Chapter 36.1
Early the next morning, the two of them arrived at the Lu household with the dress. When Lu Qin and Grandpa Lu saw the dress, they were momentarily speechless in astonishment.
Lu Qin’s eyes widened. “You… you actually made it.”
“Thanks to Mr. Lu’s great help,” Yu Le smiled and said. “If it weren’t for Mr. Lu, I’d have been stuck with the fabric.”
Lu Yao added, “Don’t listen to him. He did most of the work on the dress. Aside from helping with the pattern, I didn’t do much.”
Grandpa Lu, trembling, took the dress and examined every detail carefully. His withered hands brushed over the fabric inch by inch, and the face etched with the marks of time softened with nostalgia.
“This is exactly it,” Grandpa Lu said with a hushed voice. “This is the dress Qiao Qiao wore when she showed it to me. She was beautiful, a famous beauty in the county, with long hair styled in waves. Dressed up in this gown with flowers, she looked just like a fairy from a painting…”
Things shaped by the passage of time are intangible treasures. These memories aren’t yellowing; they’re merely filtered by the lens of time, and whether they are silent, noisy, sorrowful, or joyful, they are deeply moving when listened to closely.
Yu Le looked at Grandpa Lu and suddenly began to understand the old man’s words about clothes needing to have a personal touch.
At least for him, this dress was different from every piece of clothing he had designed and made before.
Grandma Lu changed into the dress and was helped to stand in front of the mirror. For the first time since Yu Le had known her, he saw her face break into a smile.
“A Xi, you found my dress.”
She stared at her reflection in the mirror for a long time. No one knew if she saw her current self with silver hair or her past self with flowing black hair.
But that didn’t matter. She was very happy and satisfied; that was enough.
“Does it look good?” She smiled and asked A Xi.
Grandpa Lu supported her steadily and gazed at Grandma Lu in the mirror with a serious nod. “It looks good. No matter what Miss wears, she looks good.”
Grandma Lu’s eyes were gentle: “Then when we get married, I’ll wear this, okay?”
Grandpa Lu’s eyes turned red, choked with emotion: “Okay… okay…”
Outside the mirror were elderly figures, and inside were young lovers who had long since developed feelings for each other. The mirror cut through space but also traced back in time.
Lu Qin covered his eyes with his hand. Yu Le suddenly turned and buried his face against Lu Yao’s shoulder, his head bowed and silent.
Lu Yao held him and gently patted his back.
To fulfill Grandma Lu’s wish, he took a photo of them in the yard. After that, they all got into the car and headed for the county hospital.
Yu Le did not go; he returned to the inn by himself. He had just sat down with a basket of small buns when Wen Yuan arrived leisurely.
“Is Brother Lu not here?” He noticed that tonight’s small buns looked particularly good and ordered a basket for himself.
When Aunt Zhang brought him the buns, she also served them both a bowl of soy milk.
“He’s not here,” Yu Le took a sip of the soy milk, which was very sweet. “He went to the hospital.”
Wen Yuan asked, “Oh? What happened to him? Even an invulnerable iron man can get sick?”
Yu Le disagreed with this statement. No matter how capable Lu Yao was, he was still human and could get sick. However, countering this argument seemed strange, as if he was wishing for Lu Yao to fall ill.
“Better to be invulnerable.”
Yu Le said, “It’s not him, it’s Grandma Lu next door.”
Wen Yuan asked, “Oh? What happened to Grandma Lu?”
Yu Le couldn’t provide specifics. “She’s been having recurring fevers these past few days, feeling weak and lethargic. I don’t know the details; we’ll have to wait for the test results.”
Wen Yuan, who had grown up in this street, was concerned when he heard that Grandma Lu was ill. He stayed after dinner, keeping Yu Le company while they waited for Lu Yao.
He also shared a bit of gossip about the inn.
“Your senior and his fiancée seem to have had a fight.”
Yu Le’s first reaction was the joke from that night under the tree, “What was the fight about? Was it serious?”
Wen Yuan shook his head. “I don’t know. I didn’t see them argue. It’s just that they’ve been acting strange lately. Miss Su hasn’t been out of her room much, and Mr. Cheng has been rarely seen. The few times I saw him, he didn’t look too good.”
Yu Le held the big yellow dog and thought: Could it be that a single joke ruined a marriage?
