Chapter 13 I'll come see you tonight, there's something else I need to talk to you about...
“Jiang-Meng-Yao.” Lü Aiguo stared into Jiang Suining’s eyes, not missing a single change in her emotions.
Lu Ye keenly sensed the unusual atmosphere between the two and wondered if they knew each other before. Impossible, absolutely impossible!
Sensing his gaze, Jiang Suining panicked for a moment. She had been leaning forward and looking at Lü Aiguo, but now she leaned back in her seat, staring straight ahead, and said stiffly, "What a coincidence. You look just like me, and we even have the same surname. You must introduce us sometime."
“Absolutely no problem.” Lu Aiguo had just caught a glimpse of surprise in Jiang Suining’s eyes, and his confidence was restored. Although she denied it, he thought that she probably didn’t want to reveal her identity because there were other people in the car. After all, time travel was too unbelievable.
Jiang Suining was in turmoil, unable to calm down for a long time. 'Jiang Mengyao', that was her real name. Did Lü Aiguo really have a senior sister with that name? Even if she did, what a coincidence that she looked like her?
Thinking of this, she turned her head to look at Lü Aiguo again. There were about a dozen students who participated in the experiment that day, all of whom were wearing masks. Did these eyes resemble those of the students? She tried to recall carefully, but she really didn't remember them. After all, she was just helping out with the class that day and hadn't paid attention to the students' appearances.
"What's wrong?" Lu Ye noticed that she was peeking at Lü Aiguo, and he was annoyed. He tilted his head back slightly to block her view.
"It's nothing." Jiang Suining looked away. "I was just curious about Comrade Lü's senior sister. I didn't expect there would be one who looks like me."
“My senior sister is amazing,” Lü Aiguo suddenly became interested. “She has a double degree in architecture and chemical engineering, and she has also taught herself fashion design. She speaks several foreign languages.”
"Oh?" Chen Liyan, who had been resting with his eyes closed, suddenly opened them. "Your military academy has someone like this? Why wasn't he transferred here?"
Lu Aiguo's heart skipped a beat. He had been so focused on probing Jiang Suining that he had forgotten there was an expert sitting there. How was he going to explain this? After all, his senior sister wasn't from this era.
He was speechless for a moment: "My senior sister is not from the military academy. She is my cousin's senior sister. I call her senior sister because I follow my cousin's example."
“I see,” Chen Liyan said, not intending to let Lü Aiguo off so easily. “Which school is he from? Let’s see if we can transfer him over.”
Lu Aiguo thought to himself, "It's over. I've shot myself in the foot." "It probably won't work," he blurted out in desperation. "She's gone abroad and won't be back anytime soon."
"What a pity," Chen Liyan said with great regret. "These intellectuals always think that the moon is rounder in foreign countries. They've forgotten their roots!"
The topic suddenly escalated, and Lü Aiguo didn't dare to respond.
The island's roads were well-constructed and wide, with a constant stream of pedestrians on both sides. The buildings along the street were neat and orderly. Although most of them were single-story houses, it was clear that they were much better than those in the Red Star Commune. It seemed that the living environment here was not as bad as Zhou Xiaomei had described to the original owner.
After driving for about half an hour, we entered the military area. Soldiers were marching in formation along the path beside the woods.
Li Guodong looked at Lu Ye through the rearview mirror: "I'll take Comrade Lü and Old Chen to report for duty first. You can drive the car back to the family compound."
“Okay.” The family compound wasn’t very close to the military headquarters, and considering how hard it was for Jiang Suining to travel by boat, he really couldn’t bear to let her walk for an even longer period of time.
"We just got back and still need to tidy up. We'll treat you to dinner another day." Lu Ye and Chen Guodong had fought on the battlefield together and were good friends. Chen Guodong's wife had passed away, and he was raising his three children on his own. Whenever Lu Ye had free time, he would go to his house to help him.
“Eating is a small matter,” Li Guodong hesitated. “I’ll come over to see you tonight; there’s something else I need to discuss.”
“Okay, I’ll wait for you.” Li Guodong always said he had something to do, but he didn’t say it directly. Lu Ye realized that this might not be work-related, so he didn’t ask any further questions.
The family compound was located at the foot of the mountain, with rows of bungalows connected to independent courtyards. Lu Ye parked the jeep on the roadside in front of the courtyard gate, got out of the car and immediately went to open the car door for Jiang Suining.
Jiang Suining looked around and found the surroundings to be quite nice overall—clean and tidy. The island climate was pleasant, with abundant vegetation, but the sun was indeed strong and the sea breeze was brisk. Spending a long time outdoors would not only easily lead to sunburn but also dehydration. She decided she needed to find some skincare products.
“I applied for this courtyard in advance and tidied it up,” Lu Ye said, trying to prepare her in advance in case the courtyard didn’t suit her taste. “I don’t know if it will suit your taste. If it doesn’t, we can change it.”
"Mm." Jiang Suining didn't stand on ceremony with him. After all, she would be staying there permanently, so she wanted to make sure he was comfortable.
“Guodong lives next door.” Lu Ye looked at the yard next door. “But his wife passed away five years ago, leaving behind three children.”
