On the other side.

The oxcart had already left the village. Song Yueying and Qi Yanjue sat in the back of the cart, facing each other in silence.

Chen Yuan drove the oxcart ahead, and saw that it had already left the village. He glanced back at Song Yueying and Qi Yanjue, and saw that the two were sitting silently, looking a little awkward.

I recalled the scene I witnessed at the entrance to Song Yueying's courtyard. Two of the three most famous women in the village were present; something was definitely going on.

The situation was still one person lying on the ground and the other sitting on top of the other person; it was clearly a fight!

"Comrade Song, what's going on at the entrance of your yard?" Chen Yuan looked ahead, skillfully and steadily driving the oxcart.

Song Yueying was startled, thinking she had misheard. She looked up and saw Qi Yanjue sitting opposite her looking at her, then glanced at Chen Yuan driving in front.

Only then did she realize that she hadn't misheard; Chen Yuan had indeed asked her about what happened at the gate of her house.

"What do you mean, what happened?" Song Yueying asked knowingly.

In the original owner's memories, Chen Yuan was a very talkative person and had feelings for the original owner.

However, the original owner had no feelings for Chen Yuan, and after realizing that Chen Yuan had intentions towards her, she often avoided him.

Now that the original owner of this body is dead, Song Yueying has arrived, and Chen Yuan is just a stranger from the same village to her.

Not knowing that Song Yueying was asking a question she already knew the answer to, Chen Yuan reminded her, "It's at the entrance of your yard! When I came here, I saw Aunt Xu sitting on Aunt Wang's lap."

"Did those two aunties get into a fight?"

Song Yueying... was speechless.

She hadn't expected Chen Yuan to gossip about this. Seeing Chen Yuan arrive with a perfectly normal expression, and then leave with her and Qi Yanjue in the oxcart with the same normal expression.

She thought Chen Yuan wouldn't gossip about this.

"Yes, they fought." Song Yueying's answer was somewhat perfunctory.

"I knew it!" Chen Yuan chuckled excitedly. "Why were they fighting? Did Aunt Xu say something about Aunt Wang that made Aunt Wang pick a fight with her?"

"Was it because Aunt Wang scolded Aunt Xu, and the words she used were so offensive that Aunt Xu couldn't help but hit her?"

Upon hearing Chen Yuan's first question, Song Yueying had already prepared her answer. After hearing all the questions, she was surprised, not for any other reason than Chen Yuan's understanding of Aunt Xu and Wang Muxiang.

Are they still neighbors? They're clearly best friends!

"I don't know." Song Yueying didn't want to gossip with a stranger, especially a strange man.

She didn't know exactly why Wang Muxiang and Aunt Xu were fighting, but from their mutual insults, she knew that Wang Muxiang had started it.

"I guess it's about Aunt Wang talking to Aunt Xu." Chen Yuan didn't know what Song Yueying was thinking; he was just excited to share his guess with others.

"You guessed it, so be it." Song Yueying's words were quite perfunctory.

Anyone with a modicum of sense would have ended the conversation on their own.

Unfortunately, Chen Yuan was a person who lacked discernment.

He failed to detect the perfunctory tone in Song Yueying's words, assuming she agreed with him. His tone was smug, "You think I guessed right too, right?"

"However, I'm not just guessing. Everyone in our village knows that Aunt Wang has a sharp tongue and easily offends people."

"About what happened today, it must be that Aunt Wang said something unpleasant to Aunt Xu. Aunt Xu was indignant and naturally wanted to argue with Aunt Wang."

"In this back-and-forth exchange, neither side wants to suffer a loss, which escalates the conflict and eventually leads to a fight."

He was disappointed to have missed the chance to see a good show.

If he had known there was a good show to watch at Comrade Song's house, he wouldn't have gone home for breakfast; he would have waited there instead.

Song Yueying was stunned; this was the first time she had ever met someone like this. Everyone else ignored him, yet he could still talk to himself, analyzing things in a very logical and reasonable way.

However, she had to admit that Chen Yuan was absolutely right, as if he had witnessed it firsthand.

Song Yueying mentally gave Chen Yuan a thumbs up, but... young man, what are you so excited about? What are you so regretful about?

And you seem to know those two very well!

Song Yueying glanced at the young man sitting in front of her, who was acting all high and mighty. He really managed to balance work and gossip. Slowly, she turned her head back, and her gaze inadvertently met Qi Yanjue's.

She saw the same speechlessness in Qi Yanjue's eyes as she herself.

"You know them very well?" Qi Yanjue asked.

