Chapter 26: Jiang Yue, Who Are You?

Huh? Jiang Yue raised her eyebrows—so Gu Ye had already mentioned it?

But Li Hongying denied it flatly on the spot. “No! Regiment Commander Gu, when did you ever say I shouldn’t go to your house? I don’t know anything about that!”

Gu Ye swept a cold glance over Li Hongying, his gaze landing on Li Xiuxiu. He lifted his chin slightly. “I told your sister this morning when I dropped Ningning off—told her to pass the message to you!”

Li Xiuxiu hadn’t expected Gu Ye to suddenly look at her. Her whole body trembled violently, and her face flushed red in an instant. She didn’t even know what to do with her hands and feet.

Especially when she saw everyone staring at her—it only made her more nervous. “I… I said…”

Li Xiuxiu wanted to say that she had told Li Hongying, but just then, Li Hongying suddenly rushed over and pinched her arm hard while scolding: “You little brat! Say it! Did you forget to tell me? Regiment Commander Gu told you to pass the message and you forgot? What’s in that brain of yours, glue?”

Li Xiuxiu was stunned, her eyes brimming with tears as she looked at Li Hongying. Her mouth opened and closed—she wanted to say that Li Hongying had clearly refused and insisted on continuing to go to Jiang Yue’s house to make money and skim extra goods. But now, how could Li Hongying turn around and blame her for not saying anything?

Li Hongying shot her a warning look. Li Xiuxiu immediately lowered her head and dared not say another word.

“Stop putting on that act!” Jiang Yue snorted coldly and exposed Li Hongying’s little game without mercy. “Didn’t you just say I don’t keep my word? Now that my man—Regiment Commander Gu said it himself, it counts, doesn’t it?”

“Starting today, you are not allowed to step foot in my house again! Our family doesn’t need a heartless helper like you!”

Jiang Yue glanced sideways at Gu Ye. Seeing that he didn’t object, she finally felt relieved.

That was close—just now she had almost blurted out “my man.”

Jiang Yue silently rejoiced that she hadn’t slipped up, not noticing the meaningful look Gu Ye cast her way.

“Regiment Commander Gu, you can’t treat me like this! I was just momentarily blinded by greed—I know I was wrong! You know my family’s situation. Without this job, my whole family won’t survive!” Li Hongying saw Gu Ye picking up Ningning and preparing to leave. Anxious, she rushed forward and tried to grab his leg.

Jiang Yue grabbed the firewood stick and struck Li Hongying’s arm without hesitation.

Hah! She hadn’t even gotten a proper hold of this golden ticket, and Li Hongying dared to snatch it? Let’s see if I don’t beat you to death!

“I think you’re only sorry because you lost a job where you could make money and skim off our household!” Jiang Yue said with contempt. There wasn’t the slightest trace of remorse in Li Hongying’s expression that she could see.

“Regiment Commander Gu, please give me another chance! I promise I’ll take good care of Ningning! Ningning, don’t you want to play with Sìyǎ again? Don’t you miss Auntie Xiuxiu?” Li Hongying still tried to salvage the job. Even after getting hit by Jiang Yue, she didn’t fight back. She just sobbed uncontrollably, trying to appeal emotionally to Ningning.

“Give you another chance? Another chance to abuse our Ningning? Steal from our home?” Jiang Yue shouted in fury.

“You’re lying! I never stole anything!” Li Hongying hurriedly denied it, crying and wailing. “And—and those vegetables weren’t for us! They were for Ningning! Yes! For Ningning to eat!”

The surrounding military wives immediately showed expressions of disdain.

“A chance? I gave you a chance to take care of Ningning, not to let your whole family bully her!” Gu Ye looked at Ningning’s dirty little face and her messy hair—such a stark contrast from how she had looked that morning. The air around him dropped to freezing.

“No! We really didn’t bully Ningning!” Li Hongying still tried to deny it. “You’re falsely accusing us!”

“Shut up!” Gu Ye barked coldly, clearly impatient.

A man who had been on the battlefield—once angered—brought with him an overwhelming aura of killing intent. Everyone present, including Jiang Yue, shivered involuntarily.

Li Hongying was so terrified she collapsed to the ground, eyes wide with panic. For a moment, it felt like a blade was swinging straight down on her, and her whole body turned cold.

