At this moment, Lu Jianshi was busy listening to reprimands with his head hanging down.

Last night, he took Chu Wan out to see a cultural performance, but he ended up losing her. As a result, he was scolded by the old man and ended up looking all worn out.

When he got home, he was scolded by his mother, Qiao Xiujun.

He naturally didn’t sleep well last night. This morning, he was thinking of going to visit the old man, but he happened to run into Lu Jianzhao taking Chu Wan out to buy books. When he came back and mentioned it, Qiao Xiujun scolded him again.

Qiao Xiujun was different from the other sisters-in-law. The other sisters-in-law and the Lu family were all from similar backgrounds and were all cultured people, but Qiao Xiujun’s family came from the theater.

Before Liberation, Qiao Xiujun’s mother was an opera singer. She was very good at singing and was praised by people. Qiao Xiujun learned from her mother from a young age and developed a good figure and pretty appearance.

At the time, Lu Shouxin loved watching plays, and after a while, he fell in love with Qiao Xiujun and married her.

It was the early 1960s, and everyone was short of food. Most families were starving. Qiao Xiujun knew that the Lu family had plenty of food, so she quickly married into the family.

After marrying into the family, she gave birth to Lu Jianshi. Then came the ten years when opera singers were persecuted, including Qiao Xiujun’s parents. Her mother even had her head shaved in a humiliating way. Fortunately, Qiao Xiujun had already married into the Lu family and escaped unscathed; she was even able to protect her parents to some extent.

Because of this, Qiao Xiujun’s way of doing things was quite different from the other sisters-in-law. She felt that she ‘thought more deeply’ and that she was ‘more shrewd than the other sisters-in-law’.

Her shrewdness lay in the fact that while her other sisters-in-law were indifferent to their sons’ marriage and ‘not caring much about the marriage contract with the Chu family’, she felt it was an important matter that had to be addressed.

Privately, she and her son had a serious discussion about it.

“Grandpa Chu was an antique dealer back in the day. His family was rich. Even though they’ve moved to the village now, a broken boat still has three pounds of nails, and a donkey won’t easily fall. How could they be poor? They’ve probably buried it all under their house! If you match with Chu Wan, you’ll never lack money in the future.”

Lu Jianshi had thought about this carefully and agreed with it.

“Besides, you can see what the old man is thinking. He wants to repay a debt of gratitude. Since he wants to repay a debt of gratitude, he can’t let Chu Wan suffer after she marries into the family. He can’t let her marry someone who is incompetent. You didn’t get into university, and now that you’re working, you don’t know what your future holds. Compared to your cousins, you’re not doing so well. 

“If you marry Chu Wan, it will be different. The old man will have to ensure your future. He can’t let Chu Wan lose face! When our old man goes down to the underworld and sees Chu Wan’s grandfather, he can’t say, ‘Good brother, I’ve given my most useless grandson to your granddaughter.’ He can’t do that. He’d have no face to see his good brother!”

Lu Jianshi nodded vigorously, “Mom, you’re right, that’s exactly the point. I’ve already figured out Grandpa’s thoughts thoroughly!”

He sighed, “Actually, Wanwan is not bad looking. She was quite cute when she was little. I guess she hasn’t been getting enough nutrition in the past few years and is too thin. But she has beautiful features. If she takes care of herself, we can dress her up nicely and she won’t embarrass us when we take her out. The key is that if I marry her, I won’t have to worry about my future. My uncles will all have to take care of me! I’ll definitely get all the benefits!”

Qiao Xiujun listened and sneered. “You understand the principles, but how do you actually do things? You took Chu Wan out, and you still ran around? What are you even thinking about all day long?”

Lu Jianshi sighed helplessly. “Mom, don’t worry. Even though Grandpa scolds me, Wanwan can’t escape my grasp.”

Qiao Xiujun scoffed, “Pah, you talk the talk but can’t walk the walk. Where do you get such great abilities? Look at Chu Wan, her backbone is very strong¹! Besides, didn’t you see, your grandfather had Jianzhao take her out today.”

