Although not everyone is like Ning Xue, who can cook delicious meals and sew beautiful clothes.

But we are not completely useless, everyone has advantages.

Ning Xue does have many advantages. Her existence is like the moon in the sky. If you cover the moon, the remaining stars will also shine.

She praised everyone around her for what she said. The military wives immediately smiled and praised Ningtang for her ability to speak.

After eating, all the military wives left, leaving only Zeng Xinlan.

Zeng Xinlan took the pattern drawn by Ning Tang, scanned it for a few seconds, and figured out how to sew it. "Xiao Ning, don't worry, I'll take care of it."

Ning Tang has helped her so much, now it's her turn to do something.

Zeng Xinlan blinked her eyes, "Xiaoning, can you give me one? I want to draw one for Dahu, too. I also want to sew a piece of clothing with a nice pattern."

The day Ning Xue instigated the twins to show off, Da Hu was also there. Although he was very sensible, he did not pester Zeng Xinlan to ask her to sew clothes with wolf and tiger patterns on them, nor did he pester her for candy or pocket money.

But he is just a child after all, and he always lets things slip.

In addition, the incident of Head Nurse Huang and her companions coming to settle accounts had caused such a big fuss that within a few days, Zeng Xinlan knew the whole story.

As soon as she knew it, tears fell from her eyes.

After all, it is because of poor family conditions and lack of money that our children have to watch other people's children eat and can only drool.

Thinking of Dahu's understanding and not going home to make trouble, I felt even more sad.

In the past few months, the health center was quite busy and everyone was busy all the time. This month, they finally had a lot of free time. The leader of the health center called them together and said that they had worked hard in the past few months. He gave everyone benefits, which were nothing but cloth coupons.

With the cloth coupons, Zeng Xinlan planned to make a new piece of clothing for Dahu.

She has good skills and can make clothes easily, but she has no idea what pattern to sew on the clothes after thinking about it for a long time.

If I were to imitate Ning Xue and sew wolf and tiger heads for the twins, I would be inferior and would be wearing the same clothes as others.

So when she saw the beautiful patterns drawn by Ning Tang, she couldn't help but ask her if she could draw one for her too.

Ning Tang took out the cartoon characters she had drawn for the three kids from the cupboard. Da Wa and the other three chose three characters each, leaving several unused. She handed them to Zeng Xinlan, "Take them back and see which one Da Hu likes. If he doesn't like any of them, let him come to me and I'll draw another one for him."

Zeng Xinlan held the paper and said in surprise, "These are good. Da Hu will definitely like them."

Ning Tang went upstairs again to get some cloth for her. She had already asked someone to help her sew, so she couldn't ask them to provide the cloth again. "Xinlan, I'm counting on you."

She was a little embarrassed. "You are usually so busy with work, and I am asking you for this."

Zeng Xinlan glared at her, "It's so awkward for you to tell me this. You've helped me so much, and I've only been able to help you once. Besides, the pharmacy is not busy these days, and I have a lot of time to rest. I can sew quickly, and I'll be able to sew it for you in a month at most."

"Then I'll trouble you, Xinlan." Ning Tang paused and said, "By the way, can you give me some advice? I, I want to sew one for our Captain Shen as well."

Zeng Xinlan's eyes lit up, full of gossip. She nudged Ning Tang with her shoulder and asked hurriedly, "What pattern do you want to sew for Captain Shen? Let me think, geese playing in the water? Dragons and phoenixes? Or landscape paintings?"

It's no wonder Zeng Xinlan thought of these things. After all, Shen Lie's temperament doesn't match the cartoon characters drawn by Ning Tang at all. The ones she cited as examples may have a slight possibility.

Ning Tang was amused, "Neither."

She was planning to make a white shirt for Shen Lie, with a pocket on the chest. She had also thought about what to sew on it, just to sew a small word "Shen" on the pocket.

There's no way, given her sewing skills, she can probably only sew this one without messing up.

She had a clear understanding of her own level. Instead of making a fool of herself, it would be better to sew something safe so that Shen Lie could wear it out without being embarrassed.

After deciding what to sew, Ning Tang went to Zeng Xinlan's house every day for more than half a month, one to help her, and the other to ask her how to do needlework.

Even though she only needed to sew a small Chinese character "Shen", it couldn't be sewn crookedly, because Shen Lie would have to wear it out on the street after all.

