When Zhou Qiqi's parents entrusted her to the Xu family that year, they originally wanted them to recognize her as their goddaughter.
However, the Xu couple thought that they were poor and Xu Shu was about to grow into a young man. They said that they would need a bride price for a wife, so they kept him as a child bride. In the future, they would save on the bride price and have an extra servant.
As for the household registration, Li Guixiang thought that if they split it into two household registration books, the brigade could distribute grain and vegetable plots, and they could get more. So the matter was delayed and not resolved.
To this day, Zhou Qiqi's household registration is still a separate booklet—on paper, the two families have absolutely no relation.
That's the logic, but Li Guixiang just wouldn't accept it, and she started yelling and shouting.
"So what if we don't have the materials? Zhou Qiqi was raised by our Xu family. The whole village saw it. Do you think she can just renege on her debt?"
Shen Huaichuan sneered, his eyes filled with coldness.
"It's true that you raised her, but you've repaid her by working like a slave for her all these years. As for her marriage, it was your son Xu Shu who agreed to it. Now that we've already gotten our marriage certificate, are you refusing to acknowledge it? Are you trying to ruin a military marriage?"
These words were like a bolt from the blue, and Old Man Xu immediately felt guilty, so he quickly nudged Li Guixiang's arm.
"Old woman! Wang Ergou from the next village was tied up by the militia and taken to the commune for public criticism because he broke up a military marriage. He's still in jail in the county! This is a big deal!"
Li Guixiang's eyes darted around, and she immediately chickened out, but she didn't give up. Instead, she softened her voice and changed her story.
"Look at what you're saying, how would we know about these rules? Qiqi is someone we've raised for over ten years. Now that she's gotten married without a word, we should at least ask her about it and have a private chat with her, right? We absolutely have no intention of ruining a military marriage."
She spoke softly, but her eyes secretly glanced at Zhou Qiqi, the calculation in her eyes impossible to hide.
"What do you want to say to them?"
Shen Huaichuan turned to look at Zhou Qiqi behind him, his eyes questioning.
Zhou Qiqi leaned against Shen Huaichuan's back, her nails digging into her palms.
Over the past ten years, when has the original owner not been deceived by this kind of face? She kept a cold face and didn't even lift her eyelids.
"I don't have much to say to you guys. If you have any questions, go ask Xu Shu. He knows better than I do what's going on!"
"You heartless, shameless slut!"
Li Guixiang got angry as soon as she heard this, and as usual, she grabbed the broom leaning against the wall and tried to pounce on it.
"I've raised you all these years for nothing, and now you think you're all grown up and dare to talk back to your elders?! You've really gone too far!"
Zhou Qiqi's pupils suddenly contracted.
In the three months since she transmigrated, the original owner's muscle memory was still ingrained in her bones. Whenever the broom was raised, she would reflexively cover her head and squat down.
But this time, as soon as she bent down, she heard a sharp "smack," not from the broom hitting the ground, but from the dull thud of bones colliding.
Shen Huaichuan gripped Li Guixiang's wrist like an iron clamp.
Having served in the army for many years, the calluses on his hands had worn down the broom handle to the point that it was rough. At this moment, he used all his strength, his fingertips almost digging into Li Guixiang's flesh.
"ah--!"
Li Guixiang's face was contorted in pain, the broom fell to the ground with a clatter, and her wrist was swollen and red at an odd angle.
"Let go! It hurts so much!"
Just then, a shout came from outside the door.
"Father! Mother!"
Xu Shu ran in wearing a half-new Dacron shirt, his hair thickly coated with hair wax, shiny and smooth in the sunlight, but unable to hide the sweat on his forehead.
His almond-shaped eyes widened, first spotting the broom on the ground, then seeing his mother wincing in pain, and he hurriedly squeezed into the middle.
"What's going on? I've been waiting at the clinic for ages, what are you doing here?"
Shen Huaichuan released his grip, and Li Guixiang staggered and fell onto the bluestone slab, hitting the back of her head with a "thud," groaning in pain.
Old Xu rushed to help, but was frozen in place by Shen Huaichuan's gaze.
His gaze was like a knife chilled to the bone, scraping across Xu Shu's face. "So you're Xu Shu? Keep your family in check."
He paused, his voice low but carrying immense force, "If you dare to come here and cause trouble again, don't blame me for dealing with you according to military regulations."
Before he could finish speaking, the cold glint in his eyes frightened the younger sister of the Xu family, who turned pale and hid behind Xu Shu.
Xu Shu was so intimidated by his imposing manner that cold sweat broke out on his back, and he forced a smile.
"Commander Shen! It's a misunderstanding! It's all a misunderstanding! We're all family, let's not hurt our harmony."
He then winked at Old Man Xu and Li Guixiang, "Hurry up and come with me!"
"But..."
Xu's mother hesitated, stealing a glance at Zhou Qiqi, but Xu Shu grabbed her arm and dragged her outside, saying, "What are you dawdling for! Let's go!"
Li Guixiang wanted to turn around and curse a few more times, but Xu Shu pinched her arm hard, and she followed him while still cursing.
Watching the four figures leave, Zhou Qiqi breathed a long sigh of relief. What she feared most had come true; the Xu family had actually managed to sneak into the military dependents' area. How unlucky!
She had no time to think about what had just happened, so she went to check on Zhouzhou's room first.
This child is very thoughtful. He probably heard the commotion earlier, but now he's hiding under the covers pretending to be asleep, his long eyelashes trembling.
Zhou Qiqi's heart softened, and she reached out to gently stroke her forehead, her voice softening: "Go to sleep."
Upon exiting the door, Zhou Qiqi saw Shen Huaichuan still standing there. She closed the door and asked him if he had eaten, since he had been called away by Commander Wang's orderly before the meal.
Shen Huaichuan shook his head and said that he had been discussing the training plan with Commander Wang at the military region until too late. Commander Wang called him to the canteen, but he was afraid that Zhou Qiqi would be waiting too long, so he came back first.
"Then I'll go make you a bowl of noodles."
Zhou Qiqi rummaged through the cupboard and found noodles and luncheon meat. She then went to the vegetable garden behind the house and cut some spinach, along with some scallions and cilantro.
When they returned to the kitchen, Shen Huaichuan had already turned the coal stove upside down and added water to the pot.
Seeing that the pot hadn't boiled yet, Zhou Qiqi went back to her room and gave Shen Huaichuan the letter of intent she had signed that day. While the noodles were cooking, she explained everything that had happened.
This whole affair went on and on until the noodles were finally served, and the story wasn't finished until then.
Shen Huaichuan picked up a mouthful of noodles, his face buried in the steam, making his expression unreadable. He asked in a flat tone, "Why didn't you tell me when something happened at the factory?"
Zhou Qiqi sensed something was off about his tone and quickly tried to explain.
"Isn't this what the doctor said? Director Ding said you need to rest. That matter is awful, so I thought I'd keep it from you for now. It's only been a few days and things have taken a turn for the better. Now is the perfect time to tell you!"
She didn't tell him so as not to burden Shen Huaichuan; it was for his own good.
But for some reason, I felt inexplicably guilty and didn't dare to look at Shen Huaichuan.
Fortunately, Shen Huaichuan didn't ask any more questions, only giving a soft "hmm".
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