Chapter 49: Full Belly, Time to Settle Accounts

Chen Fengying held the hand of a chubby little boy who looked about six or seven years old. He had an honest, simple face, and was sturdy in build. With a cheerful grin, he beamed at Chu Yue.

“Auntie Chu, hello!”

He looked almost like a carbon copy of Chen Fengying — even his upbeat personality was similar.

“This is my son. His name is Dazhuang,” Chen Fengying patted Dazhuang’s shoulder and then pointed at Lu Yuanbao. “Dazhuang, this is Yuanbao. He’s younger than you, so from now on, he’s your little brother. You have to take good care of your brother and not let bad people bully him, understand?”

“Got it, Mom.”

Dazhuang walked over to Lu Yuanbao and greeted him proactively.

Meanwhile, Chen Fengying stepped closer to Chu Yue, lowered her voice, and whispered near her ear,
“Chu girl, I heard about what happened yesterday — weren’t those two brats from Zheng Yue’e’s family bullying Yuanbao? Damn it! Two kids ganging up on one, and Zheng Yue’e didn’t even step in. But don’t worry — let Yuanbao play with Dazhuang from now on. My Dazhuang may not be the best at studying, but when it comes to strength, he’s more than enough!”

She had brought her son over today exactly for this reason — to let the two boys get familiar with each other, so they could help one another in the future.

“Thank you, Sister-in-law Chen. I’ll be counting on you to look out for Yuanbao,” Chu Yue accepted this help graciously. And seeing that Dazhuang was clearly a kind and straightforward child, she felt comfortable letting Lu Yuanbao spend time with him.

“What are you talking about, don’t mention it! We all live in the same compound — it’s no big deal,” Chen Fengying waved her hand, grinning ear to ear. Then she leaned in again and whispered,
“I heard everything last night — Zheng Yue’e’s man gave those kids a beating, huh? The crying was pitiful… But honestly, those two little brats had it coming. That beating was well deserved!”

Chu Yue thought the same. Lu Zhanlin didn’t give polite lip service to stop Zhao Wenwu when he went to discipline the kids — he waited until they were thoroughly dealt with before speaking up. Well done!

“Sister-in-law Chen, since you’re here, can I trouble you with one more thing?”

“Of course — whatever it is, just say it.”

“I want to go around the compound to meet people and also hand out some wedding candies. Zhanlin and I are married now — we didn’t hold a wedding banquet, but I can’t skip out on the candies.”

As Chu Yue spoke, she wore a sweet smile on her face. Her cheeks were fair with a faint blush — she looked just like a shy young bride.

Chen Fengying saw her like this and grew even more fond of her — it was like gaining a soft and obedient younger sister she wanted to protect. She completely forgot that this same Chu Yue had once knocked out Li Jinhua with a single move.

Chen Fengying agreed right away,
“Sure! Bring the candies, I’ll take you around and introduce you.”

Chu Yue immediately thanked her, and when she lowered her gaze, a sly glint flashed through her eyes.

She was indeed going to hand out wedding candies —
But more importantly… she had eaten her fill and was now ready to settle the score!

She wasn’t about to let Li Jinhua, who had secretly encouraged the two kids to bully Lu Yuanbao, get away with it so easily.

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Not long after—

“That’s our Commander Lu’s wife — her name’s Chu Yue. And that’s Commander Lu’s son, Yuanbao. What a lovely name — sounds prosperous already…”

“Now that we’ve met, we’re neighbors. Everyone, please look out for them…”

“She’s from Commander Lu’s family — just arrived a few days ago. And she already saved Wang Chunling’s life! Delivered her baby too! Chu girl is seriously impressive…”

With Chen Fengying leading the way, Chu Yue was spared a lot of trouble.

She didn’t need to say a word—just standing there smiling was enough. Her features naturally gave off the vibe of a clean, obedient student. She was quite young by the compound’s standards, and with Lu Zhanlin’s status, all the army wives treated her warmly and politely.

“So young! Is she even twenty yet? Tsk tsk, Commander Lu sure is robbing the cradle!”

“The new wife is a real beauty! Commander Lu is one lucky man—got himself a wife and a kid in one go. No wonder he brought her home last night.”

“I heard about the delivery too. Girl, you’re something else! They even talked about you at the meeting yesterday. Sister Song publicly praised you—said you were brave and took the lead!”

Chu Yue didn’t hand out the wedding candies herself. Instead, she gave them to Lu Yuanbao, who held the colorful sweets in his small hands and passed them out, sweetly calling out “Auntie” and “Aunt.”

This also helped Lu Yuanbao get to know the neighbors and better integrate into life within the compound.

The brightly wrapped candies made their way from house to house.

Just yesterday, some of these same women had been gossiping that Chu Yue was wasteful and extravagant—a good-for-nothing spendthrift. But now, one by one, their attitudes changed.

Many, hearing the commotion outside, rushed out early, craning their necks to see what was going on, their eyes full of anticipation, impatiently waiting for their turn.

After all, it was wedding candy! Real candy!

In those times, eating sweets was a rare treat, and who wouldn’t want a taste of something sugary—especially when it was free?

What’s more, Chu Yue was generous. She handed out handfuls of candy, not like others who’d toss in two or three candies mixed with a pile of sunflower seeds that would be gone in seconds.

“Hey, hey! What’s going on here? Handing out candy?”

Leng Jinhua came out a bit late, but the moment she saw what was happening, she immediately asked with greedy eyes glinting from her slanted, sharp-edged gaze.

One of the army wives scoffed when she saw her,

“Oh please, Granny Leng—don’t think you’re getting any. That’s Commander Lu and his new wife’s wedding candy. What’s it got to do with you? Don’t think we didn’t hear all the nasty things you were saying these past few days. Heh.”

After Wang Chunling’s delivery, Leng Jinhua had been fuming—her precious grandson ended up being “taken” by some no-name girl. She’d been throwing tantrums at home, glaring and yelling at the postpartum mother, and even went around the compound blaming Chu Yue for assisting in the delivery and causing her grandson to be “lost.”

She dumped all the blame on Chu Yue.

The army wives had already had enough of Leng Jinhua’s nonsense, and no one took her seriously anymore. She wasn’t even embarrassed about the things she’d said—who knew how many times she’d cursed Chu Yue behind her back.

So from Chu Yue’s perspective, why would she willingly give wedding candy to someone like that?

But Leng Jinhua had no sense of shame. When she realized she wasn’t getting any, she got angry instead.

“Hmph! We all live in the same compound! Why can you all get candy, but not me? I demand my share!”

With arms crossed, she planted herself firmly at the entrance, waiting for Chu Yue and her family to come by her house.

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Meanwhile…

Chen Fengying noticed Leng Jinhua loitering at the gate early on. She tugged at Chu Yue’s sleeve and glanced sideways.

“Chu girl, don’t go over there. That old hag’s been badmouthing you nonstop lately. She’s said awful things. Your candy—better to give it to a dog than to her!”

Chu Yue glanced in Leng Jinhua’s direction, the corners of her lips curving into a mocking smirk.

“Sister Chen, if I don’t go over, doesn’t that mean I’ve lost? Besides, it’s not like she’s the only one in the house—there’s still Wang Chunling and the baby. I delivered that baby with my own hands. We share a bond. I should at least check in.”

With that, Chu Yue led the way and walked directly toward Leng Jinhua.