Upon hearing that it was He Yan's mother, Xiao Hua immediately sat up in bed with a quick, agile motion, scratching her messy hair. Last night, she had asked the guards in the military family compound to inquire about her several times, but they all refused to listen. Why was she coming to see her so early this morning?

Xiao Hua didn't simply think that she had come to pick her and the child up to go back to the He family's house; she probably didn't come unless she had a reason.

Who cares why she came? Just open the door and let the dog in, and we'll find out why she came.

Xiao Hua looked at the child on the bed, pulled the child closer to the bed, covered the child with a small blanket, and got out of bed to open the door for He Yan's mother.

The woman was dressed in a well-fitting royal blue cheongsam, with an apricot-colored shawl draped over her shoulders, and wearing low-heeled leather shoes. Her hair was styled in a bun, and her entire outfit exuded the air of a noblewoman from Jiangnan.

He Yan's mother was originally from southern Jiangsu. In her youth, she was a renowned beauty from the Jiangnan region. Now, as the wife of a commander, her temperament was worlds apart from that of Xiao Hua, who wore a large floral cotton-padded jacket with a milk stain around the collar. Fortunately, Xiao Hua was thick-skinned and strong-willed, so she didn't feel that she was being compared to Xiao Hua.

Following behind was a young woman in a little Western-style dress. She wasn't particularly pretty, but based on Xiao Hua's limited memory, she knew that this was He Yan's older sister, He Ya, who was also a difficult young lady to get along with. However, this young lady's appearance was just like Commander He's, and to call her mediocre would be an understatement.

He Yan's appearance is inherited from his mother, and he is considered to be exceptionally handsome.

The two men looked at Xiaohua's plump figure and her village woman's attire with disdain.

Xiaohua knew these two men were up to no good, so she didn't bother with formalities and asked in an unpleasant tone, "What brings you here, gentlemen?"

Ms. Su Qin, He Yan's mother, glanced disdainfully at the simple room and the baby on the bed. Then she took out a document from her bag and said to Xiao Hua, "Sign your name and put your fingerprint on this document. I will submit it to the higher-ups. After the review, you can bring your child to live with He Yan in the military."

Xiao Hua glanced at the words "Divorce Agreement" on it and thought, "Wow, this is taking advantage of the fact that the old Xiao Hua couldn't read. What a pity, the current Xiao Hua can not only read, but is also very clever."

Xiao Hua snatched the document from Su Qin's hand, casually flipped through a few pages, and saw that she was the one at fault, and the man had filed for divorce. Thinking about it, military marriages protect soldiers, so it's easier for the man to file for divorce; the woman just needs to agree.

Xiao Hua sneered, "A military marriage? You think you can just make me sign a divorce agreement and get a divorce so easily? Or are you planning to pull some strings behind the scenes?"

As soon as Xiao Hua finished speaking, Su Qin and He Ya's pupils dilated in shock, and they looked at her with disbelief.

They seemed to find it hard to believe that Ye Xiaohua could recognize these characters. Not only could she recognize them, but she could also pronounce the phrase "behind-the-scenes manipulation."

"Don't look at me like that. What, am I not allowed to suddenly become illiterate and learn to recognize a few words?"

Xiaohua's tone was sarcastic.

"So what if you know a few words? You're still illiterate. He Yan is a graduate of a military academy, a proper undergraduate. You're an illiterate who didn't even finish elementary school. How are you worthy of my brother? I advise you to be sensible and sign the papers to end this completely unsuitable marriage with He Yan."

The He family loathed themselves so much that they didn't even want the newborn baby who had just finished her postpartum confinement period; there was truly no need for this marriage to continue.

But we can't act impulsively and sign the document too easily.

Suddenly, the baby on the bed started crying loudly. Xiao Hua quickly picked the baby up from the bed and comforted him. Su Qin looked at the baby in her arms. The baby's face was so chubby that all the features were squeezed together, which was really ugly. She thought about how He Yan was as beautiful as a doll in a New Year's painting when he was born.

Su Qin had considered taking the child back to the He family to raise, but then she thought that the child was just a maid, and it was still unknown whether she was He Yan's child. Taking this child back to the He family, whose identity was unknown, would affect He Yan's remarriage. With He Yan's looks, abilities, and future prospects, he should at least be matched with a daughter from a prestigious family.

So, regardless of whether the child with half of Ye Xiaohua's blood is He Yan's or not, Su Qin wouldn't want him.

"Tell me, what do you want before you sign the divorce papers with He Yan?" Su Qin said coldly.

Xiao Hua guessed that Commander He probably didn't know about the divorce. It was He Yan and his mother's idea, with his mother and eldest sister acting as intermediaries.

She had no feelings for He Yan and didn't want to sign easily, but she was very realistic. Right now, she needed money to rent a house, raise her child, and do many other things.

It's not impossible for her to obediently divorce He Yan, but she'd have to be given a large sum of money.

"I'll sign, but give me 30,000 yuan first."

Thirty thousand yuan was a huge sum of money in the late 1980s, but she thought it was something a family like the He family could afford. Of course, she didn't expect to actually get thirty thousand yuan; if the He family could bargain, they could get ten to twenty thousand yuan in the end.

Sure enough, as soon as she opened her mouth, He Ya started cursing: "Ye Xiaohua, have you no shame? Are you blinded by money? You just ask for 30,000 yuan. Don't you even look at yourself in the mirror? You don't deserve it! 30,000? I don't think you deserve even 3,000! You ill-mannered country bumpkin, I spit on you!"

Xiao Hua wasn't angry at her insults. Instead, she calmly retorted sarcastically, "The daughter of a commander, swearing like that, you have good manners!"

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