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◎Day 44 of the King of Scrolls◎

"Liu Guixiang's mouth is like a broken megaphone on the island, always blowing dirty lines! And that Jun Yanghong, she's only been here a few days and she's already thinking of stirring up trouble?"

She put down the knife, took Jiang Wanzhou's hand, and said firmly, "Wanzhou, remember, people's hearts are in their own bodies, not something that can be changed by a few words from others. You know better than anyone what kind of person Zhou Qingyu is. If he were the kind of person who would easily change his mind, he wouldn't have chosen you back in the Red Star Brigade, and he certainly wouldn't be going through all this pressure to marry you now. Don't listen to those gossipy old women; they're just jealous and can't stand seeing others do well!"

In the evening, Zhou Qingyu returned from the technical team, a little later than usual.

He went straight to the Jiang family's house, the afterglow of the setting sun casting a long shadow of his tall figure.

He could see the melancholy hidden between Jiang Wanzhou's brows at a glance.

After dinner, while Shen Xinglian was clearing away the dishes, Jiang Renzhou was reading documents in the room.

Zhou Qingyu said to Jiang Wanzhou, "Wanzhou, come with me for a walk on the beach?"

The two walked out of the courtyard one after the other, and slowly strolled along the beach, which was dyed golden red by the setting sun.

The waves gently lapped against the shore, making a soothing gurgling sound.

After walking a distance, there was no one else around.

Zhou Qingyu stopped and turned to look at Jiang Wanzhou, her gaze calm and gentle: "Did you hear something unpleasant today?"

Jiang Wanzhou lowered her head, kicked the sand under her feet, and softly hummed in agreement.

Zhou Qingyu was silent for a moment, then carefully took out a small, handkerchief-wrapped object from the pocket of his military uniform jacket.

He opened his palm, and inside the handkerchief was an oval wooden box slightly larger than a thumbnail. The workmanship was not exquisite; in fact, it was rather rustic, as if it had been hand-carved.

The wooden box has a very smooth surface, with a warm luster.

"Here you go." Zhou Qingyu handed the small wooden box to Jiang Wanzhou.

Jiang Wanzhou took the box with a puzzled look; it felt slightly heavy in her hand. She gently opened the lid, revealing a small piece of red velvet lining the inside, on which lay many red beans.

The red beans were plump and round, their color as deep red as blood, radiating a profound luster in the setting sun.

Next to the red bean, there was a small piece of paper rolled up.

Jiang Wanzhou's heart skipped a beat. She unfolded the note, which bore Zhou Qingyu's familiar and upright handwriting.

"This is the most poignant symbol of longing. Focus on your studies, for the future is long for us."

There are no fancy words, no vows of eternal love, only these nine characters and heavy red beans.

Jiang Wanzhou's vision blurred instantly.

"This wooden box was made by the best old carpenter in the Red Star Brigade. The red bean symbolizes the day we never saw each other again."

Zhou Qingyu's voice carried a hint of shyness that was barely perceptible.

Jiang Wanzhou looked up at him with teary eyes, a thousand words stuck in her throat, and in the end she could only nod heavily.

"……I know."

Zhou Qingyu raised her hand and gently wiped away the tears from the corner of her eyes with her fingertips, her movements as gentle as if she were handling a fragile treasure.

"Rumors are like the sand on the beach; the more you care, the more it hurts your feet. Ignore it, and the tide will wash it away."

He paused, his tone becoming firm, "I've already talked to my brother. You don't need to worry about anything, just focus on being a good bride and reading your books. Once I finish this debugging task, we'll get married."

Back home, Jiang Wanzhou carefully placed the small wooden box containing the red beans together with her treasured jade pendant and wooden hairpin.

This is a secret that belongs only to her and Zhou Qingyu.

Meanwhile, in the Jun family home, just a wall away, Jun Yanghong was carefully combing her braids in front of the mirror.

She felt somewhat resentful after her failed attempts to "bump into" Zhou Qingyu these past few days, and hearing rumors from the cafeteria that seemed to have had little impact on Jiang Wanzhou.

She decided to change her strategy. Since a direct approach wouldn't work, she would first try to completely outshine Jiang Wanzhou in terms of "public opinion."

She recalled hearing during the day that Jiang Wanzhou seemed to be self-studying some kind of mathematics, and a cold smile curled at the corner of her lips.

What's with this island village girl pretending to be cultured? Looks like we need to make her "show off" a bit.

On an island at night, two courtyards, two different thoughts.

—

A few more days passed.

Shen Xinglian put Mingyuan down to play by himself, and then pulled Jiang Wanzhou to the grape trellis in the corner of the yard, which was the furthest from the neighboring house.

"See that?" Shen Xinglian lowered her voice, her tone sharp without any attempt to hide it. "That Jun Yanghong, she practically has 'I want to steal Zhou Qingyu' etched on her forehead. And Su Xiaomei, that smile is so fake, it makes me feel tired just looking at her."

Jiang Wanzhou gave a soft "hmm".

"She was the original female lead, but in the end, she became the female lead in a stepmother novel."

She whispered, with a hint of感慨 about the inertia of fate.

"The original female lead?" Shen Xinglian scoffed, her tone carrying the sarcasm of a transmigrator who knew the script inside and out. "Look at the life she led, it was chaotic and messy. Behind the glamour of being the regimental commander's wife was a complete mess. She should have thought about this day when she chose this path."

"His father wouldn't even pick up a soy sauce bottle if it fell over; this male lead is really unworthy."

