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Lu Fangru asked, “Can you repeat what you just said?”
Lu Yunshu repeated confidently, “I said, I like Jin Hanshuang.”
But Lu Fangru still didn’t understand.
She didn’t believe it. “How could she be the person you like?”
Lu Yunshu asked, “Why can’t it be her?”
Lu Fangru said, “That’s Jin Hanshuang, Shen Minghai’s wife.”
Lu Yunshu replied, “So what? Shen Minghai is no longer here. Does Hanshuang have to remain a widow for the rest of her life?”
Lu Fangru: “…”
She asked, “She’s older than you by…how much again?”
Lu Yunshu replied, “Seven years.”
Lu Fangru frowned. “So you know she’s seven years older than you.”
Lu Yunshu didn’t care. “It’s only seven years.”
She brought up Lu Mengyang as an example. “I’m seven years older than Yangyang, and she still calls me big sister. If a seven-year-gap is acceptable for siblings, then why can’t Hanshuang and I be friends?”
Lu Fangru: “…”
It was hard to argue with Lu Yunshu’s logic.
Aunt and niece stared at each other, locked in a stalemate.
After a moment, Lu Fangru laughed softly. It was a laugh filled with helplessness and the bittersweet nature of watching a child grow up. “You know exactly what you’re doing.”
Lu Yunshu hadn’t told her these things expecting to be dissuaded. She obviously knew who she liked, and she had no intention of hiding it from them.
She had always been this strong-willed, even when she was a child.
“Wait a second,” Lu Fangru recalled, “the person you’ve liked all along…has it always been her?”
Lu Yunshu nodded.
Lu Fangru seized on the critical information, her expression growing serious. “That means…even when Shen Minghai was still alive, you already liked her.”
Lu Yunshu nodded again.
Once again, she was brutally honest.
Lu Fangru: “…”
She didn’t know what to say anymore.
It was simply unbelievable!
Her niece actually liked a married woman—had liked her for so many years.
Could there be some hidden reason behind all this?
After a while, Lu Fangru asked with a serious expression, “If Jin Hanshuang liked women, why did she marry Shen Minghai in the first place?”
Lu Yunshu had been waiting for her aunt to ask this question. If she didn’t clarify right now, her aunt would never accept that she liked a married woman.
So she repeated the answer Jin Hanshuang had given her. By doing so, she hoped that her aunt could understand Jin Hanshuang’s choice.
After listening, Lu Fangru readily accepted the explanation.
How should she put it? It was within her expectations.
After all, Lu Cheng had already suspected that Shen Minghai only married Jin Hanshuang to save face. Today, that suspicion was finally confirmed.
As for Jin Hanshuang’s choice, no one could criticize it.
There was nothing wrong with someone wanting to live a better life.
But Lu Fangru didn’t know what to say or think.
She didn’t know whether to bemoan the fact that two people with different sexual orientations had to get married or the fact her niece had secretly fallen in love with Jin Hanshuang so early on. Or should she be lamenting the fact that her niece had fallen for someone from the family of her brother’s worst enemy?
Another long silence ensued.
After a while, Lu Fangru said in a low voice, “Yunshu, you better tell me that you already knew she liked women and that they were only a married couple in name before you started liking her.”
Lu Yunshu nodded obediently.
Lu Fangru instantly felt like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders.
Thankfully, Lu Yunshu already knew the truth.
Even so, this love was very unexpected.
The room fell silent again.
Lu Fangru didn’t speak, and neither did Lu Yunshu.
Lu Yunshu understood that her aunt needed time to process this information, so she was content to wait.
She was used to this by now. Everyone reacted this way when they found out that she liked Jin Hanshuang.
The person who reacted the worst even banged her knee then tried to stop Lu Yunshu from seeing her girlfriend.
Thinking of Shen Wenxin, Lu Yunshu quietly lifted her gaze toward Lu Fangru sitting across from her. Her aunt wouldn’t try to stop her from seeing Hanshuang…would she?
