Chapter 18

Jiang Nian felt something was wrong after asking, as if he was investigating Lu Yu again, and explained: "I don't have any other intentions, I just want you to give me all the money for safekeeping. What if you need the money? Why don't I just give you the money..."

It seems that what he said is not right.

Jiang Nian frowned with a headache. Now it's not just the wound that hurts, but also the inside of his head.

Seeing that Jiang Nian lost his voice while talking, he lowered his head and grabbed the corner of his clothes.

Lu Yu's eyes glanced at the snow-white neck of Jiang Nian, then lowered his eyes to clean up the dishes: "Don't worry, sister-in-law, I have some pocket money left for myself, and the big money is with you. If I need money, I will ask you."

Jiang Nian secretly breathed a sigh of relief, lowered his head and whispered: "Yeah."

Lu Yu went to the kitchen to wash the pots and bowls, and then washed the chopped chicken in the yard. Jiang Nian sat under the shade of the tree in the yard, feeling the not-so-cool breeze, looking around every corner of the yard, planning in her mind where to plant the vegetable garden.

It would save a lot of money to grow vegetables by herself. She now spends all her food and clothing on Lu Yu's money. She always feels bad. Although she is his sister-in-law, she can't rely on Lu Yu anymore. After all, she still needs to find a job that can support herself in case Lu Yu gets married and has his own family in the future. She doesn't have the nerve to stay here any longer.

Jiang Nian's eyes were swaying and her mind was racing. Her sight unconsciously fell on Lu Yu squatting by the well.

The man was facing her sideways, with neat short hair, and the light fell on his sharp features. He poured a basin of water, and then drew half a basin of clean well water. When he stood up with the enamel basin, he turned his head and looked at her.

Their eyes met.

Jiang Nian was stunned for a moment before reacting, just like being caught by the person in question. He lowered his head awkwardly and looked at the black cloth shoes on his feet. There was a small patch on the cloth shoes, but it was still a pair of cloth shoes that the original owner could wear out.

"Sister-in-law."

Lu Yu's voice came from the opposite side.

Jiang Nian pursed her lips and slowly raised her head to look over. Lu Yu stood by the well and smiled at her soothingly: "There are only two of us in this house. You don't have to be reserved in front of me."

He paused for a moment and continued: "Sister-in-law cooked a table of delicious food that day. Sister-in-law looks beautiful when she smiles."

Jiang Nian was stunned and only came back to her senses when Lu Yu's figure disappeared at the door of the stove room.

In fact, she was also worried.

After all, she was going to take root here in the future. If she continued to pretend to be the original owner's temper, sooner or later she would reveal her true colors in front of Lu Yu. Since he said so, she would slowly "change" according to Lu Yu's words.

After Lu Yu finished his work, he went back to the team. Before leaving, he went next door and told Feng Mei to ask her to help look after Jiang Nian.

In the house.

Jiang Nian was lying on the bed, with a candy in his mouth, his hands behind his head, staring at the blue sky in a trance.

In fact, he was thinking about what he could do to make money.

There were footsteps outside the yard. Jiang Nian tilted her head to look at the door. The door was against the light, and the person's face could not be seen clearly. She was about to ask who it was, but the person standing outside the house spoke first: "Can I come in?"

It was Xu Yan's voice.

Jiang Nian was a little surprised that she would come to see her again, so she sat up and leaned against the head of the bed and said, "Come in and sit down."

Xu Yan walked into the room and sat on the small stool next to the bed. She looked up at the gauze wrapped around Jiang Nian's head and asked with concern, "Does your head still hurt?"

Jiang Nian smiled and said, "It's still a little bit, but it will be gone in a few days."

She had a physical sense of this.

After all, the first time is the second time

, right? Xu Yan stopped talking and just sat quietly. The room suddenly fell into an awkward silence, but Jiang Nian didn't know whether Xu Yan was embarrassed or not. Anyway, she felt that it was awkward for the two of them to stare at each other without saying anything.

Actually, Xu Yan used to be quite cheerful. She was very happy when she married Captain Liu for a few years. She was always smiling when she met people. But everything changed after Zheng Hong came to the family compound two years ago. They would quarrel every other day at home, and Xu Yan became less talkative.

And with Zheng Hong's deliberate provocation, many military wives thought Xu Yan was an unreasonable and inhumane shrew. This also led to Xu Yan having few friends in the past two years. She stayed at home alone with her two children every day and became silent and less talkative.