Isn’t that too easy?
Perhaps, as Lu Yao said, they might not be a good match, and not getting married might be a blessing in disguise.
However, it’s best not to interfere in others’ relationships, as he didn’t know the cause or details. Yu Le was more concerned about Grandma Lu and hoped it was just a minor cold rather than something serious.
The waiting time felt very long. Yu Le and Wen Yuan felt as if they had been playing chess under the tree for a year. Finally, Lu Yao returned.
As soon as he appeared in the courtyard, the two people under the tree flocked around him like chicks eagerly waiting to be fed, immediately dropping their dice to surround him. “How is it? How is it?”
Lu Yao handed a cup of milk tea to Yu Le. “The tests revealed that Grandma Lu has a tumor.”
The two “chicks” gasped.
“Don’t panic,” Lu Yao added, “It’s benign. Timely diagnosis; it just needs to be removed.”
The “chicks” sighed in relief in unison.
“But Grandma Lu is so old. Surgery must be quite painful, right?”
“Well, surgeries are inevitably tough, but with Lu Qin and Brother Lu taking care of her, she should be fine.”
Indeed, Yu Le patted his chest in relief and took a big sip of the milk tea, the creamy flavor filling his mouth.
Wen Yuan suddenly turned to stare at him for a few seconds, then glared back at Lu Yao. “Brother Lu, am I not worthy of a cup of milk tea that costs just a few bucks? Isn’t this treatment too extravagant?”
Oh, indeed.
Yu Le’s reflexes were slow today; he was clearly out of sorts. He had accepted the milk tea and drank it without much thought. If Wen Yuan hadn’t protested, he might have forgotten he even had the milk tea.
Lu Yao shook his aching wrist. “If I didn’t call, how would I know you were here too?”
Yu Le offered the milk tea to him. “Shall we share this cup then?”
One cup of milk tea with only one straw. Yu Le didn’t mind, and he didn’t mind, but someone else did.
“No, no, no. A gentleman doesn’t snatch someone’s milk tea.” Wen Yuan dashed out the door, “I’ll go make my own. I have a box of boba pearls at home!”
He ended up not watching where he was going and bumped into someone head-on.
Wen Yuan was hit on the nose and let out a cry, almost in tears.
The boy he bumped into was also in pain but more concerned about his safety. He clutched his forehead and continued running inside while shouting, “Brother Lu, save me! My mom is going to kill me!!!”
Yu Le chewed on a piece of coconut jelly, watching the boy hide behind Lu Yao, while Aunt Long chased after him with a feather duster, clearly furious.
Oh.
Looks like he knows who this young hero was.
Zhao Xiaosong, with a lollipop in his mouth, leaned against the doorframe and watched the commotion with a grin. Yu Le found it amusing. Lu Yao seemed to be the guardian deity of the town’s children, with everyone flocking to him whenever they got into trouble.
“You little rascal, come out! I need to give you a good thrashing today! Who do you think you are, running away from home like that? You think you’re tough now? It’s time to set you straight!”
“I’m not tough! Mom! I’m still a kid, and my wings don’t need straightening!” Long Fei pulled on Lu Yao’s sleeve, his face full of anguish.
“Brother Lu, stop Aunt Long, or I’ll only live to be eighteen. I haven’t even received my police academy admission letter yet!”
“Don’t talk to me about admission letters!” Aunt Long smacked the door frame, startling Yu Le. “You secretly changed your major! Do you want to die?!”
Long Fei was stubborn about his choice of major, “I’m not going to a normal university! I want to be a police officer! I want to be a police officer!”
Aunt Long: “Be a police officer? With your white-cut-chicken appearance, you’ll just drag your comrades down if you’re not up to it!”
Long Fei shouted: “I’m not a white-cut-chicken! Besides, I haven’t even trained yet. Once I’m stronger, I’ll be able to help the weak and remove evil!”
Aunt Long: “Remove evil? I’m going to remove you first!”
Aunt Long raised the feather duster and charged at them. Yu Le quickly moved out of the way, while Long Fei ran around Lu Yao, crying out.
Lu Yao was caught between a sense of helplessness and frustration as he tried to stop Aunt Long from saying anything further. Just then, Uncle An rushed in urgently, “Little Lu! Little Lu! There’s a fire in the Bottle Water Forest!”