He could tell that Song Yueying didn't want to talk to the comrade driving the oxcart, and he could also tell that the comrade driving the oxcart wouldn't stop talking.

Hearing him speak, Song Yueying looked up at him in surprise. She hadn't known Qi Yanjue for long, but she still found him to be a rather quiet person.

So, he realized that she didn't want to talk to Chen Yuan, and Chen Yuan didn't seem to want to stop talking, so he stepped forward.

I never expected him to be such a considerate man.

Song Yueying nodded in satisfaction. "Not bad, not bad. He's a good brother who knows how to protect his sister. Her precious pills weren't wasted on him."

She accepted this adopted brother as her own; with her protecting him from now on, no matter how badly he was injured, he wouldn't be able to show any glory.

“Of course, I’m not bragging, I know all the women in the village like the best. They are…” Chen Yuan’s words suddenly stopped. What had he heard?

A man's voice?

How could there be a man's voice? Where did the man's voice come from? No, there was a man in the car. In an instant, Chen Yuan's questions were answered.

He suddenly stopped the oxcart and turned to look at Qi Yanjue. "Were you the one who asked me that just now?"

Chen Yuan wasn't asking a question he already knew the answer to; he simply wanted to confirm the answer in his heart.

"Can't I ask you?" Qi Yanjue raised an eyebrow and asked, but his gaze swept over Song Yueying.

He saw it clearly: Chen Yuan suddenly stopped the oxcart, and Song Yueying's body only swayed slightly before she quickly settled down.

Is she really Song Yueying?

After more than a year apart, where did Song Yueying learn such quick thinking and adaptability?

Song Yueying was unaware that she had aroused Qi Yanjue's suspicion once again.

She watched the two grown men staring at each other and sensed an awkward atmosphere. It wouldn't be good if things got tense so soon after leaving the village; the rest of the journey would be even more awkward.

Song Yueying considered whether she should say something.

After all, we're all on the same oxcart!

Suddenly, Chen Yuan chuckled, his eyes gleaming with the excitement of finding a kindred spirit. He nodded quickly and said, "Yes, yes, of course you can ask."

"You can ask me anything you want to know about the village."

"Alright, I hope you won't feel like I'm wasting your time." Qi Yanjue's reaction was completely different from Chen Yuan's. His expression was indifferent, revealing no emotion whatsoever.

"No, no," Chen Yuan replied quickly. If he were even a little slow, it would be disrespectful to Qi Yanjue.

She was overthinking it; the two of them were already chatting quite harmoniously without her saying a word. Song Yueying stopped thinking and turned to look at the distant mountains.

The oxcart continued its journey, swaying and rocking, as the two men chatted idly for the rest of the way, though Chen Yuan did most of the talking.

Qi Yanjue would only casually chime in with a few words, but every time he spoke, he got straight to the point.

Then Chen Yuan became more and more excited as he talked, treating Qi Yanjue as a confidant, pouring out his heart to him.

The most common topic of conversation was fighting and arguing among the village women. As the son of the village head, Chen Yuan often accompanied the head of the village to resolve various disputes.

Just joining in the fun.

Therefore, I have a thorough understanding of the people and things in the village.

When the oxcart arrived at the commune, Song Yueying and Chen Yuan agreed on a time for the oxcart to return, and then Song Yueying pulled Qi Yanjue off the oxcart.

It's best to keep the divorce a secret as few people as possible. So Song Yueying didn't let Chen Yuan, who was driving the oxcart, take her and Qi Yanjue directly to the commune's marriage registration office.

After the oxcart left, only Song Yueying and Qi Yanjue remained on the street.

The two walked side by side on the road.

"Qi Yanjue, I still don't understand, how did we get our marriage certificate? Who issued it? Where was it issued?" Song Yueying suddenly asked.

"How could the person who issued our marriage certificate be so heartless as to issue it without either of us being present?"

"Also, aren't you in the military? Don't you need a document verification process to get a marriage certificate?"

Song Yueying possessed a soft voice, clear and melodious like musical notes. Her speaking pace was neither hurried nor slow, making it very pleasant to listen to.

If she hadn't asked so many questions at once, Qi Yanjue would have been willing to listen to her.

Even though she called them both idiots.

Qi Yanjue glanced at Song Yueying walking beside him, then immediately looked away and stared straight ahead. "We can talk about these questions later."

"Our biggest problem right now is, do you know where the commune's marriage registration office is?"

"I don't know," Song Yueying answered honestly, then asked, "Do you know?"

"What do you think?" Qi Yanjue asked instead of answering.

She, a native of the commune, didn't know where the marriage registration office was, so he, being from out of town, knew even less!

