Chapter 32

How is it eerie?

Those who are close to Lu Baozhen, if they are lucky, they have bad luck, and if they are unlucky, they die.

What is even more creepy is that there seems to be an inexplicable attraction on her; people who see her will involuntarily develop a good impression of her and want to try every possible way to be good to her.

This kind of goodness has no purpose, does not seek results, even if one is full of suffering, one still wants to be good to her.

It's creepy to death.

Lin Zhao remembered some words in the book that were written lightly and decided a person's fate, and goosebumps broke out all over her body.

Very chilling.

Following the delicate and soft voice, Su Yuxian's voice followed closely.

"Lin Zhao." After the words fell, she gently pushed open the door.

Su Yuxian stepped in with one foot, saw Lin Zhao in the yard, and her tone was soft with a trace of imperceptible resentment, "Why didn't you make a sound when I called you?"

"People inevitably have times when they don't want to talk." Lin Zhao was in a bad mood, didn't want to entertain people, and didn't want to be hypocritical with her.

Get lost.

Su Yuxian was startled, "What's wrong with you?"

Before Lin Zhao could answer, she saw Lu Baozhen walking towards Seeing Dazai and Hearing Erzai.

Her brows furrowed slightly.

But she didn't stop her.

She wanted to see the situation.

Lu Baozhen stopped in front of the twins, stared at the bowls in their hands with her clear, grape-like eyes, tilted her head and smiled, her two pigtails shaking, and asked softly, "Brother Seeing Dazai, Brother Hearing Erzai, what are you drinking?"

Hearing Erzai said in a show-off tone, "Watermelon lemon juice, Mother made it for us, she said it can cool us down."

"Is it delicious?" Lu Baozhen asked eagerly.

"There's sugar in it, of course it's delicious!" Hearing Erzai said loudly.

"Brother Hearing Erzai, I've never drunk it." Lu Baozhen pouted, looking aggrieved, her tone soft and sticky.

She was over four years old, her facial features were flat, she had single eyelids, her eyes were not big or small, her nose bridge was low and her nose tip was big, full of dullness, her face was whiter and more tender than the girls of the same age in the village, and she was a bit fleshy; when she was young, she looked round and cute.

Speaking in a soft voice made people pity her even more.

Hearing Erzai didn't take the bait and said, "I hadn't drunk it when I was four either; you'll be able to drink it when you're five."

The sound fell.

He opened his mouth wide and drank the last mouthful of fruit juice.

Lin Zhao:... Pfft.

Well done.

Lin Zhao was really afraid that Seeing Dazai and the others would be influenced and become little brain-dead people.

Now it seems that as long as she doesn't die, the cubs won't be affected.

She tried hard to suppress the excitement in her heart, her eyes were very bright, and the corners of her mouth were raised high.

Seeing Dazai saw the expression on his mother's face, blinked his eyes, and was thoughtful.

Lu Baozhen looked at him aggrievedly and called out again, "Brother Seeing Dazai, Brother Hearing Erzai are so stingy."

Seeing Dazai frowned his little brows, "Hearing Erzai is not stingy at all."

Hearing Erzai made a face at Lu Baozhen, made a few "bleh" sounds, and said, "My brother won't listen to your instigation."

Lin Zhao raised her brows.

Oh my, he even knows words like instigation.

Lu Baozhen was stunned, stood there, and couldn't figure out why things didn't go as she thought.

That's not right, Seeing Dazai and Hearing Erzai should have given the sweet water to her.

The little girl stared blankly at Seeing Dazai and Hearing Erzai, tears welling up in her eyes.

Su Yuxian glanced at the Gu family's two cubs unhappily; what's wrong with these two stinky boys, not following her Baozhen's lead, be careful of breaking their legs, she thought viciously.

"Lin Zhao, your two cubs are too stingy and have no manners. I brought Baozhen to be a guest, they didn't offer a stool or pour water, and they shouldn't have made their sister cry. You really have to manage them well; what kind of future can they have if this continues."

