NOVEL NEXT Chapter 17: I Want to Find a Wife Too!!
Chapter 17: I Want to Find a Wife Too!!
At six the following morning, Lu Yuan and Su Liyan had already bathed, dressed in their finest clothes, and prepared for their visit home. Lu Yuan wore a crisp light blue work uniform—his standard attire at the Ministry of Industry.
Was this appropriate for meeting one’s mother-in-law? Absolutely!
Workers in this era commanded tremendous respect. They weren’t merely laborers but honored professionals who earned substantial incomes and enjoyed elevated social status. The uniform functioned like an executive jacket in Earth’s Shandong region—a symbol of achievement and stability. Carrying a tool bag would have been equivalent to a businessman’s briefcase; riding a bicycle comparable to driving a Passat.
Unfortunately, Lu Yuan lacked a bicycle—not for financial reasons, but because such items required special purchase tickets beyond mere currency. The compound director owned one only because he’d been recognized as an outstanding craftsman for ten consecutive years, earning this reward from factory leadership. He treated this prized possession with reverence, meticulously cleaning it at the courtyard pool after each workday.
Su Liyan had also dressed beautifully for their return to her parents’ home. She wore the white floral-patterned corset dress purchased days earlier at the department store, paired with white leather shoes. The effect was ethereal—like a fairy descended to earth. Compared to her, Lu Yuan thought, the department store billboard models couldn’t compete.
Her beauty captivated him completely, especially her delicate feet—snow-white with pink soles, slender ankles, and perfect toes. No one else deserved to touch such perfection.
“Brother~ Stop staring~ Let’s go~” Su Liyan urged when she caught him gazing at her feet.
She blushed remembering the previous night when he had kissed and nibbled her toes. Why her husband found this so appealing remained mysterious, but the memory embarrassed her deeply.
Lu Yuan smiled sheepishly as they exited their home. While stretching in the courtyard as Su Liyan locked the door, he spotted a familiar figure approaching in the distance.
“Hey! Come here!” he called out enthusiastically.
The young man was Xu Erlei, another compound resident of Lu Yuan’s generation. Xu Erlei’s family occupied the backyard area; his father worked at the Ministry of Industry while his mother operated a shop. An older brother, Xu Dalei, had perished during a recent famine, making Xu Erlei his parents’ treasured only child.
Xu Erlei approached with visible confusion. Had marriage made Lu Yuan forget his name?
“What brings you out so early?” Lu Yuan asked, hands on hips.
With the factory roll call not beginning until eight, six o’clock seemed unusually ambitious.
Xu Erlei raised his eyebrows irritably. “Getting breakfast outside, what else?”
His family’s wealth allowed such luxuries—foregoing home-cooked meals for expensive treats like fried dough sticks with soy milk. At two cents per stick, such indulgences remained beyond most people’s means.
“I’m taking my wife home today and won’t be at the factory,” Lu Yuan announced. “Please inform the director I’m requesting leave.”
Finding an unexpected messenger delighted him, but Xu Erlei immediately protested: “Go yourself! We don’t even work in the same workshop!”
Lu Yuan’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “So what if we’re in different workshops?” he demanded loudly. “Yours is just steps from mine! We live in the same compound! Can you simply relay a message? Hold your head higher!”
Xu Erlei retreated slightly. Though he hadn’t personally witnessed Lu Yuan’s recent transformation, his mother had described everything—how ten adults couldn’t restrain Lu Yuan when he thrashed Wang Xu and her son, then verbally assaulted the three respected deans. The formerly mild young man had become somewhat terrifying.
“Just this once,” Xu Erlei conceded through gritted teeth before turning to leave.
After two steps, Lu Yuan called out again: “Wait!”
Xu Erlei pivoted back reluctantly. “What now?!”
At that moment, Su Liyan approached having secured their door. Lu Yuan clasped her delicate hand and smiled smugly at Xu Erlei.
“I’m married now, you know? This is my wife—call her sister-in-law!”
Among the compound’s four young men of their generation, Lu Yuan held seniority by half a month over Xu Erlei—sufficient basis to demand respectful address.
Xu Erlei turned toward Su Liyan and froze.
He’d been minding his family’s shop the past two days and hadn’t witnessed recent events firsthand. His mother had mentioned Lu Yuan’s pretty, capable new wife, but Xu Erlei had dismissed these claims. Surely beauty and domestic competence were incompatible—attractive women were invariably delicate, incapable of physical labor. Besides, maternal standards of beauty rarely aligned with youthful preferences.
Now, seeing Su Liyan in person, he stood transfixed.
This wasn’t merely beauty—she was ethereal, like a celestial being descended from heaven. How had someone like this married Lu Yuan?
“Why are you standing there?” Lu Yuan prompted impatiently. “Address her properly!”
Jolted back to awareness, Xu Erlei stammered, “Sister-in-law… Sister-in-law…”
After Lu Yuan formally introduced them, Su Liyan responded with gracious composure. Though rural-born, she came from relative prosperity; her mother had raised her with refined manners, teaching her to maintain dignified openness without excessive shyness.
As Xu Erlei finally departed, his thoughts churned with sour envy.
Damn it! How had Lu Yuan, with his ordinary circumstances, secured such an exceptional wife?
I want to find a wife too!!
He resolved to instruct his mother to contact the matchmaker immediately upon returning home.