People say the days right after a wedding are the sweetest.

Yunque had never had any frame of reference for that phrase before — and it was only that very night that she truly understood it firsthand.

The first thing to contend with was that Lu Rangchen was a man who meant every word he said.

He had told her he would show her how strong he was. And he did, thoroughly — every variation, every location — until Yunque finally couldn’t take any more and surrendered. Only then did Lu Rangchen know when to stop.

But speaking honestly —

Lu Rangchen truly could not bear to see her in pain, and he truly could not bear to see her cry. And he was thinking: their life together had only just begun — there was no need to be so urgent about everything.

So afterward, he carried Yunque into the bathroom and rinsed off, then helped her blow-dry her hair.

Summer nights in the capital were not as stifling and humid as they were back in the southern city.

The two of them lay nestled in the same covers — Yunque pillowed on Lu Rangchen’s arm, tucked into the crook of his elbow, held close by him.

This was the first time in eight years she had felt this truly at ease.

But this man’s heartbeat kept reverberating against her ear, strong and steady. Even after a long while, sleep still wouldn’t come. In the dark, by a sliver of cool moonlight, she found herself doing nothing but staring at him intently.

Staring, and staring.

And then Lu Rangchen was awake too.

In the dim darkness, the man looked down at her with lazy eyes and a slow smile. “You’re this alert — haven’t been worn out enough yet?”

Yunque’s slender fingertip traced down the ridge of his nose and said, “I’m thinking about tomorrow.”

Lu Rangchen made a soft sound of acknowledgment, his voice gentle. “What about tomorrow?”

Yunque paused and told him plainly, “I’m afraid you won’t be able to come back tomorrow.”

Her expression was oddly serious. “That you’ll get locked up again.”

A rather unlucky thing to say.

Lu Rangchen clicked his tongue directly. “What are you talking about?”

Yunque blinked at him with her clear, dewy eyes — and within seconds burst out laughing, incorrigibly mischievous.

As punishment, Lu Rangchen simply grabbed her hand and pressed it straight under his shirt.

The two of them had been completely open with each other earlier; there was no part of him she hadn’t touched. But Lu Rangchen had her touch him anyway — almost forcing her — making her feel the lean, powerful lines of his abdomen and the force of his physical strength.

Her palm pressed against the supple, firm skin.

Yunque swallowed quietly.

Lu Rangchen raised an eyebrow at her. “You think I’ve been living off nothing these past years?”

“…You work out?”

“What do you think?”

“I’m at the gym every day. It’s only this recent stretch that I’ve been skipping because of you.”

Lu Rangchen let out a low, smug laugh. “Otherwise how would there be so many more variations than eight years ago? I’d have exhausted myself long ago.”

“……”

While that comment certainly carried undertones of something rather improper —

It was true. Lu Rangchen had considerably more stamina than he had eight years ago, even though he had been quite capable back then.

The thought of it made Yunque determined to provoke him. She said, “Right. Probably all that practice you’ve had with some girl or another.”

Then she deliberately turned herself around and presented him with the back of her head and her back.

Lu Rangchen walked right into it, his amusement tipping over into irritation. He reached over and his restless hand found her, squeezing and pressing at her. Yunque bit her lip and let out two short sounds of protest, then, unable to stand it, turned her head and glared at him.

That one look from her doused Lu Rangchen’s fire entirely.

He lazily curved his mouth upward, caught her chin, and leaned in to kiss her lips.

“I did want to practice with that girl.”

“But that girl was abroad and wouldn’t give me the time of day.”

The room hummed with the air conditioning and the purifier.

A faint fragrance from the aroma diffuser drifted through the air, barely there, and the soft sound of their kisses filled the quiet.

After a while, Yunque broke away from the kiss — breathless, swallowing — and pushed him back. She genuinely could not afford for him to start things up again at this hour of the night.

She really couldn’t handle it.

Lu Rangchen wasn’t unreasonable about it either.

His girl had a delicate constitution, and she’d already indulged him to his heart’s content for the better part of the night — he ought to let her breathe.

So he pulled her closer and coaxed her, “Sleep. Sleep now, and when you wake up, I’ll already be back.”

Yunque couldn’t hear a word of it.

The feeling in that moment was, for her, exactly like the night before results are posted after college entrance exams.

She thought it over and over, and then said, “Lu Rangchen, take me with you tomorrow.”

Lu Rangchen’s brow furrowed slightly. He looked down at her. “Are you sure?”

“…Sure.”

Yunque seemed to have been thinking this over for a while. She tilted her face up and steeled herself to look at him. “Didn’t you say on the phone — that Auntie has been staying there to take care of the elder? If I come with you, I can see her too.”

The phone call she mentioned was the one Lu Rangchen had received during dinner.

Many times, Lu Rangchen was struck with admiration for her hearing — the person on the other end hadn’t been speaking loudly at all, and yet she had managed to catch it anyway.

