Sweet Wife in My Arms

"Exactly," said Ye Shuyun, feeling good after the beatdown. She hadn't felt this good in a while now. I ought to do this more often, she thought to herself.

Lu Jin wiped some sweat off his forehead.

"Can I really have it? The work of Wu Daozi?" he asked, still in disbelief. His life would be complete if he had that. Even if he couldn't have it, he would have been satisfied with a look or a touch.

"Of course it's for you, Dad. It's not like any of us has a taste for such things. Personally, I prefer money."

"Let's go back first," said Lu Jin, getting a little carried away in his moment of elation. "I'll have to find a place to store it. How about... No, it might not be safe at home. Should we buy a safe? Wait, no. Even a safe might not be safe enough. I need somewhere safer."

Lu Jin kept mumbling to himself on where to store his newly-acquired treasure.

Ye Shuyun rolled her eyes. He spoke of his mansion filled with entry-pass demanding sentries as though it was some kind of ghetto.

They barely even remembered Old Master Lu's existence when they left.

Lu Jin's mind was fixed on Wu Daozi's work, while Ye Shuyun pretended not to notice Old Master Lu who was still waiting for an explanation.　　

Yan Huan never liked the old man, so she walked off on her own. As for Lu Jin, he chose to follow his parents. He didn't mean any disrespect, but his grandfather was too domineering. He needed to reflect and be taught a lesson. Just because he was old, it didn't mean he was always right. Everyone views the world differently, and so rarely do two views coincide.

He needed to look and think deeper into matters.

Old Master Lu watched them as they left without a goodbye. 　　

He wanted Wu Daozi's work too!

"Look at them, father! They are so rude towards you!" said Qin Xiaoyue accusingly, pouting.

"You shut your mouth!" bellowed Old Master Lu. "Blabbermouth."

Qin Xiaoyue pulled a long face, cursing 'old nuisance' in her heart.

"I know what you are thinking inside," said Old Master Lu. He had been through all kinds of things and seen all sorts of people, and reading Qin Xiaoyue's mind wasn't hard.

"Worse than an actor," he snorted. "Damn troublemakers."

"Leave! Get lost! All of you. Embarrassments."

His insult was targeted at both Qin Xiaoyue and Lu Qin.

He knew what was going on in Lu Qin's mind too. Not even a semblance of the Ye Family's pride in him. Not only did he become an actor, but he also stood there and took their insult like a wuss.

Old Master Lu stood up and returned to his room, leaving the two out there standing.

"Look at your grandpa! Always so biased against us," said Qin Xiaoyue, so angry she was nearly at a loss of words.

"He has always been this way, Mom," Lu Qin smiled coldly. "Hasn't he always taken Uncle's side? Don't go thinking that anything's changed just because he hit Lu Yi. He hit Lu Yi because he loved him too much. Mark my words, if I had been the one who married Yan Huan, he wouldn't have batted an eye."

"So why didn't you marry her?" Yan Huan getting married to Lu Yi had left her vexed and envious. If she had married Lu Qin, Qin Xiaoyue could have gotten anything she wanted, given how good she was at making money. The only problem was her embarrassing husband-stealing looks.

Women were always jealous of prettier women. She looked down at Yan Huan, but she liked her money. If possible, she would have wanted her as a daughter-in-law, since that would be equivalent to marrying a bank. That would increase their importance in the Lu Family by folds.

And she wouldn't need to pinch pennies all the time.

The words rankled.

Yeah, how good would that be? Yan Huan's money and connections would all have been his. And Wu Daozi's work! It's priceless, for god's sake.

Plus, with Yan Huan's current status in the acting industry, he could have gotten any role he wanted. Even getting Best Actor seemed plausible in a few years' time. At present, he couldn't even get one good film. His career was at a standstill.

If not for the Lu Family, who knows where he'll be right now. 　

If he married Yan Huan, everything that belonged to her would become his.

If he married Yan Huan, he'll have access to both her money and connections.

He'll have everything, the Lu Family, all he ever wanted.

However, the fact was he didn't marry Yan Huan. She was his cousin-in-law, not his wife.

Lu Yi first sent Lu Jin and Ye Shuyun to the Lu house, then drove Yan Huan to his home.

Lu Jin began scanning around once he stepped into the house, feeling unsafe no matter where he looked.

"Don't you feel unsafe here, Shuyun?"

This was the first time in dozens of years Lu Jin felt his home unsafe, yet he could not quite put a finger on what made him feel that way.

Ye Shuyun, a cat lying beside her foot, was folding the clothes that had already been washed by the nanny.

She looked up from her chores.

"Nothing's safe about this place."

"What makes you say that?" asked Lu Jin, pondering over where to hide Wu Daozi's painting.

"Do you think you are the only one staying here?" said Ye Shuyun, rising. She carried the clothes in her chest, preparing to put them into the closet. Lu Jin still didn't get what she meant.

"What do you mean?" asked Lu Jin blankly.

"Don't forget your brother's family shares the same roof as us," reminded Ye Shuyun.

Lu Qin wasn't someone worth trusting, and Qin Xiaoyue had always been stealing her stuff. Ye Shuyun had stored the jewelry given by Yan Huan at her place since they were too expensive to be put at home. Her things often went missing, but she tried her best to put up with it and not tell anyone.

It wasn't baseless suspicion either--she once found out about Qin Xiaoyue selling one of her rings. Still, she didn't blow her cover because they were all from the Lu Family, and she took pity on the widow and son. Now she understood why there was the saying 'Pitiful people tend to be equally abominable'.