Chapter 24: Truly a Good Example for Us Military Wives

“No way! You can’t go!” Li Hongying’s scalp went numb when she saw so many people heading to her house.

“Why can’t we go?” Lian Rongrong asked, pretending to be confused. “Is there something shameful in your house, Li Hongying? Or were you planning to feed this stinky piece of meat to Jiang Yue?”

“Of course not!” At that moment, Li Hongying couldn’t possibly admit it. However, asking her to take out the good food at home to give to Jiang Yue was even harder to bear. Wasn’t that like stabbing her heart with a needle?

Li Hongying was anxious, her eyes darting around. She was about to lose her temper. It was so noisy here, but Li Xiuxiu, that tight-lipped person, wasn’t even coming out to take a look?

And those troublemaker kids of hers—weren’t they usually the first to wander around? But up until now, Li Hongying hadn’t seen a single one of them.

But then she thought, maybe they’d already noticed something was wrong and had gone home to hide the food.

Thinking this way, Li Hongying felt a bit relieved.

Jiang Yue noticed Li Hongying’s little actions. With a group of people in tow, she headed towards Li Hongying’s house.

At this moment, Sister-in-law Zhao heard the noise and came out. After understanding the situation, she walked up to Jiang Yue and whispered: “Ningning is still in her house. That’s enough for now!”

She was worried that Jiang Yue might offend Li Hongying too much, and once Jiang Yue left, Li Hongying might take out her frustration on Ningning.

“I understand!” Jiang Yue nodded, signaling that she knew what to do.

Li Hongying’s house was located at the far west end of the first row in the Family Residential Compound. The house layouts were all quite similar, but since Li Hongying’s husband had a low rank, the house they could apply for was relatively small, with only two main rooms.

However, their family was large, so they had built a room in the courtyard, and even set up a bed in the main room.

As soon as Jiang Yue entered the courtyard, she frowned. The house was too messy!

There were items scattered everywhere in the courtyard, and trash hadn’t been cleaned up. It was piled up in the corners, and a large basin of dirty clothes by the well had been soaked for so long that the water had turned green.

Two boys, around the age of seven or eight, were wrestling with each other, rolling around covered in dust. They were swearing at each other, and had even insulted their parents’ names.

Another smaller boy sat by the kitchen door, holding a jar of candy. He was shoveling white sugar into his mouth, and as he chewed, sugar spilled from the corners of his mouth. A dog squatted nearby, licking up the spilled sugar.

The scene made Jiang Yue’s temples throb with tension.

What was even more terrifying was that Jiang Yue discovered the well had no cover—it was left open. The two fighting boys had almost rolled into the well several times.

“Da Niu, Er Niu, stop fighting!” Sister-in-law Zhao couldn’t bear to watch any longer and hurried over to separate the two boys.

However, Li Hongying clearly seemed used to this. She entered without even glancing at them, heading straight for the kitchen.

When Li Hongying entered and didn’t see Li Xiuxiu, her heart sank.

Lian Rongrong, who had been watching Li Hongying closely, immediately followed her into the kitchen as soon as Li Hongying went in.

Then Jiang Yue heard Lian Rongrong exclaiming loudly: “Oh my, such a big piece of shoulder meat! Li Hongying, where are you going to hide this? Oh my, this amaranth is so fresh! Oh my, there are beans too! Oh my, a huge salted duck…”

Lian Rongrong’s repeated “oh my” had Jiang Yue’s lips twitching, but since she had come here today to make Li Hongying give up the meat, she didn’t stop and marched straight into the kitchen.

“All these vegetables were bought for me? Oh my, I knew it! Li Hongying, you’re not that heartless, selfish villain after all. You keep the rotten meat for yourself, but give the good stuff to others. Truly self-sacrificing, selfless, a great person! A true role model for us military wives!”

Lian Rongrong: “…”

Sister-in-law Zhao and the other military wives: “…”

Even Li Hongying was stunned by Jiang Yue’s unexpected praise. No one had ever called her a good person, let alone a role model for military wives.

