Chapter 4 Theory Women are like water. If you put vinegar in it, it will become sour. If you put vinegar in it, it will become sour.
The food was already laid out on the table in the main room, including sweet potato porridge, pickled radish strips, and a dish of boiled cabbage in water, all vegetarian.
The Jiang family is considered a wealthy family in Xiaohe Village and can afford to cook even meat dishes.
This was because Huang Xiufen was dissatisfied and wanted to intimidate her.
Jiang Xueyi curled the corners of her mouth, sat down, picked up a pickled radish strip with chopsticks, and chewed it carefully.
Although the food didn't taste great, it was a very sumptuous meal compared to the tree roots, weeds, and expired canned food she had eaten in the apocalypse.
Seeing Jiang Xueyi eating with gusto, a cold light flashed in Huang Xiufen's eyes. She exerted force with her elbow, and with a crisp "bang", a bowl full of sweet potato porridge fell to the ground.
She raised her chin and said triumphantly, "Xueyi, why are you standing there? Go and clean up."
Jiang Xueyi paused and looked around.
Seeing that Jiang Aiguo and Jiang Xueqin, brother and sister, were looking at her, their eyes were filled with dissatisfaction, as if they were blaming her for being so tactless.
There was a similar scene in the original owner's memory.
It was a hot summer day. Huang Xiufen dropped a teacup on the ground and ordered her to pick it up in a condescending voice, while Jiang Aiguo, Jiang Xueqin and Jiang Yaozu watched coldly from the side.
The original owner was only ten years old at the time. As a helpless little girl, she had no support in this family.
Not to mention that Huang Xiufen only asked her to clean up the teacups, even if Huang Xiufen asked her to step barefoot on the broken porcelain pieces, she would have to do it.
Just like that, the original owner knelt on the ground, picking up the broken porcelain pieces bit by bit, and tears fell on the broken porcelain pieces one by one, breaking them into eight petals.
Now, is she going to clean up the bowl of sweet potato porridge that was spilled on the ground under Huang Xiufen's orders, just like the original owner?
Jiang Xueyi put the bowl down, stared at Huang Xiufen, and was about to speak——
"Are you crazy? She's a pregnant woman, and you ask her to work?" He Chengze frowned and slammed his chopsticks on the bowl, making a crisp sound.
Jiang Xueyi looked at his resolute profile and was slightly stunned.
A warm feeling suddenly rose in her heart. This was... the first time someone stood in front of her.
Huang Xiufen immediately exploded: "What's wrong with being pregnant? What's so great about being pregnant? As long as she's in this house, she has to do a day's work!"
After she finished speaking, she nudged Jiang Aiguo with her elbow and said, "Boss, don't you think so?"
Jiang Aiguo coughed loudly and knocked on the table with his pipe - even in front of Jiang Xueyi, a pregnant woman who was more than four months pregnant, he still hadn't quit his smoking habit.
"Xiu Fen is right. Even if you get married, your surname is still Jiang. You are my daughter, Jiang Aiguo. If I tell you to go east, you must not go west. Otherwise, it would be unfilial."
Jiang Aiguo's eyebrows flew up in triumph, and he exhaled a puff of white smoke: "Do you still want to stay in this house?"
A cold smile appeared on Jiang Xueyi's face, but it didn't reach her eyes.
Jiang Aiguo, the biological father, used his so-called filial piety more than once to force the original owner to do things she didn't want to do.
The original owner could only give in again and again, because, apart from this "home", she had nowhere else to go.
Jiang Xueyi lowered her head slightly with a smile on her lips. What should she do? If she didn't cause trouble for the couple, they would cause trouble for her first.
“That’s enough!”
He Chengze glanced at the family with disgust, and his eyes finally fell on Jiang Aiguo's pipe.
After all, he was the head of a regiment, commanding thousands of people. He could see through the little tricks of this family at a glance.
This family can do such excessive things in front of him, so what about when he is not around? Wouldn’t Jiang Xueyi be bullied a lot?
