Chapter 16

Jiang Nian fell into the bathtub, her arm scraped against the edge of the bathtub, she grabbed the edge of the bathtub, slowed down, and just as she was about to stand up, she heard footsteps approaching quickly from outside.

There was a tendency to knock the door open.

"I'm fine!"

Jiang Nian shouted hurriedly, for fear that Lu Yu would push the door open and see her like this.

Lu Yu's embarrassment was one thing, but her embarrassment was a big deal.

The footsteps stopped outside the door, and the man's low voice was obviously a little anxious: "Sister-in-law, what's wrong?"

Jiang Nian stood up with the bathtub, rubbed her arm that was rubbed by the edge of the bathtub, and said to the outside: "It's okay, I just saw a mouse under the cabinet, and I scared it away."

She lied casually.

In this era, it is normal to have rats in such a mud-walled house.

"It's OK."

The footsteps outside the door gradually faded away.

Jiang Nian breathed a sigh of relief, quickly wiped off the water on his body, put on his clothes and opened the window to ventilate. The weather in summer is hot and humid, especially when taking a bath in the house with the doors and windows closed, the heat is even more uncomfortable. As soon

as he opened the window, he saw Lu Yu sitting in the yard eating. In just a short while, the man had already eaten three cakes.

Lu Yu drank a sip of egg soup, looked up and saw Jiang Nian standing in front of the window. The top two buttons of her shirt were unbuttoned, revealing two protruding collarbones and small concave pits. Her skin was like white snow under the light, and her hair was wet and messy, sticking to her cheeks and resting on her thin shoulders.

She was standing by the window, looking up at the moon in the sky.

After looking for a while, she lowered her eyelashes and looked at him.

The two people's eyes suddenly met, and Lu Yu choked on the soup he had just swallowed, and coughed several times with his head turned away.

This was also the first time he looked away in panic since he had been with Jiang Nian.

Jiang Nian didn't understand, and after thinking for a while, he whispered, "Eat slowly, there's more in the pot. If you don't have enough, I'll make more."

"That's enough."

Lu Yu quickly finished the cake in his hand, put away the dishes on the table, strode to the kitchen, washed the pots and bowls, and went to the east room to pour bath water for Jiang Nian. As soon as he walked in, he smelled the fragrance of soap beans, like a spider web, flowing into his nose.

He lowered his head, picked up the bathtub and walked out.

He splashed the water in the yard, turned his back to the door and said to Jiang Nian, "Captain Lu, go back tomorrow and bring Zheng Hong here, let her review her mistakes in front of the whole regiment and apologize to her sister-in-law."

Jiang Nian was stunned for a moment, and tilted his head to look at the shadow extending into the door.

After a long while, a soft and low voice came from the room: "Hmm."

"Lu Yu..."

Jiang Nian called Lu Yu who was going back to the room, walked to the door and stopped, her fingers grasping the door frame awkwardly, and when he turned around, she pursed her lips and said: "I thought about it for a day, and I still think that the female comrade in the hospital is pretty. Why don't you get along with her first?"

Lu Yu: ...

He frowned: "Sister-in-law, don't worry about my affairs. It's late, go to bed."

Looking at Lu Yu's tall back, Jiang Nian closed the door in frustration, leaned against the door panel, and knocked the back of her head against the door.

Why is this plot different from the book?

Shouldn't Lu Yu like Sun Ying?

She thought about it for a long time, but she didn't figure it out. Instead, she remembered another thing.

That is to try to hit the wall again to see if she can get through.

She turned around and walked to the hard earth wall, raised her hand and touched her forehead which no longer hurt, then lowered her head slightly and touched it against the wall. She felt a little pain in her forehead, and was about to grit her teeth and hit it in one go, but suddenly she remembered that Lu Yu said that Zheng Hong would make a deep self-examination in front of the whole group tomorrow and apologize to her.

Jiang Nian rubbed his forehead and put his mind at ease for the time being.

If he had to die, he would wait until Zheng Hong apologized before dying. At least after getting through in this era, he would have no regrets. At

this moment, Jiang Nian had already determined in his heart that he would be able to get through by hitting the wall.

She took off her shoes and lay on the bed, listening to the cicadas outside the window and gradually fell asleep. She didn't open her eyes until the horn sounded the next day. When she heard footsteps outside, she sat up and stretched her neck to look outside. Lu Yu was walking out the door in his military uniform.

Jiang Nian rubbed her arm that was hurt from the fall yesterday, put on her clothes, opened the door and went out.

The morning air was fresh and smelled good. She took a deep breath, went to the well to fetch water and washed up. She decided to go to the vegetable market today to buy some vegetables to make a rich dinner for Lu Yu. There happened to be some meat left at home, so she made braised pork with meat.

Lu Yu made fried potatoes and meat for breakfast, cooked porridge, and kept two steamed buns warm in the pot. You could tell at a glance that they were specially left for her.

