Chapter 6: Not to Be Messed With

When Zhao Feng walked into the courtyard, he glanced over at the neighboring yard. Although there was no one there, the main gate was wide open, and wisps of white smoke were rising from the chimney of the kitchen. As he entered the house, he started buttoning his military uniform and asked, “Did Zong Shao bring his wife over?”

He didn’t get a response for a while after asking, so Zhao Feng changed direction and walked to the kitchen doorway, where he saw his own wife vigorously scrubbing the stove with a rag, her face long and sullen.

Zhao Feng raised an eyebrow. “What’s wrong? Who made you mad this time?”

As soon as Gao Xiulian heard his tone, she got even more irritated. She threw the rag onto the stove and said, “Who else could it be but the new arrival next door?”

Zhao Feng looked surprised. “Next door? Zong Shao’s wife?”

“Who else among the newly stationed military families besides her?” Gao Xiulian asked, clearly annoyed. “I’ve never seen anyone so ungrateful. I really don’t know what Zong Shao was thinking. He passed up a great girl like Luo Yun and picked that piece of work!”

Zhao Feng frowned slightly. “That’s all old news now.”

Gao Xiulian was not satisfied. “Old news? Luo Yun was transferred out just over a year ago. I’m still angry on her behalf. Zong Shao wasted so many years, and then turned around and married someone else!”

In truth, Gao Xiulian didn’t have much of a relationship with Luo Yun. They had only met a few times while taking their children for shots at the military district hospital.

She had only heard from other military wives that Luo Yun liked Zong Shao. At the time, Gao Xiulian looked down on Luo Yun’s behavior, thinking she lacked self-respect. Zong Shao was already married, yet Luo Yun still held on to her feelings for him—that was really contemptible in her eyes.

In the past, Gao Xiulian sided with the “original wife” and disdained Luo Yun. But now, with Lin Wei as the comparison, Luo Yun suddenly seemed like a poor, abandoned girl in her eyes.

Zhao Feng, however, knew the truth. Yes, Luo Yun did like Zong Shao, and her aunt had even tried to match them up back then—but Zong Shao had turned it down. Not long after, Zong Shao took leave and returned to his hometown. When he came back, he had a fiancée.

At the time, Zhao Feng had even joked with others that Zong Shao must’ve lost his mind. Luo Yun was quite the catch—just over twenty, pretty as a flower, decently educated. After graduating junior high, she had attended a few years at the old Shi G Gudu Jia Nursing School, and after graduation, with some connections, was placed in the Sanlin Base Health Clinic. Not to mention, she also had an uncle who was a political commissar.

If Luo Yun hadn’t set her heart solely on Zong Shao, with his rank at the time, he might not have even been qualified to marry a girl like her.

Ah, youth.

But regardless, Zong Shao had done nothing wrong in terms of feelings—he had never mistreated Luo Yun.

So the moment Gao Xiulian made such a biased comment, Zhao Feng frowned. Still, he didn’t want to argue with his wife and just said, “It’s fine if you say that in front of me, but don’t go repeating it outside.”

After all, as husband and wife, if people heard her talking like that, they might think he was intentionally trying to smear Zong Shao’s reputation, which would only stir up unnecessary trouble.

Gao Xiulian didn’t think she’d said anything wrong, but seeing her husband’s serious expression, she swallowed the “why not?” that was on the tip of her tongue and instead grumbled, “You didn’t see the look on Zong Shao’s wife’s face. I kindly told her that it’s fine as long as the house is livable—no need to make it all fancy and waste money—and what did she say? She accused me of meddling in other people’s business like a dog catching mice, deliberately picking a fight with her! Tell me, isn’t that infuriating?”

Although Lin Wei hadn’t actually said the words “a dog catching mice, meddling in others’ business,” Gao Xiulian felt that’s what she meant, so that’s how she put it.

Zhao Feng also found that kind of talk unpleasant and couldn’t help muttering, “What kind of wife did Zong Shao marry? And you, why are you going around telling people how to run their house?”

Gao Xiulian was immediately annoyed. “What do you mean telling people what to do? I was giving her sincere advice!”

“Sure, sure, you meant well. But what’s the use if she doesn’t appreciate it?”

“Exactly! That’s why I’m so mad. If I’d known she was like this, I wouldn’t have bothered. It’s their money anyway—nothing to do with me…”

It might’ve been better if Zhao Feng hadn’t responded at all, but now that he had, Gao Xiulian’s complaints came pouring out even more. She didn’t stop talking the entire time they were eating. By the time Zhao Feng finished his meal, he had a pounding headache, so he put down his chopsticks and went out.

As luck would have it, the moment he stepped out the door, he saw Zong Shao at the sink in the neighboring courtyard washing dishes.

Even though in Gao Xiulian’s version of events Zong Shao’s wife was all kinds of terrible, Zhao Feng saw that as women’s business—not something for men to get involved in. So he walked over and asked, “When did you get back?”

“Just got here this afternoon,” Zong Shao said while washing dishes.

Zhao Feng responded with an “Oh,” then asked, “Why are you doing the dishes? Your wife’s not around?”

“She’s not feeling well, so I’m doing them,” Zong Shao replied calmly. “You guys had dinner already?”

“They’re still eating,” Zhao Feng said. Thinking about his wife’s complaints during dinner, he paused before adding, “I think your sister-in-law and your wife had a bit of a disagreement this afternoon.”

Zong Shao finished cleaning the last dish, turned on the tap, and washed his hands twice. Then he said, “Actually, I was just about to talk to you about that.”

“Go ahead.”

As Zhao Feng spoke, he took a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and offered one to Zong Shao, who declined. Surprised, Zhao Feng asked, “Don’t you smoke?”

Zong Shao said, “My wife and kid are home.”

