Chapter 78: Chapter 0078: First Visit to the Lu Family2_1 Chapter 78: Chapter 0078: First Visit to the Lu Family2_1 Upon seeing these items, Lu Jiang immediately said, “Qingxue, you’re too kind.”
Feng Qingxue chuckled, “You shouldn’t be so modest with me. These aren’t anything particularly valuable.”
“Even if they aren’t valuable, they’re still hard to come by. Good girl, you’re so thoughtful.” Both Lu Jiang and his father knew these items were in short supply, often limited for sale, and priceless.
The implication was that even if you had the money, you had nowhere to buy them.
Take their city dwellers’ lives as an example; each person had an annual supply of half a pound of peanuts in their shells or half a pound of sunflower seeds, only available during the New Year festivities and always in high demand.
In his military unit, Lu Jiang had enough to eat, but most of his meals were simple and plain and these scarce goods were also rationed.
They couldn’t help but admire Feng Qingxue for managing to get these items and realized they had underestimated her.
Due to Lu Family’s unfavorable social standing, the people of Wanglou Brigade kept their distance. Even though they knew Lu Jiang would be welcoming Feng Qingxue home today, and there would be candies for the visiting neighbors, no one indulged in the spectacle.
Wang Zhengguo and his aunt did want to visit, but they were too worried it might draw attention to them – they decided it was better not to come.
Before this, the siblings had already informed Lu Father.
Lu Father wasn’t concerned, and he felt more at ease without outsiders intruding on them.
“Tianjun, Tianzhi, come over here!” Lu Tianjun pulled his younger brother Lu Tianzhi from behind the cowshed. As soon as they entered, they heard their grandfather’s voice calling them and rushed over instantly, curiously sizing up Feng Qingxue, their future aunt.
As the younger, Lu Tianzhi’s eyes widened upon this sight.
Feng Qingxue also recognized him. He was the child that she had encountered on her initial visit to the Wanglou Brigade, who was being verbally attacked by a group of children and called a “black fifth-class brat”. She hadn’t expected him to be Lu Jiang’s nephew!
“Aunt!” Lu Tianzhi burst out.
Lu Tianjun, who was a step behind, could only look at his brother helplessly and then called her aunt as well.
Even though Lu Jiang and Feng Qingxue hadn’t married yet, the engagement was practically confirmed, so it wasn’t inappropriate to call her aunt.
Feng Qingxue’s face flushed with embarrassment.
“You can call me Aunt Snow.” She tousled Lu Tianzhi’s hair; she didn’t mind the title, but also felt she couldn’t bear it yet.
Lu Father and Lu Jiang evidently understood this. Even though they were happy to hear the children call her aunt, they knew the title change should only take place after the wedding and decided to respect the courtesy. So, Lu Jiang said, “You should call her Aunt Snow for now.”
“Aunt Snow!” Lu Tianjun and Lu Tianzhi complied, changing their addresses.
But Lu Tianzhi, who was looking up at Feng Qingxue, seemed very pleased; his eyes reduced to slits from smiling.
Lu Father and Lu Jiang were puzzled. Lu Jiang asked promptly, “Tianzhi, do you know Aunt Snow?”
“Yes, I do! Didn’t I tell you, grandpa? That day when lots of people were chasing me to hit me, calling me a black fifth-class brat, a really beautiful auntie protected me. It was Aunt Snow!” For all his young age, Lu Tianzhi understood his lowly social status, and to have an aunt who didn’t care about that and was willing to treat him well, was a very happy thing.
His brother had told him in private that their future head of the household would certainly be their aunt. They needed to behave appropriately. Only if their aunt liked them, would they be able to grow up safely. If their aunt didn’t like them, they would have hard days ahead.