Chapter 7

After dinner, Lu Yu boiled a pot of hot water and left it for Jiang Nian before going out.

After a long day of travel yesterday and a night on the train, where she barely slept, Jiang Nian felt uncomfortable. She took a good bath, feeling much refreshed afterward. She touched her hair and decided that, despite the pain, she would wash it tomorrow. Otherwise, it would be too uncomfortable.

After her bath, Lu Yu helped empty the bathwater. The night was still warm, with the door closed but the windows open. Lying on the bed, Jiang Nian used her hand as a fan to cool her face. The buzzing of mosquitoes in her ears and occasional bites on her arms were annoying.

The room occasionally echoed with the sound of her slapping at mosquitoes.

Scratching where she was bitten, Jiang Nian forced herself to sleep. Soon, exhausted from the sleepless train ride, she dozed off. In the middle of the night, she heard the sound of water splashing again.

Thinking she was dreaming, she sat up groggily and was about to look out the window, but then she remembered Lu Yu bathing in the yard the previous night. She quickly lay back down, barely avoiding another accidental peep.

After a while, the yard became quiet and then followed by footsteps heading to the south room. Once the door closed, Jiang Nian exhaled in relief, closing her eyes and drifting back to sleep.

The next morning, a loud horn broke the morning silence at dawn.

Frowning, Jiang Nian got up and looked out the window to see Lu Yu, dressed in his uniform, heading out.

Bitten by mosquitoes all night, she had several bumps on her neck and arms. Deciding not to go back to sleep, she got up to wash. When she went to the kitchen to make breakfast, she found a plate of stir-fried eggplant, half a bowl of pickled vegetables from Sister Feng, two steamed buns, and a bowl of porridge on the table.

Jiang Nian sighed.

The author really had given the male lead a perfect character setup!

Even so, to her, everything and everyone here still felt like part of a fictional story, just characters in a book.

Jiang Nian had just finished his breakfast and washed the dishes when Feng Mei came.

“Deputy Commander Lu’s sister-in-law, shall we go?”

“Coming.”

Jiang Nian followed Feng Mei out of the courtyard. Walking beside Feng Mei, she quietly listened to her introduction of who lived where, who did what, occasionally mentioning other neighbors. She was a typical chatterbox.

“Don’t keep your head down all the time. It’s really bad for your neck over time.”

Feng Mei, talking enthusiastically, nudged Jiang Nian with her elbow when she noticed her walking with her head down again. “You look nice when you smile. Smile more often.”

Jiang Nian: …

She didn’t want to be like this every day either, but the original owner had always behaved this way. She feared a sudden change in personality might make Lu Yu suspicious.

She nodded, “I understand.”

Then she smiled slightly at Feng Mei.

Unexpectedly, they ran into Zheng Hong again today. She was leading her son over from the opposite direction, carrying a bag of peach crisps. Walking normally, she showed no signs of having sprained her ankle at all.

Zheng Hong also saw Feng Mei and Jiang Nian. Her eyes lingered on Jiang Nian’s face for a few seconds, and she was surprised. Yesterday, Jiang Nian had her head down, looking poor and shabby, making Zheng Hong think she was an old, dark-skinned woman. Unexpectedly, she was not only fair-skinned, but also had beautiful facial features..

If someone didn’t know her, they would never guess she was a widow. They might think she was a young, unmarried girl.

Thinking about her own situation, Zheng Hong recalled how after marrying Lu Guosheng, she stayed at her parents’ home as her mother told her. She asked her mother to hide the allowance that Lu Guosheng sent home every month, saying that it was for her brother’s marriage. Zheng Hong did all the cooking and worked in the field to earn work points. Until finally, she couldn’t take it anymore and went to find Lu Guosheng. Lu Guosheng had to personally fetch her and their son to the army.

Although she no longer had to work in the fields or be exposed to the sun while living in the family quarters, her skin was only slightly better than it was two years ago and not as dark, but it was still far inferior to Jiang Nian’s skin.

From the first glance, Zheng Hong disliked Jiang Nian. After another encounter today, her dislike grew.

