Chapter 30: Gossip to Hear

“Good morning, Sister-in-law!” When Jiang Yue saw Sister-in-law Zhao, she immediately became happy and carried her basket of vegetables over.

This was the benefit of maintaining good relationships with neighbors—having someone help with queuing up in advance really saved a lot of time.

Sister-in-law Zhao was still with Lian Rongrong, and Jiang Yue directly slipped into the space between the two of them.

“Thank you, Sister-in-law, thank you, Rongrong!” Jiang Yue said with a bright smile.

Sister-in-law Zhao waved her hand: “It’s just a small matter, no need to thank me!”

Lian Rongrong, however, rolled her eyes at Jiang Yue: “Don’t call me so familiarly. We’re not that close!”

“Not close?” Jiang Yue was surprised. “Aren’t we comrades who worked together to beat up Li Hongying’s ‘comrade-in-arms’?”

Lian Rongrong said: “…Don’t say such things! I didn’t lay a hand on anyone!” Besides, could “comrade-in-arms” even be used like that?

Jiang Yue’s smile grew even wider. “Yes, although you didn’t lay a hand on anyone, it was thanks to you waving the spatula and helping me block Li Hongying. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have been so easy for me to get a chance to hit her!”

Lian Rongrong said: “…Now that you put it like that, it does seem like that’s true!”

Sister-in-law Zhao looked at Jiang Yue’s carefree expression and couldn’t help but speak with concern. “Jiang Yue, there’s an old saying that goes, ‘It’s better to offend a gentleman than to offend a villain.’ I’m not saying you shouldn’t punish Li Hongying, but you should be prepared!”

Jiang Yue narrowed her eyes, and her smile faded. “You mean Li Hongying will take revenge on me?”

Sister-in-law Zhao nodded seriously. “Yes, that’s right!”

At this point, Lian Rongrong spoke up: “Li Hongying has always had a bad reputation. She’s very narrow-minded. Although it’s her fault, now that you’ve cut off her livelihood, made her lose face in the Family Residential Compound, and even hit Er Niu, she’ll definitely hold a grudge.”

Jiang Yue had always had a question in her mind and decided to ask it. “If Li Hongying has such a bad reputation, why did Gu Ye let her take care of Ningning?”

In Jiang Yue’s view, since Gu Ye valued Ningning so much, he shouldn’t have entrusted her care to Li Hongying without investigation. But yesterday, when she saw the chaotic state of Li Hongying’s home and the safety hazards there, it really didn’t seem like a suitable place to leave a child.

With such conditions, how could Gu Ye have felt at ease?

Upon hearing this, Lian Rongrong paused and looked at Jiang Yue with a strange expression. “Don’t you know about this between you and your husband?”

“Know what?” As soon as Jiang Yue saw the look on Lian Rongrong and Sister-in-law Zhao’s faces, she realized that either she had forgotten about this, or Gu Ye hadn’t told her.

Given the relationship between the Original Owner and Gu Ye, the latter’s possibility seemed more likely!

Sister-in-law Zhao didn’t ask further but explained: “At first, Ningning was taken care of by Wang Ma. You also had Wang Ma helping with the cooking. Later, Wang Ma needed to return to her hometown to take care of her grandson, so Li Hongying found someone to use connections to get in touch with Regiment Commander Gu, hoping to take over Wang Ma’s job.”

“Regiment Commander Gu initially didn’t agree. It was Li Hongying who pounded her chest in guarantee and even asked Wang Ma to vouch for her, promising she would take good care of Ningning.”

“You know Li Xiuxiu, right? She’s Li Hongying’s sister. They live next to Wang Ma’s family. Li Xiuxiu would often help Wang Ma out, and over time, Wang Ma had a good impression of her. She even recommended Li Xiuxiu to Regiment Commander Gu.”

“Moreover, Li Hongying’s family situation wasn’t great. Her husband works in Regiment Commander Gu’s unit. Regiment Commander Gu saw that he was an honest man with many children, so he probably wanted to help out. Eventually, he agreed to let her take the job.”

After listening to Sister-in-law Zhao’s explanation, Jiang Yue fell into deep thought. She hadn’t expected Gu Ye to have such a compassionate side!

However, one thing made Jiang Yue feel relieved. From Sister-in-law Zhao’s account, she learned that Li Hongying had only come to their house in the past few months, after the New Year. Before that, it was Wang Ma who had been cooking for her.

