Lu Tai'an always kept his word.
By the time Lu Wang had washed her hair, blow-dried it, braided it into a single side plait, and changed into a French-style floral cinched-waist short dress, the enticing aroma of food already filled the air as she headed downstairs.
A trace of delight touched the corners of her brows.
It had been a long time since she last ate food cooked by her father!
She skipped down the stairs, intending to head straight to the kitchen, when her gaze suddenly caught sight of an elegant, beautiful, and poised woman sitting opposite He Yin on the dark brown leather sofa.
As they spoke about something, the woman's eyes and brows were filled with smiles; even when she smiled, the curve of her lips was as graceful as a painting.
She was instantly struck with admiration.
Was this Auntie Yao?
No wonder the Guan Clan siblings were all as jade-bellied and handsome as could be.
With a mother this stunning, even with a genetic mutation, things couldn't turn out too badly.
A sizzling sound came from the kitchen—Lu Tai'an was frying something.
It neatly masked the sound of Lu Wang's footsteps, but it didn't escape the eyes of the young man sitting at the other end of the sofa.
He raised his head slightly.
As their gazes met, Lu Wang clearly saw Guan Zhouyue's expression freeze for a moment, followed by a smile that slowly spread from the corners of his lips.
Feeling somewhat awkward, she instinctively tugged at the hem of her skirt, which barely reached mid-thigh.
If she had known, she would have worn something simpler...
As the boy's gaze lingered on her for a long time, the others also turned their heads following his line of sight.
When Yao Yue saw her, her eyes instantly lit up quite a bit! For a moment, she forgot how to react.
It was He Yin who smiled and spoke first.
"Nannan is down. Come and say hello to Auntie Yao."
Lu Wang obediently came downstairs, stood beside He Yin, and said softly, "Hello, Auntie Yao."
Yao Yue forced herself to stay calm, her slightly damp palms clenching together. "Hello, Nannan."
She was too adorable! Like an unblossomed gardenia bud! So soft and round, she just wanted to reach out and pinch those cheeks!
Despite her inner excitement, Yao Yue maintained a calm expression on the outside and gently opened her lips. "Sit down and grab a cup of milk—ah, no, sit down and have a cup of milk.""..."
Lu Wang could barely keep a straight face.
He quickly thought of two sad things to keep from laughing, then pressed down the corners of his lips. "Okay, Auntie."
After sitting down beside He Yin, a cup of warm milk was handed to him.
The hand holding the cup was slender and well-formed, the knuckles flushed with a healthy rosy hue, the skin cool and white like jade, slightly surreal in the sunlight.
Lu Wang knew whose hand it was and deliberately avoided looking at him. He took the cup, said "Thank you," and held it in his palms, sipping from it in small sips.
Yet his gaze couldn't help but quietly steal glances at the beautiful matron sitting across from him.
Up close, Yao Yue's beauty appeared even more vivid, like a gentle beauty stepped right out of a painting. Time had left no trace whatsoever on her face; at a glance, anyone who didn't know better would have taken her for the older sister of the two siblings.
Seeing Lu Wang staring at his mother like a dazed fan, Guan Zhouyue's expression darkened slightly. He shoved the item he had been about to take out back into his pocket and leaned back against the sofa.Guan Miaomiao recalled how her older brother had intentionally put on a white shirt before heading out that morning, knocking on her bedroom door to ask for her opinion. A wave of secret amusement washed over her.
She lowered her head and stealthily sent him a text message.
"Well, you're screwed, aren't you? You spent half the day meticulously preparing, and she didn't even look at you at all."
Guan Zhouyue: "Get lost."
...
Just as He Yin had said, Yao Yue had an extremely approachable personality and a very comforting way of speaking. Within just a few exchanges, Lu Wang had grown to like her.
Similarly, Yao Yue formed a stellar impression of Lu Wang.
The young girl was not only pretty and well-behaved, but also had a wonderful personality. Though she didn't talk a great deal, her words and actions made it easy to tell she was a child who had grown up immersed in a well-bred household.
In the end, Yao Yue couldn't suppress her eager nature and let her "overly enthusiastic" side show.
She held Lu Wang's hand and chatted away without stopping,
even going so far as to ask her to be her goddaughter.Lu Wang was naturally willing, not because she was drawn to Yao Yue's family background, but because she genuinely liked this auntie from the bottom of her heart.