Lu Rangchen laughed softly and said, “So that’s what you’ve been turning over in your head this whole time.”

He raised an eyebrow. “All those gifts you bought — were they all for her?”

Scarves, traditional pastry assortments, bird’s nest supplements — clearly the tastes of a woman of a certain age.

Yunque’s lashes lowered. After a few quiet seconds, she said, “I have to see her at some point. Don’t I?”

“Yes, you should see her.”

Lu Rangchen said, “But I didn’t expect you to be so proactive about it. Or so soon.”

Then he gave a quiet laugh, pinched her face gently, and said, “But you’ve thought it through, right? She may not forgive you — and she may not agree to us — even so, that’s still alright with you?”

Yunque had considered this possibility before.

She shook her head calmly. “I know. It’s alright.”

She looked up at Lu Rangchen. “I just want to apologize on my mother’s behalf.”

In that moment —

Their eyes met with total sincerity.

Everything they wanted to say passed wordlessly between them, in the steady warmth of each other’s gaze.

A brief silence.

Lu Rangchen nodded slowly and said: Alright.

Then, almost without thinking, he raised a hand and touched the soft curve of her cheek, and said, “But I want you to understand something — whether in the past or now, you have never done anything wrong.”

“……”

A wetness gathered at the edges of her eyes.

Yunque turned her head slightly, half of her face nestled into his palm, and said in a voice that was soft and faintly rough, “Alright. I’ll listen to you.”

—

That night, the two of them slept wrapped in each other’s arms.

They had expected to sleep in until the sun was high overhead — but as if by some unspoken agreement, they both stirred awake before nine.

Perhaps because each carried something weighing on their heart, neither could truly settle into deep sleep. Without lingering too long, they got themselves ready and set out for the Cheng family’s old residence in the third ring.

Yunque wore the outfit Lu Rangchen had chosen for her the day before.

A satin white slip dress, paired with a cream-colored knitted cardigan — cool, gentle, and quietly composed.

What Lu Rangchen didn’t know was that, in order to appear more likable, Yunque had made her makeup several degrees more refined than her usual standard.

Even so, none of it could conceal the long-accumulated nerves and tension tightening in her chest.

It was Lu Rangchen who noticed the subtle shift in her mood. At a red light, he gripped her hand firmly and said in his casually indifferent way, “What is there to be afraid of? Worst case, we just don’t see them. It’s that simple.”

When he said this, his expression was entirely serious — it genuinely did not look like he was joking. “If it really comes to that, during the holidays, I’ll go in by myself and see them for a bit, and you take our kid and stay at a hotel nearby for a couple of days — and then we go home.”

“……”

Yunque was utterly speechless.

She let out an amused, helpless sound and said, “Who agreed to have children with you?”

Lu Rangchen raised an eyebrow. “Still trying to be stubborn, are you? Who was it last night who kept cuddling up to me saying she didn’t want me to use protection?”

Though to be fair, Lu Rangchen had still insisted on it.

He knew this girl was just talking — just trying to rile him up. And besides, he genuinely couldn’t bear the thought of her having to take medication afterward.

But since Yunque was perfectly prim and proper by day even when she was unreserved at night, he couldn’t resist ribbing her a little.

Sure enough, once he’d said that, Yunque went quiet.

She turned to look out the window, and a moment later she even put her earbuds in.

As if she found him irritating and was refusing to talk to him on purpose.

In truth, only Yunque herself knew: she was nervous, and she needed a little music to redirect her attention.

Fortunately it wasn’t long before the Cheng family’s old residence came into view.

Yunque could get it over with quickly.

She had even braced herself to be swept out the door.

But life is not a drama.

There are not so many theatrical scenes.

The Cheng family was, whatever one might say, a respected and prominent household in the capital — they would never stoop to something so undignified. Knowing that Lu Rangchen would be bringing Yunque by, even the housekeeper who came to meet them at the door wore a smiling, welcoming expression.

The housekeeper only saw Lu Rangchen once every year or so — she called him affectionately by his nickname, A-rang, A-rang. As for Yunque, she addressed her respectfully as Miss Zhu, making it plain she had been given her instructions in advance.

The housekeeper even took the gifts from both their hands and led them inside.

While changing into indoor shoes at the entrance, Yunque glanced at Lu Rangchen. He gave her a clearly reassuring look and squeezed her hand.

Even with three floors, even with all its opulence, the enormous villa carried an atmosphere of emptiness and cold quiet.

Yunque’s gaze had barely had time to sweep across the surroundings before footsteps came from upstairs.

She instinctively looked up — and then saw Cheng Liru, whom she hadn’t seen in over eight years.

Still that same elegant, distinguished air, still looking younger than her age. The difference was that when Cheng Liru’s eyes landed on Yunque now, they no longer held the warmth and gentleness Yunque remembered from years before.

Something tightened faintly in her chest.