So, she broke the silence first: "I heard from Aunt Feng that you also came to the hospital to see me?"

Jiang Nian knew that she was asking this question knowingly, but she had to have a topic to lead the conversation.

Xu Yan breathed a sigh of relief and nodded gently: "I want to see how badly you're injured."

After she finished speaking, she paused and added in a low voice: "You can't do anything stupid. If you are really... dead, it will please Zheng Hong. You just have to live well and make her mad." Speaking of

Zheng Hong, Xu Yan seemed to have opened up and talked about many things about Zheng Hong pestering Liu Qiang in the past two years. In the end, she wiped her tears and complained that Liu Qiang was not a good husband. He was always thinking about the pot while eating from the bowl. In the past two years, he not only treated her badly, but also his two sons badly.

He used to send some of his salary home, and the rest was given to her for safekeeping. She would also send some to her parents' home, although it was not much, but it was a token of her appreciation. However, in the past two years, he had been borrowing money from Zheng Hong from time to time. He had lent out 50 yuan, and Liu Qiang would send some more money home. In the end, she didn't have much money left. She hadn't helped her parents' home for almost two years.

Not only that, the two sons didn't eat as well as Zheng Hong's family.

Thinking of her husband supporting Zheng Hong and her son in disguise, Xu Yan was furious. As she spoke, her chest began to hurt, and she cried.

Jiang Nian: …

Now she feels disgusted when she thinks of Liu Qiang.

To put it nicely, he can’t let go of his man’s face and can’t refuse Zheng Hong’s request for help. To put it bluntly, he is enjoying the fact that the woman who once abandoned him now turns to him for help, just to satisfy his self-esteem and vanity as a man.

Xu Yan sniffed, her eyes red from crying: “Liu Qiang didn’t ask Zheng Hong for the fifty yuan, but I can’t just accept this loss for nothing. Now Captain Lu is back, I want to ask Captain Lu to return the money.”

She looked at Jiang Nian, her voice with a strong nasal tone: “What do you think?”

Jiang Nian pursed her lips and was speechless for a moment. She was thinking that with Liu Qiang's personality, he might not want the money. If Xu Yan went to Captain Lu to ask for the money, she was afraid that Liu Qiang would be concerned about the relationship between Captain Lu and Zheng Hong and his own face, and would accuse Xu Yan of talking nonsense. This way, he would just go along with Zheng Hong's wishes.

In the end, it was Xu Yan who was wronged.

"Jiang Nian?"

Xu Yan called out when she saw her lowering her head and not speaking.

Jiang Nian raised her eyes and looked at Xu Yan, thinking of Xu Yan's ending in the book, where she divorced Liu Qiang and married an old bachelor 20 years older than her. As for Liu Qiang's ending, it was not written in the book.

She didn't want Xu Yan to repeat the ending in the book. After thinking about it, she decided to help her break the ending in the book.

Jiang Nian said, "I don't think so."

Xu Yan's eyes widened, "Why not? Doesn't Zheng Hong want to admit her mistake? What's her basis?!"

Jiang Nian comforted her, "I do have a way. Not only can I let Captain Liu ask Zheng Hong for the money in person, but I can also prevent Captain Liu from being deceived by Zheng Hong from now on. But before doing these things, you have to be patient."

Xu Yan suddenly became curious. She moved her buttocks excitedly and sat on the edge of the bed. She asked, "Then tell me what the method is?"

Jiang Nian hooked his finger at her. Xu Yan was stunned for a moment. Jiang Nian said, "Put your ears over here."

"Oh oh."

Xu Yan leaned over and listened to Jiang Nian whispering a few words in her ear. After listening, she jumped up as if she was stimulated and stood by the window. Her eyes were wide open and she shook her head and said, "No!"

Jiang Nian: ...

The wound on her forehead was throbbing with pain. She frowned, relieved the pain, and advised, "A little impatience will lead to big plans. Since you want Liu Qiang to be obedient, but you don't want to do what I say, then... What's the use of me saying more?"

Xu Yan:...

She pursed her lips in silence, then looked up at Jiang Nian and asked uncertainly: "Will it really work?"

Jiang Nian smiled: "Let's try it first, if it doesn't work, we'll think of other ways."

Xu Yan nodded: "Yeah."

She sat back on the bench and asked curiously: "How do you know so much?"

Jiang Nian was younger than her and had been staying in the countryside, so he knew more than her.

