A collective gasp rippled through the crowd.
Zhou Chunhua had no intention of stopping there.
Instead, she picked up her phone and turned to walk towards the group of people who had been talking about her.
"Ma'am, could you please repeat what you just said?"
Having followed Gu Yao for a long time, she had learned Gu Yao's calm and collected way of handling things.
As soon as the phone was shoved up, those elderly women turned and ran away.
Zhou Chunhua turned to look for her next target, but whoever she looked for ran away.
In the blink of an eye, those who were waiting to watch the spectacle had all vanished.
She then put down her phone and walked up to Lu Zhiwu.
"Mr. Lu, would you like to talk here or inside?" After saying that, she went straight to the kitchen to make breakfast, as usual.
When she came out of the kitchen, Lu Zhiwu was nowhere to be seen in the living room.
She brought the steamed buns and porridge to the dining room table and called Lu Huai'an over to have breakfast.
Lu Huai'an sat down and the first thing he said was, "Don't be angry with him. He doesn't care about the money; he just doesn't want to see me have a good life."
Zhou Chunhua didn't ask why, but glanced at Lu Huai'an and then turned and went back into the kitchen.
Behind him, Lu Huai'an's voice continued.
Lu Huai'an, who had been mostly silent these past few days, suddenly began to tell his story.
Like most ordinary people, he grew up during the Three Years of Natural Disasters.
She then went to university, found a job, fell in love, and the two lovers eventually got married.
However, married life was not as good as he had imagined.
He and his partner had a disagreement and argued.
Especially after the birth of the two children, they argued almost every two days, and every three days, they had a big fight.
But despite their arguments, life went on.
It wasn't until his youngest son got married and started his own family that his wife seemed to change completely, suddenly proposing a divorce.
He disagreed, and one day his wife packed her things and left.
Nobody knows where she went.
Nobody knows where she is.
The orchids he stared at every day were the only thing his lover hadn't taken with her.
"Over the years, I don't believe I've ever wronged her in any way. Even today, I still can't figure out where I've wronged her!"
Zhou Chunhua placed Lu Huai'an's medicine and water, which he was supposed to take after the meal, on the dining table.
I asked, "Have you ever thought about who is the most pitiful person in a marriage?"
Lu Huai'an looked at her for a long while before shaking his head.
“The answer is Mom,” Zhou Chunhua said.
"When I was little, I didn't understand why my mom would cry but not leave when my parents argued, and she would continue to cook for us. It wasn't until I became a mother myself that I understood that when children are still young and vulnerable, only their mothers are invincible."
After an argument, Dad and Grandma can turn their backs and go home, and Dad can go out and drown his sorrows in alcohol. Only Mom, while shedding tears, cooks for the child, bathes him, tells him stories, and puts him to sleep.
It's not that Mom is invincible; it's just that everyone else has a way out, but Mom doesn't.
After saying that, she turned around and went back into the kitchen.
Soon after, Lu Huai'an's choked sobs could be heard outside.
She stayed in the kitchen the whole time until Lu Huai'an calmed down, then she casually went out to clear the table.
Lu Huai'an ate very little today; he didn't even touch his favorite steamed buns.
The bowl of porridge served was almost full.
As usual, she cleaned the dining table and then washed the dishes in the kitchen.
Suddenly, Lu Huai'an said, "How can I make up for the mistakes I made in the past?"
Zhou Chunhua put the washed dishes and chopsticks into the sterilizer and pressed the start button.
He honestly replied, "I don't know. Maybe... I should call her, ask how she's been doing, and tell her about her family situation. Or maybe I should give her money and freedom so she can go wherever she wanted to go when she was young and do the things she wanted to do but couldn't when she was young."
After saying that, she began cleaning as usual.
Lu Huai'an was still staring blankly at the pot of Phalaenopsis orchids.
After that, everything went back to normal for her.
Three days later, when she arrived at the Lu family home early in the morning, she saw Lu Zhiwu again as soon as she opened the door.
Sitting next to Lu Zhiwu was another middle-aged man.
The two people look somewhat alike in terms of facial features, but their attire is completely different.
Especially with his buzz cut and gray jacket, he does resemble someone from Qin Xiuyuan's circle.
This person must be Lu Huai'an's other son, Lu Zhiwen.
Before she could react, Lu Zhiwu walked over.
"Sister Zhou, I was rash that day. I came here today specifically to apologize to you." After saying that, he handed her a red envelope.
It's quite thick.
Zhou Chunhua looked in confusion at the place where Lu Huai'an usually sat, but she didn't see him today.
"Sister Zhou, my dad isn't home. He went to look for my mom." Lu Zhiwu suddenly shoved the red envelope into her hand and said, "Thanks to you, the old couple who have been in a cold war for so many years can finally have a chance to reconcile."
Lu Zhiwu chuckled.
"Sister Zhou, from now on, I'll leave this house to you to manage. I'm busy with work and basically don't have time to come over. My brother is also busy with his business and doesn't have much time to spare."
Everything's the same here as usual, just cleaning as needed. My monthly salary remains the same. My dad even said, "If your home is far away, you don't need to travel back and forth; you can just stay here."
After saying that, Lu Zhiwen glanced at the time and said he had to leave first.
Lu Zhiwu followed closely behind and left her an empty house.
Coming to her senses, Zhou Chunhua raised an eyebrow, turned around, closed the door, and went straight to the forest park.
Previously, she had to time things perfectly so that she wouldn't miss anything while still having time to find people.
Now things are much better; from now on, we can find people whenever the elderly go out for exercise.
Because she had more time, she searched a wider area than usual.
Finally, in a secluded chess pavilion, she saw Zhang Bo's lover.
Suppressing her excitement, she straightened her back and stepped forward.
"Sister, your Tai Chi sword dance is so beautiful! Can I learn to dance with you?"
The little old lady who was practicing Tai Chi sword stopped and looked at her with great curiosity.
"What did you call me?"
"Sister, oh dear, look at my mouth." Zhou Chunhua gently patted her mouth. "I must have made you sound old. I'm sorry."
The old lady burst out laughing.
"I'm 67 years old this year, and you still call me 'sister'?"
Zhou Chunhua exaggeratedly put on a shocked face: "How much? 67? No way! You've aged so well."
The old lady laughed heartily, and after a long while, she asked her, "Come, come, I'll teach you how to dance with a sword."
Zhou Chunhua grinned, took the sword from the old lady's hand, and began to learn seriously.
During the process of learning swordsmanship, they got to know each other.
She's one step closer to Zhang Bo.
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