Chapter 23

“Oh,” Jiang Nian pretended to respond calmly, turning her head away from Lu Yu. She closed her eyes in frustration and embarrassment, silently roaring inside.

She took a deep breath, feeling sweat forming on her hand clutching the money.

Lu Yu’s gaze brushed over Jiang Nian’s slightly flushed ears, a faint smile playing at the corners of his deep black eyes.

“The bathwater is ready,” he said, bringing in the basin.

Jiang Nian quickly stuffed all the money and notes into the tin box, breathing a sigh of relief only after the splashing of water and footsteps had faded away from the house.

She closed the door, feeling unusually hesitant about bathing tonight.

Only after the water had cooled did she leisurely dry herself off and get dressed. Stepping out of the room, Lu Yu heard the movement and emerged from the house. Seeing that Jiang Nian was properly dressed, he walked purposefully into her room, emptied the bathwater for her.

Jiang Nian increasingly felt that having Lu Yu at home was a good thing.

During the two months he was away, she had to make several trips back and forth to heat and drain the bathwater at night, nearly breaking her legs in the process.

Jiang Nian shut the door behind her, taking out the money and notes from the tin box and neatly arranging them one by one. After putting the tin box away, she lay down on the bed, gazing into the dark night, contemplating her future. Eventually, thoughts blurred into sleep.

With Lu Yu around, Jiang Nian slept even more soundly than the previous night. When she woke up and opened her eyes, it was already drizzling outside. The courtyard was muddy, raindrops splashing into the mud.

This was the first rain she had encountered since arriving here.

Jiang Nian got out of bed, dressed, put on her cloth shoes, and walked out of the house. She reached out her hand to let the raindrops fall on her, feeling cold. From the stove to the courtyard gate, there were large footprints. She knew without thinking that they were left by Lu Yu when he went to the team.

She leaned her hand against the roof, ran into the kitchen in the rain, lifted the lid of the pot, and saw a plate of vegetables and two steamed buns inside the steaming basket, as well as a bowl of egg soup.

Jiang Nian: …

Lu Yu really overestimated her appetite.

She couldn’t finish it at all.

After washing up and eating breakfast, Jiang Nian washed the pots and bowls, returned to her room, and found some white cloth she had bought at the supply and marketing cooperative. She intended to rustle up some patterns on it, making a curtain for her and Lu Yu’s room.

Now that the weather was turning cooler, a curtain would be nice.

She sat on a stool outside the door, picked up a needle, threaded a needle, and just embroidered a pattern, and there was a knock on the door.

“Jiang Nian, are you home?”

Jiang Nian put down the fabric, threaded the needle, stood up in the rain, and opened the courtyard door to see Feng Mei, who said, “I’m bringing you some salted cowpeas and napa cabbage.”

After she was done speaking, she lifted her hand to cover her forehead. “My mother said last month that it’s been almost three months since it last rained. If it didn’t rain, the village would have been in a drought.”

Jiang Nian took the plate, smiling, “Sister Feng, do you want to come in for a while?”

Feng Mei waved her hand, “I’m not going to sit. I’ll go back and pickle the rest of the cabbage.”

After that, she left.

Jiang Nian put the pickled vegetables in the kitchen, returned to the room to continue embroidering the curtain, and she first embroidered her own, which was a picture of plum blossoms.

The rain was getting heavier and heavier, and it looked like it would continue overnight.

Jiang Nian made lunch and waited a long time. At the end of lunch, Lu Yu had not returned yet. She leaned against the wall in the rain, looking toward Feng Mei’s courtyard and shouted loudly, “Sister-in-law, has Commander Song returned?”

Feng Mei heard her and rushed out from the kitchen, holding a pot lid over her head to shield herself from the rain. “He hasn’t come back yet. I think the bridge in the neighboring village collapsed again, so they went over to help with the rescue.”

Jiang Nian recalled passing by a bridge on her way to the market. It was constructed with wood and stones but had not been repaired for many years. Every time it rained heavily, the bridge would collapse, requiring considerable time to repair. She knew this from books; it was a scenario where the male lead went to assist with rescue efforts for two days, while the female lead, worried about him, ended up catching a cold from being soaked in the rain.

It just so happened that the storyline progressed, pushing the relationship between the male and female leads further.

Jiang Nian hurried back into the house, used a towel to dab at the water on her clothes, ate a few bites of rice in the kitchen, warmed the leftover rice in the pot, and couldn’t help but sneeze when she turned to leave the kitchen.

She rubbed her nose and suddenly froze.