Lu Jianshi smiled confidently. “Mom, you didn’t see what happened today. Eighth Brother doesn’t like Wanwan at all. I know what he’s thinking. He thinks Wanwan is unsophisticated and that he wouldn’t be able to show her off if he married her. Eighth Brother always thinks he’s so smart, but actually, he’s not very bright at all!”

Qiao Xiujun thought about it and agreed. “Yes, Wanwan is like that. To be honest, it would be hard for her to get married in the city. She should be secretly happy that she can marry you. Your brothers have high standards, and they probably won’t even look at her!”

Lu Jianshi said, “That’s it. Wanwan is a country girl after all. She doesn’t come to the city often and has little experience. I’ll take her around to play some games and coax her a bit, and that should be enough.”

Qiao Xiujun also thought it was a good idea, so she said, “Okay, you decide what to do. Just don’t be stingy with money right now, and put in a lot of effort for her. If you can marry her, you’ll have a lot of benefits in the future!”

As she said this, Lu Jianshi stood up and said, “I’ll go take a look now. I reckon they should be back by now. Jianzhao definitely didn’t give Wanwan a good face today. He probably said something behind her back and Wanwan was certainly treated coldly by him. I’ll coax her a bit, and that should be enough to settle things!”

Qiao Xiujun urged him on, and Lu Jianshi then swaggered over to Old Master Lu’s place.

… … translated by Maela @ whitemoonlighttranslations.com

As soon as Lu Jianshi arrived at the alley entrance, he saw Lu Jianzhao and Chu Wan walking into the alley together.

He smiled and went to greet them.

To his surprise, Chu Wan walked expressionless, while Lu Jianzhao beside her had his head lowered towards her and was talking to her; his conversation was incredibly warm and intimate.

On the contrary, Chu Wan yawned as she listened, looking absent-minded.

Lu Jianshi was taken aback, thinking to himself that something didn’t feel right.

What’s wrong with Lu Jianzhao?

Chu Wan and Lu Jianzhao had just entered the alley when they saw Lu Jianshi.

The two sides just passed each other briefly.

When Lu Jianzhao left home, he felt awkward, thinking that taking Chu Wan out was beneath him. But after going out for a while and now that they’re back home, his thoughts have changed.

He didn’t really want to marry Chu Wan, but he felt that Chu Wan was capable and he should learn from her more. To be precise, he should become Chu Wan’s apprentice!

Therefore, Lu Jianzhao had no objections when he saw Lu Jianshi.

He didn’t want to marry Chu Wan, but if Lu Jianshi did, that would be fine too. Chu Wan would become his sister-in-law, and he could ask her for advice and learn from her whenever he wanted. Wouldn’t that be great?

So Lu Jianzhao greeted Lu Jianshi warmly, “Jianshi, have you eaten?”

Unfortunately, Lu Jianshi’s mood was not good when he saw his Eighth Brother. He felt uncomfortable looking at the distance between Lu Jianzhao and Chu Wan as they walked side by side and their easy camaraderie.

When they left, Eighth Brother didn’t seem to think much of Chu Wan, so why did he completely change his attitude upon returning? That’s a huge change of heart!

Lu Jianshi quickly realized that the Eighth Brother must have received enlightenment, and he must be trying to steal Chu Wan from him.

If he had some hesitation before about marrying Chu Wan, thinking it might not be a good thing, now, seeing how attentive Lu Jianzhao was to Chu Wan, his masculine sense of territory suddenly surged, and all the hairs on his body stood on end.

He was determined to marry Chu Wan; he wouldn’t allow anyone to take her from him.

Lu Jianzhao had greeted Lu Jianshi with a smile, but now, seeing Lu Jianshi’s stern face, he felt completely bewildered.

Realizing what his Ninth Brother was thinking, he just thought that he was a fool. Who wants to take her away from you?

He was too lazy to explain, so he casually said, “The old man must be getting impatient by now, let’s go over there first.”

However, when he mentioned the old man, Lu Jianshi felt that his brother was using the old man to pressure him.

Feeling increasingly stifled, he forced a smile and said, “That’s true, the old man is thinking about Wanwan.”

Seeing his foolish look, Lu Jianzhao became even more displeased. Deliberately wanting to make him unhappy, he said to Chu Wan in a friendly tone, “Wanwan, come on, I’ll go in with you.”

