Chapter 44.1

The military wives who were about to leave stopped in their tracks, intrigued. Not only that, but they also subtly eavesdropped.

Ruan Mingfu was almost laughing with anger.

What does she mean by “following Lu Yan around”?

It seemed like she was trying to sully Ruan Mingfu’s reputation, fearing that she might be getting too favorable a position in the family compound.

“Comrade Li, you need to be responsible for what you say.” Ruan Mingfu said, “Our families aren’t close enough for that.”

A hint of anger flashed in Li Yuxiang’s eyes.

She lifted her head, still maintaining a pitiful look.

“Regardless, you two grew up together.” Li Yuxiang continued, “Can’t you show some mercy for the sake of old times?”

The sister-in-laws around started whispering among themselves.

“What’s going on?”

“I feel like there must be something big going on here.”

“Are the recent rumors true?”

“Ruan Mingfu looks like the kind of person who would cause trouble.”

…

Ruan Mingfu knew exactly what Li Yuxiang was up to.

“This is a military family compound, not a place for you to make a scene.”

Li Yuxiang held her heart with one hand and clung tightly to Ruan Mingfu’s arm with the other. The tight grip was causing Ruan Mingfu discomfort, and her eyebrows furrowed.

“Mingfu, if you don’t want to acknowledge Auntie,” Li Yuxiang began to sob, “Auntie won’t blame you, but Lu Yan grew up with you. Can’t you give him another chance?”

“Rest assured, I’ll definitely take him back and teach him a lesson. He won’t bother you again.”

She cried with reddened eyes and trembled with sadness.

The military wives, listening to their conversation, felt they were witnessing a big revelation.

“What happened? Didn’t Deputy Commander Lu’s brother hurt Commander Xie?”

“Why do I feel like there’s a big melon inside?”

“She’s crying like this, so pitiful.”

“This new daughter-in-law is so cruel, bullying someone who could be her elder.”

That’s right…”

The military wives, who shared similar sentiments with Li Yuxiang, felt uncomfortable watching the scene and had negative opinions about Ruan Mingfu.

“What are you doing here?”

“This person is obviously trying to smear Comrade Ruan’s reputation. Are you blind?”

“What does that mean? Isn’t she pleading for leniency?”

Hearing the idle gossip around her, Ruan Mingfu’s frown deepened.

“Enough!”

She didn’t struggle.

At this point, everyone who needed to be disgraced had already been, so she decided to clear things up once and for all.

Since they wanted to argue, she might as well argue thoroughly.

Li Yuxiang was stunned by the outburst and was about to continue her act when Ruan Mingfu spoke.

“You’ve got one thing wrong. I’ve never had any feelings for Lu Yan.”

The original owner knew about her engagement to Lu Yan and had some initial expectations. However, Lu Yan was disdainful and sarcastic toward her.

She had been pampered since childhood.

Why should she tolerate Lu Yan?

The original owner had shared this matter with Father and Mother Ruan and then put it out of her mind.

Perhaps Father and Mother Ruan knew this, which is why they didn’t leave Ruan Mingfu to the Lu family. After the original owner moved to the countryside, she completely forgot about him. If it weren’t for the gossip, she wouldn’t even have remembered that the original owner had a fiancé.

Li Yuxiang’s expression revealed a moment of hesitation. “You used to like Lu Yan. You always followed him around…”

“I have no idea where you got that from.” Ruan Mingfu sneered.

“Comrade Li, I already discussed this with your eldest son. After taking the compensation, I won’t hold a grudge over your family’s decision to break off the engagement. But it seems like you just couldn’t hold back.”

“Come to think of it, my parents are the benefactors of your Lu family.”

The military wives around them were shocked by this revelation.

“Goodness! So these two families had an engagement?”

“Her son broke off the engagement, and now she’s shamelessly asking Ruan Mingfu for help.”

“So… the Lu family clearly regretted the marriage, but then Lu Yan injured Commander Xie?”

