Chapter 110: The Catalyst of Emotions

Jiang Rou knew that He Donglai had feelings for Song Qingqian, but what about Song Qingqian?

If Song Qingqian had no feelings for He Donglai, then their relationship was nothing more than a one-sided love.

Unrequited feelings would never bear fruit.

If these two were really going to waste their lives like this, Jiang Rou might as well find an opportunity to help Song Qingqian get a divorce.

After all, the storm of this era would pass sooner or later.

Song Qingqian’s political background issue would not trouble her for a lifetime.

Jiang Rou pondered over these thoughts in her heart. Therefore, she told Song Qingqian everything she had heard from Zhao Guifen in full detail.

She spoke of landmines, explosions, and injuries.

Song Qingqian had lived in Shanghai City all her life. Due to her prestigious family background, she was completely ignorant of such matters.

The country had been at peace for decades, yet there were still people getting injured by bombs while working in the fields.

Had Jiang Rou not told her this personally, Song Qingqian would have thought it was just some bizarre tale from a tabloid newspaper.

Listening to the story, she was so shocked that her lips slightly parted. With worry in her voice, she asked,

“Was that person okay? Were the injuries serious?”

“This time, the situation wasn’t too bad. I heard the person only suffered minor superficial wounds, nothing too serious. But this island isn’t just home to one landmine. In the fields, on the beaches—there are still many unexploded bombs buried underground. The military unit has organized a demining operation and arranged for professionals to search for and remove them.”

As Song Qingqian listened, she unconsciously clenched her hands.

Her heart grew heavy because of Jiang Rou’s words.

After all, danger meant that people could get hurt—meant that people could die.

No one could turn a blind eye to the loss of life.

Jiang Rou observed Song Qingqian’s reaction.

She paused briefly before speaking again in a deep tone.

“The person leading this demining operation is Commander He.”

Thud.

Song Qingqian’s clenched fist accidentally knocked against the table.

Her knuckles struck the edge, scraping off a thin layer of skin.

A sharp pain flared up instantly.

But at this moment—

Song Qingqian had no time to care about the wounds on her hands.  

Her eyes were fixed on Jiang Rou, her expression filled with both worry and urgency as she asked,  

“You said it was He Donglai?”  

How she wished there could be a second Commander He in the Military Unit.  

However, Jiang Rou looked at her and nodded.  

In an instant, the color drained from Song Qingqian’s face. Her long, almond-shaped eyes narrowed slightly, and her teeth unconsciously bit down on her lips.  

Her intense worry was impossible to hide.  

Even the fragrance of the sesame oil duck had disappeared at this moment.  

Song Qingqian’s hands clenched together uncontrollably, her fingers nearly pressing against the wounds from earlier.  

“Be careful, don’t touch your wound.”  

Jiang Rou reminded her, reaching out to touch Song Qingqian’s hand.  

Her fingertips were ice-cold.  

Her reaction was a perfect reflection of how Jiang Rou had felt upon hearing the same news yesterday.  

The difference was that Song Qingqian did not know how to hide her emotions, making her feelings even more obvious.  

The way Jiang Rou worried about Zhou Zhongshan was exactly how Song Qingqian worried about He Donglai.  

With that in mind, it was impossible for He Donglai’s feelings to be one-sided.  

If both of them had mutual feelings, then how had they ended up spending a lifetime in a loveless marriage, merely keeping up appearances?  

Could it be that neither of them knew how to speak?  

After all: “not knowing how to talk” was a common trope in many overly dramatic romance novels.  

Now that Jiang Rou had traveled through time, even if she had to force it, she was going to pry open their mouths!  

As a devoted matchmaker, she wasn’t just here for the sweet moments—she wanted to see them happily in love, with a big family and children.  

Her reminder today was a perfect catalyst.  

It would surely have some effect on their relationship as husband and wife.  

…  

Once their conversation was over, Song Qingqian, despite the change in her expression, still maintained her good manners and personally escorted Jiang Rou to the door, watching her leave.  

