Chapter 8: You Are a Good Person

Chapter 8 You Are a Good Person

Lu Xiang returned home with her parents. As she closed the door and gazed at the low, dark shack before her, her nose stung and her eyes welled up, nearly spilling tears.

There was no house in the village more dilapidated than this one. She couldn't fathom how they had endured living here for ten years.

"Mom... Dad!" Lu Xiang began, intending to tell them about her past restaurant, confident that with her cooking skills, their future would be no worse than anyone else's.

But before she could finish, Lu Danian broke down, his voice heavy with suppressed emotion. The self-reproach in his tone was unmistakable.

His daughter, once perfectly fine, had been reduced to this state—he felt he had utterly failed her.

Lu Xiang's mother also wept. The aftermath of the incident was still profoundly affecting them. Grandma Su and Eldest Aunt Lu had left their family with no viable path forward. If not for Lu Xiang's quick thinking, that vile rumor about seducing her brother-in-law would have been hurled at her, leaving them no place to stand in the village.

"Xiang'er, your father and I have let you down," Lu Xiang's mother sobbed, lamenting how she had been so utterly blindfolded by foolishness back then, believing their deceitful words.

"It's alright, it's all in the past!" Lu Xiang reassured them. After what had happened, she was nominally married to Fu Qinhui and had even entered the bridal chamber. It would be difficult for her to marry a good man now, but to Lu Xiang, it was no great matter. If she remained unmarried, she'd be all the cleaner for it.

Lu Xiang spent considerable effort comforting her father and then her mother, finally calming them down. She breathed a sigh of relief. Remembering her parents hadn't eaten, she decided to go to the kitchen to prepare something. But upon entering, she was stunned—the rice jar held only a thin layer of rice, not even half a bowl when gathered.

On the kitchen floor lay only a handful of dried potatoes and wilted cabbage. They relied solely on collective rations. Most people would secretly grow some vegetables in their yard or raise a chicken or two, and the village usually turned a blind eye to such small-scale efforts.

But Lu Xiang's parents were honest folk; if the village forbade it, they wouldn't dare.

A cloud of worry now settled over Lu Xiang's heart. The family truly had almost no food left. No matter how skilled she was at cooking, it would be useless without ingredients.

Finally, she understood why her family had agreed to the marriage swap. First, the Fu family was indeed a good match, and second, their own home was on the brink of starvation.

Just as Lu Xiang was feeling troubled, a knock came at the door. Lu Xiang opened it to find their neighbor, Sister Song, who said, "My mother-in-law asked me to bring you two steamed corn buns. She also spent a long time scolding your grandmother! Said she’s lived all these years for nothing, even scheming against her own granddaughter."

As she spoke, Sister Song lamented how one could never truly know a person's heart from their appearance. Grandma Su always dressed neatly and seemed respectable, but who would have thought she could do something so utterly despicable?

Living nearby, Sister Song’s family had many children, and Lu Xiang’s mother often helped with small tasks. Whenever Sister Song’s family had extra food, they would share a little.

In these times, food was precious. Don’t underestimate these steamed buns. Every household’s grain ration was based on work points and distributed at the end of the year, often proving insufficient to last. These two buns were a sacrifice, saved from their own mouths.

"Thank you, Sister Song," Lu Xiang said.

Sister Song smiled and replied, "Don't mention it. That's what neighbors are for." Then, raising an eyebrow, she added, "Lu Xiang, there’s one more thing. Fu Qinhui has been standing outside your yard for quite a while. Is there something you two need to talk about?"

After saying this, Sister Song felt a bit embarrassed, but she couldn't help feeling sorry for Lu Xiang’s misfortune. Not only had she never been favored by her grandmother since childhood, but she had also been schemed against in her marriage. It would be hard for her to find a good man now.

Lu Xiang immediately leaned halfway out the door and, sure enough, saw Fu Qinhui standing ramrod straight outside.

Sister Song, having delivered the message, said, "I’ll head off now. If you need anything, just come find me." She had always thought that although Lu Xiang’s parents were kind, they were somewhat timid, and Lu Xiang herself was usually quiet and easily overlooked.

But now it seemed that Lu Xiang was calm and articulate in the face of trouble, even more capable than her parents. Thankfully, Lu Xiang had been there; otherwise, they wouldn't have come back in one piece today.

After Sister Song left, Lu Xiang felt much calmer.

They had left in a hurry earlier, and there were many things she hadn’t had a chance to clarify with Fu Qinhui. Now that the misunderstanding about the marriage swap had been cleared up, the two of them needed to talk.

Lu Xiang went outside.

Fu Qinhui looked at her expressionlessly and said, "Mom wants you to come home with me." Then he took out a neatly folded stack of money from his pocket and handed it to Lu Xiang.

The two of them were already the talk of the town. The village had little else to talk about, and the incident of the sisters swapping marriages would keep people chatting for half a year. Many who saw them from a distance craned their necks to get a better look.

Neighbors were glued to their windows, watching the scene unfold.

Lu Xiang did not take the money. "You weren’t originally supposed to marry me. Since this was all a misunderstanding, let’s just leave it at that."

Fu Qinhui stared fixedly at her, seeming displeased, his lips pressed tightly together.

"You are a good person," Lu Xiang said. "You’ll definitely find a good woman." After saying this, she noticed that Fu Qinhui still hadn’t moved, and there were still many people watching them. Having said what she needed to say, Lu Xiang didn’t linger. She turned and went back inside.

The onlookers were stunned. They had assumed Lu Xiang was the one trying to marry up by marrying Fu Qinhui, but now it seemed like the opposite was true.

Once inside, Lu Xiang’s mother quickly gathered her daughter close and asked, "What did the Fu family say? If he sincerely wants to be with you, you should consider it." In their current situation, her daughter marrying into the Fu family was the best option. Otherwise, with her reputation tarnished, her life would be ruined.

"He didn’t say much," Lu Xiang said. "We’re not suited."

Lu Xiang’s father wanted to persuade her several times, but he felt too ashamed. The current situation was the result of his earlier lack of resolve. After a long silence, unsure how to face his daughter, he finally sighed and said, "Forget it. If you don’t want to marry him, then don’t."

The atmosphere in the house grew heavy.

An hour passed. Lu Xiang grew agitated. Fu Qinhui still hadn’t left—he remained standing outside the yard. The crowd of onlookers had only grown larger.