in the future."
Xia Qingying's sleepiness had completely disappeared now. After hearing what Lu Jingzhen said, she was about to speak when she heard him continue:
"I am your husband. Between husband and wife, there is no need to say trouble or thank you."
Xia Qingying's expression flickered when she heard the word 'husband', and after a moment she responded:
"Well, okay."
For a moment, she really wanted to ask him whether everything he did for her was out of his responsibility as a husband or out of a man's love for a woman, but she still held back.
Because she found that Lu Jingchen had never made any intimate gestures to her except giving her material things and verbally acknowledging that he was her husband.
People in this era are more straightforward and simple in dealing with gender relations. They think that once they get married, they are a couple and it is natural for them to do things between men and women. It is not like those young people in later generations who have to fall in love first and then do it naturally.
But she and Lu Jingchen had slept in the same bed for so many days, and he had never taken the initiative to touch her, and he had never even mentioned that. How could he, a normal man, not have needs? This series of behaviors can only mean that
he has no interest in her.
But the more she thought about it, the more confused Xia Qingxi became. She kept repeating the same question in her mind: "Why is he not interested in me?"
In terms of appearance and figure, this body was not the kind that could arouse men's interest. Thinking of this, she could not help but turn around, facing away from Lu Jingchen, and asked in a low voice:
"Lu Jingchen, um, do you like me a little bit?"