Ning Tang gave her a lot of cloth. Every time she made a piece of clothing, there would be a lot of extra cloth. She gave all the extra cloth to Zeng Xinlan to make shoe soles. She also gave Zeng Xinlan a piece of Dacron cloth as processing fee.

So for more than half a month, Shen Lie and the three kids saw Ning Tang running out secretly every day.

On the day of the Mid-Autumn Festival, after eating mooncakes, Ning Tang called Shen Lie and the three little ones over and gave them the sewn clothes first, "Here, the clothes with patterns you wanted."

Zeng Xinlan's craftsmanship is very good, and her sewing is exactly the same as Ning Tang's painting.

The three little ones were so happy holding it that Ning Tang asked them to try it on.

The eldest child wore clothes with the character of Salted Egg Superman sewn on them, stood in front of the mirror, and took pictures from various angles.

Even if they have never seen cartoons, boys have no resistance to this kind of human-shaped cartoon characters.

Little girls love pretty things the most. Erniu loved the dress with the flower fairy pattern sewn on it from the bottom of her heart.

She was reluctant to wear it, so she just tried it on once and put it away in the box.

Looking at the clothes in the box, Erniu suddenly realized that since Ningtang came home, she had more and more clothes every day.

In the past, she would worry about her pants being too short and not having enough clothes to wear, but now, she has no such worries at all and her suitcase is always full.

Sanwa put on the clothes with Totoro pattern and was reluctant to take them off, "I want to wear them to sleep tonight."

Ning Tang was happy, "It's up to you, you can wear it to school."

The eldest child twisted his body in front of the mirror again and said, "Of course I have to wear it to school to show off."

Shen Lie glared: "Don't make trouble like Su Guangzong and Su Yaozu. If any parents come to the house, I will beat you up."

Ning Tang said, "Don't worry, Da Wa knows what to do."

When he shows off, he would at most show it off in front of his good friends and ask them if it looks good. He would never be like the twins and say those brainless things.

While the three kids were focusing on their clothes, Shen Lie approached Ning Tang and coughed, "Where's mine?"

Ning Tang said: "I will give it to you alone before going to bed."

Compared with Zeng Xinlan's craftsmanship, hers is simply not up to par. For that small word "Shen", she sewed and unsewed it, and in the end, she could only sew it so well that you could barely make out what the word was.

If the three little ones saw this, they would laugh to death.

"You said it." Shen Lie's eyes lit up.

He rushed the three little ones upstairs, "Okay, now that we've tried on our clothes, it's getting late, let's all go upstairs and go to bed."

Big Boy glanced at the wall clock in confusion. It was not yet nine o'clock.

However, since I had given the order, the three of them, Da Wa and the other two, dared not disobey and went back to their rooms to sleep.

Shen Lie and Ning Tang also returned to the room. They were the only two people left in the room. Shen Lie said, "Can you take it out now?"

Ning Tang took out the white shirt she sewed for Shen Lie reluctantly.

Shen Lie took it and looked at it carefully, checking every part over and over again.

Ning Tang didn't know what he was looking at, so he asked, "What are you looking at?"

Is it possible that you can still see a flower?

Although the white shirt she sewed this time was of ordinary style, it was much better than the clothes she had made for the three little ones before because she asked Zeng Xinlan for a lot of needlework advice. At least there were no extra threads and the pockets would not leak.

Shen Lie's hands kept moving. "I'm looking at the pattern you sewed for me."

"It's not a pattern, it's words." Ning Tang said.

"Words?" A blush flashed across Shen Lie's face. Could it be that there was something about love or affection sewn in? How embarrassing -

He said without hesitation, "Where is it sewn? Show me."

Ning Tang turned over his chest pocket and pointed it out to him, "Here, this is it. I sewed the word 'Shen' for you."

Although it's just one word, it's Shen Lie's last name, so he must like it.

Ning Tang had a good idea, but Shen Lie didn't buy it. He squinted and said, "You sewed such a big pattern for Da Wa and the others, but you only sewed a small word for me. Do you think it's appropriate?"

Ning Tang said, "It fits. How can it not fit? I asked Xinlan to sew the patterns on Da Wa's and the other three's clothes for me, and I sewed the word Shen on your clothes myself. If you don't believe me, go ask Da Wa and the others to take their clothes and compare them tomorrow. The stitching is different."

