Chapter 14

Zheng Hong, full of anger, glared at Jiang Nian as if she wanted to tear her apart. In contrast, Jiang Nian kept her head down, her hands clutching her clothes so tightly that her fingertips turned white. Her thin shoulders trembled, making her look terrified.

Feng Mei’s anger flared up even more, “Zheng Hong! Why are you bullying Jiang Nian? She hasn’t done anything to you, and yet you keep calling her a widow. What do you think you’re doing?!”

Zheng Hong was startled to see Feng Mei approaching.

Feng Mei was the wife of Commander Song, someone Zheng Hong had tried to ingratiate herself with to leave a good impression. Now, thanks to that widow all of her efforts were ruined. This realization made her shake with fury.

Especially when she saw Jiang Nian looking like she was being bullied by her, she was even more furious.

Before she could even open her mouth to speak, the widow opposite her interrupted her.

“Sister Feng, this is my fault.”

Jiang Nian slowly raised her head. Her eyes filled with tears looking at Feng Mei with a pitiful and aggrieved expression. Her eyelashes fluttered, and two tears rolled down her cheeks.

The tears streamed down her fair face enhancing her beauty and making her look heartbreakingly pitiful.

Zheng Hong was even more infuriated!

What a performance!

Where was the sarcasm that she had just shown her before?

Afraid that Jiang Nian would reveal her secrets, Zheng Hong quickly looked at Feng Mei and softened her tone, trying to curry favor. “Sister Feng—”

“Don’t talk!”

Feng Mei interrupted Zheng Hong rudely. She then turned to Jiang Nian, “Don’t be afraid. If you have any grievances, speak up. Even if I can’t help you, there’s still Deputy Commander Lu and Commander Song.”

Having interacted with Jiang Nian over the past few days, Feng Mei could tell she was a kind and gentle person who wouldn’t cause trouble.

Zheng Hong was left speechless, her face stiffening. Seeing Jiang Nian looking at her cautiously, as if afraid of being bullied again made her so angry that she nearly ground her teeth to bits.

“That’s right, Deputy Commander Lu’s sister-in-law, just speak up. We’re all here, what can Zheng Hong do to you?”

“Deputy Commander Lu’s sister-in-law, why is Zheng Hong scolding you?”

The surrounding military wives chimed in one after another.

Seeing Zheng Hong’s face turn dark, Jiang Nian felt the time was right. She looked at Feng Mei, her voice trembling with tears, “Sister Feng, when Lu Yu and I first arrived at the base, we saw Comrade Zheng Hong holding Captain Liu’s arm, saying her foot was sprained and asking him to take her home. A few days ago, when you took me to see the plot of land assigned to us, we also ran into Comrade Zheng Hong and I thought her foot was already healed.”

Hearing this, Feng Mei turned to Zheng Hong, “Yeah, you were running pretty fast that day weren’t you?”

Zheng Hong clenched her fingers, her face alternating between green and white.

Another military wife who is holding a spatula, added, “That’s right, Zheng Hong. That day, you went to the supply and marketing cooperative with your son to buy pastries. I ran into you on the road.”

Another military wife sniffed the air, “Whose pot is burning?”

“Oh no, my pot!”

The military wife holding the spatula kicked her son’s butt, “I told you to watch the pot. Why did you come out here too?”

Then she hurried back home.

“And then?” Feng Mei looked at Jiang Nian, frowning with urgency.

Jiang Nian bit her lip, lowered her head and said: “Three days ago, I went to the plot to deliver food to Lu Yu and saw Captain Liu serving food to Comrade Zheng Hong. Comrade Zheng Hong said her foot was still sprained. So, I told Captain Liu that I saw her returning from the supply and marketing cooperative with you. Because of this Captain Liu didn’t help Comrade Zheng Hong with her food anymore.”

She raised her hand to wipe away her tears, choking up, “It’s my fault for being too talkative. It’s only fair that Comrade Zheng Hong scolded me, but… but…”

Jiang Nian sobbed a few times, her head nearly buried under her neck: “She shouldn’t have called me a bad luck star, saying I caused my father-in-law and husband to die and cursing that Lu Yu would die because of me too.”

Feng Mei almost jumped up in anger, nearly pointing at Zheng Hong’s nose.

“Do you even listen to yourself? How can you be so venomous? Do you think anyone wants to be a widow?”

“And didn’t I tell you the other day to stop bothering Captain Liu unnecessarily? It’s making his family unhappy. You need to avoid any suspicion, but you didn’t listen. You even lied about spraining your foot to get him to serve you food. How hard is it to walk those few extra steps?!”

She rattled off a string of reprimands.

Zheng Hong’s face flushed red with shame.

But she couldn’t refute, as the facts and evidence were clear.

Moreover, Feng Mei was Commander Song’s wife and she didn’t dare to offend her. Hearing to the other onlookers military wives and children,  pointing and whispering about her constantly pestering Captain Liu, making Xu Yan quarrel with Captain Liu every day, only added to her humiliation.

What a shameless person.