Jiang Nian made an excuse: "I have been married to Dacheng for four years. Dacheng was paralyzed in bed. I took care of him and talked to him every day. He had a lot of experience and a lot of truths. I only learned a little from talking so much."

After that, she lowered her eyes with a sad look, as if she was thinking of her husband.

Xu Yan lowered her head in guilt. Captain Xu was a very nice person when he was in the army. If he hadn't been paralyzed, he would be a deputy regiment commander now. Jiang Nian's life would be much better than it is now. At least no one would point out that she is a widow behind her back.

"What are you two talking about?"

Feng Mei walked into the room and saw Xu Yan's eyes were red from crying. She said, "Why are you crying again?"

Xu Yan said, "It's because I was mad at Liu Qiang."

After saying that, she snorted and didn't want to mention Liu Qiang anymore.

Feng Mei wanted to talk about Liu Qiang in front of Xu Yan, but then she thought of how Old Song always scolded her for being stupid. She shouldn't meddle in other people's business. If she didn't do it well, she would get into trouble.

She stopped talking again, and brought a bowl of brown sugar and egg water to Jiang Nian, smiling, "Drink it while it's hot, and take care of yourself, you're so thin."

"Thank you, Sister Feng."

Jiang Nian took the bowl and drank it. The brown sugar water was sweet, and the eggs were beaten into egg flowers, which had a very light egg smell. For her, this was not a rare thing, but it was very rare in this era.

Feng Mei and Xu Yan watched Jiang Nian sip the brown sugar and egg water, and both of them swallowed their saliva.

When Feng Mei was cooking brown sugar water at home, she poured a bowl for each of her two children and dipped her chopsticks in it to taste the sweetness. Last time, she ran back with the things that Deputy Regiment Commander Lu gave her in a cloth bag, for fear of running into Captain Lu and his wife on the road. When she got home, she locked the things in the cupboard. She told Lao Song about it when he came home at noon.

At that time, Old Song sighed and said, "Lu Yu is still angry with Lu Guosheng and his wife in his heart."

Feng Mei asked, "Then what about the things he gave us?"

Captain Song said, "Lu Yu has not torn his face with Lu Guosheng, and this matter is almost over. You should hide these things and be careful with your mouth. Don't let anything slip. If Lu Guosheng and his wife know that the things they sent us are in our hands, Zheng Hong will probably be in trouble again."

When Feng Mei heard that she could keep the things, she nodded quickly: "Just keep it in mind, I'm very strict."

Captain Song:...

Why doesn't he believe it?

"Is it delicious?"

Seeing Jiang Nian finish drinking, Feng Mei took the bowl from Jiang Nian. Jiang Nian nodded gently: "It's delicious, thank you, Sister Feng."

Feng Mei and Xu Yan sat for a while and then went back.

Jiang Nian lay on the bed until it was almost time for lunch. She didn't feel so dizzy anymore. She walked slowly to the well to get some water to wash her hands and went to the kitchen to cook. She planned to stew mushroom chicken soup at noon. The mushrooms were brought by Aunt Feng, who said they were dried mushrooms brought from her mother's home.

Lu Yu had already chopped the chicken and washed it. She only needed to prepare the seasoning and side dishes and then light the fire.

Jiang Nian added some water to the pot, poured the chicken in first, waited for the water to boil, then used a spoon to skim out the foam boiling around the pot, and finally put in the seasonings, side dishes and dried mushrooms.

After doing all this, Jiang Nian was sweating a lot.

She added some firewood to the stove and let it burn slowly, walked to the west corner of the wall with the help of the wall, walked from the west end of the wall to the west end, and took a general look at the soil on the ground. She planned to plant the vegetables in the private plot first after her injury healed, and then turn over the large piece of land at the west wall in the yard.

Jiang Nian felt a little dizzy and stood for a while with the help of the wall.

There were voices and footsteps coming from outside. Feng Mei called out loudly from the next yard: "Xiangdong Xianghong, your father is back. It's time for dinner!"

As Feng Mei finished her words, Lu Yu also walked in from the yard gate.

He originally wanted to go to the kitchen to get an aluminum lunch box to go to the canteen to get food, but when he entered the kitchen, he saw that his sister-in-law had already prepared the meal. The rich smell of chicken soup wafted in the kitchen, and the dry firewood in the stove crackled a little, and the chicken soup was boiling in the pot.

But Jiang Nian was nowhere to be seen.

