That night, in the rush, Lu Ying had no time or inclination to exchange contact information with Du Zheng.
Afterwards, she was busy divorcing Liu Fengming and had long forgotten about him. Who knew that he would get her phone number and call to say hello.
Lu Ying felt a surge of guilt, and in that moment, she took the initiative to express her gratitude, saying, "If I hadn't run into you that day, I would have been in real trouble. When do you have some time? I'd like to treat you to a thank-you meal."
The woman spoke clearly, so Du Zheng automatically ignored the word 'thank you' and replied with a light laugh, "If you want to treat me to dinner, I'm available anytime."
These ambiguous words made Lu Ying pause, unable to think of anything to say for a moment.
Although the two were classmates before, in Lu Ying's memory, Du Zheng was just an ordinary classmate who had sat next to her for a while and was relatively familiar with her.
Moreover, they hadn't seen each other for so many years, and their friendship had mostly faded away. They were practically strangers who were somewhat familiar with each other, so she didn't deliberately avoid them.
But Lu Jun, being a man himself, could tell what the man on the other end of the phone was thinking just by listening to his broken tone and words.
Looking at his younger sister, who was still full of gratitude, he felt his blood rush to his head.
"It's getting late, let's go home first and talk later," the man said in a deep voice as he got on the electric scooter.
"Okay, big brother." Lu Ying covered the phone and replied, then quickly turned to the phone to end the conversation.
"Um, if possible, the day after tomorrow morning. That's the weekend, and I happen to have time then."
Du Zheng naturally heard Lu Jun's voice on the other end. When he heard Lu Ying call the other party "Big Brother," his heart, which had been in his throat, slowly calmed down. "Okay, then let's meet at the city center square."
Lu Ying replied, "Okay."
After hanging up the phone, Lu Ying put her phone away and got into the back seat, while Lu Jun drove home without saying a word.
Once they were out of the city, the man finally spoke, "Was that your high school classmate?"
Lu Ying was staring at his own photo on the divorce certificate. Hearing this, he paused for a moment before realizing what was going on. "Yes, that night Jingjing had a high fever, and I ran into her on the way to the clinic."
Lu Jun grasped the key point in the question and asked again, "Is he still out in the middle of the night?"
Lu Ying sensed her elder brother's unfriendly tone, put away the divorce certificate, and began to explain.
“His name is Du Zheng. We sat next to each other for a while in high school, and our relationship was only slightly better than that of classmates. I haven’t seen him since we graduated from high school.”
“His mother was hospitalized a while ago, and he had just returned from out of town. That night, he was on his way to the hospital to deliver a change of clothes to his father when we unexpectedly bumped into each other. He gave me a ride, and seeing that it was inconvenient for me to be with Jingjing, he kindly took me back.”
After saying that, Lu Ying added, "We're not very familiar with each other."
Lu Jun knew his younger sister's character well. He believed Lu Ying's claim that they weren't very familiar, but he didn't trust the man opposite him.
That's how Liu Fengming was back then. Lu Ying didn't think much of him at first, but as the eldest brother, he kept an eye on him whenever he had time. In the end, however, Liu Fengming managed to seduce her.
In his eyes, Du Zheng was no better than Liu Fengming.
My old classmate suddenly ran into me, and just two days later, he got my phone number and called me on his own initiative.
Although he didn't reveal his true purpose, he skillfully steered the conversation, successfully getting Lu Ying to invite him to dinner, thus creating an opportunity for them to spend time together. With this opportunity, he could take things further.
Lu Ying may not have noticed anything, but he couldn't be unaware of it.
This Du Zheng is smarter than Liu Fengming. If Lu Ying is allowed to associate with him, she will probably be fooled by him sooner or later.
Although she didn't say it, he could see in the rearview mirror that the girl's eyes were red as she stared at the divorce certificate.
Having just ended a terrible marriage, Du Zheng has another ulterior motive. As the older brother, he failed to keep a close eye on his younger sister once, and he will never do it again.
Just as he was about to speak to persuade her, he heard the girl behind him say, "Brother, I know you're worried about me. But I don't have any other thoughts right now. I just want to earn more money and take good care of Jingjing."
“Jingjing will be starting elementary school in two years. It’s still early, but time flies by. We can’t keep living in that leaky rental house. It’s far from the city center and the surrounding environment is bad. It will be inconvenient for Jingjing to go to and from school.”
"As for other things, we'll talk about them later."
Hearing his younger sister say that, Lu Jun, as the older brother, felt a pang of sadness.
Compared to Lu Hang, he was the oldest and took the most care of Lu Ying, and he also loved his younger sister the most.
Watching his little sister, whom he had watched grow up, become an adult, and feeling a pang of pain in his heart because of his momentary lapse in judgment that his innocent and kind sister had been deceived and harmed by bad people.
The man paused for a moment, then said in a deep voice, "Don't push yourself too hard, brother..."
Anticipating what Lu Jun was about to say, Lu Ying hurriedly interrupted, "Big brother, I'm a mother now, not an ignorant little girl anymore. I can't keep asking you to take care of me."
“My sister-in-law has suffered a lot in the past few years with you. You should buy her some new clothes every now and then, and give her a small gift on holidays and anniversaries. Women love that. She will be happy for days.”
“I won’t push myself too hard. If I really can’t hold on, I’ll ask my older brother for help.”
Lu Jun didn't have much schooling and no good job. When he first married Chai Shuhua, he was still young and working on construction sites, where the wages were very low.
Then Lu Chengyang was added to the family, and those few years were really tough.
Chai Shuhua never complained; on the contrary, she felt sorry for him, working so hard and getting so sunburned at the construction site. Sometimes, minor bumps and bruises were unavoidable, and even a woman would feel sorry for him for a long time after seeing them.
She has never asked for anything in all these years; she is truly a good woman who deserves to be treated well.
Having said all that, Lu Jun couldn't say anything more, and simply replied with a heavy sigh, "Yeah, remember to tell your older brother when you're in trouble."
"Understood, brother."
The electric scooter drove smoothly into the village. Lu Ying touched the small notebook in her bag, feeling both empty and calm inside.
It would be a lie to say I wasn't moved.
After five or six years, the initial attraction was genuine, and the feelings were real.
She wouldn't dare say she was a faithful person, but since she was with Liu Fengming, she just wanted to be a good wife and live a peaceful life together.
She believed she had fulfilled her duties as a good wife, but what about Liu Fengming?
He claimed he was making money, but we only saw each other a few times a year, and in the end, the money never even reached her. When she finally came back, her cronies would come one after another to invite her out, and she would never return before midnight.
He never cared about family matters. After Liu Jing came along, he would only offer her a lollipop when he remembered her. But when she was sick and needed him as her father, he was nowhere to be found.
She'd had enough, and her disappointment in him was utter.
They finally got divorced.
All she really wants now is to earn more money so she can move to a better place before Liu Jing starts elementary school. Everything else...
Let it be...
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