Lu Yunshu had to ask. “Auntie?”
“Mm?”
“You won’t stop me from seeing Hanshuang, will you?”
Lu Fangru looked at her.
Then she said, “Don’t rush me. I haven’t even gotten to that stage yet.”
Her mind was a bit overworked at the moment—there was too much information to process.
Lu Yunshu understood and said nothing else.
Lu Fangru looked at Lu Yunshu again, then picked up the fruit plate and handed it to her. “Go back to your room first. I’ll think about it some more. Take this with you.”
Lu Yunshu didn’t refuse.
If she pressured her aunt, it would only backfire.
She needed to believe that her aunt would come around.
But before leaving, Lu Yunshu couldn’t help emphasizing, “Auntie, Hanshuang is wonderful. I like her so much. Being with her makes me very happy.”
Lu Fangru was stunned.
Lu Yunshu’s gaze was sincere. “It’s the truth.”
In the more than six months they’d been together, every single day had been full of joy. She felt grateful just to be alive—well, except for those few days when Shen Wenxin tried to stop her from seeing Jin Hanshuang.
Lu Fangru quietly observed the expression on Lu Yunshu’s face. She understood her niece better than anyone. She could tell at a glance that Lu Yunshu wasn’t lying.
She sighed and reached out to pat Lu Yunshu’s arm.
She said, “Alright.”
She said, “I understand.”
She said, “Go back to your room now.”
Finally, she said, “Go get your uncle for me.”
Lu Yunshu obediently agreed.
She knew that the second person to get shocked was about to arrive.
She turned to leave the study.
But just as she was about to open the door, her aunt suddenly called her back.
Lu Fangru’s expression had become complicated. “You said you reconciled with Shen Wenxin. Then…does Shen Wenxin know—”
“She knows.”
“And she…?”
“She’s fine with it.”
“Oh…”
Lu Fangru covered her mouth, her expression growing even more complicated.
The child actually knew and didn’t object either…
She furrowed her brows, staying silent for a long time.
She remained silent…until she suddenly burst into laughter.
Lu Yunshu: “?”
“Why was your aunt laughing?” Jin Hanshuang’s gentle voice came through the phone receiver.
On screen, Jin Hanshuang was looking at Lu Yunshu with open curiosity.
Thinking back to her aunt’s words, Lu Yunshu also laughed helplessly. “Auntie said…our family hierarchy is such a mess.”
Jin Hanshuang: “?”
She thought about it. “It is a little, huh…”
She couldn’t help but try to sort out the current relationships in her head.
After one attempt, she didn’t want to do it again.
Too messy, better to treat every situation separately.
Jin Hanshuang stared at Lu Yunshu. She tilted her head and said, “You seem to be in a pretty good mood.”
Lu Yunshu nodded.
She wasn’t unhappy.
And she wasn’t as anxious as she had been when she first came out to her aunt.
Jin Hanshuang felt relieved to see Lu Yunshu like this.
Even though she wasn’t there in person, she could guess the situation from Lu Yunshu’s expression. Her aunt’s reaction must have been within her expectations.
Since everything was under control, they could rest assured.
As long as her Yunshu wasn’t upset, that was all that mattered.
“Thank you for your hard work.” Jin Hanshuang softly stroked the edge of her phone, as if petting her little puppy-like lover. “My Yunshu has been brave once again. “
Her girlfriend was always so straightforward. Her honesty made her brave and adorable. Jin Hanshuang really liked that.
“But…do you think your aunt will agree to us being together?” Jin Hanshuang asked.
Lu Fangru had said she needed time to think about it, but who knew what the outcome would be? What if, after all that thinking, she still couldn’t accept it?
Wouldn’t the two of them be thwarted by both sides of their families as a result?
Lu Yunshu recalled her aunt’s laughter.
“I don’t know,” she said, “but there’s always hope.
“After all, she’s not my dad.”