However, she didn’t show it on her face. She walked over with a smile and looked at Feng Mei, “Sister Feng, where are you going?”

Her voice was gentle, and she was smiling cheerfully.

Feng Mei laughed, “Isn’t this because Deputy Commander Lu’s sister-in-law is here? I’m taking her to see the private plot of land. Otherwise, they’d spend a lot of money buying vegetables every day.”

Zheng Hong smiled, “Sister Feng, you are so kind. Anyone who knows you is truly fortunate.”

Then, she looked at Jiang Nian, “Deputy Commander Lu’s sister-in-law, don’t you agree with me?”

Jiang Nian saw the contempt and mockery flash in Zheng Hong’s eyes and couldn’t help but sneer inwardly. She nodded lightly, “Yes.”

Feng Mei’s smile grew wider after hearing this, “It’s not easy being a military wife. We should help each other out. I’m not as great as you all say. Honestly, it’s you who has it harder…”

She turned to Jiang Nian and said, “You don’t know, but Captain Lu’s wife often has to handle things alone because Captain Lu is frequently away. She is more familiar with Captain Liu, so it’s normal for her to ask him for help with big or small matters. Although Captain Liu and Zheng Hong once had a relationship, that was eight years ago. It’s old news. Xu Yan often quarrels with Captain Liu because of this, which gives everyone a headache.”

Jiang Nian: …

She realized that Commander Song’s wife was also somewhat clueless and easily swayed by Zheng Hong’s flattering words.

With teary eyes and a hint of grievance, Zheng Hong said, “Sister Feng, it’s my fault. I’m causing trouble between Xu Yan and Captain Liu. My husband is often away with his troops, and since Captain Liu’s house is close to mine and we’re familiar with each other, I asked for his help.”

Jiang Nian: …

She had never seen someone so shameless.

Clearly, she was the one causing daily arguments between the couple, yet she turned it around to blame Xu Yan for making a fuss.

Jiang Nian initially didn’t want to disrupt the plot, but she couldn’t tolerate Zheng Hong’s behavior any longer.

She looked at Feng Mei, who was sympathetically comforting Zheng Hong, and said, “Sister Feng, your story reminds me of a similar situation in my village, much like the situation between Captain Lu and Captain Liu’s families.”

Feng Mei, who loved gossip, immediately became curious, “What happened?”

Zheng Hong frowned and looked at Jiang Nian, curious about what she would say.

Jiang Nian said, “There were two families in our village living opposite each other. The Li family, much like Captain Liu, often helped the wife next door because her husband worked in the mines and only came home once a month. This caused daily arguments between Li’s wife and her husband. The wife next door would call Li’s husband for help with any little thing. Initially, the neighbors blamed Li’s wife for being unreasonable…”

At this point, Jiang Nian noticed Zheng Hong sneering. She glanced at Feng Mei and heard her say, “Exactly, they’re neighbors. What’s wrong with helping each other? That Li wife is just like Xu Yan, being unreasonable.”

Jiang Nian sighed and shook her head, “Sister Feng, I thought the same at first, but then something big happened between those two families.”

Feng Mei’s eyes widened, “What happened?”

Zheng Hong’s face darkened, sensing that Jiang Nian’s next words wouldn’t be pleasant.

She was right.

“The wife next door was often alone, and Li’s husband frequently visited. Initially, no one said anything, but soon rumors spread. People said Li’s husband and the neighbor’s wife were having an affair. Some even saw Li’s husband running home naked at night after being chased out by his wife. This scandal escalated to the point where the village leader had to intervene and scold Li’s husband.”

“In the end, the village leader brought back the husband of the wife next door. When he found out, he beat his wife severely. This incident became the village’s hot topic, and the children of both families were mocked so much they couldn’t hold their heads up.”

Feng Mei’s eyes widened in shock, “How could they do that? They betrayed their spouses. That woman deserved to be beaten. She ruined another family.”

Zheng Hong’s face grew increasingly unpleasant.

Jiang Nian shook her head, her eyes clear and sincere, “I don’t know if the rumors were true, but people should avoid suspicion. Gossip can ruin lives.”

