Chapter 10 The person he wants to marry is not you

“Here, Sister Kang, look—your sister-in-law isn’t even wearing your necklace.”
Song Yiyi’s tone was lazy.
“If she doesn’t want to take off her silk scarf, she must have her own reasons. You’re really being aggressive.”

Everyone was dumbfounded.
The courtyard instantly fell so silent you could hear a pin drop.
Mainly, the scene was just too awkward.

Mother Kang exclaimed twice—”Oh dear! Oh dear!”—and hurriedly dragged Sister-in-law Kang into the house.
It turned out that the reason Kang Qiang didn’t want his wife to take off the scarf was because there were several big hickeys on her neck.
In this era, even married couples didn’t dare hold hands in public, let alone parade around with such obvious “strawberry marks.”
With so many people in the courtyard, Kang Qiang didn’t want his wife to lose face in front of his parents.

Now that things had come to this point, Kang Qiang glanced in the direction his wife had gone, then turned back to look up at Kang Ying, who was standing on the roof.
“You come down and apologize to your sister-in-law!”

Only then did Kang Ying snap out of her shock. Panic and disbelief flickered in her eyes.
“N-No, she clearly took my necklace. I won’t apologize! The necklace must still be on her!”
Her tone was frantic as she turned to Cen Bowen, speaking rapidly:
“Bowen, the necklace you gave me must still be on my sister-in-law. Make her come out! Make her come out! Search her! Yes… search her and you’ll find it.”

She seemed almost obsessed, repeating herself over and over.

“You dare?!” Kang Qiang roared back.
“Kang Ying, that’s your sister-in-law. Aren’t you afraid people will talk behind your back if you treat her like this?!”

Squatting silently in the corner all this time, Father Kang now stood up.
“Yingzi, your brother is right—that’s your sister-in-law. It’s just a necklace. How about this—Dad will give you money to buy a new one. Stop making trouble.”
He glanced behind him and added,
“This is your uncle’s house. There are a lot of people outside watching.”

Sure enough, at the gate of Battalion Commander Wang’s house, passersby kept peeking in, all with an eager look for drama.

Kang Ying shook her head like a rattle drum.
“I don’t want that—I just want my necklace! Dad, my necklace was stolen by my sister-in-law. Why is everyone siding with her? I’m the one who’s really family here—she’s just an outsider!”

Kang Qiang finally lost his temper.
He kicked over a flowerpot in the courtyard, sending shards scattering with a loud crash.
“Kang Ying, don’t be shameless! Fine! Let’s say I took your necklace. Didn’t you say you’d jump off the roof? Go on—jump! I’ll take care of your fu—”

“Kang Qiang!” Cen Bowen’s sharp voice cut him off.

But Kang Qiang, blinded by anger, no longer cared.
“Cen Bowen, so what if you’re a deputy company commander? This is our family business! I’m disciplining my disobedient sister—does the army want to interfere too? If you love meddling so much, why don’t you marry her! Then whatever she does will have nothing to do with our Kang family.”

He jabbed his finger right at Cen Bowen’s nose. The atmosphere between them was taut as a drawn bowstring.

Hearing those words, Cen Bowen instinctively looked toward Song Yiyi.
Meeting her cold, emotionless gaze, his face paled for a moment as realization dawned.

Song Yiyi bit her lip, stumbling back half a step.
Cen Bowen immediately moved toward her, trying to steady her.
“Yiyi—”

But she quickly pulled away, her voice trembling:
“Bowen-ge… are you really going to… marry Sister Kang?”

“Of course not! Didn’t we already agree—once your brother comes back and my mother arrives, our two families will meet and discuss our marriage?”
Cen Bowen’s explanation tumbled out in a rush.
His answer was so quick it was almost instinctive—and everyone present heard it clearly.

“Yiyi, you know I’m just… you know, Yingzi and I are friends. Just friends…”

Suddenly, he remembered what Song Yiyi had said yesterday—her resolute words about giving him to Kang Ying. Thinking of it now, a shiver of fear ran through him.

Song Yiyi’s lips curved faintly.
“I see, Bowen-ge.”

She looked up at Kang Ying on the roof, speaking clearly and deliberately:
“You must feel the same as I do—that Sister Kang is pitiful, and you want to help her. But this is the new society now—Bowen-ge can only marry me, one woman.
Sister Kang, why don’t you come down and properly apologize to your sister-in-law? It’s wrong to falsely accuse others.”

Then she turned her gaze back to Cen Bowen, her tone innocent:
“Bowen-ge, even if we’re friends with Sister Kang, we can’t take sides, right?”

Cen Bowen hesitated a moment, then nodded lightly.
“Mm. If she wronged Sister-in-law Kang, she should apologize.”

Up on the roof, Kang Ying felt her whole body turn ice-cold.
She had never imagined things would spiral to this point.

In her previous life…
When the necklace went missing, Song Yiyi hadn’t come here with Cen Bowen.
Later, Song Yiyi even accompanied him to the hospital to see her, expressing sympathy and offering many comforting words.
When Kang Qiang tried to enter her ward to hit her, Song Yiyi had blocked the door and stopped him.

It was because of that experience that, after they married, Cen Bowen thought Song Yiyi was being unreasonable whenever she argued—accusing her of having lost her compassion and saying she had changed.

Now, Kang Ying suddenly turned her gaze on Song Yiyi, her eyes sharp and terrifying.

Song Yiyi instinctively leaned closer to Cen Bowen.
“Sister Kang, aren’t you coming down?”

In truth, Kang Ying had originally planned to retreat from this confrontation unscathed.
After all, having lived a second life, she had already laid out her plans in advance.

“Come down and apologize to your sister-in-law!”

Kang Qiang barked again.

Kang Ying, unwilling to concede, shouted with red-rimmed eyes, “My necklace still hasn’t been found. Why are you all so sure she didn’t steal it? Bo Wen, how can you not believe me either?!”

Cen Bowen rubbed his brow, feeling a headache coming on. He took a step forward, just about to persuade Kang Ying to come down, when he felt something under his foot. He lifted his foot to look.

“Yingzi, come down. Your necklace’s been found.” Cen Bowen bent over, picked the necklace up from the ground, and held it up for Kang Ying to see.

He thought she’d drop the matter now.

But her expression only grew uglier. “It must be that she just threw it there!” Kang Ying was still accusing her sister-in-law.

Seeing this, Kang Qiang completely lost patience. “Kang Ying, I’m cutting ties with you! From now on, we are no longer siblings!”

When he finished speaking, Song Yiyi followed up with, “Sister Kang, Sister-in-law Kang has been standing on the west side from start to finish. She’s never even come over here, so how could she possibly throw the necklace here in front of so many people?”

Kang Ying finally broke down.

Kang Qiang looked at her coldly. “Kang Ying, in the past when you were being unreasonable, I always told your sister-in-law to give in to you because you were younger. But this time, you’ve gone too far. From today on, you’re moving out.”

Kang Ying stared at him in shock.

Kang Qiang finished and turned to go into the house.

Kang Ying looked to her father. “Dad, this is my home. How can he make me move out?”

Father Kang tapped the ashes from his pipe. “Yingzi, stop making trouble. Deputy Company Commander Cen is getting married, and the person he’s marrying isn’t you.”