Actually, so many days have passed since her rebirth, Chu Wan’s emotions about the broken jade have already calmed down.

But now, seeing Lu Jianshi, she was instantly furious again and wanted nothing more than to slap him.

Lu Jianshi was also looking her over, scrutinizing her for a while before smiling. “Wanwan, it really is you! You haven’t been here in a long time, you’ve grown taller!”

Chu Wan didn’t want to respond to him at all and just kept a straight face.

Lu Jianshi didn’t seem to care and pushed his bicycle with a smile. “Come on, Wanwan, come home with me. Seventh Uncle came back and said you went to the city and were staying at a friend’s house. Grandpa scolded him for not bringing you back. Grandpa has been angry these past few days. Now that you’re here, it’s all good! With you here, our lives will be better, and we won’t have to get scolded anymore.”

Chu Wan knew she couldn’t leave now; leaving at this point would only hurt Old Master Lu’s feelings.

She followed Lu Jianshi there, and when they arrived at the Lu family’s gate, the guard was still standing there.

She left and then returned, this time brought back by Lu Jianshi. The guard naturally realized something because of Lu Jianshi’s enthusiastic manner.

Lu Jianshi immediately put down his bicycle and called out to the yard, “Grandpa, Wanwan is here!”

As soon as he shouted, people came out of the courtyard. It was Old Master Lu and his eldest daughter-in-law, Feng Luxi.

Grandpa Lu came out of the house with hurried steps. He was very excited when he saw Chu Wan. He took her hand, looked her over for a while, and then pulled her into the house.

 “Wanwan, it’s been a while since you’ve come over. Don’t you miss Grandpa Lu?”

Feng Luxi said with a smile from the side, “The old man has been talking about Wanwan these past two days. It’s a relief that she’s here. Otherwise, your Seventh Uncle would still be getting scolded every day.”

Feng Luxi was the wife of Lu Shoujian, the eldest son of Old Master Lu. Lu Shoujian has a separate courtyard in another alley, not far away. Feng Luxi often came to the old man’s place to take care of him. Although there were nannies and guards at home, she still had to worry about many things.

Chu Wan had liked this Eldest Aunt very much in her previous life; she always thought that she was a kind person. Now that they met again in this life, she liked Feng Luxi even more.

Chu Wan was immediately led into the house, and soon all sorts of delicious food were served. Chu Wan was surrounded and was asked all sorts of questions.

Chu Wan then gave the brush washer she had acquired to Old Master Lu, which surprised him greatly. He laughed and said, “Why did Wanwan suddenly think of giving me this!”

Chu Wan said, “I’ve been staying at a friend’s house for the past two days. When I passed by the vegetable market, I saw an old man selling things at a stall. They were cheap, only a few yuan. I thought it was a good deal, so I bought some.”

Grandpa Lu was naturally delighted. “Wanwan is so good, she always thinks of me!”

Despite his joy, Grandpa Lu still asked, “Wanwan, which friend’s house are you staying at? Why didn’t you come to stay here at home now that you’ve come to the city?”

Chu Wan smiled and said, “Grandpa Lu, she’s a former educated youth assigned to our village. We’re good friends. I had some things to do, so I stayed at her place for a few days to chat.”

Feng Luxi laughed from the side, “Since you’re all around the same age, it’s normal for the young ladies to chat together. I even advised the old man today not to overthink it. Wanwan won’t treat us like strangers. She’ll definitely come over after talking to her friends.”

Grandpa Lu sighed, “Wanwan, I understand you want to talk to your friends, but you should also come and stay at our house. I’ll have the driver take you there. It’s too uncomfortable for you to stay at other people’s houses; it’s much more comfortable to stay at home.”

Chu Wan quickly smiled and said, “Okay, Grandpa Lu, I understand!”

Grandpa Lu held Chu Wan’s hand and sighed with pity, saying that she was too thin. He instructed Feng Luxi to have the nanny cook more dishes to nourish Chu Wan and also asked Feng Luxi to buy Chu Wan some nice clothes.

“Now that you’ve grown up, naturally you have to dress nicely. Although we should not lose the fine tradition of hard work and frugality, we still have to dress up nicely.”

Chu Wan smiled and said, “Grandpa Lu really dotes on me.”

As they were talking, the nanny came in, carrying a plate of freshly washed cherries. When she saw Chu Wan, she looked a little nervous. She carefully put down the fruit plate and then left.

Feng Luxi quickly handed Chu Wan some cherries, saying, “Wanwan, try these, they’re very fresh!”

Chu Wan only ate two. These would definitely be very expensive outside. They were considered rare these days, and you probably couldn’t even buy them with money.

As they talked, when the topic turned to future plans, Chu Wan mentioned that she wanted to go to university. Upon hearing this, Grandpa Lu naturally gave his full support. “That’s good! Our Wanwan knows how to be ambitious and wants to become a cultured person!”