Lu Jianshi stared wide-eyed, thinking, ‘They’ve become so intimate after just one trip?’ 

Naturally, he was unwilling to give up and quickly came over. “Wanwan, yes, let’s go see Grandpa right away. Grandpa has been thinking about you.”

Chu Wan glanced at him upon hearing this but didn’t reply. The three of them then walked into the alley.

Lu Jianzhao was on the left, smiling as he talked to Chu Wan about the books she had bought that day. Lu Jianshi was on the right, eagerly telling her that he had gotten tickets to the concert at the Hongta Auditorium that day and that he would take her to see it.

Both of them seemed a bit sullen, and both wanted to talk to Chu Wan.

Chu Wan looked at this and that, somewhat puzzled.

The three of them walked in like that, just then, Lu Shouyan came from the opposite direction.

Seeing this, his eyes darkened slightly.

Generally speaking, if a man and a woman were walking side by side and the distance between them is half a meter or less, it was basically assumed that they are dating.

Now, his two nephews were flanking her, one on each side, very close together, vying to please Chu Wan, making it impossible to tell who was with whom.

Lu Jianzhao and Lu Jianshi hurriedly greeted Lu Shouyan. The Lu family had strict rules, and one had to behave like a junior in front of elders.

Chu Wan also greeted Lu Shouyan.

Lu Shouyan glanced at the three of them indifferently. “What’s going on here?”

Lu Jianshi hurriedly explained, “Eighth Brother accompanied Wanwan to buy books and just came back. I came to pick Wanwan up because I was thinking of taking her to the Hongta Auditorium tonight to see a concert.”

Upon hearing this, Chu Wan immediately objected, saying, “I never said I was going to a concert. I’m not going.”

Lu Jianshi blushed instantly but still forced a smile and coaxed, “Wanwan, where do you want to go?”

Chu Wan said, “I don’t want to go anywhere.”

After saying that, she looked at Lu Jianzhao and said, “Eighth Brother, I’ll take a look at the reference books we bought tonight, and I’ll ask you questions later if I have any.”

Chu Wan was quite cold when she spoke to Lu Jianshi, but her tone immediately softened when she turned to speak to Lu Jianzhao.

Lu Jianzhao was immediately pleased and said with a smile, “Okay, Wanwan, feel free to ask me if you have any questions.”

Lu Jianshi’s face turned extremely ugly.

Chu Wan bid farewell to Lu Shouyan and went into the courtyard with Lu Jianzhao.

Lu Jianshi stood there, his face turning a deep purplish-red.

Lu Shouyan stared at the retreating figure for a moment before turning to his poor nephew beside him and saying, “Jianshi, don’t take it too seriously.”

Upon hearing this, Lu Jianshi felt so wronged that he almost cried. “Seventh Uncle, Eighth Brother is too much! He was ignoring Wanwan this morning, and now he’s acting like this. Isn’t this intentional? I already said before that I like Wanwan. If Grandpa doesn’t object, I want to date Wanwan. We’re brothers, and he treats me like this?!”

Lu Shouyan patted his nephew on the shoulder. “Didn’t you want to go shooting? I’ll take you to the Northwest shooting range later.”

This could be considered a small consolation from the elders to this disappointed junior.

Lu Jianshi’s nose tingled with emotion. “Seventh Uncle is still the best to me… But never mind, I don’t want to go, I’m not in the mood, I feel terrible.”

Lu Shouyan said, “Is it really worth getting upset over something so small? You’re a grown man, don’t act like a child.”

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

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Here are this story’s advance postings per Patreon Tier:
…Devoted 2nd Male Lead
Chapter 16 — Became a Hot Commodity
Chapter 17.1 — Explore the Courtyard
Chapter 17.2 — Explore the Courtyard
Chapter 18.1 — The First Stirrings of Love, Save the Day
… Awakened Villainess
Chapter 18.2 — The First Stirrings of Love, Save the Day
Chapter 19.1 — Four Men, One Drama
… Unattainable White Moonlight
Chapter 19.2 — Four Men, One Drama
Chapter 19.3 — Four Men, One Drama

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FOOTNOTE:

1. ‘backbone is very strong’—it means someone who is reliable as well as capable of independent thinking. ↩︎