Chapter 9 You said we can’t eat meat! Woohoo!! She gave all the meat to the dog!

“Ai~~” Jiang Wan deliberately lifted the lid of the aluminum lunchbox, revealing the braised pork inside.
“I was actually thinking… since I only ate a little yesterday… I could heat up the leftovers for you two today! But your Grandma Tang just said that eating too much pork will give you a stomachache!”

“!!!”
“!!!”
“!!!”

Even though the meat had gone cold, the elderly woman and the two children immediately widened their eyes in shock.

That was meat! Tender, fatty pork belly!!

Under their stunned gazes, Jiang Wan slowly walked to the courtyard gate with the mesh bag in hand. She swung the door wide open and looked around.

Sure enough, a few stray dogs were wandering nearby!

Then, with a smile curving her delicate brows, Jiang Wan called out using a universal dog-teasing tone:
“Tsk tsk tsk~~~ Doggy! Doggy, come eat some meat!”

“Woof woof!! Woof!!” A few dogs perked up and bolted toward her, wagging their tails excitedly.

“Come on, come on! Doggy, have some meat~~” Jiang Wan said sweetly, glancing sideways at the three people in the courtyard, who were nearly turned into statues.

Then, right in front of them, she upended the lunchbox!!

The glistening braised pork and the fluffy white rice all spilled onto the ground. The half-starved stray dogs went wild, devouring the food like they hadn’t eaten in days.

The scene even tugged at Jiang Wan’s heart a little.

“Don’t rush, don’t rush,” she said softly as she opened the remaining two lunchboxes and dumped their contents as well.

She blinked her almond-shaped eyes and cooed gently,
“Aiyo, Ah Huang, Da Hei~ Oh, and two little white ones~”
“Eat slowly, okay~~ There’ll be more in the future~”
“Because the little kids in my house… don’t like eating meat at all! They say eating meat gives them diarrhea… how strange~ I’ve always eaten meat before, and I never got a stomachache??”

“Doggies, what do you think? Are the kids silly, or is there a bad person lying to them??”

“…”
“…”
“Waaaaaah!!!”

As soon as Jiang Wan finished speaking, the once-silent courtyard suddenly erupted into loud wailing cries!!

Fu Chen and Fu Xiaoyan had just watched Jiang Wan feed all that precious meat and vegetables to stray dogs—and then heard her say she had always eaten meat without ever getting sick!

The two kids couldn’t take it anymore and started bawling at the top of their lungs.

Fu Chen clutched the hem of Tang Feng’s shirt, utterly devastated, sobbing so hard he could barely breathe:
“G-Grandma Tang!!”
“She said she always eats meat!! And never gets a stomachache!! And said someone lied to us—was it you?! Waaaaah!! You told us not to eat meat!! Waaaaah!! She gave all the meat to the dogs!!”

“Waaaaah!! I want meat!! I don’t care!! I want to eat meat!!” Fu Xiaoyan cried her eyes out too, hugging her brother’s neck tightly.
“Brother! Waaaaah… We’re gonna tell Daddy!! That Auntie gave all the meat to the dogs!!”

“Huh? Gonna tell your dad?” Jiang Wan turned around with a smile, her eyes twinkling with a sly glint.

Then she glanced sideways at Auntie Tang and said sweetly,
“Sure, go ahead and tell your dad. If he asks why, just tell him… it’s because Grandma Tang wouldn’t let you eat meat, so I didn’t want to waste it and gave it to the doggies~~”

“No!! Chenchen, Xiaoyan! You can’t tell your dad!” Tang Feng, now flushed with rage at Jiang Wan’s antics, panicked as soon as she heard the kids mention Fu Jingchuan. She squatted down and urgently tried to brainwash them again.
“He’s working so hard in the army—do you really want him to worry about something like this?”

Jiang Wan had had enough.

If she really had to stay here, there was no way she could let Fu Jingchuan keep employing Tang Feng and her daughter. But Tang Feng had clearly been in this household for a long time, and the two kids were still emotionally dependent on her and Yuan Meilin.

If she went straight to Fu Jingchuan now and the kids didn’t side with her, it would all be in vain.

So Jiang Wan ignored Tang Feng and the two little rascals, turned back into the house, grabbed her pearl shoulder bag, slung it over her shoulder, and headed out the door.

No rush—step by step.

Let’s see what wins in the end: Tang Feng’s brainwashing and gruel, or good food.

With a smirk on her lips, Jiang Wan left the Fu household.

Tang Feng watched her leave and finally let out a long sigh of relief before continuing to console the crying kids.

Jiang Wan walked along the country path, bathed in warm sunlight, squinting slightly as she enjoyed the dry, clean air.

Sigh… The air in this era really is unbelievably fresh!

“…Hey! Comrade!”

Just as Jiang Wan was walking along the dusty village road with her little bag on her back, a woman in her thirties called out to her from the roadside.

“…Yes? Excuse me, comrade?” Jiang Wan blinked, confused.

“Comrade, are you the new wife Commander Fu just married?”

The woman wore plain coarse clothing, her hair cut to chin-length, held back with a red plastic barrette. Her appearance was simple and honest.

“I am.” Jiang Wan paused for a moment, then nodded.

Wait… Is Fu Jingchuan some kind of big deal?
Everyone knows he got remarried?

But how did this sister recognize her?

“Oh my, I’m Zhao Yulan! Just call me Sister Yulan. My man is comrades-in-arms with your family’s Commander Fu! He’s the platoon leader under him!”
“Just last night, he even came to our house for a drink!”

Zhao Yulan covered her mouth and laughed, her eyes constantly drifting over Jiang Wan. But this kind of friendly, admiring gaze was completely different from Tang Feng’s scheming glances!

Jiang Wan calmly let her look her over without a fuss.

As Zhao Yulan looked her over, she couldn’t help but praise her, “Comrade Xiao Jiang, no wonder my man said the whole unit has been talking about you coming to Heping Village!”

“I don’t think they were exaggerating at all! You really do look like a fairy!”

“No wonder I spotted you at a glance!”

“In our area—even across ten villages and eight towns—you won’t find someone as fresh and pretty as you!”

“…You flatter me, Sister Yulan. You’re very beautiful too!”
Jiang Wan’s response didn’t feel like flattery. Although Zhao Yulan’s features were quite ordinary, her smile was sincere and endearing. Kind-hearted people are always beautiful.

“Oh my, listen to that sweet mouth of yours! It’s like it’s been dipped in honey! Goodness…”

“Commander Fu must be head over heels for you…”

As Zhao Yulan laughed and held Jiang Wan’s hand affectionately, she suddenly recalled what her husband Gao Zhiguo had told her with a furrowed brow after Commander Fu left their house last night.

She sighed gently, “Ah… to be honest, he really is a pitiful man.”