Chu Wan mentioned going to the bookstore tomorrow, and Lu Jianshi said he would take her there tomorrow. He also said that it was the Dragon Head Raising Festival these days, and there would be cultural performances outside, so he could take Chu Wan out to play.

His words were overly solicitous, and the meaning behind them couldn’t be clearer.

Chu Wan found his words boring and didn’t want to pay any attention to him, simply saying that she didn’t want to go.

However, Grandpa Lu advised Chu Wan, “You should go out for a walk, otherwise it’s no fun at home. I don’t have time, so I’ll have Jianshi accompany you. See if there’s anything you want to buy, and buy it while you’re at it.”

Chu Wan remembered that she needed to buy books, so she nodded. “I’ll go out for a walk tomorrow, but I can go by myself, so there’s no need to trouble Ninth Brother.”

Lu Jianshi volunteered, “Grandpa, let me take Wanwan out. I’ll definitely take good care of her. Look at today, if it weren’t for me, Wanwan would be gone!”

Upon hearing this, Old Master Lu immediately asked, “What do you mean?”

Lu Jianshi replied, “Wanwan came here. I guess she was stopped by the guards and not allowed to come in. Wanwan had already walked out of the alley when she ran into me, so I quickly brought her in!”

He had intended to take credit, but when Old Master Lu heard this, his face darkened, and Feng Luxi next to him also frowned.

After chatting for a while, Feng Luxi led Chu Wan to the guest room to settle in. She gave her a few instructions and then left.

A little while later, Chu Wan faintly heard a voice coming from the main hall. She couldn’t quite make it out, but she could tell it was Old Master Lu’s voice. Then, the nanny, who sounded like she should be called Aunt Chen, came out behind Feng Luxi, with red eyes and her head hanging low.

Around noon, Feng Luxi arrived with Aunt Chen. Feng Luxi sighed, “It’s fortunate that Wanwan is easygoing and doesn’t care about this. If it were someone else, you would have offended all your relatives long ago! You know, the old man has been talking about Wanwan these past few days, hoping she would come over. Even Shouyan got scolded because of this!”

Chen Sao was no longer the shrewd woman she once was. With her head down and eyes red, she apologized to Chu Wan in a low voice, saying that she hadn’t meant to do it and that she had been blind to Chu Wan’s worth. She blamed herself for everything.

Chu Wan didn’t pay much attention. She had seen many women like Aunt Chen and wasn’t bothered by it.

So she said, “It’s my fault for not explaining clearly. She’s never met me, so of course she doesn’t know. I’ll talk to Grandpa Lu later. It’s not a big deal.”

Feng Luxi sighed, “Wanwan, you don’t know, these past few days the old man has been talking about you constantly. He keeps blaming your Seventh Uncle for not bringing you along, and he suspects you don’t want to come. He feels like he did something wrong. Now, with this happening, not only Chen Sao, but also the guard Xiao Zhao, has been criticized by the old man. They deserve it, since they didn’t do well in this matter.”

Hearing this, Aunt Chen lowered her head even further. “I didn’t think much of it at the time and didn’t recognize her. I should have gone inside and asked.”

Feng Luxi glanced at her, criticized her a few more times, and then said, “She really hasn’t acted properly, but it’s also my fault. Firstly, I only thought that you would definitely come over these few days, but I didn’t show people your photo. They are new here and don’t know you, so it’s inevitable, I neglected it too. Secondly, I usually think that she is quite serious about her work, so I neglected to supervise her in this aspect, which allowed her to learn this behavior.”

Chu Wan urged, “Eldest Aunt, if you’re going to do this, I really won’t dare to come. It’s not a big deal, I haven’t even taken it to heart. This matter is over and done with, so please don’t take it to heart, or I’ll be too worried.”

Feng Luxi then said, “You’re a good-natured child, so it’s good that you don’t take it to heart. Grandpa said to make you some new clothes. I’ve already had someone order the fabric, and I’ll take your measurements to make them. But if you want to go out tonight, I’ll find you some of your older sister Ran’s old clothes, which she’s only worn once or twice. If you don’t mind, you can wear them for now.”

Chu Wan smiled and said, “Sister Ran’s clothes are all beautiful, I like them very much, there’s no reason for me to complain. Eldest Aunt, you don’t need to make me any new ones, I’ll just use hers.”

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

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T/N: The title (家门 jiamen) refers to the literal doorway or gate of a courtyard, but it also means the house and the family or clan that lives inside it.

Dragon Head Raising Festival (different from the Dragon Boat festival) is celebrated on the second day of the second month of the Chinese calendar. The dragon is associated with water and rains, so this signifies the ‘sleeping’ dragon finally waking up from winter sleep; it’s time to welcome spring and begin farming. People celebrate by eating ‘dragon-sounding’ food (dragon scale pancakes, dragon beard noodles etc) and getting haircuts.

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