Chapter 157: A Beauty Under the Lamplight

Chapter 157: Chapter 157: A Beauty Under the Lamplight

"Alright, let me see what goodies Lu Cheng and Moli sent you all."

Hearing Lu Deyao’s words, Jiang Dahai quickly bent down to untie the burlap sack, saying, "There’s tea, dried fruit, embroidery, and medicinal herbs..."

While Jiang Dahai was bent over untying the sack, An Hui gave Lu Deyao a hard smack on the back, her eyes filled with a warning.

Lu Deyao rubbed the spot where she’d hit him and gave her an appeasing smile. ’Just let me see.’

Ma Hongmei came out with a dish of food, and seeing the three of them gathered around the burlap sack, she set the dish down and came over to see what was going on.

Lu Deyao pulled the items out of the sack one by one. "This is Pu’er tea, this is white tea, and here’s dried banana, dried jackfruit, coconut candy..."

After looking through everything in the sack, Lu Deyao stood up and said to An Hui,

"It’s the same as the one we received. Lu Cheng has treated everyone fairly."

An Hui shot him a glare, then turned to Jiang Dahai to explain, "We’re sorry to have troubled you to make a special trip, Jiang Dahai. Lu Cheng sent us a package just like this, too."

Jiang Dahai reacted quickly. "Oh, that’s alright. Your family has many relatives and friends, so it’s good to have some extra for gifts."

With that, he started to head out. "I’ll be on my way, then."

Lu Deyao grabbed his arm. "No rush. It’s rare for you to visit. Stay for dinner before you go."

"No, no, no, I couldn’t."

"Nonsense! I’ll open a bottle of liquor, and we can have a drink..."

As they were going back and forth, Fan Wenfang arrived.

Her face was pale, and she looked ready to collapse, as if she’d had a terrible fright.

An Hui steadied her. "What’s wrong? What happened?"

"Mom..."

Fan Wenfang’s eyes were red-rimmed, her voice choked with sobs. "Something’s happened to Tingting! She’s been kidnapped by traffickers!"

Everyone in the room was stunned.

Ten minutes earlier, Fan Wenfang had received a telegram from Menghai.

The telegram read: "Mom, save me. I’ve been kidnapped by traffickers."

Fan Wenfang handed the telegram to Lu Deyao and An Hui, wiping her tears. "If we can’t save Tingting, I don’t want to live anymore..."

An Hui, also thrown into a panic by the telegram’s contents, heard Fan Wenfang’s words and reacted instinctively.

"What are you panicking for? If something had really happened to Tingting, Lu Cheng would have called by now!"

"I’ll call Lu Cheng and ask!"

Lu Deyao immediately picked up the phone on the coffee table.

Jiang Dahai walked over to An Hui to read the telegram, his heart pounding with anxiety.

’His grandniece had gone to Menghai with his daughter. If something really happened to her, could his own daughter be in trouble too?’

The call connected quickly, but Lu Cheng wasn’t at the camp. They could only wait for the soldier on duty to find him.

Fan Wenfang was crying inconsolably, her eyes swollen and red.

Ma Hongmei brought her a towel. "Don’t be so anxious yet. We’ll ask Xiao Cheng what happened in a moment..."

"How can I not be anxious! Traffickers are ruthless, vicious people without a shred of humanity! What good could possibly come from Tingting falling into their hands?!"

As she cried out, she shot a hateful glare at Jiang Dahai.

She was clearly blaming the Jiang family for what had happened to her daughter.

’If it weren’t for that troublemaker Jiang Moli, her daughter would never have gone to that godforsaken place, Menghai.’

...

After dinner, Lu Cheng returned to the camp. Just as he entered the main gate, he ran into Zhang Jia Ming.

"Camp Commander Lu."

Lu Cheng looked at him. "Is something wrong?"

Zhang Jia Ming glanced around, and seeing that no one was nearby, he briefly recounted how Lu Tingting and Jiang Qing had gotten into a fight in the dormitory that afternoon.

"...Camp Commander Lu, could you please talk to Teacher Lu and ask her to stop bullying Xiao Qing all the time?"

That evening, Jiang Qing had come to the camp entrance to pick up a lunchbox.

Zhang Jia Ming had seen the injuries on her face and body and was furious when he learned that Lu Tingting was the one who’d hurt her.

It was one thing for her to constantly bully his wife, but this time she’d gone too far, leaving her covered in injuries.

Hearing that Lu Tingting had fought with Jiang Qing again that afternoon gave Lu Cheng a headache.

