“Hmph!”

Xiao Bao said, “If he dares to bother Mom again, Dad will beat him into a pig’s head!”

After making his threat, the two brothers held hands and ran off.

Bian Haitao felt a sense of suffocating frustration, as if he had been whipped.

Previously, he only felt regret and disappointment when he thought of Jiang Lin, missing her infatuation and beauty.

Now, up close, she was cold as ice and regarded him as an enemy.

It seemed she blamed him, hated him, and even encouraged her children to despise him.

Did this mean she still thought of him, but turned her love into hatred?

Of course, his rationality was always intact.

Although he cherished her beauty and missed the warmth of the past, he knew what he should and shouldn’t do.

His future was his top priority.

With power and wealth, he had no doubt she would eventually fall into his embrace.

He pondered and decided to visit the military hospital.

Fang Chengxia was the head nurse there, and he had sensed her affection during their previous encounters when he was ill.

Although Meng Yiyi had warned him not to provoke Fang Chengxia, he wanted to give it a try.

He needed to create another opportunity for himself.

Jiang Lin went back and started organizing the move.

In fact, there weren’t many things to move. A few young men could handle it in one trip.

Jiang Lin first went over to check out the new place.

It was indeed a sizable courtyard, even larger than the one Xu Aimei had been allocated later.

The courtyard was spacious and solid, with red bricks and tiles, bright and roomy—really quite nice.

There were two rows of south-facing main rooms: three large rooms in the front row and two smaller rooms attached to the back.

There were no side rooms, but in the southwestern corner of the outer courtyard, there were two small rooms serving as a simple bathroom and toilet.

Since there were no side rooms, both the inner and outer courtyards were quite large, perfect for Yan Runzhi to plant flowers and vegetables.

After moving in, Jiang Lin’s family would live in the back courtyard, while Fang Chengguang and the younger people would stay in the front.

To comply with regulations, in addition to the three of them, three other young men would also come over.

Jiang Lin inspected the area and said to Cheng Rushan, “Brother Shan, let’s build a kang (a traditional heated bed) and a stove.”

She wasn’t used to living in a house without a kang and stove.

In the countryside, she had gotten used to the large, warm kang, which was spacious and comfortable, and it didn’t make her back and waist hurt.

Moreover, Cheng Yunzhi and Yan Runzhi, the elderly couple, would benefit from sleeping on a kang for their health.

Here in the military district, it was more convenient to build a kang and stove.

There were people, bricks, stones, and cement available, and with the young men’s help, it could be done in a day.

Originally, all the houses in this area had kangs and stoves with chimneys.

Currently, some people still used them, but others, who weren’t good at maintenance or who preferred modern amenities, had removed their kangs, opting for fashionable beds and furniture.

They were afraid that the smoke and fire would damage their new furnishings.

Fang Chengguang went to the supply office to get materials, and Cheng Rushan went to the transportation office to ask Director Di for a vehicle.

A group of young men without tasks for the day went to the provincial capital’s building materials factory to pick up bricks, stones, and cement, and to get some wheat straw as well.

Meanwhile, Jiang Lin had thoroughly studied the construction of the kang and stove, and had planned out the designs.

She knew how to build them to be the most attractive, sturdy, and safe.

For example, the main room in their house had to have a stove so they could cook and heat the kang.

The single men’s dormitory to the south only needed a kang, not a stove, but a fireplace could be built instead.

In winter, the kang could be heated, and the fireplace could be used to heat water, eliminating the need for a separate stove and making it cleaner and safer.

In the morning, they transported building materials, and in the afternoon, they started building the kang and stove.

An electrician was also brought in to check and repair the electrical wiring in the courtyard and rooms, replacing any old wires and light bulbs.

Additionally, a new light was installed above Da Bao and Xiao Bao’s desks to ensure their study area was well-lit.

Jiang Lin was so busy she barely had time to stand still.

She had to boil water for everyone, supervise the details, and she also noticed Kuang Guomei loitering at the door.

Jiang Lin went outside to check, looking warily, “What are you doing?”