Su Yuxian said such words with an expression and tone of "for your own good."

Hearing this, Seeing Dazai's body stiffened, and he looked at Lin Zhao nervously.

Hearing Erzai's face turned red with anger, and just as he was about to retort, Lin Zhao sneered.

"Get out." She directly spoke to drive people away.

Su Yuxian didn't react.

After a long while, she came back to her senses, "... You want me to... get out?" Her tone was full of disbelief.

"Take your new daughter and leave my house." Lin Zhao repeated, her expression disgusted.

She had always been willful and reckless, used to doing things as she pleased, and had never thought about the complicated matter of leaving face for others.

Su Yuxian's sluggish eyes regained focus, anger appeared on her well-disguised face, her voice rose, unusually sharp, "Lin Zhao, do you know what you are saying?"

"I am the only person you can talk to in the Fengshou Brigade, are you sure you want me to leave?" She gritted her teeth and threatened.

"How my son is, you don't need to worry about. On my territory, talking about my son's right and wrong, you really don't take yourself as an outsider. You and I were never friends in the first place, and we don't have any common topics, so let's just pretend we don't know each other when we meet in the future." Lin Zhao said unhurriedly.

Su Yuxian's chest heaved violently, and she questioned, "What do you mean?"

"It just means I don't want to deal with you." Lin Zhao said bluntly.

Her whole family are cannon fodder, she doesn't want to be too close to the heroine's family.

Especially since the Lu family has an eerie Lu Baozhen, she has to be on guard.

Tearing her face with Su Yuxian is a step that must be taken.

The two adults were clashing, the children sensed something was wrong and didn't speak, Seeing Dazai and Hearing Erzai stood behind Lin Zhao, while Lu Baozhen walked to her new mother's side, held her hand, and stared at Lin Zhao with dark, deep eyes.

In the hot weather, the cicadas were roasted into mutes. Lin Zhao felt a chill from the soles of her feet, and that chill quickly rushed through her whole body.

She felt that she was being watched by something terrible.

As a mother, her first reaction was to block in front of her two sons.

Lin Zhao looked down at Lu Baozhen, just as she was about to say something, Da Huang entered with Xiao Hu Po, and behind the two furry children were Gu Mu and the twins.

"Woof woof—" Da Huang rushed in and, without any warning, issued a low growl at Lu Baozhen.

It arched its waist and back, its skinny body like a taut bowstring, its sharp teeth shining with cold light in the slanting sun, as if it would pounce and bite off the prey's neck in the next second.

Da Huang barked in front, and Xiao Hu Po barked behind.

The yard was very lively, and the bear child from Wang Chunhua's family climbed up the wooden ladder against the wall and poked his head out to look.

After Da Huang appeared, the chill on Lin Zhao's body disappeared instantly.

It came back just in time!!

She looked at Da Huang, and her liking for the big furry child deepened a few more points.

Lu Baozhen was scared to tears by the dog and hid behind Su Yuxian, trembling.

"Woooooo, I want to go home, I don't like dogs, it's so scary, hurry and take me back!!" She pulled on Su Yuxian's clothes and shouted, her eye sockets red, pitiful, her eyes returning to the innocence and cleanliness of a child.

Lin Zhao had always been tolerant towards children, but after her first clash with the little koi in the original book, she couldn't develop even half a point of liking, only feeling that this child was very eerie.

If it weren't for Da Huang's return, she really didn't know what would happen next.

Gu Mu looked at Su Yuxian and Lu Baozhen suspiciously, not understanding why these two were here.

"Baozhen is afraid of dogs, I never noticed before. Little Su, hurry and take her back, coax the child, don't cry until your face cracks."

"I know." Su Yuxian picked up her cheap daughter, walked a few steps forward, suddenly stopped, turned her head to look at Lin Zhao, "Let's just pretend we don't know each other in the future."

"I didn't expect you to be such a person, you don't recognize friends just because you have a job, I guess I misjudged you."

Then she stepped away.

Lin Zhao's words reached her ears.

