Chapter 46.2

They held hands for about two minutes before someone approached them. Xu Zhao quickly let go of her hand, his expression stern and serious.

Jiang Suihan was stunned for a second, then got angry.

This was the first time someone had let go of her hand. Xu Zhao, you’ve got guts!

When Wang Liying saw Xu Zhao and Jiang Suihan, her expression changed slightly. She looked embarrassed. Bad luck—she ran into the very people she was trying to avoid.

Yesterday at noon, she had a big argument with her younger sister, questioning whether the rumors were true.

Wang Lijuan’s face was ashen. She never expected that there would be others present at the time, witnessing the entire scene, and spreading it throughout the entire family compound. Everyone knows about it now.

She was both embarrassed and furious, wishing she could find the person who ruined her reputation and give them a good beating to vent her anger.

Faced with her elder sister’s disappointed gaze, Wang Lijuan swallowed nervously, her mind racing to figure out what to say to make her sister believe her.

She definitely couldn’t tell the truth. Even if she did, no one would believe such an absurd story.

Tears welled up in her eyes as she looked at her sister. “It’s not like that, sister. Do you not believe me either?”

Wang Liying’s expression was grim. When she came back and heard people spreading rumors about their younger sister, she almost lost her temper and wanted to tear those people’s mouths apart.

Fearing the situation would escalate and cause more trouble, she suppressed her anger and immediately confronted her sister at home: “Fine, then tell me, do you have feelings for Xu Zhao?”

Wang Lijuan wasn’t foolish, she would never admit it. She quickly denied it: “How could that be? Even if I were confused, I wouldn’t fall for a married man. I have some self-respect!”

“Sister, listen to me. It’s not what you’ve heard. That day, I happened to run into Xu Zhao, and I remembered you saying that his family has connections. I was worried he might hold a grudge against our family because of the kids’ fight, which could affect my Brother-in-law’s career. So, I wanted to smooth things over between our families. You know the only skill I have is making hawthorn cake, so I thought I’d give some to the Xu family as an apology.”

She continued with a tone of grievance: “I didn’t know someone was eavesdropping and then spread the story, making it worse. I’m really wronged. Maybe I was too nervous at the time and didn’t speak carefully, causing others to misunderstand. I had never met Xu Zhao before, that was our first meeting. How could I have feelings for him?”

Wang Liying’s expression softened a bit: “Regardless, you’re an unmarried girl, and chasing after a man like that invites gossip. You deserved it. You need to be more sensible in the future. Do you hear me?”

Wang Liying was reluctantly convinced, but a seed of doubt remained in her heart.

Xu Zhao was exceptional in every way. It was understandable that her sister, who had rarely seen any decent men in their village, might develop feelings for someone as good as him.

But no matter how exceptional he was, he belonged to someone else. They needed to find a suitable match for her sister quickly.

Wang Lijuan sneaked a glance at her sister’s face. It wasn’t as harsh as before, and she let out a sigh of relief. Thankfully, she had managed to talk her way out of it. She would have to be more cautious in the future.

She looked troubled and complained with a tone of grievance: ” Sister, rumors about me are flying all over the compound. People are pointing fingers at me. I’m too embarrassed to go out.”

Wang Liying knew this was a tricky situation. You couldn’t just go around explaining it was false. Even if people believed it, she didn’t have the face to do so.

“Stay home for a while. Don’t go out. Once some time passes and things cool down, people will stop talking.”

Wang Lijuan’s face turned green. How long would that take? And the primary school was about to start soon. If she got the teaching job, she’d have to pass through the compound every day. Those sharp-tongued women would surely gossip even more.

For now, she couldn’t think of a better solution. Her face was full of regret, wishing she hadn’t messed things up in a moment of impulsiveness.

If she had known, she wouldn’t have tested Xu Zhao. She should have waited patiently. In six months, after Jiang Suihan passed away, she could have taken advantage of Xu Zhao’s grief to become the commander’s wife with ease.

Jiang Suihan walked on without looking at Wang Liying, not even sparing her a glance.

Since things had already turned sour, she didn’t want to make things worse for herself.

Wang Liying watched her leave, her face growing even more sullen.

There was no one on the road at this time. Jiang Suihan walked with her head down, and Xu Zhao reached out to grab her hand, but she avoided it.

Oh no, she’s definitely angry.

“I didn’t mean to shake you off earlier. Someone was there, and I didn’t want to cause any misunderstandings.”

Jiang Suihan glanced at him coldly. “Oh.”

Xu Zhao asked, “Are you mad?”

Jiang Suihan replied, “No.”

Xu Zhao tried to grab her hand again, but she avoided him once more.

Jiang Suihan stopped and turned to him. “Why do you always think I’m mad? Do I have such a bad temper?”

She wasn’t someone who got angry for no reason, but his earlier action had hurt her feelings.

Xu Zhao moved closer to her, lowering his voice to coax her, “Who’s this pretty and gentle little fairy? Oh, she’s mine.”

Seeing his reddening ears, Jiang Suihan tried hard to suppress her smile. “I’m not yours.”

His sweet talk was becoming more and more natural. He used to be so composed.

Xu Zhao quickly grabbed her hand, trying to stay calm. “You are mine. It’s already on the household registry.”

Jiang Suihan tried to pull her hand back but failed. She gave him a sidelong glance, her tone dripping with sarcasm: “Weren’t you so tough just now? What? Have you changed your mind?”