"What do you think?" usually means "I don't know." Song Yueying wanted to challenge Yan Jue, so she deliberately said the opposite, "I feel you should know."

"Your feeling is wrong, I don't know," Qi Yanjue calmly stated the facts.

Unexpectedly, he said something like that, and Song Yueying was momentarily speechless before suggesting, "Why don't we ask a passerby on the street?"

“Go ask,” Qi Yanjue said.

Suddenly, his expression hardened, and his sharp gaze turned in one direction.

He quickly looked away and continued walking calmly. But if you looked closely, you would notice that there was a hint of wariness and caution in his eyes.

Upon hearing that she was being asked to go and ask, Song Yueying immediately objected, "You're a grown man, how can you let a girl like me go and ask where the marriage registration office is?"

"Go and ask, and don't refuse again."

Song Yueying made the final decision, giving Qi Yanjue no chance to appeal.

The two walked for a while but still didn't see a single person. Song Yueying was puzzled. "That's strange. Why is there no one on this road?"

"It's almost noon, everyone's busy with their own things," Qi Yanjue replied casually.

Song Yueying glanced at Qi Yanjue, her eyes seeming to say, "You knew it all along."

Qi Yanjue ignored her, his gaze sweeping around as if he were looking for someone who could give them directions.

Song Yueying handed over the arduous task of finding the way to Qi Yanjue, but instead of shirking her responsibilities, she helped find someone who could guide them.

Her eyes scanned the surroundings like radar, then suddenly fixed on one spot.

Supply and marketing cooperative.

In the original owner's memories, every time she came to the commune with Song Rumeng, Song Rumeng would take her to the supply and marketing cooperative. Under the guise of buying things, she would actually take the goods without paying a single penny.

However, Song Rumeng is still quite intelligent.

Every time they came to the supply and marketing cooperative, they would first ask Song Yueying how much money and ration coupons she had, and then take things according to the amount of money and ration coupons she had.

Song Rumeng left a deep impression on the original owner's memory. The original owner trusted and was grateful to her, but she kept lying to the original owner.

In Song Yueying's eyes, Song Rumeng was a two-faced scoundrel who liked to take advantage of the original owner and bully her; she was a vicious, ruthless, and disgusting creature.

This is a classic case of "eating your food and then smashing your pot."

Knowing that Qi Yanjue had just returned home and knew nothing about the situation there, Song Yueying felt it necessary to remind him to avoid him being taken advantage of.

“Brother, you’ve just come home, so you might not know our family situation.” Song Yueying didn’t like beating around the bush and said directly, “I want to talk to you properly so you don’t get taken advantage of.”

Brother? She kept calling him brother; she'd gotten addicted to it. Qi Yanjue glanced at her sideways but said nothing.

Song Yueying didn't take it seriously and continued, "Our mother isn't mentally stable. Sometimes she thinks like a child who is only a few years old. You must have noticed that too."

"I brought this up specifically to tell you so that you would be aware of the situation."

"I know," Qi Yanjue replied softly.

Just as she had asked him, he needed to undergo a political background check before getting married. He knew very well what kind of situation Song's mother was; the military had thoroughly investigated her family background.

He said he knew, and Song Yueying didn't think much of it or ask how he knew. She just nodded and said, "The important thing I want to tell you is that you need to be wary of your uncle's family."

“Especially my aunt Wang Muxiang and her twin daughters, Song Rumeng and Song Rumei.”

“Song Rumei is studying in high school in the county and rarely comes back to the village, so you may not have many chances to meet him.”

"If she comes back someday and you're unlucky enough to run into her, don't talk to her. If she does talk to you, just ignore her. If she does talk to you, just don't agree to her requests."

After speaking, Song Yueying looked at Qi Yanjue, waiting for his reply.

"Okay." Qi Yanjue replied readily. Even if she hadn't reminded him, he wouldn't have agreed to any of the requests from Uncle Song's family.

“My brother is the smartest.” Song Yueying praised with a smile. “I’ll focus on telling you about Song Rumeng at home. The most fitting description of Song Rumeng is only three words: green tea bitch.”

"She's good at pretending and acting, and her favorite thing to do is to act weak and gain other people's sympathy."

"Don't be fooled by her seemingly friendly attitude towards me; she actually hates me to the core."

"She's the typical type. When she needs something from you, she acts all friendly and affectionate, but who knows what she's cursing you in her heart. When she's at a disadvantage, she pretends to be pitiful, but she's actually cursing you in her heart."

"In short, stay away from Song Rumeng and don't believe a word she says. If you believe even one out of ten of her statements, you'll be fooled."