When Erhuzi heard Lu Shouyan directly calling out Chu Wan’s name, he naturally thought that he was an acquaintance, so he parked the tractor by the side of the road.

The jeep also stopped, and Lu Shouyan got out. He then looked at Chu Wan and asked, “Are you going into the city?”

Chu Wan looked over.

In her impression, Lu Shouyan was already 38 years old, dignified and steady, with a strong aura that made people dare not look directly at him.

The man in front of her now was only twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, with an upright figure, youthful features, and the sharpness of a young man.

Chu Wan lowered her head slightly, “You are…”

She originally wanted to pretend to be confused like an ignorant, mountain village girl, but when she opened her mouth, she found that she didn’t need to pretend anymore. Her lips were so stiff from the cold that she couldn’t even speak clearly. She was like a frozen quail, and she didn’t need any acting skills; it was all natural.

Lu Shouyan had a strange expression on his face. He looked at Chu Wan and said, “I’m your Seventh Uncle, Wanwan. Don’t you recognize me? I haven’t been back much in recent years, and you haven’t been to our house often. It’s true that we haven’t seen each other much. But you celebrated your birthday at our house two years ago, and I was there too, wasn’t I?”

He was obviously confused and looked at Chu Wan. “Are you sick?”

Chu Wan suddenly realized something. “It turned out to be Seventh Uncle…”

She remembered that birthday he mentioned; he had given her sapphire stones as a gift. But after being reborn, she didn’t realize that it was only two years ago.

Lu Shouyan frowned. ”Why are you so cold? Get in the car quickly.”

Chu Wan looked at Er Huzi, who waved his hand and said, “It’s really cold today. It’s too uncomfortable to ride in a tractor. You should get in a jeep. It’s more comfortable!”

Chu Wan actually didn’t want to pay attention to Lu Shouyan, but the temptation of the jeep was really irresistible, and there was no reason to refuse, so she thanked Erhuzi and got in the jeep.

After getting in the jeep, Lu Shouyan sat directly next to her, took out the military coat next to him, and wrapped it around her. “Put this on to keep warm.”

Chu Wan was very obedient and wrapped herself up tightly.

People should never be hard on themselves. She was indeed very cold.

Lu Shouyan brought out a military canteen and said, “Can you drink? This contains a low-proof liquor. Have a drink to warm yourself up. It’s so cold, I’m afraid you’ll freeze.”

Chu Wan hesitated for a moment, then took it and took two gulps.

After drinking, she felt her blood circulation pumping again. She wrapped herself in the military coat once again, feeling much more comfortable indeed.

Lu Shouyan saw that she was wearing his thick military coat and a scarf, with only a pair of clear eyes showing, like a little bird popping its head out.

A smile appeared in his eyes, “You look much better now. You looked like you were frozen silly just now.”

Chu Wan asked, “Seventh Uncle, why are you here?”

“I’m going to be discharged from the army this year. I’ve been waiting for my transfer orders. I don’t have much to do recently. It just so happens that my old comrade is stationed in Nankou, so I came over to help.”

“Oh…”

Nankou in Changping was strategically located and was the only way to reach the Inner Mongolia grasslands. Naturally, it was also a major military town northwest of Beijing, with dozens of military units stationed there and military camps scattered everywhere.

This Nankou was not far from their Yongling Village, only about seven or eight kilometers away.

Lu Shouyan continued, “I just went to the Nankou garrison a few days ago. I was busy with my mission and didn’t pay attention. Today I finally made some time to go and see Old Master Chu and chat with him for a while.”

He glanced at her and said, “If I hadn’t heard the Old Man say that you took the village tractor into the city, I wouldn’t have guessed it was you. I really didn’t dare to recognize you earlier.”

Chu Wan said, “Girls change a lot when they grow up. It’s normal that you can’t recognize me.”

Hearing this, Lu Shouyan raised his eyebrows and his eyes swept across her face discretely.

Her hair was yellow and looked dull, and her face was thin, barely the size of a human palm. Huddled in that thick military coat, she looked pitiful, like a malnourished beggar under the overpass.

Only her eyes were bright and open.

He was silent for a moment before asking, “Do you want to eat something? Are you hungry?”

Chu Wan turned her head to look at him, but he was too tall. Even when he was sitting, she could only see his meticulously fastened collar.

Huddled as she was in the military coat, she said to the collar button, “Is there anything to eat? Something not cold, please?”

Lu Shouyan nodded, “It’s okay, it should still be warm, there’s meat pie.”

When Chu Wan heard the word ‘meat’, she immediately said, “Then let me try some.”

Lu Shouyan noticed her eagerness. He rummaged through the back and found an aluminum lunch box wrapped in cotton cloth. When he opened it, he found a spoon inside.

As soon as he opened the lunch box, she smelled a strong aroma of meat patties. She knew immediately that substantial oil was used when making the patties. The white flour patties must have been fried in oil and soaked in the fat of the minced meat.

Lu Shouyan handed the aluminum lunch box to Chu Wan, “Here.”

Chu Wan looked at him with envy, “Seventh Uncle, then I won’t be polite.”

Seeing her like this, the smile in Lu Shouyan’s dark eyes grew. “You’re welcome.”

Chu Wan took it and ate it. After taking a bite, she found it was indeed fragrant and still had some residual warmth. It was so comfortable to eat in such a cold weather, and her mouth was full of this delicious taste.

She took one bite after another, and finally felt full after eating about half of the portion.

Lu Shouyan brought out another cup. “Drink some water.”

Chu Wan took it and drank it. After drinking it, she breathed a sigh of relief. “Now I feel a little bit alive.”

Lu Shouyan heard this and whispered, “If you want to go to the city, you should call the Old Man and ask him to send a car to pick you up. Don’t take a tractor. It’s too hard in this weather.”

When the tractor started moving, the cold wind blew so hard that it hurt people’s faces.

He then asked, “Your village secretary has a phone, right?”

Chu Wan licked her lips, “Yeah.”

Lu Shouyan said, “My section is at Nankou. I’ll give you my phone number later. Remember to call me if you have any questions. It’s also very convenient for me to come to your village.”

Chu Wan nodded vaguely, “Okay… Thank you, Seventh  Uncle.”

“The Old Man mentioned you a few days ago. He misses you too. You should stay at home for a few more days when you go to the city this time.”

Chu Wan listened but didn’t want to say anything.

She didn’t plan to marry anyone from the Lu family, so she didn’t want to appear in front of Old Master Lu, lest he get any ideas and end up being sad in vain.

She knew that the person who took the long-standing engagement between her and the Lu family most seriously and wanted to fulfill it as soon as possible was Old Master Lu

The Old Man sincerely wanted to be good to her.

She thought for a moment, then said, “Seventh Uncle, I have some things to do in the city. I’ll go to Yu’er Hutong when I’m done and have time.”

The Lu family lived in Yu’er Hutong, Nanluoguxiang.

Lu Shouyan’s expression froze, and he turned his head to look at Chu Wan.

He obviously didn’t expect it; he took it for granted that she was going to the Lu house in the city.

Pearls and Jade Beside Me in the ’80s translated by Maela @ whitemoonlighttranslations.com

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Chapter 6.3 — He Gave Her Pocket Money
Chapter 7.1 — There Must be Compatibility Between Husband and Wife
Chapter 7.2 — There Must be Compatibility Between Husband and Wife
Chapter 8 — The Beauty of Line Carving
Chapter 9 — In My Eyes, This Is 200 Yuan