A long-suppressed urgency and dryness rose from deep inside her.

Yunque’s throat went suddenly dry. Before she could get a word out, Lu Rangchen spoke first. “Where’s Grandfather?”

“Resting upstairs on the third floor.”

Cheng Liru came downstairs with no particular expression on her face, her tone giving nothing away. “He’s still awake at this hour.”

“Alright.”

Lu Rangchen’s tone was equally neutral, and he turned his head to look at Yunque with easy naturalness. “Do you want to come up with me?”

Yunque’s thoughts broke off for a second and then reconnected. She looked up at him and said, “Am I allowed?”

“No.”

Before Lu Rangchen could open his mouth, Cheng Liru cut her off.

She looked squarely at Yunque — with authority and rejection — and said, “Your grandfather hasn’t been well. You two secretly registering your marriage is already upsetting enough. Don’t go up there and make it worse for him.”

Sharp words.

A tone Yunque had never heard from her before.

For a moment, she even felt vaguely disoriented — disoriented by the question of what the Cheng Liru she had once known had actually been like.

But that thought barely lasted a few seconds before Lu Rangchen cut through it.

Unlike Yunque, the Lu Rangchen who had grown into a man was completely unruffled by this.

He gave a quiet laugh and said, “How exactly is it secret? And how exactly would it make things worse? When you and Uncle Shang registered your marriage, you didn’t tell me either. Did I stand in your way?”

The relationship between mother and son was evidently close enough most of the time.

Because in that instant, Cheng Liru’s expression changed — like a flash of exasperation, like the composed emotions she’d been holding in place had been stripped away.

Whatever it was — her voice sharpened, and she said curtly, “Are you going up or not? If not, then leave.”

Lu Rangchen knew her far too well.

That tone of hers — at most, she’d be sullen for a few days, and it would be over.

He let out a quiet, restrained laugh and said with his usual irreverence, “I’ll go up. Just don’t take it out on my wife.”

The two syllables of wife lit Cheng Liru’s temper like a match to dry tinder.

The woman’s face went rigid, just on the verge of flaring up — and then saw Yunque quietly pinch Lu Rangchen’s hand and give him a look.

It was remarkable, really.

With that untamable, defiant streak of Lu Rangchen’s, he was an impossible puzzle to anyone else.

But not with Yunque.

She didn’t even have to say a word — and Lu Rangchen would listen.

“……”

Cheng Liru’s expression seemed to grow even less pleasant.

Even so, Yunque showed no sign of backing down. Like someone slowly steadying herself, she said quietly to Lu Rangchen, “You go up. I’ll be fine.”

Since she had said it herself —

There was nothing for Lu Rangchen to stand between them for.

He had already thought things through.

The third floor was right above them — if things really did come to a confrontation downstairs, there was nothing much to say; he would simply come down and take Yunque with him.

Though he expected it wouldn’t come to that.

Cheng Liru, for all her tempers, always kept her dignity intact in the end. Whatever happened, she wouldn’t let it get too ugly.

Having mentally considered each possible outcome, Lu Rangchen relaxed somewhat and gave a slight nod. “Alright. You two take your time talking.”

Then he looked up toward Cheng Liru.

Mother and son held each other’s gaze for a single complicated second. Lu Rangchen turned and went upstairs.

The moment he left, the atmosphere in the living room downstairs seemed to grow even more loaded.

Yunque’s lips parted — she wanted to say something — but then Cheng Liru spoke first. She cast a passing glance at Yunque and said, “Whatever you want to say, sit down and say it. No need to give Lu Rangchen the impression I’m bullying you.”

“……”

Yunque obediently sat down across from her.

A tea table between them — the distance neither too close nor too far, which was, at least, tolerable.

Cheng Liru questioned her directly: “When did the two of you register?”

Yunque met her gaze, her posture along the neck and shoulders clear and graceful. “Just yesterday.”

“……”

Cheng Liru laughed despite her frustration. “That little brat — moves fast, doesn’t he? Strikes first, reports later.”

Then she looked at Yunque again, her tone carrying something indefinable. “Did your family agree?”

Your family covered more than just Zhu Ping’an’s side — it also meant Feng Yanlai. But that name seemed to be a forbidden word she was unwilling to speak aloud.

Yunque didn’t beat around the bush.

She looked at her, quite calm, and said, “My father can’t control me. As for my mother —”

She paused, and then said, “She’s in Australia. She found a new life there, getting by well enough. She doesn’t have the attention to spare for me.”

It wasn’t just that she didn’t spare attention for her.

The two of them barely even kept in contact anymore.

It had been a few years back — Feng Yanlai had had a son with a foreigner. She seemed to have found a new purpose in life, and had made her decision to sever ties with everything back home. She had told Yunque: I’ve done all the duties I owed you. From now on, your mother doesn’t want to carry so much anymore. You’re grown up now — you can take care of yourself.

