Rebirth Counterattack with Space

"Today, Xiaoyun and I are going to stroll around the mall and buy a ring,"

Shitou hesitated for a moment before speaking to Lu Aiguo and Xia Yuan, deliberately omitting any titles. For the time being, even with his thick skin, he didn’t know how to address the two.

The jewelry obtained years ago in Haicheng’s underground chamber, including Shitou’s share, was all in Lu Yun’s possession. She had no lack of gold and gemstone jewelry, but an engagement ring was different from the rest; it was better to buy a new one.

"Go ahead," Xia Yuan said with a smile.

"Don’t bother coming back for dinner either. My wife and I also want to enjoy some alone time," Lu Aiguo said, looking at Xia Yuan affectionately with anticipation. "Wife, how about we go see a movie and then have western food for dinner? It’s been a long time since we went out alone."

"What about our son?" Xia Yuan was a bit tempted.

"Tell him to hang out at Xu Liang’s place for the day, and that’ll settle it," Lu Aiguo said with a warning glance at Lu Jinsheng, his expression one of ’he’d better agree or else.’

Oh, so I’m just the adopted one, right?

Lu Jinsheng resigned himself to nodding, "I’ll go out and play with Xu Jin and Xu Shen. I’ve been craving some roast duck."

Xu Jin and Xu Shen were Xu Liang’s two children. Xu Jin was thirteen years old, and Xu Shen was eight. They usually had their meals at the Lu Family during weekdays, and only came to their own home on weekends when Xu Liang and his wife were both off work.

They got along quite well with Lu Jinsheng as playmates.

"Be careful with the traffic on the road, and take some money; save the rest for next time if you have any extra," Xia Yuan handed Lu Jinsheng five hundred yuan directly. Her son was not one to squander money, so she felt at ease giving him more.

"There’s no need to give me money; I still have some left from last time, the time before that, and the time before that as well," Lu Jinsheng refused to accept it.

"Just take it if it’s given to you," Xia Yuan said with a smile. "You won’t have such good luck when you turn eighteen. By then, beyond receiving New Year’s money, if you want to spend, you’ll have to earn it yourself. Your father, your sister, and your brother-in-law won’t give you any more for free."

This was a new rule established in their household: boys who turned eighteen must earn their own money if they wanted to spend, even if it meant working in their own company from the bottom up under an alias.

Girls didn’t have to go through such hardship. After turning eighteen, they would still get plenty of pocket money, but the way they spent it wasn’t going to be completely unmonitored and unregulated.

Shitou and Lu Yun walked side by side on the street. Today they didn’t drive; Shitou was wearing a couple outfit that matched Lu Yun’s. Hand in hand, they both thoroughly enjoyed the feeling of leisurely strolling through the streets.

Eventually, they decided not to take the bus either and simply walked all the way to Wangfujing.

They entered Wangfujing Department Store and swiftly picked out a pair of the simplest platinum wedding bands before leaving.

In her previous life, Lu Yun didn’t like shopping at malls or department stores. Her seasonal clothing was partly custom-made, partly delivered by specialty stores for her to choose from, and occasionally she would impulsively shop online.

Compared to shopping at department stores, she preferred to wander around Capital City at this time of year, finding the streetscapes even more interesting to look at.

Naturally, Shitou indulged her wishes.

So the two began to aimlessly wander about, ending up on a snack street. As a capital that had served as the seat for four dynasties, Capital City boasted a vast variety of street foods, with a dazzling array to choose from.

Longevity peaches, mini cornbreads, date lotus leaves, silver thread rolls, tongue pastries, crispy salty cakes, toads spitting honey, hard dough bracelets, Ai wo wo, pea cakes, rice jelly, chestnut jelly, donkey rolls, kidney bean cakes, bean juice, tofu pudding, marinated fried tofu, noodle tea, tea soup, boiled sheep’s head, white soup tripe, burst stomach, fried liver...

The list was simply endless.

Having company made the food taste especially delicious. As the two of them strolled along, Lu Yun took a little taste of each snack and didn’t forget to feed the rest to Shitou.

Shitou usually didn’t eat these kinds of snacks, but now, following Lu Yun and munching the food she handed him, he found that these snacks weren’t bad at all.

While eating, they critiqued the snacks and then stealthily packed a few more servings of their favorites whenever no one was looking, planning to take them back and share with Xia Yuan, Lu Aiguo, and Lu Jinsheng.

In the end, after a complete round, eating these snacks was enough to fill their stomachs.

--

At a large courtyard in Capital City, the Pei Family home.

Morning.

It was a rare occasion that all five members of the Pei Family were seated together for breakfast, creating a casual and relaxed atmosphere at the table.

At the head of the table sat the Pei Family’s patriarch and the head of the Pei clan, Pei Qingyuan, who was seventy years old this year.

The Pei Family was already a nationally renowned wealthy family before the founding of the nation. Many wealthy families chose to flee the country during the war. However, Pei Qingyuan decided to stay.

He had even taken the initiative to donate his entire fortune early on to support the war effort. As a result, because the Pei Family had been propertyless since three years before the liberation, they were naturally classified as poor peasants after the nation’s founding--

Next to him sat his wife, Zhang Min, who was the same age as him. The two had been teenage sweethearts and had shared a journey full of both sweetness and hardship, fostering a great relationship.

Sitting next to them was a middle-aged man, their son Pei Shaohua. Pei Shaohua worked in politics and at only forty-five years of age, had not remarried since his wife passed away five years ago.

Following was the third generation of the Pei Family, Pei Kun and his wife, Ding Luoluo, who had been married for less than a year.

"Today’s weather is nice, Grandma. How about we go for a walk around Wangfujing?" Ding Luoluo cooed to Zhang Min across the breakfast table.

The Pei Family’s household atmosphere was quite democratic and didn’t adhere to strict rules like not talking during meals, so Ding Luoluo managed to act coyly toward Zhang Min.

"No thanks. If you want to go, just the two of you can enjoy yourselves. Why drag an old lady along? I refuse to be the third wheel." Zhang Min shook her head and declined decisively.

"Please, let’s go. Pei Kun surely has no time to accompany us, he’s busy today. Grandma, let’s go and pick out some suitable clothes and necessities for the baby. I’d be completely clueless on my own," Ding Luoluo said, rubbing her five or six-month pregnant belly with a helpless look at Zhang Min. She knew her grandmother-in-law couldn’t resist this tactic, "Aren’t you going to pay attention to me if I have no one else to join me?"

Sure enough, Zhang Min started to chuckle helplessly, "How can you still act so childish at your age? If you want to go shopping, you should find friends your own age. What fun is it for me, an old lady, to join you?"

"I just enjoy shopping with Grandma, and you know my friends. Those with kids are too busy with their little ones to come out, and those without wouldn’t know what to buy for a child, right?" Ding Luoluo spread her hands, "See, they’re not suitable. So if you don’t accompany me, Grandma, I’d truly be alone. And who says you’re old? When we go out, people might even mistake us for mother and daughter."

"I can’t handle your sweet talk. You wouldn’t happen to have snuck some sugar from the kitchen, would you? Aunt Jin just yesterday was wondering why the sugar was running out so fast," Zhang Min laughed.

Aunt Jin was the family’s nanny.

"Hmph, I did not sneak any. I’m no longer a child that craves sweet drinks," Ding Luoluo snorted, "And even if I wanted some sugar, I could have it openly and rightfully."