“This family is so shameless, hi-tui!”

“I feel like there’s more to the story. Maybe the younger son made a mistake, but is the older one just as clueless?”

With this remark, the crowd fell silent.

It was no secret that Lu Yang had a much better reputation in the military than Xie Yanzhao.

After a moment of quiet, one of the military wives with a wild imagination spoke up.

“Could it be that Ruan Mingfu was upset over Lu Yan breaking off the engagement, and then tried to latch onto his older brother? But since the older brother didn’t want her either, she went for Commander Xie instead? Maybe all the drama from earlier was just a show put on by these two.”

“…”

Regardless of anything else, it is obvious that this sister-in-law is very dissatisfied with Ruan Mingfu.

“What nonsense are you talking about!”

A military wife who supported Ruan Mingfu interrupted. “We all know Comrade Ruan met Commander Xie in the countryside.”

“Yes, that place is far from here.”

“I heard it takes a full day and night by train.”

“There’s something wrong…”

The military wives are also divided into three groups when it comes to eating melons.

One group supported Ruan Mingfu, another group, fueled by jealousy over her recent refrigerator purchase, was quick to criticize, and the third group remained neutral, simply listening to the gossip without sharing any opinions.

Among the critics, there was one particularly traditional woman. She had been the harshest in criticizing Ruan Mingfu earlier.

Li Xiaoyue frowned as she looked around and tugged on her mother-in-law’s hand. “Mom, let’s just head inside.”

“Go inside for what?”

Her mother-in-law’s eyes were fixed on Ruan Mingfu, and she didn’t forget to scold her daughter-in-law. “You stay away from women like her. If I catch you talking to her again, you’ll regret it.”

Li Xiaoyue pursed her lips, clearly uncomfortable.

The older woman stood on tiptoe, craning her neck to get a better look.

“Hmph, shameless vixen!”

Hearing this, Li Xiaoyue’s gentle face grew more embarrassed.

Meanwhile, the confrontation continued.

Li Yuxiang felt a flash of awkwardness after hearing Ruan Mingfu’s words.

“I know we’ve wronged you,” Li Yuxiang said hesitantly, “but…” Her face showed reluctance. “But Lu Yan would rather die than marry you. He even threatened to take his own life. But don’t worry, if you help get him out this time, I’ll make sure he marries you.”

Ruan Mingfu couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

She looked carefully at Li Yuxiang curiously, before finally speaking.

“I’m really curious about the way your brain works. Can’t you understand plain speech?”

Li Yuxiang’s eyes flashed with anger, but she quickly masked it.

“You seem to think the Lu family is something special.” Ruan Mingfu continued. “But Lu Yan isn’t as good-looking as my husband, nor is he as strong, and his abilities don’t even compare. What makes you think I’d want him?”

Li Yuxiang: “…”

The sisters-in-law watching nearby: “…”

For some reason, they suddenly felt full, as if they had eaten too much.

Commander Xie Yanzhao, who had hurried over after hearing that Ruan Mingfu was being hassled by Mother Lu: “…”

Xu Zhu nudged his shoulder, “Old Xie, are you happy now?”

Xie Yanzhao looked at him expressionlessly, then pushed through the crowd and walked over. But his brisk steps revealed his true thoughts.

Xu Zhu: “…”

Tsk, man.

The military wives who had been watching Xie Yanzhao quickly quieted down.

Some of them even silently moved towards the edge of the courtyard.

Li Yuxiang, seeing the fierce man before her, swallowed nervously. If it weren’t for the military uniform he wore, she might have screamed for help.

“Let go.”

Xie Yanzhao fixed his gaze on Li Yuxiang’s hand, which was still gripping Ruan Mingfu’s arm. His voice was low and commanding.

Under his intimidating stare, Li Yuxiang trembled and involuntarily released her grip.

“What are you doing here?”

Ruan Mingfu looked up at him, her eyes sparkling.

Xie Yanzhao’s lips curled slightly.

