Chapter 16 Return the Money
Before long, a girl in a dress, looking rather delicate, followed Lu Hongxia inside.
When she saw Lu Jingchuan, a gentle smile immediately rose on her face.
"Lu Jingchuan, long time no see. I heard you got married?"
Her gaze flicked toward me, half there and half not.
Lu Jingchuan's face stayed blank. He went straight to the point.
"Since you know I'm married, why come here looking for work?"
The girl called Xiao Xue froze mid-smile and glanced awkwardly at Lu Hongxia.
"It... it was Lu Hongxia who said you'd just started out and needed reliable help, so I... thought, as old classmates, I could lend a hand..."
Lu Jingchuan tugged at the corner of his mouth. His eyes turned sharp.
"Lend a hand? I remember the year you graduated from college, my sister was also so eager to set us up. What did you say then?"
"You said you were a college student now, and no matter how hard I tried, I was still just a country guy doing Farming, not a match. You also said you already had a boyfriend, a college classmate, and you planned to marry after graduation. Right?"
The girl scrambled to explain.
"I... I was young then, didn't know better, said things without thinking... Later I realized he... he never meant it..."
Lu Jingchuan cut her off without mercy.
"Out of respect for being desk mates back then, and because you're a girl, I meant to leave you some face. But you just had to stick yourself in at a time like this."
"I'm not good with words, but I'm not stupid. Put plainly, you just never found anyone better these years and want to turn back, right?"
Once that was laid bare, the girl looked utterly mortified.
Lu Jingchuan stayed firm.
"Today, in front of my Wife, some things have to be said clearly, so there won't be any more misunderstandings later."
"Between us, we were nothing more than ordinary high school classmates. After graduation we barely kept in touch. Back then I did have a little vague liking for you, but that was long over. You went to college. I stayed in the village Farming. After that we only met twice in total."
"Once was when I went into the city to deliver goods and ran into you on the street by chance. I brought you some fruit we'd grown ourselves. Then I turned around and heard you tell the classmate next to you, 'Some delivery guy. So annoying.'"
"The other time, you reached out yourself. Said you'd lost your wallet and couldn't get back to school, and asked me to lend you two thousand for the emergency. That money."
He looked at me and held out his hand.
"Xia Mianmian, pull up the payment code on your phone."
I froze for a second, then handed him my phone.
He raised it straight in front of Xiao Xue and dropped two words.
"Pay it back."
The air went dead silent.
The awkwardness made my toes curl.
The look on that girl's face was something else.
Lu Hongxia was stunned too.
In the end, one scanned the code and paid. The other slunk off in defeat.