It was because, in Yao Yue, she could faintly find a trace of her own mother's shadow.
Yet just as her agreement was about to slip past her lips, she heard the young man sitting opposite her, who had remained quiet for a long time, suddenly speak in a casual, lazy tone: "I disagree."
"You disagree?!" Yao Yue widened her eyes and turned back to look at her son. "It's not like I'm finding a daughter for you, what do you have to disagree about?"
Guan Zhouyue crossed his arms, lazily propping his head up with one hand. "I said I disagree, so I disagree. End of discussion."
Yao Yue couldn't help rolling her eyes. "Who asked for your opinion?"
She turned back to look at Lu Wang with a warm smile. "His brain is full of water. Good girl, let's ignore him! Nandan, would you be willing to be my—"
Mid-sentence, Yao Yue slammed on the emergency brakes.
Because she suddenly remembered that just the day before, Guan Miaomiao had mentioned to her that Guan Zhouyue had his eyes on a girl.
A thought suddenly flashed through her mind—wait! How could she have forgotten about this! If Guan Zhouyue really had feelings for Nandan, wouldn't doing this be actively crushing her son's romantic chances?!
She couldn't help sizing up Lu Wang once more, only to realize with a start that the side profile of the young girl in front of her was an absolute carbon copy of the painting Guan Zhouyue had entered into the National Children's Art Exhibition when he was twelve years old, the one that won first prize!
Oh my god! Oh my god!
Yao Yue quickly covered her mouth.
That was a close one; she had almost ruined her son's happiness.
At that moment, seeing Lu Wang's increasingly puzzled gaze, Yao Yue steadied herself, gave a light cough, and began talking nonsense with a deadpan expression: "Ahem—well, Auntie suddenly remembered that when I went traveling years ago, an old fortune-teller once told me that I don't have the fate to take in a goddaughter, otherwise... otherwise misfortune would plague me, and black smoke would billow from our ancestral graves!"
"Pfft—"
Guan Miaomiao nearly spat out her water.
Guan Zhouyue also raised an eyebrow, thoroughly floored by his own mother's abstract behavior.
Only Lu Wang widened her eyes in absolute, unyielding belief, her face filled with worry. "...It's that serious? Then let's not do it! I want Auntie Yao's family to live in peace and safety!"
Yao Yue: "..."
Looking at that innocent and well-behaved face, she suddenly felt a sense of guilt toward her ancestors and toward Nandan.
Oh heavens! What was she babbling about?!
Yet words spoken were like spilled water; they could not be taken back. But her fondness for Lu Wang was real, and regardless of whether they established a mother-daughter bond, she still had to give the gift she had prepared.
So she slid off the jade bracelet she had worn for over a decade and slipped it onto Lu Wang's wrist.
"This bracelet was left to me by Zhouyue and Miaomiao's grandmother, and its meaning is 'may all your wishes come true.' Meeting you for the first time, Auntie didn't know what you liked, so I hope you won't look down on it."
As she spoke, Yao Yue didn't forget to steal a sideways glance at her son, her eyes telegraphing the expression: *This isn't going too far, is it?*
Guan Zhouyue was somewhat surprised. He hadn't expected Madam Yao to be so willing to bleed a fortune, giving away the only keepsake left by her grandmother on their very first meeting, but he didn't say anything, merely hooking the corners of his lips upward.
Yet while the other party dared to give it, Lu Wang didn't dare to accept it!
Putting aside the quality of the jade bracelet, the auspicious meaning behind it alone far exceeded the material value of the item itself. She absolutely could not accept it!
Lu Wang hurriedly took it off and handed it back. "Auntie, I accept your kind intentions, but this gift is too precious. I can't take it."
Upon hearing her refusal, Yao Yue feigned a heartbroken look. "Nandan, could it be that you don't like Auntie?"
Lu Wang hurriedly explained: "How could that be! I like you! I like you very much!"
Yao Yue instantly beamed with joy. "That's it then! Since you like me, accept it! Her grandmother gave me several hundred *jin* of jewelry back then! In a couple of days when I have some free time, Auntie will specially pick out a few *jin* of it to send over for you to play with."
Lu Wang: "..."
*...Jin?*