CHAPTER 129: CHAPTER 129: THIS ISN’T A CHILDHOOD SWEETHEARTS SETTING

"Ru’an, come quickly, I saved a spot for you."

A girl waved at Xu Ru’an.

Xu Ru’an walked over.

Sang Yu, on the other hand, went to Jiang Jingming’s side. There was no one else near Jiang Jingming, possibly because everyone was a bit afraid of him.

After Sang Yu approached, Jiang Jingming’s expression instantly softened a little.

"What do you want to eat?"

Sang Yu looked at the ingredients and said, "I want to eat meat."

Jiang Jingming smiled dotingly, "Okay, I’ll grill it for you."

"I also want to eat eggplant."

"Alright."

No matter what Sang Yu said she wanted to eat, Jiang Jingming always said okay.

Then he started grilling the ingredients.

People’s gazes occasionally fell on Sang Yu and Jiang Jingming, some out of curiosity, others out of envy.

"Sang Yu and her husband have a really good relationship."

"Yeah, they look so happy."

"Well, you should find someone to marry too."

"Forget it, not every man is like that."

"True enough."

"But my parents have already started planning. They want me to get married right after graduating."

"In such a hurry?"

"Yeah, I don’t know why they’re so anxious."

"My parents don’t care about me, and I don’t want to get married so early."

"Does anyone here have a partner?"

"Looks like no one does."

"Really? Are we all single?"

"Qinghuan, do you have a partner?"

Someone suddenly asked Liu Qinghuan.

Liu Qinghuan hadn’t been here long but had already become familiar with them, so the person naturally asked.

Someone nudged the person: "What kind of question is that, Qinghuan and Lu Yuan grew up together, what do you think?"

Xu Ru’an accidentally touched the grill and got burned: "Ouch."

The pain in her hand made Xu Ru’an utter a cry of distress.

"What happened?" Lu Yuan immediately came over to Xu Ru’an and grabbed her hand.

"It’s red." Lu Yuan frowned deeply, a hint of pain flashing in his eyes.

Xu Ru’an wanted to pull her hand back.

Seeing this, Liu Qinghuan quickly went back to fetch burn ointment: "First apply some ointment."

Xu Ru’an looked at the ointment in Liu Qinghuan’s hand, feeling a bit complicated inside: "Thanks."

Liu Qinghuan: "No problem, I’ll help you."

Liu Qinghuan opened the ointment and gently applied it to the burn.

The wound instantly felt cool.

Lu Yuan watched on, his brow still furrowed.

After a while: "Alright, you don’t need to do anything else, leave the rest to the guys here. Brother Lu Yuan, what do you think?"

Lu Yuan nodded: "Right, you don’t need to grill anymore, just tell me what you want to eat and I’ll grill it for you."

Listening to Lu Yuan, Xu Ru’an instinctively glanced at Liu Qinghuan.

Seeing no change in her expression, Xu Ru’an suddenly felt a little guilty.

"Thank you."

Next, Lu Yuan openly took care of Xu Ru’an.

Everyone found it a bit odd.

Couldn’t help but quietly ask: "Qinghuan, what’s your relationship with Lu Yuan?"

Liu Qinghuan said calmly: "Me and Brother Lu Yuan? Neighbors, brother and sister? Pretty much like that."

Growing up, Uncle Lu often said Liu Qinghuan was like Lu Yuan’s sister and asked him to take good care of her.

It should be like being a sister."

Moreover, she had always considered Brother Lu Yuan as her brother.

"Brother?" Others were a bit surprised.

Seeing Liu Qinghuan and Lu Yuan being so close, they had thought they were a couple.

Turns out they’re just like brother and sister.

"Yeah, when I was young, Brother Lu Yuan took care of me like a brother, and my parents also said Brother Lu Yuan was like my brother, so isn’t he just a brother?"

"Don’t you like Lu Yuan?"

Liu Qinghuan ate while answering: "Of course I like Brother Lu Yuan, he’s so nice, who wouldn’t like him?"

Upon hearing this, the person asking the questions seemed relieved—this was the true setup of a childhood friendship.

"Would you marry Lu Yuan?"

Liu Qinghuan: "Of course not."

...

Wait, this isn’t the typical childhood sweetheart setup.

"Don’t you like Lu Yuan?"

Liu Qinghuan looked at her strangely: "Yes, I do, but Brother Lu Yuan is my brother, how could I marry him."

"..."

How to argue against that?

So her liking isn’t the liking between man and woman, but brotherly affection.

No wonder Liu Qinghuan reacted so calmly when Lu Yuan was taking care of Xu Ru’an, she wasn’t interested in him in that way at all.

And Lu Yuan was being asked similar questions.

"Why don’t you go take care of Qinghuan, I’m fine here," Xu Ru’an said, feeling awkward.

"What does Qinghuan need taken care of? You don’t move, I’ll help you. Your hand is hurt, it might hurt later."

Lu Yuan could be said to be attentive, completely different from how he was before.

Watching him take care of her so meticulously, Xu Ru’an felt rather uncomfortable.

"Aren’t you afraid Qinghuan would misunderstand with how much you take care of me?" Xu Ru’an accidentally voiced her thoughts, immediately wishing she hadn’t spoken such nonsense.

What a silly question.

Isn’t it obvious?

Sure enough, Lu Yuan suddenly stopped, looking at Xu Ru’an with an amused expression: "Misunderstand? Misunderstand what?"

Xu Ru’an’s eyes darted around, evading, "I want that, could you hand it to me?"

Lu Yuan gave Xu Ru’an a deep look, then got what she wanted but didn’t hand it to her; instead, he asked: "You haven’t answered my question, misunderstand what?"

Xu Ru’an felt guilty: "Nothing, just give it to me."

Lu Yuan: "I don’t believe you, Xu Ru’an, what do you want to say?"

Xu Ru’an: "Oh, you’re so annoying, I’ve already said it’s nothing."

Seeing Xu Ru’an was about to get angry, Lu Yuan finally handed her the barbeque and casually explained: "Liu Qinghuan lives next door to me; our parents are friends, and she often came to my house to play when we were young.

We were pretty much growing up together..."

Xu Ru’an interrupted him: "You don’t need to say more, I don’t want to hear it."

Xu Ru’an took a fierce bite of the barbeque in her hand.

Lu Yuan: "I want to say it."

And Lu Yuan continued, "Since childhood, I considered Liu Qinghuan as my sister; my parents also said she was like our sister, so my brother and I took good care of her.

When I went to college, Qinghuan’s parents moved to Beijing for business, and she went to school there too, just returned a few days ago.

Since her parents aren’t back yet and there’s no one at home, she’s been staying with us.

But she’s always been my sister; and she also views me as her brother. We’re just like siblings."

After listening to Lu Yuan, Xu Ru’an suddenly felt relieved as if something had been unclogged.

But she remained stubborn, "What does it have to do with me, stop talking, I want to eat meat."

However, a smile had unconsciously formed in her eyes.

[Happy Valentine’s Day to everyone. If you’re single, happy January 17th instead, hahaha]