Jiang Nian ate a steamed bun, drank a bowl of porridge, washed the pots and bowls, and went to the vegetable market to buy vegetables.

The

news that Captain Lu's wife had to do a deep self-examination today had spread throughout the regiment.

In those days, there were no televisions and no entertainment activities. If there was a little excitement, everyone wanted to be the first to run over and take a front row seat.

After lunch, Lu Yu brought the dishes into the kitchen. While adding water to wash the dishes, he asked Jiang Nian who came in from outside: "Sister-in-law, are you going to our group's training ground later? If you are going, I'll let Aunt Feng take you there." Jiang Nian

stood at the door of the room, tugging at the corner of her clothes nervously, and asked in a low voice: "Can I go?"

Lu Yu seemed to smile, then changed the subject: "Go, why not?"

He put the washed dishes into the cupboard, looked at Jiang Nian who was standing at the door of the kitchen against the light: "She wants to apologize in front of the whole group, so it's reasonable for the person she's apologizing to be present."

Jiang Nian: ...

She found that Lu Yu was also quite mean.

Lu Yu was worried that Jiang Nian was afraid of going to crowded places, so he said to her, "Sister-in-law, just follow Aunt Feng. I will say hello to Aunt Feng, and let Zheng Hong take you back after she finishes her self-criticism. Don't stay outside too long."

Jiang Nian nodded gently, "Okay."

After Lu Yu left, Jiang Nian swept the floor of the kitchen and washed the vegetables she had just bought today. After doing all this, Feng Mei also came over. As soon as she entered the door, she pulled her out, "Hurry up, it's already started. If we're any later, we won't be able to enjoy the hustle and bustle."

When Jiang Nian heard this, she put down the rag and followed Feng Mei.

It takes more than ten minutes to get to the training ground. Auntie Feng was afraid that they would miss the excitement if they were late, so she dragged Jiang Nian along to run. When they arrived at the training ground, Zheng Hong had finished reading her self-criticism.

Zheng Hong was standing on the steps in front of the training ground. On the left were soldiers from the regiment, wearing uniform military uniforms. Even if the sun was scorching, they still stood straight, looking at Zheng Hong on the steps one by one, with colorful expressions on their faces. On the right were all military wives and mothers-in-law, as well as many children. Compared to the left, the right was much more lively.

"Look at her face, she's so embarrassed, she deserves it!"

Feng Mei asked Jiang Nian to look at Zheng Hong's face, and Jiang Nian smiled in her heart with her lips pursed.

Zheng Hong almost buried her head in her chest, the paper in her hand was deformed by her, and she read the self-criticism written by Captain Lu for her word by word. Captain Lu was standing on the stage, with his head down, and his expression could not be seen.

However, it was obvious that his face was not very good.

"I shouldn't have verbally insulted Comrade Jiang Nian. Here, I want to express my deepest apologies to Comrade Jiang Nian. Comrade Jiang Nian, I'm sorry."

"Hahahahaha"

"Oh my god, you're killing me."

"You see, she usually twists her body when she walks, and now she stands there so seriously. I'm not used to it."

The military wives were all talking in the audience, their voices louder than the other. The incident in which Zheng Hong used her sprained ankle a few days ago to trick Battalion Commander Liu into getting her food had spread everywhere. Now the way they looked at Zheng Hong was no longer as kind as before. There was more or less mockery, disdain, and ridicule in their eyes.

Some of the military wives' mothers-in-law were also there. Several of them gathered together and whispered to each other that Liu Qiang and Zheng Hong were like two peas in a pod. They both had a secret crush on each other. If Liu Qiang didn't have that intention, even if Zheng Hong asked him for help, he would find an excuse to turn it down.

The military wives all told their husbands at night, warning them to stay away from Zheng Hong and not to be fooled like Captain Liu.

Zheng Hong's reputation is now notorious.

After reading the self-criticism, Zheng Hong listened to the laughter and chatter of the military wives in the audience. Her face turned red and her fingers were clenched so tightly that the pages of the self-criticism were torn. She wanted to find Lu Guosheng, but when she turned around, she saw that Lu Guosheng, who had just stood in the audience, was gone.

So Zheng Hong tightly held the self-criticism, turned around and ran away with her head down.

"Hahahahahahahaha"

the military wives burst into laughter. Feng Mei, who was holding Jiang Nian's hand, laughed so hard that she couldn't straighten her waist. She pointed at Zheng Hong who was running away and said, "Look at her, she's just like a rat crossing the street."

Jiang Nian couldn't help laughing out loud, and suddenly heard the voices of several people talking from the left.

"Vice Colonel Lu's sister-in-law looks so pretty when she smiles."

"I wish I had a wife as pretty as her."

Zhu Jun saw that several people were looking at Jiang Nian, and snorted and laughed: "Don't even think about it. Even if Comrade Jiang Nian wants to marry again, she has to get the consent of Vice Colonel Lu."

Someone came over from behind and asked the man who wanted to marry a wife: "Do you think you can get past Vice Colonel Lu?"