Everyone who used to think Xu Yan was unreasonable now turned their attention to Zheng Hong.

Zheng Hong felt as if she were being stripped naked in front of everyone, exposed to their ridicule and criticism.

Clenching her teeth and fists so tightly that her nails dug into her palms, she lowered her head and ran into the courtyard, slamming the gate behind her. Through the courtyard wall, she heard Feng Mei telling Jiang Nian, “You did nothing wrong. Don’t cry. We can’t let Zheng Hong get away with treating you like this. When Old Song and Deputy Commander Lu come back this afternoon, I’ll tell them everything and let them take charge.”

As Feng Mei led Jiang Nian away, she called out towards Zheng Hong’s courtyard, “Captain Lu will be back tonight. We’ll tell him everything and let him deal with you properly!”

She only found out that Captain Lu would be back tonight after Old Song mentioned it to her yesterday.

Hearing this, Zheng Hong turned deathly pale.

For the past two years, she had cultivated an image of being a virtuous, obedient, and gentle wife, especially in front of Liu Qiang. Acting weak and pitiful, claiming she had been forced by her mother to marry Lu Guosheng. She’d hinted that she still thought of Liu Qiang and hoped to marry him in her next life. With Lu Guosheng frequently away, she took every opportunity to seek out Liu Qiang.

In her mind, her efforts over these two years made her a hundred times better than the always-crying Xu Yan. Liu Qiang should belong to her.

Liu Qiang’s promotion from company commander to battalion captain in seven years proved he was more capable than Lu Guosheng, and his future rise to regimental commander would provide even greater opportunities. Why should someone like Xu Yan have what was supposed to be hers?

All of her hard work and careful planning was now ruined by that widow. If Lu Guosheng found out she had been pestering Liu Qiang behind his back for the past two years, he would definitely be furious.

Lu Zhijun ran out of the house and saw Zheng Hong leaning against the door. He ran over and looked up at her: “Mom, I’m hungry. I want to eat.”

“You just had a piece of peach crisp and you’re hungry again? Are you the reincarnation of a hungry ghost?”

Annoyed, Zheng Hong dragged Lu Zhijun inside and hurriedly stuffing the clothes into a bag. Seeing his mother in a rush, Lu Zhijun asked in confusion, “Mom, where are you going?”

“Going home to see your grandma.”

With everything packed, Zheng Hong dragged Lu Zhijun away.

The news of Deputy Commander Lu’s sister-in-law being bullied by Zheng Hong quickly spread throughout the entire family quarters.

In the courtyard, Jiang Nian sat on a wooden stool with her hands on her lap, picking at her fingers. Tears fell on her fair hands, causing Feng Mei to exclaim, “Oh dear, don’t cry. It makes me feel bad.”

She patted Jiang Nian’s thin shoulder: “Don’t take Zheng Hong’s words to heart. Who wishes for their own husband to die, right? Her mouth is just nasty. When Captain Lu returns, he’ll set her straight.”

Jiang Nian wiped her tears and looked up at Feng Mei, smiling weakly, “Thank you, Sister Feng.”

“What’s there to thank?”

Seeing Jiang Nian smile, Feng Mei felt relieved, “Come and have lunch at my place today. Don’t bother cooking.”

Jiang Nian replied, “No need, I’ll cook quickly and it’ll be ready in no time.”

Seeing Feng Mei not giving up, she added, “Really, no need. Lu Yu said he wants noodles for lunch. So, I have to  make them for him.”

Feng Mei agreed, “Alright then, I’ll head back.”

“Okay.”

After Feng Mei left, Jiang Nian dropped the act and casually wiping away her tears, marveling at her own performance.

She had played it perfectly.

Dealing with someone like Zheng Hong was simple, use their own tactics against them and leave them with no way out.

Washing her face, she went to the kitchen to knead dough and prepare noodles, planning to make shredded pork noodles for lunch.

As she was about to pour oil to start cooking, a shadow appeared at the kitchen entrance.

Jiang Nian froze for a moment, looking at Xu Yan who had stopped by the water jar, holding two eggs and looking at her with a hint of gratitude.

Jiang Nian: ??

She asked, “Is there something you need?”

Xu Yan bit her lip, stepped forward and placed the two eggs in Jiang Nian’s hand, muttering a thank you before quickly turning and running away.

Jiang Nian looked down at the eggs in her hand, finding the situation both amusing and touching. She understood why Xu Yan was thanking her.

The novel described Xu Yan as straightforward and honest, often suffering at the hands of the scheming Zheng Hong over the past two years.

Today’s incident had exposed Zheng Hong’s true face, giving Xu Yan a measure of justice.

Jiang Nian couldn’t help but smile as she thought about it. Hearing footsteps outside, she assumed Xu Yan had returned and waved the eggs at the kitchen door, saying with a smile, “No need to…” thank me.

The word “thank” was cut off, her smile fading instantly.

Jiang Nian stared at Lu Yu who was standing against the light at the kitchen door. The light outside was glaring and the room was too dark so she couldn’t see the expression on his face.