I Bacame the Mother of His Child-Chapter 87 - 86: Courting Death Lu Xiangxiang

Sichuan Pavilion’s success did not come easily, but aside from an initial lack of experience that led to some collisions, Xiuxiu soon found that many things went quite smoothly. After sorting out the restaurant’s revenue, she instructed the team to gather feedback from regular customers, which led to her idea of opening a vegetarian restaurant after the New Year celebrations, providing a serene place for guests to chat, handle affairs, and enjoy light, suitable dishes for all ages.

Still, Xiuxiu hesitated. The era was indeed quickly progressing, but she lacked confidence in whether the larger public would accept a vegetarian restaurant, especially one that was as upscale as she envisioned. She feared losing her investment, after all, it was the 1980s...

Regardless, for the time being, the vegetarian restaurant was solely Xiuxiu’s own idea. The specifics would wait until the year had passed, and she could invest her focus into it after resolutely leaving Song Chengguang at the military nursery.

...

Compared to Xiuxiu’s buzz of activity at Sichuan Pavilion, the usually strict military base was especially lively on New Year’s Day. The New Year’s Day performance was spectacular, particularly after the Cultural Troupe’s group dance brought the atmosphere to a climax. A sea of soldiers clapped their hands with such enthusiasm, nearly breaking them in their fervor.

Song Yuanhuan, now part of the military’s junior higher-ups, watched the lively soldiers whip up a frenzy and naturally joined in the excitement from his seat.

As a member of the Cultural Troupe and with robust support from her background, Lu Xiangxiang was naturally present at such events. As the lead dancer of the troupe, she basked in the cheers from the men below and proudly set her sights on Yuanhuan.

Knowing that her grandfather had taken a liking to promoting Yuanhuan and that despite her mother’s interventions, his promotion had not been stopped, he managed to rise from Major to Lieutenant Colonel, assuming a deputy regimental position. Watching this, Xiangxiang felt both enraged yet proud—enraged at his cold indifference, proud that the man she fancied was truly exceptional.

Truthfully speaking, most women have a desire to conquer to some degree— it’s just a matter of intensity. Xiangxiang had always had an overwhelming desire to conquer, and her feelings for Yuanhuan had now evolved. She didn’t just want to conquer him; she wanted to possess him.

"Yuanhuan," right after her performance, Xiangxiang came down from the stage and approached Yuanhuan, "Did you like my dance?" Holding her long braid, her eyes were filled with anticipation and timidity as she looked at him.

He had once complimented her dance, implying he did find something appreciable about her. For that reason, she had danced with all her might, hoping to receive his praise once more.

The moment Yuanhuan noticed Xiangxiang approaching, his brows furrowed as if instinctively standing up to avoid the plague. Disinterested in her odd question, he didn’t even feel like responding. He grabbed his military cap from the table, placed it on, and turned to leave.

"Song Yuanhuan, don’t be like this! Don’t always be so cruel to me!" Seeing Yuanhuan ignore her, Xiangxiang’s eyes reddened as she reached out to block his path, "I just want to know your thoughts on my performance. Do you need to be so cold and heartless towards me? Is it that she, Xu Xiuxiu, won’t even allow us to exchange a few words?" Xiangxiang said with a tone of grievance, tugging at Yuanhuan’s sleeve.

"Let go," Yuanhuan demanded coldly, glancing at Xiangxiang’s hand.

Lu Xiangxiang’s hand gripping Song Yuanhuan’s hem trembled, but in the next moment, she still stubbornly clutched it tightly, tears welling up in her eyes as she choked up facing Song Yuanhuan, as if he had abandoned her, "All I did was like you, can’t you be a little nicer to me? Don’t I even have the right to like you?" Lu Xiangxiang indulged in her own melodrama, completely ignoring Song Yuanhuan’s face which couldn’t get any darker.

"Right? Your rights, Lu Xiangxiang, are so expansive they reach the heavens; who dares say you have no rights. But please, don’t talk to me about rights, a married man. Indeed, you do not have the right to like me." Song Yuanhuan was in no mood to entertain Lu Xiangxiang’s assertions.

Slap!

Song Yuanhuan’s sharp gaze shifted away from Lu Xiangxiang’s face as he raised his hand and directly swatted Lu Xiangxiang’s hand away, "Doesn’t your Cultural Troupe have anyone else besides you? You dare to take the stage and lead with such an unsightly dance?" Song Yuanhuan sneered coldly, mocking Lu Xiangxiang as if she got to lead the dance only because of her backstage connections.

Unsightly? Did Song Yuanhuan actually say she danced unsightly? How could that be? The tears that had pooled in Lu Xiangxiang’s eyes fell like raindrops on pear blossoms.

"You’re talking nonsense! How could I possibly dance unsightly? You clearly said before that I danced well." Lu Xiangxiang, wiping her tears, accused Song Yuanhuan of being hurtful, her expression unable to hide her disappointment and sadness.

I said you danced well? He hadn’t even praised the Cultural Troupe’s performances, let alone hers. No, wait, there seemed to be that one time, when Old Sir Zhou asked him, and he unwillingly made some insincere polite remarks. Could it be that Lu Xiangxiang took those words to heart?

Song Yuanhuan thought and immediately felt a vein throbbing on his forehead, "Lu Xiangxiang, you take polite remarks seriously? I merely said you danced well because Old Sir Zhou put me on the spot. Don’t flatter yourself." Song Yuanhuan, in fact, was the kind of man women both loved and hated. He was clear-cut in his dealings with women: he would treat the one he loved very well, elevating her to the skies. But to the women he didn’t love, he could be cruel, so cruel you’d regret falling for him, maybe even coming to hate him because of that love.

Praise her just because of her grandfather? Out of obligation? Mere polite words? Hah!

Listening to Song Yuanhuan’s words, Lu Xiangxiang seemed to understand each one, but piecing them together proved a challenge to her wit. She firmly believed that Song Yuanhuan was criticizing her only because he had no other choice and it must have been something Xu Xiuxiu said that made him act like this.

Damn that woman, she dared to badmouth her to Song Yuanhuan, she dared! Lu Xiangxiang fumed, in this moment she simply wanted to strangle Xu Xiuxiu, to put an end to her.

"Yuanhuan, please don’t believe what Xu Xiuxiu says, okay? I don’t blame you for hitting me that day, really. But please, don’t believe that bitch Xu Xiuxiu. That day I was truly well-intentioned when I..." Lu Xiangxiang, disregarding the people around, shamelessly attempted to reach for Song Yuanhuan’s hand again.

Slap!

Song Yuanhuan, with a darkened face, swiftly dodged Lu Xiangxiang’s hand and delivered her a slap, "Lu Xiangxiang, I do not want to hear another filthy word about my loved one coming from your mouth." The bloodthirsty air of a man who had been on the battlefield, if lost control, could merely with a glance subdue Lu Xiangxiang, let alone with Song Yuanhuan handing out an unreserved slap to Lu Xiangxiang, and that too in front of everyone at the New Year’s Day performance.