At least this body of hers hadn’t been fed slop for too long.

“Jiang Yue, how come you don’t know all this? Didn’t Regiment Commander Gu tell you?” Sister-in-law Zhao spoke, and Lian Rongrong had been watching Jiang Yue’s expression the entire time, becoming more and more puzzled.

They, the outsiders, knew about these things, but Jiang Yue appeared completely unfamiliar with them.

Jiang Yue touched her forehead and sighed. “Didn’t I hit my head a few days ago? Some things are hard to recall.”

“Is that so?” Lian Rongrong smiled in a somewhat ambiguous way, clearly not believing it.

Fine, since Jiang Yue had said that they were comrades who had beaten up Li Hongying’s “comrade-in-arms” together, she wouldn’t expose her lie.

However, Lian Rongrong secretly thought to herself, it seemed like Jiang Yue and Gu Ye really didn’t have a good relationship. Otherwise, how could she be so clueless about such matters and come to ask them?

While they were talking, it was already Jiang Yue’s turn to buy meat from Sister-in-law Zhao.

Sister-in-law Zhao bought half a jin (500 grams) and specifically asked for fatty meat.

In those days, food was scarce, and pork was in limited supply. Everyone’s stomachs were empty, and whenever they got the chance to eat meat, they naturally preferred the fatty kind, which was richer and more satisfying.

When it was Jiang Yue’s turn, she was planning to make red-braised pork belly, so she first asked for two jin (1 kg) of pork belly. Noticing the lard hanging at the butcher’s stall, she also asked for three jin (1.5 kg), intending to render the lard at home. The lard would add a rich fragrance to her dishes, and the crispy lard residue was also delicious.

“Hey, comrade, what are you doing at home to buy so much!” The people behind her saw Jiang Yue buying so much meat and couldn’t help but feel both anxious and envious.

The anxious ones worried that if Jiang Yue bought too much, they wouldn’t be able to get any. The envious ones thought, with meat so expensive and meat tickets so scarce, how could this comrade be so generous? Her family must be doing well!

“Jiang Yue, why are you buying so much meat? It’s hot now, and if you can’t finish it, it’ll spoil.” Sister-in-law Zhao noticed and kindly reminded her.

Sister-in-law Zhao was worried that Jiang Yue hadn’t been in charge of the household before and didn’t realize how expensive essentials like firewood, rice, oil, and salt were. Who buys two jin of meat in one go? That would require saving up meat tickets for months.

“Yes, your family is small. How are you going to finish two jin of meat in one day?” Lian Rongrong also advised, but her tone was a bit sour.

Gu Ye was still young but already a regiment-level officer, while Lian Rongrong’s husband, who was two years older than Gu Ye, was only a deputy company commander. The higher the rank, the higher the salary, and the more grain tickets, cloth tickets, and meat tickets they received every month.

Lian Rongrong watched as Jiang Yue took out her money and meat tickets to pay for the pork belly and lard, placing them into her vegetable basket, feeling deeply envious.

“I plan to eat some, and the rest I’ll pickle.” Jiang Yue said, explaining her plan.

After Lian Rongrong bought half a jin of meat, the three of them headed toward the vegetable section.

“By the way, Jiang Yue, you know that last night Li Hongying’s husband hit her, right?” Lian Rongrong asked with great interest.

“Ah? Really?” As soon as Jiang Yue heard there was gossip, her eyes instantly lit up. “Tell me, what happened?”

At the same time, Gu Ye was having breakfast in the canteen with Regiment Commander Zhao.

“Gu, you’re really not eating? There’s still the whole morning ahead, aren’t you hungry?” Regiment Commander Zhao’s accent was heavy as he drank congee and nibbled on steamed buns, speaking with his mouth full.

“I’ve already eaten!” Gu Ye replied in a deep voice.

“Really? Did your sister-in-law make it?” Regiment Commander Zhao chuckled: “How’s her cooking? Let me try some tomorrow?”

“Eat your own food! We’ve got two minutes until physical training!” Gu Ye shot Regiment Commander Zhao a cold glance.

However, Gu Ye hadn’t expected Jiang Yue’s scallion pancakes to be so delicious. After eating, he still felt like he hadn’t had enough and regretted not taking more to bring with him.

These past few days, the dishes Jiang Yue had made were all exactly to his taste. He had never known she could cook so well.