“I heard you were having some trouble, so I came over.”

He grabbed Ruan Mingfu’s hand and pulled up her sleeve.

Her fair, snow-white skin caught everyone’s attention, causing them to avert their gaze momentarily.

Even those who disliked Ruan Mingfu were momentarily distracted.

As much as they hated to admit it, Ruan Mingfu was undeniably beautiful. Even her arms were well-proportioned and elegant.

But now, there was an angry red handprint on her arm. Her pale skin made the mark even more conspicuous and menacing.

Li Yuxiang had clearly used a lot of force.

Xie Yanzhao’s expression darkened. “Does it hurt?”

“It’s nothing.” Ruan Mingfu replied as she pulled her sleeve back down. Her eyes turned back to Li Yuxiang. “Whatever your reasons for coming today, you can forget it. Not even the commander could help with what Lu Yan did.”

Attacking someone in broad daylight in front of witnesses—Ruan Mingfu thought to herself that she could give him a solid six out of ten for sheer audacity.

“No!”

Li Yuxiang had two sons.

Her eldest was a source of pride, and although her youngest was reckless but he was still a good kid. The thought of her son spending his days in prison was something Li Yuxiang couldn’t bear.

She hated Ruan Mingfu, the culprit, even more.

“No… no, you can’t leave…”

Li Yuxiang tried to step forward, but one sharp glance from Xie Yanzhao pinned her in place.

“Who said I was leaving?”

Seeing the crowd growing around them, Ruan Mingfu decided to speak her mind.

“The Lu family’s connection with my parents’ generation began when your family was destitute, and the Ruan family gave you money and food. To curry favor with us, you insisted on arranging the marriage between me and Lu Yan.”

“I’m not wrong, am I?”

Embarrassment flashed in Li Yuxiang’s eyes.

Although she didn’t want to admit it, it was the truth.

Ruan Mingfu continued, “Later, my dad helped your husband find a job, and that’s when your family’s situation started improving.”

The crowd gasped.

No matter the era, having a job was always precious.

“They got a job in exchange for a marriage agreement? The Ruan family really got taken for a ride.”

“You’re right. If someone helped my family get a job, forget a marriage agreement, I’d worship their entire family!”

“Exactly. I’d go so far as to recognize them as my father…”

Even the military wives who had issues with Ruan Mingfu couldn’t bring themselves to say anything bad.

Li Yuxiang saw that the tide of opinion was turning against her and became anxious.

“No… it wasn’t like that…”

Although the Ruan family found a job for the Lu family, it still depended on the efforts of her Old Lu. Besides, the job didn’t pay much, and it was only because of her Old Lu’s efforts to climb up and her son’s hard work that things got better.

Ruan Mingfu paid her no mind.

“What do you mean it wasn’t? Without my father, could your husband have been promoted three levels in one year? From a temporary worker to a supervisor sitting in an office?”

Another wave of gasps followed her words.

“How come I never get such good luck?”

“I’m not even jealous. I just want to know what kind of person Ruan’s father was to be so generous!”

“Goodness, recognizing him as a father isn’t enough. We should call him Grandpa…”

“Stop talking nonsense. Can your grandpa be that great?”

In this era, it wasn’t uncommon for people to have four or five children. When there were many children, they didn’t hold much value.

This level of treatment was something only reserved for an only child…

Ruan Mingfu’s anger grew as she continued, her eyes flashing with rage as she looked at Li Yuxiang.

“And what did you do? When my family fell on hard times, you ignored us. Fine, but then Lu Yan kept causing trouble for me. At least Lu Yang brought me a thousand yuan as compensation. What did he do?”

“Did Lu Yang tell you that after accepting the money, the Ruan family’s grudge against the Lu family was settled? Why are you coming to bother me now?”

Li Yuxiang frowned.

She knew about what Lu Yang did, and both she and her husband had tacitly agreed to it.

After all, the Ruan family had fallen, and they could no longer be considered a match for the Lu family.

But what happened after that?