Wait! Jiang Yue was trying to butter her up!

Li Hongying quickly realized and saw Jiang Yue pulling out a cloth bag from somewhere, stuffing the piece of shoulder meat into it.

“Jiang Yue, if you dare take my meat, I’ll fight you!” Li Hongying’s eyes reddened, and she immediately rushed forward to grab it back.

Jiang Yue nimbly dodged, asking in surprise: “How is it your meat? It was clearly my husband who gave you tickets and money to buy it for me! How is it yours just because it passed through your hands?”

“Exactly!” Lian Rongrong added: “Your Chen Baozhu is just a low-ranking officer. His salary barely covers food, and I remember that your family uses all your meat tickets to exchange for grain tickets! It’s almost the end of the month, where did you get extra meat tickets to buy meat?”

At this point, Li Hongying no longer cared about anything else. All she could focus on was that piece of meat. She grabbed a fire poker from the corner of the room, blocking the kitchen door with a fierce look. “Jiang Yue, if you don’t put my meat down today, don’t even think about leaving this door!”

Jiang Yue turned her head and, with a pitiful look, said to Sister-in-law Zhao and the others: “Sisters, did you hear that? Li Hongying is threatening me!”

Sister-in-law Zhao’s expression darkened. “Li Hongying, this is where you went wrong! Regiment Commander Gu gave you money to buy groceries. This meat and these vegetables were always meant for Jiang Yue!”

“Exactly!” Lian Rongrong chimed in. “We all know your situation. That big chunk of meat must weigh at least three pounds! That costs over two yuan! Your Baozhu’s monthly salary is barely twenty-something yuan—”

“I have my own salary, can’t I buy with my own money?” Li Hongying snapped, raising her neck in defiance.

“Then who gave you that salary?” Lian Rongrong mocked. “It was Regiment Commander Gu! He paid you to buy groceries and cook for Jiang Yue, not for you to take his money, pass off spoiled meat, and then pocket the good stuff to improve your own family’s meals!”

“Mind your own business! Stop meddling like a dog stealing food!” Li Hongying growled with a fierce look. “Anyway, all this meat and these vegetables are mine!”

“Li Hongying, you’re shameless!” Lian Rongrong spat, then turned to look at Jiang Yue, wanting to see how she would respond.

Jiang Yue knew that Li Hongying was stubborn and wouldn’t be easily swayed, and just as Sister-in-law Zhao had warned, Jiang Yue had to be cautious since Ningning was still at Li Hongying’s house. If she completely tore the mask off with Li Hongying now, Li Hongying, being petty, would surely take it out on Ningning.

“Jiang Yue!” Sister-in-law Zhao gave Jiang Yue a meaningful look.

Jiang Yue nodded in understanding.

“Sisters, you all saw it. Li Hongying took my husband’s money and tickets and gave me such rotten vegetables and spoiled meat. She kept the good stuff for herself. She’s clearly bullying me!”

Sister-in-law Zhao and the others all nodded, their faces filled with anger.

Jiang Yue continued: “I can’t keep this kind of nanny anymore! From today on, Li Hongying, you don’t need to come to my house!”

Li Hongying was unwilling to part with both the meat and the job where she could make money. She quickly protested: “No way! I was hired by Regiment Commander Gu! Jiang Yue, who do you think you are? You think I’ll stop working just because you say so? Let me tell you, your words don’t count!”

The military wives couldn’t listen to it any longer. “Jiang Yue and Regiment Commander Gu are a married couple. If Jiang Yue says it, who else’s word matters?”

“She’s exploiting people like this and still expects to keep the job and get paid? Her face is too thick!”

“There’s one more thing.” Jiang Yue said seriously, seeing that Li Hongying still looked defiant. “Li Hongying dares to pass off spoiled meat to me. This raises serious doubts about her character. I’m worried about Ningning—”