As she recounted these words, Yunque’s lips curved into the faintest, thinnest smile.

She didn’t know how she was even able to smile.

Cheng Liru didn’t know either.

She only froze for a brief, stunned moment — feeling, in that instant, that Yunque’s smile was as bitter as it was desolate.

Since the topic had already arrived here —

There was no point in Yunque continuing with pleasantries and small talk.

She looked at Cheng Liru, her tone as sincere and genuine as she could make it, her eyes quietly alight as she said, “But even though she and I have little to do with each other now, I still want to speak on her behalf — and on behalf of myself. I’m sorry, truly sorry, Auntie Cheng. It was our arrival back then that destroyed your family and your marriage.”

This was truly unexpected.

No one had anticipated that what Yunque opened with wasn’t a plea for Cheng Liru’s acceptance of their relationship — but an apology.

Something lurched in Cheng Liru’s chest.

Her throat clenched and unclenched, and a sharp sting rose suddenly in her nasal passage.

Like years of hatred and suffering, packed into some dark corner for too long, now dug out by a single shovel and exposed to open light.

For a moment, Cheng Liru could find no words.

Yunque hadn’t expected her to say anything. She continued on her own: “Actually, she hasn’t been well these years. She knows she wronged you. She just… didn’t have the courage.”

“……”

“Since she didn’t, I’ll say what needs to be said.”

“Auntie Cheng — you are the kindest, most wonderful elder I have ever known. If it hadn’t been for your support, my mother and I couldn’t have had the life we had. And that’s not even accounting for what she did to you on top of everything.”

“I’m not here to plead for her. I only hope your life from now on is peaceful, smooth, and full of joy.”

At this point —

Cheng Liru interrupted her. “You hope my life is peaceful and full of joy — so why are you still with A-rang?”

“……”

Yunque said, “Those are two entirely different things.”

Cheng Liru let out a cold laugh, as if she refused to believe a word of it — as though nothing but crocodile tears had been spoken. Her emotions mixed into something complicated as she said, “Don’t expect me to approve of you two just because you’ve said a few kind words —”

“I never expected your approval.”

Yunque grew calm — and when she was truly calm, she was remarkably difficult to deal with.

Now that those words weighing on her heart had been spoken, she was even composed. She said, “Auntie, we have already registered our marriage. We are a legally married couple. Unless we willingly divorce, there is nothing anyone can do about it.”

“Are you showing off to me?”

“No.”

Yunque sat straight-spined, drawing on some confidence she herself couldn’t pinpoint, her voice unusually firm. “It is Lu Rangchen’s choice.”

If Lu Rangchen had not chosen her, she would not be sitting here in front of Cheng Liru. Just as Lu Rangchen had said — from beginning to end, she had never done anything wrong.

Those shackles weighing on her —

She no longer wanted to carry them.

“Fine, fine, very well,” Cheng Liru was provoked into laughing again, “I never realized before that you could be this sharp-tongued.”

Taking a slight breath to steady herself, the woman said, “You’ve managed to make me furious now — aren’t you afraid I’ll force the two of you apart? The family patriarch didn’t let your family off easily back then. Aren’t you scared now?”

“……”

How could she not be scared?

She was scared.

Otherwise she wouldn’t have spent those recent days turning it over and over in her mind, going back and forth, timid and hesitant.

But now — she wasn’t scared anymore.

Not anymore.

She drew a quiet breath and looked directly at Cheng Liru. “I’ve already made things clear with my family — I will not shoulder anything for them anymore, and they will treat me as though I don’t exist. So even if you and the Cheng family use my father’s and stepmother’s matters to hold something over me — I will simply feel nothing.”

Cheng Liru was struck speechless by the rebuke.

Yunque said, “So — do you have any other means?”

Those words struck right at the heart of a distinguished name.

Cheng Liru felt the blood rush to her face first, and then found herself with nothing left to say.

What was there to say?

From the moment she had heard that Lu Rangchen registered his marriage, her heart had gone cold and resigned.

She had raised that child herself. She knew him better than anyone.

He was someone who gave his whole heart.

He was simply, stubbornly, determined.

No matter how many other women he was offered — no matter if the position of head of the Cheng household was placed before him — Lu Rangchen was unmoved. He wouldn’t date, wouldn’t form alliances through marriage, wouldn’t marry.

In Cheng Fusen’s words at the time: If he keeps holding out like this, I may die before I ever hold a great-grandchild.

Though in truth, to Cheng Fusen, great-grandchildren weren’t really the point.

There were many children in the extended family — even if Lu Rangchen had none, others would. Descendants were plentiful.

But of all those children, Lu Rangchen was the one he loved most.

And it was precisely for that reason that he had found Yunque so impossible to accept.

But now — now, then?

The question arose in his mind, and all at once Lu Rangchen found himself faintly uncertain.

