The car stopped in front of a residence, and Lu Hanmo got out, pulling Luo Shu along with him.
He knocked gently on the door, and soon after, a middle-aged woman came to open it.
"Hanmo, how come you’re here?" the middle-aged woman revealed a hint of surprise upon seeing Lu Hanmo.
"Aunt Fang!" Lu Hanmo greeted the woman with a smile. The middle-aged woman before him was his maternal aunt; after she married into Cloud City, he often visited her, and they had a very good relationship.
Fang Menghua smiled and nodded, turning her gaze to Luo Shu standing next to Lu Hanmo.
"Aunt Fang, this is my girlfriend Luo Shu, Shushu, she is Aunt Fang," Lu Hanmo introduced the two of them.
"Hello, Aunt Fang!" Luo Shu greeted Fang Menghua with a smile.
"Hello! Please come in and have a seat," Fang Menghua said cheerfully, nodding at Luo Shu and stepping aside to let them in.
"Aunt Fang, Shushu had an exam today, and the venue was just around the corner, so we thought of dropping by for a meal," Lu Hanmo said with a laugh. Because they were close, he spoke to her quite casually.
Fang Menghua gave Lu Hanmo a playful look, "My home is your home, what’s this about dropping by for a meal? Come and sit down, I just happened to buy a big fat fish today, I’ll cook it for you. Shushu, you must have more exams this afternoon, right? You definitely need to eat well." With that, she had already headed towards the kitchen.
Lu Hanmo pulled Luo Shu into the house, where everything was very clean. Although the furnishings were simple—a square table, several stools, and a rectangular altar table—the place felt very comfortable.
Sitting down in a chair, Lu Hanmo began, "Aunt Fang is my mom’s cousin, and among all the sisters, she and my mom have the closest relationship. When I was a child, Aunt Fang often visited our house, so we’ve always been close. Later, she married off to Cloud City; her husband was a Guard Member, but he sacrificed his life in a battle. These years, Aunt Fang has been alone, and I always come to see her whenever I get a chance. That’s why we are so close."
Luo Shu nodded in understanding, "It’s obvious!" She could tell from the way Hanmo was talking to Aunt Fang that they were very close. Hanmo only let his guard down with his own people.
"Aunt Fang cooks delicious food, you’ll definitely like it," Lu Hanmo said with a smile.
"You sit down, I’ll go to the kitchen and see if there’s anything I can help with," Luo Shu stood up and said. Although Hanmo and Aunt Fang were close, she still didn’t want to impose.
"I’ll go with you!" Lu Hanmo stood up and took Luo Shu by the hand, walking towards the kitchen.
Aunt Fang was very efficient; in just a short time, she had killed and cleaned the fish. Seeing Lu Hanmo and Luo Shu enter, she said with a smile, "Why didn’t you two sit down?"
"Aunt Fang, let me help you," Luo Shu offered as she approached.
"No need, I can manage by myself. Just sit down," Aunt Fang replied with a smile, shaking her head while not slowing down her movements. She put the clean fish aside and began washing the pot to cook it.
"Then I’ll help you wash the vegetables," Luo Shu offered, noticing the greens in the basin.
"Alright, then I’ll trouble you with that," Aunt Fang replied, her eyes full of approval as she watched Luo Shu. She placed the clean pot on the coal stove, poured the oil in, and waited for it to heat up.
Lu Hanmo fetched a few coal briquettes from the firewood house using fire tongs and placed them to one side. Seeing that the kitchen business was all taken care of by the two women, he could only take a little stool to sit by, chatting with them.
It took less than half an hour for a pot of delicious and appetizing fish soup and several side dishes to be served at the table.
"Luo Shu, eat more, don’t be shy here, just make yourself at home," Fang Menghua ladled a piece of fish into Luo Shu’s bowl with a spoon.
Luo Shu smiled and nodded, picking up a piece of fish from her bowl and tasting it, "Aunt Fang, your cooking skills are really good!"
"Glad you like it, feel free to come by more often." Fang Menghua glanced at Lu Hanmo and said with a smile, "I’ve always worried that this boy would never find a wife, always with a cold face, like an icicle. Which girl would like that? But I’m not worried anymore."
"Aunt Fang, you are right, I was almost scared off by him at the beginning," Luo Shu said with a smile, making a funny face at Lu Hanmo.
Lu Hanmo smiled helplessly yet affectionately.
"Hanmo is just like that, cool on the outside but warm inside. He’ll surely be tender with his wife in the future," Fang Menghua said with a chuckle, looking at Lu Hanmo, "Hanmo, aren’t you going to serve Luo Shu some dishes?"
Lu Hanmo nodded with a smile and placed a piece of fish he had just carefully deboned into Luo Shu’s bowl.
Luo Shu gave Lu Hanmo a radiant smile. She understood his kindness.
Fang Menghua watched the two of them, her eyes filled with tender affection.
After the meal, and a little chat with Fang Menghua, Luo Shu and Lu Hanmo excused themselves and headed back to the examination hall.
It was now the hottest part of noon, and the examination hall felt like a steam sauna.
Everyone was drenched in sweat, fanning themselves non-stop with their draft papers. Although people were somewhat calmer than in the morning, the weather made them irritable.
Luo Shu went to her seat and had just sat down when the girl sitting in front of her turned around.
The girl studied Luo Shu for a moment and asked in surprise, "Aren’t you hot?" Everyone in the classroom was sweating buckets except for Luo Shu, who looked as fresh as if she was living in a different season altogether.
"I’m fine," Luo Shu said with a smile, shaking her head. This temperature, naturally, didn’t affect her much.
"Do you have some health issue? How can you not be hot?" the girl exclaimed incredulously.
The surrounding people also turned their heads to look, and seeing Luo Shu’s demeanor, they all showed expressions of surprise and envy.
Luo Shu just smiled and did not explain, bowing her head to begin preparing her scratch paper and stationery for the exam.
The invigilator walked in from outside, also covered in sweat, with a large patch of his shirt soaked. He was wiping the sweat off his face with a handkerchief as he walked.
Reaching the center of the lectern, he set down the exam papers in his hand, and addressed the seated students, "Ladies and Gentlemen! We are about to start the mathematics examination, please get your scratch paper and pencils ready. The weather is quite hot, let’s all try to bear with it."