Chapter 43.2

While they were feeling down, there was a sudden loud crash at the door, startling them.

Someone was breaking in!

Mrs. Ruan and Father Ruan exchanged glances and quickly hid the letter on the table.

Another kick sent the already shaky door crashing down, kicking up a cloud of dust. The cold wind rushed in, chilling the couple who had just warmed up.

At the door stood a chubby, unpleasant man.

“What were you hiding just now?”

His surname was Zhou, and he was a clerk at the farm.

Father Ruan, being a businessman, knew how to be flexible.

“Mr. Zhou, what brings you here?”

But Zhou Paopi ignored him.

He pushed past Father Ruan and walked into the room.

He wrinkled his nose and turned back to glare at Father Ruan. “So, you two old fools are eating alone in here.”

Called old fools, Father Ruan remained composed.

“That’s not true,” Father Ruan said, walking over. “We don’t even have a pot.”

“Stop trying to fool me.”

Zhou Paopi roughly shoved Father Ruan aside and quickly approached the dilapidated stove. “It’s still warm inside. You must have started a fire.”

He showed them his soot-covered hand.

Father Ruan: “… It was so cold that we couldn’t resist starting a small fire to warm up…”

“Still making excuses!” Zhou Paopi glared at Father Ruan and pushed him hard. “You old fraud, tell the truth!”

Father Ruan was thin and frail compared to Zhou Paopi’s robust build. The shove nearly sent him falling to the ground.

Seeing this, Mrs. Ruan quickly supported him.

Frowning, she said, “Believe it or not, we just started a fire to warm up.”

“You’re fooling no one,” Zhou Paopi found a clean spot and sat down, his chubby face showing disdain. “Did you really bring a big bundle back?”

His gaze swept over the shabby room, seemingly searching for hidden items.

The couple understood his purpose.

Mrs. Ruan’s face turned dark, and Father Ruan restrained her.

Dealing with Zhou Paopi was not a wise decision.

“Look, Mr. Zhou, you had to come all the way here. We were planning to give this to you tomorrow,” Father Ruan took out the cans from under the cabinet. “We were going to send them to you.”

Zhou Paopi snorted in dissatisfaction.

He was pleased, and his fierce expression softened considerably.

He shoved Father Ruan aside and helped himself.

As a person from a prestigious family, Father Ruan had never encountered such shameless behavior.

Mrs. Ruan reached out to support him. “Are you alright?”

Father Ruan shook his head.

“Old bastard, hiding so many good things…”

Zhou Paopi lived up to his infamous reputation, not only sweeping away the cans that Ruan Mingfu had prepared but also taking the old military coat from the cabinet.

Zhou Paopi thoroughly searched the entire room, even checking for mouse holes.

Mrs. Ruan moved her lips but was restrained by Father Ruan.

Better to provoke a gentleman than a rogue.

Just consider it a misfortune to avoid a greater disaster…

Finally, Zhou Paopi looked at the items he had collected from the table, his eyes showing satisfaction.

He had managed to find so many things with just one visit.

He would have to come more often.

“Useless, is this all you’ve got?”

Father Ruan realized why the mortality rate among the people here was so high. The environment and climate were one thing, but the people were another.

Zhou Paopi packed up the items and was about to leave when he noticed a white object peeking out from under the bed.

Suddenly, he lifted the bed.

“Well, well, you two old fools actually dared to hide things!”

Zhou Paopi pointed at the thin blanket with anger written all over his plump face. He raised his hand, ready to teach Father Ruan a lesson.

“What are you doing?”

A stern voice came from behind him.

“Mind your own business,” Zhou Paopi snapped back angrily, but froze in shock when he saw who it was. “Huang… Huang Shu… Secretary…”

His fat face still had a trace of his previous ferocity, but his eyes were filled with fear.

It looked quite comical.

“Don’t you see that Secretary Huang is here?” Someone behind Secretary Huang said, “Get out of here quickly!”

Seeing the look from the other person, Zhou Paopi quickly reacted and tried to leave.

But Secretary Huang spoke up, “Wait.”

Zhou Paopi’s footsteps halted as if a ghost was chasing him.

His fat face turned even more sorrowful.

Secretary Huang glanced at the person who had reminded Zhou Paopi and saw the other person’s face turn pale.

This person was Zhou Paopi’s brother-in-law.

Zhou Paopi’s arrogance in the farm was supported by his brother-in-law’s influence.

Secretary Huang entered the room, taking in the chaos that looked like a locust swarm had passed through.

He was enraged.

“Our cadres are truly impressive.”

As soon as this was said, not only Zhou Paopi but also the other cadres who had come with him had unhappy expressions. Especially Zhou Paopi’s brother-in-law, whose face was ashen.

Zhou Paopi’s previous arrogance had vanished.

He trembled and, losing his balance, slid to the floor, showing signs of defeat.

Secretary Huang, dressed neatly in a Zhongshan suit, signaled to someone standing by. Immediately, someone dragged Zhou Paopi away. His gaze fell on Father Ruan and Mrs. Ruan, and after a few moments, his face turned gentle.

“You’ve been startled.”

“Not at all, we’re grateful for your timely arrival.”

From the start, it was clear to Ruan Mingfu that this person was the top leader of the entire farm. A significant figure, not someone to offend.

“I just took office and overlooked the actions of the people below,” Secretary Huang continued, “Rest assured, I will give you a proper explanation.”

Father Ruan was puzzled, wondering why he was being told this.

“Not at all, leaders have many responsibilities and can’t be expected to pay attention to such small matters.”