Jiang Nian suddenly remembered another part of the plot. Because of the heavy rain, Song Xiangdong was trapped at school. The school conditions were poor, and the roof leaked heavily during rainstorms. Song Xiangdong caught a high fever and convulsed from being soaked in the rain, which worsen his severe cough into acute pneumonia. Commander Song borrowed a car from the military district to rush him to the hospital, but the county hospital was limited, so they were directed to the city hospital.

Because of this illness, Song Xiangdong’s health deteriorated.

These plot points were all shown from the perspective of the male lead. At that time, the male lead also visited Song Xiangdong in the hospital.

Thinking of how Song Xiangdong had given her his hard-earned reward, shyly calling her “auntie” with a smile, Jiang Nian felt deeply pained. Although this illness didn’t take Song Xiangdong’s life, it left a lasting mark on his health.

Jiang Nian hesitated for a moment, then knocked on Feng Mei’s courtyard door in the rain.

Feng Mei said, “Why did you come out in such heavy rain?”

Jiang Nian replied, “Sister Feng, shall we go to the school to pick up Xiangdong? Xiangdong told me their school roof isn’t sturdy. We don’t know how long this rain will last. It would be troublesome if Xiangdong catches a cold from being soaked. The children suffer, and the adults worry.”

Upon hearing Jiang Nian’s concern for her son, Feng Mei felt quite touched.

She smiled and said, “It’s no big deal. The Old Song and the rescue team will bring Xiangdong back when they return.”

Jiang Nian said, “I don’t think this rain will stop by tonight, and besides, that bridge won’t be fixed anytime soon. Let’s bring Xiangdong back first. This way, Commander Song won’t have to worry about this, and he can focus on the rescue mission.”

“Alright, let me get an umbrella and tell Xianghong to stay home obediently.”

After Feng Mei glanced at Jiang Nian’s soaked clothes, she hurried back inside to fetch an old-fashioned umbrella. The two of them walked to the school in the neighboring village in the rain. Along the way, they met several military wives who were also fetching their children from the school in the neighboring village.

After chatting with them, Feng Mei realized they were all worried about their children catching colds at school due to the rain or being involved in an unexpected accident. She grew to like Jiang Nian even more.

If she could become her sister-in-law, that would be perfect!

They walked three miles away from the army and suddenly saw Zhu Jun rushing back in the pouring rain.

Feng Mei shouted, “Why did you come back running like this?”

Zhu Jun was out of breath, his sweat mixed with rainwater. He wiped the rain off his eyelids and said, “Lu Zhijun broke his leg. I rushed back to the army to borrow a car to take him to the hospital.”

Feng Mei was stunned, “How did he break his leg? Wasn’t he at school? Where’s Captain Lu?”

Zhu Jun explained, “Deputy Commander Lu said the school’s roof wasn’t secure, so he asked me to bring a few kids back to the barracks first. Lu Zhijun was on the way with…”

He paused, glanced at Feng Mei’s worried face, and continued, “with Song Xiangdong, they argued on the way, and I was pulling another child at the time, so I didn’t get a chance to stop them. They tumbled down the slope together, and Lu Zhijun broke his leg.”

Upon hearing this, Feng Mei exploded, “What about Xiangdong? Is he okay?”

Zhu Jun hurriedly reassured her, “Don’t worry, Sister Feng, Xiangdong is fine. He just scraped his arm a bit, but it’s better to have him checked at the hospital. I have to go now. Captain Lu is still waiting for me to drive him over to the hospital.”

With that, he ran off.

Feng Mei was now very anxious. She handed the umbrella to Jiang Nian and ran after him.

Jiang Nian also hurried after her, but her mind was preoccupied with what Zhu Jun had just said.

Why did Lu Yu let Zhu Jun bring the kids back to the army? According to the book’s plot, it shouldn’t be like this. Could it be that her intervention had caused the entire plot to go off track?

The male and female leads who were supposed to meet were now strangers.

And the children were supposed to stay at school, but Lu Yu had Zhu Jun bring them back early. In the book, it was Song Xiangdong who had an accident, not Lu Zhijun. But now everything was in chaos.

As Jiang Nian and Feng Mei hurried over, they found several people standing under a tree.

Captain Lu held the crying Lu Zhijun in his arms. Lu Zhijun kept crying and blaming Song Xiangdong. Song Xiangdong stood with a few children, his right arm scraped and silent, looking very aggrieved and self-blaming.

Feng Mei ran over and checked on Song Xiangdong from front to back, seeing that he was only injured with a scraped arm, she finally breathed a sigh of relief. She turned to look at Lu Zhijun, who was still crying, and then at Captain Lu, whose face was tense. Finally, she asked Song Xiangdong, “What happened? Why did you fight again?”

