Paranoid Doctor Only Loves Me
Chapter 530 - 493 Standing up for my wife (1 more)

Chapter 530: 493 Standing up for my wife (1 more)

Tang Su was still somewhat worried. With some of the younger generations of Lu Han’s family receiving red envelopes and others not, she feared being accused of favoritism.

However, Bai Wei seemed to sense her concern and comforted her with a smile, "According to the Lu Family’s customs, once someone has come of age and started earning an income, they should no longer ask the elders for New Year’s money. Instead, it’s their turn to show filial respect by giving to the elders."

Tang Su nodded, thinking that this tradition of the Lu Family was indeed admirable.

In some places, even after reaching adulthood, people would use the excuse of being unmarried to shamelessly ask for money from their elders, a practice Tang Su felt was undesirable.

The first year of marriage was an exception.

Just like she and Lu Han who could still comfortably accept red packets from their elders this year, the next year it would be their turn to give red envelopes to their elders.

Lu Han had quite a few younger family members.

It was probably because they were born in a different era from Lu Jiayou and his peers, who still believed in the notion ’the more children, the more blessings.’

Lu Jiayou and his wife Hu Haiqin had three children together: the eldest son Lu Yaozu, the second son Lu Siyuan, and the youngest daughter, Lu Jingqi.

Lu Mingzhe and Lin Xian also had three children; however, Lin Xian only gave birth twice, the first time to twins, Lu Junhui and Lu Zeyu, followed by their youngest daughter Lu Yingyue.

Lu Qingtang and her husband Qin Mufan had a son and a daughter: the eldest, Qin Baizhou, and the youngest, Qin Wanwan.

Lu Yaozu was the oldest, already 32 years old this year.

Yet, he still had to call Tang Su, who just turned 25 after the New Year, ’Little Auntie.’

There was no helping it; it was simply a matter of familial hierarchy.

Even though they were from roughly the same generation, even Lu Yaozu, the oldest among them, had not married and remained a bachelor.

To put it nicely, it was because he was busy with his career.

In contrast, the twins born to Bai Wei had married before them.

It’s just that, although Lu Zhu had been married for several years, he hadn’t wanted children either.

So, despite Lu Maoyan’s age, he could have been enjoying the happiness of four generations living together. Yet until now, no child had called him ’great-grandfather’ or anything similar.

Even if the fourth generation from his elder brother’s lineage were to be born, it would be nice.

Therefore, at the Lu Family gatherings, Lu Maoyan had only one request for Lu Yaozu: to get married and have children quickly.

Skipping a generation, Lu Maoyan naturally did not directly order Lu Yaozu around but instead called the couples Lu Jiayou and his wife, Lu Mingzhe and his wife, and Lu Qingtang and her husband to the study to have a detailed talk.

Sure enough, after getting acquainted with Tang Su and completing the necessary formalities, before dinner, Lu Maoyan called the six of them to the study room again.

Once Lu Han had put away the red envelopes in their room, he immediately came back down. Then, under the invitation of Lu Zhu, she and Tang Su joined a few younger members in the adjacent small living room for a chat.

Qin Wanwan had met Tang Su before, so she sat close to her and chatted.

She took a liking to Tang Su. Moreover, being the youngest, she was most accustomed to calling Lu Han ’Little Uncle’ and felt no awkwardness in calling Tang Su ’Little Auntie.’

The others, after offering a greeting, preferred not to join a group of older relatives of the same age.

"Do you want to play cards? I’ll play with you guys and accompany your Little Auntie," Lu Zhu suggested as she nudged the silent Lu Yaozu with her foot.

"You guys play; I’m going out to make a call," Lu Yaozu, ever busy, declined his aunt and left the small living room with his phone.

"Still with that deadpan look, no wonder he can’t find a girlfriend," Lu Zhu commented unreservedly.

The other Lu siblings didn’t speak up for Lu Yaozu. When it came to the elders’ teasing, staying silent was the appropriate response.

Otherwise, they’d end up with the bad reputation of being disrespectful.

The Lu Family members all cherish their own reputations, and, no matter what, their lives today are all due to the efforts of Lu Maoyan, so from a young age, they had been taught to be grateful.

As for their grandfather Lu Maoyan, the fact that he didn’t like their biological grandmother but favored the young and beautiful Bai Wei was not something the younger generations could easily comment on.

Indeed, the relationships within the Lu Family were complex, and the brothers and sisters weren’t eager to have children early, to spare their own offspring from having to call someone younger than themselves an elder.

The grandfather didn’t find it awkward, but they certainly did.

So, let the unique awkwardness of the Lu Family end with their generation.

After all, they were descendants of the less favored branch of the family; they didn’t need to expand the family line.

Living well in their own little worlds was enough.

It was also a kindness to their children.

"Auntie, is there a possibility that big brother simply doesn’t want to look for someone? He has a long-term stable partner, but he just doesn’t want to bring her home," Lu Jingqi said to Lu Zhu, but her gaze was fixed on Tang Su.

She didn’t particularly like Tang Su or, to be precise, she didn’t like Bai Wei, which extended to her dislike of the siblings Lu Zhu and Lu Han.

Naturally, she didn’t care for the woman Lu Han married either.

"Really? Are there still women these days who so self-destructively sacrifice themselves? What about you? Who do you plan to be a long-term stable partner for without intending to marry?" Lu Zhu asked as she prepared tea and pastries for them, raising an eyebrow in return.

Among these younger members of the Lu Family, the men were alright but not the two women, Lu Jingqi and Lu Yingyue. Lu Zhu couldn’t understand why these two, bearing the Lu surname, were always so hostile towards the Lu Family.

They were extremely disrespectful to her, their aunt.

The unfriendly rumors about her mother that floated around Beijing, she had always suspected were spread by the sisters Lu Jingqi and Lu Yingyue.

But, her mother had told her not to fuss over it.

And not to investigate.

Sometimes, she felt her mother was being too forbearing, yet when she learned how Lu Junhui, her elder uncle who had passed away, had once saved her father’s life, and because of the life-saving grace and the blood ties, she could understand why her mother tolerated so much.

"Not at all, I also plan to marry. It’s just, aunt, you’ve been married for so long without having children, contradicting Lu Family traditions. The Lu Family’s ancestral teachings have always emphasized hierarchy by age and birth order. You haven’t had children, so we don’t dare to either," Lu Jingqi replied.

"The men marrying me and Yingyue are doing so to continue the family line. If we get married and also hesitate to have children, are we expected to just be venerated like ancestors? We wouldn’t dare," Lu Jingqi added with a shameless air as she exchanged a glance with Lu Yingyue, malice plain in their eyes.

Though they didn’t know why Lu Zhu hadn’t had children after so many years of marriage, and they didn’t care, they knew how to use this fact to render Lu Maoyan ineligible to pressure them into marrying and bearing children.

If he couldn’t even manage his own daughter, what right did he have to manage them?

Right?

Lu Zhu, just about to lose her temper, was serving them graciously only for them to speak these insidious comments?

Song Mingxiu, who was nearby, promptly took hold of his wife’s arm, stepping in on her behalf.

"You two are really overthinking things. Your aunt’s children will bear the surname Bai, hardly ever interacting with your children. The surname of your children might not even be known, so they would not be considered children of the Lu Family and needn’t be bound by its strict rules. Don’t you think?"

"Unless, the two of you are planning to have a man marry into your family?"

"..."