Secretary Huang said nothing more and glanced back at Father Ruan and Mrs. Ruan before leaving.

Mrs. Ruan looked at Secretary Huang’s receding figure, “What’s going on?”

Father Ruan was also confused.

By midnight, Father Ruan suddenly sat up in bed, his eyes sparkling, and his refined face bursting with intense joy.

“I know!”

Mrs. Ruan, woken up in the middle of the night, was speechless.

What a lunatic!

…

Previously, they had agreed to deliver the milk powder to Hu Wanning, but after Xie Yanzhao got injured, it was postponed.

On this day, taking advantage of some free time, Ruan Mingfu delivered everything.

Finally, she arrived at Hu Wanning’s home.

When Ruan Mingfu arrived, Hu Wanning was feeding mashed potatoes to the little chubby boy.

This method was suggested by Ruan Mingfu last time.

“Sister-in-law, come in.”

As soon as Ruan Mingfu walked in, Goudan came running with its tail wagging enthusiastically. It wagged so fast it almost looked like a propeller.

Goudan let out a childish bark.

Its two black eyes sparkled, making one feel warm inside.

Ruan Mingfu reached out her hand, and Goudan promptly lay down, showing its soft belly.

“Oh, you still remember me.”

Goudan barked happily a few times, as if in response.

“Goudan really likes you,” Hu Wanning laughed, “It’s not this enthusiastic with me.”

Ruan Mingfu petted Goudan’s soft belly before moving on.

“Of course.”

The little chubby boy opened his little hands toward Ruan Mingfu and said, “Sister.”

“Behave,” Hu Wanning patted the little boy’s bottom, “Finish your food quickly.”

Feeding from eight o’clock until now, this little rascal had exhausted her.

“Sister-in-law, weren’t you out of milk powder last time?” Ruan Mingfu handed over the items, “Here.”

Hu Wanning’s eyes lit up, “This is so timely.”

“Wait a moment, I’ll give you the money…”

“No need,” Ruan Mingfu quickly stopped her, “A friend of mine sent me a lot of things, and I distributed them to several sisters. Since your child is older, I brought the milk powder to you.”

Hu Wanning thought for a moment and then didn’t insist.

“Got it.”

“By the way,” Hu Wanning pulled Ruan Mingfu aside, “How’s Old Xie’s injury?”

She hadn’t gone to visit, not wanting to disturb them, as Xu Zhu said it wasn’t serious.

“It’s nothing.”

Thinking of this, Ruan Mingfu gritted her teeth.

The man was injured the day before and still had the energy to cause trouble for her, it was almost too good to be true.

“Oh, I almost forgot. Old Xu brought some bones back yesterday, take them to Old Xie to help him recover.”

“That won’t do.”

“Why not,” Hu Wanning glared at her, “If it’s not acceptable, you can just take your milk powder back.”

Ruan Mingfu: “…”

Fine then!

Ruan Mingfu, holding the items, was about to leave when Hu Wanning mysteriously pulled her aside.

“I heard a new family moved in next door?”

“They moved in a few days ago,” Ruan Mingfu thought for a moment, “Why do you ask?”

“Well, you don’t know, but yesterday, my aunt met this family and wanted to greet them, but was met with a cold stare.”

Everything was going well, and we aren’t enemies, so why make things so uncomfortable?

Her aunt had just been here, complaining endlessly.

Hu Wanning found the situation rather odd.

Ruan Mingfu thought for a moment and said, “You must be talking about the older woman who looks rather old-fashioned.”

Hu Wanning clapped her hands. “Yes, that’s her!”

“I heard there’s also a younger woman who’s beautiful and kind.”

Ruan Mingfu almost rolled her eyes but managed to hold back.

When she recounted what had happened, Hu Wanning was astonished.

“How can there be such a person?” Hu Wanning couldn’t understand. “Isn’t this just inviting trouble for their own son?”

Compared to Ruan Mingfu, her aunt’s grievances seemed minor.

“Who knows?”

Ruan Mingfu couldn’t be bothered to get angry over such things.

Hu Wanning made a pained expression and shook her head, summarizing, “You should just stay away from that family.”

Ruan Mingfu nodded and, seeing that it was getting late, said, “Sister-in-law, I’ll head out now.”

“Wait,” Hu Wanning quickly stopped her. “Didn’t Old Xu say that Old Xie was looking for vegetable seedlings? I have some coriander seeds here. Do you want them?”

She liked coriander, but many people weren’t used to its taste.

“Yes!”

Ruan Mingfu’s eyes sparkled.

Coriander adds a great flavor to noodles and soups.

She loved it.

…

As Ruan Mingfu walked forward with her things, the sister-in-laws she encountered greeted her warmly.

“Comrade Ruan, how is Commander Xie’s injury?”

“It’s nothing serious. He’s already much better.”

“That’s good…”

During their brief conversation, Ruan Mingfu arrived at her destination. Just as she was about to enter the house, she was suddenly grabbed.

“Mingfu, Auntie begs you, please let him go!”

Ruan Mingfu was startled, and the items in her hands fell to the ground.

She then looked at the person who had stopped her.

The woman was disheveled, her hair a mess. Her once elegant face still had tear streaks, and her swollen eyes were pleading with Ruan Mingfu.

Ruan Mingfu frowned. “Do I know you?”

The military wives passing by also stopped, curious about the commotion.

Mother Lu looked embarrassed. “Mingfu, I’m Aunt Li. You used to follow Lu Yan around. Have you forgotten?”