Chapter 52: Testing the Waters

Qi Tao didn’t keep Lin Wei in the dark—he told Yang Yi about the matter that evening and also had Mrs. Qi apologize to her.

Ever since Qi Lao Er started his own family, Mrs. Qi had changed her attitude. In front of Yang Yi, she had never been so humble before. One could imagine just how pleased Yang Yi felt at that moment.

She raised her eyebrows, finally venting her frustration!

Seeing Yang Yi looking so radiant, Lin Wei asked, “So, do you still want to find out more?”

The smile on Yang Yi’s face faded. She bit her lips and, after a long pause, nodded. “I still want to know.” Even if she trusted Qi Tao seventy percent, just thinking about these things would always leave a shadow in her heart. It would be better to get to the bottom of it once and for all.

“Even if the result isn’t what you hope for?” Lin Wei asked.

Yang Yi nodded again. “Yes.”

Yang Yi had made up her mind, and Liu Dan also took action. That night, she said to Xing Dong, “I’ve been thinking the past couple of days. I just feel like something’s not quite right.”

Xing Dong was sitting on the edge of the bed, undressing. He turned to her and asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Xiao Yang and her mother-in-law.”

Xing Dong asked, “Isn’t their relationship pretty good? What’s wrong with it?”

“What’s wrong with it? Didn’t you hear what Xiao Yang’s mother-in-law said the other night? When Lin said Deng wanted to talk to Yang, her mother-in-law’s first reaction was, ‘She doesn’t have a job, so it can’t be anything important.’ Do you think that’s normal? If it were me, would you talk about me like that?”

Xing Dong thought for a moment—and no, he wouldn’t.

But he said, “Their situation’s different from ours. They’re mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, we’re husband and wife.”

“So according to you, mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law can act all nice on the outside but secretly look down on each other?”

Xing Dong chuckled. “How’d you come to that conclusion? Qi Tao’s mom is just an old lady from the countryside. Maybe she didn’t mean anything by what she said.”

“Didn’t mean anything? Just an offhand comment? Isn’t that exactly how people reveal what they’re really thinking?” Liu Dan leaned against the bed, lowered her eyes, and muttered, “And I remembered something else these past two days.”

“What is it?”

“Twice in the morning when I was heading out, I heard shouting from next door. One time I didn’t hear clearly, so I knocked on the door. And guess what?”

Xing Dong clasped his hands and asked, “What happened?”

“It was old Mrs. Qi who opened the door. She said she was disciplining her son.”

“Then she was just scolding her son.”

Xing Dong rolled onto the bed and tried to hug his wife, but Liu Dan pushed him away. “Are you blind? Can’t you see how much Mrs. Qi spoils her second son? Usually she wouldn’t even raise her voice to him. Would she really scold him like that?”

Xing Dong’s arms fell empty. He rested a hand behind his head and squinted at his wife. “So you think she wasn’t yelling at her son—but at her daughter-in-law?”

“Of course.”

“But Mrs. Qi seems to treat Xiao Yang pretty well.”

“She acts like she’s nice, but that’s all on the surface. If she were really that good, would she have said what she did the other night? Maybe she’s just two-faced. When others aren’t around, she probably gives Xiao Yang a hard time. Haven’t you noticed? Since Mrs. Qi came, Xiao Yang hasn’t looked happy at all.”

Xing Dong thought Liu Dan was overthinking things. “You’re really suspicious of people. Talking about two-faced behavior and hidden motives… Is Qi Tao’s mom really that capable? And besides, you know what kind of person Qi Tao is. That night, his mom only muttered one sentence, and he immediately made her apologize to Xiao Yang. If his mom had really mistreated Xiao Yang, do you think he’d let it go?”

“That night it was Xiao Lin who brought up the topic. Xiao Yang has worked for the Qi family for so many years, and so many people are watching. Of course he had to put on a show.” Liu Dan muttered, “And maybe he doesn’t even know what his mom says behind his back.”