It was the housekeeper who spoke to him: “Don’t blame me for presuming to guess at the patriarch’s heart — but personally, I think if the patriarch were healthy right now, he wouldn’t necessarily lose his temper with you.”

“It’s been so many years.”

“How stubborn can a person stay?”

“What parent doesn’t want their child to be happy?”

With those words accompanying him, Lu Rangchen slowly descended the remaining steps — and then saw Cheng Liru, sitting alone on the living room sofa downstairs, in a private daze.

By this time, Yunque was long gone — nowhere to be seen.

Lu Rangchen’s brow drew together. He raised his voice. “Where’s Yunque?”

Cheng Liru only gradually came back to herself.

The barely-hidden unease on her expression vanished in an instant. She knitted her brows and said, “Now that you have a wife, you’ve forgotten you have a mother, haven’t you? Quite something.”

Lu Rangchen let out a quiet, sardonic breath and said, “Give it a rest. I kept my temper with you too back then.”

The back then he meant referred to more than just Cheng Liru secretly registering her marriage with Uncle Shang without telling him.

It also meant eight years ago, when she had deceived him and confined him at her side.

That resentment had kept Lu Rangchen in a cold war with her for a long time — it was only in recent years that things had eased.

And Cheng Liru knew very well — what had happened between these middle-aged adults had nothing whatsoever to do with Yunque.

It was her own heart that couldn’t get past it.

Cheng Liru closed her mouth, saying nothing, looking vaguely put out.

Then she tilted her chin toward the outside and said, “She went to wait for you out there. She said she was afraid of making me uncomfortable, and that it was better if she stepped out.”

Lu Rangchen’s steps reflexively lifted. Just as he was about to leave, he stopped and turned back, looking at her. “What did you two talk about?”

Cheng Liru said, with no good temper at all, “What did we talk about? Ask her in bed tonight.”

“……”

Lu Rangchen was genuinely provoked into laughing.

They say the older people get, the more they act like children — he was starting to think that was absolutely true now.

Not wanting to argue further with Cheng Liru, he was already turning to leave — when she called out with a sound and stopped him.

Lu Rangchen was mildly impatient, and gave a resigned half-smile. “What now?”

Cheng Liru was as stubborn as ever, and said, “Whatever happens, I’m not going to acknowledge her as my daughter-in-law. Don’t bring her here again. I don’t accept her.”

Said this, then folded her hands together and turned her head away.

She wasn’t even willing to give Lu Rangchen another glance.

Lu Rangchen’s response was a short, dismissive laugh — as if it hadn’t landed on him at all — as he said, “That works out perfectly. Saves me worrying about any mother-in-law conflicts.”

“……”

Cheng Liru’s face flushed red with indignation. “You ungrateful little brat! Shameless thing!”

Ungrateful was a phrase Lu Rangchen had heard so many times growing up it had grown calluses over it.

He paid it no mind, let out a casual, breezy laugh, made a performative show of scratching his ear, and said, “That’s enough for today. I’m heading out.”

Perhaps because of how utterly unassailable his attitude was.

In any case, everything that day went more smoothly than anyone had expected.

When Lu Rangchen came out of the old residence, the sunlight was clear and bright. He looked up and saw Yunque not far away, sitting on a long bench, head down, replying to messages.

He had to say — his girl really did have an exceptional figure.

Long limbs and fair skin. Naturally cool-toned complexion. Just sitting there casually, her posture already carried a natural elegance — not to mention that air she had about her, that innate quality of being both pure and somehow fragile, that seemed to inspire both the urge to protect and the urge to disrupt all at once.

He looked at her for a couple of seconds.

Then Lu Rangchen curved his lips in a quiet smile and strolled over to her, hands in his pockets.

Yunque was in the middle of replying to a message from the school.

She looked up and saw him standing in front of her, surprised. “How are you out already?”

Lu Rangchen raised an eyebrow. “Was it that fast?”

For some reason, Yunque felt he was in an unusually good mood right now — a mood that was open and bright.

When he was open like that, so was she.

So the two of them looked at each other, and she broke into a knowing smile, reached out her hand, and let Lu Rangchen pull her up to her feet.

Lu Rangchen put his arm around her slender waist, looked down at her with eyes full of tender concern, and said, “Did you cry just now?”

She’d known he would ask this.

She pressed her lips together in a smile and shook her head. “No.”

Then added, “But I had the feeling that if I’d kept going — Auntie was the one who was going to cry.”

Lu Rangchen gave a slight, impressed arch of his brow. “Look at you — pleased with yourself.”

Yunque pressed her lips together. “I suppose.”

Peng Yuan’s car was parked up ahead.

With the most important things out of the way, the two of them walked forward with light hearts.

Lu Rangchen asked her, “So what exactly did you say to my mother?”

“Nothing much — just apologized, and said that you and I are already married, and there’s nothing she can do to stop it.”

Lu Rangchen let out a quiet laugh. “I don’t believe that was all.”

“…There wasn’t anything else.”

