Casting Nets to Catch a Husband

Chapter 148: Entering the City

Liu Yu opened the door and glanced back at Lu Chengxiao. Lu Chengxiao quickly caught up to her and naturally took her hand.

Liu Yu looked at her hand being held and then turned to look at Lu Chengxiao.

Lu Chengxiao smiled. Originally, he was just holding her hand, but then his fingertips moved between her fingers, and they interlocked their fingers.

Liu Yu laughed, raised their clasped hands, and asked him, “Are we going out like this?”

Lu Chengxiao’s eyes curved with a smile, “Why not?”

He leaned closer to her ear and chuckled, “We are husband and wife now.”

There was a hint of delight and pride in his words.

Yu Ge’er peeked his head out from beside the door, looking at his third uncle and third aunt holding hands, his eyes filled with envy.

Children naturally like good-looking people. His mother had taught him earlier that the very pretty lady was his third aunt. His eyes rolled around once, and he leaned against the door, tilting his head and softly calling out, “Third Aunt.”

Only then did Liu Yu and Lu Chengxiao notice the little guy outside the door. Liu Yu saw that Yu Ge’er’s gaze shifted from her face to their interlocked hands, and she felt a bit embarrassed.

When Liu Yu tried to pull her hand away, Lu Chengxiao tightened his grip, pretending not to notice, and smiled as he waved his other hand, “Brother Yu, come over to your third uncle.”

Yu Ge’er looked at his favorite third uncle, then at Liu Yu. He started running but completely ignored Lu Chengxiao’s outstretched hand. He stopped between Liu Yu and Lu Chengxiao, looked at one, then the other, and raised his hands, saying in a childish voice, “I want to hold hands with both Third Uncle and Third Aunt.”

The soft little child could melt anyone’s heart.

Liu Yu didn’t just want to hold his hand; she wanted to hug him. She looked up at Lu Chengxiao with a smile.

Lu Chengxiao squeezed Liu Yu’s hand, which he had just grasped, and helplessly chuckled, “This kid.”

He let go of Liu Yu’s hand.

Yu Ge’er happily held one hand each.

The child’s hands were soft and chubby, small with dimples on the back, extremely cute. Liu Yu’s eyes lit up with joy.

Yu Ge’er was also happy. He liked his third aunt.

The child got his wish, and a smile spread across his face, revealing small, pearly teeth, making him even more adorable.

The three of them, two adults and one child, walked hand in hand into the main hall. As soon as the people inside saw this scene, they all exclaimed in surprise.

Chen Shi and Lu Xun exchanged a glance, their faces almost blooming with joy.

This scene truly looked like a family of three, making one easily imagine Liu Yu and Lu Chengxiao with their own child in a couple of years. How could Lu Xun and Chen Shi not be happy?

Holding Rui Ge’er, Qin Shi chuckled and said, “Yu’er has been thinking about this all morning, and now he gets to hold his third aunt’s hand.”

“Good for him,” Chen Shi laughed so heartily her eyes almost disappeared, her heart filled with affection for her eldest grandson.

Xiaoya, who was playing with Rui Ge’er, also watched this scene with some envy.

More envious than Xiaoya was Zhou Qiongying. She subconsciously glanced at her own belly. It had been almost a year since she got married, yet there was no sign of pregnancy.

Looking at Yu Ge’er and then at Rui Ge’er still in Qin Shi’s arms, she felt truly envious. She wanted to hold Rui Ge’er to get some good luck, but since she wasn’t very close to Qin Shi, she didn’t dare to ask, fearing her intentions might be seen through.

Lu Chengzhang, unaware of his wife’s thoughts, teasingly said, “Third Brother and Third Sister-in-law are truly affectionate.”

Lu Chengxiao smiled without hiding his feelings. As soon as Yu Ge’er was called over by Chen Shi, he pulled Liu Yu’s hand back into his own. If it weren’t for the fact that it was time to eat and Liu Yu needed her hand to hold chopsticks, he would have kept holding her hand just as tightly, making Chen Shi laugh even more.

At the beginning of noon, the family sat down to a meal together. It was a sumptuous spread, and after eating, they chatted for a while. Then, Lu Xun, Lu Chengzhong, Lu Chengzhang, and Zhou Qiongying had to return to Anyi County and Xifeng Town, traveling by mule cart driven by Babao.

As for Liu Yu, the family had discussed that she should stay in Changfeng Town for the first few days after the wedding. After the third day, she would go to the county with Lu Chengxiao to manage their business at the embroidery workshop.

After seeing Lu Xun and the others off, Liu Yu was taken away by Lu Shuang. Joined by Chen Shi, who was eager to see her new daughter-in-law, and Qin Shi, who wanted to join in the fun, Lu Chengxiao found himself left on the sidelines.

Meanwhile, the younger ones—Xiaoya was already very attached to Liu Yu, and so was Yu Ge’er. Even little Rui Ge’er reached out to Liu Yu for a hug.

Lu Chengxiao, though helpless, was happy to see Liu Yu getting along well with the family. After sitting with them for a while, he saw that Lu Shuang wanted Liu Yu to give her some embroidery pointers. Thinking of something, he left them to it and went back to their room.

Liu Yu spent nearly an hour with the women of the family, and then said goodbye to Chen Shi, mentioning she was going back to her room to organize her dowry.

Since they had already bought a house in the county, most of Liu Yu’s dowry had not been displayed at the Lu family’s place, except for a few large pieces of furniture sent over when setting up the house. The rest, except for a few boxes of daily clothes and jewelry, were stored in a few rooms by Chen Shi. The keys had been given to Lu Chengxiao long ago. Liu Yu said she was going to organize her dowry, but she was actually just arranging those few boxes of daily items in her own room.