The man glared at him: "Fuck you."

"Hey, why are you still swearing?"

Jiang Nian blushed when he heard what they said.

Auntie Feng turned around and glared at them: "If you make fun of Vice Colonel Lu's sister-in-law again, I will tell Vice Colonel Lu that you are bullying his sister-in-law."

"No, no, Auntie Feng, we are wrong!"

After saying that, several people turned around and ran away.

Feng Mei tugged at Jiang Nian with amusement: "We're done with the fun, let's go home too."

Jiang

Nian returned to her family compound, and passed by Captain Liu's house with Feng Mei. They saw Xu Yan standing outside the door. Seeing them coming, Xu Yan smiled at her and Feng Mei. When she heard the two children in the yard calling her, she turned around and ran back home.

Feng Mei was stunned for a moment: "The sun is rising from the west today? Xu Yan actually smiled?"

Jiang Nian understood in his heart. This was probably the happiest day for Xu Yan in the past two years.

Jiang Nian returned home and took a nap. After getting up, she looked at the position of the sun and estimated that it was almost five or six o'clock. She fetched water from the well to wash her face, and went to the stove to prepare a sumptuous dinner for Lu Yu.

This might be her last dinner in this era.

As dusk fell, the aroma of food filled the courtyard.

But the food in Jiang Nian's courtyard smelled the best, making people's stomachs swirl.

Captain Song and Lu Yu walked to the door of the house. Captain Song smelled the aroma coming from the courtyard and looked at Lu Yu: "My good man, since your sister-in-law came, your food has been getting better and better."

Lu Yu smiled and said nothing.

After parting with Captain Song, Lu Yu returned to the yard. Jiang Nian's meal was ready. She came out of the kitchen with a plate of vegetables and smiled at Lu Yu for the first time without dodging. She used to only talk with her head down, but this was the first time she said to Lu Yu happily, "It's time to eat."

Lu Yu's hand, which was fetching well water, froze there. He looked at Jiang Nian in surprise as he ran briskly into the kitchen and came out with a plate of white flour steamed buns and fried pork with peppers. He put them on the table, raised his head and looked at him motionlessly, frowning his delicate eyebrows, "Why are you still standing there? Wash your hands and eat."

Lu Yu came back to his senses, "Yeah."

He bent his back and washed his face with the cold well water he had just drawn. After washing his face, he glanced at Jiang Nian, who was sitting at the table, holding his chin with his hands and looking at the four dishes and a soup on the table.

I feel that my sister-in-law is a little abnormal today.

Could it be because he and Zheng Hong reviewed and apologized to her in front of the whole group?

Lu Yu sat at the table, looking at the rich dinner on the table. He was indeed hungry after being busy all afternoon.

The money for this meal of meat and vegetables could last for ten days in other people's homes, but Lu Yu didn't say anything. In his eyes, as long as his sister-in-law is happy, she will do whatever she wants.

He picked up the steamed bun and took a bite, then added a piece of tender and juicy braised pork and ate it. He saw his sister-in-law looking at him with bright eyes: "How is it? Is it delicious?"

Lu Yu swallowed the food in his mouth: "It's delicious."

So Jiang Nian smiled again.

She also took a bite of a steamed bun and put a piece of braised pork in her mouth: "If it tastes good, eat more."

After this meal, there will be no next meal.

Lu Yu frowned slightly, lowered his eyes and looked at the food on the table. He was a little uncomfortable with his sister-in-law's abnormality. Is she really so happy because Zheng Hong apologized?

He raised his eyes and looked at Jiang Nian again, and met the other's smiling eyes without any surprise.

Lu Yu: ...

After finishing the meal and washing the dishes, Lu Yu boiled some hot water and brought it to Jiang Nian's room. While pouring the water, he saw her standing in front of a wall, staring at the wall in a daze. He

hesitated and asked, "What are you thinking about, sister-in-law?"

Jiang Nian came back to her senses and looked at the water in the bathtub. The man's cold and handsome features were reflected on the water. He pursed his thin lips slightly, and his black eyes under his eyebrows stared at the expression on her face, as if he wanted to see something.

She looked at the reflection on the water: "I wonder if your eldest brother will be lonely over there."

Lu Yu frowned and wanted to say something, but in the end he said nothing and went out with the bucket. After

Jiang Nian finished taking a bath, Lu Yu came in and poured out the bath water as usual.

She stood in the house, with her hands on the door frame, watching Lu Yu's back as he walked towards the south house. Jiang Nian didn't close the door until his figure disappeared at the door.

She let out a breath, turned around and sat on the edge of the bed, looking at the half moonlight outside the window. She sat there until late at night. When it was quiet all around with only the cicadas' chirping, Jiang Nian slowly stood up, walked to an earth wall, stretched out her hand and pressed on the wall, then touched her forehead.

She took a few breaths nervously and took a few steps back. She

clenched her hands, closed her eyes, clenched her teeth, and slammed her head against the opposite wall -