Chapter 37: Don’t Like

Chapter 37: Chapter 37: Don’t Like

Liu Lang’s pupils contracted. He quickly concealed this subtle change and resumed his honest appearance. "Sister-in-law Lu, I don’t know anything about what you’re talking about."

"If you haven’t mistaken me for someone else, then maybe my parents mentioned a marriage proposal to my second brother. But my second brother is already married, so I’ll have to ask about any previous arrangements to find out more."

Su Wan could see through his excuse but said nothing, only offering a faint smile. "That must be it."

"By the way, congratulations in advance on your wedding."

"Thank you, Sister-in-law." Liu Lang blushed as he thanked her. "Well, if there’s nothing else, Sister-in-law, I’ll head back. I don’t want to keep you and Battalion Commander Lu."

Su Wan nodded and watched Liu Lang leave.

As soon as Liu Lang left, Xu Yan walked over curiously and asked, "Wanwan, you know Liu Lang?"

Xu Yan had changed how she addressed her. Su Wan didn’t dwell on the reason and accepted the friendly gesture.

"We just met. I heard he’s Comrade Liu Xiangju’s fiancé and they’re getting married in a week." Su Wan didn’t go into detail about matters from the village.

She wasn’t about to spread the news about Zheng Zhizhi. If it got back to Zheng Zhizhi, who knew what kind of ridiculous trouble she would stir up for her.

"Liu Xiangju is a female soldier in our song and dance troupe. I know Liu Lang, too. To be honest, I’m quite surprised they’re suddenly getting married."

"Oh? Why are you surprised? They must have been dating for a while, right? Otherwise, Aunt Liu wouldn’t be so enthusiastic about arranging their wedding." Su Wan really hadn’t seen any sign of dissatisfaction with Liu Lang from Aunt Liu.

’With Aunt Liu’s resourcefulness, if there was something wrong with Liu Lang, she would have definitely heard some gossip.’

’From the very beginning, Su Wan’s suspicion was about why Liu Cong, in her precognitive dream, had personally gone to visit the Zheng Family after they ran into trouble.’

’The crucial part was that, at the time, she noticed the Zheng Family’s mood had clearly improved after Liu Cong’s visit.’

’She didn’t know what the Liu Family had given the Zheng Family.’ ℯℯ𝑙.

’That was also why she had just tried to sound out Liu Lang.’

"Because Liu Lang and Liu Xiangju have actually known each other for less than two months. After Liu Lang was promoted to lieutenant, he was away on missions for a long time."

Su Wan nodded thoughtfully. "Well, maybe they just get along really well, so it’s normal for them to get married after knowing each other for a short time. Even though Lu Zhengchuan and I are from the same village, we rarely ever saw each other. If he hadn’t come to propose marriage three months ago, we wouldn’t be married either."

Xu Yan immediately felt a pang of jealousy upon hearing this.

"You’re so lucky! To think Battalion Commander Lu was the one who proposed."

’Su Wan felt a bit strange. She’d never thought about being friends with a love rival, but it seemed Xu Yan thought she was a good person?’

"...You’re lucky too. Better off than Zheng Zhizhi," Su Wan offered, her attempt at comfort feeling forced.

Xu Yan choked, half-suspecting Su Wan was getting back at her.

’To think she’d compare me to Zheng Zhizhi.’

"...Anyway, let’s talk about Liu Lang. I’m sure he doesn’t like Liu Xiangju," Xu Yan said with certainty.

Su Wan looked up in surprise. "How do you know?"

"Because I’ve seen them meet and exchange gifts several times. What Liu Xiangju didn’t see was that after Liu Lang left, he would go buy twice as much stuff and mail it away."

Su Wan also sensed something was wrong. ’Even if it was just a coincidence that he was mailing things each time, there would be no reason to buy the exact same things.’

"Do you know what he bought?"

Su Wan had a few guesses in mind.

"Daily necessities. Soap, White Rabbit creamy candies, shortbread cookies, and so on," Xu Yan said.

Su Wan was suddenly struck by a thought. For a long time, Zheng Zhizhi had been eating quite well. She had previously assumed Lu Zhengchuan was the one sending her things, but now it seemed it might have been the Liu Family.