Xing Dong shouted, “Oh my dear wife, you’re too naïve. That’s his own family—if his mom really mistreated his wife and he didn’t know, how clueless would he have to be?”

Liu Dan’s expression changed. “Are you saying Qi Tao does know what his mom is doing behind Xiao Yang’s back?”

Xing Dong was at a loss for words. “…I mean, his mom probably isn’t as bad as you think. Why are you interpreting it like that?” His meaning had completely gone astray.

But his wife didn’t care at all. She sat up and said, “No, I need to ask Qi Tao myself and find out if he knows.”

Xing Dong was speechless and genuinely asked, “Daughter-in-law, did you hear what I just said?”

“I heard it.” Liu Dan nodded and said matter-of-factly, “But I still think Mrs. Qi is in the wrong. And now that you’ve mentioned it, I think Qi Tao isn’t right either. You have to help me ask him if he knows about these things.”

Come on. His daughter-in-law was so stubborn—once she believed something, she wouldn’t budge.

Xing Dong could only change tactics and follow her line of thought. “Even if Qi Tao’s mom is in the wrong, and he is too, what’s the point of asking? Are you planning to run to Xiao Yang and tell her, ‘Your man has issues, don’t live with him’? I’d rather tear down ten temples than destroy a family, daughter-in-law.”

Liu Dan thought to herself: If they can’t live together, what’s it got to do with me? If we’re blaming anyone, it’s that white lotus of a mother-in-law’s fault!

But this matter couldn’t be revealed just yet. So Liu Dan said, “Anyway, you have to help me ask. Otherwise, I’ll just assume Qi Tao is the problem—and since you’re in the same boat, you’re part of the problem too!”

When Xing Dong heard this, he was exasperated. He flopped back and muttered through clenched teeth, “Only women and petty men are hard to raise!”

. . .

To clear his name, Xing Dong had no choice but to go along with his wife’s plan and test Qi Tao. So, after leaving the barracks the next evening, he stopped him on the road and casually asked about his family.

Although they were close friends and even lived next door—basically family friends—Xing Dong wasn’t the type to pry into others’ family matters. So when he suddenly started fishing for information, Qi Tao naturally became suspicious. He frowned and asked, “Why are you asking all this all of a sudden?”

“I…”

Xing Dong looked at his expression, sighed helplessly, and said, “It’s not me—it’s my wife. She’s been worrying too much. Said that recently when she went out, she kept hearing noise from your place. Comrade Xiao Yang hasn’t looked too happy either, so she asked if something’s going on at home.”

Qi Tao stopped walking. “She heard noise from our place?”

“Yes. Your mom just got here, right? Just last week, my wife went out and heard shouting from your place. She knocked on the door and your mom said she was disciplining your younger brother. She didn’t pry, just left for work. But since then, she’s heard it again now and then. She didn’t think too much of it, but…” Xing Dong glanced at Qi Tao and trailed off.

Qi Tao asked, “But what?”

“A few days ago, Comrade Xiao Lin came to my wife, said she had something to talk about. But actually, there was nothing to talk about. She just wanted to bring her along to persuade Comrade Xiao Yang.”

Qi Tao was annoyed that Xing Dong kept stopping mid-sentence but still asked patiently, “What happened to Xiao Yang?”

“My wife said that after she followed Xiao Lin over, she saw Xiao Yang crying. When she asked her why, she refused to say. My wife said she’d been in a bad mood the last few days—haven’t you noticed?”

“I…”

Qi Tao fell silent. Of course he’d noticed something was off with Yang Yi.

One night, he’d woken up in the middle of the night and heard her crying quietly. He asked what was wrong, but she didn’t answer. The next morning, he asked again—she just looked at him for a long while, then turned over and said nothing.

At the time, he’d been dealing with battalion matters and was already on edge. Seeing her unwilling to talk, he didn’t press further. He only asked his mother to spend more time enlightening and comforting her.

When Lin Wei came over that day and his mother muttered those words, he assumed it was just because the atmosphere at home had been tense lately—his mother was probably in a bad mood too. So after Lin Wei and the others left, he had a talk with his mom and asked her to apologize to Yang Yi for those remarks.

