Chapter 5: Being a Brother Instead of a Husband?

Jiang Tang rubbed her eyes and crawled out from under the bed.

Lu Changzheng let out a sigh of relief and set down the iron bed frame.

Jiang Tang turned her head at the sound, not yet understanding what was going on.

Because she hadn't been sleeping still, her clothes were wrinkled and had hiked up quite a bit.

The neckline had fallen open, revealing collarbones whiter than her face, and a strip of skin at her waist that was dazzlingly fair and tender, not to mention her ankles and wrists...

Her loose, black hair hung down, creating a sharp contrast with her cold, pale skin.

Lu Changzheng suddenly felt his throat go dry, a sensation of blood rushing in reverse.

He turned his face away, no longer looking at her.

"Are you going to wash up first?"

"Hm?"

Jiang Tang’s entire focus was on the food. As soon as she spoke, she reached out to grab the meat bun, but the moment her fingertips touched the oil-paper wrapping, she remembered something.

She hadn't washed her face yet.

Without caring about Lu Changzheng’s reaction, she walked barefoot toward the washroom attached to the room.

Having seen quite a bit while following Lu Changzheng yesterday, she had gained some experience in being human.

Although she didn't have many things, she now possessed common sense.

The little ginseng spirit was learning how to be human; she was no longer completely in the dark, unable to tell north from south.

The sound of water soon came from the washroom.

Lu Changzheng waited outside for Jiang Tang, wondering if she intended to go back to sleep.

His gaze fell on the quilt that had been carelessly dropped to the side. His brows furrowed imperceptibly, and out of habit, he stepped forward to fold the quilt into a neat square.

The bedsheets, wrinkled from sleep, were also smoothed out by him until not a single crease remained.

Footsteps came from the washroom.

Lu Changzheng turned around, and upon seeing Jiang Tang, his wheat-colored face turned red in an instant.

"Comrade Jiang Tang, is the faucet in the washroom broken?"

Otherwise, why was the front of her clothes completely soaked?

The shirt she was wearing was already old and thin; now that a large patch was wet, it could no longer hide the curves of her body.

Thin as she was, her feminine features were still quite prominent.

Lu Changzheng not only turned his face away but turned his entire body to face away from her.

"Com… Comrade Jiang… you should first… first… change into… change into another set of clothes…"

Jiang Tang let out a soft "mm," looking somewhat bewildered.

She didn't know why she needed to change clothes.

But Lu Changzheng was a good person, and she listened to what he said.

"Okay."

She opened the luggage the original owner had brought. Inside were two more sets of clothes; according to her memories, these had been made for her by Auntie Xu—that is, Lu Changzheng’s mother.

Jiang Tang liked pretty clothes.

She liked everything that belonged to humans.

She pulled out a floral dress to change into, clumsily putting it on and braiding her hair.

Lu Changzheng handed her the meat bun.

As usual, Jiang Tang shared a portion with Lu Changzheng before eating her own.

She sat on the bed, while Lu Changzheng sat at the low table.

Jiang Tang was extremely serious when she ate, her attitude quite devout.

She held the meat bun in one hand to take bites, while keeping her other hand underneath to catch any crumbs.

She took small bites, her cheeks puffed out like a little squirrel.

Watching her eat, it felt as if all food must be delicious.

Lu Changzheng finished his meat bun in a few bites. He still had to go to the camp, and it was almost time.

"Come out with me; I’ll take you somewhere."

"Where are we going?"

Jiang Tang looked at him, puzzled.

After not seeing her for a night, she seemed to have become even more supple, her complexion much better than when she had woken up yesterday.

Lu Changzheng said, "To see where you’ll be living next."

"Where I’ll be living next?" Jiang Tang repeated his words, and she quickly realized what he meant. "Lu Changzheng, did you find someone willing to marry me?"

Jiang Tang’s eyes brightened with immense anticipation. "Where is he? Does he hit people? Will he give me food?"

Lu Changzheng’s footsteps faltered, the air pressure around him dropping. "You want to get married that much?"

"If I don't get married, I won't have food to eat. I don't want to go hungry."

Jiang Tang pouted, looking utterly dejected.

The words on the tip of Lu Changzheng’s tongue shifted several times before he finally sighed softly. "I won't let you go hungry."

"Then will you marry me? When will we have fat babies?"

She was interested again.

Lu Changzheng’s mouth twitched. He looked at her, telling her earnestly and intently, "Comrade Jiang Tang, it doesn't necessarily have to be marriage for someone to support you and give you food."

"Hm?"

Jiang Tang blinked, indicating she didn't understand.

Lu Changzheng looked into those clear eyes and, for some reason, said, "For example, if you were my younger sister and I were your older brother, I would give you food and take care of you. Do you understand?"

He had no interest in romance, but he could acknowledge her as a sister…

"No."

Before the thought had even fully settled in Lu Changzheng’s mind, Jiang Tang rejected it without hesitation.

The smile that had been on her face vanished, replaced by an even deeper unhappiness.

"I don't want a brother."

"Brothers get sisters-in-law, and then they don't give you food. The sister-in-law is very fierce; she hits and scolds."

"If there’s a sister-in-law, there’s no home, and no food to eat."

She was recalling the original owner's experiences.

But because the original owner had been oppressed so severely, her personality was extremely introverted, and her memories of that sister-in-law, Wang Chunhua, were all gray.

Jiang Tang couldn't dredge up anything useful.

However, she understood one thing: once a brother had a sister-in-law, he would become a terrifying person. She didn't want a brother.

Her voice wasn't loud, but it struck Lu Changzheng’s ears like a thunderclap.

He lowered his eyes to look at her.

Her expression was calm; at first glance, it gave the impression of someone cold-hearted and indifferent to everything.

This didn't match her face at all.

Was it because she had suffered so much abuse that her mind had been beaten into a stupor?

Lu Changzheng suddenly felt a sharp pain in his chest, as if someone were stabbing a thin needle in, pulling it out, and stabbing it in again…

"Jiang Tang…"

"Lu Changzheng, there are so many people over there. What are they all going to do?"

Jiang Tang had already recovered from her low spirits and was looking around with great excitement.

The way she looked at her surroundings was like an elder who had lived too long and seen it all, yet also like a newborn stepping into the world for the first time.

Lu Changzheng pulled back his thoughts to answer her question.

"It’s market day today. They are going to the market."

"Market day?"

Jiang Tang searched the memories she had seen last night in her mind, finding only a few remnants in a small corner.

Those fragments weren't clear, but in the gray, dusty memories, they were the only things that carried a hint of color.

A market was a place where everyone went; that place had food, had fun things, and was very lively…

Lu Changzheng had been watching her expression, and seeing this, he said softly, "Do you want to go to the market?"

Jiang Tang nodded.

"I went more than ten years ago."

She was referring to this body.

Now that she was Jiang Tang, the things this body had done in the past counted as things she had done.

After she finished, she added, "I haven't been since then."

"I can't really remember what it was like anymore."