Asking Zeng Xinlan to help with making clothes gave Ning Tang an inspiration. Although not all of these military wives who were "disgraced" by Ning Xue were like Ning Xue, who could cook and do housework, had jobs to earn money, cooked delicious meals, and sewed clothes, they were not all capable.

But everyone has their own strengths, and if you take them individually, none of them is worse than Ning Xue.

Take Pan Tong for example, she is not good-looking, but her handwriting is like flying dragons and dancing phoenixes, iron painting and silver hooks, and you can see at a glance that she has often copied. To be honest, Ning Tang even wants Da Wa to learn from her so that he can change his dog-crawling handwriting.

And there's Lei Sufen. Even though she has a bad temper, her cooking is as delicious as Ning Xue's. The coconut milk cake she makes is really amazing.

In fact, every military wife has a unique skill.

But not everyone is like Ning Xue, who knows everything.

But Ning Tang thought of a good idea: exchanging resources.

For example, Mrs. Luo can grow vegetables, and Lei Sufen can cook delicious food. Mrs. Luo can exchange the grown vegetables for snacks made by Lei Sufen.

She can draw, and Zeng Xinlan can sew clothes. She draws the pattern first, and Zeng Xinlan sews it according to the pattern.

With this change, who can still say that these mothers are not as good as Ning Xue, the stepmother?

When he heard that Ning Tang had sewed the word "Shen" on his shirt, Shen Lie didn't care that it was only a thumb-sized word anymore. He was so happy that he said, "I'll wear it tomorrow."

"Show off." Ning Tang continued.

I was just talking about the eldest son. He got new clothes and he doesn’t show off.

The next day, in the afternoon, Shen Lie took a special bath and changed into the white shirt that Ning Tang made for him.

He walked around the island and actually found an acquaintance who could show off to him.

He coughed and said loudly, "Xiao Ai."

Deputy Battalion Commander Ai saw Shen Lie from a distance. The moment he saw Shen Lie, his face turned blue with fright and he wished he could hide on the spot.

Obviously, Shen Lie did not do as he wished and stopped him.

Deputy Battalion Commander Ai moved to Shen Lie's side in three steps and shrank his neck. "Captain, what do you want me to do?"

"Can't I call you if there's nothing wrong?" Shen Lie looked him up and down, "Why do I feel that you are so guilty? You wanted to turn around and leave just now, right? If I hadn't called you, you would have disappeared."

"Hehe." Deputy Battalion Commander Ai laughed twice.

He was wondering in his heart, why did Shen Lie call him?

Could it be because we lost to the Second Regiment in the competition a few days ago?

Or is it because there is something wrong with the new material he wrote?

Or maybe he didn’t speak well at the last meeting?

Thinking of these possibilities, Deputy Battalion Commander Ai broke out in a sweat.

Unexpectedly, Shen Lie did not mention a word about the three possibilities he imagined. Instead, he straightened his collar and said in a low voice, "Take a look at this white shirt of mine."

Hmm? What can I do?

It’s just a white shirt, an ordinary white shirt.

More than half of the officers in the army wear this as their regular uniform.

Deputy Battalion Commander Ai had beads of sweat on his forehead as he struggled to find the right words, "Well, this white shirt looks really good. Well, it's really white. Yes, white."

Shen Lie cursed, "Nonsense, this is a white shirt, how can it not be white? I'm asking you, do you feel that this white shirt is different from other white shirts?"

...What's the difference?

Deputy Battalion Commander Ai looked left and right, up and down, and saw that it was just an ordinary white shirt!

He wiped the sweat off his forehead and said, "Captain, you know I'm stupid. Don't make things difficult for me. Just say what you want to say."

Shen Lie said, "You are such a short-sighted person. Look here, look here." He pointed to the chest pocket of Deputy Battalion Commander Ai.

Deputy Battalion Commander Ai tried hard to stare with his green eyes, trying to make them as big as copper bells, but he couldn't see what was different about this pocket from the pockets of other white shirts.

Seeing that he didn't understand, Shen Lie shook his head and sighed, then turned his pocket over and pointed to the word "Shen" sewn by Ning Tang inside. "Here, do you see it? My wife sewed it for me."

Deputy Battalion Commander Ai was dumbfounded and muttered, "I don't have X-ray vision. Besides, the word is so small that only a ghost can see it."

