A deep sense of powerlessness rose in Lu Qian's heart. How could he tell her how he felt?
"Xiao Tao, is Brother Lu really that scary in your eyes?" Lu Qian asked with a hint of frustration and helplessness.
"No, that's not it!"
Zhou Tao waved at him, but subtly distanced herself from him. She suddenly understood why Lu Qian always did so many things for her and why he always wanted to spend more time alone with her.
So he had his eye on me?
But I'm only fifteen, while he's already twenty-two. He's older than my second brother, but only one year younger than my eldest brother.
Moreover, she was just a country girl, while he was the young master of the richest family in Qingshi Town. How could they possibly have that kind of relationship?
Could it be that she wants to become his concubine?
That's absolutely impossible. Although she's a country girl, she'd rather marry a poor man as his wife than become a concubine for a rich man's son.
My mother said that becoming someone's concubine means entering a lowly status, and any children born from such a person will be considered illegitimate and looked down upon.
You can tell just by looking at Brother Lu's house; he never plays with his half-sisters.
Moreover, her family is not short of money now and can make a living, so she doesn't need to lower herself to become a concubine in a wealthy family just to help her family.
Wealthy families, when marrying a principal wife or a concubine, always require that the couple be of equal social standing.
Therefore, no matter how Zhou Tao thought about it, she felt that it was impossible for her and Lu Qian to be together.
Before they got to know each other, she had a so-so impression of Lu Qian, but after they became familiar with each other, she realized that he was a good person and that he treated her well, just like his older brothers, so she always regarded him as an older brother.
She really didn't expect him to have such feelings for her.
When Lu Qian saw Zhou Tao instinctively back away, his heart ached. Was she afraid of him?
"Cough, it's alright, thank you, Brother Lu. I'm full, shall we go?" Zhou Tao felt a little down when she saw the hurt look in his eyes, but she could only try to put on a not-too-bad smile and said to Lu Qian.
"Okay, let's go!" Lu Qian went over to pay the bill and left with Zhou Tao.
When they come to eat, they usually pay the bill like ordinary customers.
The shopkeeper knew this was the owner, but since there was a girl with the owner, he just greeted them as ordinary customers.
After they went outside, Lu Qian accompanied Zhou Tao into the carriage, which headed north of the town.
Zhou Tao sat quietly opposite Lu Qian in the carriage, silently lowering her head and pondering. She thought about how Lu Qian's attitude towards her had changed since her family and Lu Qian had become closer. The more she thought about it, the more she realized how slow she had been to notice that he looked at her differently than he looked at others.
However, Zhou Tao was a very practical girl. She never had any unrealistic fantasies in her mind. Therefore, she never thought that a handsome and wealthy young master like Lu Qian would take a fancy to a little girl like her.
Even when Lu Qian initially pretended to marry Zhou Tao and flirted with her in order to get closer to Li Mai, Zhou Tao knew that Lu Qian was just putting on an act and that he just wanted to do business with his sister-in-law.
After they became more familiar with each other, Lu Qian stopped teasing her and started calling her "Little Peach Sister." He also always helped them, so she started to see him as an older brother from next door. She couldn't even remember when Lu Qian stopped calling her "Little Peach Sister."
Now he calls her Xiao Tao.
"Xiao Tao, are you not going to talk to Brother Lu anymore?" Lu Qian kept staring at Zhou Tao across from him. Seeing her head bowed in thought, he felt a little sad and asked softly.
Zhou Tao looked up at him, shook her head, and said with an innocent expression, "Say it, why won't you say it? Brother Lu is the kindest stranger to me besides my family. I'm always grateful to you for helping us!"
Lu Qian listened quietly. An outsider?
"Well, I know Brother Lu is good to you. Did you like the food today?"
Lu Qian changed the subject. He felt that the girl was still too young and he shouldn't push her too hard. He should take it slow, otherwise she would really stop paying attention to him, and in the end, he would be the only one who would suffer.
"Hmm, it's pretty good, but I think it's still a little inferior to what my sister-in-law makes," Zhou Tao said frankly.
Lu Qian smiled and nodded, "Hmm, you've got a pretty sharp tongue!"
"Hehe!" Zhou Tao chuckled twice, then said nothing more.
They soon arrived at the gate of Madam Qi's courtyard. Lu Qian jumped down first and reached out to help Zhou Tao, but she jumped down herself without offering her hand to Lu Qian.
"Thank you for seeing me off, Brother Lu. You should hurry back to your business at the restaurant!" Zhou Tao took the zither he handed her, waved to him, and ran into Madam Qi's courtyard with her zither in her arms.
Lu Qian originally wanted to accompany her inside, but seeing how fast the little girl ran, he could only stand at the gate and watch silently until her figure was completely out of sight before he got into the carriage and returned to his residence.
Zhou Tao wasn't at the shop, and he didn't want to go to the restaurant either.
Upon returning to the Lu residence, he encountered the old woman who served his mother waiting in the outer courtyard, who asked him to go to the main courtyard.
Lu Qian walked over listlessly. When Madam Lu saw that he looked so listless, she asked him worriedly if he was feeling unwell.
Lu Qian shook his head and said he was fine and wanted to go back to sleep for a while.
Madam Lu sighed, "Qian'er, your aunt sent someone over today, saying she wants to arrange a marriage between our family and us. I want to see what you think. We'll be meeting your aunt in a few days for your maternal grandfather's birthday, and we need to give her our feedback!"
Upon hearing this, Lu Qian felt as if he had been pricked by a needle and hurriedly shook his head, "No, I don't agree, Mother. I don't like Cousin Li Yao and I don't want to marry her. I absolutely cannot agree to this."
He has finally managed to infiltrate the Zhou family, and the two elders, Zhou Quan and Li Mai, no longer object to his approaching Xiao Tao. If this kind of thing comes out now, will he still be able to gain Zhou Quan and Li Mai's trust in the future?
His Xiaotao would be even less likely to agree to marry him in the future.
"Qian'er, do you really plan to marry only this Zhou family girl as your wife? Our Lu family is such a large business, do you think she can manage it all by herself?" Madam Lu asked softly.
"Mother, what do you mean by that? Do you think your son is a good-for-nothing? Is this huge family business only for my wife to manage? Xiao Tao is still young. I will teach her little by little after she marries into the family. Did you know everything when you first entered the Lu family? Or is it that the Lu family business is now being managed by Father's concubines?"
Lu Qian was already in a bad mood. He thought that after he brought back the gifts from the Zhou family a few days ago, his parents would be waiting to help him propose marriage to the Zhou family. However, he did not expect that his mother would cause trouble at this critical moment.
Madam Lu's expression froze at her son's words, and her face turned somewhat unpleasant.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com