Chen Shi laughed and told her to go ahead.

Liu Yu returned to the second courtyard and saw that the door to the west wing, where she and Lu Chengxiao lived, was slightly ajar. She walked up to the door and knocked, but it wasn’t latched and opened with a push.

Sitting by the desk, Lu Chengxiao was deeply engrossed in his book and didn’t hear Liu Yu’s footsteps at all. Suddenly hearing the door open, he was startled and hurriedly stuffed the book into a drawer. Just as he grabbed another book to cover up, Liu Yu had already entered the study.

“Reading?”

He was indeed reading, but it was not something he wanted Liu Yu to see. Lu Chengxiao vaguely responded, trying to change the subject, “Were you doing embroidery with Shuang’er for so long? Are you tired?”

“Shuang’er took her embroidery frame to the flower hall. I just helped her a bit and spent most of the time chatting with Mother and Sister-in-law. It wasn’t tiring at all.”

Liu Yu’s boxes were in Lu Chengxiao’s study, so she didn’t need to go elsewhere to organize them. As she walked to the desk, she noticed Lu Chengxiao’s ears were red and his face was flushed. She looked closely and curiously asked, “Are you feeling hot?”

Lu Chengxiao felt guilty but innocently raised his eyebrows, “Am I?”

Liu Yu chuckled and turned to her dowry boxes to start organizing.

Lu Chengxiao breathed a sigh of relief. Watching from Liu Yu’s side, he remained seated by the desk. He quietly took out a copper lock from under the desk and, without making a sound, locked the drawer where he had hidden the book. Feeling much more at ease, he picked up a cup of cold tea from the table and drank it down.

Only then did he dare to leave the desk and went over to help Liu Yu as she opened her boxes. Knowing that Liu Yu would be heading to the embroidery workshop in a few days and that they would mostly live in the county, she decided to keep at least five or six sets of clothes here to spend a few more days with Chen Shi before moving.

Liu Yu was picking out clothes while Lu Chengxiao was helping her. When he came across a wooden box, Liu Yu’s heart skipped a beat—it was the one Wei Shi had given her the night before her wedding, which she had locked in her clothing box and had almost forgotten about. She quickly put the clothes back in place.

Lu Chengxiao noticed and asked, “What’s that?”

Liu Yu’s eyes flickered, and she calmly replied, “Dowry silver.”

Lu Chengxiao didn’t suspect anything. Hearing “dowry silver,” he remembered something. After helping Liu Yu finish picking out clothes, he cleared out a space in the wardrobe in the bedroom, watching as her clothes were placed inside. Once everything was organized, he took Liu Yu’s hand and led her back to the study, saying, “I have something for you.”

Releasing Liu Yu’s hand at the desk, he bent down to open another locked drawer, taking out a money pouch and handing it to her with a smile, “Open it and see.”

Liu Yu saw the money pouch and guessed it was silver notes. It felt light, confirming her guess. She opened it and saw a stack of silver notes. She laughed softly and looked at Lu Chengxiao, “Is this the family’s fortune?”

Lu Chengxiao laughed, and while Liu Yu was unprepared, he leaned in and kissed her on the lips before pulling away, saying, “Now, it’s official, right?”

He referred to the previous two times he had given her money—once she didn’t accept it, and another time she kept it for a while before returning it.

Liu Yu laughed and nodded.

Unbeknownst to her, that smile almost made Lu Chengxiao’s vision blur. His throat moved, and the next moment, her slender waist was embraced. His burning lips whispered in her ear, “Call me husband.”

Liu Yu’s sensitive ears couldn’t handle this, and her body trembled, her breathing becoming erratic.

Lu Chengxiao didn’t hear the word “husband” right away, but their lips and tongues intertwined, touching and entangling until Liu Yu lost track of time. She didn’t even know when she ended up sitting on his lap, him in the chair and her on top of him.

Liu Yu only knew that her clothes were completely disheveled, her shoulders exposed but feeling no cold due to the burning touch of his hands everywhere, making her body feel like it was on fire.

She didn’t know when she started holding onto Lu Chengxiao, her hands in his hair, her body arching as she surrendered to him, pleading for his rescue, “Lu Chengxiao…”

He whispered hoarsely, “Call me what?”

“Chengxiao.”

The moment she called his name, he didn’t respond with words. Instead, his body responded in a way she couldn’t ignore, sitting on his lap as she was. “Say it again.”

“Chengxiao.”

Lu Chengxiao’s eyes almost turned red. He pressed Liu Yu against him in a fervent, nearly fierce kiss. After a while, his hands changed position, and he asked huskily, “Does it still hurt?”

Liu Yu didn’t feel the pain anymore. Her body was soft, feeling an inexplicable emptiness. She didn’t respond, just lightly bit Lu Chengxiao’s ear.

Lu Chengxiao let out a muffled groan, lifting her in a shameful position that made her face turn redder with every step. She held him tighter, and when they reached the main room, she suddenly remembered something and trembled, “The door.”

Lu Chengxiao bit her ear gently, already turning his steps. He locked the door with red eyes and pressed Liu Yu against it. Fortunately, his reason prevailed; the door couldn’t withstand his rough treatment. He took her to the bedroom, where the red bedding and decorations unfolded layer by layer.

It had only been half a day, but somehow, Lu Chengxiao had improved so much that Liu Yu couldn’t handle it. He wasn’t forceful but rather like a key fitting into a lock, smooth and considerate, progressing in a way that made her bloom before slowly advancing.

It was like a battle, where a battering ram crashed through the gates, collapsing the inner walls, and finally entering the city.

Sansukini: He did his homework fastidiously. ꈍ .̮ ꈍ

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