Chapter 73 I Do Like Him

Chapter 73: Like It, Of Course

Chen Qiao's clothing store opened for business, and Lu Yun gave Chen Qiao a cash-filled red envelope—pretty generous.

Seeing Chen Qiao's business thriving, Lu Yun was genuinely happy for her.

At noon, Lu Yun was about to head back when Chen Qiao tagged along quietly, and the two went to eat at a nearby Chongqing spicy noodle shop, same as always.

Chen Qiao: "This place has the best Chongqing noodles I've ever had!"

Lu Yun smiled, and Chen Qiao asked back, "You've been here before, haven't you?"

Lu Yun nodded. "Yeah, I have."

Chen Qiao: "I knew it! You must've come with your husband!"

Lu Yun still felt a little weird about being called that. Lu Yun and Zhou Yanze had gotten their marriage certificate, and Chen Qiao loved referring to Zhou Yanze that way when Lu Yun was around. They hadn't held the wedding yet, and after getting the certificate, other than him being a bit more clingy, it seemed like nothing had changed between them.

Lu Yun: "Last time he was passing by, saw this new shop, knew I liked Chongqing noodles, so he brought me here."

Chen Qiao: "I'm so jealous! You didn't even tell me!"

Lu Yun: "I forgot. Weren't you busy with the store? I've been busy too. And remember the bread from last time? I thought it was out of this world, so I bought you a ton! And the mung bean cakes last time—I told you right after I tried them, and we went and bought them together!"

Chen Qiao: "I forgot! I forgot!"

Lu Yun: "No, you didn't forget!"

The two of them cracked up laughing in the shop.

The shop owner remembered Lu Yun well—Lu Yun and Zhou Yanze were just too good-looking. Last time they came together, he sat there staring for ages and almost forgot to bring the customers their noodles.

The owner brought the noodles over to Lu Yun and Chen Qiao and asked Lu Yun with a smile, "Didn't come with your husband this time?"

At that, Lu Yun felt a bit embarrassed.

Lu Yun: "Yeah, I'll come with him next time."

Chen Qiao asked, "What else are you hiding from me?"

Lu Yun: "I'm not hiding anything from you! It's just that last time we came, the owner asked Zhou Yanze if I was his girlfriend, and Zhou Yanze said we're married."

Zhou Yanze practically wanted to whip out the marriage certificate to show the owner.

Chen Qiao: "Tsk tsk tsk!"

Lu Yun: "Tsk tsk."

Zhao Lan was outside the courtyard playing with her son today. Lu Yun passed by, and Zhao Lan showed her son to Lu Yun. Lu Yun really didn't want to look at her son.

Zhao Lan: "Look, doesn't he look just like Sun Zhi?"

Lu Yun: "Mm-hmm."

Lu Yun didn't want to talk to Zhao Lan, which made Zhao Lan even more annoyed. Once she got home, she was cold to the Han family too. Now, with her son as leverage, Zhao Lan could throw her weight around in the Sun family, but she still felt unsatisfied. This dissatisfaction left her feeling lost—she didn't know what she truly wanted.

Zhao Lan had gotten everything she originally wanted, even Sun Zhi's problem in the bedroom had been fixed.

Zhao Lan thought it over for a long time and finally figured it out: she'd always been chasing after money, never thinking about what she really wanted. What she really wanted deep down was to be able to earn money herself—wasn't all her scheming just about making money?

Zhao Lan wanted to get a job, to go to work. The Sun family didn't dare object, and anyway, Aunt Han was usually the one watching the kid.

Aunt Han quietly said to Sun Zhi, "If Zhao Lan goes out to work, she won't go chasing after another man, will she?"

Sun Zhi's face darkened with the same worry—especially given what Zhao Lan had done before, they had to think about these things!

Aunt Han: "She's got your wages, and your dad and I still give you money to live on. Why would she suddenly want to work?"

Sun Zhi: "I've got it figured out!"

Aunt Han: "Our family is just pretending to go along with her—we're not really going to. You get that?"

Sun Zhi: "I get it!"

Lu Yun and Zhou Yanze's wedding was set for early fall, when the weather was perfect. Zhou Yanze took care of all the wedding arrangements, and Lu Yun just had to pick out her wedding dress.

The Lu family didn't hold it against Zhou Yanze that Lu Yun hadn't met the Zhou family yet—they knew Zhou Yanze was doing this for Lu Yun's sake, and they felt a little bad for him too.

Lu's father asked, "Do you think the Zhou family will make a scene at the wedding?"

Lu Yun: "Probably not."

After saying that, Lu Yun thought of Zhou Jun. The Zhou family was scared of Zhou Yanze and wouldn't dare make a scene at the wedding, but what if they tried to pull something? And what about Zhou Jun and Sun Chun?

Lu Yun hadn't heard anything about those two in a long time.

She wondered if they'd gotten married and ended up together.

Chen Shu still wanted to make nice with Lu Yun. Lu Yun still didn't think much of her on this front, but she had to admire her persistence—someone like her could make it at anything, right?

Lu Yun: "Don't you have anything else to do?"

Chen Shu: "Cousin, even if I have other stuff to do, that can't get in the way of our bond as cousins, right!"

Chen Shu's nerve really could be put to better use elsewhere—seriously!

Lu Yun asked, "Are Zhou Jun and Sun Chun together?"

Chen Shu: "How would I know if they're together!"