“Really nothing else?”

“…There really wasn’t.”

After she said that, Lu Rangchen stopped walking.

Yunque looked at him with a slightly awkward expression and asked, “What’s wrong?”

Lu Rangchen stood there looking down at her from above, and then abruptly raised an eyebrow and said, “I just suddenly realized — my wife is truly remarkable. Even a difficult character like my mother, and you handled it just like that.”

“……”

Yunque laughed despite herself. “I feel like that isn’t entirely a compliment.”

After a pause, she asked, “What about your grandfather? What was his reaction?”

“Him?” Lu Rangchen made a show of being very serious, and pulled her a little closer, then said with complete shamelessness, “My mother said — whatever you want to know, figure it out in bed tonight.”

“……”

Yunque’s cheeks — she wasn’t sure if it was the sun or him doing this to her — flushed with an involuntary wave of color.

She jabbed him with her elbow and said, “Lu Rangchen. Be serious.”

Lu Rangchen let out a low laugh, his shoulders shaking with it.

Then he said lazily, “I am serious.”

“If I really weren’t, you’d already be here cradling a baby to show my mother.”

“……”

Yunque gave him a wordless sideways glare.

In the instant she turned to get into the car, she couldn’t help it — she curved her lips in a smile behind his back.

Entirely inexplicable.

She actually found that what Lu Rangchen had said wasn’t all that absurd.

—

Both the school and the club had been pressing them.

So after finishing everything that day, Lu Rangchen and Yunque headed straight back to the southern city.

News of the two of them getting married spread quickly throughout Lu Rangchen’s circle.

On Yunque’s side, word got around at the school too, after she posted an official announcement to her WeChat Moments.

The ones most surprised were probably Zhang Leyao and Xiao Qingyu.

How downcast Xiao Qingyu was, that goes without saying. Zhang Leyao’s entire worldview shattered — she even came to Yunque directly to make snide remarks, saying: “How long have you two even been back together? And you’re already married? Did he buy you a diamond ring? Did he propose? Don’t be so gullible, Teacher Zhu.”

Whatever outsiders might have thought of those words —

Yunque didn’t know, and she couldn’t be bothered to engage.

Eventually Zhang Leyao apparently found it boring too, and left after a dismissive shrug.

With that noise quieted, Yunque’s ears were peaceful again. Perhaps because of what Zhang Leyao had said, over the following days, whenever she had a free moment, Yunque found herself wandering into the nearby shopping center to look at rings.

She didn’t tell Lu Rangchen about looking at rings. Lu Rangchen was quite busy during that stretch — the gathering they had planned for friends after the engagement was pushed back to the middle of the month.

Xu Linda had gotten a perm and had her eyebrows tattooed ahead of the party.

But Yunque, in the meantime, was quietly guarding her modest savings and trying to figure out which pair of rings to buy.

Not that Lu Rangchen wouldn’t buy them.

It was simply that she had never brought it up with him.

She kept thinking back — Lu Rangchen had given her a ring once before, with English letters engraved on it. And not just a ring — there had been a necklace, a jade pendant, and later on, name-brand bags and designer clothes. Each one of those could match the cost of a wedding band.

Lu Rangchen certainly wouldn’t hesitate.

But she — she simply wanted, in a pure and uncomplicated way, to give him something. Something bought with money she had earned herself.

Like an offering of her whole heart.

That’s what she wanted to do, and so that’s what she did. She steeled herself and bought that pair of rings for eleven thousand yuan. A simple style — something neither of them would look bad wearing. Xu Linda had even commented that Yunque was truly spending blood money on Lu Rangchen.

And wasn’t it?

Her savings at the time had only been that much. With this, she’d emptied herself out.

The only consolation was that her next paycheck was coming soon — and meanwhile, Lu Rangchen’s other property was being readied.

It was a small villa in the third-ring suburb area of the southern city.

He had bought it as an investment when he first made real money, and it was perfectly suited to become their marital home.

On the day of the gathering, in the afternoon, Lu Rangchen came over to help Yunque move.

She had paid the rent for the full year in advance.

But since they were colleagues, Xiao Qingyu didn’t make a fuss about it — he said he’d refund her the remainder.

Yunque felt a bit bad about that, and the two of them stood in the doorway talking for a while longer.

Seeing the conversation stretching on, Lu Rangchen’s tall figure simply planted itself in the doorway — unhurried, languid — and the words he spoke carried an unmistakable weight. He said, “Don’t go to the trouble. At worst, the place sits empty. It’s not as if I can’t cover it.”

Xiao Qingyu froze.

This was his first time seeing Lu Rangchen in person — the boyfriend Yunque had spoken of in legend, oh, that was now a husband.

He’d heard it from somewhere — someone had said Yunque’s partner was just some supermarket owner.

He had felt bad for Yunque.