Xu Zhao thought it was more urgent to make her happy than to save face. He didn’t want to spend another night sharing a room with his brother-in-law. At most, they’d tease him a bit. It wouldn’t hurt.

Once he figured it out, he thickened his skin and said, “You’re right.”

Jiang Suihan’s eyes curved into a smile as she warned him, “If you dare shake me off again, you’ll be sleeping in Lele’s room for half a month.”

Xu Zhao was horrified. “I don’t agree.”

Jiang Suihan made the final decision: “In this house, I make the rules. You said so yourself.”

Realizing he had trapped himself, Xu Zhao was speechless.

Someone saw the two of them holding hands on the street, their eyes widening as they whispered to each other. The older ones blushed, thinking how these young people, being so shamelessly affectionate in broad daylight, didn’t have the decency to keep it private.

Some suspected that Xu Zhao and Jiang Suihan held hands so brazenly to silence the rumors, as if to show everyone that their relationship was strong, and to deter anyone with intentions of coming between them.

Everyone shared the same instinct to gossip, and they all thought of Wang Lijuan at the same time, eager to see her reaction to this news.

“Stop right there!” Wang Liying called out to He Shuiqing, glaring at her with hostility.

He Shuiqing felt a bit guilty and asked, “What do you want?”

Wang Liying grabbed He Shuiqing’s arm, her eyes blazing with anger. “You have the nerve to ask what I want? Don’t you know what you’ve done? I’ve always considered you a friend and shared every good thing with you. How could you repay me like this?”

She felt utterly betrayed, and her anger surged uncontrollably.

He Shuiqing pried Wang Liying’s hand off her arm, rubbing it where the grip had left a mark. It must be red now. Avoiding eye contact, she stammered, “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I have an appointment, so I need to leave.”

But Wang Liying blocked her path. She wasn’t going to let He Shuiqing leave until this matter was settled. She couldn’t swallow this injustice.

“Don’t pretend. I know everything. You spread those rumors, stirring up trouble. What did my little sister ever do to you? How could you slander her like that? She’s an unmarried girl, and now you’ve tarnished her reputation with such nasty rumors. How do you expect her to show her face in public? Do you want to ruin her chances of getting married?”

After a long search, Wang Liying had finally traced the source of the gossip. She had assumed it was the usual chatter from the nosy residents of the compound. But to her shock and fury, it was He Shuiqing.

She couldn’t recall having any conflicts with He Shuiqing; they had always gotten along well. Wang Liying couldn’t understand why He Shuiqing would want to harm her family like this.

He Shuiqing, feeling guilty, saw the fierce look in Wang Liying’s eyes and stubbornly said, “I didn’t say much. If you don’t want people to know, then don’t do it in the first place. Your sister did those things, so she should be prepared for the consequences. Xu Zhao is already married, but she still wanted to cling to him, acting all coy and even making him hawthorn cakes with her own hands. You tell me, is that something an unmarried girl should be doing?”

When she first witnessed the scene, she rushed home, abandoning her cooking to immediately gossip about what she saw, exaggerating every detail. The residents of the compound loved a juicy story, and by the end of the night, nearly everyone knew about it.

Now, she was filled with regret, worried that the Wang sisters would confront her. She had been avoiding them for days, but today, luck wasn’t on her side. She ran straight into Wang Liying and got caught.

Wang Liying couldn’t tolerate anyone bad-mouthing her sister. Her anger was about to explode, and her face turned dark as she clenched her teeth, saying, “My sister is a decent, innocent girl. How could she be interested in a married man she’s only met once? Stop making things up and blaming my sister for things she hasn’t done. You must apologize, and do it in front of everyone. If you don’t, I’ll go to the army and report this slander to the authorities. I’ll make sure they know how much damage you’ve caused my family.”

Initially, Wang Liying had planned to quietly wait for the rumors to die down before confronting He Shuiqing, but she couldn’t hold back her anger anymore.

Good people often get taken advantage of. If she didn’t show her strength, people might think she was weak.

When He Shuiqing heard that Wang Liying was threatening to go to the army authorities, she panicked. If this reached the army, she would be in big trouble as the instigator. There was no way she would escape unscathed.

Last year, there was a case where a family member spread false rumors. When the victim’s family found out, a huge fight broke out, creating a big scandal. The army leaders were furious and forced the person who spread the rumors to apologize publicly, issuing a formal reprimand to the entire compound. It was utterly humiliating.

He Shuiqing didn’t want to end up like that, so she quickly tried to appease Wang Liying. “Come on, there’s no need to take this to the army. The leaders are busy and don’t have time to deal with our petty issues. Let’s not waste their time. I’ll apologize right now. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have spread those rumors. Is that good enough?”

She knew when to back down, and an apology was a small price to pay. After all, she was poor but not prideful.

Wang Liying was both angry and amused by He Shuiqing’s shameless apology. But what else could she do? She got the apology she wanted, so what more could she demand?

Still, she felt stuck, unable to fully vent her anger or let it go. The frustration was suffocating.

Sensing an opportunity to escape, He Shuiqing said, “I’m running late. I have to go now.”

Before Wang Liying could respond, she was gone in the blink of an eye.

Wang Liying bit her lip in frustration and turned back home, planning to question her sister.

From what He Shuiqing had said, her sister might have lied to her, and the thought of her family hiding things from her made her feel uneasy.

She disliked Jiang Suihan, but she wasn’t evil enough to encourage her sister to steal someone’s husband. That would be not only immoral but also a complete lack of principles.