Chapter 19

Su Qianqian naturally knew the porridge tasted better yesterday, thanks to the added spiritual spring water that enhanced the flavor.  

“It’s about the same,” she answered reluctantly.  

Cheng Yue immediately started questioning life.  

He looked at the three children. Daya glanced at Cheng Yue, then at Su Qianqian, and answered seriously, “About the same.”  

*Pfft!* Su Qianqian didn’t expect the children to cooperate so well. It seemed that their trust in her as their mother had increased.  

Cheng Yue was completely stunned now.  

Could it be that the concussion had affected his sense of taste, making it different from everyone else’s?  

After Cheng Yuan finished his breakfast, Cheng Yue spoke up. “Come a bit later to pick up the kids tonight,” he said, hoping this would prevent him from coming to mooch off their food again.  

“Okay,” Cheng Yuan replied without much thought, as he had plenty of work to do today.  

In the morning, the doctor came to check on Cheng Yue’s condition.  

“Huh, your recovery is amazing!” The doctor was surprised and did a more thorough examination, confirming that Cheng Yue had recovered significantly—almost as if he’d been recuperating for half a month, but it had only been less than a week.  

“After all, he’s a soldier with good physical fitness. Young people recover quickly,” Su Qianqian added.  

The doctor nodded. “That’s true. A good recovery is a good thing. If you keep up with rehab, he might even be able to run and jump again.” This fast recovery gave the doctor confidence.  

After the checkup, the doctor went back outside to soak up some sunlight, which would help speed up the body’s self-repair process.  

At noon, Su Qianqian went home to cook.  

However, just after she left, Zhou Yun arrived.  

She walked seriously to Cheng Yue’s bedside. “Cheng Yue, I need to talk to you about something important.”  

“Go ahead.”  

“Let the kids go play outside first.”  

Erbao immediately looked at her warily, his serious baby voice asking, “Are you going to say something the kids shouldn’t hear?”  

Zhou Yun was stunned, not expecting to be questioned by a child.  

“We need to discuss something very important, and it’s not appropriate for kids to hear. Why don’t you go play outside and come back in a little while?”  

Daya blinked and asked, “Are you going to say something bad about our mom?”  

“The people from the village said bad women try to seduce other people’s husbands!” Sanya huffed.  

“You!” Zhou Yun was furious, but remembering these were Cheng Yue’s children and that they might need to get along later, she forced herself to hold back her anger and glanced at Cheng Yue with some grievance.  

Cheng Yue thought it had something to do with the military, so he said, “You three go play outside for a bit, don’t wander off. Dad and Aunt Zhou Yun have some work-related matters to discuss.”  

Erbao didn’t want to leave, but Daya took his hand and led him out, with Sanya following behind them.  

Once they reached the door, Daya whispered, “Let’s eavesdrop. If they’re not talking badly about Mom, we won’t listen.”  

“Okay, we’ll listen to sister,” Erbao and Sanya agreed.  

Cheng Yue looked at Zhou Yun. “What do you want to say?”  

“First, I want to apologize. I took it upon myself to investigate your wife, Su Qianqian.”  

“You investigated her?” Cheng Yue hadn’t even looked into it himself, but Zhou Yun had done so first, and that immediately upset him.  

Seeing his expression, Zhou Yun realized he minded and quickly said, “I’ll apologize for that later. For now, let’s talk about Su Qianqian. Everyone in the Tianshui Village knows about her situation. Over the past five years, she’s been causing trouble, always using your family’s money and food to support her family.”  

“And the most outrageous thing!” Zhou Yun paused and lowered her voice, “She even tried to sell Sanya.”  

Cheng Yue’s face changed, and he looked at her in disbelief. “What?”  

“If you don’t believe me, you can call the Tianshui Village and ask. Everyone knows about it, and it caused quite a stir.”  

At that moment, Erbao suddenly stormed into the room, shouting loudly, “Bad woman, you’re really talking bad about my mom!”  

“I didn’t talk bad about her, I’m just telling the truth! The people in the Tianshui Village said she often hits you, and sometimes you’re covered in bruises!”  

“None of your business!” Daya said coldly. “Do you want my mom and dad to divorce so you can marry my dad?”  

Zhou Yun froze, not expecting that her own thoughts would be pointed out by a four-year-old.  

“Stop talking nonsense!” Cheng Yue snapped. “Answer me first. Did Su Qianqian ever hit you?”  

Daya bit her lip and answered, “Which child doesn’t get spanked? We only get spanked when we’re naughty.”  

“Right, we’re naughty!”  

It seemed like they had indeed been hit, and if the people from the Tianshui Village said so, it must have been quite severe.  

“Is it true that Sanya was going to be sold?”  

“Of course not! Mom didn’t sell me, she even braided my hair!” Sanya shouted, defending her mother.  

Mom would never sell her! Mom had promised her, and she trusted her!  

Otherwise, Mom wouldn’t have brought her to see Dad.  

“I think we should wait for Su Qianqian to come back and confront her directly,” Zhou Yun said.  

Cheng Yue recalled the letter from home, which didn’t mention anything about Su Qianqian being bad to the children. It only said that she had changed significantly, no longer as unreasonable and immature as before.  

…  

Su Qianqian finished cooking and went outside, where she ran into Wu Sufen, who lived across the hall.  

“You’re cooking again to send to the hospital? Your dishes smell so good, I could even smell them at my place,” Wu Sufen said with a smile.  

“Once Cheng Yue is discharged, I’ll invite you over to our house,” Su Qianqian replied politely.  

Wu Sufen smiled and agreed, “That would be great. My husband, Old He, is your Captain Cheng’s subordinate. They’re good friends. By the way…” She stepped closer and whispered, “Have you met Zhou Yun? She’s a pretty city girl, and she seems to have some feelings for your Captain Cheng. You should be careful.”  

“I have sharp eyes, I could tell right away.”  

“Got it, thank you, Mrs. He.” She wasn’t sure how to address her.  

Wu Sufen laughed, “Mrs. He? No, no, no, that’s too formal. I’m older than you, so just call me Sister Sufen!”  

“I can’t call you Mrs. He, that’s too embarrassing.”  

Su Qianqian exchanged a few more pleasantries before leaving, or the food would get cold.  

When she entered the hospital room, she was surprised to find Zhou Yun there, and the atmosphere was off. As soon as the three children saw her, they rushed over, looking protective. “Mom, this bad woman is talking bad about you.”  

“Su Qianqian, will you admit that you often hit the children and even tried to sell Sanya?” Zhou Yun took the lead and directly questioned her.  

Oh, so this was a confrontation now.  

Su Qianqian wasn’t in a hurry or angry, she calmly asked, “As for this matter, Cheng Yue asked me about it. There’s no issue. And once again, what position are you asking me from? Are you eager to have me kicked out so you can marry Cheng Yue?”  

Cheng Yue glanced at Zhou Yun, then turned his gaze to Su Qianqian. “The kids are just fooling around, but you’re following along. Don’t try to shift the blame.”  

“I can explain things to you, but there’s no need to explain it to her.” Su Qianqian maintained her stance. She couldn’t let Zhou Yun have the upper hand.