The Spoiled Young Lady Who Married a Military Officer-Chapter 125 - 123: Mrs. Lu Gifts the Family Heirloom
Su Tang watched Lu Xiao jog away, then turned and headed home.
She had taken the past two days off from the hospital specifically to get to the bottom of this matter.
As soon as she got home, Mrs. Lu rushed over to greet her. Seeing her mother-in-law’s hesitant expression, Su Tang placed a hand on her shoulder to steady her.
"They found him. Lu Xiao is fine. Mom, you can relax now."
Hearing this, Mrs. Lu finally let out a sigh of relief.
If Su Tang said so, then everything must be all right.
"I’m so sorry, Tangtang. I misunderstood you so badly before, yet you aren’t holding it against me. It’s all my fault."
Hearing her say this, Su Tang shook her head. "Mom, if you talk like that, you’re making things too formal between us."
Su Tang took Mrs. Lu’s arm and guided her inside.
"I know your anxiety just got the better of you. After all, all sorts of rumors were flying around the family compound. It was natural for you to be concerned."
"But we’re a family. From now on, when we face problems, we need to be united. I don’t care what other people say, but I hope our parents can trust me. Right?"
When Mrs. Lu had said those things to Su Tang earlier, Su Tang had indeed been a little upset.
She felt that after being with Lu Xiao for so long, and now with a child on the way, for his mother to say such things was a blatant show of distrust.
But on second thought, Mrs. Lu’s worries were understandable.
Because her situation was more or less exactly as the gossips in the family compound had described.
Worrying clouds one’s judgment. She didn’t blame Mrs. Lu.
Mrs. Lu’s eyes grew warm, and she turned and squeezed Su Tang’s hand.
"You child, how can you be so understanding... It was me, I was confused, letting all that gossip get to my head."
"Your father told me later, too. He said he trusted you because he could see the love for Lu Xiao in your eyes. It was all my fault."
Seeing Su Tang act this way only made Mrs. Lu’s guilt deepen.
Su Tang smiled and waved her hand dismissively, following Mrs. Lu to the kitchen.
When she saw her mother-in-law make a cup of brown sugar water and hand it to her, she said, "Thank you."
"Quick, drink this bowl of sugar water while it’s hot to warm yourself up. You must not have slept well these past two days looking for Lu Xiao."
Su Tang took the bowl and looked up to see Mrs. Lu staring at her, her eyes overflowing with affection and concern. "Look at you, you’re pregnant, how can you not take care of yourself? If anything were to happen to the baby, this old woman..."
"Mom, there you go again, saying such serious things."
Su Tang interrupted her with a smile, scooping up a spoonful of the sweet water and blowing on it to cool it down.
"It’s just an embryo right now."
’This little thing is barely a speck; what could it possibly understand?’
’Only the elders in the family would treat it like a precious treasure.’
Her words indeed made Mrs. Lu laugh. She reached out and gently stroked Su Tang’s belly. "Don’t you say such nonsense. The baby can understand everything."
After laughing, her expression turned serious again. She glanced toward the door before lowering her voice. "Actually, I was tossing and turning all last night, unable to sleep. The more I thought about it, the more scared I got. Those people said your family background wasn’t good, that you... wanted to bail now that Lu Xiao was in trouble. At the time, I actually..."
She stopped abruptly and slapped herself lightly on the face.
"Pah, pah, pah, it’s all this wretched mouth of mine! What kind of person our Tangtang is, don’t I know perfectly well?"
If it weren’t for Su Tang’s status, how could their Lu Xiao have ever married her?
Professor Su’s family had shown them kindness as immense as a mountain; for her to think such things was truly letting them down terribly.
As Su Tang listened, her nose suddenly tingled, and she felt the urge to cry.
She knew Mrs. Lu wasn’t a malicious person, just frightened by the current social climate.
After all, Lu Xiao’s father was almost sent down to the countryside and their family nearly ruined because of a single careless remark years ago.
But things were different now. Policies had relaxed, and many things were slowly changing for the better.
From what she knew, the days to come would only get better and better.
"Mom, that’s all in the past. I understand your concerns, really."
Mrs. Lu’s hands paused, and her eyes grew even redder. "Your devotion to the Lu Family is more genuine than anyone’s."
"Good child. Mom has something for you."
As if suddenly remembering something, she stuffed an object into Su Tang’s pocket.
"Take this."
Su Tang pulled it out and saw that it was a Jade Bracelet.
"You probably don’t know this, but the Lu Family’s ancestors were once prosperous. Later, they fled from famine and lost everything. This was given to me by Lu Xiao’s grandmother. She said it was their family heirloom."
The Jade Bracelet was translucent with a lustrous, watery color—excellent quality. This bracelet was likely worth a fortune.
"The inspections were strict before, so I never dared to take it out. I kept it hidden away. Now, I’m leaving it to you."
Mrs. Lu knew the Su Family wasn’t short on money, and Su Tang probably had plenty of fine things like this.
But this was a token of her heart.
"Mom, this is too valuable."
Su Tang didn’t dare to accept it and tried to give it back to Mrs. Lu.
"Take it. If you don’t, Mom will get angry."
Su Tang looked at the stubbornness in Mrs. Lu’s eyes and knew that refusing further would only make her more uneasy. So, she carefully slid the Jade Bracelet onto her wrist.
The smooth, warm jade rested against her skin. She lifted her hand, turning the bracelet, and smiled. "Then thank you, Mom. This bracelet is beautiful. It’s like it casts a soft glow on my hand."
Seeing that she had accepted it, Mrs. Lu smiled and reached out to gently touch the edge of the Jade Bracelet.
"As long as it looks good on you. This bracelet chooses its owner. When I first married into the family and wore it, it always felt uncomfortable. It only started to feel right after our lives smoothed out. Now I’m passing it to you, hoping you two can also have a smooth and happy life, one that blossoms beautifully."
Just as she was speaking, the kitchen door was pushed open gently. Mr. Lu saw the two of them huddled together looking at the bracelet and teased with a smile, "So you’ve brought out the family heirloom? I was wondering what you were rummaging through all the drawers for yesterday."
Mrs. Lu shot him a playful glare. "You talk too much."
After saying this, Mrs. Lu told Mr. Lu and Su Tang to go out first.
The two of them walked into the living room, just in time to see Mr. and Mrs. Su returning from the county town.
They had planned to go to the county town to buy some things and see if they could pull some strings.
But as soon as they walked in, Su Tang told them that the situation with Lu Xiao was under control.
"Huh? Under control?"
Mrs. Su was still a bit stunned and hadn’t quite processed it. Su Tang nodded. "It’s handled, Mom. Don’t worry."
"Lu Xiao has already found the person behind it all. So, most likely, this will all be over in the next day or two."
After saying this, Su Tang also told the elders of both families that this was all part of a plan Lu Xiao had arranged in advance.
In short, the goal was to lure out the person pulling the strings.
"As long as it’s being resolved, that’s what matters. Now we can rest easy."
Mr. Su breathed a sigh of relief.
Both families had only one child. If something happened to either of them, the parents wouldn’t know how to go on.
Lu Xiao didn’t return until evening. The moment he walked in the door, he told Su Tang that the matter had become more complicated than before.
"We have all the evidence, but... Liu Er escaped."
"And what’s more, it’s tied to something even bigger."
Hearing Lu Xiao say this, Su Tang frowned. "What is it?"
"Do you remember what Chang Jia and I were doing when you first moved to the family compound?"
"You were busting a cargo theft ring."
