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Psst! We're moving!
Shen Yihuan put a layer of foundation on her neck to lighten the color of the hickeys and let her long hair cover most of them. She didn’t want people to notice because of them.
But with a close look, they were still noticeable.
When they got to the second-floor buffet restaurant, Xu He was still there. Fortunately, he didn’t come over to cause any more trouble, and Shen Yihuan breathed a sigh of relief.
“I think my temper is really good now,” Shen Yihuan said nonchalantly while she ate.
Lu Zhou said, “Hmm?”
“If it were before, I would definitely get back at him.”
She rested her head on her hand. The lights from the restaurant and the moonlight outside the window fell on one side of her face, making her features look delicate and three-dimensional.
“I used to be so bad at judging people. We were pretty good friends in high school and would often go out together. But when things went south for me, he acted like that.”
After so many years, Shen Yihuan no longer felt emotional about it. She spoke as if she was talking about something that happened to someone else.
Lu Zhou listened and looked at her. “Then get back at him.”
Shen Yihuan was stunned for a moment, then laughed. “Lu Zhou, why are you fanning the flames? It’s better to avoid trouble.”
“With me here, you can cause as much trouble as you want,” Lu Zhou said.
Shen Yihuan knew.
What Lu Zhou wanted was actually very simple. As long as she was by his side, he would be content. Lu Zhou didn’t even need her to give back much in this relationship.
He didn’t need Shen Yihuan to be smart and obedient.
He also didn’t need her to be well-mannered and likable.
After a long time of being forced to acknowledge the cold, cruel rules of the world, after she pretended to be clever and obedient and was told countless times by her mother to “be a little more well-behaved,” only Lu Zhou.
Only Lu Zhou told her, “With me here, you can cause as much trouble as you want.”
The world is big, but I’m right behind you.
Even if the sky falls, I’ll hold it up for you.
________________________________________
After more than a week of vacation, they flew back to Beijing.
Lu Zhou officially started his new military industrial project. Everything was confidential, but the risk was much lower than at the border defense force.
Shen Yihuan rested at home for a day before returning to the studio to work.
The previous photo exhibitions had all ended successfully. Shen Yihuan’s reputation in the photography world had grown, and she was getting a continuous stream of bookings. She couldn’t keep up, so she had the luxury of choosing her projects.
Shen Yihuan didn’t really like shooting indoor magazine photos for models, actors, or celebrities, so she eliminated that category and only shot what she liked.
Lu Zhou’s work often kept him busy until late, with no fixed time to get off work.
Shen Yihuan didn’t know how to cook. A few days earlier, she had tried to teach herself by following recipes on her phone and almost set the kitchen on fire, so she didn’t dare to try again. She would obediently wait for Lu Zhou to come home so they could cook together.
Today, Lu Zhou got home at eight o’clock.
He pushed the door open, and no one was in the living room or kitchen. He finally found her in the bedroom.
The young woman was sitting cross-legged on the bed, laughing so hard at her phone that she was about to fall over. She looked up when she heard him, her smile still on her face. “You’re back!”
Lu Zhou walked over. “What’s so funny?”
“I was chatting with Ruru.”
She winked at Lu Zhou, her eyes turning into a mischievous foxy shape. “We conspired to do something nasty to someone.”
“What did you do?”
“It’s about Xu He. Ruru and I sent a little gift to his dad.”
Lu Zhou couldn’t help but smile at her bright eyes. He followed up with a question. “What kind of gift?”
“Some...” Shen Yihuan raised her eyebrows suggestively. “Spicy and private photos of Xu He.”
“Where did you get them?” Lu Zhou frowned slightly.
“From Ruru. I don’t know where she got them, but she has way more mischievous ideas than I do.”
Lu Zhou’s thumb brushed against Shen Yihuan’s lips. “Did you look at them?”
“What?”
“The private photos.”
“Ah, I glanced at them,” Shen Yihuan said, feeling a little guilty. She added, “They were an eyesore.”
Lu Zhou narrowed his eyes.
Shen Yihuan hugged his waist, sounding affectionate and sweet. “No one has a body as good as my husband’s.”
Lu Zhou’s expression relaxed. He raised an eyebrow, leaned in to kiss her lips, and said coaxingly as their breaths mingled, “What did you just call me? Say it again.”
Shen Yihuan hadn’t called Lu Zhou that since they got their license.
She didn’t feel anything when she had said it so playfully just now, but to say it again seriously made her feel shy.