She paused, her expression turning serious. "I'm reminding you, your brother and I are already married. The main thing is that Jun Yanghong. The way she looks at Zhou Qingyu is strange; it's definitely not just a young girl's passing fancy. We need to be careful."

Jiang Wanzhou nodded; she naturally sensed that undisguised ambition and determination.

"I know."

"As long as Qingyu's heart remains unchanged, their schemes will be in vain."

"That's true, but it's easy to dodge a spear in the open but hard to guard against an arrow in the dark." Shen Xinglian's eyes darted around. "We need to think of a way to let them know that we're not to be trifled with, and that they should stay away from us."

As the two were discussing in hushed tones, there was a gentle knock on the courtyard gate. Shen Xinglian and Jiang Wanzhou exchanged a glance, both seeing the unspoken message in each other's eyes: "They've arrived."

Shen Xinglian called out, "Who is it?"

"Sister-in-law Shen, it's me, Xiaomei." It was Su Xiaomei's voice outside the door, with a deliberately slowed and gentle tone.

Shen Xinglian walked over and opened the door. Su Xiaomei was standing at the door with a small dish of sesame candy, her smile gentle: "Sister-in-law, Wanzhou, this is sesame candy we brought from our hometown. We're giving it to the children and you to try. It's also a way of... apologizing for what we just did."

Her gaze swept quickly across the courtyard, as if to confirm whether Zhou Qingyu was there.

"Oh, Xiaomei, you're too kind." Shen Xinglian smiled as she took the plate, but made no move to invite her in.

"That just proves that the original owner had been craving snacks; this is a real lifesaver." Her tone was warm, but her demeanor was distant.

Su Xiaomei looked at the bowl of sugar and felt a pang of heartache.

She stood at the door, sighed, and a hint of melancholy crept into her eyes: "Sigh, we just moved in, and everything is a mess. Yangjian is busy with work, Honghong is too young to help much, and Niuniu is shy and cries all the time... I'm so sorry to have troubled you all."

Shen Xinglian's tone was full of just the right amount of sympathy and understanding: "That's right, moving with a child is the most tiring thing. Sister Xiaomei, you've really worked hard. But fortunately, Deputy Commander Jun is of a high rank and the house he was assigned is spacious, so you can sort things out slowly."

"But that's the only good thing about my husband, Lao Jiang. He had everything when he moved here."

"Men need to be used too, don't be too soft on them."

Su Xiaomei choked for a moment, her smile freezing slightly.

She turned her gaze to Jiang Wanzhou, who had been standing quietly behind Shen Xinglian, and asked, seemingly casually.

"Wanzhou is getting more and more beautiful. I heard that Zhou, the educated youth, is from Beijing. That's a big city with many rules. If you go there in the future, I'm afraid you'll have to adapt for a while."

Jiang Wanzhou raised her eyes, her gaze calm, and her tone unhurried: "Qingyu is a very good person, and his family is open-minded and doesn't have many rules. We're doing well on the island now, and we'll talk about the future later."

Su Xiaomei was met with another rebuff, and the smile on her face almost vanished.

Just then, she heard the little girl's even louder cries and Jun Yangjian's faint reprimands coming from next door. As if she had found a way out, she quickly said, "Oh dear, Niu Niu is making a fuss again. I have to go back and check on her. Sister-in-law, Wan Zhou, come over and sit down when you have time."

After saying that, he practically fled back to his own yard.

Shen Xinglian closed the door and sneered, "See? Every word is barbed. First, she flaunted her status, then she complained to gain sympathy, and finally she tried to sow discord between you and Zhou Qingyu. This Su Xiaomei, her methods are still so underhanded."

Jiang Wanzhou said thoughtfully, "She seems to care a lot about the fact that Qingyu's family is from Beijing."

"Hmph, of course she cares. She didn't choose your brother back then, and now she's married to a divorced man. Seeing Zhou Qingyu, who has such good conditions, and considering she's a former educated youth, it's no wonder she can't feel at ease knowing that her sister-in-law can also fall for him."

Shen Xinglian hit the nail on the head: "But that's all she's got going on with her sour grapes; she can't cause any real trouble. I reckon the real problem is the younger one."

"We can say that, do you think the original script might have included something like the awakening of a female supporting character or cannon fodder?"

"Or rather, rebirth"

—

In the following days, Jun Yanghong stopped directly contacting Zhou Qingyu.

She changed her strategy and began to frequently "bump into" Jiang Wanzhou in places where he might appear.

Jiang Wanzhou went to the well to fetch water, and Jun Yanghong happened to come over with a bucket, greeting her with a sweet smile: "Sister Wanzhou, fetching water? This well rope is heavy, shall I help you?"

Before Jiang Wanzhou could answer, he leaned closer and casually brought up the topic: "Technician Zhou is so kind to you, he's so patient with you even when you're sewing shoe soles. What does he usually like to do? My brother says he's incredibly skilled, I really admire him!"

Jiang Wanzhou went to the service store to buy needles and thread, and Jun Yanghong was there too.

She picked up a box of face cream and exclaimed, "The brands from Beijing are really good, aren't they? Technician Zhou must be used to these good things. Sister Wanzhou, you're so lucky."

The conversation repeatedly emphasized the "difference" between Zhou Qingyu and the island environment.

Jiang Wanzhou always responded with silence or brief "No need," "It's okay," or "Thank you," never engaging in conversation with her.

But Jun Yanghong seemed undeterred, remaining enthusiastic as if the two were inseparable best friends.