In the past few days, Yang Yi’s expression had clearly improved, so Qi Tao thought the matter had blown over. But hearing what Xing Dong said now…

Qi Tao asked, “Do you know which days my sister-in-law heard noise coming from my house in the morning?”

“I just know there was one instance last week, but I’m really not sure of the exact day.”
Xing Dong paused suddenly, glanced around, and asked, “Something did happen at your place, didn’t it?”

Qi Tao simply replied, “Can you go back and ask my sister-in-law for me?”

“Sure, no problem. She just suspected something and asked me to check in with you. But if something really did happen, what are you going to do about it?”

Qi Tao still didn’t answer, only saying, “Just ask for me, please.”

“You’re welcome.”

Later that day, when Xing Dong got home, he was dragged straight into the bedroom by his wife, who had been anxiously waiting all day.

“How did it go? What was Qi Tao’s reaction?” she pressed.

Instead of answering right away, Xing Dong cleared his throat and acted coy. “I stood outside the barracks, stopped him, and talked with him for half the day. I haven’t even had a sip of water yet. Can’t you at least…?”

He didn’t finish the sentence, only held out his hand suggestively.

They had been married over ten years—how could Liu Dan not know exactly what kind of man he was? Muttering “look at you,” she went to pour him some water.

When she handed him the enamel cup, Xing Dong took a sip and immediately frowned. “Why is it just plain water?”

Liu Dan gritted her teeth. “All we have is cold water right now. If you want tea, I can make some, but it’s boiling hot—want to burn your mouth?”

“Forget it,” Xing Dong grumbled, gulping down a mouthful of water before sighing, “With that stingy attitude, thank goodness you’re my wife. Otherwise, I wouldn’t bother with you.”

Liu Dan narrowed her eyes. “If I wasn’t your wife, which old village girl would you want to marry then?”

Xing Dong immediately shifted gears to survive: “No one but you!”

“Poor you,” she rolled her eyes. “Hurry up and talk.”

She had picked up some food from the state-run restaurant after work, and since the kids were eating out, she was still hungry.

“Alright, alright, I’ll talk.” Xing Dong drained his cup and finally relayed the entire conversation with Qi Tao, not even skipping over his facial expressions.

Liu Dan sank into thought. After a long pause, she asked, “What was his expression like when he asked you to find out what day I heard something from their house?”

“He frowned. He was thinking hard.”

“So, do you think he really doesn’t know what his mother did?”

Xing Dong leaned against the bed, twirling the cup in his hand. “You tell me first—are you curious, or is this coming from Xiao Yang?”

Liu Dan’s face froze.

“Aha,” Xing Dong said knowingly, “just as I thought.”

“How could you tell?” Liu Dan asked, a bit annoyed.

“You kept saying ‘Qi Tao’s mom this’ and ‘Qi Tao’s mom that,’ and your tone was so certain. How could I not catch on?” he replied.

Besides, the way his wife asked him to go ‘test’ Qi Tao, even making up a whole story—he didn’t want to look down on her, but after all these years of sleeping in the same bed, he didn’t think she could come up with something like that on her own.

Not that he’d ever dare say it out loud—he didn’t want to get beaten.

Liu Dan didn’t think too deeply about it. She simply assumed she had let something slip. Her tone softened. “Since you guessed, why did you still test him?”

“How could I not help? Otherwise, you’d keep thinking I’m on Qi Tao’s side. Where’s the justice in that?” Xing Dong sighed, then shared his analysis: “From what I know of Qi Tao, there’s an 80% chance he really doesn’t know what’s going on between his mom and his wife.”

Although Xing Dong thought that if Qi Tao didn’t know, he’d be a bit too dense, when he considered the situation… the mother-in-law was good at pretending, the daughter-in-law kept everything bottled up, and Qi Tao was always busy—it really was possible he had no idea.

