Chapter 45.1

Jiang Suihan patted Dai Jia’s shoulder reassuringly, “Stay calm. If a girl likes Xu Zhao, it just means my judgment is good. It’s normal for outstanding people to attract attention. Besides, if Xu Zhao has admirers, I’m not doing too badly myself.”

She really didn’t see why it was a big deal. There’s always a first time for everything, and she didn’t think Xu Zhao would make a mistake unless he lost his mind.

The young girl grew up in the countryside and hadn’t seen many good-looking men. It wasn’t impossible for her to be infatuated with Xu Zhao and act out of the ordinary.

However, Jiang Suihan had a strong intuition that Wang Lijuan’s situation was more complex than it appeared. There might be more to the story that she wasn’t aware of.

Dai Jia widened her eyes, thinking Jiang Suihan had an unusually good temper. Just as she was about to speak, Principal Cai’s sudden applause interrupted her.

Principal Cai clapped his hands and signaled for everyone to look over, “Good morning, everyone. Welcome to this teacher recruitment exam. I am the new principal of our military primary school. My surname is Cai. Alright, let’s not waste any more time. Let’s start the exam. I wish you all good luck.”

Dai Jia nudged Jiang Suihan’s arm and whispered, “I heard Principal Cai is the chief’s wife. I’ve heard she’s quite strict.”

Principal Cai glanced at Dai Jia with a seemingly indifferent look, making her instantly nervous. She quickly fell silent, no longer daring to chat.

See, she was indeed very strict.

As Jiang Suihan walked past Principal Cai, the principal gave her a warm, albeit casual, smile.

“Good morning, Principal Cai,” Jiang Suihan replied with a polite smile. This wasn’t the time for catching up.

Principal Cai spoke gently, “Go on in and do your best.”

In response to the elder’s sincere wishes, Jiang Suihan nodded slightly and didn’t say anything more.

Wang Lijuan frowned. Did Principal Cai know Jiang Suihan?

It seemed like Jiang Suihan was everywhere, which was really annoying.

She silently hoped that Jiang Suihan would fail the exam so she wouldn’t have to be her colleague. Otherwise, having to face her every day at work would surely affect her mood.

The exam lasted an hour and a half. Jiang Suihan reviewed the questions and found them not difficult. She wondered if it was just her who thought they were a bit easy.

Half an hour later, she finished and put down her pen. Looking around, she saw everyone else frowning and writing furiously.

She couldn’t help but yawn and then reviewed her paper again. Everything seemed fine, and there was nothing left to do, so she waited, feeling quite bored.

Principal Cai walked over and picked up Jiang Suihan’s paper, which was filled on both sides with no questions left unanswered.

After taking a quick look, she put down the paper and walked to the front: “Those who have finished can leave early.”

Jiang Suihan quickly got up, handed in her paper, and left. When others saw someone had already finished, they started to panic. Faced with difficult questions they couldn’t solve, they sweated anxiously.

Jiang Suihan was completely unaware of the impact she had on others. At that moment, she was almost home.

Noticing that there was still some time left, she decided to go find Jiang Leyun.

As luck would have it, she ran into Chen Xiuni again. Meeting her twice in one morning might suggest that they had some sort of connection.

Chen Xiuni greeted her with a smile, “Done with the exam?”

Jiang Suihan nodded, “Sister-in-law, where are you heading?”

Chen Xiuni was dressed in work clothes, wearing a straw hat, holding a sickle, and with yellow mud on her shoes, looking like she had just come back from the fields.

Chen Xiuni wiped her sweat, “I was just weeding in the fields. It was so sunny today, and I ran out of water, so I came back. How was the exam? Was it difficult?”

Jiang Suihan didn’t want to chat idly and just wanted to leave quickly.

She replied ambiguously, “It was alright. Sister-in-law, you should go rest. I’m heading home now.”

After taking a few steps, Chen Xiuni called out to her, “Xiao Jiang, there’s something I don’t know if you’ve heard about?”

Seeing Chen Xiuni’s sympathetic yet somewhat excited expression, Jiang Suihan said straightforwardly, “About Wang Lijuan?”

Chen Xiuni, who was not very deep-minded, showed an unmistakable look of surprise and disappointment on her face, “You know?! What do you think about it? You didn’t have a quarrel with Xu Zhao when you got home, did you?”

She had missed the incident last night as she stayed home, and only heard about it this morning, feeling it was a pity she didn’t see it in person.

She really didn’t expect that Wang Liying’s younger sister harbored such feelings. Was she obsessed with Xu Zhao to the point of madness?

Xu Zhao was quite popular in the army. Many of the girls in the art troupe had their eyes on him, but he rejected them all. The people in the family compound had considered introducing candidates to him, but he wasn’t interested, and no amount of persuasion would work.

Chen Xiuni looked down on Wang Lijuan, thinking it was disgraceful for an unmarried girl to be interested in a married man.

Jiang Suihan’s expression remained unchanged, and her tone was calm, “It’s all just rumors. People are prone to hearing only what they want to believe. The story gets embellished as it’s passed around, and that’s how rumors spread.”

“It’s inappropriate for a young unmarried girl to joke about such things. How will she face others in the future? What if she makes a foolish move out of momentary confusion? Who will take responsibility for that?”

Such scandalous news easily leads to wild speculation and is hard to clarify. The more you explain, the more people think you’re hiding something. It’s better to ignore it and let time take its course.

