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Wen Qian walked a little awkwardly beside Lu Zheng, feeling somewhat shy. Today, he seemed to be in a strange mood, insisting on taking her and Chen Chen to school, and there was no way to refuse him. Thus, Lu Zheng ended up carrying both Lu Chen's and Wen Qian's backpacks as they walked slowly together.
Lu Chen, on the other hand, was quite excited, circling around Lu Zheng repeatedly. "Dad, why are you taking Mom and me to school today? You didn’t do this before!"
Lu Zheng blinked and glanced at Wen Qian. "Dad was too busy before to take you and Mom. Now that I’m free, I can take you both. In the future, when Dad isn’t busy, I’ll take Chen Chen every day!"
"Yay! Yay!" Lu Chen cheered, hugging Lu Zheng's leg and looking up at him with a satisfied smile.
As they exited the family compound, they encountered several other parents also taking their children to school. Most of the families living in the compound were not working, so it was common for parents to accompany their kids in the morning. Although the distance wasn’t far, the location was somewhat remote, so it felt safer to walk them personally.
Usually, when they met Wen Qian, it was just her and Lu Chen, but today there was unexpectedly an additional Lu Zheng. The other parents exchanged knowing glances and smiled softly at the sight of them together.
"Is Colonel Lu here to take his son to school?" one of them called out.
"Yes, hello, Sister-in-law," Lu Zheng replied.
Another woman teased him playfully, "Oh no! Colonel Lu is here to take his wife to work! Don’t get it wrong!"
Laughter erupted among the group, causing Wen Qian to feel a bit embarrassed as she quickened her pace.
"What nonsense are you talking about? Can’t you see that your sister-in-law is shy? Be careful or your man might beat you up!" one woman pointed out with a teasing tone but couldn’t hide her laughter.
"I’m not afraid! Let him try!" Lu Zheng chuckled as he explained. "Sisters-in-law, please don’t tease us too much. My wife is shy; it’s fine if we joke around at home, but let’s keep it light in front of her. I’ve worked hard to win her over!"
The sisters-in-law laughed again. "Alright then! We’ll give you this favor and keep it down."
"We know you dote on your wife!"
Lu Zheng wasn’t typically one for jokes, but for Wen Qian’s sake, he was willing to engage with the others a bit more. He had heard plenty of teasing; as long as she was happy here, that was what mattered.
When they reached the school gate, Wen Qian took the backpack from Lu Zheng's hands and quickly pulled Lu Chen along into the school.
Lu Zhengfei waited until Wen Qian entered the office before he left, a smile lingering at the corners of his mouth.
"Wen Qian, Wen Qian, who was that just now? Is he your man?"
Li Huimei, known for her gossiping skills and sharp eyes, rushed over as soon as she spotted Wen Qian at the school gate.
Wen Qian knew right away that she couldn’t keep this a secret any longer. With a resigned nod, she confirmed, "Yes, it is him."
"Oh my, your brother-in-law came to drop you off at school! Why aren’t you happy? If it were me, I would have strutted in with my head held high!"
As she spoke, she put down her backpack and demonstrated with exaggerated pride, resembling a boastful rooster.
Both Lu Wenwen and Wen Qian burst into laughter. "Alright, alright, just sit down already!"
"Tch, it’s just a drop-off. What’s there to show off about? You’re not embarrassed?"
As soon as the woman finished speaking, the office fell into an awkward silence. Everyone exchanged glances between Wen Qian and her two companions and then shifted their eyes to the woman sitting in the corner.
That woman was Guan Nian'er, a youth from Li Huimei's village who had reportedly gotten her teaching position here through connections. Typically, such promising teaching roles would first consider candidates from their own villages, much like Li Huimei did. However, Li Huimei earned her position through her own merit. With not only a high school diploma but also teaching skills, she was qualified to teach third grade.
Li Huimei mentioned that initially there was no Guan Nian'er in the lineup, but for some reason, she ended up teaching after all. Guan Nian'er taught first-grade language arts.
Lu Chen had quietly told Wen Qian about her before, mentioning that she had made a mistake in teaching a word.
"What do you mean by that? Just because we’re showing off doesn’t mean you can say anything! If you don’t like it, just keep your mouth shut."
Wen Qian had grown impatient with her and shot back.
Li Huimei chimed in supportively, "Exactly! If you don’t want to hear it, no one is forcing you to listen. We’re just chatting quietly over here; if you don’t want to eavesdrop, how would you even hear us?"
In the room, they occupied opposite corners, their distance almost diagonal from each other.
"You two think you can just talk in the office without permission? And now I’m not allowed to listen?"
Guan Nian'er’s face flushed with anger, but she couldn’t afford to speak too harshly with Li Huimei present. Her father was from the village; if she offended them now, how would she manage in the village later? She was already not well-liked; what if they made things difficult for her?
And then there was that incident—just thinking about it sent shivers down her spine. Thankfully Li Huimei's father hadn’t revealed it; otherwise, she truly wouldn’t have been able to survive.
The more she thought about it, the less courage Guan Nian'er had to look at Li Huimei. She fell silent and sat on her chair fuming quietly.
Ignoring him, this was always the case in the village, and I didn't mind talking to her.
As they chatted, Lu Wenwen suddenly said to Li Huimei, "Huimei, there’s no class at school tomorrow. The army is holding a social event. You can come to my house first, and then I'll take you with me."
"I talked to my mom about it, and she said I could bring you along."
"Really? Then I need to prepare well!"
Li Huimei shyly twirled her braid and glanced at Wen Qian and Lu Wenwen with embarrassment.
Suddenly, Li Huimei looked curiously at Lu Wenwen and asked, "Wenwen, you're not that young anymore. Aren't your family anxious about you?"
Lu Wenwen quickly averted her gaze, lowered her head, and gently shook it. "No, my mom says I'm still young."
Li Huimei nodded in confusion, thinking that perhaps people in the city marry later than those in their village.
In the afternoon, Lu Chen sulked all the way home, his lips pouted. When Wen Qian asked him what was wrong, he just shook his head.
Wen Qian's mind suddenly flashed with Guan Nian'er’s face as she glanced down at Lu Chen.
Just as they were nearing home, they ran into Lu Zheng coming to pick them up.
"Dad!"
The little guy rushed into Lu Zheng's legs and hugged him tightly, looking pitiful.
Once they got home and closed the door, the little one finally released his hold on Wen Qian.
"Mom, the teacher criticized me in class today and made me stand as punishment."
Wen Qian pulled him down onto a stool and looked at his aggrieved little face, asking seriously, "Why?"
"I finished all my homework! I wrote it just like you taught me. But the teacher said I did it wrong; it wasn't how she taught us."
"I told the teacher that, but she made me stand anyway."
Wen Qian asked again under the pretense of not wanting to wrong anyone, "Which teacher was it?"
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