Her head was still injured, and she needed to hold on to the wall when she walked today. She didn't come to the kitchen to cook at noon, and Lu Yu was really afraid that she would get hurt again.

"Sister-in-law."

He strode out of the yard and went straight to Jiang Nian's room. The sheets on the bed were neatly laid, and there was no sign of her.

Lu Yu's face was solemn. He turned around and was about to run towards the toilet when he heard Jiang Nian's voice coming from the west corner.

"I'm here."

Lu Yu stopped and turned around to see Jiang Nian standing against the west corner. She was wearing khaki clothes, which was somewhat similar to the color of the mud wall. She had two braids and a gauze wrapped around her hair. Her face was still sickly pale.

The words were so small that you couldn't see them if you didn't look carefully.

Lu Yu: ...

He walked to Jiang Nian and saw that there was a little sweat on her temples and her face didn't look very good, so he half-knelt in front of her and said, "I'll carry you back to the room."

Before, when Jiang Nian was in a coma due to the accident, he didn't care about their uncle-sister-in-law status and carried her all the way to the hospital. Now that she was awake, he couldn't be so reckless.

"No, no, I can walk by myself."

Jiang Nian held onto the wall with her hands, looking at Lu Yu who was half squatting and not much taller than her. The man had broad shoulders and a slightly bent back, but he just insisted on doing so. Even if she said no, he would not stand up.

She pursed her lips, slowly stretched out her hands to circle Lu Yu's neck, and the man's warm palms turned over and grabbed her knees and stood up with her on his back.

It was hot in the summer, and both of them were wearing thin clothes. In addition, both of them were sweating. Jiang Nian's arm was against Lu Yu's neck, and Lu Yu's palms were grabbing the other's knees through a thin layer of cloth. For a moment, a feeling he had never experienced before rushed to Lu Yu's head.

The man paused, and his breathing tightened.

The heat from Jiang Nian's body seeped through his clothes, and it was hotter than the scorching sun. He could even feel the softness of the other person in front of him. Lu Yu's heartbeat was fast, and blushing instantly climbed up to his ears. He walked quickly to the tree, put Jiang Nian on the bench, and ran into the kitchen without saying a word.

Jiang Nian was stunned for a moment, looking at the empty kitchen door, and thought that the chicken soup in the pot had overflowed from the lid.

Lu Yu stayed in the kitchen for about five or six minutes, and came out after a while.

He wet a towel for Jiang Nian and handed it to her, asking her to wipe her face and hands. He went to the well and pumped water up, then washed his face and hands with the cold water. After washing his face, he went to the kitchen to get rice. He didn't look at Jiang Nian at all.

Jiang Nian frowned in confusion.

Did she make Lu Yu angry?

Lu Yu poured two bowls of chicken soup, took four corn cakes and two white steamed buns and put them on the table. He lowered his head to look at the chicken soup in front of him, took a bite of the corn cake and said, "Don't cook for a few days. I'll go to the cafeteria to get food. You should heal your injury first."

The chicken soup that had just been poured out was very hot. Jiang Nian blew on it and took a sip from the edge of the bowl. It was a little hot, but very fragrant.

Hearing Lu Yu's words, she said, "My injury is getting better day by day, so cooking is no problem."

Seeing that Lu Yu was still insisting, Jiang Nian lowered her head, tightened her fingers holding the chopsticks, and said in a muffled voice, "I want to find something to do for myself, I don't want to lie in bed every day."

Lu Yu raised his eyes to look at Jiang Nian who was drooping his head, and replied after a long while, "Okay."

After dinner, Lu Yu washed the pots and bowls and went back to the team.

Jiang Nian sat in the yard, fanning herself with a round fan in her hand, which was brought back by Lu Yu yesterday. It's

really cool to fan yourself.

She had to plan the future slowly. The first thing to do now was to grow vegetables after her injury healed, and then go to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy some cloth to make some clothes for herself and Lu Yu. Her grandmother taught her all the embroidery skills she had learned throughout her life, so she was quite good at sewing clothes.

There were footsteps outside the courtyard gate. Jiang Nian turned her head and saw Feng Mei walking in with several kinds of vegetable seedlings. The seedlings were all covered with soil, and they were as fresh as when she first bought them.

Feng Mei put the seedlings under the shade of the tree and said, "I was so busy these days that I almost forgot. I was afraid that the seedlings you bought last time would die at home, so I took the initiative to bring them back to help you take care of them first. When your headache is gone, you can take them to your private plot to plant."