"You're wrong, you and I are not on the same path, let alone friends."

Su Yuxian's body stiffened, her face turned gloomy, and she walked away with big strides.

"Why did she come?" Gu Mu frowned, gave Da Huang a praising pat; keeping a dog is still useful, look, it can solve big trouble.

"I don't know, she didn't say anything when she came." Lin Zhao guessed she came to ask about her job.

At this time, the long-tongued Hearing Erzai complained to his grandma.

"Grandma, that Little Su scolded me and my brother!!"

What?

Gu Mu's thick black eyebrows twisted into an inverted eight shape, "What did she scold you for?"

Hearing Erzai hung his head, kept grinding the small stones on the ground with his toes, his cheeks puffed up, "She scolded me and my brother for having no manners, and also said me and my brother would have no future for a lifetime."

"What kind of person is that, running to someone else's house to scold someone else's children, that's how Liao Hongjuan taught her!" Gu Mu was furious, "Don't listen to her nonsense! She's the one with no manners!"

"Grandma's Seeing Dazai and Hearing Erzai are both polite cubs, and they will definitely have a future." As a grandma, she just felt her grandson was the first smartest and wouldn't have no future.

Hearing Erzai raised his head, where was there a trace of disappointment on his face, he was simply smiling like a flower.

"Hehehe, I think so too."

Lin Zhao supported her forehead.

"Seeing Dazai, go get your grandma two pieces of watermelon."

"Okay!" Seeing Dazai's voice was clear, he trotted into the kitchen and took out two pieces of cut watermelon.

There are many mosquitoes and flies in the countryside, Lin Zhao was particular, asked someone to make several bamboo food covers, and the cut watermelon was covered.

Gu Mu received the watermelon Seeing Dazai brought, green skin and red flesh, looking sweet and full of water.

"Such good watermelon, have you eaten yet?"

Seeing Dazai nodded, "We ate, Hearing Erzai and I each ate a piece, Mother also made us watermelon lemon juice, sweet and sour, with watermelon flavor and lemon flavor, it was delicious."

After speaking, he lowered his head, full of shame, "I forgot to save some for Grandma."

Gu Mu didn't drink whatever juice he was talking about, but her heart was warm and bubbling.

"What's there to be embarrassed about, you drinking it is the same as Grandma drinking it."

It's not the same, Seeing Dazai thought to himself, "If Mother makes it for us again, I'll save some for Grandma."

"Good, good, good." Gu Mu smiled and agreed.

"Grandma, eat the watermelon, it's so sweet, so sweet!!" Seeing Dazai urged.

Gu Mu lowered her head and took a bite; it was indeed watery and sweet, and more than half of the day's fatigue disappeared.

She had never eaten such sweet watermelon before.

The twins used their few teeth, grinding and sipping the watermelon, their white and tender little faces stained with watermelon juice; noticing Lin Zhao's gaze, they raised their faces that looked like they had been painted with rouge, revealing an innocent and clean smile.

Gu Mu ate a piece of watermelon, but couldn't bear to eat the remaining piece, wanting to take it for the old man to eat.

After telling her grandsons, she planned to go back; she wanted to go back quickly to give the watermelon to the cubs' grandpa, to let the old man be happy too.

At this time, Lin Zhao walked out of the kitchen, called her to stop, stepped forward a few steps, and stuffed half a watermelon to her.

"Mother, take this watermelon back and eat it."

Gu Mu opened her mouth to decline, but saw Lin Zhao turn her head and leave, still the same aloof appearance of not paying attention to people as before.

"..." Gu Mu was silent, "Then I'll accept it."

Only then did Lin Zhao look at her, "It was meant for you in the first place."

Gu Chenghuai is not at home and gave all his allowance to her; as a wife, she has the responsibility to take care of his parents, and these things are not worth mentioning compared to what the cubs' father gave her.

Gu Mu held the watermelon and walked out of the third son's house, her spine straightened unconsciously, her walking speed slowed down, and the watermelon in her arms was particularly eye-catching.