The dense foliage of the big tree provided them with a natural umbrella, shielding them from the rain.

Jiang Nian looked at Lu Zhijun’s leg. It hung motionless and seemed to be broken, just like Zhu Jun had said.

She pursed her lips and looked at Song Xiangdong.

Song Xiangdong kept his head down and didn’t say a word. It was Captain Lu, who was holding onto Lu Zhijun, who spoke up, “Sister Feng, don’t blame Xiangdong for this. It’s Zhijun’s fault. He brought this trouble upon himself, it has nothing to do with Xiangdong.”

Lu Zhijun cried until he couldn’t say anything more, only wailing loudly.

He felt both aggrieved and angry. Clearly, it was Song Xiangdong who caused him to break his leg. Why wouldn’t his father let Aunt Feng scold him?

Song Xiangdong kept his head down. Jiang Nian noticed that he was holding his school bag tightly. There were many mud spots on the school bag, and the little boy in military uniform also had a layer of mud on his face. She frowned slightly, and felt that the reason for the quarrel between Lu Zhijun and Song Xiangdong might be this school bag.

Sure enough, three other children nearby confirmed her guess.

One of the children said, “Aunt Feng, Lu Zhijun wanted Song Xiangdong’s schoolbag, but Song Xiangdong wouldn’t give it to him, so they started fighting. Uncle Zhu was carrying me down the slope at that time and didn’t notice. I was the first to see them wrestling and rolling down the slope.”

Lu Zhijun heard this and cried out with closed eyes, “Nonsense! I didn’t steal anything!”

Another child retorted indignantly, “You did steal! Both Ren Bao and I saw it. You were looking at the little boy on Song Xiangdong’s school bag, and after looking, you tried to snatch it. When Song Xiangdong refused, you started fighting with him!”

“Yeah, I saw it too.”

Four or five children standing nearby all spoke up in agreement.

Seeing everyone siding with Song Xiangdong, Lu Zhijun began to make a scene, yelling with tears, “You’re all bullying me! I’m going to tell my mom…”

“That’s enough!”

Lu Guosheng’s face darkened, especially when he frowned. His expression was terrifying, causing Lu Zhijun to tremble in fear. He glanced fearfully at his father holding him, tightly pursing his lips, too scared to say another word.

He wasn’t afraid of his mother but terrified of his father. If his father got angry, he might use a cane to punish him severely.

Feng Mei only learned the full story then. Originally wanting to scold Lu Zhijun, she held back upon realizing the child had broken his leg. Instead, she rubbed Song Xiangdong’s wet hair and said, “As long as you’re okay. Later, when Uncle Zhu comes, Mom will take you to the hospital for a check-up.”

She was willing to spend money to check on her son, even though it hurt her heart. But to spend a penny on Lu Zhijun? No way!

Lu Zhijun was just like his mother, always coveting others’ things. How shameless!

Song Xiangdong wiped his tears and nodded obediently, “Okay.”

The uproar caused by the embroidered pattern on a schoolbag was unexpected by Jiang Nian. However, she didn’t have much sympathy for Lu Zhijun, this child was almost led astray by Zheng Hong.

Just because Zheng Hong didn’t buy him chocolate, he lied that his mother was saving money to marry Song Bai, leading to a fight between Zheng Hong and Captain Lu. Now, because he failed to snatch Song Xiangdong’s school bag, he was playing the victim.

Song Xiangdong looked up at Jiang Nian and rubbed his fingers on the embroidery of his school bag, trying to wipe off the mud spots on the embroidery. Jiang Nian walked up to him, squatted down, and gently rubbed his head: “It’s okay if it’s a little dirty, you can wash it when you get home and it will be clean.”

Song Xiangdong smiled faintly, then looked at Captain Lu. Seeing Captain Lu still staring in the direction of the troops, he breathed a sigh of relief.

In fact, when Lu Zhijun just broke his leg, he was also afraid that Lu Zhijun’s father would come and beat him, but he didn’t. He just asked about what happened and then hold Lu Zhijun without saying another word.

After waiting for a while, Zhu Jun drove over.

Lu Guosheng carried Lu Zhijun into the car first, and Feng Mei took Song Xiangdong to follow. Jiang Nian led the remaining few children back to the troops.

Zhu Jun glanced at Jiang Nian through the car window and said, “Sister-in-law, the rain is getting heavier. Hurry up and take the kids back.”

Feng Mei also waved at her, “Hurry back.”

