Chapter 4: Blocking the Marriage Report

Lin Yuyao laughed, “Oh, Auntie, you’ve really misunderstood. You told me to knock on the door, and I did. When I opened it, they were sitting on opposite sides of the table, not doing anything inappropriate.”

The auntie and those around her muttered to themselves, casting unfriendly looks in her direction.

Lu Jiangting couldn’t stand the looks or the whispers any longer. He grabbed Lin Yuyao’s arm and pulled her away.

He dragged her all the way out of the communal building, not letting go until they reached the roadside near his bicycle. Lin Yuyao forcefully shook his hand off.

“Why are you pulling so hard? Now do you believe me? I’ve already said it—those weren’t my words.”

Lu Jiangting replied, “Those old men and women, with nothing better to do, love to spread gossip. Do you really believe what they say?”

“I don’t believe it. I’ve never believed it. But does belief matter? What matters is that rumors can ruin lives. Can you stop people from gossiping?”

“A gentleman lives righteously and openly. I have a clear conscience towards Jianjun and myself. What others say is none of my concern—I can’t control their mouths. Let them say whatever they want.”

Well said!

Lin Yuyao almost wanted to give him a thumbs up.

“So why did you pull me away earlier? If you’re so righteous, why didn’t you say all that to the old folks?”

Lu Jiangting: “…”

Unable to argue with Lin Yuyao, he changed the subject. “Why did you come to the city?”

“We’re about to get married, right? I came to buy my dowry. But now, it’s pointless—the money’s gone, and so is the wedding.”

Lu Jiangting opened his mouth, but no words came out.

Lin Yuyao pushed her bicycle, walking ahead, while Lu Jiangting silently followed behind her.

After walking for quite a while, Lin Yuyao suddenly heard him say, “I’m sorry.”

Huh?

She thought she had misheard him.

“What did you say?”

Lu Jiangting: “…”

He had only the courage to say it once; there was no way he could say it again.

“I’ll head back first. I didn’t ride a bike today, and our villages aren’t on the same route, so I won’t be escorting you.”

Their villages were next to each other, just two or three li apart. How could that be “not on the same route”?

Oh, no—they really weren’t on the same path.

Not today, not tomorrow, and in the future… they would never walk the same path again.

…

Lin Yuyao didn’t head straight home but instead went to the post office to make a call to their organization.

She remembered that it usually took about ten to fifteen days for a letter to reach Lu Jiangting’s unit.

It had been about thirteen days since Lu Jiangting had mailed out his marriage report. She wasn’t sure if she still had time.

After the transfer, the call quickly connected.

Lin Yuyao introduced herself directly, saying that she was Lu Jiangting’s fiancée, and asked the person on the other end about the status of their marriage report.

The report was sitting right on their desk.

“We received it, just yesterday. Oh, I was planning to submit it on Monday. But if you’re in a hurry, Comrade Xiao Lin, I can run it up today.”

Hearing that it hadn’t been submitted yet, Lin Yuyao breathed a sigh of relief.

Military marriages were notoriously difficult to dissolve. If it had been sent up already, it would have caused a lot of trouble.

“No, I’m not in a rush. It’s just… Comrade, could you send the report back to me?”

“Hmm? Send it back? Why?”

Lin Yuyao deliberately paused before speaking again, her voice carrying a hint of emotion, “It’s just… we don’t have enough money to get married right now.”

“Ah? Did something happen at home? How much are you short?”

Lin Yuyao: “…”

“Comrade Xiao Lin, don’t worry. If you’re short on money, we can figure something out. Nothing should delay your wedding. Jiangting already took his wedding leave, and he can only take it once.”

“It’s not just about the money. Originally, we had enough, but… Jiangting lent it to someone else.”

“What? That Lu Jiangting, how could he lend out the money meant for your wedding? When he gets back, I’ll give him a talking-to. You should go ahead with the wedding—it can’t be delayed.”

Lin Yuyao hesitated, then stammered, “Comrade, I… I don’t want to marry him right now.”

“……”

“Why not?”

“He lent the money to a female comrade to open a hair salon, including the dowry my parents gave me. I feel like, in his heart, our wedding is less important than her opening a salon. I have to teach him a lesson, or else he won’t take me seriously in the future. If he treats other women better than me, how am I supposed to live the rest of my life?”

She didn’t speak too harshly because she knew that some soldiers were a bit simple-minded.

If you told them you had a problem, they would be extremely loyal and try to solve it for you.

After Lin Yuyao explained the situation, the person on the other end of the phone got quite upset as well. After grumbling a few curses, they said angrily, “Alright, let’s teach this clueless boy a lesson. He can’t even figure out if a female comrade is more important or his own wedding. I think he’s lost his mind.”

Lin Yuyao was moved to tears. “Comrade, thank you so much. Could you send the documents directly to me?”

“Sure, I’ll send all the materials back to you. It’s nothing, don’t worry about it. I’ll mail them today. You can use them to pressure him—let’s see if he chooses you or the female comrade outside. That foolish boy doesn’t know his priorities.”

After giving her address and hanging up the phone, Lin Yuyao paid the fees and finally felt at ease as she headed home.

When her mother, Ye Lian, saw her coming back empty-handed, she asked, “Weren’t you going to buy red bedding? Why are you coming back empty-handed?”

With reddened eyes, Lin Yuyao parked her bicycle to the side and turned to head straight into the house.

Ye Lian, not understanding the situation, followed her inside.

“What’s wrong? Tell your mother.”

There were too many people in the courtyard, and Lin Yuyao didn’t want to embarrass herself.

Once they were inside, Lin Yuyao hugged her mother and began to cry.

“Mom…”

The dream had felt so real, as if she had lived an entire lifetime within it. The emotions of two lifetimes weighed on her, and she couldn’t stop sobbing.

“Mom!”

In the dream, she had shouldered the burden of Lu Jiangting’s family.

A sickly father, a blind mother, Lu Jiangting and his two sisters who didn’t care about the family at all.

Plus, there was a constantly ill little girl. The weight of life’s hardships had pressed down on her.

She had once been her parents’ cherished youngest daughter, growing up pampered and without ever having suffered.

After marrying Lu Jiangting, it felt like she had suffered enough for eight lifetimes.

There were moments when she thought about getting a divorce.

But back then, almost no one got divorced—especially in a military marriage. Lu Jiangting didn’t agree, and he stayed in the army until his retirement.

She thought that after her parents had passed and her daughter had grown up, she had survived the hardest times. She didn’t want to leave the marriage just when she was finally supposed to enjoy life.

Who could have known that the real suffering would only begin after Lu Jiangting retired?

The hardships of half a lifetime hadn’t crushed her, but Fang Qing moving into their home had.

The two of them exchanged flirtatious glances, and Lu Jiangting kept belittling her. Her daughter’s betrayal was the final straw that broke the camel’s back.

In the end, she died from sheer exhaustion—mentally and emotionally drained.

In the dream, her parents, seeing how hard she was working, had done everything they could to help her.

Her mind was filled with the image of her aging parents coming to help with the farm work because they couldn’t bear to see her struggle.

Thinking about all this, how could she not cry?

But her crying now frightened her parents.

Her father, Lin Dawei, who heard her sobbing, came into the room as well.

“What’s wrong, daughter? If someone bullied you, tell me. Don’t cry yourself sick.”