CH 135

They finished cleaning up the yard. The scattered objects were unsalvageable, and they also had to throw out some of their stock.

After finishing, it was getting dark. The Mo family returned to the village, and Mr. Cao walked back with them.

Outside Jiaolan Courtyard, Lu Junming was rubbing his hands at the gate and circling back and forth, finally waiting for Xiao Chuzi to come back. Xiao Chuzi knew without asking that he had to ask his father for something.

“Brother, that’s your own father. If my own dad was still alive, I’d be willing to kowtow to him every single day.”

As soon as Chuzi opened the door, Ms. Zhao came out to welcome him, “What took you so long?”

Looking up and seeing Lu Junming, her face lit up with joy, “Ming’er, come in quickly, you’ve come back just in time to have a drink with your father.”

He followed Xiao Chuzi into the courtyard, and Ms. Zhao said loudly, “Brother Yuanling, Ming’er is back!”

Lu Hong’s loud voice came from the room, “Good, have a few drinks with your dad.”

The three of them entered the room. Ms. Zhao lit the lamp, and Lu Junming and Xiao Chuzi set up the food and wine. He didn’t happily call Lu Hong “Father” like before.

After the food and wine were set up, Xiao Chuzi was about to go out. Lu Junming didn’t want him to see them fighting, so brought him some dishes and asked him to eat elsewhere.

Ms. Zhao poured three glasses of wine, raised her glass and said, “The three of us haven’t eaten together for a long time. Come, let’s have a drink.”

Lu Hong also raised his wine glass and waited for Lu Junming. He didn’t want to drink with him at first, but after remembering that he had something to ask, he had no choice but to bite the bullet and raise his glass, “Come on, let’s drink.”

He still didn’t call him ‘Father’, Lu Hong slammed his cup on the table. Half of the wine splashed out as he said sternly, “You bastard, you haven’t shown a good face towards me since you entered the house, why aren’t you greeting me?”

She turned around and pretended to reprimand him, “Ming’er, call your father.”

Lu Junming drank his wine in a single gulp and said with disdain, “General Lu, this is Jiaolan Courtyard. My mother’s residence is not your Lu residence.”

Lu Hong grew angrier. He threw his wallet on the table, “This is enough to pay the rent for this yard for several years. Now I say this is the Lu’s residence.”

Lu Junming showed no signs of fear. He curled his lips and said, “Who needs to worry about your money!”

Ms. Zhao hurriedly played mediator, “He bought a yard and started a workshop with Chi Jie! Our Ming’er will make money when he grows up.”

Lu Hong looked at the money bag on the table, “It takes a lot of capital to start a workshop, so take this money.”

Lu Junming shook his head, “I don’t want your money.”

“Then what do you want?”

“For your army to trial the raincoat and canvas bags we made.”

It was only then that Lu Hong realised the only reason he came back was because he was asking for a favour. So he leaned back leisurely, “We already have our own suppliers for military goods. Besides, why should I go out of my way! Who are you to me?”

Ms. Zhao filled her son’s wine glass again, “Toast your father!”

Lu Junming raised his wine glass and said in a very low voice, “Father, a toast.”

Lu Hong tilted his head and said loudly, “I didn’t hear what you said! My ears aren’t as good as they used to be, you know.”

Lu Junming leaned forward and put his mouth next to his ear, then shouted as loud as he could “Father, a toast!”

This time, Lu Hong almost went deaf. He rubbed his ear with one hand, pushed Lu Junming’s head away with the other, and said “Do you really want to make your father deaf?”

Ms. Zhao brought food to Lu Hong, “Brother Yuanling, don’t argue with the child, you know he has you in his heart.”

Lu Hong laughed, and drank his wine. He smacked his lips and said, “Of course I know that there are some things I did not do well, I can’t blame him entirely.”

Lu Junming was already exhausted. Now he’s relaxed, the three of them happily ate together. During dinner, Lu Hong looked up at his son from time to time, and smiled to himself. [1]

“It’s only been a few months, and Ming’er has grown a lot taller.”

Ms. Zhao also looked sideways at her son, “That’s right! The climate here is good, it’s nourishing, and he’s eating a lot of meat every day.”

Lu Junming swallowed his food and said, “The reason I’m growing taller is because I practise martial arts every day.”

Speaking of practising martial arts, Lu Hong put down his chopsticks and asked, “I wonder if your martial arts have improved?”

Lu Junming rolled his eyes at him, “Is my grandfather’s technique worse than yours?”

Lu Hong laughed again, “Alright, let’s go to the yard for a spar later.”

The atmosphere at the dinner table was harmonious. After the meal, Lu Hong asked Lu Junming to spar. Ms. Zhao said, “You’ve just eaten, spar after you’ve digested the food.”

“Okay, let’s do that.”

Lu Hong’s face was flushed, and he was full of joy. The woman and boy in front of him were both people who had a place in his heart.

Xiao Chuzi came to clear the table, and sent the plates back to the restaurant, and while Ms. Zhao boiled water to make tea.

Without waiting for the tea to cool down, Lu Hong stepped into the yard and shouted roughly, “Ming’er, come quickly, show a few tricks to your father.”

Ms. Zhao couldn’t stop him, so she had to spectate the match.

They picked up two staffs by the wall as their weapons.

The sky was clear, and the crescent moon was hanging high. Under the moonlight, only their blurry figures could be seen.

The two exchanged moves rapidly. After a while, when she heard Lu Hong’s cry, Ms. Zhao immediately stood up and asked in surprise, “Brother Yuanling, what’s wrong?”

The two stopped fighting. Lu Junming threw the staff at the wall and said with resentment, “Mum, I can’t hurt him!”

Lu Hong laughed again, “Hahaha, my son has really grown up. If this was a real sword, I would definitely have been killed or injured.”

Ms. Zhao ran over, examined Lu Hong’s body and asked, “Are you really fine?”

Lu Hong also threw his staff at the wall, “No, don’t worry! Let’s go drink tea.”

Ms. Zhao and Lu Hong went into the room. She poured tea, and he thought about the spar that had just happened. But Lu Junming just stood at the door and said, “I’ll send some samples to you in half a month. Today, Chuzi and I will stay in the workshop.”

He strode out of the yard and went to Dengyun Tower to meet Chuzi. He walked a circle around it, but still didn’t see him. Did he go back to the workshop first? There’s no way!

He turned around and walked along the road to the workshop. When he passed by the nearby post office, he heard Xiao Chuzi calling him from the shadows.

“Brother!”

“What are you doing here? Why haven’t you gone back?”

Xiao Chuzi raised his finger and pointed to the other side. He whispered, “Manager Liang is about to run away from here.”

Lu Junming looked over and saw a carriage parked outside the restaurant, and someone was loading things into the carriage. Then, Manager Liang got into the carriage. The driver flicked his whip, and the carriage was soon submerged in the darkness.

Post-translation: Is Manager Liang finally being written off? I can’t believe it.

[1] Yeah, I have no idea what that was about at all.