Chapter 52

At first, Wei Xiangxiu didn’t eat many skewers. She waited until Lu Zheng waved his hand and ordered another ten yuan worth, saying he would take them home for Wei Xiangxiu’s two little monkeys and her family to try. Only then did Wei Xiangxiu start eating. Although she ate delicately, she ended up eating the most skewers.

Du Xiaohu secretly gave Lu Zheng a thumbs-up under the table, praising him for being good at pursuing women.

Du Xiaohu knew that Brother Zheng was starting to pursue Wei Xiangxiu.

Last night, Lu Zheng had asked him how to win a girl’s heart. The two rough men discussed for a long time, and if anyone had heard their childish topics, they would have laughed to death.

In his previous life, Lu Zheng was very biased and didn’t understand emotions, let alone believe in the existence of love. Although he was reborn and had become more open-minded, he was still a complete novice when it came to understanding a girl’s feelings.

He could see that Wei Xiangxiu was saving the skewers to take home for her younger brothers, but he had no idea how to win the heart of this girl who had endured many hardships and was very shrewd.

In the end, after discussing with Du Xiaohu, he decided to rely on his past experience. Giving gifts to girls was the quickest way to gain their favor. No girl disliked money, and this was true in both his past and present life, except for that one girl who made his heart ache just thinking about her. In this life, he would never see her again.

Lu Zheng no longer had any high hopes for love. Since he had developed a relationship with Wei Xiangxiu and observed that she was a good person, he decided to marry her. He didn’t want to waste any more emotional energy, and besides, Wei Xiangxiu was quite clever and might be a good wife.

Today, bringing Wei Xiangxiu to Wushan, Lu Zheng was launching his "love" offensive.

After eating the skewers, the minivan drove straight to the department store. In the golden and splendid mall, Lu Zheng started spending money lavishly. Whenever he saw a piece of women’s clothing he liked, he would ask Wei Xiangxiu, "How about this? Is it pretty?" If she nodded or said it was beautiful, he would buy it.

Wei Xiangxiu was initially puzzled and asked him why he was buying girls’ clothes. Lu Zheng said, "To give as gifts. Your taste is good, so I’m asking you to help me choose."

Wei Xiangxiu then relaxed, thinking that Lu Zheng must be buying them for a distant relative’s daughter. However, she thought it was a bit exaggerated. Who would choose clothes like this? Lu Zheng’s relative must be a millionaire.

Sometimes, Lu Zheng would also ask Wei Xiangxiu to try on the clothes, and she would comply. She was just there to help choose, so she felt relieved.

If she could avoid a conflict with Lu Zheng, it would be better not to. She didn’t want to offend him, or he might get angry and beat her up. He had even dared to hit Gao Zhikai; what else wouldn’t he do? Any girl who became his wife would probably have a hard time. If he was in a bad mood, she would surely get a beating.

Thinking about it, Wei Xiangxiu shuddered. Then she realized she was worrying about something that wasn’t her concern.

At the clothing counter on the third floor, Wei Xiangxiu saw a black wool coat identical to the one she was wearing. She glanced at the price and gasped. 180 yuan?

This was almost three months’ salary for her. This was because the wages in Wushan had just been increased, and she had just received a raise. Even so, she only earned about 60 yuan a month. After all, she had a short work history, and the police system’s wages were not high, far less than those of frontline workers doing dirty and tiring jobs.

This was the first time Wei Xiangxiu had worn the wool coat. Du Xiaohu had passed on Lu Zheng’s message to wear this coat. She actually liked it very much, but she was also conflicted. She didn’t want to have any contact with Lu Zheng outside of work. If she wore it, it would be awkward to meet him. Today, Lu Zheng had "ordered" her to wear it, and after much hesitation, she decided it would be safer to comply. When dealing with someone like Lu Zheng, the first thing to avoid was going against his wishes.

Although Wei Xiangxiu knew the wool coat was expensive, she had thought it would cost around 50 to 60 yuan. She never imagined it would cost 180 yuan.

Lu Zheng noticed Wei Xiangxiu’s surprised expression as she looked at the wool coat in the counter. He coughed and said, "It doesn’t matter how much it costs. The important thing is that you look beautiful in it."

Lu Zheng didn’t know how to pursue girls. In his past life, he had used money to win them over, but he didn’t believe that money could buy true feelings. Since he wanted to find a wife this time, he couldn’t act as recklessly as before. He was very strategic and tried to be more considerate in his words.

However, when Wei Xiangxiu heard the bandit praise her beauty, she felt quite awkward and her scalp tingled. How could it feel so fake? She felt like vomiting...

Wei Xiangxiu was confident in front of other men, but she didn’t think she had any appeal to this bandit.

Then, when the three of them returned to the minivan, Lu Zheng pushed a pile of plastic bags, big and small, to Wei Xiangxiu and said, "They’re all for you."

Wei Xiangxiu was stunned and said, "This, this can’t be right."

"Just take them," Lu Zheng waved his hand, his tone leaving no room for argument.

Then Lu Zheng patted Du Xiaohu’s shoulder and said, "To Guo Dali." He turned to explain to Wei Xiangxiu, "Guo Dali is the first residential complex in Wushan. My sister bought an apartment there. We’ll go there to rest; shopping is tiring."

Actually, the apartment in Wushan was a gift from Lu Jiaju to Lu Zheng, so he would have a place to stay when he came to Wushan. After all, an apartment in Wushan wasn’t worth much compared to the minivan.

Hearing that they were going to Lu Zheng’s sister’s apartment to rest, Wei Xiangxiu became nervous. She was already extremely confused by the clothes, but now she suddenly became very alert.

"I, I’m thirsty," Wei Xiangxiu said softly. She knew that if she refused directly, it might backfire. She wanted to stop the car first and then find an excuse to avoid it.

Lu Zheng said, "Just hold on, we’ll be there soon."

Wei Xiangxiu was speechless. This was the real Lu Zheng, who had just praised her beauty but now treated her like nothing.

Actually, thinking about it, Wei Xiangxiu felt a strange mix of emotions. After all, she had deceived him first, and he, for some reason, wanted to take responsibility. He was very chauvinistic but also very responsible, which was a unique charm of a rough soldier.

Clearly, he didn’t care much about her.

Just as Wei Xiangxiu was lost in thought, Lu Zheng suddenly whispered, "Xiangxiu, let’s stay the night and not go back tonight?"

Smelling the faint fragrance from Wei Xiangxiu, sitting so close to her, admiring her beautiful figure, and thinking about their previous encounter, Lu Zheng suddenly felt unable to control himself.

After all, once the barrier between a man and a woman was broken, their perception changed, and there were fewer constraints, like a married couple. Thinking about such things was normal.

Hearing Lu Zheng call her "Xiangxiu," Wei Xiangxiu’s skin crawled. Hearing his words, she felt her hair stand on end, and her first reaction was to jump out of the car.

The thought of being ravaged by this bandit was terrifying, like being in hell.

But then, thinking about the current situation, it seemed to be her fault.

Her face pale, she hesitated for a moment and then said softly, "I, I haven’t divorced yet..." She wanted to delay it as much as possible.

Lu Zheng nodded slightly, slowly leaned back in his seat, and patted the front seat, saying, "Xiao Hu, back to Guangning."

Wei Xiangxiu felt that this was the real Lu Zheng, but he was also a bit scary.

Thinking about how the bandit had stared at her body, it seemed he was really interested. Wei Xiangxiu didn’t know whether to be worried or happy.