Jiang Nian watched the jeep leave, opened an umbrella, and huddled the five children together. It wasn’t much, but it could shelter them from some rain. She led the children back to the army in the rain, ensuring they all returned home safely.

Jiang Nian, who hadn’t been rained on for many years, was thoroughly soaked this time.

She heated water first when she got home, then ran back and forth to bring it into the house. Finally, she closed the doors and windows, wrung out the soaked clothes, and hurriedly took a bath with hot water, sneezing all the while.

“Achoo—”

Jiang Nian crawled into bed, sneezing three times in a row, feeling a bit dizzy.

Listening to the sound of the rain outside, she fell asleep in a daze.

Jiang Nian slept for quite a while this time. When she woke up, it was already dark outside, and the room was pitch black, almost impossible to see anything. She had a headache, felt dizzy, and had a runny nose, knowing she had caught a cold.

The rain was still falling steadily.

Jiang Nian got out of bed, groped for the light switch in the dark, faintly hearing Xu Yan’s voice in the rain. She opened the door and saw Xu Yan holding an umbrella, leaning against the wall and shouting for her.

Through the blurry rain curtain, Jiang Nian saw Xu Yan’s worried expression.

She smiled, “I just fell asleep.”

Xu Yan breathed a sigh of relief, “I knocked on your door and got no response, thought something happened to you.”

She then asked, “Oh, by the way, where did Sister Feng go? I heard Song Xianghong crying alone at home this afternoon, so I took him to play with Jianye and Jianwu. It’s already dark, and she hasn’t come back.”

Jiang Nian recounted what had happened in the afternoon. Feeling her throat dry and sore, she coughed, then continued, “It takes four hours to drive to the city from here, and with the rain, it’ll be even slower. She probably won’t be back until tomorrow.”

Xu Yan was momentarily stunned, then snorted coldly, “Like mother, like son. A chip off the old block.”

Jiang Nian suppressed a smile.

Xu Yan said, “Well, tonight I’ll take Xianghong with me and let him sleep with Jianye and Jianwu.”

Jiang Nian turned on the yard light, held the umbrella, and walked to the kitchen. However, she lacked the energy to cook at the moment, feeling sore all over and too weak to eat. She just ate a few bites of corn pancakes and lay back down in bed.

With the windows and doors closed, the sound of rain outside softened considerably.

Jiang Nian slept until midnight, feeling so cold she seemed to be in an ice cellar. She wrapped the thin blanket tighter around herself and drifted back into a deep sleep.

The rain gradually lessened, and the sound of clothes shaking and feet stomping in the yard could be heard. Jiang Nian blinked, wanting to open her eyes, but her eyelids were heavy and wouldn’t budge. She could hear footsteps approaching the kitchen, then after a while, turning back, followed by a familiar deep voice.

“Sister-in-law, are you asleep?”

Jiang Nian was in and out of consciousness, thinking she might be dreaming. Without waiting for Lu Yu to ask again, she drifted off again.

Outside the room, Lu Yu stood hesitatingly, wanting to reach out and push the door, but hesitated.

He turned back to the kitchen, glanced at the half-eaten corn pancakes and the cold stove. After a moment’s hesitation, he returned to Jiang Nian’s door, pushed it open, and entered. Inside, it was pitch black, impossible to see anything. Lu Yu discerned Jiang Nian’s breathing amidst the rain’s noise, noticing it didn’t sound quite right.

He pulled the light switch and approached Jiang Nian’s bed, noticing her flushed cheeks. He tentatively lifted his hand to feel her forehead, which was alarmingly hot.

“Sister-in-law.”

Lu Yu gently nudged Jiang Nian’s arm. She unconsciously let out a few soft groans, her breath feeling scorching against his touch.

Turning around, he left the room and closed the door behind him. Braving the rain, he hurried to the health clinic. There were nurses on duty at night, and Lu Yu purchased fever-reducing medicine to bring Jiang Nian’s temperature down first, planning to take her to the hospital the next day.

Returning home, Lu Yu heated water and poured it into a ceramic basin. Carrying the basin and medicine, he entered Jiang Nian’s room, placing them by her pillow. He nudged her arm again, noticing her eyelashes flutter slightly, but she showed no signs of waking.

“Sister-in-law.”

He called out again, but there was no response from the bed.

Lu Yu pursed his lips thoughtfully. After a moment’s hesitation, he gently slid his arm under Jiang Nian’s neck from behind, carefully grasping her frail shoulders. With a slight effort, he helped her sit up, then sat beside her on the bed, allowing the unconscious Jiang Nian to lean weakly against his chest.

**

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