Lu Zhenhua sensed something was wrong and interrupted with a serious expression, "What's going on?"
After Xu Xinchen finished recounting the whole story, Lu Zhenjun, who hadn't spoken until now, turned ashen-faced. He walked over, grabbed Zhao Lanzhi by the collar, and his eyes were filled with rage. "That was the only property Xiuling left behind before she died. How could you try to take it all for yourself? How can I face Xiuling if I did this! She would blame me if she knew in the afterlife."
"I..." Zhao Lanzhi stammered, suppressing her fear as she spoke, "I was just confused for a moment..."
Lu Zhenjun's hands were bulging with veins. He looked at Zhao Lanzhi, whose face was flushed red and whose breathing was rapid. Suddenly, he let go of her hand.
Zhao Lanzhi coughed violently, patting her chest with lingering fear.
Lu Zhenjun spoke, "From now on, don't let me see you again!"
In the days that followed, it became clear that Lu Zhenjun and Zhao Lanzhi were having a cold war. Not only did they sleep in separate rooms, but they also stopped sharing meals. Zhao Lanzhi would prepare the food and have Lu Shuangshuang bring it to Lu Zhenjun's room.
Lu Shuangshuang looked much more haggard, her face always pale. Every time she saw Xu Xinchen, her eyes were filled with hatred, as if she wanted to skin her alive. But perhaps because of Zhao Lanzhi's instructions, no matter how much she hated her, she did not take any action. She just glared at Xu Xinchen every time.
Life went on peacefully like this. Xu Xinchen worked from sunrise to sunset. She would inevitably run into Chen Baifei at school, but Chen Baifei never spoke to her. After this incident, he seemed to have become much more silent.
He never looked for Lu Shuangshuang again.
Xu Xinchen's days were filled with such ordinariness and she lived a fulfilling life, but she always felt that there was a gap in her heart. Sometimes she would stare blankly at the clock on the office wall, and sometimes she would stop for a while when she passed the Moon Bridge on the south side of the town on her way home. Only when she saw the surprised looks on the faces of passersby would she come back to her senses and leave.
One evening, she came to the Moon Bridge alone. The wind was howling across the bridge, just like that night, but this time she was all alone.
The mayor rode his old bicycle and saw a person on the bridge from afar. Only when he got closer did he realize that it was the eldest daughter of the Lu family. He noticed her expression, stopped his bicycle, and greeted her.
Seeing her downcast expression, I assumed she was still upset about her sister's upcoming wedding. I racked my brains trying to comfort her for a while, and before leaving, I politely added, "Why don't you come to my house for a meal? It's been so quiet and lonely for us old folks to eat here ever since Yujie left."
"They...left?" Xu Xinchen suddenly asked.
“They left a long time ago, more than a month ago. They said they had an urgent matter to attend to and had to go back. The three children bought train tickets that day and rushed back.” Then she sighed, “These children have grown up, you can’t keep them here.”
After that day, Xu Xinchen was much better and stopped getting distracted for no reason. She worked methodically every day.
Lu Zhenjun went to the county town for a month-long training. Xu Xinchen left early and returned late every day, so he didn't run into Zhao Lanzhi and her daughter many times.
One evening, Zhao Lanzhi came to her room with a smile on her face. "Min Shi," she said, "someone has come to propose marriage to you."
Zhao Lanzhi's face was beaming with a radiant smile, a stark contrast to her usual cold attitude. Her warmth almost made Xu Xinchen wonder if she, like herself, had become a different person.
When she heard the words "marriage proposal," her mind went blank, and she opened her mouth but couldn't utter a single word.
However, a person's face vaguely flashed into my mind.
It flashed by so quickly that she didn't even have time to catch it.
When she walked into the lobby, the person sitting in the chair in the very center of the lobby made her stop in her tracks.
"Miss Min Shi, how have you been lately?"
Yang Laosan had clearly dressed up carefully today, wearing a white suit that he had borrowed from somewhere, but it was obviously not his size, which made him look even more constrained.
As soon as he saw Xu Xinchen, he stood up from his chair, walked over, and greeted her with a smile.