"Xu Yan, we’re leaving!" some female soldiers called to her from a distance.

Xu Yan quickly answered, "Coming!"

"Wanwan, I’ll come find you at the family courtyard to hang out sometime!" After saying goodbye to Su Wan, Xu Yan left, carrying her enamel basin.

Su Wan nodded and said okay.

"What are you doing just standing here?"

Inside the bathhouse, Lu Zhengchuan had just finished showering. A few soldiers gathered around him, and one tugged at his arm, saying, "Battalion Commander Lu, is that your wife outside? We saw her talking to Lieutenant Liu Lang."

"Liu Lang?" Lu Zhengchuan paused.

"Yeah. We don’t know what they were talking about, but they were at it for a while."

Lu Zhengchuan walked to the entrance of the bathhouse, his eyes immediately landing on her figure standing by the road.

"There are always so many couples hanging around outside the bathhouse."

"They look so good together."

"Yeah, that white dress is pretty."

Soldiers passing by the bathhouse entrance commented casually.

Lu Zhengchuan’s face darkened. His eyes were fixed on Su Wan, the one wearing the white dress.

Hearing from others that his wife looked good with another man, Lu Zhengchuan’s grip on his enamel basin tightened.

-

When Lu Zhengchuan came out, he saw her standing by the side of the road, lost in thought.

He strode over to Su Wan’s side in a few quick steps and wrapped an arm around her waist, the stiff movement betraying his possessiveness.

Su Wan didn’t understand why he was suddenly being so rough. She furrowed her brow and let out a soft cry. "You’re hurting me."

As she spoke, she reached out to rub her lower back.

Lu Zhengchuan’s face was grim. "Who were you just talking to?"

Su Wan immediately detected the accusatory tone in his voice.

"I was talking to Liu Lang. What about it?" Su Wan looked up, her eyes narrowed as she stared at him.

Lu Zhengchuan frowned. "What do you have to talk to him about? Didn’t I ask Xu Yan to keep you company?"

"If you needed something, you could have called Xu Yan over. Why were you standing alone with Liu Lang?"

Su Wan laughed in anger at his words and immediately shot back, "Are you suspecting me of having an affair with Liu Lang?"

"No, I’m not. It’s just that if people see you, it could easily lead to misunderstandings. Besides, you were talking to him alone. What if he’s a bad person and tries something? What would happen to the baby in your belly?"

"’What would happen to the baby?’" Su Wan had suspected for the past few days that Lu Zhengchuan was only nice to her because of the baby. As for what he’d said before, about noticing her back in the brigade, it was probably just because he was taken with her looks. Now, her suspicion was confirmed, and her heart filled with disappointment.

"Yes!" Lu Zhengchuan frowned, stared at her for a few moments, then grabbed her wrist with his free left hand and started pulling her toward home.

Su Wan lost all desire to speak.

They were silent the entire way.

Once they got home, she washed up, went back to the room, and lay down on the bed.

"Big Brother, where am I sleeping?" Zhang Yun asked as she walked into the courtyard, seeing Lu Zhengchuan standing frozen in place for some reason.

Lu Zhengchuan glanced at the bedroom. "Why don’t you go ask your sister-in-law?"

"Sister-in-law is already asleep. She said you would arrange it."

No matter how dense Zhang Yun was, she could tell something was wrong. "Big Brother," she asked curiously, "did you and Sister-in-law have a fight?"

’Things seemed fine when they went out just now. How did they start fighting in the blink of an eye?’

"We didn’t fight," Lu Zhengchuan stubbornly refused to admit.

"Oh, well, as long as you didn’t fight." Zhang Yun was relieved, but then she had to ask again, "Big Brother, where do I sleep?"

Lu Zhengchuan looked at her, utterly exasperated. "Can’t you just put the long benches in the living room together to make a bed and sleep on that?"

Zhang Yun’s eyes widened!

’Big Brother is being too unreasonable! I’m a girl; it would be so uncomfortable to sleep like that.’

But half an hour later, Zhang Yun was asleep on the makeshift bed.

Lu Zhengchuan pushed open the bedroom door and went inside. He saw Su Wan sleeping on her side, her back to the door.