Kuang Guomei replied, “I’m just going about my own business; what does it have to do with you?”

“You can walk around, but why do you keep circling around my door?”

“Because I want to!”

“I suspect you have bad intentions!” Jiang Lin didn’t believe that anyone would just walk around her house out of boredom.

The compound was so big—why would they choose to walk in front of her house?

Kuang Guomei could see some young people coming and going through the door, so Bian Haitao was probably not inside.

She wanted to confront Jiang Lin about the issue of Dabo hitting her son, but she hesitated.

Last night, Bian Haitao had yelled at her, telling her not to make a scene in front of the kids.

This was a military compound, not her family home.

She didn’t want to cause trouble and make her family lose face.

Especially now that Cheng Rushan and Fang Chenguang were involved, she felt that Jiang Lin had some backing.

Making false accusations about Jiang Lin would not end well for her.

“If you keep talking nonsense and making enemies with your words, we should divorce sooner rather than later!” Bian Haitao had said this first thing in the morning, scaring Kuang Guomei quite a bit.

At the beginning of their marriage, she used to be more rebellious, but after all these years, she didn’t dare to cause trouble with Bian Haitao anymore.

Still, she was unwilling to give up easily, so she went to Jiang Lin’s house to have a look.

After peeking around for a while and not seeing Bian Haitao, she felt relieved.

“Stop flattering yourself. Who has bad intentions towards you? Just make sure you don’t have bad intentions towards others!”

Kuang Guomei wanted to maintain her superiority and feel better than Jiang Lin.

But standing face to face with Jiang Lin, she felt completely insecure.

She and Jiang Lin used to be schoolmates.

Jiang Lin was always prettier than her, and now that everyone had children, Jiang Lin had two sons while she had only one.

Jiang Lin still looked like a young student, with her snow-white, tender skin, like a flower, while she felt like she was in her thirties.

Once, her father’s position was higher than Jiang Lin’s, but now Jiang Lin had entered a provincial university, and after graduating, she would be a civil servant.

And what about her?

Whenever Jiang Lin appeared, Bian Haitao seemed to dislike her even more.

He would comment on how she still ate so coarsely, how ugly it was to hear her smack her lips while eating, or how her skin was rough and she used cheap face cream that smelled bad.

Kuang Guomei felt a mix of jealousy and sadness.

She wanted to outshine Jiang Lin but didn’t know how.

Her looks and figure couldn’t compare, she couldn’t match Jiang Lin in terms of education, and she had only one son compared to Jiang Lin’s two.

She suddenly realized that she fell short in every aspect compared to Jiang Lin, but she refused to admit it, which made her feel even more bitter.

Jiang Lin had initially wanted to make a few sharp comments to discourage Kuang Guomei from loitering in front of her house, but seeing her suddenly look both angry and helpless made Jiang Lin rethink.

She decided not to say anything more and went back home.

Kuang Guomei watched Jiang Lin’s retreating figure, unable to pull her gaze away until the figure was blocked by the wall.

“A slender waist! She walks so seductively. How is she a proper woman?”

In reality, Jiang Lin was just busy and moving around quickly, almost like a man on the go, but her good figure and Kuang Guomei’s jealousy made everything seem more extravagant.

Kuang Guomei thought that living too close to Jiang Lin might lead to unintentional encounters with Bian Haitao, which she wanted to avoid.

She immediately went to find Bian Haitao but discovered he was not in his office.

If it weren’t for Jiang Lin being at home stacking quilts, Kuang Guomei would have suspected that Bian Haitao was secretly meeting with Jiang Lin.

She went to the housing office herself and requested to move to the apartment they had previously approved on the upper floor.

According to the rules, her family could move to a two-bedroom apartment with a kitchen.

Since there were no exact two-bedroom units available, they offered a one-bedroom and a one-room unit instead, which was also quite convenient.

The housing office gave her the keys and asked her to move in the next few days.

However, she needed to return the current flat because the leaders were starting to ask about the housing situation.

Kuang Guomei assured them, “Don’t worry, I’ll return it properly. I never make a fuss about taking advantage.”

