chapter 67

Lu noticed her expression and explained it in a low voice. “These are fried bamboo maggots. They are really nutritious, but most foreigners can’t get used to it. If you don’t like it, you can choose not to eat.”

“Maggots?” Ai glanced at Ouyang Zhenzhen and suddenly got an idea.

She smiled at Lu and acted coquettishly on purpose. “Honey, I want to eat that.”

She meant she wanted to eat the maggots. The “honey” gave Lu a start. He looked at Ai, shivering. “Has she lost her mind?”

Ai raised her eyebrows to indicate to Lu that she wanted him to move the dish next to her.

When Lu was going to move the plate, Ouyang Zhenzhen pressed the plate down with her finger and looked at Ai with a spurious smile. “You’d better not move it. Don’t you know there is someone else who wants to eat this dish?”

Ai Changhuan acted as if she didn’t care. “You don’t like it. Why won’t you let me eat it?”

Ouyang Zhenzhen didn’t back down. “I never said I didn’t like it.”

“Then eat one.”

“….” Ouyang Zhenzhen didn’t want to give up when Lu and Du were watching her. And the thing looked like a decent dish, so it wouldn’t be too bad. She took a deep breath, picked up a bamboo maggot with her chopsticks, and put it in her mouth. It was crispy and tasty.

Ouyang Zhenzhen looked at Ai defiantly as if she was saying ‘So what?’

Ai tittered and said anxiously, “Are you all set? If so, please pass it to me.”

“Not yet…” Ouyang Zhenzhen ate a few more as everybody watched her.

At that moment, Pei Mu and Yang Anxin came back from shopping. Pei Xiaopang was immediately attracted by those dishes. He ran to Ouyang Zhenzhen who was nearest to him and picked up a maggot with his hand to eat. “What’re these? They look like fries. They taste good.”

“They are…a kind of maggot…” Ai replied casually.

Ouyang Zhenzhen was shocked when she heard it. As a nurse, she already had mysophobia. Maggots meant deterioration, bacteria, and dirtiness.

Ouyang Zhenzhen’s face started to pale, and she ended up rushing out with a terrible expression.

Yang Anxin asked, “What happened to her?”

Ai Changhuan said, “Perhaps she ate something bad and wants to throw up?”

Du Yucheng was the only one who knew Ouyang Zhenzhen here. Yang Anxin urged him to follow her in case any emergency had happened. “You’d better follow her to check.”

Du Yucheng hesitated for a second, stood up, and left the room. Lu looked at Ai. “I didn’t expect that you’re really naughty sometimes.”

“It was just a joke.” If she didn’t warn Ouyang Zhenzhen by doing so, the girl would probably challenge their relationship. But everything she had done was for Lu Zhanke. Perhaps now he quite enjoyed being between two jealous women.

“Humph!” With that she turned her head away and tried to ignore him.

Outside the room, Ouyang Zhenzhen lost her temper with Du Yucheng. “What’s wrong with you? Why didn’t you do anything?!”

Du Yucheng’s expression was cold. “The way you did it isn’t going to work. You did it too obviously. Ai will be on guard, and she will fight back instinctively.”

“So what should we do now?” Ouyang Zhenzhen started to get anxious.

“There is only one way. Stand down and then drive a wedge between them.”

“Stand down?” Ouyang seemed to understand.

“Come on, let’s go back since you’re alright. They will get suspicious if we stay out for too long,” Du Yucheng said impatiently.

Ouyang Zhenzhen knew that all he cared about was Ai. Then, she grew jealous for no reason. “What magic does she have? Why do you two like her so much?”

Du Yucheng ignored her and walked away.

Maybe it was because of what Du Yucheng said to her, but Ouyang Zhenzhen wasn’t specially attentive towards Lu anymore. She only glared at Ai from time to time. Ai pretended to ignore her, but she pinched Lu’s thigh under the table. “Look what kind of love affairs you cause.”

Lu felt hurt but happy at the same time. He touched Ai’s hand when she pinched him too hard. Of course, what he got was only even sharper pain.

They played under the table as if there were nobody else present.

They thought nobody noticed. In reality, everybody noticed except for Pei Xiaopang. Yang Anxin was so embarrassed that she turned her head away from them.

Having finished afternoon tea, it was almost night. They strolled on the street and planned to head to the riverside where the Lantern Festival would be held.

“Wow. It looks just like a fair. I’ve been to some fairs with my classmates, but I was never happier than I am now. Lu Zhanke, let’s take a picture together,” Ai suddenly suggested.

Surprised, Lu stared at her blankly.