“Whether you bullied Ningning or not—I’ll investigate it thoroughly myself!” Gu Ye left behind those cold words, then turned and walked away.

“You should be grateful Gu Ye doesn’t hit women.” Jiang Yue muttered. If not, Li Hongying would’ve at least lost an arm, broken both legs, and spent the next few months half-dead on a hospital bed.

Jiang Yue’s eyes turned shrewd. She decided there was no way she was letting Li Hongying off so easily.

Earlier, Jiang Yue had held back for Ningning’s sake—since she was still staying at Li Hongying’s house, Jiang Yue hadn’t dared to completely fall out with her. Even if she had felt disgusted, she had forced herself to tolerate it.

But now it was different. Gu Ye had already taken Ningning home. Jiang Yue was ready to bleed Li Hongying dry.

She stormed into the kitchen again and began sweeping things up.

“Ah! Jiang Yue, put that down!” Li Hongying screamed as she lunged toward her.

“Since you used our family’s money to buy these vegetables ‘for Ningning,’ and now our Ningning is back home and no longer eating here, of course I’m taking the vegetables back!” Jiang Yue spoke with perfect logic and confidence.

Then she turned to ask Sister-in-law Zhao and the others: “Sisters, am I right?”

“Right!” they answered in unison.

Gu Ye’s steps paused—he turned to look back.

“Let’s go!” Jiang Yue stuffed a sack full of things and tossed it over her shoulder.

Li Hongying had wanted to snatch it back, but the fear of Gu Ye held her in check. Anger surged to her head, and with a roll of her eyes, she fainted on the spot.

By that time, Jiang Yue had already walked out of Li Hongying’s courtyard. When she noticed Gu Ye staring at her with a cool, unreadable expression, she felt a twinge of guilt. “You’re not happy? Then I’ll return the stuff?”

Gu Ye’s handsome face remained calm and distant. “No need. They’re not worthy of it.”

As soon as Jiang Yue heard that, her mood instantly brightened. She thought for a moment, then sought Gu Ye’s opinion. “I bought quite a lot of vegetables today, and we won’t be able to finish all of this ourselves. How about giving them to the sisters? If it weren’t for them backing me up just now, I would’ve been bullied to death by Li Hongying!”

When Jiang Yue said “bullied to death by Li Hongying.” she deliberately made a pitiful face and even added a slightly whiny tone to her voice.

Gu Ye glanced at her, his expression unchanged. “Alright.”

Standing to the side, Lian Rongrong rubbed the goosebumps on her arms, her face nearly splitting from the expression she made.

She? Jiang Yue? Bullied? She had been wielding a firewood stick and going at people like a storm—who in their right mind would dare bully her?

When Jiang Yue offered to share the meat and vegetables with them, the few military wives were stunned and delighted. Times were hard—families were big, mouths to feed were many, and meals were always tight. Even though there wasn’t much to go around, just a small handful of vegetables for each and not even a sliver of meat, it was still something—it was still oil and flavor.

In no time, the military wives cheerfully split the vegetables among themselves and happily headed home. Who would’ve thought they’d get a share of food just by coming to watch the drama? Totally worth it!

Sister-in-law Zhao and Lian Rongrong didn’t take any. Their households were doing fine and they didn’t want to compete with the others for that little benefit.

“Regiment Commander Gu, why are you back? Didn’t Old Zhao say he was going to the meeting with you?” Sister-in-law Zhao suddenly remembered to ask Gu Ye.

“We got a notice halfway there. The meeting was canceled last minute, so we came back.” Gu Ye replied.

“Alright then, I’ll head home. There’s still fire burning on the stove!” Sister-in-law Zhao remembered the food cooking at home and hurried off.

“Aiya! My stove’s still on too! Oh no, it’s definitely burnt!” Lian Rongrong turned and dashed off like she was on fire herself.

“Gu Ye, are you eating at home for lunch?” Jiang Yue walked beside Gu Ye, clapping her hands happily. “I bought perch fish. I was going to steam it tonight when you and Ningning got back. Perch has fewer bones—it’s good for kids!”

Gu Ye suddenly stopped in his tracks.

“Jiang Yue, who are you?”

“Uh… huh?”

Jiang Yue froze.