Chapter 24: Beating Her at Her Own Game

Zhou Shiyu wanted to accuse Lin Banxia of doing something disgraceful, but she simply couldn’t come up with anything.

So she just waved her hand and said: “It’s really nothing serious. I just heard that she doesn’t know how to cook. At home, it’s always her in-laws who prepare the meals.

When I heard that, I was so envious of Sister-in-law Lin—married to a great man like Battalion Commander Gu, and with such kind in-laws too.”

Mentioning to Yu Juan that Lin Banxia couldn’t cook was something Zhou Shiyu had carefully planned.

Lin Banxia had just arrived at the military base. According to tradition, newcomers had to host a warm-house banquet.

But Lin Banxia didn’t know how to cook. So what was she supposed to do about this banquet?

Zhou Shiyu deliberately revealed this piece of information to Yu Juan at this time, hoping Yu Juan would spread the news around.

She had been living in the Family Courtyard for two years now and knew the nature of the other military wives there. Every one of them loved gossiping and poking their noses into other people’s business. They would definitely show up at the Gu family’s banquet for the excitement.

When that time came, Lin Banxia’s lazy and spoiled nature, along with her inability to cook, would be exposed. Knowing Lin Banxia’s pride, she definitely wouldn’t be able to hold her head up in the military base after that.

And that was exactly what Zhou Shiyu wanted—to force Lin Banxia out of the base.

She simply didn’t want Lin Banxia to follow the army. She wanted Lin Banxia and Gu Shiqing to live apart in different cities.

That way, sooner or later, their relationship would fall apart, and Zhou Shiyu would get exactly what she wanted.

Thinking of this, Zhou Shiyu felt delighted, as if she could already see Lin Banxia becoming the laughingstock of the Family Courtyard.

“She can’t even cook? Battalion Commander Gu’s wife is way too pampered, isn’t she? That’s just laughable. What kind of woman doesn’t know how to cook? Can someone like that even be called a woman?”

Yu Juan felt speechless at Zhou Shiyu’s comment. She had never heard of a woman who couldn’t cook.

But just not knowing how to cook didn’t seem like enough of a scandal.

Yu Juan wanted to dig up something more serious, so she asked: “Is there anything else? I think I heard that Battalion Commander Gu and she aren’t getting along. Is that true?”

“Sister-in-law, you’re putting me in a tough spot.” Zhou Shiyu replied with a smile, skillfully dodging the question. “How could I possibly know about something like that?”

After the incident with Chen Junming, she had become much more cautious. There were things one could say and things one absolutely couldn’t.

Last time, she had been tricked by Chen Junming. He told her everything was taken care of, so she directly told Gu Shiqing that Lin Banxia had eloped. As a result, Gu Shiqing thought she was slandering Lin Banxia.

If she now told Yu Juan directly that Gu Shiqing and Lin Banxia weren’t getting along, and Yu Juan repeated that to others, then turned around and said it came from her, Zhou Shiyu would end up in a heap of trouble.

But saying Lin Banxia didn’t know how to cook and relied on her in-laws to do it—now that wasn’t a big deal.

She was just expressing envy at Lin Banxia’s good fortune, having married well. Even if Yu Juan spread that, it wouldn’t be a problem.

Seeing the disappointed look on Yu Juan’s face, Zhou Shiyu rolled her eyes inwardly.

How could this woman be so clueless? Was Lin Banxia’s inability to cook not enough to stir up public opinion?

“Sister-in-law, I heard there’s a tradition in our unit that when someone moves into the Family Courtyard, they need to host a warm-house banquet.

Now look, Sister-in-law Lin doesn’t know how to cook, so she probably won’t know what to do for the banquet.

I usually have to work and won’t have time. If you’re free, maybe you could lend her a hand on the day of the banquet? That way she won’t get overwhelmed and become a laughingstock.”

Hearing this, Yu Juan suddenly came to a realization.

That’s right—Gu Family would be hosting a warm-house banquet in a few days, but if Lin Banxia didn’t know how to cook, how were they going to handle it?

“Nurse Zhou, you’re really kindhearted and warm. I did think about helping, but there’s a lot going on at home, I’m honestly too busy.” Yu Juan replied with a fake smile.

Help Lin Banxia?

What a joke!

The two of them had both gotten what they wanted from the conversation, so after exchanging a few more pleasantries, they casually found an excuse to part ways.

Yu Juan thought it over carefully. Even if she wanted to see Lin Banxia make a fool of herself, going alone wasn’t going to cut it. She needed to bring more people with her—the more, the better. The bigger the audience, the more humiliating it would be for Lin Banxia!

A group of military wives had gathered and were chatting about gossip.

When it came to recent happenings, nothing topped the news of Gu Shiqing’s wife joining him at the base.

The women were divided into two camps. One side said Lin Banxia seemed quite nice—pretty and generous. The other, led by Yu Juan, claimed Lin Banxia looked difficult to get along with. What good was being pretty? You couldn’t eat looks.

Someone immediately retorted: “How do you know she’s useless? For all we know, Battalion Commander Gu’s eating her up every night.”

Well, that escalated quickly—from black or white, everything somehow turned yellow.

Especially when it came to Gu Shiqing—young, tall, and strong-looking. The kind of man who looked like he had stamina.

Yu Juan leaned in and said: “Have you heard? Battalion Commander Gu’s wife doesn’t even know how to cook…”

“She can’t even cook? What kind of wife is that? More like a living ancestor!”