Jiang Nian smiled and said, "Thank you, Sister Feng."

Feng Mei was used to her opening and closing her mouth to thank her, so she pulled a stool to sit next to her and whispered, " I'm here to help you." "Just now when we were having dinner, I heard from Old Song that Captain Lu had applied to his superiors to stay in the team, and the superiors approved it."

She snorted again: "Now that Captain Lu is at home, let's see if Zheng Hong dares to come out and flirt with Captain Liu again."

Feng Mei left after talking for a while. She came again in the afternoon and picked three cucumbers and a handful of cowpeas from her private plot and put them on the table.

When it was almost dark, Jiang Nian's head was no longer dizzy.

She watered the seedlings and planned to plant them in two days, and then go to the market to buy some seedlings.

Today's dinner was simple. There was still some chicken soup left. She and her husband made some scallion pancakes with dough and mixed some cucumber. After they were done, Lu Yu came back. The man went to the well to fetch water to wash his face, and then came to the kitchen to bring dinner to the small table in the yard.

Every household has an old-fashioned glass light bulb in the yard, which is only turned on at dinner time every night. Many people are reluctant to turn on the light. In their eyes, although turning on the light is more convenient, it costs more than kerosene lamps.

Lu Yu drank a bowl of chicken soup, looked at the vegetable seedlings under the tree, and said to Jiang Nian: "Sister-in-law, I will go to the field to plant vegetables tomorrow. You don't have to make my lunch. I will just eat a few corn cakes."

After that, he drank a bowl of chicken soup and ate the last corn cake.

He stood up, put away the dishes and chopsticks, and took them to the kitchen to wash them.

He speaks and acts quickly and decisively, and he really does not hesitate at all.

Jiang Nian: ...

She felt that Lu Yu's face was not right since he found her in the corner of the west wall at noon today.

And when he talked to her, he didn't look into her eyes.

Jiang Nian couldn't figure out how she had offended Lu Yu.

She leaned against the roots of the tree, looking at the crescent moon in the sky, and occasionally looking at the window of the kitchen. Lu Yu bent down to wash the pots and dishes. He was tall and had long legs, so the stove looked very low. He could reach the blind spot of the stove with just a stretch of his arm.

Unlike her, she had to tiptoe every time.

It was hot in the summer, and Jiang Nian was sweating again today. She felt uncomfortable with the sweat all over her body.

After Lu Yu washed the pots and dishes, he boiled water for Jiang Nian to take a bath, and carried the bucket and bathtub into Jiang Nian's room. The sound of water came from inside. Jiang Nian lowered his head and tugged at the corner of his clothes. The corner of his clothes was wrinkled because she had been pulling it for a long time.

"Sister-in-law."

Jiang Nian looked up in confusion, looked at Lu Yu standing opposite, and blinked: "Hmm?"

Lu Yu said: "The water is ready, I..." He didn't say the four words "

I'll help you into the house". Thinking of the discomfort when he carried Jiang Nian on his back at noon today, he pursed his thin lips, hesitated, and still stretched out his hand to Jiang Nian: "I'll help you into the house."

He was still worried that she would fall down due to dizziness.

Jiang Nian looked at the hand stretched out in front of her, and looked along her arm to Lu Yu who was looking down at her, and shook her head gently: "I can walk by myself."

She stood up with the help of the tree behind her, walked past Lu Yu and walked towards her room.

She still felt something in her heart, that Lu Yu seemed to dislike her a little.

She was fine in the morning, why was she different at noon?

Jiang Nian walked back to the room and closed the door. The water in the basin was a little hot. She squatted down to spread the water, but she couldn't help but stood up and walked to the window, intending to ask Lu Yu indirectly what was wrong.

The two of them were going to live under the same roof for a long time. If Lu Yu continued to be like this, she might as well leave as soon as possible, so as to avoid the two of them feeling alienated and uncomfortable.

Jiang Nian took a breath, stretched out her hand to open the window, and just when she was about to call Lu Yu, she made eye contact with Lu Yu who was standing by the well and wiping his hair.

The man was shirtless, his muscles were well-proportioned and strong under the light, he was wiping the water off his head with an old-fashioned towel, he was wearing army green trousers with a belt around the waist.

Jiang Nianhun froze, his fingers gripping the window tightened.

His eyes involuntarily moved down, landing on the man's skinny abdominal muscles...