"Yuan Shan's mother, why are you holding a watermelon? Why is this watermelon so big? It's really red, it looks sweet." Passersby said after seeing it.

Honestly, no one in the whole brigade had ever seen such a big watermelon.

Gu Mu straightened her back, her whole person refreshed, "Where else could it come from? The third son's wife insisted on stuffing it to me, telling me to take it back to quench my thirst; I couldn't refuse even if I wanted to."

She sighed with feigned distress, but the corners of her mouth couldn't be suppressed, "Oh my, I already ate at her place, but she insisted on me taking half more, really, it would be better to leave it for Seeing Dazai and the others to eat; now that the family has split up, she still thinks of me and her father, really makes me not know what to do..."

The people in the Fengshou Brigade changed their views on Lin Zhao again.

"Seeing Dazai's mother is really filial."

"The family has split up, yet she is still willing to give watermelon to her in-laws to eat; she is indeed filial. Unlike mine, who isn't even willing to give a roasted sweet potato."

"Sigh."

After showing off in a high-profile way all the way, Gu Mu finally arrived home, having heard a full ear of envy; she had never felt so proud and elated before.

"Grandma, what are you holding!???"

"Grandma, did Third Aunt give this to you?!"

Voices came from all sides, Gu Mu's head was about to explode, so she hurriedly went to the kitchen to cut a corner of watermelon for each child before sending them away.

Having many children has its benefits, there's no shortage of people to fight, it's just too noisy.

Gu Mu walked around the village holding the watermelon, and Lin Zhao's reputation was completely reversed.

In the past, when Chenghuai's wife was mentioned, everyone shook their heads, looking unwilling to mention more, and their impression of her was lazy and greedy; now it's different, when Lin Zhao is mentioned, everyone gives a thumbs up, saying she is filial, saying she is cultured, saying they saw long ago that she would have a future.

Su Yuxian, who had just coaxed Lu Baozhen, heard the rumors in the village, her brows locked tightly, and displeasure appeared in her eyes.

She hoped Lin Zhao would act out, but Lin Zhao didn't... how could that set off her own rarity.

Su Yuxian finally found a control group like Lin Zhao. She was clearly a biological mother but was unkind to her own children, and what about her? She was a stepmother who was gossiped about, yet she treated the ones born before as her own; what a good stepping stone.

Thinking that all the things she had done before were in vain, Su Yuxian's face turned red with anger.

Lu Baozhen saw her expression, was scared full of horror, and pushed her face in panic.

"Go away, I don't want you to hold me."

Su Yuxian was scratched on the face, and a red mark appeared on her face immediately. She hissed, didn't dare to get angry, and coaxed in a good voice, "Baozhen, don't move, be careful of falling."

Lu Baozhen didn't hear clearly, only thought her stepmother was going to drop her, paused, and howled at the top of her lungs.

"Help, the bad stepmother is going to drop the child—!"

The voice was sharp.

It attracted the people in the village to look over one after another.

Looking at Su Yuxian, those eyes were as strange as they could be.

The aunts and sisters-in-law who liked to gossip looked at each other, seeing thousands of emotions in each other's eyes, tsk tsk tsk, how can a stepmother be good? Especially this one who is rushing to be one!

Su Yuxian cared very much about the eyes of the people in the village; noticing the gaze here, her arms holding Lu Baozhen tightened, and her face looked ugly.

Lu Baozhen felt pain in her body and cried even more fiercely.

"Woooo—I'm in so much pain, Grandma save me, Father save me, the stepmother wants to eat me!!"

Lu Yizhou heard his daughter's words from far away and hurriedly ran over.

He was wearing a military uniform, his figure was as straight as a pine and cypress, he had a square face, thick eyebrows and big eyes, full of righteousness, upright and reliable.

"Baozhen." Lu Yizhou walked towards Su Yuxian, took Lu Baozhen from her arms, raised his hand to wipe his daughter's tears, and softened his voice to coax her, "Why are you crying?"

He didn't look at Su Yuxian the whole time.

(End of chapter)