"I'm just curious."
Zhao Yu did some basic stretching exercises while answering Ning Songyun, "But we can't go eavesdropping."
"Then how are you going to find out?"
"Of course someone will come back and tell me." With that, Zhao Yu pulled Ning Songyun over to the mirror.
"Stop dwelling on it. I'll tell you when the time comes. Hurry up and practice."
Things turned out exactly as Zhao Yu had predicted.
At noon that day, while she and Ning Songyun were eating in the cafeteria, Lin Shu and Lu Jing walked over from somewhere and sat right down beside them.
"Yuyu, you guys are eating here too?"
Lin Shu greeted them quite enthusiastically, as if she hadn't been crying and making a scene just two days ago.
"What else would we be doing besides eating?" Ning Songyun detested people who made small talk just for the sake of it.
"That's true..." Being so bluntly rebuffed by Ning Songyun, Lin Shu felt a little awkward.
Then, turning her head, she saw Lu Jing staring unblinkingly at Zhao Yu. Lin Shu's expression instantly turned frosty.
She forced a fake, unnatural smile as she looked at Zhao Yu. "By the way, Yuyu, you probably don't know yet, but Lu Jing and I are getting married soon."
"Oh."
Lin Shu hadn't expected that coming over specially would net her nothing more than a single "Oh."
Her initial sense of triumph instantly collapsed, and even maintaining the smile on her face became a struggle.
"Yuyu, will you sincerely bless us then?"
Hearing Lin Shu's words, the gossip light in Ning Songyun's eyes flared even brighter. She lowered her head and pretended to shovel rice, while actually pricking up her ears.
"Of course." This time, Zhao Yu deigned to say a few more words. "After all, the two of you getting together is probably something we'd all be happy to see, isn't it?"
"Yuyu, you really are magnanimous." Lin Shu pretended to let out a sigh of relief. "After all... if it were me, I don't think I could ever be that magnanimous."
"Oh."
Another single-word reply.
Zhao Yu finished her last bite of rice. "So you came over just to say this? Then answer me a question in return."
"Go ahead and ask, Yuyu!" Lin Shu assumed Zhao Yu still cared about Lu Jing.
Right now, as the victor, she could naturally answer any question from Zhao Yu, the loser.
"With this marriage, he must have suffered another blow, right?" Zhao Yu pointed at Lu Jing. "Tell me about it and make me happy."
"Yuyu, what are you talking about..."
"Suspended for a year and a half." Lu Jing cut off Lin Shu's defense, stood up, and walked away.
"I'm done eating too." Ning Songyun shoved the last mouthful of rice into her mouth and stood up, ready to leave.
Before leaving, she didn't forget to secretly shoot a look at Zhao Yu, which roughly meant: "Don't forget to come back and tell me all about it!"
Seeing them both leave, Lin Shu's expression changed, and her tone became much more casual.
"It seems you aren't surprised at all. Well, of course, it was your idea after all."
Canvassing no interest in entertaining her, Zhao Yu stood up to leave.
Lin Shu slowly followed right behind her.
"Actually, I knew a long time ago that you were dating Lu Jing, and I knew your family background wasn't nearly as ordinary as you claimed."
"So?"
"So I envy you," Lin Shu said with a self-deprecating laugh.
"At first, I knew my place. I understood that being with Jianguo was already as good as it gets for a country girl like me. But who told him to die? And to die saving Lu Jing, of course."
Lin Shu spoke with the casual air of ordinary chat, wearing a rather regretful expression. "Since my husband died saving your future husband, it's not too much to ask you to compensate me with another husband, is it?"
"Of course not." Zhao Yu figured Lin Shu still had no idea what a troublesome nest of vipers Lu Jing's family was.
Right now, all of Lin Shu's showing off and posturing seemed utterly hilarious to her. "I hope you still feel that way later on."
"What do you mean?" Lin Shu dropped her smile and the triumphant edge in her voice.
"You'll find out when the time comes." Zhao Yu waved a hand at her. "Oh, by the way, when is the wedding?"
"What are you up to?" Lin Shu instantly grew alert.
"What am I up to? I'll be taking extra baths with pomelo leaves that day!"
Zhao Yu reached out, snapped a twig from a roadside dwarf tree, and waved it leisurely through the air. "To ward off bad luck."
Not only had Lin Shu failed to strike at Zhao Yu's weak spot, but she had also worked herself into a fury. She could only glare viciously at Zhao Yu and turn on her heel to leave.
Zhao Yu tossed the twig aside and smiled with disdain.
She would let Lin Shu see for herself: once she lost the pretext of playing the "widow of the savior" and went from being a goddaughter to a stepdaughter, could Lu Jing still treat her like his own flesh and blood the way he did in their past life?
Or, once Lin Shu got a taste of Lu Jing's incredibly difficult family, would she still think she had scored a massive bargain?
"What took you so long?"
As soon as Zhao Yu stepped into the dorm, Ning Songyun grabbed her hand.
Ning Songyun pulled Zhao Yu to sit on her bed, then fished out a large box of peanuts, melon seeds, and fruit drops from beneath the bed.
"Quick, tell me, tell me! What's the whole story?"
Zhao Yu recounted how Lin Shu had come over to show off. Ning Songyun's eyes rounded in shock, completely forgetting to eat the melon seeds in her hand.
"So Lin Shu really... got herself pregnant and let people see it, and that's how she forced Lu Jing to marry her?"
Ning Songyun had an epiphany. "No wonder Lu Jing suddenly agreed. But Yuyu, you still need to give that Lu Jing a wide berth when you go out. I saw him staring at you without blinking while eating today."
You are the sister-in-law I've chosen, and I won't let anyone else eye you up like that!
Ning Songyun added silently in her heart.
"I know, don't worry."
Zhao Yu pinched Ning Songyun's cheek and placed the shelled melon seeds into her hand. "Only eat these, keep your weight in check, or I'm afraid you won't be able to jump on the day of the performance."
"Yuyu!"
Ning Songyun poured the shelled seeds straight into her mouth, then leaped up and chased Zhao Yu around in a playful scuffle.
"Ah! I'm so tired!"
After wrestling and chasing each other for over half an hour, Ning Songyun collapsed exhausted onto her bed.
"Huh? Is there some noise outside?"
Zhao Yu curiously poked her head out of the window. "Comrade Ye? Songyun, is he calling you?"
Ning Songyun kicked her legs and sat straight up. "Who? Who's looking for me?"
Zhao Yu pointed outside. "Comrade Ye Heng."
"What's he want with me?" Ning Songyun wondered, though she didn't stop pulling Zhao Yu along. "Come on, let's go down and see."
Unable to shake her off, Zhao Yu followed her downstairs. As soon as they stepped outside, they realized it had started raining.
"Ye Heng! You dragged me out in the rain just so I'd get soaked?"
Ning Songyun marched angrily toward Ye Heng.
Zhao Yu raised a hand to shield her head, just turning to wait under the eaves, when a black umbrella canopy appeared over her.
"Why did you just run out like that?"