Chapter 92

After leaving Jiashuyuan, on the way back to the Gan Shi sanatorium, Old Master Lu switched from a relaxed expression to a serious one, pulled his grandson into an empty corner, and gave him a careful admonition.

"I came to the Sea Island, and I never thought about going back.

When I left, I greeted a few old comrades; from now on they won't look at me favorably and won't give your father a good expression.

If the substitute marriage matter is exposed, the Gu family will definitely take Qiao; divorce won't happen, they're already sharing a bed, and the Gu family can't afford to lose that face.

But in my view, that Gu family youngster is deep‑minded, won't be satisfied, will definitely press this point, blackmail your father to give the Gu family some benefit…

"Grandpa, we can't let that mother‑daughter pair keep leeching off our family! I won't tolerate it!"

Lu Xiu Bai isn't stupid; previously, to protect the Gu family's reputation, he left home to enlist and avoid Zhang Xuemei and her daughter's machinations.

Now his sister's childhood marriage arrangement has also been handed over by the scumbag father; if he keeps tolerating, he'll be a little bastard!

"You fool, if you can think of it, can I have no fallback?"

Old Master Lu patted his grandson's back; it seemed heavy, but in fact it wasn't light.

"Grandpa, don't lay a heavy hand on me first; tell me, what fallback did you keep?"

Lu Xiu Bai stood still, letting his grandfather pat him.

A slap is affection, a scold is love.

Grandpa's hitting and scolding him is also a kind of love, isn't it?

He thinks very openly; he's in his twenties and can still be cared for by his grandfather.

"As for this, the hermit has his own clever plan; kid, don't worry, just live well with your wife, and try to give me a great‑grandson soon to play with."

Old Master Lu chuckled, thought for a moment, and still didn't tell his grandson.

"Grandpa!"

Lu Xiu Bai got angry, just a burst of anger; he was completely unable to get the better of his grandfather.

If sister were here it would be better; once sister acts cute, grandpa would surely spill everything.

Capital—

Junqu Jiayuan.

After returning home from the wedding banquet, Lu Mingyuan sat silently on the living‑room sofa, the lights off, the house pitch black, eerily quiet.

When Zhang Xuemei got home, the dining table only had the nanny's already‑cold dishes.

Hmm, good news, the household finally found a nanny.

But the nanny only prepares lunch and dinner, does some cleaning and then leaves, not staying overnight.

Zhang Xuemei has grievances she can't voice; as Lu's wife, she's become increasingly oppressed like never before.

"Pat—"

After pulling the cord, she finally saw her husband sitting on the sofa, silent, exuding a low pressure aura.

"You, weren't you supposed to attend the wedding banquet today? Why are you back so early and not saying a word......"

Lu Mingyuan stayed silent, exuding a strong smell of alcohol, looking dazed, just holding a photo blankly, staring at the woman in a cheongsam whose smile was especially sweet, dazed.

The cheongsam beauty's smile in the photo is so radiant, and at this moment Zhang Xuemei's mood is equally terrible!

The living, how can they compete with the dead?

She thought Shen Qingluo would age, get wrinkles, turn white‑haired, and her figure would change!

She imagined the two meeting again, and if it were her, she'd be properly dressed, with exquisite makeup, looking down from a height, gazing at the other.

She never expected that the other had already died!

She knows men's psychology too well.

For men, a beautiful red rose is like a cinnabar mole on the chest; ordinary, mediocre mosquito blood can't compare.

Unfortunately, her birth, her looks can only be that speck of mosquito blood....

But why, when she sees the man even in a daze, clutching that photo, her heart bleeds with sorrow!

"Mingyuan, she, Shen Qingluo, is already dead; you've been divorced for fifteen years!

"It's me, it's me Zhang Xuemei who has accompanied you for fifteen years; our fifteen years, can they still not compare to the six or seven years you spent with her?"

Zhang Xuemei admits she climbed into bed back then to cling to wealth and status.

But fifteen years, even raising a dog creates feelings, let alone a person.

She initially did it for scheming, but after so many years sharing a bed, she's forgotten what her dead husband looked like, and has devoted herself wholly to this man!

Unfair.

For a man to ignore her like this, unfair!

"Qingluo, Shen Qingluo."

Lu Mingyuan's vacant gaze flickered, his consciousness hazy, and in his daze, the person before him was exactly the wife he had hidden deep in his heart.

"Qingluo, Qingluo, have you forgiven me?"

"Lu Mingyuan, look closely, I am Zhang Xuemei!"

Zhang Xuemei's heart is riddled with a thousand holes at this moment.

She, who has always fought to be the best, can't help but weep profusely.

Nothing is more humiliating than a man using her as a stand‑in!

She, Zhang Xuemei, imagined battling Shen Qingluo, only to receive a resounding slap!

She, in fact, truly cannot compete with Shen Qingluo.

Lu Mingyuan could not hear what the other was saying; before his eyes was a double image, his beloved wife returning to his side, smiling at him like a flower.

The man's impulse, longing, love now pour out without reservation......

That night was especially hard for Zhang Xuemei.

The man she truly cared for, the one he loved in his heart, from start to finish, was never her.

And she, however, could only endure it silently.

Furthermore, she steeled herself, plotting another way out for herself.

Mrs. Lu's position, she wants!

The Lu family's property, she also wants!

It's time to conceive a child!

With tonight's preparation, the child in her womb will bear only the Lu surname!

Railway Bureau family quarters——

Late at night, thunder and lightning flashed, and the tree branches outside the window rustled.

Lu Manman simmered the calming soup for two hours, timed the reduction, and poured it into a bowl.

Now, her identity is no longer a secret.

In her previous life, after her identity was exposed, Tingchen also didn't say anything and calmly accepted it.

Tingchen loved her so much in his previous life; in this life, he will surely forgive her.

And what she should do is admit her mistake, act meekly and submissively, to let the other's anger fade.

Gu Yinyin woke up hungry in the middle of the night, opened the door to look for food, smelled a medicinal odor, covered her nose, and muttered unhappily:

"What weird smell? It's horrible!"

"Yinyin, it's calming soup; do you want some?"

Lu Manman asked ingratiatingly, her tone full of caution.

"I won't drink it; I'm afraid you'll poison me, thief, stealing someone else's marriage—you have no shame. If I were you, I'd divorce my brother and let him marry my true sister-in-law!"

Gu Yinyin's tone was unfriendly, full of sarcasm, with no respect at all.

She originally didn't like this sister-in-law; now that the truth is out, she likes her even less!

"Yinyin, I—"

Lu Manman's nails dug into her palm as she suppressed her anger, lowering her head pitifully, her body trembling, as if she were crying.

This tactic might work on men, but it's hard to say for women.

"Feigning pitiful? Really puts me off my food—I was still hungry, but seeing you has made me lose my appetite, so I won't eat; I'm dieting!"

Gu Yinyin snorted coldly, arms crossed, looked at her with disdain, her tone harsh and cold to the extreme.

How could she not hate her?

She ruined her good marriage prospects!

Suddenly, the study's door was pushed open, and only an indifferent voice sounded——

"Yinyin, go back inside."