Chapter Thirty-Eight: Bad News Travels Far

"Has Lumin been involved in many outrageous things outside?" After Lu Jun finished speaking, An Changpu seized the opportunity to ask.

Lu Jun had been lost in his own thoughts, and when his wife pressed him, he instinctively voiced the words he'd been holding back. Now, confronted by An Changpu’s question, he was momentarily stunned, and only then realized what he'd just revealed. Embarrassment flickered across his face—a regret born of having let slip something he’d meant to keep secret.

But in that moment, not only An Changpu and Qin Ruonan, but even his own wife gazed at him with suspicion and confusion. Lu Jun found it impossible to retreat back into silence.

He still seemed irritated about his inadvertent confession, his face darkening as he sighed deeply. Finally, under his wife’s persistent questioning about why he’d sought out Lumin yet again, he spoke reluctantly: "Honestly, I don’t like talking about this. Just saying it makes me feel ashamed! And I truly didn’t expect that he wouldn’t go ahead with the rest of the surgery last night. In fact, I thought he wanted to reconcile with Ding Mulan. I only went because I’d heard some things—people said that he goes by the name Lu Bing outside, and acts like some kind of social butterfly, dressing flamboyantly every day, entangled with all sorts of people!"

"Do you mean entangled in a… rather ambiguous way?" Qin Ruonan felt Lu Jun was being too vague, but when she tried to press for clarity, she found the words hard to utter.

Hearing Qin Ruonan’s somewhat tactful question, Lu Jun’s sun-darkened cheeks flushed with embarrassment. He cleared his throat and nodded awkwardly, wishing to leave it at that. Yet, what he said, though spoken in resignation, piqued his wife’s curiosity.

"What’s going on? Who is he ambiguous with? A man?!" Lu Jun’s wife reacted as if she’d heard a fantastical tale, her eyes widening. Then she thought of a crucial question, "How did you know?"

"Enough! It’s nothing good, why bother asking so many questions?" Lu Jun snapped, embarrassed to lose his temper in front of two police officers, glaring at his wife with a sour expression.

His wife, caught up in her surprise, forgot that such matters counted as family disgrace. Realizing her husband’s reluctance to say more in front of outsiders—especially police from the bureau—she closed her mouth in regret and glanced uneasily at the other two.

"I think her question is spot on—we were hoping to ask the same thing," An Changpu replied with a gentle smile, maintaining his air of affability. But his words, building on the wife’s question, cornered Lu Jun, depriving him of a way to avoid the subject. Not so kindly, he also earned his wife another glare from her husband.

Seeing no way out, Lu Jun sighed heavily, adopting a resigned tone: "Well, I’ll just lay it all out! Good news never leaves the house, but bad news travels far. The more disgraceful it is, the harder it is to hide! I found all this out because a villager from the neighboring village came to confront me. He said Lumin was pretending to be a woman in their village, swindling money everywhere, making a spectacle of himself. He couldn’t stand it anymore, so he came to me, demanding I discipline my own brother."

"Was this person somehow involved with Lumin? Did he get swindled by Lumin, or was there something ambiguous between them?" Qin Ruonan asked.

Lu Jun shook his head, "I asked him too. He said no, he just couldn’t stand it and felt disgusted, so he came to me for help."

Hearing this, Qin Ruonan’s eyes grew more doubtful. Although Lumin’s behavior—like a ‘drag queen’, dressed ostentatiously and swindling money—would disgust most, the lack of any formal report of fraud suggested that Lumin’s so-called swindling was limited to petty tricks and small sums, not substantial amounts. For someone to be so furious as to seek out Lumin’s brother, it couldn’t simply be about moral outrage—there must be some personal interest at stake.

As for lying to deny it, it was straightforward: any man caught up in ambiguous dealings with another ‘man’ would surely wish to keep it secret from the world.

On the other hand, Lu Jun himself wouldn’t necessarily believe the villager was motivated purely by indignation. From his perspective, he likely didn’t want to know too many details about his younger brother’s disgraceful behavior outside.

"So you went to find Lumin?"

"Yes, I was really angry at the time. For years he’s insisted on surgery to become a woman, making our parents furious for so many years. Then, after they passed, he sold their burial plots to pay for his surgery, stirring up gossip in the village, making our family the subject of endless pointing and whispers. That alone was shameful enough. Because of him, I felt embarrassed not just around Ding Mulan, but with anyone else in the village! And then Lumin actually took his disgrace to the neighboring village, so much so that someone came to our house and demanded I discipline my own brother, right to my face! Honestly, I’ve lived all these years and never felt so humiliated. Tell me, what did I do to deserve this?" Once Lu Jun started, he poured out his grievances.

After venting, he shook his head in regret, his expression pained: "I really didn’t know he wanted to make up with Ding Mulan. I thought he was dead set on not living decently, so I spoke harshly to him—said he was a disgrace, shaming our family line, even our ancestors, and almost got into a fight. If I’d known what was in his heart, I wouldn’t have gotten angry! No matter his attitude, I should have first persuaded him to come home, so he wouldn’t run off again if I pressed him too hard!"

"Did you know the villager from the neighboring village who asked you to discipline Lumin?" An Changpu quietly listened to Lu Jun’s outpouring, then asked.

"I know him, but not well—just enough to know his name. Why? Are you suspecting he’s involved in my brother’s affairs?" Lu Jun was surprised.

"It’s too early to say—we just want to understand the situation thoroughly," An Changpu replied, sidestepping the question.

"His name is Liu Yuxiang, from the neighboring village. There aren’t many Lius over there, so if you want to find him, it shouldn’t be difficult."