“No.”
Lu Zhou urged her. “Hurry up.”
She finally relented and called him the name again. Lu Zhou was satisfied and got up to go to the kitchen to make dinner.
...
On Friday, Shen Yihuan took a big photoshoot. She worked past her usual hours and wasn’t finished. She figured Lu Zhou was also working overtime, so she didn’t rush.
She finished at 6:30. She put her camera into her camera bag, said goodbye to the other staff, and left.
Only after she got outside did she realize she had several missed calls from Lu Zhou. They were from 5:30.
She quickly called him back.
“How come you’re done so early today?” Shen Yihuan’s voice was cheerful.
Lu Zhou asked, “Where are you right now?”
Shen Yihuan looked up at the buildings around her and gave him a location.
Lu Zhou arrived shortly after and picked her up. However, they weren’t heading home.
“Where are we going?”
“The new house.”
“...Huh?”
Lu Zhou smiled. He stopped the car at a red light and reached over to rub Shen Yihuan’s hair. “We’re married now. I can’t let you keep living in that old place with me.”
Shen Yihuan had never felt wronged by this before. It hadn’t even crossed her mind. “But I think that one is great. We lived there before. I’m a little attached to it.”
“We’ll keep that one too. We can go back and stay there sometimes.”
“When did you buy the new house?”
“Just a while ago.”
Shen Yihuan was bewildered for a moment. “I think we’re pretty rich. We have two houses now.”
The car stopped at the entrance of a residential community. Shen Yihuan followed Lu Zhou upstairs.
The house faced south and got lots of sunlight. There was a large balcony.
The house had a simple design, a style Shen Yihuan loved. She walked around excitedly, checking out every room.
She spoke with a cheerful tone as she looked around.
“Let’s plant some flowers and plants on the balcony. It gets good sun, and we can put a swing chair there too.”
“For the bedroom, how about a large tatami bed? It should be a firm one, or you won’t be used to sleeping on it.”
“You can design the kitchen. Just leave me a space to work. I can chop and wash vegetables next to you when you cook.”
...
Lu Zhou, of course, agreed to everything.
The task of decorating the new house was given to Shen Yihuan. The Commander’s wife, who had nothing to do at home, also came to help.
The two of them often went furniture shopping together.
The Commander’s wife’s personality was quite similar to Shen Yihuan’s. After they got to know each other, there was no generation gap at all. She called Shen Yihuan “my girl,” and Shen Yihuan got used to calling her “Mom.”
As for Shen Yihuan and her biological mother, things continued as usual. They saw each other occasionally, and her mother sent her a holiday text on Mid-Autumn Festival.
Shen Yihuan thought this was good enough.
Watching the new house slowly become a home and look more and more like the one she had in her mind, she felt that everything was worth it.
By the end of summer, all the renovations were complete.
The two of them officially moved in.
“Oh, by the way, are you free on Saturday?” Shen Yihuan asked during dinner.
“What’s up?”
“Teacher Xu called me today. She said the school has started a special club, a photography club, and asked me to go over when I have time,” Shen Yihuan said. “If you’re free, you can come with me. If not...”
“I’m free,” Lu Zhou said. “I’ll adjust my project schedule and go with you on Saturday.”
The weather was getting hotter every day. Saturday was especially hot, and the air was muggy. The sun was hanging high in the sky, as if a single breath would evaporate instantly.
The school’s sports day was coming up soon.
Shen Yihuan and Lu Zhou arrived at 4 p.m., just after the last class. It was an activity period, and the basketball courts and track were full of people. Many were preparing for sports day events like long jump and high jump.
They went to see their homeroom teacher first.
Teacher Zhang was very happy to see them together. She was still a homeroom teacher, teaching seniors.
“Lu Zhou, why don’t you go to my class later and talk about how you studied in senior year? I can’t seem to control these kids anymore.”
When they were students, top graduates would often come back to visit their teachers and were sent to classes to share their study tips.
Lu Zhou glanced at Shen Yihuan.
Teacher Xu noticed. “Just let her go to the photography club by herself. She won’t get lost. You two have been married for a few months now, why are you still so clingy?”
Shen Yihuan laughed and joked, “He’s the one who’s clingy. I’m a modern, independent woman.”
Lu Zhou asked her, “Are you okay on your own?”
“I’m fine. You go ahead.”
Shen Yihuan felt she couldn’t brag as freely with Lu Zhou, the real academic genius, present.
