Chapter 9: Sarcastic and Mean

Song Yiyi couldn’t understand.
If you like someone, why not just say it openly?
If you like them, be together.
If you don’t, either work to make them like you or just find someone else to like.
There were so many paths to take, yet Kang Ying had to choose female rivalry.

And the original host wasn’t much better.
There were plenty of men in the compound — if she wanted to stay, she could’ve found someone clean and respectable, not take on Cen Bowen, who was a walking mess.
Kang Ying was already jumping up and down right in her face, and she just pretended nothing happened.

Song Yiyi recalled the book’s blurb — something about “childhood sweethearts, a secret crush coming true.”
But in reality? It was just another woman’s unwanted man, garbage she picked up and treated like treasure.
Maybe Cen Bowen did eventually fall for Kang Ying, but even then, that love was more about weighing pros and cons.

Song Yiyi let out a faint sigh.

Cen Bowen sat next to her, gently comforting,
“Yiyi, it’s okay, don’t be afraid.”

Song Yiyi closed her eyes, pretending to nap.
She just felt that someone like her — whether in her past life or this one — would probably never truly like another person.
Sometimes when you love yourself too much, you can’t value anyone else’s love.
She always viewed the people around her with the most critical eye — sharp-tongued and merciless.

The jeep drove straight into the compound and stopped in front of a two-story building.
Song Yiyi got out of the car and looked up at the structure in front of her.

Kang Ying’s uncle was only a battalion commander — yet he lived in a small two-story house.

The moment Cen Bowen got out, he rushed toward the yard as if he could fly there.
Song Yiyi followed behind him.

As soon as they entered, a voice rang out, hoarse from shouting:
“Kang Qiang, I’m a Kang too, what right do you have to kick me out?!”

The voice came from the rooftop.

Looking up, Song Yiyi locked eyes with Kang Ying, who stood on the edge of the roof with one leg hanging over.
Tears still clung to Kang Ying’s face, her lipstick smeared all over her mouth — looking more than a little disheveled.

When she saw Song Yiyi, a trace of resentment flickered in her gaze.
She hadn’t expected Song Yiyi to come.
Did this woman have no shame?

But when her eyes shifted to Cen Bowen behind Song Yiyi, they suddenly lit up.

“Kang Ying, get down here! I’ll kill you today if it’s the last thing I do!”
The furious roar came from the side, followed by the sound of a cup shattering.

The man shouting was in his early thirties, his face all meaty angles and twisted with rage as he glared up at Kang Ying.

Kang Ying, agitated, shouted back,
“Kang Qiang, if you kill me, you’ll go to prison! Don’t forget, this is the military compound.”

The next second, tears streamed down her face.

“I’ve put up with you all for so long.
Before, whatever she wanted, I let her have.
Since she got married, I even gave up my own room so you could use it as storage — I’ve lived in the hallway for five years.
Why isn’t that enough for you?

“Fine, I can let those things go, but not that necklace! I just want back what’s mine — how is that wrong?!”

Kang Qiang’s fists clenched, veins bulging on his forehead. His voice was venomous:
“And you’ve got the nerve to bring that up? Look at yourself — what kind of woman are you?
You’re twenty-five and still mooching off my family without getting married.
Go ask around — how many brothers would be as good as me, letting you stay here?”

Before Kang Qiang could continue, Cen Bowen suddenly spoke:
“You took her necklace?”

His tone was icy.

Song Yiyi glanced at him. For some reason, in that moment he looked strangely like Cen Yue yesterday.
They were definitely blood relatives.

When Kang Qiang saw Cen Bowen, his eyes flickered guiltily for a split second.
“No, why would I want her necklace? She came home today with a sour face, like we owed her money. Who is she showing that attitude to? I’m her brother — I can’t even say a few words to her?”

“Exactly! Like a firecracker, always out running around. When elders come, she doesn’t even greet them. I don’t know what she’s busy with all day. She won’t get married, and she’s making me and her father lose face!”
Kang’s mother clapped her hands as she complained.

Kang Ying, emotional, leaned forward and pointed to the silent woman beside her.
“I saw it! My necklace is on her neck. If you don’t believe me, take off her scarf and see!”

The woman beside Kang Qiang averted her gaze and clutched her scarf, her voice trembling with a sob:
“Yingying, it’s just a necklace. If you say I took it, then fine, I took it, okay? Tell me what it looks like and I’ll buy you another one. Whatever kind you want, we’ll get it. Please, just come down — don’t scare me.”

As she spoke, she cast a pleading look at Kang Qiang.

Kang Qiang couldn’t stand to see his wife like this, and his anger toward Kang Ying burned hotter.
“If she wants to jump, let her jump! You’re always coddling her. Don’t you see she’s walking all over us? This is still my house — she doesn’t get to run it!”

Hearing this, Kang Ying made a show of lifting her leg.

Cen Bowen’s nerves spiked.
“Don’t move!”

He instinctively took two steps forward, positioning himself where he could catch her.
“Yingzi, don’t listen to his nonsense. You lost your necklace, right? I’ll get it back for you. I’ll get it back — just don’t do anything rash.”

He repeated the last sentence several times in a row, his worry for Kang Ying obvious.

Through her tears, Kang Ying’s gaze brushed over Song Yiyi, a glint of triumph flashing in her eyes, before finally landing on Cen Bowen.
Her voice was plaintive:
“Bowen, I don’t want to make a scene, but that necklace was your birthday gift to me. It’s all I have left. I can’t lose it.”

A flicker of surprise crossed Cen Bowen’s face.
He paused for a moment, then still coaxed her gently,
“Alright, I understand. I’ll get it back for you.”

When he turned again, his expression was cold as ice, his voice sharp and cutting:
“Sister-in-law, will you take off the scarf yourself, or should I have someone help you?”

Kang Qiang’s wife shrank back at his glare.

In the past, countless times, Kang Ying had relied on Cen Bowen’s protection to throw her weight around in the household.
Even her battalion-commander uncle had warned Kang Qiang not to cross the Cen family.

But today, Kang Qiang couldn’t endure anymore.
He clenched his fists and stepped in front of his wife, gritting out,
“Deputy Commander Cen, my wife says she didn’t take it — that means she didn’t take it!”

Cen Bowen’s voice was frigid.
“Then take off the scarf.”

“Deputy Commander Cen!” Kang Qiang’s teeth ground audibly.
“Don’t push us too far!”

Cen Bowen clearly had no patience for further argument.
He started striding toward the woman behind Kang Qiang.

Kang Qiang refused to back down, and the two men were on the verge of a fight.

“Ah!”

Suddenly, the woman behind Kang Qiang let out a scream, clutching her now-bare neck and crouching down, scrambling to cover herself.

Everyone turned to look.

At some point, Song Yiyi had moved over to her side.
In her hand fluttered the scarf, caught in the breeze.

Even though Kang Qiang’s wife was covering her neck, everyone could clearly see the sight that made their pupils contract in shock.