Lu Fangru and her husband sat in the study, staring at each other.
The two of them were digesting this explosive piece of information together.
Having someone to share the shock with made Lu Fangru feel better.
She felt calm, then relieved.
Relieved—for her niece.
Thank goodness her brother didn’t know about this. Otherwise, who knew how he’d have reacted.
Cheng Shu, her husband, couldn’t help but remark, “So Yunshu’s rebellious phase starts here…”
Lu Fangru: “?”
She laughed. “This rebellious phase is way too late, isn’t it?”
“Children will always be children in our eyes,” Cheng Shu said with a gentle smile. “It’s never too late to be rebellious.”
Lu Fangru said, “But Yunshu said she’s very happy.”
Her niece said that liking Jin Hanshuang made her happy, and that being with Jin Hanshuang made her happy too.
Jin Hanshuang had been the person who watched the stars with her, the person who cheered her back up on bad days. Just by existing, her presence could make Lu Yunshu feel joy.
Lu Fangru and Cheng Shu looked at each other.
Their eyes softened with quiet affection. They couldn’t help but feel joy for their niece knowing that she was now living happily.
This wasn’t a rebellious phase. It was true love.
The child had grown up. Now she understood what love was.
But Jin Hanshuang’s identity made it hard for them to easily compromise.
After all, she was the wife of Lu Cheng’s sworn enemy…albeit in name only.
But their niece really liked her…
They once again fell into conflicted silence.
A few minutes later, Cheng Shu said, “A-Ru, do you remember what you told me before? You said that the past should remain in the past and we should live in the present.”
Lu Fangru looked at him.
Cheng Shu continued gently, “Since Yunshu and that Shen family child have already moved on, there’s no reason why we can’t move on too. As long as our niece is happy, that’s what matters. And besides, if you really couldn’t accept it, you wouldn’t be sitting here thinking about it for so long.”
He knew his wife too well.
She was smart and capable, and she loved their daughter and niece. She would respect their every choice. It was precisely because she cared about Lu Yunshu that she was sitting here conflicted in the first place, wondering what to do.
But what else could they do?
Lu Yunshu was already head over heels for Jin Hanshuang…
Lu Fangru sighed.
She knew what Cheng Shu said was the truth. If she really couldn’t accept it, she would have said so long ago.
She stood up and walked toward the door.
Cheng Shu’s gaze followed her.
He asked curiously, “Where are you going?”
Lu Fangru said, “To find Lu Yunshu and ask Jin Hanshuang to have a meal with us after the New Year.”
She turned to look at her husband. “As parents, we have to see it with our own eyes first before we can be at ease.”
Instead of making blind guesses about Lu Yunshu’s relationship, Lu Fangru and Cheng Shu should meet their future niece-in-law first.
Niece-in-law…Jin Hanshuang…
Tsk, how strange.
Lu Fangru frowned and left the study.
The translator (AmEricaNo) has something to say:
Hi everyone, my website ran into a fatal error a few days ago and had to be restored from a backup (don’t worry, you probably didn’t notice a thing!). Long story short, I found out that the subscriber email plug-in I was using was causing a fatal error, so I had to disable it. I’m scared that it’ll happen again, so I’ve decided to move my mailing list to Ko-fi instead (which I already have set up and so far hasn’t caused any problems). Starting next week, I’ll begin updating followers on Ko-fi whenever there is a new chapter uploaded, so please consider following me there (it’s totally free!).
The author (热到昏厥) has something to say:
In this book, the lowest rank in the family hierarchy is: President Shen
President Shen: (clenches fist tightly)
The next book will be about President Shen.[1]
I’ll sort out the synopsis later.
President Shen’s CP is not Lu Mengyang, okay?
[1] This is the novel I mentioned in a previous footnote, which you can see here.
Are you by any chance translating President Shen’s story? 👀
I’m not sure yet. It depends on how I feel after I finish translating Jiejie, Help Me Please—which is hopefully soon!