“Uncle Lu,” one of the twins, who had a small mole on the bridge of his nose, rushed over as soon as he saw Lu Ye. “You’re finally back.”
Another one followed closely behind: "Uncle Lu, I want to eat your braised pork."
Two identical little boys jumped and danced with excitement.
"Uncle can't cook for you tonight," Lu Ye said, squatting down in front of the two little boys and patting their hair. "Uncle won't be able to cook for you as often as he does in the future either."
"Why?" The boy with a small mole on his nose, who was clearly more lively, asked immediately.
"Uncle Lu, do you not like us anymore?" another little boy asked timidly.
“Uncle doesn’t dislike you,” Lu Ye explained patiently, “It’s just that Uncle also has people who need to be taken care of.”
The two little boys didn't quite understand what Lu Ye meant, and turned to look at their older brother behind them for help.
Before the words were finished, a figure rushed out of Li Guodong's yard and came face to face with Jiang Suining and Lu Ye, both of whom were stunned at the same time.
It was Zhou Xiaomei! Although her hair was cut short, her appearance and figure were still unmistakable. Jiang Suining's pupils constricted. When she heard that Zhou Xiaomei had taken the family's food coupons and money and run away, she guessed that she would come to the island, but she never expected that this person would actually be living in Li Guodong's house.
Although she had guessed that Zhou Xiaomei would come to the island to find the male lead, she never imagined that this woman was so capable that she had already moved into the male lead's house. A careful calculation showed that only three days had passed since Zhou Xiaomei ran away from home.
This male lead is so unreliable! He didn't even check her background before bringing her home. Isn't this era supposed to be quite conservative? Can he just live with a strange woman like that? Isn't he afraid of being punished? Could they have already registered their marriage? No way, military personnel have to apply in advance to get married, and that application can't be approved so quickly.
Furthermore, the male lead belongs to the female lead, and Zhou Xiaomei is a supporting female character. How could she possibly steal the female lead's thunder?
Jiang Suining was overwhelmed with mixed feelings and looked at Zhou Xiaomei with complicated emotions.
"What are you doing here?" Lu Ye had no liking for Zhou Xiaomei. "Tu Qiang, tell me, what's going on here?"
Li Tuqiang is Li Guodong's eldest son. When he heard Lu Ye's question, he turned around and looked at Zhou Xiaomei: "Aunt Zhou was invited by my father to take care of me and my brothers."
"Is she working as a nanny?" Jiang Suining exclaimed. "Could it be that she's trying to climb the social ladder by playing the nanny? Isn't she afraid that Lu Ye will tell Li Guodong about what she's been doing?"
Zhou Xiaomei panicked when she suddenly saw Jiang Suining and Lu Ye, but she calmed down immediately after hearing Li Tuqiang's answer. She wiped her hands on the apron tied around her waist and walked up to Jiang Suining: "Sui Sui, I didn't expect you to be back so soon. Aren't you newlyweds? Why didn't you stay at home for a few more days?"
"Stay a few more days, until you achieve your goal and get rid of Li Guodong?" Jiang Suining couldn't be too blunt in front of the three children, so she just silently complained in her heart.
Seeing that Jiang Suining did not answer, Zhou Xiaomei's eyes suddenly reddened: "Suisui, you know that my gambling father wanted to sell me for a dowry. I really had no choice but to run away."
"Oh." What does this have to do with her? Jiang Suining responded indifferently.
“I’ve never been far from home, and I have no one to rely on. After thinking it over, you’re the only one I can turn to,” Zhou Xiaomei said, pulling Jiang Suining’s hand. “Suisui, we grew up together, we’re like sisters. You’ll definitely help me, right?”
"Stop!" Jiang Suining pulled her hand back. "Aren't we all from the same village who grew up together? But my mother only gave birth to my brother and me. She doesn't have any other sisters. Don't try to claim kinship with me. As for not helping someone in distress, that's really not the case. Even if you were to die, don't worry, I'll burn paper money for you because we're from the same village."
"Jiang Suining!" Zhou Xiaomei felt a tightness in her chest from anger. That day, she escaped from the village, took a fishing boat to the island, and waited outside the military area for a whole night. She finally managed to catch up with Li Guodong, who was returning from a field mission. She pretended to inquire about Lu Ye's new wife and made a conversation with him. She then said that she had run away from her marriage and sought refuge with Lu Ye's wife, which is why Li Guodong brought her back.
After playing the victim and telling Li Guodong about her sisterly bond with Lu Ye's wife from the same village, she finally convinced Li Guodong to take her in, thanks to her silver tongue and tragic past.
She originally thought that since they lived under the same roof and he was a widower who had been celibate for many years, she could easily seduce him. However, she never expected that although Li Guodong agreed to let her live at home, he himself moved to the military barracks and only came back to see the children at lunchtime every day.
Zhou Xiaomei had no choice but to change her strategy and set her sights on the three children. She originally thought that Jiang Suining and Lu Ye would not be back for at least seven or eight days, giving her enough time to build a good relationship with the children. However, she did not expect that the two of them would return in just two days.
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