Chapter 22

Jiang Manyue looked aggrieved. “I didn’t even have time to explain before you started hitting me, Mom!”

Miao Xianghua quickly apologized and gently patted her daughter to soothe her. Once she’d calmed Jiang Manyue down, she sighed and said, “Your mother-in-law is really generous, giving you that much money and food coupons just for cooking.”

Jiang Manyue replied nonchalantly, “Lu Lin gets a high stipend. My mother-in-law has money, and I’m her daughter-in-law—why would she be stingy with me?”

Miao Xianghua tapped her forehead. “You really married into a good family. Your mother-in-law is kind and generous, and your father-in-law doesn’t meddle in anything. You’d better cherish it. Have a child with Lu Lin soon—then your place as a military officer’s wife will be even more secure.”

Jiang Manyue immediately got a headache hearing the baby topic again.

“Having a kid isn’t just up to me, is it? What’s the point of rushing me? Lu Lin isn’t even home once a year. How am I supposed to have a baby—by magic?”

Although she hadn’t seriously thought about having a child, it didn’t stop her from pushing the responsibility onto Lu Lin. He was the one always away, after all—no baby? His fault.

Miao Xianghua sighed again. “This Lu family really is good, but Lu Lin’s always away. When are you two ever going to have a kid?”

Feeling like the topic was endless, Jiang Manyue hurriedly started rambling to distract her.

“Mom, Lu Lin being busy just means the higher-ups value him. We can’t be the reason he falls behind, right? If he keeps coming home all the time, what will the leaders think? That would kill his chances of promotion. Then how can I be a proper officer’s wife?”

Miao Xianghua thought that made sense and could only sigh inwardly. At this rate, when would she ever get to hold a grandchild?

Having successfully talked her mother around, Jiang Manyue didn’t linger. She urged Miao Xianghua to go find her third sister-in-law while she herself headed off to Liu’s courtyard.

At Liu’s courtyard, a few intellectuals were tidying up their rooms. When Jiang Manyue arrived, they made no move to invite her in.

“This comrade, we’ve just arrived and haven’t cleaned up yet, so we won’t invite you in. Maybe next time,” said the oldest among them, politely declining Jiang Manyue’s request to look around.

Jiang Manyue didn’t mind. Since they’d said that, she figured she might as well leave—no point sticking around and making people uncomfortable.

Just as she was about to leave, someone rushed out urgently. “Zhenyi’s fever is so bad she’s talking nonsense now! Cold compresses aren’t helping at all!”

Jiang Manyue immediately stopped and turned back toward the courtyard. “I have fever medicine. If you need it, I can go get it from home.”

The group hesitated. They did need fever medicine badly, but they didn’t know Jiang Manyue—only that she was from this village. They weren’t sure whether they should accept her help.

“Mr. Zhang! This is no time to hesitate! If Zhenyi keeps burning up like this, she could die!”

The man who had run out earlier now turned to Jiang Manyue, his tone urgent and pleading. “Comrade, I’m Xu Liqun. We’ve just arrived in the village, and although we have little to offer in return, if you need anything in the future, we’ll do our best to help. Please, could you bring the medicine?”

Before he even finished speaking, Jiang Manyue had already turned to run. “Don’t worry, Comrade Xu! I’ll be right back!”

Xu Liqun shouted a loud thank you after her before rushing back into the house to tend to the sick woman.

The others exchanged looks, and finally, the oldest man sighed. “That comrade meant well. Let’s not overthink this. Xu Liqun is right—if she ever needs help in the future, we just do our best.”

Not long after, Jiang Manyue returned.

She hadn’t run far—just found a quiet place to enter her secret storage space, where she grabbed a few fever-reducing pills and some antibiotics from her medicine shelf.

She didn’t know exactly what illness the girl had, but combining antipyretics and antibiotics was usually a safe bet.

The older man accepted the medicine from her and handed it off to someone else to bring to the sickroom. He then, somewhat embarrassed, invited Jiang Manyue to sit in the barely cleaned main hall.

“We haven’t cleaned up yet, and we don’t have any cups or bowls. We’ve only been using the ones we brought ourselves, so we can’t even offer you a drink. I’m really sorry.”

Jiang Manyue shook her head, indicating it was no big deal. She hadn’t come here for refreshments anyway. And given how newly arrived they were, it was understandable they had nothing prepared.

“We don’t know your name yet, Comrade. I’m Zhang Chengji. These are Yu Zimo, Hao Yuanming, Xiao Cheng, Wu Yongyuan, and you met Xu Liqun earlier. The one who’s ill is our comrade Tang Zhenyi.”

In truth, these people were all professors and students from a university in Beijing, but Zhang Chengji didn’t reveal that—he only introduced their names.

Jiang Manyue had already guessed they were teacher and students from how Xu Liqun addressed Zhang as “teacher,” but since they didn’t mention it, she had no intention of prying.

After all, this was their first meeting, and if they didn’t want to share details, they must have their reasons. No point being nosy and asking things they clearly preferred to keep private.

“I’m Jiang Manyue. Both my maiden and married families are from this village. I was just curious, so I came to take a look. It was thoughtless of me—I didn’t consider that you all haven’t settled in yet.”

Zhang Chengji gave a wry smile. “If you hadn’t come out of curiosity, our comrade might have been in serious danger.”

Jiang Manyue didn’t ask how Tang Zhenyi had fallen ill. She simply offered a few words of comfort to Zhang Chengji. Noticing that everyone’s spirits were low, she didn’t linger and got up to leave.

“The medicine I brought is enough for three doses. I’ll come by again tomorrow afternoon to check in. If you need more, I’ll bring it. You’re all intellectuals here to support our village, and as a local, it’s only right that I help you get settled so you can contribute to the team as soon as possible.”

Her words were well put, and Zhang Chengji and the others were quite touched by her helpfulness and selflessness.

After a few more pleasantries, Jiang Manyue finally left the courtyard.

What she didn’t expect, though, was that not long after she left, the village chief also came by. When he learned that she had brought medicine and helped resolve an urgent situation for the intellectuals, he made a public announcement before the end of the workday.

In front of the whole team, he held Jiang Manyue up as an example, emphasizing that locals and intellectuals should support one another and contribute to the collective.

The village chief spoke passionately—but the villagers were stunned. With Jiang Manyue’s usual temper, they thought it was a miracle she hadn’t caused trouble for the newcomers—yet here she was being praised for helpfulness and selfless contribution?