Chen Xiuni’s face became a bit awkward, “It’s not me saying this. It’s all over the place. I heard it from others.”

She privately thought Jiang Suihan, who was about the same age as Wang Lijuan, calling her a ‘young girl’ was quite pretentious.

The family compound was usually filled with trivial matters, like family quarrels or kids fighting. Hearing such explosive news made everyone excited, as if they were on stimulants, eager to find out the details from the people involved.

Jiang Suihan’s mood was generally good after the exam, but she felt unsettled now. “Let’s drop this topic. I won’t make any comments on it, and neither will Xu Zhao.”

When Xu Zhao came back yesterday, everything was normal, and he didn’t mention anything. Maybe he didn’t think it was important enough to bring up.

If she were Xu Zhao and was harassed by someone inexplicably, she would definitely be annoyed and frustrated about being dragged into such a situation without a clear explanation.

Chen Xiuni sensed Jiang Suihan’s intention, but couldn’t help but ask, “Actually, we don’t think Xu Zhao is the type to be interested in someone else. Maybe someone misunderstood. I heard Wang Liying’s younger sister also went for the primary school exam. Did she say anything to you?”

Wouldn’t they have said something if they were rivals?

Chen Xiuni imagined if both Jiang Suihan and Wang Lijuan passed the primary teacher exam and became colleagues, there would be plenty of drama in the family compound.

Jiang Suihan’s face darkened, “I’m not familiar with her. Why would she talk to me? Since you want to get to know her so much, why not visit her home and wait? The exam will be over soon. I have other matters, so I’ll leave now.”

Sometimes you need to be firm and not give them any leeway.

Chen Xiuni kicked a small stone by the roadside, grumbling, “I’m just asking her a question. Why act so high and mighty? If that Wang girl really steals your man, let’s see how you cry. Xu Zhao should have known better than to marry such a lazy woman. His taste is really poor.”

In Xu Zhao’s office, Zhang Xiangqian pulled up a chair and sat across from him, looking like he wanted to say something but was hesitant.

Xu Zhao put down the file he was holding, “If you have something to say, just say it.”

Zhang Xiangqian, who had been staring at him without speaking, made Xu Zhao suspect he might suffocate from the tension if he didn’t speak soon.

Zhang Xiangqian cautiously looked at Xu Zhao, “Uh, have you heard any recent rumors about you in the family compound?”

Xu Zhao showed no reaction, “No. If there’s something, just say it.”

Zhang Xiangqian glanced at the door, pulled his chair a bit closer, and lowered his voice, “Did someone stop you on your way home yesterday?”

Xu Zhao looked at Zhang Xiangqian with confusion. He hadn’t mentioned this to anyone, so how did Zhang Xiangqian know?

Then he realized that although he and Wang Lijuan were the only ones by the roadside, it didn’t mean no one else was around. He guessed someone must have seen it and spread the word.

“What have you heard?”

Zhang Xiangqian shrugged and confessed, “Let me put it this way. After dinner last night, my family’s child was making a fuss to go downstairs to play. Dai Jia and I took him down, and while we were there, I overheard a conversation between a few of the wives that mentioned your name. I immediately became alert, and cautiously approached…”

Xu Zhao said, “Get to the point.”

At this point, Zhang Xiangqian was still being long-winded, with a lot of unnecessary talk.

Zhang Xiangqian glared at Xu Zhao, “I’m getting to it, be patient. The point is, a few of the neighborhood women said that you were targeted by a young girl. The girl apparently threw herself at you, and you, cold and unfeeling, avoided her, leaving her to fall and get hurt badly.”

Xu Zhao looked at Zhang Xiangqian with a blank expression.

Feeling a bit intimidated by Xu Zhao’s murderous aura, Zhang Xiangqian hesitated and quickly got to the main topic, “It’s all over the neighborhood now. They say a girl confessed her feelings to you. What was her name? Wang… yes, Wang Lijuan. That’s the name. She even said she wanted to make hawthorn cake for you. I didn’t know you liked hawthorn cake. Is it any good?”

He was stunned when he first heard this and, hiding in the shadows, wished he could join the gossiping group right away and hear every detail. After getting home, he eagerly discussed it with Dai Jia.

Dai Jia was convinced that Xu Zhao wasn’t the type to be swayed easily, and that it was likely a misunderstanding.

Zhang Xiangqian couldn’t help but admire Xu Zhao’s irresistible charm. Even though he was married, he still had young girls falling for him.

Xu Zhao kicked Zhang Xiangqian under the table, “Is there more?”

Zhang Xiangqian, holding his sore leg and wincing in pain, said, “Be gentle! I’m trying to help you, and this is how you treat your benefactor? There’s nothing more; that’s all.”

He smiled somewhat maliciously, “You should learn from me. Maintaining your integrity is a virtue every married man should practice. Maybe your sister-in-law already knows and is sulking at home. What if she does something silly out of frustration? Who would take responsibility for that?”

Xu Zhao gave Zhang Xiangqian a cold glance. He frowned, thinking that the neighborhood women were always eager for drama and rumors. If they went to ask Jiang Suihan, and she didn’t know anything, she’d probably start speculating and feel upset.

He should have just ignored the bizarre person and left, rather than getting tangled up in this mess. Now it was causing him more trouble.

Worried that Jiang Suihan might be upset, Xu Zhao wished he could fly home and explain everything to her.

It was rare to see Xu Zhao so unsettled. Zhang Xiangqian took out some sunflower seeds and started munching on them with interest.