Compared to the risk of her husband secretly meeting with Jiang Lin, Kuang Guomei preferred to return the flat!

While Bian Haitao was out in the afternoon, she quickly found help to move.

They transported the bed, cabinets, tables, and chairs first, and packed up the smaller items into boxes to be moved later.

Her neighbors were very surprised and asked, “Why are you suddenly moving?”

“I wanted to live in a higher building. It’s more comfortable and you can see farther!” Kuang Guomei cheerfully replied, thinking that moving away from Jiang Lin was a very wise decision.

Jiang Lin heard from the neighbors that Deputy Director Bian’s family was also moving today.

She smiled and said nothing.

She actually admired how decisively Kuang Guomei had moved, as it would prevent frequent conflicts in the future.

After dinner, they worked on settling in until everything was done, but since the newly built bed couldn’t be used yet, they decided to stay in the dormitory for a couple more days.

They went to the bathhouse, cleaned up, and prepared to sleep.

Dabo and Xiaobao were especially happy.

Their family was going to be reunited, and today, Bian Yingxiong didn’t dare to provoke them again.

The other students didn’t trouble them either; instead, many students actively talked to them, invited them to play games, and look at picture books.

Some kids even wanted to teach them how to play table tennis and badminton.

Xiaobao climbed to the top bunk and asked, “Dad, are we going to pick up Grandpa, Grandma, and Wensheng tomorrow?”

Cheng Rushan, using a warm towel to dry Jiang Lin’s hair, replied, “Tomorrow, we’ll take your mom to report in. We’ll bring them over once the bed is dry. There’s no place to sleep right now.”

Dabao asked, “Aren’t we going to see Mom off?” He wanted to make sure there weren’t any bad women or men trying to bother her at school.

Cheng Rushan replied, “No need for you to go. I’ll handle it. You just focus on your studies.”

Dabao said, “But we already know everything the teacher taught us.”

“Knowing it doesn’t mean you skip school. That’s the school’s rule,” Cheng Rushan firmly said.

Dabao responded, “Okay.”

Xiaobao then turned to Jiang Lin, “Linlin, don’t you want us to go with you?”

Jiang Lin smiled and said, “When you’re rested, I’ll take you to school. But not now. Students need to follow school rules, and so do I.”

Dabao and Xiaobao thought it was magical to think of going to school with their mom.

Even though they weren’t in the same school, just imagining their mom being there, sitting properly in the classroom with her hands behind her back, listening to the teacher, was exciting.

The next day, Cheng Rushan asked Fang Chengguang or He Liang to pick up Dabao and Xiaobao for lunch at the cafeteria if they were free.

He Liang jumped in, “Chengguang might be going on a blind date, so I’ll pick them up.”

Fang Chengguang shot him a displeased look, “Which ear did you hear I’m going on a blind date? I’m going for target practice.”

He Liang chuckled and told the boys, “I’ll pick you up at noon.”

Dabao and Xiaobao thanked him and waved as they went off to school.

Fang Chengguang offered his motorcycle to Cheng Rushan and Jiang Lin, but Jiang Lin declined, saying, “No need. We’ll take the bus today to get familiar with the route. It’ll be more convenient for me to use the bus in the future.”

They took Bus No. 2 from the military compound station all the way to the provincial university.

The bus was slow and infrequent, so it was crowded during peak times.

Jiang Lin wasn’t bothered by the crowd; she was strong and used to taking the bus.

Since they weren’t in a hurry, it was manageable.

Jiang Lin bought the tickets and led Cheng Rushan to the back of the bus.

Cheng Rushan silently followed, thinking that his wife was capable in both academics and manual work, and he had no chance to show off.

When they found a seat, Jiang Lin cheerfully said, “Are you tired? Sit down!”

Her tall stature made others feel pressured, and some young people tried to avoid him.

Cheng Rushan remained silent.

Jiang Lin firmly guided him to sit down.

Cheng Rushan instinctively reached out to pull her onto his lap, but Jiang Lin quickly pushed him away and gave him a playful but stern look, saying quietly, “Be mindful of your behavior.”