But seeing the real person now, he realized — good lord. The man was truly exceptional-looking. Tall, long-legged, stunning face — he looked like a male idol. Even he, as a man, had been stopped short. Let alone women.

He asked Yunque in disbelief, “Is this your boyfriend?”

Yunque pressed her lips in a faint curve, glanced at Lu Rangchen, then looked back at Xiao Qingyu, and introduced him plainly, “Yes. This is Lu Rangchen — founder of Diancheng Club.”

Xiao Qingyu went blank again. “Diancheng Club? Isn’t that the one Zhang Leyao kept saying she always wanted to get into?”

He stared at Lu Rangchen in disbelief. “But… aren’t you the supermarket owner?”

Lu Rangchen gave a mildly amused arch of his brow. “Do I look like one?”

“……”

He really did not.

Just that air of refinement alone made it obvious enough.

Xiao Qingyu’s face reddened. Whatever last hope he’d had was extinguished.

That was Diancheng Club — a place that regularly made the top of the city’s trending lists. A perfectly ordinary teacher like him couldn’t possibly compare.

Finding the whole thing rather pointless now, Xiao Qingyu stopped the conversation shortly after meeting Lu Rangchen and left.

Back inside the room —

Lu Rangchen’s jealousy was in full bloom. Yunque was over to one side packing up loose items, and he leaned against the doorframe, tone meandering lazily as he asked, “That teacher just now — he’s in your office?”

Yunque placed the items into a storage box and said yes.

Lu Rangchen made a couple of hmm sounds and then, hands in pockets, settled himself down on the sofa behind her. “So you see him more than you see me.”

“……”

Yunque turned to look at him, saying nothing short of exasperated, “And I still sleep in your bed.”

The moment sleep came up, Lu Rangchen was immediately energized.

Never mind that they were still in the middle of moving. He reached over, grabbed Yunque by the waist, and pulled her around — flipping her over and pinning her beneath him without a second thought.

Yunque laughed despite herself, gave him a halfhearted shove, and said you shameless man, the moving company will be here any minute, what do you think you’re doing.

Lu Rangchen paid her no mind — he simply pinned both her hands above her head and demanded, “Where have you been these past two days while I wasn’t here? Hm?”

His tone suggested that if she didn’t come clean, he’d carry out justice on the spot.

Yunque’s expression went uneasy.

She said softly, “Let me up. Then I’ll tell you.”

Lu Rangchen raised an eyebrow, and actually, with perfect reasonableness, let her up — that characteristic air of languid ease about him, just to look at him was enough to be unsettling.

Yunque leaned up and kissed him on the cheek, then sat up.

Lu Rangchen’s throat moved. His gaze fixed straight on her, and he clicked his tongue. “Watch yourself — don’t go around causing trouble randomly. The moving company will be here soon.”

Yunque gave him a light sideways look.

Right in front of him, she reached into her bag and pulled out a small box, then sat back down beside him.

Something seemed to register for him.

Lu Rangchen’s eyes narrowed, and a smile curved his mouth as he leaned close. “Yunque,” he said, “are you alright?”

He took the box from her hand and opened it directly. Looking at the two rings inside, he said, “Am I that broke? That you have to be the one buying the wedding rings?”

“…No, that’s not it.”

Yunque blinked her dark, bright eyes at him, and her gaze shifted away before coming back. “I just happened to see them, and wanted to buy them for you.”

Lu Rangchen knew perfectly well she was not telling the whole truth.

He caught her little chin between his fingers and looked at her with a quiet, teasing smile. “You love me that much, do you? Even when you barely have anything left, still scrimping to buy me wedding rings?”

Yunque’s cheeks grew warm. “Who told you that?”

Lu Rangchen curved his lips. “Nobody had to tell me.”

He tilted his chin. “You’ve started taking the subway and the bus lately.”

During this recent stretch when he’d been busy and unable to pick Yunque up, she would sometimes come to find him herself. In the past she’d always taken a taxi — but over these past few days, she’d been taking the bus.

He had casually asked Xu Linda about it, and Xu Linda said: Yunque had run out of money.

Lu Rangchen couldn’t possibly not feel tender about it.

Tender, and also quietly helpless.

Since they’d gotten to this point in the conversation anyway, he let out a small, wry laugh, took out his phone, and transferred her a sum of money.

The phone gave a soft chime.

Yunque looked at it — fifty thousand yuan, all told.

Yunque’s ears flushed hot. “…What are you doing, I —”

“Yunque.”

Lu Rangchen suddenly said her name with complete seriousness, his gaze light and easy as he looked at her. “Don’t let your pride get in the way, alright? Have you forgotten — you’re my wife now. For a husband to give money to his wife — isn’t that simply how it should be?”

In an instant, her heart felt as if it had been filled to the brim with honey.

Yunque was overwhelmed to the point that her heartbeat sped up, and for a moment she was in a kind of daze.

Yes. That was right.

She was his wife. His only, official, lawfully wedded wife.