Zheng Hong gave Jiang Nian a cold glance, understanding the implied criticism. She had underestimated this widow who had lost her husband!

Jiang Nian met Zheng Hong’s eyes and saw the barely concealed anger. She smiled calmly, “Comrade Zheng Hong, I’m sorry if I said too much. I was just reminded of my village’s story and shared it without thinking. Please don’t take it to heart.”

Zheng Hong pursed her lips tightly, especially when she saw Jiang Nian acting like a good person, she wanted to throw a bag of peach cakes on her head.

It would be better to smash her to death!

Feng Mei, hearing this, turned to Zheng Hong, “Deputy Commander Lu’s sister-in-law is right. You should take it to heart. If rumors spread about you and Captain Liu, it wouldn’t just harm our regiment’s reputation but also make both of the families restless. If Captain Lu believes those rumors, it would affect even the children’s lives.”

Zheng Hong gritted her teeth in anger, but she still had to force a smile “Sister Feng is right. I’ll be more cautious in the future.”

After parting ways with Zheng Hong, Feng Mei took Jiang Nian to see the private plot of land.

On the way, Feng Mei smiled at Jiang Nian, “Deputy Commander Lu’s sister-in-law, I noticed that you are not as shy as you were yesterday.”

Jiang Nian smiled awkwardly: “Don’t be offended, Sister Feng, I’m just a little slow to warm up.”

“But from what you said earlier, I think it’s really not appropriate for Zheng Hong and Captain Liu to continue like this.” Feng Mei sighed, “I need to go back and talk to my husband Old Song. Let him have a word with Captain Liu, and tell him to stop running to Zheng Hong’s place for no reason.”

She then continued, not knowing whether she was talking to Jiang Nian or to herself, “Zheng Hong really is something. Every time she needs to fill the kitchen’s water jar, she asks Captain Liu for help. Captain Liu has fetched water for her more times than for his own house. Zheng Hong also came from the countryside, who doesn’t have the strength to carry a bucket of water? I don’t believe she can’t even manage that.”

Jiang Nian kept her head down and didn’t say more.

Sometimes, it’s best to hint at things subtly rather than saying too much because it may backfire.

When they arrived at the private plot, there were vegetables planted on both sides, with a patch of weeds in the middle.

Feng Mei explained that land was scarce in the army. So, each family was allocated only two-tenths of an acre. However, each family’s yard also had three-tenths of an acre, and they mostly grew vegetables there, leaving just a few pathways for walking.

During these times, food was scarce, and every family had many members. The largest family in the family quarters had eight people, two grandparents, two parents, and four children. They relied on the three-tenths of an acre in their yard and the two-tenths of an acre of private plot for food each year, and life was hard.

The plot had a lot of weeds. Feng Mei bent down and pulled out a handful of grass, “Pull out the weeds, turn the soil over, and plant some vegetables. With the hot weather, it won’t take long for the vegetables to grow.”

Jiang Nian also bent down and pulled out a handful of weeds, looking at the two-tenths of an acre in front of her.

Although she had lived in the city all her life, she wasn’t a stranger to growing vegetables. Her father, disliking the taste of vegetables from markets and supermarkets, had planted a vegetable garden in their backyard. Their family’s vegetables were all homegrown, and she had learned how to garden from her father.

By the time they returned from the private plot, it was almost lunchtime.

Jiang Nian washed her hands and scratched the mosquito bites, which had left several bumps. Then she went into the kitchen to wash, cut, and prepare the vegetables. She took some straw to start the fire. Then she added corn cobs and firewood once the flames were strong. It was her first time using a wood-burning stove to cook, and she found herself flustered.

Among the vegetables Lu Yu had bought yesterday were cucumbers. Jiang Nian decided to make mixed sauce noodles. She shredded the cucumbers and sprinkled them over the sauce. The aroma was enticing. Just as she finished cooking, footsteps approached outside.

The light at the kitchen door was blocked by a tall, slender figure, and a deep, strong voice came from behind, “Sister-in-law.”

**