In fact, the two other families living in the same courtyard still believed Mrs. Qi was kind and genuinely good to Yang Yi. Even he himself, before last night, had thought the same.

Liu Dan didn’t know what Xing Dong was thinking, but when she heard his words, a light sparked in her eyes. “Really?”

Xing Dong nodded. “If his reaction at the time was all just an act, then I’ve wasted all these years thinking I understood him.”

Don’t assume that soldiers are easy to fool just because they’re straightforward. People like them, who climbed the ranks without any background, don’t have low IQ or EQ. They have a strong ability to judge character. Xing Dong felt that while Qi Tao wasn’t perfect, his character had no major flaws—he could be considered loyal and responsible.

Still, Xing Dong didn’t speak too definitively and added, “We’ll still have to see how he handles things moving forward.”

If Qi Tao made this a serious matter and didn’t blindly side with his mother, doing what was right, then Xing Dong felt it wouldn’t matter whether he had been aware of the past or not. At least the man was clear-headed, and life with him wouldn’t be unbearable.

But if he brushed it off lightly and made Yang Yi continue to endure, then even if he really hadn’t known anything before, life for Yang Yi in the future wouldn’t be easy.

Of course, all the above were just possibilities—some bad, some good—and there was also the chance that Qi Tao truly didn’t know what had happened and had no intention of blindly defending his mother.

After dinner, Xing Dong went next door and called Qi Tao over, letting Liu Dan speak with him directly.

The conversation didn’t last long—maybe five or six minutes, perhaps eight or nine. Qi Tao only asked some detailed questions. But after getting the answers, his expression didn’t look good, and he thanked Liu Dan with a sullen face.

But Liu Dan understood him. Anyone who discovered that their supposedly harmonious family had long been filled with hidden tensions probably wouldn’t be in a great mood.

That was why she now leaned even more toward believing that Qi Tao truly hadn’t known. So after he left, she passed the task of supervising the children’s baths to Xing Dong and quickly went to find Lin Wei to report the news.

When Liu Dan arrived, Lin Wei was standing on the second-floor balcony, watering a pot of mandarin duck jasmine.

Because it was a potted plant, the soil didn’t retain moisture well and needed regular watering. Though it was already October, Yazhou Island’s climate remained warm, and the temperature hadn’t dropped much yet, so she still had to water the plant every other day on average.

Previously, when she wasn’t working, she used to water it in the mornings. But now that she had a job, her schedule wasn’t as fixed, and she could only water it when she had time and remembered to.

That evening, after dinner, she saw a newly transplanted flower blooming in the yard downstairs, which reminded her of the jasmine. She fetched a dipper of water and went upstairs to tend to it.

While watering the plant, Lin Wei was debating whether to move it downstairs. Because it was on the second-floor balcony, she only noticed it when going up or down the stairs, or when leaving or returning home. Lately, she had been busy, and it was easy to forget about it.

If she moved it downstairs, she would see it more often and be less likely to forget.

As she was thinking this, she heard a voice from below. Looking down, she saw Liu Dan waving at her from the road.

Judging by the bright smile on her face, Lin Wei guessed the outcome was probably good. She smiled and replied, “Go inside first, I’ll be right down.”

Liu Dan responded with a “yes” and entered the house through the open back door.

In the living room, Zong Shao was opening a letter, but his mood clearly wasn’t great. His brows were tightly furrowed, and his movements were rough—he tore open the envelope impatiently, pulled out the letter, and flung it open by one corner.

Liu Dan caught the scene just in time to swallow back her words: “Comrade Zong, a letter from home.”

Who receives a letter from home and opens it like that—so rough, as if they couldn’t care less? Most people tear the envelope carefully, worried about damaging the paper inside, and read the letter slowly, full of anticipation.

Even if you didn’t look at Zong Shao’s expression, just seeing the way he handled the letter, you’d know—whoever sent it wasn’t on good terms with him.

Thinking this, Liu Dan sat quietly in the farthest corner of the sofa from Zong Shao, as silent as a chicken, waiting for Lin Wei to come downstairs.