Yan Huan shook her head. She couldn’t remember how many times it had been. She exhaled dismally. She had to wait for her hand to recover before she can take on another drama offer. How can she act with her hand like this?
And which drama? It had to be Su Muran’s one. She wouldn’t have gone for it had she not seen Su Muran and Lu Qin’s names on the cast list.
She gave them time to grow, and now it was time for the test. Hopefully, they wouldn’t make her regret her decision too much.
Still, she couldn’t lift her spirits. Staring at the dishes on the table, she wondered if her mother was like the aunty in her days of being a nanny.
Mom was always smiling, never complaining about her employers. She didn’t understand many things when she was little, and only knew that her mother’s job was to serve others after growing up.
She didn’t like that. Her mother should have been spending her days dressed in pretty clothes and shopping with friends and doing facial treatment, not washing all sorts of dishes with her hands soaked in dishwashing liquid. Her mother should have been drinking refined coffee, not boiled water. Her mother should have been playing the piano and attending balls, like what nobles do.
Her mother was beautiful. It shouldn’t have been that way.
She felt a tingling sensation at her nose. It was painful and uncomfortable. She missed her mother.
“Thinking about your mother?” asked Lu Yi, sitting down and placing his large hand on her face. As expected, her eyes were red.
“Mhm,” nodded Yan Huan. “I gave the nanny a bonus for her birthday. It reminded me of when I was little and my mother got a bonus of a few hundred dollars when she was working as a nanny. I can celebrate my Huanhuan’s birthday now, she would tell me, I’ll buy you cakes and pretty dresses.”
Lu Yi rubbed her head. “Let’s visit your mother soon, alright?”
Yan Huan looked up and nodded. She hadn’t shown Lu Yi to her mother yet. She had been so busy filming that she hadn’t had time to visit her mom in a long time. She will show Lu Yi to her mother, and she would like that. She would be happy for her for finding such a good husband.
“Let’s go eat,” said Lu Yi, rising and carrying her up in his arms. He doted on her as though she was a little girl. It made Yan Huan wonder just how blind she was to fall for a scumbag like Lu Qin and hate a good man like Lu Yi.
She only found out at the very end.
Some people were beasts beneath human skin, capable of any atrocity.
He was born with an icy face and menacing looks, but he was the most just of them all.
In her previous life, she had let him down. She swore she wouldn’t make the same mistake twice.
Lu Yi picked up more food with his chopsticks and put them in Yan Huan’s bowl. He waited for her to begin eating before telling her about his schedule for the next day.
“We are going to the Classical Garden tomorrow,” he said.
“I see…” said Yan Huan with little emotions. “Has your grandpa finally remembered about you?”
Lu Yi raised an eyebrow.
“Got something to say?”
“No,” Yan Huan shook her head. “Was your father really not adopted?”
“Who knows,” said Lu Yi. It mattered little to him. They both had the same surname, and that was enough for him.
“Not bringing me along?” asked Yan Huan sullenly as she kicked at the table.
“You want to go?” asked Lu Yi, putting more food into her bowl. Feeding her has become an easier task since she would eat whatever she was given. Hopefully, she’ll put on some weight soon.
“No,” said Yan Huan, looking down and eating. Not at all. Old Master Lu was always sarcastic towards her, as though she had just been released from prison and would pollute the air around her, as though she were a waste of rice.
She wasn’t thick-skinned or a masochist, and she could do without his scoldings. Even though he was Lu Yi’s grandfather, she had suffered enough from her in her two lives.
“Then don’t go,” said Lu Yi. He wouldn’t force Yan Huan to do anything against her wishes. In fact, he wasn’t intending on letting her tag along in the first place.
That made Yan Huan’s appetite a lot better, and she ate an additional bowl of rice at dinner. If only she always had such a good appetite, though Lu Yi.
Unfortunately, she had a small appetite and a hard time putting on weight. How worrying.
Lu Yi went over to his parents’ place early in the morning the next day since he didn’t have to work on the weekends. Still, he was surprised as to why his grandpa wanted to have them over. He had been giving them the cold shoulder for a few months.
He didn’t bother asking either. Whatever Old Master Lu had in mind, he would soon find out. Making speculations was a mere waste of time.
Lu Yi drove to Old Master Lu ‘s residence, the Classical Garden, a mansion that had endured hundreds of years and remained completely intact even during wartimes. That alone spoke for Lu Family’s influence back then.
When Lu Yi pulled up outside the mansion, he noticed a few more cars than usual, among which Lu Qin’s million-dollar sports car.
Guests. Military cars. Lu Yi’s gaze stopped at the military car plate number at the back of the cars.
“Any idea who the guests are?” Lu Yi asked Lu Jin as he pushed the door open.
Lu Jin shook his head. “I didn’t ask. Must be the old man’s friends.” Did he know them? Lu Jin had no idea who it was or which military zone the car belonged to.
As expected, they found guests when they entered. A lot of guests. One of them made Lu Yi’s eyes darken.
Oh, it’s Miao Xinyuan.
Out of prison.
Thinking of it, it was about time. Almost a year had passed, and Lu Yi wouldn’t be surprised at all if she was released on parole. The Miso Family was powerful, and getting Miao Xinyuan out was nothing difficult.
Most people from their generation only have one child, so they would do whatever it takes to get Miao Xinyuan out.
Old Master Lu wasn’t very happy to see them.
“Told you you were adopted,” whispered Ye Shuyun.
Lu Jin remained silent.
On the other end, Lu Qin and his mother watched them as though it was none of their business. Best if the old man drove the Lu Jin family out of the family. With Lu Jim’s status, they didn’t need the Lu Family anyway.
Lu Qin and his mother, on the other hand, desperately needed the Lu Family.