He glanced at Jiang Xueyi. The sunlight swept across her profile. Her fair skin was almost transparent. Her eyelashes cast thick shadows under her eyes, trembling slightly. She looked like a small white flower blown by the wind and rain, revealing a bit of grievance and pity...
He didn't care about what happened in the past, but now, Jiang Xueyi is his wife and the mother of his children.
Bullying Jiang Xueyi is equivalent to trampling on his face.
Captain He could not swallow this humiliation.
He held Jiang Xueyi's hand and stood up suddenly: "Then we won't stay here any longer, let's go!"
Jiang Xueyi looked at him in a daze. In the sunlight, the man's figure was tall and majestic, like an indestructible fortress, or a harbor that could shelter from wind and rain, giving people a sense of calmness and solidity.
She tilted her head back, a wide smile playing on her lips, and she shook his hand back, saying softly, "Okay."
Jiang Aiguo didn't expect that He Chengze and Jiang Xueyi would just leave without giving him any face.
He opened his mouth in shock and pointed at the two of them, his fingers trembling: "You, you guys, don't come back if you leave!"
Jiang Xueyi turned around and sneered: "Don't they say that a daughter who is married off is like water that has been poured out? Women are like water, you can't catch them, you have to hold them in your arms."
She added silently in her heart: If necessary, she will turn into boiling water and scald you to death.
Huang Xiufen said in a shrill voice, "Don't think you're great just because you're climbing up the social ladder. He's a military officer, a cadre. If he gets upset with you one day, he'll still divorce you and send you back home."
Jiang Xueyi smiled and said, "Then you don't have to worry about it."
Huang Xiufen looked at the two people's backs, disgust flashed in her eyes, and she spat on the ground: "Bah! Bitch, just wait and see!"
Jiang Xueqian didn't say anything.
She stared blankly at the tightly clasped hands of Jiang Xueyi and He Chengze, and suddenly realized that this sister whom she had always looked down upon, who had worked like a slave at home, seemed to have found a very outstanding man and was going to live a good life.
Jiang Xueyi sat in the jeep, feeling as if a huge stone had been lifted from her heart, and she felt a lot more relaxed.
She supported her chin with one hand, looked at the scenery passing by outside the car window, and hummed a light tune.
"I won't." He Chengze's voice suddenly came to his ears.
His hands were placed on his knees, his fists slightly clenched, his eyes looking forward, and the tips of his ears were faintly red.
"What?" Jiang Xueyi tilted her head and blinked.
He Chengze put his hand to his mouth and pretended to cough, with a little unnoticeable nervousness: "I said, I will not divorce you, nor will I send you back."
It turned out to be an explanation of Huang Xiufen's words.
A smile flashed in Jiang Xueyi's eyes: "I believe you."
Her eyes swept across He Chengze's epaulettes with a silver sheen. She really believed in He Chengze. In this day and age, the character of a soldier is still guaranteed.
He Chengze thought that she believed in him.
He coughed a few more times, and the redness on the tip of his ear became more obvious.
Driver Wang steered with one hand, his ears perked up for gossip: "Sister-in-law, are you having trouble with your family?"
Jiang Xueyi sighed and recounted what had just happened.
There must be something fishy about her and He Chengze leaving Jiang's house so quickly. This matter cannot be concealed. Instead of letting the driver guess and make assumptions, it is better to tell the truth. Anyway, the character of the Jiang couple is just like that, and they don't mind a bad reputation.
"Sister-in-law, your father and stepmother are too much!" Driver Wang pounded the steering wheel in indignation, and the horn beeped.
He Chengze: "Drive well."
Driver Wang shrank his neck and said, "Yes, Captain Congratulations."
He tutted his words and said, "But, sister-in-law, your theory of 'women are like water' is quite interesting. Are women really like water?"
This question was asked by a contemporary older man who is 25 years old, not married yet, and has not even had contact with a few women.