He didn’t like meddling in women’s squabbles, but Lu Tingting was his niece, so he couldn’t just ignore it.

He politely asked about Jiang Qing’s condition, and after learning her injuries weren’t serious, he said,

"Alright, I understand. I’ll speak with Tingting when I have a moment."

He didn’t ask what the fight was about, though.

’He could see it now—Zhang Jia Ming was a pushover who believed whatever his wife told him.’

’He couldn’t trust anything coming from Jiang Qing; he’d have to ask his niece about it himself.’

Just as they were talking, the soldier on duty ran over to tell Lu Cheng he had a phone call.

"Hello, it’s me. What’s up?"

Hearing Lu Cheng’s voice, Lu Deyao exploded with rage. "You son of a bitch, where’s Tingting?"

"Nice one. Tingting’s in her dorm. Why are you looking for her?"

Hearing his granddaughter was safe, Lu Deyao turned and waved to An Hui, Fan Wenfang, and the others, quickly saying, "Tingting’s fine." But then he remembered the crude way he had just cursed, and his anger flared right back up.

’That little bastard!’

"Your sister-in-law got a telegram saying Tingting was taken by traffickers! What the hell is going on?!"

Lu Cheng briefly explained what had happened, all the while wondering who had sent the telegram to his family.

He and Jiang Moli had agreed not to tell their families about this yet.

It wasn’t that they were deliberately hiding it; they just didn’t want to worry their parents and had planned to explain everything after bringing Lu Tingting back home.

Considering that Lu Tingting had been desperate to go home, combined with the telegram’s contents, Lu Cheng couldn’t help but suspect that she had sent it behind his back.

Even though she knew her daughter was safe, Fan Wenfang still gave Lu Cheng an ultimatum over the phone, demanding that he send Lu Tingting home immediately.

After hanging up, Lu Cheng began to consider how he would arrange for his niece to be sent home.

’It would be for the best to send her back,’ he thought. ’That way, she’ll stop causing trouble here.’

Back at the Lu residence, the whole family breathed a sigh of relief knowing that Lu Tingting was safe and sound.

Jiang Dahai declined the Lu family’s invitation to stay for dinner.

’Lu Tingting’s trip to Menghai was related to his daughter, after all.’

’It was a good thing she hadn’t really been kidnapped. Otherwise, how could he ever have made it up to them?’

He returned home with a worried look on his face.

Li Hongying was waiting for him with dinner on the table. Seeing that he had no appetite, she couldn’t help but ask what was wrong.

Jiang Dahai told her about Lu Tingting’s supposed run-in with traffickers.

After hearing the story, Li Hongying felt an even more urgent need to know how her own daughter was doing.

But seeing Jiang Dahai in such low spirits, she didn’t feel it was the right time to suggest calling her son-in-law to ask how he and their daughter were doing.

...

After training ended, it was already quite late, so Lu Cheng didn’t go looking for Lu Tingting. Instead, he returned to the guesthouse. He told Jiang Moli about the phone call from his family and also mentioned that Zhang Jia Ming had complained to him about Lu Tingting bullying Jiang Qing.

"Tomorrow, I’ll ask the regiment if there are any units heading back to Rongcheng in the next couple of days. We’ll have Tingting go back with them. It’ll keep her from causing trouble here."

Jiang Moli had no objections, but she was curious about who had sent the telegram.

’Given how infatuated Lu Tingting is with Shen Yanzhi, she probably doesn’t want to go back just yet.’

With that in mind, she said to Lu Cheng, "You don’t need to bring back dinner tomorrow night."

Meeting Lu Cheng’s confused gaze, she smiled. "Principal Feng invited us to dinner."

Lu Cheng grew even more curious. "Why is Principal Feng treating us to dinner?"

"Who cares? If there’s free food, just eat. Turn off the light. Time for bed."

Jiang Moli lay down and closed her eyes.

Lu Cheng sat up to turn off the light, his dark eyes falling on her delicate, jade-like face and her beautiful neck.

A beauty under the lamplight only grows more captivating the longer one looks.

And when it came to matters between men and women, Lu Cheng was never one to deny himself.

Amidst the creaking of the bed, Jiaojiao crawled out from underneath, tilted its furry head back, and barked at the two intertwined figures on top. WOOF! WOOF!

’What are you two doing so late at night?’

"Scram."

"WOOF! WOOF!"

With the mood ruined by the dog, the two of them had no choice but to finish up quickly.