But as fate would have it—  

Just as the door opened and Jiang Rou was about to step outside, the sudden sound of the door creaking drew the attention of someone standing nearby.  

“Ah…”  

Seeing Jiang Rou walk out of Song Qingqian’s house, someone couldn’t hold back a gasp, their eyes widening in surprise.  

Standing a short distance away were five or six women.  

Jiang Rou glanced over and first spotted Lin Yulan in the center, followed by Lin Yuyao standing beside her.

Among the wives in the compound, there was one named Chen Meilan, who was known as the loudspeaker of the community.  

Anything she learned rarely took more than a day to spread throughout the entire compound.  

Sure enough, before Jiang Rou even had the chance to greet them, Chen Meilan had already pointed at her and shouted loudly,  

“Sister Rou, you—you… you! How can you associate with this capitalist’s daughter?”  

Jiang Rou frowned the moment she heard the words “capitalist’s daughter.”  

Here we go again.  

Those same words, over and over.  

She had heard them so much that they were practically ringing in her ears.  

It was always the same story—if they wanted to criticize someone, couldn’t they at least come up with some new reasoning?  

But this time, the accusation of being a “capitalist’s daughter” wasn’t directed at Jiang Rou. Instead, it was aimed at Song Qingqian.  

Song Qingqian’s expression had not been pleasant to begin with, and now, upon seeing the scrutinizing gazes of those around her, her face became even more distant and cold.  

Without a second thought, she turned to shut the door.  

If they looked down on her, she looked down on them just the same.  

It would be best if they simply stayed out of each other’s sight.  

However, Jiang Rou was standing right by the doorway, preventing Song Qingqian from closing it completely.  

Seeing this, Song Qingqian hesitated for a moment before deciding to step back, wanting to put some distance between herself and Jiang Rou.  

The relationship between them was nothing more than a simple exchange—  

Jiang Rou provided delicious food, and in return, Song Qingqian taught her how to make clothes. It was clear-cut and straightforward.  

Song Qingqian didn’t want her background to drag Jiang Rou into trouble.  

Jiang Rou probably wouldn’t want to be associated with her either.  

However—  

Just as Song Qingqian was about to step back, she suddenly heard Jiang Rou speak in a firm and resolute tone.  

“So what if I associate with Song Qingqian? We all live in the same compound. What’s wrong with socializing with each other?”  

Jiang Rou looked directly at Chen Meilan, throwing the question back at her without hesitation.  

Her voice was heavier than usual, and her expression more serious, as if she hadn’t even noticed the implication in Chen Meilan’s words.  

Caught off guard by Jiang Rou’s retort and seeing the imposing manner in which she spoke, Chen Meilan hesitated.  

On top of that, she thought about Zhou Zhongshan’s status.  

Her own husband was merely a low-ranking company commander—he couldn’t afford to get into a dispute with the wife of Regiment Commander Zhou.  

So, Chen Meilan immediately fell silent.  

She mumbled a weak defense: “I was just kindly reminding you…”  

Though Chen Meilan no longer dared to speak loudly, there was still someone who wasn’t willing to let this opportunity slip away.  

That person was Lin Yuyao.

Author’s Note: 

Jiang Rou’s feelings toward Song Qingqian stemmed from two things.

On one hand, when she had read the original story, she had admired Song Qingqian’s unyielding nature and felt deep regret over her tragic life.

On the other hand, after meeting He Donglai, she had taken on the role of a devoted CP fan and a doting “mother fan.” hoping both her “daughter” and “son” would have a happy ending.

Because of that, she couldn’t help but treat Song Qingqian a little better.

⋆⁺₊⋆ ━━━━⊱༒︎ • ༒︎⊰━━━━ ⋆⁺₊⋆

Lucia: Hi, I made a poll, and THE ONE MOST-VOTED NOVEL WILL HAVE 10 BONUS UPDATES. So, if you want to have a bonus update for this novel, please vote HERE

⋆⁺₊⋆ ━━━━⊱༒︎ • ༒︎⊰━━━━ ⋆⁺₊⋆