Chapter 103: Standing Punishment

If Lu Cheng says he's infertile, he'll inevitably become a target of gossip, and the neighbors and street folk will have no harsh words left to say.

Lu Cheng doing this is equivalent to shouldering all the rumors for her.

"You, why are you being so good to me? You don't have to do this; ever since I decided to go down to the countryside to Beidahuang, you haven't needed to…"

Lu Cheng shrugged: "I already said I have a purpose; when the time comes, just don't forget to give me the Siheyuan."

Watching Lu Cheng focus intently on picking cabbage, Lin Qingyan always feels that Lu Cheng's actions aren't as simple as just a Siheyuan on the surface.

"Lu Cheng, is it because you like me?"

Lu Cheng turned his head, grinned: "If you insist on getting tangled in that kind of explanation, I really don't know how to answer you."

That means he doesn't like her.

Lin Qingyan forced a smile, nodded: "Hmm, I understand. If you have a girl you like, just tell me, and I'll move out immediately."

Lu Cheng laughed, continued picking cabbage: "You're quite generous. After all, we're legally married now; are you starting to not mind me seeing other women?"

"I'm not meaning that; I just don't want to hold you back."

Lu Cheng clapped his hands: "I understand. Fine, let's drop the subject… Let's go, let my mom cook, and we head to Dong'an Shichang."

Lin Qingyan nodded, and Lu Cheng shouted toward Xi Er Fang: "Sister, I'm going with Qing Yanjie to grab cabbage, do you want to go?"

"Going, wait for me a moment."

When Lu Ying ran out of the house, seeing her sister's appearance, Lu Cheng and Lin Qingyan exchanged a surprised glance.

Lin Qingyan hurried forward: "Ying Ying, why did you cut your hair?"

No wonder Lu Ying has been cooped up in the house ever since she came back from the Cultural Palace.

Lu Ying's mindset adjusted quite quickly; she didn't feel any regret about cutting her hair, and said very decisively.

"I cut it myself; I want to say goodbye to the past."

"Say goodbye to the past?" Lin Qingyan still didn't know what was happening.

Lu Ying tossed her shoulder‑length hair: "Right, I don't want to get married at all now. I want to earn a lot of money, without relying on you stinky men."

Lu Cheng was speechless: "It's not, sis, don't slam the door on me, okay? Yeah, a good man like me is hard to find, but who knows, maybe one day I'll hit the jackpot."

Lu Ying rolled her eyes: "Then I also want to earn more, live carefree alone. By the way, Qing Yan, is your Tea Stall still hiring?"

Now, because the Tea Stall is doing well, workers' monthly wages have risen to over thirty yuan, whereas the Street Office's little tailor shop is not doing so well.

Every day it's just small sewing and mending jobs or making finished garments; it looks busy, but in reality, with so many people assigned, the tailor shop suffers heavy losses.

If the Street Office didn't cover the profit and loss and give fifteen yuan a month, they would have starved long ago.

But fifteen yuan isn't much either, and most of it gets coaxed away by Lu Cheng, so even wanting to watch a movie normally requires hesitating for several days.

Hearing that Lu Ying wants to work at the Tea Stall and they could commute together, Lin Qingyan was, of course, very happy.

"A few days ago we arranged some Educated Youth; officially we're not hiring, but…"

When she heard "not hiring," Lu Ying seemed disappointed, but hearing "but" indicated there was still room to maneuver.

"Qing Yan, but what?"

Lin Qingyan laughed: "But have Lu Cheng talk to Zhao Bin, go through his uncle, and arrange another person without problem; his uncle has been wanting to invite Lu Cheng to a meal."

Hearing that, Lu Ying immediately smiled at Lu Cheng.

Lu Cheng sat on the Tricycle seat, shook his shoulders: "Ah, this is a bit tiring."

Lu Ying immediately stepped forward, affectionately squeezing: "Little brother, good little brother."

Lu Cheng shivered all over: "Stop it, that's too cheesy; just call me dog little brother."

"Ah, look at you, between real siblings, aren't we just playing around! Sister's usually nice to you, right? Whenever you asked me for money, didn't I give it to you? So if sister's salary goes up, maybe she can give you a bit more."

Lu Cheng nodded: "Hmm, that does sound like something a sister would say. Fine, since my shoulder is meant to shield my big sister from wind and rain, after a few days of work I'll tell Binzi."

Lu Ying couldn't wait: "Then can't you say it today? You have time again."

Lu Cheng didn't want to say it today; it's hard enough to finally have a chance to get a hold on his sister.

"No, it's not. This matter is decided by you, not me. How I arrange it, you listen; if it really doesn't work, then you go yourself."

"Alright, alright! I'll listen to you, thanks, good little brother." Lu Ying bowed, and seeing Lu Cheng's smug look, she snarled behind him, as if wanting to pounce on him.

They grabbed another cart of cabbage, and when returning the Tricycle to the Backyard, they left a few heads in the frame on purpose.

After returning inside, Lu Cheng flopped onto his father's recliner: "Sister, come over and massage my shoulders; they're a bit sore."

Then Lu Ying, hopping around, came over and massaged for a while.

"Is it enough? My hands are getting sore."

Lu Cheng waved his hand: "It's okay enough; next time I'll put in a bit more effort."

Lu Ying rolled her eyes; just as she was about to rest, a moment later Lu Cheng called out again, "Sister, sister!"

"What are you barking again? I already gave you a massage."

Lu Cheng pointed a finger: "Watch your attitude. Still want to go to the Tea Stall? Go, pour me a cup of tea; I'm a bit thirsty."

Lu Ying took a deep breath and complied.

When the tea was brought, Lu Cheng also asked for the Newspaper, then asked for a cigarette.

Lu Ying clenched her fist, gritting her teeth, somehow endured these three days.

These three days were like serving the master; when Lu Cheng finally managed to get to work time, the exhausted Lu Ying wanted to buy firecrackers to celebrate.

"Lu Cheng, Grandma Liu and I have already agreed; we're just waiting for good news from your side. If you can't manage it, you see me…"

"Watch your attitude!"

Lu Ying nodded, resumed a smile, brought over her satchel, and personally bent over to hand it to Lu Cheng: "Take care, sir."

Lu Cheng took the bag: "Hmm, I'm going to be on duty with the car; I won't be home these days. You should take more care, don't sleep in late every day. You're an adult now, understand?"

"Alright, sir, thank you for your hard work." Lu Ying clenched her fist tightly, trying to keep a smile as she saw Lu Cheng out the door.

Regarding arranging people for the Tea Stall, others would need connections and gifts to get in, but once Lu Cheng spoke up, Zhao Bin didn't say a word and immediately promised his uncle's approval.

Afterwards, Lu Cheng went to the train platform; Liu Jian'an had arrived early, and when he saw the group leader arrive, he hurriedly rushed up to greet him.

"Jian'an, you came so early—where are the big guy and the other two?"

"Group Leader Lu, I was just about to tell you this; you should first go to the Traffic Police Unit. Da Kui and the other two have been standing in the courtyard for three days."

"Ah, why?"

"Ding Jingzhang said it's because of the incident of beating a passenger last time; they were punished with standing by Captain Lei."

Lu Cheng got anxious as soon as he heard that: "Let's go take a look."