Chen Shu had stopped keeping tabs on Zhou Jun and Sun Chun, which could only mean Sun Chun wasn't getting what she wanted out of them anymore. Lu Yun found it strange—Chen Shu's attitude toward her before clearly showed she didn't think Lu Yun was worth anything. If there was money to be made, she wouldn't have been so cold. What made Chen Shu think there was something to gain now?

Was it because of Zhou Yanze?

Chen Shu: "If you want to know about them, I'll go spy on them for you right now!"

Lu Yun: "No need. I don't care. If you really care about our cousinly bond, then leave me alone. If you keep bothering me, then it's not about our bond at all."

Chen Shu was furious—Lu Yun used to be such a pushover. Why was she so cold to her now?

Lu Yun met up with Zhou Yanze and they talked about the wedding. Lu Yun was worried the Zhou family might cause trouble, when Zhou Yanze quietly slid a ring onto her finger. Lu Yun looked down and saw a ring with a pink diamond.

Lu Yun: "Didn't you already buy an engagement ring?"

Zhou Yanze: "This one matches the pink diamond necklace from before. You like it?"

Lu Yun beamed. "Of course I like it."

Lu Yun had completely forgotten about worrying whether the Zhou family would cause trouble at the wedding. Zhou Yanze spoke up and said, "Don't worry about the Zhou family. They're lining up a fiancée for Zhou Jun—someone from a good family. Zhou Jun is keeping it from Sun Chun, so if there's trouble, it'll be them going at each other."

Lu Yun: "Do you think Zhou Jun will still be with Sun Chun?"

Zhou Yanze: "Maybe."

No sooner had they finished talking than they witnessed a huge scene!

As they came down from the restaurant's upper floor, Lu Yun and Zhou Yanze saw Zhou Jun having a meal with a woman. Lu Yun suspected that this woman was the fiancée the Zhou family had found for Zhou Jun—they were either on a blind date or just out on a date.

Sun Chun walked over, silent, just staring at Zhou Jun with a heartbroken look. Zhou Jun, flustered, ran after her.

Lu Yun: "Now I know why you said 'maybe'—Sun Chun really knows how to wrap Zhou Jun around her finger!"

Zhou Jun caught up with Sun Chun and apologized to her, even cursing himself inwardly for how he could betray Sun Chun! It was just that his family didn't approve and things had gotten tougher for them—was he really going to give up on marrying Sun Chun over that?

Sun Chun: "Zhou Jun, don't be upset. I know your family doesn't approve of us being together. We shouldn't have been together from the start! If you're with that young lady, your future will surely be happy and blessed, and your family will be very satisfied. With me, we'd still have so much to face. I don't want you to go through all that for my sake. You deserve a good life—you shouldn't have to struggle over money with me."

Zhou Jun: "No, if I married her, I wouldn't be happy. I don't care about my family's opinion. Let's get married—today, this very day!"

Back home, Lu Yun was eating steamed buns. The freshly made buns were so delicious—even plain, she could scarf down one or two.

Lu's father: "Child, dinner's not even ready and you're already stuffing yourself!"

Lu Yun: "They're so good!"

The courtyard erupted into another argument. It was Aunt Han, worn out from holding the kid. She'd put up with Zhao Lan for the sake of her grandson, but now the kid had been dumped entirely on her. Did she even want to take care of the kid? When she saw Zhao Lan come back, she brought up the kid, saying the child liked her and had even started crying.

Zhao Lan: "If you don't want to take care of him, I'll take the kid back to my folks' place. My family is willing to help."

Sun's father: "Alright, it's just watching a kid!"

Aunt Han: "What do you mean 'just watching a kid'! If that's how you see it, then you take care of the kid! Grandson or no grandson—even if your Sun family dies out, what's that to me? I'm done!"

Zhao Lan: "Fine, then I'm going back to my parents' house!"

Sun Zhi came back looking grim. "Zhao Lan, are you taking the kid back to your parents' house, or are you taking him to meet your male colleague! If it's about having no heirs, then so be it!"

Aunt Han sided with Sun Zhi—let the Sun family die out then!

Zhao Lan suddenly panicked. She said, "I just talked a bit more with a male coworker—how does that mean I'm taking the kid to see him!"

Zhao Lan held the kid and was about to head back to her parents' house. This time, only Sun's dad tried to stop her.

Zhao Lan said, hurt and angry, "Since you don't trust me like this, then let's get a divorce!"

Sun Zhi felt a wave of relief. "Fine, let's divorce."

Zhao Lan slapped Sun Zhi across the face. "You really want a divorce?"

Sun Zhi: "If you really wanted to be with me, I'd do anything. But like this—let's just get a divorce."

Zhao Lan: "I wanted to remarry and take the kid with me. You wouldn't divorce me then, and now that the guy I wanted to marry has gotten hitched, you want a divorce? Fine, Sun Zhi, you're really something. Then you can just end up without descendants!"

Sun Zhi looked exhausted. "I'll take responsibility for the child."

Sun's father: "What are you saying!"

Sun Zhi: "It was a mistake from the start. I never should have married Zhao Lan!"

Sun's father: "Are you blaming me?"

Aunt Jiang, who was watching the drama, spoke up: "If not you, then who?"

Lu Yun was almost asleep when Zhou Yanze came to find her. She rested her chin on her hand, curious. "Why are you here at this hour?"

Zhou Yanze: "I figured you'd want to know what happened next, so I came to tell you."

Lu Yun: "What happened next?"

Zhou Yanze: "Zhou Jun and Sun Chun."

Author's note:

None.