Besides, why not sew something else instead of a surname?

Why does it look so much like the name his mother sewed on the quilt before he joined the army? It was to distinguish him from others so that no one would mistake him for someone else.

Of course, Deputy Battalion Commander Ai only dared to mutter this in his heart, for he was afraid that Shen Lie would punish him if he spoke it out loud.

Shen Lie glanced at him and said, "Say it again."

Deputy Battalion Commander Ai immediately said sternly, "I say, the words that sister-in-law sewed are really beautiful, especially against this white shirt."

"Yeah." Shen Lie nodded with satisfaction, "You have good taste."

After saying this, he walked away with long legs, apparently going to find the next person to show off to.

Leaving behind Deputy Battalion Commander Ai, Xukong waved his fist at him.

Captain Li of the 3rd Regiment, who was familiar with him, came over and said, "Hey, Xiao Ai, what does your commander want to talk to you about?"

Deputy Battalion Commander Ai complained a lot to Regiment Commander Li, "...Our Regiment Commander showed off to me the clothes his wife sewed for him, with words embroidered on them. Do you think he did that because he was too full?"

When he said the five words "full and full", Deputy Battalion Commander Ai turned his head to look in the direction Shen Lie was going, fearing that he would turn around and shoot back.

Unlike the single Deputy Battalion Commander Ai, Captain Li, as a married man, understands Shen Lie very well.

It's different when someone feels pain.

In the past, it was impossible to see new clothes on Shen Lie.

He patted Deputy Battalion Commander Ai's shoulder meaningfully and said, "You'll understand when you get married."

After saying that, he left, leaving Deputy Battalion Commander Ai completely confused.

What's going on today? One by one, two by two, are telling him riddles? How can he live like this?

Compared with Shen Lie's happy little life, Su Junyan seemed to be living in dire straits.

During this period, people who passed by him always liked to tease him, either asking when his family would buy milk candies, or how much pocket money his family gave to the children today, or asking what new clothes Ning Xue made for the twins.

When asking, he made faces and spoke in a weird tone. Su Junyan didn't know whether to answer or not, so he could only put on a smile.

At the end of the day, my smile became stiff and my anger was rising.

This is not the end. Two weeks ago, the director of their logistics department asked him to go to the office for a talk. He said that someone had reported that there was a problem with his style of work, which went against the mainstream thinking and was not simple at all. He was very extravagant, which was a taboo in their logistics department. The implication was that his promotion this time was ruined.

The notice came down today that the person who was promoted to deputy section chief was indeed not him, but a military officer transferred from another place.

Su Junyan had no choice but to accept it. Promotion was a sensitive matter in the first place. If he went up, someone would definitely have to step down.

Who could have made such a coincidence that he was caught at this critical moment.

Who reported him?

It could be his "rival", or another possibility is those people Ning Xue offended.

Until now, he still hasn't figured out who set the trap for him.

Su Junyan still hasn't figured it out yet. In the final analysis, he really has a braid.

Others did report him, but if there wasn't something unclear, the head of the logistics department would not have believed one side of the story and not given him a promotion.

After thinking it over, he blamed everything on Ning Xue and ran back home angrily.

Ning Xue also found out today that she had failed the assessment of the Women's Committee and even received a poor grade, which was a very low evaluation, and her salary increase was lost.

She returned home in a daze and sat on a stool in a daze, unable to even hear the twins crying for hunger.

When she heard the door open and saw Su Junyan coming back, her eyes lit up, "Junyan, how is it? Have you received the notice? Have you been promoted to deputy section chief?"

"Promotion? Bullshit promotion!" Su Junyan was furious. "With all the good things you've done, I'm lucky I didn't get kicked down by others!"

Ning Xue's face froze, and she murmured, "No way, is it really that serious?"

She still didn't believe it. She just let the twins go out to show off, how could they cause such a big mess?

She thought that at most people would secretly hold a grudge against her and make a few sarcastic remarks about her.

Su Junyan couldn't explain it clearly either. There were so many tricks involved.

He snorted coldly, and the air from his nostrils almost turned into substance. "Do you know what I regret most now? What is it?"

Ning Xue had a bad feeling in her heart, but she continued to speak, "What is it?"

"Yes, I married you!"