Xu Xinchen stopped in her tracks. Even though the person in front of her had no connection whatsoever with the person who had forced her to drink that day, the lingering negative impression in her mind made it impossible for her to take another step forward.
"Please leave," she smiled and said to the man, "I will not agree."
These words startled both of them. Zhao Lanzhi's smile vanished. She glanced at Yang Laosan, who also looked displeased, pulled Xu Xinchen aside, and whispered a reprimand, "What have you learned from your studies? Who taught you to talk like that?"
After scolding him, he turned around and said some polite words to Yang Laosan to cheer him up before seeing him off.
After Yang Laosan left, Zhao Lanzhi sat in the chair he had been sitting in, crossed her legs, and stared intently with her almond-shaped eyes.
Looking at Xu Xinchen not far away.
She picked up the tea beside her and took a sip, a slight smile on her face, but her tone was unquestionable: "I've already accepted his gift. You should choose a suitable date to hold the wedding."
"Impossible." Xu Xinchen refused without hesitation upon hearing this and turned to leave.
"Wait a minute."
A shout from behind froze her in place.
"Lu Minshi, what do you think is wrong with Yang Laosan?" Zhao Lanzhi stood up, walked up to her, and looked her up and down.
"You look down on him because he's divorced? But he's the richest man in town. He earns more in a month than your good-for-nothing father earns in a year. What do you have to look down on him for? You're lucky he even liked you."
Xu Xinchen curled her lips into a disdainful smile, neither agreeing nor disagreeing, "I really don't want this blessing. If you want it, you can fight for it for Lu Shuangshuang."
"You!" Zhao Lanzhi's calm face flushed with anger when she heard Lu Shuangshuang mentioned. She gritted her teeth and said, "Shuangshuang's wedding couldn't be held because of you. How dare you say such things here? I won't hold your past against you. There's only this one thing: will you agree or not?"
Xu Xinchen was too lazy to listen to her nonsense and turned to leave.
Seeing that she was about to leave, Zhao Lanzhi rushed over and blocked her way. Xu Xinchen was caught off guard and dodged to the side. Zhao Lanzhi was so angry that she grabbed Xu Xinchen's sleeve and pounced on her, waving her hands in the air, her face filled with crazy hysteria.
Xu Xinchen was caught off guard when Zhao Lanzhi pressed her down with both hands, her skin sinking into the ground. Zhao Lanzhi grabbed her hair, her face full of anger.
She kept muttering, "You jinx! If it weren't for you, Shuangshuang would have a happy life. Now this is all over the place, her reputation is ruined for life! And you dare to disobey your parents? You've gone too far!"
Xu Xinchen was bent over, her hair was being pulled tightly, and her blood was rushing to her head. Then there was another sudden tug, and she felt a sharp pain at the roots of her hair. She clung to Zhao Lanzhi's arm with both hands, but she couldn't let go.
"You've got a good plan, huh? If you don't marry Yang Laosan, do you think anyone else will want a jinx like you..."
A wave of dizziness washed over him, and Xu Xinchen finally couldn't hold back any longer. He released her hand, exerted force with his foot, and kicked the other side.
"Ah!" With a loud scream, Zhao Lanzhi was suddenly lifted by the thigh and fell flat on her back to the ground.
"Mom!" Lu Shuangshuang, who was passing by outside, saw this scene and rushed in, helping Zhao Lanzhi up. "Lu Minshi, have you no shame!"
Lu Shuangshuang grabbed Zhao Lanzhi's arms with both hands and shouted angrily.
Xu Xinchen ignored her, smoothed her hair which had been pulled painfully, and casually rubbed the bruises on her body.
Zhao Lanzhi leaned against Lu Shuangshuang, her face ashen, glaring fiercely at the person opposite her. Xu Xinchen's silence had completely enraged her. She pointed a finger at Xu Xinchen, her fingertips trembling with anger, "Lu Minshi, get out of here! The Lu family has no daughter like you."
"Mom, what's wrong?" Lu Shuangshuang asked.
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