A charming widow in her 70s married a factory manager and raised his children.

Chapter 105 Family Troubles

After calming Lu Congyue down and telling him not to impulsively run over and hit someone, Zhuang Qingxiang returned to the room and saw Xiao Qianyue wiping away tears.

"Does your little brother hurt?"

Little Chenglin couldn't understand, so he waved his little fists at her, making babbling noises.

Zhuang Qingxiang hurriedly went to comfort Xiao Qianyue, but Xiao Qianyue was still indignant: "Mom, bad people are bullying my little brother. Yueyue won't go to school tomorrow; she'll stay home and watch over her brother!"

"Don't meddle in adult matters, just focus on your studies," Zhuang Qingxiang said with a smile.

Lu Congyue stood at the door and said, "That's right, little one, just focus on your schoolwork. Your mother and I are here at home, so don't worry."

Xiao Qianyue trusted Lu Congyue completely, and quickly calmed down after hearing his words.

Zhuang Qingxiang smiled bitterly. Clearly, her daughter trusted Lu Congyue more than she, her stepmother with whom she had lived for a year, had.

After the children went to sleep, Zhuang Qingxiang continued embroidering. A small ornament would normally only take three or four days to complete, but now she has a lot of things to do, which takes up a lot of time, and she has to stay up late at night.

Lu Congyue lay in bed for most of the night, and when he saw that the light in Zhuang Qingxiang's room was still on, he began to feel irritable again.

He knew what she was busy with, but he had told her it wasn't necessary. He said she was just a foreign expert, and the people at the factory had already done their best for her. He said he would give her a couple of bottles of wine or some porcelain when she left, and he had already prepared everything.

But she just wouldn't listen!

Lu Congyue turned over, and the wire bed creaked again late at night.

Lu Congyue: I told you I wanted to change this bed, but I forgot!

Annoyed by the noise, Lu Congyue jumped up and gently knocked on the door of the inner room.

Zhuang Qingxiang: "Okay, I'll embroider a little longer and then go to sleep."

It was probably well past midnight by now. Lu Congyue frowned and said, "Come out, I have something to tell you."

Zhuang Qingxiang remained silent.

After a moment, the man outside softened his voice: "I want to talk to you about those two people who came today. Come out."

Although Zhuang Qingxiang had already heard a lot from Sun Yongxian, she couldn't help but want to hear more from Lu Congyue. She bit her lip and tiptoed out the door.

As soon as she came out, Lu Congyue told her to stop embroidering, as the gifts were already prepared.

Zhuang Qingxiang frowned as she recalled the two extra bottles of liquor in the cabinet: "Mr. Ross doesn't like the baijiu you prepared."

"It's his business if he doesn't like it, and it's my business what I give him. I don't need to think about it so much."

"But shouldn't gifts be given in a way that touches people's hearts?" Zhuang Qingxiang said disapprovingly. "If a gift is given and people don't like it, then it's better not to give it at all."

Lu Congyue scoffed, "A foreigner... he only knows a little technology... why bother fawning over him? Our domestic technicians are just as good!"

Zhuang Qingxiang: "..." It's hard to believe that a man in his thirties, who is also a factory manager, would say such capricious things.

Fortunately, he wasn't that willful in his actions.

Zhuang Qingxiang got up, went inside to get the white cat she had half-embroidered, handed it to Lu Congyue, and told him that Mr. Ross liked cats.

Lu Congyue had never heard of this person before, and he lifted his eyelids slightly: "How do you know so much? Did he tell you?"

"We bumped into each other and chatted for a bit," Zhuang Qingxiang replied casually. "The important thing is that Mr. Ross will like this embroidered piece. If you have any problems in the future, you can ask him for help."

Lu Congyue reluctantly returned the things to her, muttering, "You can chat with anyone you bump into, but you have nothing to say to me."

"I've been waiting to hear what you have to say." Zhuang Qingxiang put her things down, turned to look at him, and said, "Didn't you say you had something to say?"

Lu Congyue was just making up an excuse; he didn't want to mention his family's mess to anyone.

But she's waiting...

Lu Congyue lowered his eyes: "There's not much to say. It's just the same old story: the man abandons his wife and children to go far away, becomes successful, and then marries a beautiful new wife. Heh..."

Zhuang Qingxiang sat quietly in front of him. Lu Congyue hesitated for a moment before continuing, "Guan Jing is the woman he married after he made a name for himself outside. He said that his marriage with my mother was a feudal arranged marriage, and there was no affection between them. He and Guan Jing are like-minded partners."

"But if there was no affection, why did they give birth to me?" Lu Congyue asked calmly, as if he had asked this question countless times.

Zhuang Qingxiang carefully examined Lu Congyue's eyebrows and eyes.

He is handsome and has a dignified appearance; you can tell his parents are also good-looking.

So you can sleep with someone and have them even without feelings.

Just like her mother, who worked as a kitchen maid for so many years, was spotted by the landlord and found to be pretty, so he slept with her and gave birth to her.

Later, Lu Congyue's father resolutely abandoned his wife and children, which can only mean that Guan Jing was not only good-looking, but also came from a good family and had the means to keep the man and make him determined to only have her.

Lu Congyue's mother was a country girl; how could she possibly compete with Guan Jing?

Lu Congyue felt uneasy under her gaze: "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Zhuang Qingxiang thought for a moment, carefully choosing her words: "The older generation all said that marriages are arranged by parents and matchmakers, and that even without feelings, children can still be born..."

Lu Congyue's face darkened: "Since you've married a wife and had children, you have to take responsibility. What right does an irresponsible person have to talk about feelings?"

That seems to make sense.

Zhuang Qingxiang fell silent.

She couldn't argue with him.

Unexpectedly, Lu Congyue suddenly added angrily, "Yeah, you're just irresponsible."

"..." Zhuang Qingxiang got up and walked into the inner room. "It's getting late, go to sleep."

Lu Congyue pulled him back: "You're not going to sleep anyway, stay a little longer."

"open!"

"No, I haven't finished yet." Lu Congyue pressed her onto his lap and held her tightly. Before Zhuang Qingxiang could speak, he quickly said, "That Kong Yazhen is... the child of my father's neighbor. When I was eighteen, my mother passed away and asked me to go and stay with him. I went and stayed at his house for two months. That's when I met her."

"But we only met for those two months. Later, I couldn't stay any longer and left. I haven't seen you since."

"Later, they probably saw that I was doing well, so they called me back and tried to introduce me to potential partners, but I didn't agree to any of them."

"I won't marry anyone they introduce me to. I told them I would never get married and then I hid here. Who knew I would meet you, Zhuang Qingxiang? I only want to marry you."

His voice grew softer and softer as he spoke, and the last sentence was almost whispered in her ear.

Zhuang Qingxiang's heart trembled slightly, and she couldn't help but shrink her neck.

Zhuang Qingxiang couldn't help but think how wonderful it would be if he were just an ordinary man from the countryside. Perhaps she would have the courage to take another chance and marry him to see if she could be happy.

"Zhuang Qingxiang, I think we're really a good match."

Lu Congyue couldn't hold back any longer and wanted to coax the woman into nodding, otherwise he would find it very difficult to get through each day.

Zhuang Qingxiang felt it was inappropriate, but she didn't say anything because her body felt it was right, so she turned her head to kiss his lips.

Sometimes, it's unnecessary for this mouth to say so much.

Lu Congyue's body tensed up suddenly, and after only a second of hesitation, he kissed her back fiercely.