There were quite a lot of students in the photography club. The classroom was full, and when they heard that the “photography teacher” was Shen Yihuan, some people even came to listen from the back, as there were no seats.
It wasn’t a serious lecture to begin with. It started with some professional knowledge about photography, but the Q&A session later took a different turn.
The questions had nothing to do with photography and were all about her and Lu Zhou.
Meanwhile, in Class 1 of the senior year.
When Teacher Xu was still in the classroom, the questions were very proper, about how to study math and science, what college life was like, and how to get into a military academy.
But when Teacher Xu left the classroom, the atmosphere became just like the photography club upstairs.
“Senior! Me, me, me!” a girl waved her hand frantically.
She stood up and tugged at her school uniform. “Senior, do you think dating affects studies more, or does breaking up affect them more?”
Lu Zhou paused. “For me, it would definitely be breaking up.”
A chorus of cheers erupted from the students.
Lu Zhou was given the label of a “devoted and loyal” person by the girls in the class.
“Senior, who pursued who between you and senior Shen?”
“She pursued me,” Lu Zhou said truthfully.
“Wow, then when did you fall for her?!”
Lu Zhou raised his eyebrows slightly. “Before she pursued me.”
The class erupted in excitement.
________________________________________
After Lu Zhou came out of the classroom, he received a text message from Shen Yihuan.
It said she was done and was waiting for him on the track.
Lu Zhou went downstairs to the track. With people coming and going, he looked around and finally found Shen Yihuan sitting in the shade of a row of trees on the edge of the track.
The young woman was sitting on the edge of a flower bed, resting her head on her hand, looking drowsy from the sunset.
Time traveled back, and past memories collided with the present in Lu Zhou’s mind.
He suddenly remembered the military training from their first year of high school.
After their midday break, Shen Yihuan realized her military cap was missing. That meant she would have to stand in punishment during the afternoon training.
She frantically searched her desk and backpack but couldn’t find it.
The girl leaned toward him. She smelled of cream, and her voice was intimate, almost like she was pouting. “What am I going to do? My hat’s gone. The instructor’s going to punish me this afternoon.”
Lu Zhou gave her his cap.
Later, he came back from the bathroom, and there were only a few people left in the classroom. Everyone else had gone to the track. The seat next to Lu Zhou was also empty.
His hat was still on his desk, untouched.
Shen Yihuan hadn’t taken his.
Lu Zhou walked over, put the hat back in his desk, and went to the track without wearing a hat.
He was two minutes late. By the time he arrived, the instructor had just finished scolding Shen Yihuan and told her to stand on the side.
The girl showed no sign of embarrassment from being scolded. Her baggy military uniform hung loosely on her. Her neck was fair and slender, and strands of black hair curled around it.
Lu Zhou stared at her for a few seconds before walking to his class’s formation.
As expected, he was also told to stand in punishment.
Shen Yihuan stood with a lazy, casual posture. She squinted slightly from the sun, looking a little indifferent and impatient. But when she saw him, she instantly smiled, her dimples showing.
She asked him, “I put your hat on your desk. Didn’t you see it?”
Lu Zhou said, “No.”
He didn’t tell Shen Yihuan that he had done it on purpose.
He stood behind Shen Yihuan, his tall body blocking the hot sun from her neck.
After a while, the girl got tired of standing. She shielded her forehead with her hand, looked around for the instructor, and then crouched down.
She took off her military training jacket. Underneath was a loose vest that outlined the mountain-like shape of her shoulder blades. When she crouched, the vest rode up, revealing a small part of her fair, slender back.
There was a faint red birthmark on it.
Lu Zhou’s gaze deepened slightly, and his eyes were uncontrollably drawn to it.
Shen Yihuan caught his gaze when she turned around. She pointed to the birthmark on her back. “Doesn’t it look like two cherries?”
It did, like a small cluster of two.
Lu Zhou just looked at her without reacting.
Shen Yihuan crouched on the ground, looked up at him, her eyes sparkling, and said, “You can call me Yingtao.”
...
Lu Zhou stood in front of Shen Yihuan, blocking most of the remaining sunset.
Shen Yihuan squinted and then opened her eyes again.
Lu Zhou was backlit, his jawline smooth and distinct. The light fell on his shoulders and the top of his head, shimmering.
Lu Zhou extended his hand to her.
“Let’s go. It’s time to go home.”
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