“Poor Battalion Commander Gu. How did he end up marrying such a lazy woman? Can’t even cook. After a long day at work, he can’t even get a hot meal. That’s rough.”

“So what are they planning for the banquet? Don’t tell me they’re going to host it at the dining hall? That’s way too bourgeois. These warm-house banquets have a lot of people—who can afford to be that extravagant?”

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Hou Xiufen happened to pass by and caught snippets of the conversation.

She quickly hurried back home, thought things over, then walked next door. She knocked on the door and called out: “Battalion Commander Gu’s wife, are you there? I need to talk to you!”

Lin Banxia was inside her space planting medicinal herbs. Her space wasn’t just for storage; she could grow plants inside it too.

And she had discovered that the herbs grown in this space were more potent than ordinary ones when used in medicine.

Ever since she had accidentally bonded with the space a few years ago, she had been growing herbs in it whenever she had the chance.

Hearing the voice outside, Lin Banxia quickly finished planting the herbs and came out of the space.

Opening the courtyard door, she looked at the woman standing in front of her and asked: “Sister-in-law, you are…?”

Hou Xiufen replied: “I live next door. My name’s Hou Xiufen—just call me Sister Hou. I want to ask you something. What are you and Battalion Commander Gu planning for the warm-house banquet?”

Lin Banxia was momentarily stunned. Why was this woman asking her that?

But then she recalled Gu Shiqing had told her that Sister Hou was a kind and helpful person, just a bit straightforward. That was why he had chosen to live in this particular housing unit. She figured this must be the kind of person he meant. Though not exactly her type, she assumed the woman meant no harm.

So Lin Banxia answered patiently: “I’ve already discussed it with Gu Shiqing. We’re planning to host it at the dining hall.”

As soon as she said this, Hou Xiufen’s face turned into one of utter disappointment, like she couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

She exclaimed: “You can’t host it at the dining hall!”

Lin Banxia looked at Hou Xiufen’s expression and was genuinely annoyed.

Did this woman have no sense of boundaries? Even where they planned to host the banquet was her business now? This was way too “enthusiastic” for her liking!

Just as Lin Banxia was about to give her a sharp reply, Hou Xiufen continued speaking: “I was on my way back from the Supply and Marketing Cooperative just now and overheard Nurse Zhou and Yu Juan talking about how you don’t know how to cook.

They guessed that you and Battalion Commander Gu would definitely hold the banquet in the dining hall and even said that kind of behavior was too much like bourgeois decadence. That kind of label can be dangerous—you may not care, but think about Battalion Commander Gu too.”

Then she added: “If you really don’t know how to cook, I can come over early to help. I’ll make all the food, and then you can just heat it up when the guests arrive and pretend you made it yourself.”

Lin Banxia hadn’t expected Sister Hou to say something like that. It turned out she had misunderstood her.

Still, Sister Hou’s way of speaking was far too blunt. Anyone hearing her might easily take it the wrong way.

“Sister-in-law, your concern isn’t unreasonable. When Gu Shiqing comes home, I’ll talk to him about not holding the banquet at the dining hall. We’ll do it at home instead. But I really appreciate your kindness, and I’ll handle the cooking myself.” Lin Banxia said.

“It’s just cooking, after all. Who says I don’t know how to cook?”

Hou Xiufen was taken aback by her confident tone. “You know how to cook?”

Nurse Zhou had spoken with such certainty that she had truly believed Lin Banxia didn’t know how.

Lin Banxia nodded. “What’s so hard about it? You just wait and come over for the banquet.”

So what if she didn’t cook regular food? She could make medicinal cuisine!

Seeing how confident she was, Hou Xiufen finally felt reassured. “Alright then.”

Only now did she notice just how fair Lin Banxia’s skin was—like a peeled boiled egg, smooth and delicate.

And when she smiled, she looked especially beautiful.

Her eyes seemed to speak, drawing Hou Xiufen’s attention again and again.

They all ate the same grains and drank the same water—how was it that Lin Banxia turned out so beautiful?

Realizing she was almost as enchanted by Lin Banxia’s appearance as her son Goudan had been, Hou Xiufen’s inner alarms blared. She quickly said: “Well, I’ve got things to do at home, so I’ll head back now.”

After saying that, she dashed off faster than a rabbit.

The moment she entered her courtyard, Hou Xiufen clutched her chest. Good grief, if she had stayed any longer, she might’ve started calling Lin Banxia a fairy like her son.

No, she had to stay firm in her stance. How could she lose her head over a pretty face like Goudan?

Watching Hou Xiufen flee like a startled rabbit, Lin Banxia suddenly found this sister-in-law kind of… cute?

Thinking it over, she decided to head out.

Since Zhou Shiyu and the others were already eagerly waiting to see her make a fool of herself, of course she had to play her part convincingly.

Lin Banxia made her way toward the military family dining hall. She didn’t know the way, since she was still new to the base, but that didn’t matter—she could ask for directions.

She did this intentionally, asking for directions all the way there, so people would know she was heading to the military family dining hall. It would help create the illusion that she really intended to host the banquet there.

Weren’t these people trying to use this to accuse her and Gu Shiqing of being bourgeois?

Wouldn’t it be fun when the day of the banquet arrived and they realized they’d been played?

Thinking of this, Lin Banxia was in excellent spirits.

Please—she wasn’t some docile little pushover. If someone wanted to mess with her, they’d better first consider whether they were even worthy.