CH 121

The three hooligans had just come to look for trouble. They ignored Ms. Zhao and rushed in, scaring the girls and making them scream.

Chuzi tried to stop them, but was pushed to the ground. Ms. Zhao stepped forward to stop them, and secretly signalled him to get Lu Junming. He got up and ran away, ignored by the three hooligans.

They wanted to walk around her, but Ms. Zhao calmly said to the girls, “Girls, don’t be afraid, go inside and drink tea.”

They all ran into the house and closed the door. The three hooligans kept looking past Ms. Zhao, with one about to start drooling.

She used her arms to block them, and one of them looked her up and down, and then smiled, “Brothers, this one is not bad. She’s older, but still has charm, she’ll taste much better than those young girls.”

The three laughed and stretched out their hands to grab Ms. Zhao, but she didn’t dodge and slapped one of them in the face. The man, enraged from embarrassment, raised his fist to hit Ms. Zhao.

She subconsciously turned her head to the side and closed her eyes. She heard two “pops”, but Jiao Shididn’t feel any pain. She opened her eyes and saw that two of the three hooligans were covering their faces and hiding to the side, while the final one hid further away. Standing in front of her was a tall, burly man with a slightly dark complexion.

“Brother Yuanling!”

That was Lu Hong’s nickname.

Lu Hong shouted “Get out”, and they immediately fled.

The girls came out of the house and asked who he was. Ms. Zhao didn’t know how to answer, and Lu Hong replied, “I’m her husband. She came here with her son after some arguments with me.”

Although he was unarmed and unarmoured, he still had a general’s aura. The girls all praised them for being an excellent match, and left one after another.

Lu Junming had just dismounted, and ran in with a horse whip in his hand when he saw Lu Hong and Ms. Zhao entering the main room side by side.

Lu Hong said, “Lan’er, you left without saying a word. Don’t tell me you hate me that much and want to leave me.”

“No, Brother Yuanling, I just don’t want to disappoint Ming’er.”

The two of them were very affectionate, and Lu Junming’s previous efforts to oppose their relationship were superfluous and ignored.

He was about to leave, when Chuzi ran in, “Are you leaving already?”

Lu Hong and Jiao Shi called “Ming’er” in unison. He pouted and said, “You guys are so loving, I shouldn’t separate you. Everything I do is superfluous, even I’m superfluous!”

He turned around and ran out. Ms. Zhaao said, “Don’t worry about him, he has many friends here, he’s happier here than in the Upper Valley!”

“What about you? How are you doing here?”

“Being with a group of girls all day, I feel at ease!”

“Then what about me? Just a passerby in your fate?”

She Jiao looked at Lu Hong sideways, with thousands of meanings hidden in her eyes: “Brother Yuanling, it’s my blessing to meet you in this life, but it’s a pity I met you too late. I hope we can meet sooner in the next life.”

He held her lightly.

He returned to the workshop, got off his horse angrily, then threw his whip into the house after letting it enter the stable. Chi Jie and Ze Wu had just come in and asked, “Junming, who angered you?”

Lu Junming sat down, picked up the teacup on the table, and drank. The tea in it was already cold, and he said after drinking, “Ze Wu, why is the tea cold?”

Chi Jie stood in front of him and didn’t take a seat, “There’s no reason for you to get angry at me. Ze Wu is mine, so why are you scolding him? Besides, it was always cold, and I wanted to use it to water the flowers. Who told you to drink it?”

Lu Junming also knew he shouldn’t lose his temper. He sighed and said, “My father is here. Did you tell him where we are? Otherwise, how would he have found my mother’s place?”

Only then did Chi Jie sit down, “Your father isn’t brainless, he can think. He also has a mouth and can ask questions, why would he need me to tell me?”

“It wasn’t you?”

“It’s not related to me.”

“Then I’ll treat you to dinner.”

“I want to eat well!”

The two of them laughed away their grievances, and ordered Ze Wu to go to Dengyun Tower to order food. As soon as the food arrived, Mo Yan came, holding the account book in her hand. She had to settle the accounts no matter what.

They had just sat down when Chuzi came, saying there was no room for him in Jiaolan Courtyard. Mo Yan was puzzled, when he said mysteriously, “Big brother’s father is here.”

“So don’t they need you to serve them even more?”

He crossed his hands together, rubbing and twisting, and she immediately understood. She smiled strangely at Lu Junming, “Then you’ll have younger siblings soon.”

Chi Jie suppressed a smile as Lu Junming tapped his chopsticks on the edge of his bowl, “Is there not enough food to stop you from eating? Let’s ask Ze Wu to order more.”

Chi Jie said, “Don’t torment my Ze Wu if you have nothing to do, they’re the ones talking about your family, not me.”

“Let’s eat!”

Mo Yan and Chuzi were communicating non-verbally when Zhou Liangsheng also came, “Brother, I heard that you’re going to open a workshop here. I came to see if I could help.”

Mo Yan asked, “Don’t you have to go to school?”

“My school’s on break today.”

Zhao’er was the only one missing. He was a doctor’s apprentice, so he probably wouldn’t show up.

As soon as they finished speaking, Zhao’er’s delicate voice came from the yard, “Brothers, big sister Yan’er?”

Mo Yan smiled and said, “Zhao’er, come in quickly.”

Chi Jie asked, “Jun Ming, are these all your friends?”

Lu Junming nodded, “To be exact, they’re all my sworn brothers.”

“You guys are actually sworn siblings, why didn’t you call me?”

“You weren’t there at the time!”

“That won’t work. Let’s swear me in as well.”

“It’s not child’s play to be sworn siblings. We did a serious ceremony.”

“I don’t care, I’ll become your sworn brother as well.”

Chuzi said, “What’s wrong?”

Lu Junming glared at him fiercely, and whispered, “He’s older than me.”

Only then did everyone understand he didn’t want to swear Chi Jie because he didn’t want to lose his position as the eldest brother. Now Chi Jie insisted on it, he said, “Chi Jie, you and I have been good friends from the beginning. There’s no need for us to be sworn brothers when we’re already like brothers. Come on, call him brother Chi.”

They tactfully called him “Brother Chi” before Chi Jie left it be.

With the extra people, there really wasn’t enough food, and they didn’t want to bother Ze Wu any more, so Chuzi volunteered. He galloped away on Lu Junming’s horse.

Mo Yan asked Zhao’er, “Why aren’t you at the clinic?”

Zhao’er replied bitterly, “Master’s health has been very bad for the past few days. He keeps coughing, has a poor appetite, and is extremely tired. He went back to rest early today.”

Post-translation notes: Only Lu Junming can be this petty. As always, thank you for reading!