Chapter 21: Hostility

Once could be accidental, but a second time—that’s intentional.

Although Ran Jinnian didn’t know why they were doing this, it was clear that these two women were targeting her.

She immediately shouted loudly, “What are you doing? Why are you splashing water on me? You’ve soaked my clothes!”

Yu Xiuzhi, seeing her speak, pretended not to understand. “Who splashed water on you? Don’t talk nonsense.”

At this moment, everyone was washing clothes and hadn’t noticed Yu Xiuzhi’s little maneuver, which was why she dared to act like that.

“This is what happens when you wash clothes in the river.”

“It’s normal for some water to splash onto you while washing. Doesn’t mean someone intentionally poured it on you.”

Seeing others defending her, Yu Xiuzhi huffed. “Exactly.”

Ran Jinnian knew Yu Xiuzhi was new and not familiar with these people, so naturally no one would defend her.

Yu Xiuzhi huffed again and continued washing.

Ran Jinnian didn’t intend to let her get away with it. She picked up a basin of water and splashed it over her.

Yu Xiuzhi, who was just feeling proud of herself, suddenly got drenched: “Ah! What are you doing?!”

The military wives washing clothes by the river…!!

They hadn’t expected the new girl, Ran Jinnian, to have such a temper—she acted immediately.

“Sorry, I didn’t see you,” Ran Jinnian said calmly.

Yu Xiuzhi, furious, pointed at her. “You did that on purpose!”

“Are you hard of hearing? I said it wasn’t on purpose,” Ran Jinnian said, looking innocent.

Yu Xiuzhi: “Pouring water all over me—how is that not on purpose?”

Ran Jinnian blinked. “This basin wasn’t clean. I rinsed it and poured it without paying attention to you for a moment.”

Yu Xiuzhi: “…….”

Can she really make up excuses like this?

Everyone else: “…….”

Really… that’s plausible?

“You…” Yu Xiuzhi was too angry to even speak, pointing at Ran Jinnian.

Ran Jinnian ignored her entirely and threw the clothes into the basin before heading home.

“You, you stop right there!”

Yu Xiuzhi wanted to chase her, but she was on the opposite side of the river and couldn’t catch up immediately.

“Why provoke her? Her husband is the cold-faced Yama of the military district.”

“Colonel Lu has a short temper, and his wife is even more fiery.”

“Better not mess with this young couple.”

The military wives whispered among themselves.

Yu Xiuzhi stomped her foot in anger.

Before Ran Jinnian could even get home, she ran into Zhou Hongying and Qin Shulan, who were returning from town with supplies.

“Jinnian, why are you a bit wet? Are you okay?” Zhou Hongying asked, noticing her damp clothes.

Ran Jinnian felt extremely aggrieved. “I was washing clothes by the river, and one of the other wives deliberately splashed water on me.”

“Ah!” Both women were surprised. “Are you sure it wasn’t a mistake?”

“No, they did it on purpose,” Ran Jinnian replied confidently.

Zhou Hongying thought for a moment. “Do you know who they are?”

“No, I don’t. This is my first time meeting them. But she was tall and thin, wearing black cloth pants and black cloth shoes, with a thick black braid,” Ran Jinnian roughly described her appearance.

Zhou Hongying and Qin Shulan exchanged glances and immediately knew who she meant.

Ran Jinnian asked, “Sisters, you know her?”

“Little Ran, your clothes are wet. Go change into something dry,” Qin Shulan didn’t answer directly.

Ran Jinnian sensed something but didn’t ask further.

Zhou Hongying, thinking about it, took a piece of pork fat from her basket. “Jinnian, this is the fat you asked me to bring.”

“Thank you, Sister Zhou. How much?” Ran Jinnian accepted it.

Zhou Hongying said, “One meat coupon, plus seventy cents.”

“All right, I’ll pay you later, Sister Zhou.” Ran Jinnian then remembered something: “Since you bought meat for me, I probably can’t buy any more this month.”

Meat purchases were limited and could not be made freely.

Zhou Hongying smiled. “If you hadn’t asked, I wouldn’t have bought it anyway. Go change quickly; don’t catch a chill.”

“Okay.”

Ran Jinnian went home, changed into a dry set of clothes, and hung up the wet ones. She drank a box of warm milk, then took out some receipts and money from her space, paused for a moment, and also took out some dried noodles before leaving again.

“Sister Zhou, here are the meat coupon and seventy cents,” Ran Jinnian said as she arrived.

Zhou Hongying was washing her youngest son’s face. She wiped her hands and took them, noticing the bag of dried noodles as well. “What’s this for?”

“Sister, this is homemade from my family. Make some soup for the kids to try.”

“You’re too polite. Just take it.” Zhou Hongying pushed it toward her.

Ran Jinnian didn’t take it. “Sister, I still need to go to the hospital.”

“Ah, what’s wrong?” Zhou Hongying was startled.

Ran Jinnian’s voice was soft. “I’m feeling a bit unwell. I want to go to the hospital and check.”

“You’ll be fine. I’ll go with you.” Zhou Hongying quickly set down her work and supported her.

She called to the neighbor, “Shulan, can you watch the kids for me?”

“All right.”

Qin Shulan went inside.

“Thank you, Sister Zhou,” Ran Jinnian said, feigning dependence. Once they stepped outside, a few familiar military families asked, “Hongying, where are you two going?”

“Jinnian isn’t feeling well. I’m taking her to the hospital,” Zhou Hongying replied.

Ran Jinnian added deliberately, “While washing clothes earlier, I got a bit of a fright, and now my stomach feels uncomfortable.”

They murmured among themselves.

“Colonel Lu’s wife is so delicate. Washing clothes makes her unwell?”

“She doesn’t look like she can handle hardship. Marrying a wife like this is a nightmare.”

“Colonel Lu is doomed.”

In that era, everyone admired women who could endure hardship and work hard.

At that moment, Yu Xiuzhi, accompanied by a few women, rushed to the courtyard and pounded heavily on the door.

“Come out! I want to see you!”

Qin Shulan, seeing Yu Xiuzhi knocking, said, “Yu Xiuzhi, what are you doing?”

“I’m looking for Colonel Lu’s wife. She splashed water on me earlier!” Yu Xiuzhi had changed before coming.

Qin Shulan glanced at her. “Ran Jinnian isn’t feeling well. She went to the hospital.”

Yu Xiuzhi, full of anger, froze. “What did you say?”

Qin Shulan, carrying Zhou Hongying’s youngest, rolled her eyes. “Are your ears not working? She went to the hospital.”

Only then did Yu Xiuzhi remember Ran Jinnian was heavily pregnant.

But thinking further, since she hadn’t done much, even if the baby was slightly disturbed, it wasn’t her fault.

Yu Xiuzhi’s anger subsided somewhat. “We’ll see her later.”

Military District Hospital

Doctor Gao looked over the report. “You stirred up some fetal movement. You need to rest properly.”

“Doctor, it’s nothing serious, right?” Ran Jinnian’s face was anxious.

Seeing her frightened, Doctor Gao softened his tone. “Rest at home and don’t get angry. You’ll recover soon.”