Jiang Xueyi smiled and said, "Yes, women are like water. If you put vinegar in it, it becomes sour. If you put sugar in it, it becomes sweet. If you leave it for too long, it will evaporate. If you provoke it, it will be like boiling water scalding you. Aren't women just like water?"
She glanced at He Chengze out of the corner of her eye, hinting at something.
"So, Xiao Wang, when you get married, you must treat her well. If you treat her well, she will treat you well in return."
The driver nodded repeatedly: "I know."
The jeep passed through the mountains and arrived at Nanping City where He Chengze and his troops were stationed.
Nanping is called a city, but it is actually more like a small town, with bright red slogans painted everywhere on the walls.
Although Jiang Xueyi received the original owner's memories, those memories were like old black-and-white movies on cassette, remaining deep in her mind. She could only recall them when she wanted to look for them. It was the first time she had seen such a town, and it was very novel to her.
The skyscrapers in the late apocalypse have all become ruins, with green ivy covering the outside or blood-stained iron spikes, full of the smell of time and disaster.
Most of the buildings here are just one or two-story red brick buildings with gray-white paint on the exterior walls and red slogans written on them, which have the unique simplicity of this era.
Most people on the street wore blue, green and gray clothes. The boys had flat heads and the girls had two braids or short hair. They might not be as fashionable as later generations, but they were in good spirits, full of energy and vigor.
The two first went to the town’s marriage office, registered, and received a marriage certificate that looked like a certificate.
After keeping the marriage certificate, He Chengze asked the driver to take them back to their hometown.
The family area is right next to the camp where He Chengze's troops are stationed. It is not in the town, but in the suburbs. There are several communes around it, which are gradually connected together and are quite lively.
When they were still a few hundred meters away from the family area, He Chengze took Jiang Xueyi out of the car and asked the driver to drive the jeep back to the army first.
Jiang Xueyi looked at the driver's departing back with a hint of doubt in her eyes.
He Chengze explained: "This car belongs to the army. Although I am the head of the regiment, I can't occupy it all the time. There are other people who also need the car. Let Xiao Wang go and return the car first. It will be convenient for others and myself."
Jiang Xueyi raised the corners of her mouth and imitated Xiao Wang's accent: "I know."
Her smile was as beautiful as a flower, and her lips were three times brighter than the newly blooming peony. He Chengze pretended to be casual and his eyes quickly passed over her lips.
He withdrew his gaze, supported Jiang Xueyi as they walked, and slowly told the story.
Through He Chengze's description and the content of the novel, the family area gradually took shape in Jiang Xueyi's mind.
The so-called family area is actually the dormitory in the military compound.
The dormitories in the military compound are divided into first-level minister buildings, second-level minister buildings, section chief buildings and general cadre rooms.
First-level ministerial buildings are basically single-family general buildings for the chief of staff and director of the political department to live in.
The second-level ministerial building is a three-bedroom, two-living-room apartment for the division commander and deputy division commander.
He Chengze is a regimental-level cadre and the house he was assigned to is in the section chief's building.
All of them are two-story buildings, units with two bedrooms and a living room.
The general cadre housing is for some service personnel to live in.
You also have to be of a certain rank.
The ordinary soldiers below them live in the barracks, with bunk beds of about 20 square meters, which can accommodate 6-8 people, making it more convenient for eating and training.
It is not easy to apply for a dormitory in a military compound. First of all, you have to be an officer at the deputy battalion level or above and have served in the army for fifteen years to be eligible to apply. Or you can be a technical soldier who has mastered military technology in a difficult border area and has served for five years to apply.
At this time, people are encouraged to have more children. Most of the officers who are allocated houses live with their families. There is no other dormitory in the entire military compound like He Chengze who lives in a two-bedroom apartment.
His house number is also very auspicious, Building 8, Room 208.
"Here we are. This is it."
He Chengze stopped and looked at the door. His palms were slightly sweaty and he felt a little nervous.
This was the first time a young woman had entered his home.
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