Zhao Feng let out a long “Ohh,” surprised to find that Zong Shao was so obedient at home. He laughed, “Alright then, I’ll just smoke by myself,” striking a match and lighting the cigarette in his mouth.

As he took a drag, Zong Shao spoke—what he said, though, seemed a bit cryptic: “Where’s your wife working these days?”

“Working? She’s not working,” Zhao Feng said, puzzled. Then, remembering that Zong Shao’s wife had just joined the military community, he asked, “Are you looking to find her a job?”

“There’s no rush on her work,” Zong Shao replied, “I’m just curious—did your wife start working at the neighborhood office or join the discipline inspection commission? How come she thinks she can barge into someone else’s home and start criticizing whatever she doesn’t like?”

Zhao Feng instantly understood—Zong Shao had heard about what happened and was here to seek justice for his wife.

Although Zhao Feng also felt that Gao Xiulian hadn’t handled things well—and had brought it up with Zong Shao hoping to smooth things over—after hearing Zong Shao’s sharp-edged yet polite words, he felt a little uncomfortable. What’s the big deal? he thought. Does it really warrant all this?

So Zhao Feng’s expression cooled as he said, “She already told me what happened. It wasn’t anything else—she was just trying to give some friendly advice. She’s a straightforward person, speaks bluntly, don’t take it personally.”

Zong Shao raised an eyebrow: “You think your wife coming into my home and saying our house renovation and toilet building is wasteful, and even quoting a great leader saying ‘corruption and waste are serious crimes’—you think that was well-intentioned?”

Zhao Feng’s brow twitched. The first half of what Zong Shao said was already bad enough, but the second half—when you really thought about it—was serious. Even though Gao Xiulian was his wife, Zhao Feng couldn’t bring himself to keep defending her as just being “well-meaning.”

Still, they’d been married for many years. He couldn’t just take Zong Shao’s word for it without question. After a moment of silence, he said, “Maybe there was some kind of misunderstanding?”

“My wife heard it with her own ears—what kind of misunderstanding could there be?” Zong Shao replied. “If you don’t believe me, go ask Comrade Wang Fangli, wife of Jiao Weiping from our unit, or Comrade Li Qin, wife of your battalion’s Deputy Commander Wang. They both came to our place this afternoon. They should’ve heard every word your wife said.”

Zong Shao went on, “What really confuses me is—during the entire renovation process, I never took a single extra subsidy from the military. We paid for everything ourselves. So how does that qualify as corruption or crime? Before we started the renovation, I even asked logistics if we could paint the walls and fix up the toilet. They said it was fine. Leadership didn’t object either. So how did all this suddenly become ‘wasteful’ according to your wife?”

With Zong Shao even naming witnesses, Zhao Feng couldn’t help but believe most of it. Recalling Gao Xiulian’s complaints at dinner, his face darkened.

And to think she had the nerve to whine about how ungrateful Zong Shao’s wife was—if someone accused him like that, he’d have slapped them right then and there! This wasn’t going to be easy to resolve.

Just as Zhao Feng was stewing in anger, he heard Zong Shao say, “Originally, I was going to file a report with the discipline inspection commission directly. But then I thought—our families ended up as neighbors, that’s some kind of fate. Besides, we’ve known each other for years, and I know what kind of person you are. I figured your wife’s comments didn’t reflect your intentions, so I decided to talk to you first.”

Generally speaking, when arguments break out between military wives, the street office or the Women’s Federation is usually brought in to mediate. These two organizations are staffed by military spouses themselves—also women—so they’re naturally more adept at offering understanding and advice. Their usual approach is to seek harmony, aiming to turn major issues into minor ones, and minor ones into nothing at all.

If someone really wanted to escalate things, the best way would be to report it to the Discipline Inspection Commission (the party disciplinary authority). Once they send someone down to investigate, it wouldn’t take even a day for the higher-ups to hear about it—what started as a small issue would become a big one.

The problem is, taken seriously, this matter paints Gao Xiulian as malicious—casually throwing accusations around. Taken lightly, it just shows she’s thoughtless and doesn’t know how to speak properly, which led to a spat between women. Reporting something like this to the Commission would be overkill.

Even if Zhao Feng ended up in trouble, his own reputation would also suffer. It would be a lose-lose situation—hurting others while hurting himself too. That’s why Zong Shao wanted to speak with Zhao Feng first.

Of course, when facing Zhao Feng, Zong Shao wasn’t going to spell all that out. Not only could he not tell the truth, but he also had to make it clear: if Zhao Feng didn’t offer a proper explanation, Zong Shao wouldn’t hesitate to escalate the situation.

Naturally, Zhao Feng didn’t want things to get out of hand. Even though the words were spoken by Gao Xiulian, as the saying goes: husband and wife are one. If things really blew up, others might think he was the one dissatisfied with Zong Shao.

With that in mind, Zhao Feng quickly made a decision. “I’ll get back to you later tonight,” he said.

With that, he flicked his cigarette butt to the ground, crushed it underfoot, and turned to go home. Not long after, crying and shouting could be heard from their house.

…

That night, while Lin Wei was bathing the kids, Zhao Feng brought Gao Xiulian over and knocked on her door.

In the dim yellow light, all of Gao Xiulian’s afternoon arrogance had vanished. Her head hung low, eyes red, and shoulders drooping as she apologized to Lin Wei.

Though neither family made a fuss, there had been two witnesses to the earlier argument between Lin Wei and Gao Xiulian. And since Lin Wei’s family had just moved into the compound, their every move was closely watched. So the moment Gao Xiulian stepped out of the Zong household with her apology, word had already spread across the entire compound.

Soon, everyone in the housing area knew: this time, Gao Xiulian had really kicked an iron plate. And more importantly—the new military wife was not to be messed with!