Ai felt a little diffident, and her expression faltered slightly. “What’s wrong? Don’t you want to take a picture with me?”

“It’s nothing.” Lu Zhanke stopped staring at her. But the corners of his mouth were turned downward because he suddenly got the feeling that Ai would leave him soon. Pictures would be just a memory.

Not daring to keep looking at Lu, Ai went to Pei Mu, asking him to take a picture for them.

Pei Mu shook his head upon seeing the scenery behind them. “No. No. The background doesn’t look good. Let’s go somewhere else.”

“Where?” Ai looked around. She thought the view was quite pretty here. It would definitely look nice wherever they took the picture.

“I heard that there is a magic tree at the end of this road. Many offerings and prayers are held there. Let’s take the pictures there,” Pei Mu said, starting to walk ahead.

Ai was speechless. She had no choice but to follow him.

It was not long before they got there. It was true that there were a lot of tourists praying and taking pictures.

Ai leaned on Lu’s shoulder and grinned, saying, “Hey, are you going to be a poker face again? Smile, please.”

“What?” Lu didn’t understand what she meant.

Ai stuck out her tongue. “Nothing. I just want you to smile. Pei Mu, we’re ready. Take it now.”

“OK.” Pei Mu selected a perfect angle. When he was about to press the button, he shouted to Lu, “Lu, can’t you smile a little bit?”

Lu thought, “I can’t…”

Ai tilted her head towards Lu and tried to lift the corners of his mouth with her fingers. “Smile.”

But Lu still had a poker face.

Ai gave up. She could only kiss Lu in front of all of them. “Alright. Alright. Don’t act like a boy. Why are you always like a child?”

Lu couldn’t help tilting his head to look at her. Pei Mu immediately pressed the shutter to catch the ‘looking-each-other-affectionately’ moment.

Ai rushed to see the picture as soon as they finished shooting. She kept complimenting, “I didn’t expect your photography skills to be so good. You are definitely qualified to be an advertisement photographer…”

Pei Mu was rather proud. “I am certainly a professional.”

“Come on, how about you three take a family picture?” Ai was in a good mood. She then took some pictures for several people, but she didn’t take another one with Lu.

Lu quietly stood to the side. He kept silent as he watched Ai, who was awfully delighted. What he was thinking about was unknown.

It was quite late. Many people set off for the riverside to see the lanterns. They packed up their things and followed the crowd.

At this time, numerous lanterns were hung up at the stores beside the river, lighting up the whole river.

Looking at those delicate lanterns, Ai couldn’t resist and kept touching them all the time.

“Lu Zhanke, the lanterns are so beautiful.” Ai grabbed his arm and was excited.

“Which one do you want? I can buy it for you.” The smile on his face was even sweeter than candy.

“Emmm… ” Ai kept comparing and looking carefully, but she still couldn’t pick her favorite. “All of them look so pretty. It is too hard to make a decision.”

“How about this one?” Lu picked an ‘appreciate-flowers-while-riding-a-horse’ lantern.

“Alright!” Ai took his suggestion immediately because she didn’t have to make choices. She held the lantern in her hand, saying, “It feels so good to have a husband. He can buy anything I want.”

Lu couldn’t help laughing. “You only have one husband, so you’d better take good advantage of me.”

“I will,” Ai sneered. She walked along the river with Lu, staring at those colorful lanterns as if she were going to take them home by etching them into her memory.

The types of lanterns grew less and less as they walked towards the upper section of the river. In the end, there were only lotus lanterns for wishes. Many tourists who got there by foot like them were buying lanterns there. Then, they would write down their wishes on a small piece of paper and put them into the lanterns. After that, they would put the lanterns on the river, letting them float towards downstream.

Ai pointed with her finger. “I want that one. I want to make a wish.”

Lu had nothing to say. He went up to the store with Ai.

Because there were too many people who wanted to buy lanterns, they had to wait in line.

Ai kept mumbling when they were in line. “Ah, what kind of wish am I going to write? Happiness every day? No, I am happy already. It will be useless. What about becoming rich immediately? But I am rather rich now. Hey, Lu Zhanke. Did you bring money with you?”

Lu Zhanke raised his eyebrow. “Whichever you like, I will buy it for you.”

‘Wow. Quite lavish. Quite rich, huh?’

“So…What about wishing my grandfather good health and longevity? After all, he is my beloved grandfather. Haha.” Ai giggled for a while after deciding on her wish.

Lu couldn’t help laughing. “Silly girl.”

When it was their turn, the shopkeeper asked, “How many do you want?”

Ai Changhuan said, “One.”

Lu Zhanke said, “Two.”