At this moment, she was sitting on a chair in front of the main room door, pinching a handful of melon seeds in her hand, looking at her son. The more she looked at him, the more she disliked him. When he came home, she was even too lazy to get up.
Lu Huaiyan looked puzzled. He lowered his eyes to look at her and called out tentatively, "Mom?"
Cheng Nianhua curled his lips and threw a handful of melon seed shells into the dustpan. His face was full of dissatisfaction as he complained, "Why did I give birth to such an incompetent son? Otherwise, if the engagement was successful, I would be living with my daughter-in-law."
"Alas, my daughter-in-law..."
Cheng Nianhua had a look of regret on his face. He felt more and more displeased with Lu Huaiyan and kept lamenting.
Lu Huaiyan: “…”
Ever since he broke off the engagement with Jiang Xiachu, this ancestor has been muttering about her whenever he sees her.
But he didn't argue with Cheng Nianhua. He raised the information in his hand and said, "Mom, I have other things to do later, so I'll leave first."
After saying this, he strode out of the compound.
There were two men standing at the gate of the compound. They were Lu Huaiyan's comrades-in-arms and childhood friends. As soon as they saw Lu Huaiyan coming out of his house, they walked up to him and walked with him.
There was no movement in the alley, only the sound of three people's footsteps.
When they reached the fork in the alley, the three of them heard the voices of a few middle-aged women sitting on small stools at the corner, talking and cracking melon seeds.
Lu Huaiyan was not interested in these groundless gossips. He ignored them and was about to move forward when he suddenly heard a familiar name.
"I heard from Aunt Niu that the girl with the rotten face from the He family is going to participate in the assessment of the art troupe?"
"You just found out about it. It was all over the place a few days ago. Isn't that right? With her condition, how could she possibly pass the exam? I think my Arya could do better than her if she took the exam."
"As for her, I think she is just daydreaming too much. If she passes the exam, I will have to go and try my luck in the next class."
As soon as the woman said this, there was a burst of laughter.
Several women who were eating melon seeds laughed non-stop and echoed: "Okay, I'll join you then! Haha!"
Pei Yunchen listened to their chatter with a speechless look on his face. He looked at Lu Huaiyan and shrugged, "Alas, they have been talking about this for the past two days. My ears are almost callused from listening to it."
Lu Huaiyan's expression was now much colder than before. He stopped where he was and stared at the backs of those people in silence.
He's been talking about it for the past two days? He just found out about it.
Lu Huaiyan strode forward with a cold face and stopped directly in front of the women. He looked cold and serious, and said in a deep voice: "Don't speak ill of a little girl like this. Jiang Xiachu is a very good girl, but you just don't know it."
"With her ability, it won't be a problem for her to join the art troupe."
Several middle-aged women looked up at him in confusion, not understanding what Lu Huaiyan meant.
Aren’t you not married?
Can't they just chat a little? Why are they so protective of their shortcomings? If you don't know, you would think they have violated the law.
Pei Yunchen stood there in a daze, looking at the man in front of him, his face full of shock.
Is this still the childhood friend he has played with for many years?
Why did he feel like he didn't know him anymore?
The engagement has been cancelled, why are you still protecting him?
But soon, the surprise on his face disappeared.
Huai Yan has always treated Jiang Xia Chu as his younger sister, so it is normal for him to protect her when he hears someone saying something bad about his sister.
After all, what they said was so harsh that even he couldn't bear to listen to it and wanted to scold them.
After Lu Huaiyan finished speaking, he didn't argue with these women any further and just left.
As they were afraid it would be difficult to enter the alley, they did not drive the car in and parked it on the main road outside.
The three of them walked along and soon arrived at Wanshun Hutong.
When passing by Lin Qingli's house, Lu Huaiyan stopped for a moment, looked at the tightly closed gate, and frowned slightly.
Just now he happened to hear an aunt passing by say that Lin Qingli's house had kept its door closed these days as they prepared for the art troupe assessment in a few days.
He took another look, but did not stay for long and left quickly.
After returning to the army, Lu Huaiyan sat in a chair, looking at the information in his hand, but his mind was not on the information.
He looked up at Pei Yunchen beside him, frowned and asked, "Do you know the schedule for the art troupe's assessment?"
Pei Yunchen was busy with something in his hands. He didn't look up and responded nonchalantly: "Art Troupe, I don't know. It's not my responsibility."
"No, the art troupe?"
After realizing what was happening, Pei Yunchen froze in his tracks. He looked up at Lu Huaiyan in disbelief.
He frowned and looked at his face again and again with suspicion, "Why are you asking about the art troupe? For Jiang Xiachu?"
Although it was a questioning tone, he already knew the answer without waiting for Lu Huaiyan to answer.
"I'm going to go take a look." Lu Huaiyan did not answer him directly, but the meaning was self-evident.
Pei Yunchen was shocked and looked at him with wide eyes, "Are you going to give Jiang Xiachu a backdoor? Isn't that a bad idea?"
Hearing his words, Lu Huaiyan glanced at him speechlessly, his face cold, "Shut up."
Pei Yunchen: "..."
"oh."
-
After dealing with matters with Lu Huaiyan, Jiang Xiachu focused all his attention on the assessment and seldom went out. He made the most of the last few days to practice with Lin Qingli.
Many neighbors in Wanshun Hutong were very optimistic about the two of them, and every day they would either send them some meat or other rare things.
These past few days, everything has been going exceptionally smoothly.
Soon, the day for the art troupe's assessment arrived.
Although the two had been practicing non-stop over the past few days and were almost ready, when the day really came, Lin Qingli was still a little nervous.
Before going to bed last night, she had been holding Jiang Xiachu's hand, repeating to him over and over again that he must not make any mistakes and must perform beyond his expectations.
Compared to Lin Qingli, Jiang Xiachu seemed much calmer.
She patted Lin Qingli's hand gently and soothed her in a gentle voice, "Qingli, you have practiced very well these past few days. You will definitely pass the exam. Don't be nervous. The most important thing is your attitude."
"Drink some Pangdahai tea tomorrow to protect your throat."
With Jiang Xiachu's comfort, Lin Qingli felt much better. After mumbling for a while, he soon fell asleep.
The next morning, Lin Qingli suddenly woke up from her sleep, as if she suddenly remembered something.
Jiang Xiachu woke up earlier than her. When he saw her suddenly sit up from the bed, he was shocked. "What's wrong?"
Lin Qingli cried out "Ouch!", covering her face and wailing, "It's over. I have an exam today and I actually forgot to buy some lipstick and blush in advance. I never used to wear makeup, so without these things, am I going to take the exam with a face that looks like it just plowed ten acres of land?"
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