Su Junyan looked at Ning Xue with a cold and sharp gaze, which seemed intentional, but also seemed unintentional. "Why didn't you marry Ning Tang in the first place, but a troublemaker like you?"

"Ning Tang is getting along well with many wives of soldiers in the Military Family Courtyard. These are all connections. Take Nurse Huang for example. Her husband is Deputy Chief of Staff Ma. The Deputy Chief of Staff has great power. He may not be able to help with big things, but if Shen Lie needs something small, such as switching duties with other regiments, let Ning Tang go to Nurse Huang and mention it. Do you think Deputy Chief of Staff Ma will give Shen Lie this convenience?" Su Junyan said coldly.

At this time, he had completely forgotten Ning Xue's advantages.

Even though Ning Xue had many faults, her feelings for Su Junyan and the twins were beyond reproach. She worked a day, and after work she had to buy groceries and cook for Su Junyan and the twins, wash their clothes, do housework, and was so busy that she never got a single word of praise.

Now I still have to ask, 'Why didn't I marry Ning Tang, but you?'

Ning Xue was shocked. How was this different from the scene she had imagined of chaos in the Shen family?

In her imagination, it should have been Shen Lie who said to Ning Tang, 'Why didn't I marry Ning Xue, but you, Ning Tang?' How come it was the other way around?

Her lips were cold and she couldn't utter a word.

Shen Family

The continuous roars from the Su family scared Da Wa and the other three so much that they ate every meal in fear.

Da Wa asked Ning Tang, "Mom, what's the quarrel next door?"

We had a big fight not long ago, and then it was quiet. I thought it was over, but we had another fight today.

Ning Tang: "Who cares what they are arguing about? They are definitely arguing because they don't get what they want."

"Did you hear that?" Shen Lie glanced at the three little ones, "Take this as a warning and don't do anything shameful in the future, otherwise you will end up like the one next door, quarreling every day."

Da Wa clenched his fist and said, "Don't do anything that will make you feel bad."

"Yeah." Shen Lie replied.

It rained all year round this year. Because of the weather, there were fewer sounds of firecrackers outside the house, so the three little ones stayed at home and didn't go out.

Also, because it was the return of the south wind, Ningtang was worried that the books on the bookshelf would get damp.

By the beginning of March, the sun finally came out.

Taking advantage of the good weather, Ning Tang took the three children to the yard to dry the books on the bookshelf.

The three children, including Da Wa, all went to school and could recognize a lot of words. Sometimes, they didn’t need Shen Lie and Ning Tang to tell them stories. They could read books by themselves just by guessing the few words they knew.

There were quite a few books that were worn out by them, especially the picture books, most of which were illustrated, which even a three-year-old kid who couldn't recognize a few words could understand.

Ning Tang sorted the books on the bookshelf, thinking about going to the Xinhua Bookstore in Jiang City in a few days to buy some books for the three little ones.

She went to find Mrs. Luo, who was also planning to visit Zhao Qing who worked at the Jiang City Cinema, and the two of them hit it off immediately.

On the morning of April 1st, the two of them boarded a boat and left the island together.

When they arrived in Jiang City, the two went their separate ways.

Ning Tang went to Xinhua Bookstore to buy books, and then went to the department store to buy some trendy snacks for the three little ones. The golden oatmeal and calcium milk biscuits at home were almost finished, so she went to the supply and marketing cooperative to stock up some goods.

After finishing the shopping, it was time as agreed with Mrs. Luo. Ning Tang arrived at the dock with a lot of bags and saw Mrs. Luo standing there with a bad look on her face. She called her several times, but she didn't respond.

"Sister-in-law? Sister-in-law!" Ning Tang called out again, and Sister-in-law Luo came back to her senses.

On the way back by boat, Mrs. Luo's eyes were out of focus and she looked worried.

After returning to the island, Mrs. Luo did not rush home, but went to Shen's house and sat for a while.

After two glasses of cold white wine, she spoke hesitantly, "Xiaoning, Qingqing told me that she has a boyfriend."

Ning Tang was busy organizing the things he bought into the cupboard. Hearing this, he said "Oh".

"Xiao Ning." Mrs. Luo stamped her feet anxiously, "Qingqing has found someone."

Ning Tang was amused, "Sister-in-law, Qingqing is almost 20 years old, it would be fresh if she didn't have a boyfriend."