That fact — every time it crossed her mind — brought with it a giddy, soaring happiness. She looked at Lu Rangchen and, pressing her lips together, said, “Then take my rings.”

She had thought Lu Rangchen would simply agree without a fuss — but instead, he shrugged. “Funny thing is — I also prepared some.”

“……”

Yunque’s mind went completely blank.

She hadn’t expected Lu Rangchen to be serious about it — and yet, right in front of her, he reached into his jacket and pulled out a small black pouch.

The kind that was utterly plain.

Looking as though it hadn’t had a chance to be dressed up with any decoration at all.

For some reason she couldn’t name, Yunque’s heart skipped two beats.

When Lu Rangchen opened it and took out what was inside, she found herself looking at two rings — familiar, and yet not quite familiar.

Within seconds —

Yunque recognized them.

They were the matching rings Lu Rangchen had given her once before.

Only — the one engraved with the word wind had been transformed into something altogether different. In its place was now a brilliant, luminous diamond — a woman’s wedding ring, stones cascading with light.

Just to look at it was to know it was expensive.

She was completely stunned.

Yunque’s entire spirit trembled.

Not from the shock of how magnificent and costly the ring had been made — but from the realization that those rings, Lu Rangchen had never let go of. Not once.

Back in university, during the breakup.

In that quiet, romantically-lit café with no other patrons, she had slipped off that ring and told Lu Rangchen: Let’s end it here.

The moment her heart had turned to ash — Yunque still remembered it now, as vividly as ever.

And yet later on, even though she had known where that pair of rings had ended up —

It was in the year after she and Lu Rangchen had completely lost contact. By some coincidence, she had visited a museum of heartbreak.

And there, she had seen the rings she and Lu Rangchen had shared.

She had stood before the display case and burst into tears without warning — startling the staff member nearby. And then, later, she had approached the museum owner with a request: she wanted to buy back those rings.

But their value was too high. The owner didn’t have the authority to make that call and had to contact the person who had donated them — and that was when, for the first time in two years, Yunque heard Lu Rangchen’s voice.

Low and magnetic, distant and unfamiliar, saying a single word: Hello?

Just that one syllable — and Yunque had come undone. She had hung up the phone and never found the courage to call back.

By the time she had the chance to return to the southern city, that museum of heartbreak had already closed its doors.

She had never imagined the rings had been taken back by Lu Rangchen — and that he had remade one of them.

Lu Rangchen had never imagined either that the person on the other end of that call had been Yunque.

His throat worked quietly. He laughed — a laugh tinged with something wistful and deeply moved — and said, “Yunque, just how much have you been keeping from me?”

Yunque looked at him with stubborn, tender eyes and said, “Still a lot.”

Their gazes stretched long and warm between them.

Lu Rangchen’s eyes held her with deep, unwavering intensity. He cupped the back of her head, claimed her lips in a hungry kiss, and said between kisses, “And then? What else?”

Yunque was kissed until her head spun, her senses scattered, and the words came from somewhere beyond her control: “And… the truth is, that day, I told your mother a great deal more. I said I wanted nothing. That I only wanted Lu Rangchen.”

Lu Rangchen kept kissing her, his words blurred. “And then?”

“…And — that you only want me.”

“That only I can make you happy.”

At that, Lu Rangchen’s heart gave a violent, shuddering tremor. The kiss paused. He looked at Yunque with eyes of absolute depth and said, “Do you remember — what I said to you eight years ago?”

Yunque’s lashes were damp. She shook her head — then something came to her, and she nodded, and nodded again.

How could she not remember?

She had always remembered.

She had simply never imagined that so many years later, Lu Rangchen would still be as true to her as he had been from the very first day — unwavering, whole, asking for nothing in return.

He smiled softly, the way one smiles when fulfilling a vow. “So — from today on, my Yunque can once again be the wind.”

“And I will be your kite.”

Yunque broke into laughter through her tears.

She laughed; Lu Rangchen laughed with her — his smile warm and deeply affectionate.

And then the phone beside them rang.

Lu Rangchen pulled Yunque close, put it on speaker. It was someone from the club, asking if Lu Rangchen had finished packing — they were coming over to help with the move.

Lively, spirited young voices, bright and full of life.

Yunque looked up through her still-damp lashes, eyes clear and tender as she gazed at Lu Rangchen. Lu Rangchen looked back down at her as he told them: almost ready.

Jiang Sui’s voice rang out cheerfully, saying they’d be right over — and then the call ended.

The air settled into a quiet stillness.

Lu Rangchen bent down and pressed his lips to Yunque’s forehead. The corners of his mouth curved deep and sure. “Yunque,” he said, “it’s time for us to go home.”

Yunque shook her head.

She looked at him with clear, unwavering eyes and said, “I’ve already been home for a long time.”

“……”

“Lu Rangchen.”

“You are my home.”

“My only home.”

— Main Story Complete —